Nikon D700's Best Friend

The photo above says it all.  Jamming that 85mm onto my D700x (just kidding, it’s still a D700) is a dream.  First off, I feel the D700 is the strongest camera in the Nikon lineup, yes, even over the D3x. Paired with the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 lens – a fraction of the price of the f/1.4 – you get tack-sharp images across the entire focal range, a bokeh to die for, and a photo that needs very little post work.  I thought this was the ultimate set-up.

But wait, there’s more! After adding CS5 into the mix – well, now it’s just now heaven.

As I said in my previous post, CS5 offers a ton over CS4. Now that I have begun to dig into it, I am finding that I no longer need the quick tools for editing photos.  I used to used Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 3 and Silver Efex Pro within Photoshop to help me curve and balance my shots, tone map, or slam into B&W.  But the controls are so much better in Cs5 that I no longer have the need to use these quick little plugins.  I am able to generate any one of the effects they offered (for $300) very easily with the CS5 tools.  Yes, even tone mapping through the pseudo HDR tools built into CS5.

It doesn’t get better than this.  I could live a happy and full rest of my life with just these three items.  Well, of course I need my Mac Pro to do my edits, but that’s a given.

Rainbow Finch @ 85mm

Did I mention I picked up the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 prime this week?  This is simply a stunning piece of glass and a fraction of the price of the f/1.4.  Though I have never shot the 1.4 and can’t give valid comparative data (and won’t make up facts like the US government would) I can tell you that this is a fast, sharp and brilliant lens.  It takes stunning portraits that require little or no post-work.  Hell, this lens could even make Rosie O’Donnell sexy.

The shot above is of the Rainbow Finch, also known as the Lady Gouldian Finch or Gould’s Finch, taken from the Buttery Place in Weston, MA.  This shot was taken with fairly good lighting through frosted skylights at f/2 from about 2 feet away.  Luckily, the bird was used to people and didn’t flutter off at the site of my D700 in it’s face.  Not much had to be done with this shot in terms of clarity and color.  I did a slight curve in the new Photoshop CS5 to balance the light, but that’s about it for this one.  The lens and camera did all the rest.

See?  Who needs a D700x or D700s when the plain old everyday D700 can do this?

You can comment on the photo itself at my Flickr account if you care.  It’s actually doing well on Explore today – not that I give a crap about Explore.