“But if you’re coming from (say) the World’s Most Perfect Lens, the Lumix 20mm ƒ/1.7 for Micro 4/3 (3.5 oz., 1.8″ long, and 46mm filters), then it seems like Bigfoot up against Natalie Portman.”
(Mike Johnston, comparing the mentioned lens with a Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 G)
Mike Johnston, who loves black & white photography, and who also loves using a focal length of about 35-42mm (on 135 film) is just trying to figure out if he would like the Nikon D800E. So he did a wise thing: he rented one, together with a 35mm lens. Too bad that he has bad weather since he got the combination; somewhere in a reply to a comment or so, he called that “4 stop weather” – meaning that he can’t even remotely test the dynamic range a camera like this provides. I feel for the guy, and the weather around here isn’t much better right now. Today, I took this (and with the World’s Most Perfect Lens as he called it):
He’s right about the lens, which I also love. In fact, that lens was the reason to get an E-PL1 for me, as it’s available only as a Micro Four Thirds lens, so as a Four Thirds user, I looked at it with envy.
About the 4 stops, he’s not so right. Taking this from inside our car, I’ve got both ends of the Pen camera’s dynamic range covered pretty good – I even had to use a bit highlight protection and also a slight opening of the shadows in this one, which could have around 10 stops of DR (dynamic range) or so.
Sure, a D800E would have handled this better. Or, to quote Michael again after he shot a virgin Mary statue hand-held in the dark with that camera:
“The D800E is mighty, mighty; the darkness itself trembles before it.”
(Mike Johnston, here)
He’s not yet decided if he will buy it or not, it’s not exactly a cheap camera (and lens). So it will be interesting to follow and to see his conclusions and decision after that week is over. Meanwhile, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got.
Thanks for reading.
