Brother in law writes to ask what gear to buy. Excerpts from his note:
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i often shoot people in motion. i’m particularly interested in capturing expression, which is fleeting, so i like to burst shoot, for example shooting 20 or 30 frames of a laugh. i don’t use flash, because it washes out flesh tones(again, i’m not sophisticated enough to understand-or properly program- a flash to make it do its job without washing out the shot before i grab the camera and start shooting. So- what i really mean is, i need something i can essentially point and shoot, sometimes in continuous shot mode, in any existing lighting conditions, that will yield crystal clear, unblured details, even if i’m at some distance from my subject, and even if my hands are a little(or a lot) shaky- which they are; something that -ideally- autofocuses, and doesn’t need a lot of programming, that nonetheless yields crystal clear images of subjects, maybe in motion, without artificial illumination. have i explained myself adequately? does such a beast
exist?
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You should look at the Nikon D3, but my guess is the Nikon D700 will do. The D700 is lighter, but it has the same “full frame” sensor that the D3 has, which is enough detail to create an outdoor billboard. The D3 is $5k on its own, but it will last longer than you in terms of build quality.
The D3 will shoot I believe 5 frames per second, which should be more than enough. The trick to detail is the sensor (either of the above will do great) and light. If you have a big hole (an expensive, f/1.2 or f/1.4), you get lots of light. Lots of light, and you get nice details without flash. But wide open you also don’t get lots of depth of field – which of course is not to be confused with detail. If you need loads of detail across a deep field, you need a narrow whole (f/8 to f/64) and there’s no way to compensate for that except to add more light. If you are outdoors, this should never be a problem, but there are some hard core physics that have to be dealt with.
One thing that is improving is the pixel quality at high ISO or sensitivity settings. Used to be at ISO 800 or higher (Tri-X black and white is ISO 400) you got lots of “noise,” the appearance of red green and blue pixels where the subject should be black, or any other nicely blended color. With the newer sensors (like those recommended w/ D3 and D700), you get pretty high quality pixels up to ISO 1600 or 3200 or higher.
That means shooting faster – whether with faster shutter or ‘smaller hole’ – more depth of field.
As for lens, I would recommend one really really nice fixed-length lens, say a 50mm or 85mm, for shooting people from six to 12 feet away.
I took the pictures of Sarah’s performance and the family snaps around the theatre with that lens. No flash until the shots after the show. The picture at the top of this post was taken with the 85mm, but with flash… so it’s not all terrible with flash 
There is no comparing the overall image quality of a fixed-length or prime lens in my opinion. f/1.2 or f/1.4 are available, are really expensive, and are totally worth it. You can shoot in very low light with no flash with these babies.
Then I would get the Nikon 18-2oo f/3.5-5.6 VR. This will solve 90+% of your requirements. VR means vibration reduction, which means it will compensate, and very well, for shaky hands or body. It will work well for outdoor, though it will be a bit ‘slow’ for indoor except under very bright (pro arena event) conditions without flash.
That’s a start. B&H photo is the place to buy when you are ready – at least that’s what my photo geek friend from Scarsdale tells me.
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