46 4 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
TheSilentliveview
photographymodeis
locatedatthebottomof
the Photo Shooting MenuForstarters,theAFmodes
youhaveat yourdisposal
whenshootingin AF-Cmodevia
theviewfinderdiffertothosein
liveview.You’llfindAFcoverageis
muchmorecentralwhenusing
theviewfindertoo,whereasin live
viewyoucanshifttheAFtarget
muchclosertotheedgeof the
frame.Thespeedof continuous
autofocus(AF-C)in liveviewis
brisk,buttrackingisn’ttheeasiest
orquickesttosetupin Auto-area
AFmodesoI veeredtowards
usingthe3Dtrackingmodevia
theviewfinderinsteadforsubjects
thatweren’ttooerraticin their
behaviour.Sportsandaction
photographerswillbetemptedto
enterliveviewtoaccessthe
D780’smaximum12fpsburst
mode,butmytestingconfirmed
thatyoucanexpecttoachievea
higherhit-rateof sharpshotsin a
burstat 7fpsviatheviewfinder
usingoneof thedynamic-areaAF
modes.Theotherthingtofactorin
is thatyou’reat greaterriskof
introducingrollingshutter
artefactstoshotsusingthe
electronicshutterthanyouare
withthemechanicalshutter.
Shootinga seriesof portraits
revealedtheD780is extremely
responsiveat recognisingfaces
andeyesin liveview.Youdo
howeverneedtomakesurethe
AFareamodeis settoAuto-
areaAFfirst.Eyedetectionis
disabledwhenusingthe
viewfi nder, but Face Detectioncontinuestoworkwellwiththe3D
trackingandAutoAFareamodes.
Oneof thebenefits of working
witha 24MPsensoris thatthe
processorisn’toverloadedbyvery
largefile sizes.UsinganSDXC
cardfacilitating280MB/sread
and250MB/swritespeeds
revealedthatit canhappilyshoot
100 continuousrawfilesat 7fps
viatheviewfinderbeforethe
bufferneedsa breather.WithLive
ViewandSilentmodeactivatedI
managedtorecord 54 rawfilesat
12fpsbeforethebufferwasfull.
Havingtheoptiontochangethe
roleplayedbya secondcardin
slot2 givesit anadvantageover
Nikon’smirrorlessmodelstoo.For
a majorityof mytestingI hadit set
uptorecordrawfilestoslot1 and
JPEGstoslot2,butthespareslot
canalsobesetupandusedfor
overflowandbackuppurposes.
Asfarasimageoutputgoes,the
D780producesstunningresults
fromits imagingsensorthatsharesa
likenessin termsof colour,detailand
dynamicrangetoNikon’sZ 6.The
Naturallightautowhitebalance
modeproducesfaithfulcolourthatis
neithertoocoolnortoowarmand
becamemygo-towhitebalance
modewhenworkingoutdoors.The
JPEGreproductionis goodtoo.
Colourrenditionis excellent,
sharpeningisn’ttooaggressiveand
userscandialbackhighISOnoise
reductionto createa lessprocessed
lookthanthedefault ‘Normal’
setting applies.LiketheNikonD850,theD780
presentsseveraldifferentways of
quieteningthemechanical
shutter.Theshutterhasa
satisfyingandreassuringsound
duringday-to-dayshootingwhen
you’reusingtheviewfinder,
howeveryoudogetthesenseit’s
quiteloudwhenthere’snotmuch
goingonaroundyou.TheQ and
Qcmodesonthemodedialare
thequietreleaseshooting
modes.Thesedampenthesound
of mirrorslapveryslightlyandin
QcmodetheD780canshoot
continuouslyat upto3fps.
Toshootmorediscreetly,Nikon
has implemented a zero-
vibrationelectronicshutterthat
enablesuserstocaptureimages
in totalsilencewhenliveviewis
used.WithSilentliveview
photographymodeturnedon
fromthephotoshootingmenu,
there’snonoisewhatsoever
whenyoupresstheshutter
button.Setthedrivedialtoits
continuoushigh(CH)settingwith
silentliveviewmodeturnedon
anduserscanshootfastbursts
of rawfilesat upto12fpswithout
a peepoutof thecamera– great
forweddingandwildlifeshooters
who’dliketocontinueshooting
withoutdisturbingor frightening
their subjects.Silent shooting
Nikon’spicturecontrolmodescanbe
customised.Herethemonochrome
modereceiveda boosttocontrastand
clarityNikonD780,Sigma14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM
Art, 1/5sec at f/16, ISO 100