Foxes in the dark at ISO 25600

[Richard Peters]

My friend and I have just started a long term project to photograph foxes in the wild. Its very early days but the eventual plan is to capture some really nice shots of these animals going about their business. The eventual plan is to remote trigger the camera's and use flashes to get some nice shots but it will all take lots of time and planning. Once we get some good shots it will be nice to look back to the early days to see how far we have come.



More images and full story here

[sirhc55]

Although the noise is visible these are still amazing pics considering the conditions and are a testament to the D3, and of course, the photographer. I look forward to seeing more from this interesting project.

[Smurph]

Wow, this is making me want the D3 even more, however I don't think I can justify the expense of it over my D2x.

Nice shots, and the noise, while visible is more than usable. 25600ISO bloody hell.

Look forward to seeing some more shots from the series as it progresses .

[Oneputt]

What a great project I too will follow your progress with intertest.

[surenj]

Nice! Could u see the foxes yourself? or did you use IR goggles?

[latch]

Very nice! Is this as it came from the camera, or has it been lightened with post-processing? I guess I'm just wanting to know how dark "dark" really is.

[Glen]

Richard what a tremendous project, looking forward to seeing updates. That ISO is just incredible and a great ad for the D3

[Richard Peters]

Thanks all.

It was much darker than it looks int he photo but the camera picsk up more light than your eye can see. I adjusted the levels in photoshop to show you roughly what it was like with my own eye. However with my own eye there was no real colour to be seen and there was no brightness to the white fur and I couldn't see the catchlight in the eyes. So it was like this but duller.

[dawesy]

Yes it's an impressive camera, but we knew that.

600mm, 1/10 ....

Was this on a tripod? I'm impressed either way as there is no sign of motion blur in this image at all. Even giving a tripod some credit, shot discipline is critical and picking a moment of stillness and not concerning the fox enough to bail take some doing.

Cool project too, if this is the begining I suspect the end will yield some impressive images!

[carla_d]

the d3 really is amazing!

[Richard Peters]

Yes it's an impressive camera, but we knew that.

600mm, 1/10 ....

Was this on a tripod? I'm impressed either way as there is no sign of motion blur in this image at all. Even giving a tripod some credit, shot discipline is critical and picking a moment of stillness and not concerning the fox enough to bail take some doing.

Cool project too, if this is the begining I suspect the end will yield some impressive images!

They aren't sharp in the slightest at %100. But then as you say, at 1/10 at 600mm you don't expect critical sharpness. When I started shooting all I wanted was record shots and websize is fine for that.

I had the lens rested on a beanbag that was laying on a small plank of wood. the wood was slid under the headrest of the front seat and then across to lay on top of the head rest of the back seat with me sitting in the back shooting through the side window. Not ideal conditions but during these early stages we aren't taking any risks in scaring the foxes off.

[dawesy]

You shouldn't have told me that!!

Sounds like tough shooting conditions and done very well. Looks like you are going to have to go to serious lengths to not scare these guys off, good luck with the rest of the project!

[thorwood]

Richard,

Fantastic pic, foxes are pretty hard to photograph, they don't stay out in the open often.
Though, we have one that regularly strolls across our paddocks in broad daylight.
They make such wonderful subjects, such a pity they are such an environmental disaster.

[akdphotos]

Love the almost quizical look on the face of the fox.

but the D3, what can you say. This just shows what cameras have become. It almost makes me scared of how good the D4, or even D5 could be if they keep going like this. The only good thing about that though, is the D3 would drop in price!!!

Whats next, Nikon release an all in 1 fisheye, wideangle 50mm prime, that transforms into a 70-200, 300mm 400mm & 600mm, with an option for a teleconveter (but thats extra!!)

Canon can keep their 21MP's, i would rather have that!!!!