Is the D4s still relevant in 2030?. I just bought one with less than 8000 actuations in top condition for $1300. Alongside a D810 that I also bought recently for just over $1000 also less then 8000 actuations. Working with these to bodies again made me realize how great they are. Both produce amazing images. Like many I had to downscale during the 2020 COVID pandemic and I was early to sell my D5 and D850 when both were in high demand and fetch great prices. I kept my lenses as they are older generation 70-200 f2.8 vr, 300 f2.8 vr, 16-35 f4 and 24-70 non vr. Lesson learned during this time is that top quality used gear at the fraction of the price still produce fantastic images. And kind of fun more relaxed, getting the surprised look from some that you still field some old gear. During the Lockdown I listen to some Zoom presentations on photography, interviews with dome top level nature photographers and one specific lady with the most amazing creative images, still shooting with a D3s and a 150-600 Tamron. One profound statement she made that resonated with most people is this, ” looking at all the stock photography databases” I realized the world does not need more sharp images”. So liberated with that though, I started to pursue new images, less obsessed with pixel level sharpness and tight crops to images with great light, creative movement, angles, and perspectives. I again realized that New gear does nothing for advancement in personal growth as a photographer, if you just aspire to more of the same.
Great comments, I shoot with old dinosaurs all the time, my newest camera is about 4 or 5 years old. Just acquired a D4S on Ebay with 21k cliks, can’t wait to shoot with it. Cheers!
Dino Brusco
January 9, 2018 9:22 am
Good morning Nasim
I’m on the verge to decide between D4s (which I found at right half price than D5 a very good used, with shutter unit just replaced) and D5 itself. I know there’s no D5 review here but based on your experience and considering I’m NOT going to track very fast subjects in very challenging light, what about the D5 might be worth the expense over the D4s ? I don’t know if anyone of you is regularly shooting with the D5 and if so, which are the main daily / operational differences you find between the two cameras ? In dim light for static or slowly moving subjects (again, I’m not gonna track a Ferrari at dusk, maybe a couple strolling by the seashore, I let sport events for the day anyway) is there any real difference between the Expeed 4 on D4s ( rated -2 EV in central point but so much ditched in the D810 vs the D750 which focused much more reliably in the dark ) and the Expeed 5 (rated -4) on the D5? Where am I going to notice the difference, based on dim light alone (and considering I still have ALSO some MF lenses to deal with) ? Thanks in advance. Thanks
Jakes
September 26, 2016 2:24 pm
I know thie review goes back some time but with the release of the D5 it is still relevant as people such as me who would buy the D4s instead of the big investment in the D5. I understand the need to downsample images of the D810 and D750 to compare at pixel level, fact of the matter is that you buy the camera to shoot at full resolution and not to downsample. My point is that the D810 ISO performance at full resolution is fantastic at low sensitivity, however pushing the ISO not only increase the grain but there is a sudden loss in DR and color. I maintain that the D810 is a fantastic, love w ISO camera, ideal for landscapes, studio and nature, including macro work. As an action camera for wildlife and BIF, it caused me many hours of frustration. I also hated to crop the D810 files. It produce such spectacular detail and then to crop 50% away for reach, then YI would rather buy a D7200. However, I am extremely happy with my D4s, it remains a stunning camera
Ciprian Vatamanu Fotograf Nunta
March 6, 2016 6:07 am
Great camera. When I had my D4s upgrade done, your review was the reason why I made the investment. All the details that I’ve needed. Thanks man, and keep up with the good work!
mikeschmeee
February 9, 2015 11:57 pm
Rob,
I’ve been photographing birds for a few years now but I’m still always learning so I don’t consider myself anywhere near the amateur level. I’m still a beginner. Overall, I’ve been photographing for 8 years now.
I have a D4s with 300mm f/2.8 and TC-20E III teleconverter. Most of my images are out of focus when shooting birds in flight coming towards me. My current settings:
AF-C, release + focus, group area AF, focus tracking with lock-on is off, f/8, VR is on when hand held regardless of shutter speed, VR is off when on a tripod.
The camera will focus when I press and hold the shutter release butter halfway to focus on the bird. Once focus is acquired, I press down the rest of the way and hold the shutter release button as a bird flies towards me, firing off multiple images (around 20 or so). When I preview the shots on the camera, the first two-five frames are perfect but the rest of the 10 to 20 are out of focus. I had better luck with the same lens, teleconverter and similar settings on my D7100 and my D90 but the D4s is giving me a hard time. This is a new camera (bought on Jan 31, 2015) so I’m still learning but I’m interested to know if my settings are wrong?
I also tried the following combinations:
AF-C, release, group area AF, f/8
AF-C, release, every dynamic-area AF, f/8
AF-C, focus, group area AF, f/8
AF-C, focus, every dynamic-area AF, f/8
When AF-C priority selection is set to release, I can shoot up to 44 shots but very little are focused.
When AF-C priority selection is set to focus, my frame rate drops dramatically and it feels like I’m shooting with a D40. However, the focus rate does increase but not by much (I have not experimented enough with this combo just yet)
I shoot RAW, large, uncompressed, 14-bit
So far I’ve been shooting at a local lake but the weather has been quite cloudy with low lighting and I’m not sure if it’s the fairly little contrast between the bird and what’s behind it that may be causing this focus issue? Male and female mallards have a bit of contrast in my opinion but maybe not enough under these weather conditions? Perhaps it’s the lens and/or the teleconverters but I did not run into this problem with my D90 or my D7100 so I’m still thinking that the D4s has a setting that I overlooked or I am not aware off.
When shooting anything stationary with the D4s, the sharpness is great, no matter what lens I put on. But as soon as I start to shoot birds in flight it all goes south.
I have not experimented with AF-C single point yet as I’m under the impression that I should be using group area AF when shooting birds in flight. I’m determined to figure this out and I want the camera to work properly so all of the assistance I can get is greatly appreciated. I just want to know the best setting in order to photograph birds in flight and have crisp, sharp focused photographs 95% of the time whether or not the frame is filled. This issue is really concerning to me and at this point very disappointing. I am not ruling out that it may be the operator just not knowing how to use a professional camera :)
Although you say it works ok on other cameras, two things stand out to me: (1) use of TC2.0, (2) shooting at F8. On point 1, whilst the teleconverter is built for the serious F2.8 teles like your 300mm, however, you instantly lose a number of the focusing points when dropping to an F5.6 equivalent set-up (not to mention the optical degradations). TC 1.4 and 1.7 will maintain better AF performance. On point 2, if you further drop your aperture to F8, each time you take a shot (and about 50% of the total time) you are restricting light to the AF sensor to only the most sensitive central focusing point. Overall, I would strongly recommend you use just TC1.4 and keep the aperture to no lower than F5.6 if you must stop down. Stylistically, unless the mallards are about to land on your head, shooting at F2.8-5.6 will provide you plenty of DoF, moreover, better blur any distracting background, and optimise the AF performance.
You also mention AF area selections and I would not recommend Group unless you have a fairly close and potentially distracting background, and a stationary subject. The idea of Group is to prioritise the nearest focus point of the selection for you so the chance of jumping to a distractive background is minimised. However, Group does not include tracking facility, in contrast to the D9/21/53 modes. So, given that your mallards are in flight, Group is not a good choice. D9 or D21 would be my usual recommendation for BiFs simply depending on the size of the subject in the frame. Single may be better if it’s a particularly small subject.
Finally, the technique to accurately use the tracking modes D9/21/53 and single is to half-press on your subject as early as possible, then follow the flight for a bit before starting your burst. This allows the camera to evaluate the speed of movement by comparing the focus at the different points and hence predict where it will be after the 50ms or so of shutter delay you will have in all shots. Many people confuse this feature with 3D-tracking which is actually nothing to do with depth perception, but the ‘third-dimension’ of colour and shape information. 3-D tracking allows you to let the camera follow a subject left/right and up/down in the frame for you, but it has no form of dynamic (depth/speed estimation) so it is not recommended for BiFs or other subjects with large distance changes.
Note that today, in late 2019, although the D4S is still one of the best cameras you can get for such BiF tracking, the D500 (and D5/D850) is certainly superior because its Multi-Cam 20K AF module is a big improvement. In all areas of autofocus performance like speed of acquisition, accuracy, tracking ability, low-light use those latest DSLRs will get more out of any lens, noting that probably only the speed of acquisition is lens dependent whereas, focus accuracy, tracking ability and low-light capabilities are mostly the body.
mikeschmeee
February 3, 2015 3:06 pm
I love my D4s!
Marc
December 21, 2014 5:18 am
Hi, thanks to the staff for the great job. One question remain for me… Coming from a Nikon D700 and looking for low light perfo’s and a step up increased image quality should you consider a D750 or D4s? Thank you for your attention.
Dear Nasim, I am new owner of used D4s,and now I’m looking for xqd card.Nothing super fast,just to be relative cheap and secure.So,is Lexar 64GB 2933x reliable to use with D4s or should I go for Sony? Thank you in advannce.
Slaven, I haven’t heard of any issues with Lexar’s XQD cards, so you should be good to go.
Val
December 20, 2014 9:01 pm
Hi, Nasim,
I know this is an off topic question but I do not know the other way to ask it.
It is about aging of the digital sensors. I have read a statement on one of the forums that over 5 years sensors lose about 50% of their DR. I wonder if it is true.
Val, I don’t know who spreads these false rumors. There is no such thing as “aging of sensors”. Sensors do get more hot pixels over time, but DR does not change. Before I sold my D3s and D700, I was still using them for tests and despite their age, both did as good as when I bought them.
Thank you for the reply. I feel relieved. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Val
Ashu
November 19, 2014 5:56 am
@Rauck, I agree with you. Really I have seen wild life photography, but this one is incredible for me. I am feeling just just like I am also part of this amazing moment. @Nasim Mansurov thanks for this kind of photography and this article which has full of camera information with comparison. And now I am planning for this Nikon D4s . so I browsed some websites namely Snapdeal.com in which the camera price INR 366175 or $ 5911.25. Could you suggest me exact prices of this camera.
Ashu, I have never heard of Snapdeal.com – please use an authorized dealer when making purchases. I would not trust anyone else, especially if the price listed is below the dealer’s MSRP price…
Honestly, the wildlife photography in this D4s review is out of this world. I have rarely seen such magnificent images. Thanks to all of the team who put this together. I know I’ve said it before, but this site is becoming THE photography review destination.
Is the D4s still relevant in 2030?. I just bought one with less than 8000 actuations in top condition for $1300. Alongside a D810 that I also bought recently for just over $1000 also less then 8000 actuations. Working with these to bodies again made me realize how great they are. Both produce amazing images. Like many I had to downscale during the 2020 COVID pandemic and I was early to sell my D5 and D850 when both were in high demand and fetch great prices. I kept my lenses as they are older generation 70-200 f2.8 vr, 300 f2.8 vr, 16-35 f4 and 24-70 non vr. Lesson learned during this time is that top quality used gear at the fraction of the price still produce fantastic images. And kind of fun more relaxed, getting the surprised look from some that you still field some old gear. During the Lockdown I listen to some Zoom presentations on photography, interviews with dome top level nature photographers and one specific lady with the most amazing creative images, still shooting with a D3s and a 150-600 Tamron. One profound statement she made that resonated with most people is this, ” looking at all the stock photography databases” I realized the world does not need more sharp images”. So liberated with that though, I started to pursue new images, less obsessed with pixel level sharpness and tight crops to images with great light, creative movement, angles, and perspectives. I again realized that New gear does nothing for advancement in personal growth as a photographer, if you just aspire to more of the same.
Great comments, I shoot with old dinosaurs all the time, my newest camera is about 4 or 5 years old. Just acquired a D4S on Ebay with 21k cliks, can’t wait to shoot with it. Cheers!
Good morning Nasim
I’m on the verge to decide between D4s (which I found at right half price than D5 a very good used, with shutter unit just replaced) and D5 itself. I know there’s no D5 review here but based on your experience and considering I’m NOT going to track very fast subjects in very challenging light, what about the D5 might be worth the expense over the D4s ? I don’t know if anyone of you is regularly shooting with the D5 and if so, which are the main daily / operational differences you find between the two cameras ? In dim light for static or slowly moving subjects (again, I’m not gonna track a Ferrari at dusk, maybe a couple strolling by the seashore, I let sport events for the day anyway) is there any real difference between the Expeed 4 on D4s ( rated -2 EV in central point but so much ditched in the D810 vs the D750 which focused much more reliably in the dark ) and the Expeed 5 (rated -4) on the D5? Where am I going to notice the difference, based on dim light alone (and considering I still have ALSO some MF lenses to deal with) ?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks
I know thie review goes back some time but with the release of the D5 it is still relevant as people such as me who would buy the D4s instead of the big investment in the D5. I understand the need to downsample images of the D810 and D750 to compare at pixel level, fact of the matter is that you buy the camera to shoot at full resolution and not to downsample. My point is that the D810 ISO performance at full resolution is fantastic at low sensitivity, however pushing the ISO not only increase the grain but there is a sudden loss in DR and color. I maintain that the D810 is a fantastic, love w ISO camera, ideal for landscapes, studio and nature, including macro work. As an action camera for wildlife and BIF, it caused me many hours of frustration. I also hated to crop the D810 files. It produce such spectacular detail and then to crop 50% away for reach, then YI would rather buy a D7200. However, I am extremely happy with my D4s, it remains a stunning camera
Great camera. When I had my D4s upgrade done, your review was the reason why I made the investment. All the details that I’ve needed. Thanks man, and keep up with the good work!
Rob,
I’ve been photographing birds for a few years now but I’m still always learning so I don’t consider myself anywhere near the amateur level. I’m still a beginner. Overall, I’ve been photographing for 8 years now.
I have a D4s with 300mm f/2.8 and TC-20E III teleconverter. Most of my images are out of focus when shooting birds in flight coming towards me. My current settings:
AF-C, release + focus, group area AF, focus tracking with lock-on is off, f/8, VR is on when hand held regardless of shutter speed, VR is off when on a tripod.
The camera will focus when I press and hold the shutter release butter halfway to focus on the bird. Once focus is acquired, I press down the rest of the way and hold the shutter release button as a bird flies towards me, firing off multiple images (around 20 or so). When I preview the shots on the camera, the first two-five frames are perfect but the rest of the 10 to 20 are out of focus. I had better luck with the same lens, teleconverter and similar settings on my D7100 and my D90 but the D4s is giving me a hard time. This is a new camera (bought on Jan 31, 2015) so I’m still learning but I’m interested to know if my settings are wrong?
I also tried the following combinations:
AF-C, release, group area AF, f/8
AF-C, release, every dynamic-area AF, f/8
AF-C, focus, group area AF, f/8
AF-C, focus, every dynamic-area AF, f/8
When AF-C priority selection is set to release, I can shoot up to 44 shots but very little are focused.
When AF-C priority selection is set to focus, my frame rate drops dramatically and it feels like I’m shooting with a D40. However, the focus rate does increase but not by much (I have not experimented enough with this combo just yet)
I shoot RAW, large, uncompressed, 14-bit
So far I’ve been shooting at a local lake but the weather has been quite cloudy with low lighting and I’m not sure if it’s the fairly little contrast between the bird and what’s behind it that may be causing this focus issue? Male and female mallards have a bit of contrast in my opinion but maybe not enough under these weather conditions? Perhaps it’s the lens and/or the teleconverters but I did not run into this problem with my D90 or my D7100 so I’m still thinking that the D4s has a setting that I overlooked or I am not aware off.
When shooting anything stationary with the D4s, the sharpness is great, no matter what lens I put on. But as soon as I start to shoot birds in flight it all goes south.
I have not experimented with AF-C single point yet as I’m under the impression that I should be using group area AF when shooting birds in flight. I’m determined to figure this out and I want the camera to work properly so all of the assistance I can get is greatly appreciated. I just want to know the best setting in order to photograph birds in flight and have crisp, sharp focused photographs 95% of the time whether or not the frame is filled. This issue is really concerning to me and at this point very disappointing. I am not ruling out that it may be the operator just not knowing how to use a professional camera :)
Please and thank you,
Mike
Sorry I typed the same message to Rob and forgot to address this message posted here to Nasim.
Turn vr off. Use release +focus mode.
Use minimum focus resting period.
Although you say it works ok on other cameras, two things stand out to me: (1) use of TC2.0, (2) shooting at F8. On point 1, whilst the teleconverter is built for the serious F2.8 teles like your 300mm, however, you instantly lose a number of the focusing points when dropping to an F5.6 equivalent set-up (not to mention the optical degradations). TC 1.4 and 1.7 will maintain better AF performance. On point 2, if you further drop your aperture to F8, each time you take a shot (and about 50% of the total time) you are restricting light to the AF sensor to only the most sensitive central focusing point. Overall, I would strongly recommend you use just TC1.4 and keep the aperture to no lower than F5.6 if you must stop down. Stylistically, unless the mallards are about to land on your head, shooting at F2.8-5.6 will provide you plenty of DoF, moreover, better blur any distracting background, and optimise the AF performance.
You also mention AF area selections and I would not recommend Group unless you have a fairly close and potentially distracting background, and a stationary subject. The idea of Group is to prioritise the nearest focus point of the selection for you so the chance of jumping to a distractive background is minimised. However, Group does not include tracking facility, in contrast to the D9/21/53 modes. So, given that your mallards are in flight, Group is not a good choice. D9 or D21 would be my usual recommendation for BiFs simply depending on the size of the subject in the frame. Single may be better if it’s a particularly small subject.
Finally, the technique to accurately use the tracking modes D9/21/53 and single is to half-press on your subject as early as possible, then follow the flight for a bit before starting your burst. This allows the camera to evaluate the speed of movement by comparing the focus at the different points and hence predict where it will be after the 50ms or so of shutter delay you will have in all shots. Many people confuse this feature with 3D-tracking which is actually nothing to do with depth perception, but the ‘third-dimension’ of colour and shape information. 3-D tracking allows you to let the camera follow a subject left/right and up/down in the frame for you, but it has no form of dynamic (depth/speed estimation) so it is not recommended for BiFs or other subjects with large distance changes.
Note that today, in late 2019, although the D4S is still one of the best cameras you can get for such BiF tracking, the D500 (and D5/D850) is certainly superior because its Multi-Cam 20K AF module is a big improvement. In all areas of autofocus performance like speed of acquisition, accuracy, tracking ability, low-light use those latest DSLRs will get more out of any lens, noting that probably only the speed of acquisition is lens dependent whereas, focus accuracy, tracking ability and low-light capabilities are mostly the body.
I love my D4s!
Hi, thanks to the staff for the great job.
One question remain for me…
Coming from a Nikon D700 and looking for low light perfo’s and a step up increased image quality should you consider a D750 or D4s?
Thank you for your attention.
Marc, unless you want a pro body and fast fps, I would go with the D750.
Dear Nasim,
I am new owner of used D4s,and now I’m looking for xqd card.Nothing super fast,just to be relative cheap and secure.So,is Lexar 64GB 2933x reliable to use with D4s or should I go for Sony?
Thank you in advannce.
Slaven, I haven’t heard of any issues with Lexar’s XQD cards, so you should be good to go.
Hi, Nasim,
I know this is an off topic question but I do not know the other way to ask it.
It is about aging of the digital sensors. I have read a statement on one of the forums that over 5 years sensors lose about 50% of their DR. I wonder if it is true.
Thank you,
Val
Val, I don’t know who spreads these false rumors. There is no such thing as “aging of sensors”. Sensors do get more hot pixels over time, but DR does not change. Before I sold my D3s and D700, I was still using them for tests and despite their age, both did as good as when I bought them.
Hi, Nasim,
Thank you for the reply. I feel relieved. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Val
@Rauck, I agree with you. Really I have seen wild life photography, but this one is incredible for me. I am feeling just just like I am also part of this amazing moment. @Nasim Mansurov thanks for this kind of photography and this article which has full of camera information with comparison. And now I am planning for this Nikon D4s . so I browsed some websites namely Snapdeal.com in which the camera price INR 366175 or $ 5911.25. Could you suggest me exact prices of this camera.
Ashu, I have never heard of Snapdeal.com – please use an authorized dealer when making purchases. I would not trust anyone else, especially if the price listed is below the dealer’s MSRP price…
@Nasim Mansurov .. Thanks for your suggestion .
Honestly, the wildlife photography in this D4s review is out of this world. I have rarely seen such magnificent images. Thanks to all of the team who put this together. I know I’ve said it before, but this site is becoming THE photography review destination.
Thank you! We all very much enjoy going out and getting these kinds of images. Hard work, but very enjoyable.