The stork came with my new baby, which is an early birthday present to myself. It’s a beauty. And it has a name. It’s called “D5.” Hello D5 and welcome.

xxx

This is what you can get once you are a guru.

I opened the box and everything that should be there was there. I bought two memory chips and inserted them into their new homes. They fit perfectly. Then I took out the battery and snugged it into its new home. Sweet. I’m ready to turn on the camera and play. I turn it on and immediately notice that the battery is almost out of juice. Now, that’s not fair. After spending what I did on this new camera, a fully charged battery is not too much to ask for. Oh well, into the battery charger it goes where it takes 2 hours and 35 minutes to fully charge. You can bet I won’t wait that long!

It’s now about an hour later and the battery looks to be just under 80% charged (good enough!). In a NY minute the battery is in D5 and its ready. I’m ready. On it goes!

Click.

This is the first shot with D5. What makes this interesting (besides the subject) is it was shot indoors without a flash. More on this in a soon to be published blog.

This is the first shot with D5. What makes this interesting (besides the subject) is it was shot indoors without a flash. More on this in a soon to be published blog.

Yup, it works. Now it’s time to check out all the new features I was looking for.

  1. Low light shooting. This is reason number one for getting this camera. It be pretty much be dark out and the camera can still focus on the subject and take a picture. And, it doesn’t look black! It looks pretty darn good. I have a blog coming soon that will demonstrate just how great D5 shoots in low light.
  2. High Speed Shooting. This is reason number one-A for getting this camera. It can shoot up to 12 frames per second. Oh my – that is really fast. Take out your camera and shoot as fast as you can – I’ll bet it is more like 4 frames per second. I have another blog coming soon that will demonstrate just how fast 12 frames per second can be – and more importantly – why I need this type of speed.
  3. Camera rotate for vertical shots. You are probably asking (if not, I’ll pretend you are asking) why this is so important. I mean, you can rotate your iPhone and get a vertical shot. Everyone can do this. Well, let me tell you what the D5 has over your iPhone or DSLR. There is a second (!) shutter release button on the side. So, when I rotate D5, I can shoot normally with my right trigger finger on the shutter button. Everything feels normal. Cool, eh?
  4. Voice Recorder. This is pretty cool too. When I am reviewing a photo on the viewfinder, I can attach a voice note. For example, let’s say I am in NYC and photographing an interesting looking person. I can go to this person, ask their name, and tell it to D5. Later when I copy the image to my computer, an associated voice note file (“.wav”) comes along, along with his name. Love it!
  5. Live View improvement. My previous Nikon cameras had an awful live view mode. The image on the back of the camera was so poor, it was hard to see what you are shooting. Canon cameras have Nikon trumped in this area. But D5 is much improved. It may not be as good as a Canon, but at least it is usable. Finally.
  6. There are many more. But they get tech and nerdy so I’ll sneak them in when you aren’t looking.

So, after one day with my new baby, I can easily conclude it’s a keeper. And quite pretty too:

Say hello to D5

Say hello to D5

Stay tuned for some semi-techy blog posts. And, remember, it’s all about the light.