The Aquarium

I had a chance to take a spin with the new Nikon D3s during a recent trip to the aquarium. It was my very first time with the camera, and shooting video with this beast was almost a complete departure from my comfortable D700. Not to say the D3s isn't ergonomic, it's simply a different machine altogether when it comes to squeezing out motion.

All of this video is shot at ISO 6400, with a Nikon 70-300mm VR f4.5-5.6 G lens. Most of these shots were at 200mm or above, which at f/4.5 creates a shallow depth of field.

It's a pretty informal setup. I brought my SLIK tripod, which I normally use for stills, and strapped the D3s to it. Simple as that. It's all shot through aquarium glass in extremely dim lighting. No additional lights of my own. It's lit by exactly the same lights you see on any other day. There are some visible flickers from the low-power fluorescent bulbs.

All in all, I'd call this a very successful test. I can't wait until I can get this video in a D700 body.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• aquarium
• fish
• jellyfish
• nikon d3s
• nikkor
• lowlight
• iso 6400
• high iso
• water
• underwater
• swimming
• sea
• life
• biology
• fluid
• depth of field
• cinema
• motion

[MrMackowski]

Worth to watch.