Thinking Out Loud

Thoughts on my photography
With the start of May I have seen a number of changes in subjects, partly because the Spring migration is quickly coming to a close in the Greater Vancouver area, the weather and the length of the days are also changing. At this time of year the majority of days have sunshine, and even if we get rain it doesn't have the intensity of the winter months. That is good in that it is easier to get out and take photos, but the longer days introduce other problems.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I wont be able to shoot at golden hour at the bird sanctuary, because it is closed to the public during those hours. Last week the first hummingbirds started to appear at the sanctuary, so I am hoping to get some photos of them in the coming weeks. Other regional parks are open longer hours so I am hoping to find some new spots where I can take advantage of the longer days. I may also focus more on shore birds in the summer months, but only time will tell how that will work out. 

New Nikon Cameras Coming This Summer?
Another subject that interests me is the summer camera updates from Nikon, which will likely come in the form of D90 and D700 replacements. There are many questions among current users about what Nikon will do to update these units, and some of those thoughts are more likely than others. Some feel that Nikon needs to put a higher resolution sensor with 1080p video in both camera in order to not look stagnant. While I agree that 1080p video would be an improvement, I cannot see Nikon putting a higher end sensor in the D700 replacement than what is in the D3s. I don't think we'll see higher end sensors in the FX bodies till after the D4 is released. I suspect we will see a D700s, with 720p video added and dual cards slots (one CF and one SD) like the D300s. Another option would be a D700s and a new lower cost FX body using the current D700 sensor to compete with the Sony A850, but I think that is unlikely.

As for the D90 replacement, I'm not sure where Nikon will go with that camera. Will it be the first Nikon to support 1080p video, in hopes of pitting it against the Canon Rebel T2i/550D? Would the D90 replacement continue to use the 12MP sensor, or adopt the 14MP sensor that Sony released last year? Maybe Nikon will develop it's own DX sensor, the way they did for the D3 and D3s, in order to get more resolution, such as a 16MP sensor? This is all speculation at this point. Then again there is the danger of the D90 replacement cutting down sales of the D300s, so maybe Nikon will just keep the 12MP sensor? Maybe if the D90 replacement has more resolution we will see a D400 this year rather than next year? Some feel that the D300s was introduced at a lower price than the D300, so it may just be a stop gap measure used to prevent the D300 from looking too dated?