Wildlife Photography with the Nikon D810 and 400mm f2.8

When Nikon in South Africa approached me  in September 2015 to test out the Nikon D810 and the new lightweight Nikkor 400mm f2.8E FL VR lens I was relishing the opportunity - you see, I was heading to the Mara Triangle in Kenya (part of the Maasai Mara ecosystem) to host a photographic safari in the Maasai Mara for the Great Migration for Wild Eye.

I was looking forward to putting this camera–and–lens combo through its paces in an environment where anything can happen at any distance from the vehicle. The in-camera crop factor (Image Area option) of the Nikon professional FX series provides a great option to extend the effective focal length of the lens.  

f8.0  |  1/2000 SS  |  ISO-280  |  EV -1

First off - the D810 is an amazing camera. I was blown away by its dynamic range and amazing image resolving capabilities. The D810 was improved.  Dynamic range and low light image quality (high ISO in other words), while offering a higher frame-rate for on demand shooting with an increased buffer capacity. The quiet shutter, intuitive feels and excellent build quality of the D810 makes it a joy to use.

f4.0  |  1/500 SS  |  ISO-2000  |  EV +0.3

Now for the lens! I have just traded in my Nikkor 500mm f/4 for the previous version of the 400mm  2.8 - so knowing what that beast weighs, the first time I picked up the new 400mm f/2.8 from its case which also looks quite different than previous Nikkor super telephoto lens cases, I was flabbergasted by just how light it really is. At first touch, it feels only slightly heavier than a 300mm f/4 would feel.  It is as sharp as you can imagine and the focus acquisition is snappy and responsive, making the lens a real pleasure to work with in the field.

f18  |  1/10 SS  |  ISO-500  |  EV 0

Coupling them and knowing how and when to use the aforementioned in-camera crop modes ("Image Area") you can really utilise this combo for a great range of scenarios. If you leave the 400mm f/2.8 on the camera without adding a physical teleconverter, you can achieve the effective focal length of 480mm f/2.8 at 25 megapixels on the 1.2x crop setting.  If you go to the DX crop setting you can get an effective 600mm f/12.8 at roughly +- 15.4 megapixels.  Some folks will say they'd rather crop in processing and you can - but what makes it a tempting option is that your continuous frame rate for action sequences increases from 5fps to 6fps in these crop modes. If you use the MB-D12 battery grip (also compatible with the D800/D800E), you gain another boost to 7fps in the crop modes.

f4.0  |  1/1000 SS  |  ISO-1250  |  EV 0

I always shoot my Nikon cameras in manual mode with auto ISO enabled. This allows me to select the shutter speed and aperture that I feel would contribute to the kind of image I am looking to create, while allowing the camera to select the  ISO automatically (hinged to my selected exposure   bias). I know I can implicitly trust my cameras to perform up to very high ISO and the D810 was no exception. Of course, having the option to go to an aperture of 2.8 when using varying shutter speeds helps! Read more on my preferred setup using auto ISO in THIS blog post.

f4.0  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-360  |  EV -0.7

I would highly recommend this combination to wildlife and sports photographers. Given the fact  that the D810 is the perfect landscape and portrait camera already, the added benefits of using it like I did for wildlife, pretty much makes it one of the best all-round combinations  I have ever had the pleasure to use. The lens is a dream. If the older 400mm f/2.8 always felt a tad heavy to you and that was the only thing holding you back – you need to get this lens in your hand and feel the weight difference. It is a strong selling point!

f22  |  1/30 SS  |  ISO-64  |  EV -1

Until next time, keep clicking!

Morkel Erasmus

Death Dance

Sometimes you spend hours waiting for a specific photo, anticipating and watching for the decisive moment in sweltering heat...other times you just stumble into the right spot at the right time. 

I wish I could wax lyrical about the planning and preparation that went into capturing this moment, but I can't. It was a combination of right time/place and luck (we all need some luck in this thing called wildlife photography!). During our 2013 +Wild Eye Great Migration photo safari I hosted with +Marlon du Toit, we saw some lions lying in the grass next to the Mara river, and decided to head closer for some portrait photography. As we pulled to a stop, to our amazement a lone wildebeest scrambled up the riverbank (having just done a solo crossing we couldn't see from our vantage point), and the poor thing literally almost tripped over the lions. The largest female of the small pride wasted no time in pouncing on the unfortunate ungulate, and a lengthy struggle ensued during which we were privy to the emotional dance of death between these species that occurs during the Great Migration. 

This particular wildebeest didn't seem to want to give up and kept struggling to escape his attackers, but to no avail. We were very close to the action, and shooting with a 500mm lens forced me to compose a little out-of-the-box, but I liked how it came out!

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II  |  f8.0  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-1400

I also converted it to monochrome, and I like it better in that medium. What do you think??

Nikon D3s  |  Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II  |  f8.0  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-1400

Let me know which you prefer by dropping a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great week...

If you would like to join us in the Mara Triangle this year for an awesome photographic adventure, then check out THIS page.

If you would like to purchase this tone version as a limited edition fine art print for your office or home, mail me: morkel@morkelerasmus.com

Morkel Erasmus

Scenes from the Mara

A little while ago, I wrote a post on the Wild Eye blog about how difficult I found it to photograph the vastness and multitudes of the Great Migration in a way that would communicate it properly to people who would only have the chance to view my photographs and not experience the phenomenon for themselves.

This is another photo I captured during an amazing afternoon of driving through hundreds of thousands of White-bearded Gnu (with some Plains Zebra thrown in) over the rolling hills of the Mara Triangle in Kenya. With so many animals succumbing to the waters of the Mara river, the stampede of their herd-members or the plethora of predators prowling the plains, the vultures of that ecosystem just sit around and bide their time while the next meal is being dished up. I tried to capture a tree that had quite a few of them roosting in it, combined with the trekking herds over the hills. This is the result - well, one of them.

This one needs to be viewed larger - so I am posting an image larger than what I normally post. This one is 1400 pixels wide so do click on it to view properly.

What do you think of it? Does it give you a sense of being there?

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 190mm
f9.0  |  1/200 SS  |  ISO-640

click on the photo to display at a better viewing resolution for great detail

Thanks for viewing! Have a great day!

Morkel Erasmus