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[Surfsama]

For you Photogs (or anyone interested) I did a real world non-scientific test of 4 Nikon camera bodies with 3 different lenses. I wanted to know how much difference I would see between a $3300 D800E 36 megapixel and a long discontinued D40 6 megapixel camera. I threw-in a D90 and D700 too. I chose a common lens (50mm) a cheapo DX kit lens 18-55mm and a telephoto. I KNOW the D800E is going to outperform these cameras when things get tricky (massive cropping/low light/poster size/etc.) but it's interesting to see how little they differ with good light and some flash. Here are the results:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfsam...th/7436009018/

[Shoji-Aoyama]

indeed with the right light, the battle really comes down to features, because in my own inventory, in good ambient or with extensive use of my flashes the old D2H will have no problems keeping up with the newer D7000, and even my D700 with its Full Frame sensor, the only thing that I run into is that the D2H isnt supported by my Pocketwizards

nice little comparison you did though, thanks for that

[Surfsama]

I did discover that all things equal (all cameras that support Active D-Lighting were set to Auto), my D700 will blow-out the highlights pretty easily. I did some other tests comparing the D700 and I had to add -03 to -07 to keep the highlight in-check. Anyone else with a D700 experience easily blown highlights?

[Shoji-Aoyama]

not really, but most times Im shooting speedlights and manually underexposing things anyways... when I do shoot ambient or available light I dont have problems with blown highlights, JPEG or RAW... obviously there are tons of factors that could change that, but in my own standard use, I have no such problems

[Surfsama]

After reading your post I realized that I did replace the OEM focusing screen for a KatzEye. Not saying that could be causing my camera to over-expose but it is a variable I can eliminate.

...and here is my answer:

The KatzEye™ focusing screen for the Nikon D700 shows only a very slight effect on light metering. In our testing, the KatzEye™ screen tested within factory tolerance in nearly all situations. The only exception is when using spot metering mode with lenses having a maximum aperture slower than f3 (higher numerical f-stop). With lenses slower than f3, it is advisable to use either center-weighted average metering or matrix metering to preserve accurate meter response. In the event that spot metering mode must be used with a slow lens, it is advisable to set an appropriate exposure compensation by reading the histogram of a test shot.

Although I did use Matrix metering at f/5.6 and f/8 I suspect the screen still affected the camera's light meter.

[mrgetalife]

Originally Posted by Surfsama

I did discover that all things equal (all cameras that support Active D-Lighting were set to Auto), my D700 will blow-out the highlights pretty easily. I did some other tests comparing the D700 and I had to add -03 to -07 to keep the highlight in-check. Anyone else with a D700 experience easily blown highlights?

If the Light metering engine is the same as a D300. Depending on the scene. Matrix metering will blow out. I pretty much shoot Semi-auto by going Aperture Priority most of the the time. And have to EV compensate down.

Also Active D-Lighting? You're throwing in a lot of variables. Because all that does generally is take an underexposed photo and throws a lighting algorithm to brighten up the areas it thinks should be brightened. (JPEG mode only, RAW doesn't have it and you have to do it Post in Capture NX2)

[Surfsama]

Originally Posted by mrgetalife

If the Light metering engine is the same as a D300. Depending on the scene. Matrix metering will blow out. I pretty much shoot Semi-auto by going Aperture Priority most of the the time. And have to EV compensate down.

Also Active D-Lighting? You're throwing in a lot of variables. Because all that does generally is take an underexposed photo and throws a lighting algorithm to brighten up the areas it thinks should be brightened. (JPEG mode only, RAW doesn't have it and you have to do it Post in Capture NX2)

I left the Active D-lighting "ON" on all the cameras that support it (D40 doesn't). I found the culprit to be the KatzEye focusing screen on the D700. I replaced it with the OEM screen yesterday and now the metering is spot-on. It was a good lesson for me not to mess with the OEM parts.

[Shoji-Aoyama]

gives me second thoughts about a Katzeye screen then. . . I was debating it, but then all my Ai coupled bodies have the 3-way focus assist in the finder info LCD, so I have no real problems with focusing on any of them, though I will admit my FA with the Split-prism K-screen makes things quicker most times

[Surfsama]

Originally Posted by Shoji-Aoyama

gives me second thoughts about a Katzeye screen then. . . I was debating it, but then all my Ai coupled bodies have the 3-way focus assist in the finder info LCD, so I have no real problems with focusing on any of them, though I will admit my FA with the Split-prism K-screen makes things quicker most times

Half-off ($75.00) a KatzEye screen (includes 1/3rds grid option) for D700.
If you have allot of Ai glass it might be worth it but it does affect (at least in my camera) the metering at f/5.6 and up.