Old Photographer Series
The Nikon D3S has never needed much help making a good photograph. It was designed for working photographers—people standing beside football pitches, waiting outside courtrooms, covering dimly lit concerts and photographing events where failure was not considered part of the job.
Even so, a professional camera cannot rescue careless technique.
The D3S may be built like a small armoured vehicle, but sharp pictures still begin with the person holding it. After all these years, I have learned that softness is rarely the camera’s fault. More often, it comes from asking too much of the shutter speed, mishandling the autofocus or simply failing to hold the bloody thing properly.
Fortunately, the D3S is one of the easiest cameras to hold properly. Its substantial body sits naturally in the hands, particularly with larger lenses. There is enough weight to steady the camera without making it feel lifeless. With the left hand supporting the lens from underneath and the right hand controlling the camera, the whole arrangement becomes remarkably stable.
Do not hold the lens from the side as though you are gripping a beer bottle. Support its weight underneath. Bring your elbows closer to your body, relax your shoulders and press the shutter smoothly rather than stabbing at it. If there is a wall, post or doorway nearby, use it. Pride has never produced a sharper photograph.
The old advice about using a shutter speed equal to the focal length remains useful, but it should not be treated as a guarantee. With a 50mm lens, 1/50 second might be possible. With an 85mm, 1/100 second sounds reasonable. In practice, however, people move, photographers sway and moments happen quickly.
For street photography with the D3S, I would rather use 1/250 or 1/320 second as my starting point. If people are walking briskly, I will move to 1/500. For lively children, performers or unpredictable action, 1/800 or 1/1000 second is far safer.
There is little honour in using a low ISO if the resulting photograph is blurred.
That is where the D3S still earns its keep. Its 12-megapixel sensor may appear modest beside the enormous files produced by modern cameras, but its high-ISO performance remains excellent. ISO 1600 presents no serious problem. Neither does ISO 3200 when the exposure is right. I would happily use ISO 6400 if it gave me the shutter speed needed to secure the picture.
A sharp photograph with a little noise is still a photograph. A perfectly clean but badly blurred file is usually just something to delete.
Autofocus technique matters just as much. The D3S uses Nikon’s 51-point Multi-CAM 3500FX system, and although it predates the subject-recognition systems found in the newest cameras, it remains fast, dependable and remarkably capable.
For stationary subjects, AF-S with a single focus point works well. Place that point over the most important part of the picture—usually the nearest eye—and make the exposure. Do not let the camera decide that a shirt collar, ear or background sign is more interesting than the face.
For moving people, AF-C is the better choice. I generally prefer Dynamic-area AF, using either nine or 21 points depending on how erratic the subject is. The selected point tells the camera where to begin, while the surrounding points help maintain focus if the subject shifts slightly.
The important thing is to keep the active point on the subject and continue following the movement. The D3S cannot focus through carelessness. If the focus point drifts onto the background, that is often where the camera will focus.
Back-button focusing can also make the camera easier to control. Separating autofocus from the shutter release allows me to focus with my thumb and take the picture with my forefinger. It takes a little time to become accustomed to it, but once learned, it removes much of the indecision from shooting.
For a portrait, I can focus on the eye, release the button and make several frames without the camera attempting to refocus each time. When something starts moving, I hold the button down and the camera tracks continuously. It is a simple arrangement that works particularly well with a professional Nikon body.
Lens choice also plays its part. Every lens has its limits, and even an excellent prime may not deliver its best performance wide open. A fast 85mm f/1.8 can produce beautiful pictures at f/1.8, but the depth of field at close distance is extremely narrow. Focus on the eyelashes and the iris may already be soft. Focus on the near eye and the far eye may fall outside the sharp area.
That is not faulty equipment. It is optics.
Unless I specifically want the shallowest possible depth of field, I often stop down to f/2.8, f/3.2 or f/4. The lens becomes more forgiving, depth of field increases and there is a better chance that the important parts of the face will remain sharp.
With a zoom lens, f/5.6 or f/8 can be an excellent working aperture in decent light. The D3S was built for photographers who needed usable pictures, not for people determined to prove that they owned an f/1.4 lens.
Exposure must also be correct. Underexposing badly and then dragging the shadows upwards in editing increases noise and weakens fine detail. The D3S handles poor light very well, but it still benefits from receiving enough light in the first place. I watch the highlights, expose generously without clipping anything important and avoid relying on software to repair a lazy exposure.
Burst shooting can help, but it should be used with some restraint. The D3S can shoot at professional sports-camera speeds, yet firing a dozen frames does not guarantee that any of them will be good. For a moving subject, a short burst of two or three frames is often enough. One may catch the exact point where the person’s movement settles and everything becomes sharp.
The camera should be checked occasionally as well. If one lens consistently front-focuses or back-focuses, the D3S provides autofocus fine-tuning. That feature is useful, but it should not become the first suspect every time a picture looks soft.
Before adjusting anything, put the camera on a firm support, use good light, choose a clear target and test it carefully. Many supposed autofocus problems disappear when tested properly. The original fault was often camera movement, subject movement or unrealistic expectations at maximum aperture.
There is another advantage to the D3S that is sometimes overlooked: its relatively modest resolution. Twelve megapixels are sufficient for strong prints, editorial work and normal online use, but they are not quite as merciless as today’s 45- or 60-megapixel sensors. Minor imperfections are less obvious, files are easier to handle and the pictures retain a natural quality.
That does not mean the D3S produces soft images. With good technique and a decent lens, its files are crisp, detailed and wonderfully solid. They simply do not shout about sharpness in the brittle, overprocessed manner we sometimes see today.
My basic D3S arrangement for photographing people is straightforward: AF-C, Dynamic nine-point autofocus, a minimum shutter speed of around 1/250 second, Auto ISO allowed to rise as necessary and an aperture chosen for the depth of field I actually need. If the subject is moving quickly, I increase the shutter speed. If the light is poor, I raise the ISO. If the face needs more depth, I stop the lens down.
Nothing clever. Nothing fashionable. Just settings that help bring the photograph home.
Sharpness matters, but it is not the purpose of photography. A perfectly sharp photograph of nothing remains a photograph of nothing. Expression, timing, light and human presence will always matter more.
But when the moment does arrive—when the face changes, the eyes meet yours and the picture suddenly presents itself—you owe it to that moment to be ready.
The Nikon D3S will do its part.
The old photographer must still do his.
a world without pictures is like coffee without cream and sugar, bitter 