Real-world test: Nikon D750 at the Museum of Flight: Digital Photography Review

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The D750 is Nikon's enthusiast-oriented full-frame DSLR, featuring a 24MP sensor and a raft of high-end features borrowed from the D810 and D4S. These include a tweaked version of their highly capable 51-point AF system and a very solid HD video specification. We're working on a full review of the D750 right now, and as part of that process we made a short video, highlighting some of the camera's key features in real-world use. Enjoy!

This video was made possible thanks to the generous accommodation of Seattle's Museum of Flight. Home to more than 160 air and space craft and millions of archival photographs, the museum's 15-acre main campus on historic Boeing Field in Seattle includes the original Boeing Aircraft factory. If you're in Seattle it's well worth a visit.

www.museumofflight.org

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Total comments: 281

If you can't get to Seattle the Air and Space Museum at Dulles International Airport is well worth the trip.

0 upvotes

I've searched your d750 review and couldn't find what lenses you paired with the camera for both stills and video.

0 upvotes

Question to the reviewers/authors:

In another article on the D750, you guys show that there is virtually zero difference between an ISO100 image gained up 6 stops, and a native ISO6400 image.

With that in mind, why were you not simply shooting at ISO100 the entire time, opting to gain up in post-production?

I don't see how that wouldn't always end up being the best way to shoot this camera since you preserve MANY stops of highlight details (esp when you're shooting ISO3200+) for zero noise tradeoff.

I can't do that on my Canon 6D; an ISO100 gained up beyond 3-4 stops starts to look pretty crude. This was one of the most jealousy inducing features to me on this Nikon...and I'm kind of sad to see that you guys didn't take advantage of it.

Were there any indoor shots you kept the camera at ISO100 for and gained up in post?

2 upvotes

Fantastic review guys, I just got mine last weekend. Looking forward to testing it out in the filed.

0 upvotes

This is one rare case where the airplanes are more of interest to me than the camera they are shot with...

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I'm an airplane enthusiast too. I have to say that this Nikon D750 is truly an outstanding camera. In the hands of people who really can bring out the best in it, it's stunning. Those shots of the aircraft that were very dark (to wit: the Mig-15/F-86 and the Lockheed Electra) and they used the features to downplay the highlights yet bring the shot to life without bracketing were absolutely amazing. Wow!

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Forgot your 3pod?

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Does it have 4K video, I can't seems to find out.

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No 4K.

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Some thoughts on the D750 on my blog here: http://wp.me/p2wMAg-Ew

Thanks.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 4 minutes after posting

4 upvotes

Nice blog!

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Superb job! very well done review, great production and really interesting content (great camera (price/performance) by the looks of it too) and I have to add that museum to my list of things to do now!

Thanks.

3 upvotes

Fabulous video. Very useful. Please could you let us know which lenses you were using for this, especially inside the museum?

2 upvotes

Amazing job guys! This is a great video and the amount of effort that went into it is amazing.

I'm still amazed at how much Nikon put into this camera for the price. I honestly haven't looked at this camera as an option for me, but I will have to check it out this weekend.

2 upvotes

Bareny, do you miss 1/8000 and do you think the removal of the AA would add any real sharpness to in the images.

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a) Not really to be honest and b) physics says yes but I am totally happy with the resolution of the D750, AA filter nothwitstanding. And it's nice not to have to deal with moiré.

2 upvotes

Thanks

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Looks like a nifty camera. The hands on and interview videos are fun to watch, and I mean that in a positive and supportive way. Thanks

Does DP Review have any plans to post the image examples that were shadow lifted and shown in this video?

I'd like to see what they really look like after 2 minutes of post processing.

If I could throw away everything I've learned and had to deal with regarding exposure by purchasing a Nikon, hey I'm all over that. The image examples from this video might help with making such a decision.

5 upvotes

Thanks! And yes the samples will be used in our forthcoming full review of the D750.

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Because you have more dynamic range (DR) to play with doesn't man you don't have to shoot exposure correctly. Still need a fast enough shutter to get sharp image, etc. I do shoot with -0.3 or sometimes -0.7 exposure comp with nikon quite often.

But I do have a real world d750 samples when equipment failure that I was able to recover something back with the DR. The color profile wasn't as good as base iso.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/camerarch/15795838205/in/set-72157649378533016

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Thanks for the response Barney.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it all came out. I was impressed with what I could see in the video, and I know if I tried to do that with some of the old cameras I have I'd spend a lot more time trying to recover the darks, and might not even be able to do it to any usable degree of satisfaction.

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"If I could throw away everything I've learned and had to deal with regarding exposure by purchasing a Nikon, hey I'm all over that."

That's a very nice, spot-on, and insightful way of stating that point!

1 upvote

I can really appreciate how much freedom letting go of the shackles of exposure workarounds would give a photographer. I've been told that many times, but it took your video to drive it home. I could babble on, but this is not the place.

Thanks

Comment edited 40 seconds after posting

3 upvotes

If DPR is not the place to babble on about the minutiae of photography, I don't know where might be!!
:-)

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I meant in the confines of the review reply/message system. But I get what you are saying. Minutia is above my pay grade though, so it's a road less traveled in my case.

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Great video about a great camera. The detailed view and explanations should help photographers and film makers better understand the D750's capabilities.

2 upvotes

Very very nice review, one of the best real world photography, could you please give us some of the original flat profile MOV files. As video is an integral part of dslr and that you review it, it would be nice to have some sample of what you filmed as you do with jpeg and raw in the D750 reviews gallery.

2 upvotes

We plan to publish the movie footage in our review, which will be completed very soon.

0 upvotes

Really fantastic video!

You touched all the important points, had a background story and the production values are super.

5 upvotes

Thanks, appreciated the video, the insights, and things like the combining of ADL, Flat, and Highlight-weighted Metering.

2 upvotes

Just want to say DPreview are out doing them selves with the fantastic camera reviews lately, really fresh testing locations & ideas with solid photographers who know their stuff and a great mix of tech and real world info!

11 upvotes

Hi Barney and Rishi, great job! It would have been better if you could make this video out a week before…ha ha…. Anyway, I got my D750 and Tamron 24-70/2.8 a few days ago. :)
The first tricky thing I tried was shooting night sky with the moon and lot of clouds at ISO 3200-6400, with shutter speeds 1/2.5 to 1 sec and at 24 mm with the camera handheld. I did not just expect what the result came out! Amazing, clean and shiny images of the cloudy sky under such low light and long exposure time!
Keep posting these awesome videos!

4 upvotes

The VC plus the high ISO performance does look like a winning combo. Many people in the forum find this the ideal set to start with.

1 upvote

Well done! Love it... want it. Not a criticism but suggestion... I kept wanting Barney and Rishi turn around and shoot the shooter. I wanted to see the rig that was shooting the video and hear the experience of the videographer. I realize that was not the point but would love to see a "making of" vid and very interested in the audio setup.

1 upvote

Ah, the great unanswered question of our times: 'who shoots the shooter?'

4 upvotes

I'd like to know if the D750 does line skipping for 1080p video? Or does it interpolate down most of its sensor area, except for the black upper/lower 16:9 edges? That makes a big difference in detail resolution and low light noise.

1 upvote

@Timur Born
Me too.
@Barney Britton - any chance of probing Nikon about the video implementation?

0 upvotes

Astonishingly well done video. I often prefer to read review articles but you really played to the strengths of the video format and I found it riveting. All parts of the production were spot on, and the location was amazing.

As a Canon shooter I'm disappointed that we have not seen the same dynamic range/sensitivity advances as Nikon/Sony shooters are enjoying. That said, I disagree with commenters who compare this camera with the $500 cheaper 7DMII. I think they're in a different category and shouldn't be compared directly.

If I had a smaller lens investment I would most likely switch over to the Nikon ecosystem at this point.

13 upvotes

A nice video and a nice location. I am liking the format although...

...might we call the location "The Museum of f/Light" ?

3 upvotes

Excellent video.

1 upvote

Well-done, Barney and guest and team. Calm and thorough.

9 upvotes

I think that is a very useful demonstration of the sensitivity and dynamic range of modern full frame sensors, would be interesting to see what and near as equivalent uFT set up would do under the same circumstances (honestly not just trolling) based on my experience of ageing APSC Nikon, this is astonishing, but I am seriously thinking of jumping ship for (uFT Pana GX7 or OLY something ) and three decent compact primes, as I have had it with bulky DLSR gear

1 upvote

If you do not shoot in low light (ISO>3200) without flash, if you do not need to focus track moving objects, if you do not need to dramatically lift shadows and recover highlights, and if you do not crop much, m4/3 is fine. Many people say, why would I need to shoot at ISO 6400? Keep in mind that if you photograph people indoors in low light, you need at least 1/125 sec to get sharp pictures since people move. A gentle wave of hand, a smile, all need high shutter speed to freeze. For kids, I typically use at least 1/200 sec. This, together with the use of slow lens, can easily push ISO to very high levels. No IBIS can help you with that. The greatest things about m4/3 is the balance of performance and size of the kit. If you need performance that modern technology can achieve, D750 is no doubt a spectacular camera. I wish I knew it was coming before I bought the D7100, which is already better *for me* than m4/3 in AF tracking and overall IQ.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 1 minute after posting

4 upvotes

High ISO on m43 can't match the D750. There's about a two stop difference. If you plan to shoot lots of super low light pics like they did in this video, don't go for a crop-sensored camera. In good light and at lower ISOs, things get muddled and it depends on a lot of factors. Unless you have a very high dynamic range type of landscape photo or some very shallow DoF portrait shot, it can be hard to tell, particularly with no pixel peeping or only medium to small prints.

AF... it depends. M43 is very good and quick with single shot AF, down to which eye you want to focus on. Things get iffy when lighting conditions dim. The only m43 camera that still AFs well in low light is the GH4. Tracking AF is still lagging behind with all m43 cameras, some models are better than others, but you still have a higher miss rate than you would have with the D750.

Of course, there are things m43 excell at, but I'm about to hit the character limit with this post!

3 upvotes

Indeed, we see quite a few testimonies from FF shooters in the m4/3 forum that they have sold all their FF gears to switch b/c they cannot see any difference between FF and m4/3. The key word here is THEY, that in their photography, the advantages of FF are not apparent. They do not need a FF, and should not have bought one in the first place. However this does not mean that FF cameras, such as the D750, are not better in many ways except the weight and bulk of the gear.

2 upvotes

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Real-world test: Nikon D750 at the Museum of Flight

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