Real-world High ISO Image Quality
We've already covered how the D5 performs in low light in our studio test scene. So what's it like to use in the real world? In a word, great. In two words, really great. Not necessarily because of drastically decreased noise levels (they're lower, but only modestly), but more because of how the D5 handles color retention and accuracy in situations where your eyes are having trouble seeing color at all. This shines through in the Raw files, but even more so in the out-of-camera JPEGs. While I still generally like to process out the Raws, the D5 with Active D-Lighting enabled gets JPEGs closer to how I would process those Raw files as any camera ever has.
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| Straight-out-of-camera JPEG with default settings. Photo by Carey Rose. Tamron 85mm F1.8 VC @ F1.8 | 1/125 sec | ISO 12800. Strobe added camera left for effect. |
If you pixel-peep the above image you'll still notice a bit of softness due to the D5's default noise reduction, which is still less sophisticated than, say, Sony's. But that's not really the point. If you want to print noise-free billboards, you'll want a Nikon D810 or a Sony a7R II or possibly a Canon 5DS R, and you won't be shooting in light levels like this with these exposure settings. But if you're on assignment and need a JPEG to send off to your editor for web or print, the above image is 110% acceptable.
But that's not to say that I don't sometimes screw up and produce JPEGs that are notacceptable.
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| Out-of-camera JPEG | Processed to taste from Adobe Camera Raw |
If the band isn't doing anything interesting, it's time to look into the audience. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 50mm F1.4D | F2 | 1/250 sec | ISO 1400
We have written about the D5's (relative lack of) dynamic range compared to the D810. And it's true, for hardcore landscape shooters or folks wanting to preserve tones in extremely high contrast scenes, you may find yourself choosing between noisy shadows and blown highlights with the D5. In real-world low-light shooting though, I've rarely found it to be a problem. The above photo was taken hastily in manual mode, simply because I wanted to capture that moment before I decided to check my exposure. (Also, beer). No problem. Pushed two-and-a-quarter stops in post, with shadows pushed more and no luminance noise reduction to speak of, I still ended up with a very usable image. That's because the low ISO dynamic range trade-off isn't relevant at high ISO, where the D5 noise performance crowns most other cameras.
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| The D5's excellent high-ISO performance opens up some creative opportunities if you know where to look - like hand-held sunstar-shooting at night. Straight-out-of-camera JPEG, cropped to taste. Photo by Rishi Sanyal. Nikon AF-S 24mm F1.8G @ F11 | 1/60 sec | ISO 36000 |
What's more, the D5's ergonomics and handling can keep up with its sensor's abilities. The D3S could shoot at astronomical ISO sensitivities as well, but without backlit controls, it could be a pain to change settings in situations that dark. The D4 and D4S solved that, but the D5 goes one step further with an autofocus system that will reliably lock focus under moonlight. And then if it's even too dark for that, you can enable the D5's live view mode, zoom in and focus manually, using the camera almost as a night-vision system. If you find yourself photographing in available darkness with any regularity, the D5 will revolutionize the way you shoot and reward you with usable images despite astronomical ISO values.
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| The D5 allows me to reliably get usable files in just about any lighting conditions. Processed and cropped to taste from Raw. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8E VR @ 24mm | F2.8 | 1/125 | ISO 25600 |
Raw Dynamic Range
After running our Exposure Latitude and ISO Invariance tests we've found that while the D5's sensor is clearly optimized for low-light image making, it represents a rather surprising - and disappointing - step backwards in terms of low ISO dynamic range.
Let's take a closer look, starting with our Exposure Latitude test scene.
Exposure Latitude
In this test we look to see how tolerant of pushing exposure the D5's Raw files are. We've done this by exposing our scene with increasingly lower exposures, then pushed them back to the correct brightness using Adobe Camera Raw. Examining what happens in the shadows allows you to assess the exposure latitude (essentially the dynamic range) of the Raw files.
Because the changes in this test noise are primarily caused by shot noise and this is mainly determined by the amount of light the camera has had access to, the results are only directly comparable between cameras of the same sensor size. However, this will also be the case in real-world shooting if you're limited by what shutter speed you can keep steady, so this test gives you an idea of the amount of processing latitude different formats give.
Go to full screen mode
Even at a modest 3 stop push, we see the D5 has already contributed a considerable amount of noise to its low ISO images compared to the 24MP D750. After a 5 stop push the gap widens, with the D750's 5 stop file looking more like the 3 stop file from the D5. In fact, the D5's performance closely resembles the performance seen from the Canon 6D, with just a bit more color noise showing in the 6D's file.
After very aggressive pushes, an interesting series of bands appears at the top and bottom of the image. We don't know what's causing this additional noise (which appears to be confined to specific read-out rows) but it's interesting to note.
Go to full screen mode
ISO Invariance
A camera with a very low noise floor is able to capture a large amount of dynamic range, since it adds very little noise to the detail captured in the shadow regions of the image. This has an interesting implication: it minimizes the need to amplify the sensor's signal in order to keep it above that noise floor (which is what ISO amplification conventionally does). This provides an alternate way of working in situations that would traditionally demand higher ISO settings.
Here we've done something that may seem counter-intuitive: we've used the same aperture and shutter speed at different ISO settings to see how much difference there is between shooting at a particular ISO setting (and using hardware amplification) vs. digitally correcting the brightness, later. This has the advantage that all the shots should exhibit the same shot noise and any differences must have been contributed by the camera's circuitry.
Go to full screen mode
To make a long story short, the D5 (unlike the current Nikon benchmark camera, the D810) is not ISO Invariant. We see a similar performance between ISO 6400 and the pushed ISO 1600 and 800 files, but the ISO 400 image reveals a noise penalty - the darker tones in the image haven't been amplified above the camera's noise floor, so get swamped by noise. Comparing to the D810 gives us a clearer idea of how an ISO invariant camera should perform: the noise levels stay similar regardless of whether an image was shot at ISO 6400, or pushed to that level.
This shows that the D5 is adding some downstream read noise, which limits low ISO dynamic range but doesn't much affect high ISO dynamic range (which our friend Bill Claff's analysis shows to be excellent, if not class-leading). The D5's performance is, once again, closer to what we have seen in Canon cameras, such as the EOS 6D.* The Canon does add a little more noise than the D5 as well as introducing slight banding which can be hard to clean up. This limits the ability of the D5 to shoot at a low ISO setting in low light (to protect highlight information), rather than pushing up the ISO amplification.
Go to full screen mode
A quick note:
Inevitably, some of you will be disappointed by the results that we've shown in this testing. And so are we, a little bit. Our understanding of it is this: The D5 - like the D4 and D3-series before it - is Nikon's flagship camera by virtue of certain aspects of its capability. Specifically things like speed, AF performance, durability, and the more esoteric aspects of performance and specification valued very much by the working professionals it's aimed at. High ISO image quality, especially, has been a point of pride for Nikon in its flagship DSLRs since the D3, and as we'd expect, the D5 raises this already ridiculously high bar even further.
We wonder whether the need to maintain and build on these capabilities has led Nikon to continue the development of the sensors it designed for these previous Dx series cameras, perhaps suggesting that there wasn't a Sony-designed sensor available that would offer the high-speed readout and high ISO performance that Nikon required. Alternatively, it could be a matter of pride that the company's flagship offering be built around a sensor developed in-house.
Either way, in our opinion, we'd try not to over-stress the importance of the fact that the D5 has poorer base ISO dynamic range than its current peers (after all, you can buy multiple D810s for the same price, if low ISO DR is important to you). For its intended audience, the D5's high ISO imaging capabilities, advanced autofocus and durability are likely to be much more important.
Either way, in our opinion, we'd try not to over-stress the importance of the fact that the D5 has poorer base ISO dynamic range than its current peers (after all, you can buy multiple D810s for the same price, if low ISO DR is important to you). For its intended audience, the D5's high ISO imaging capabilities, advanced autofocus and durability are likely to be much more important.
Autofocus
The Multi-Cam 20K autofocus module in the D5 and D500 made waves when the cameras were announced because it offers the most autofocus points ever seen in a DSLR to date: 153 total points, 99 of which are cross-type (and 55 of which are user-selectable). Understandably, the number of available points as 'cross-type' varies depending on which lens you use and its maximum aperture, so that's something you'll want to check out in the D5 user manual. As an example, if you own a lot of older AF-D lenses as I do, you're actually limited to the 45 cross-type sensors in the center of the frame.
153 AF points in all their glory, overlaid on a rough representation of how the 180k pixel metering sensor 'sees' a scene, assuming 60k pixels each per R, G, and B. The boxes represent AF points that are user-selectable, with the dots in-between representing 'helper' AF points that the camera uses for its more advanced tracking modes.
The Multi-Cam 20K autofocus module in the D5 and D500 made waves when the cameras were announced because it offers the most autofocus points ever seen in a DSLR to date: 153 total points, 99 of which are cross-type (and 55 of which are user-selectable). Understandably, the number of available points as 'cross-type' varies depending on which lens you use and its maximum aperture, so that's something you'll want to check out in the D5 user manual. As an example, if you own a lot of older AF-D lenses as I do, you're actually limited to the 45 cross-type sensors in the center of the frame.
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| 153 AF points in all their glory, overlaid on a rough representation of how the 180k pixel metering sensor 'sees' a scene, assuming 60k pixels each per R, G, and B. The boxes represent AF points that are user-selectable, with the dots in-between representing 'helper' AF points that the camera uses for its more advanced tracking modes. |
Subject tracking: what it is and why we care so much about it
Among a few other factors, autofocus performance is something that keeps buyers coming back to DSLRs. Although cameras like Sony's a6300 and a7R II have been closing the gap (and in some instances, the gap is firmly closed), fast and erratically moving subjects are still largely the domain of DSLR shooters.
For decades, SLR and DSLR cameras have had phase detection autofocus systems made of many points. These points gave these cameras impressive depth-tracking abilities, even when shooting continuously. If you could keep your chosen autofocus point over your subject, you could get a sharp shot, and indeed, a large number of professional sports shooters continue to use this method today because it just works. Since the D5 does this just as well as, say, a D3 (besides the larger spread of AF points and extra low light sensitivity), there's not much of a story to tell here, so it's not something we focused (pun intended) as much on during testing.
We tended to leave the D5 in 3D Tracking most of the time because it just works so well - despite slowing down, it still worked in lighting conditions as dim, warm and smoky as this. Processed and cropped to taste from Raw. Photo by Barney Britton. Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8E VR @ F2.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 64000
However, Canon and Nikon have both been busy making their autofocus systems much more sophisticated than they used to be. Today, instead of having to choose an autofocus point on the D5 and follow a subject yourself, you can instead initiate autofocus with a single point and watch as the D5 tracks that subject around the frame with its 153 autofocus points. How? By shifting the selected AF point automatically to stay on your subject.
Being able to let the camera do the work for you allows for you to react more quickly (you don't have to manually select a point, you can place whatever point you already have selected over your subject and start tracking), and affords you more freedom compositionally (no more focus-and-recompose; you can focus-while-recomposing). You might also find that you can shoot at a wider aperture for greater subject isolation, because you won't need the extra depth-of-field to 'cover' autofocus misses, or the focus shift inherent to the old focus-and-recompose method.
With lesser AF systems, you might be shooting at a smaller aperture to give yourself some breathing room if the camera misses slightly. In this case, the D5's 3D Tracking was so good that Rishi was enable to initiate AF with a point near the right side of the frame as soon as the biker appeared, after which the camera tracked, and continuously focused on, the rider until just the right moment he fired the shot with a strobe that afforded - you guessed it - one shot. Photo by Rishi Sanyal. Nikon AF-S 24mm F1.8.
The D5 does its tracking using an upgraded 180k-pixel metering sensor to use color information and pattern recognition in tandem with the autofocus module's depth information. The result? The D5 offers the best subject tracking we've seen in any DSLR, and indeed any camera we've tested to date. Bar none.
Among a few other factors, autofocus performance is something that keeps buyers coming back to DSLRs. Although cameras like Sony's a6300 and a7R II have been closing the gap (and in some instances, the gap is firmly closed), fast and erratically moving subjects are still largely the domain of DSLR shooters.
For decades, SLR and DSLR cameras have had phase detection autofocus systems made of many points. These points gave these cameras impressive depth-tracking abilities, even when shooting continuously. If you could keep your chosen autofocus point over your subject, you could get a sharp shot, and indeed, a large number of professional sports shooters continue to use this method today because it just works. Since the D5 does this just as well as, say, a D3 (besides the larger spread of AF points and extra low light sensitivity), there's not much of a story to tell here, so it's not something we focused (pun intended) as much on during testing.
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| We tended to leave the D5 in 3D Tracking most of the time because it just works so well - despite slowing down, it still worked in lighting conditions as dim, warm and smoky as this. Processed and cropped to taste from Raw. Photo by Barney Britton. Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8E VR @ F2.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 64000 |
However, Canon and Nikon have both been busy making their autofocus systems much more sophisticated than they used to be. Today, instead of having to choose an autofocus point on the D5 and follow a subject yourself, you can instead initiate autofocus with a single point and watch as the D5 tracks that subject around the frame with its 153 autofocus points. How? By shifting the selected AF point automatically to stay on your subject.
Being able to let the camera do the work for you allows for you to react more quickly (you don't have to manually select a point, you can place whatever point you already have selected over your subject and start tracking), and affords you more freedom compositionally (no more focus-and-recompose; you can focus-while-recomposing). You might also find that you can shoot at a wider aperture for greater subject isolation, because you won't need the extra depth-of-field to 'cover' autofocus misses, or the focus shift inherent to the old focus-and-recompose method.
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| With lesser AF systems, you might be shooting at a smaller aperture to give yourself some breathing room if the camera misses slightly. In this case, the D5's 3D Tracking was so good that Rishi was enable to initiate AF with a point near the right side of the frame as soon as the biker appeared, after which the camera tracked, and continuously focused on, the rider until just the right moment he fired the shot with a strobe that afforded - you guessed it - one shot. Photo by Rishi Sanyal. Nikon AF-S 24mm F1.8. |
The D5 does its tracking using an upgraded 180k-pixel metering sensor to use color information and pattern recognition in tandem with the autofocus module's depth information. The result? The D5 offers the best subject tracking we've seen in any DSLR, and indeed any camera we've tested to date. Bar none.
How well the D5's autofocus system works
Let's put it this way - from rugby to dirt biking to motocross to soccer to dimly lit concert venues, we had to go out of our way to find shooting situations that would actually trip the D5's AF system up in 3D Tracking mode (again, if you just use single-point AF and track subjects yourself, the above situations aren't challenging the AF system all that much). Basically, if you are tracking a single, distinct subject, it doesn't really matter how it changes direction or how fast it's moving. The D5's 3D Tracking will just keep up with it, with a very high hit rate. Even a subject as specific as a human eye. The automatic AF point selection part of 3D Tracking does slow down in low light, just like AF in general, but not to the point that it becomes unusable.
Despite dim, multicolored and distracting lighting conditions, the camera nailed autofocus in 3D Tracking mode so I could easily capture this touching scene of a man and his tasty beverage. Processed and cropped to taste in Adobe Camera Raw. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8E VR @ 36mm | F2.8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 32000
The D5 gains an additional customization parameter for its AF system, allowing you to select whether your subject is moving steadily or more erratically towards, or away from, the camera. This is now in addition to the 'Blocked shot AF response' parameter which ranges from 1 (Quick) to 5 (Delayed) and determines how persistently the camera sticks to your subject before refocusing to a subject in front of, or behind, your initial subject. In our experience, leaving 'Blocked shot AF response' to its default, 3, and setting 'erratic' for subject movement worked very reliably across a wide variety of shooting scenarios.
You can, of course, just use the D5 in single AF mode which will offer excellent precision for static subjects, but the autofocus system works so well that we tend to just leave it in continuous 3D Tracking mode all the time. Here's a list of the other modes offered from the user manual (along with Nikon's use-case based recommended setup for sports):
- Single-point AF - Nikon recommends using this with stationary subjects, but if you can keep the autofocus point over your subject, it works for moving subjects as well. This tracking is only depth-based, and the point will not automatically move around to follow your subject - you have to do that yourself.
- Dynamic-area AF - Similar to single-point in that you must move the camera to follow your subject, only the camera will focus based on information from points surrounding the single point placed over your subject, and use that information to maintain focus if the subject briefly leaves that point. How briefly is defined depends on your 'Blocked shot AF response' setting - the higher your setting, the longer the camera will continue to track your initial subject before just refocusing on whatever's under your selected AF point. There are three different area sizes available, ranging from 25 points to all 153 points, and you'll want to grow the area size as your subjects move more unpredictably (think race cars versus birds in flight).
- 3D Tracking - The camera uses both color/pattern and depth information to automatically move the AF point to stay on a subject. In our experience, this mode works great for general usage, such as placing an autofocus point on someone's eye and then recomposing at will as the point continues to track the original spot you placed it. It also works well with erratically moving subjects.
- Group-area AF - Also similar to single-point and Dynamic-area, the camera focuses using a group of AF points with equal priority, to reduce the risk of focusing on the background if, for example, a single point were to wander off your subject and momentarily hover over a background. This mode is also useful for when you don't have the luxury of precisely placing one AF point exactly over a subject suddenly appearing in the frame.
- Auto-area AF - The camera will automatically detect a subject and select the appropriate focus points, and will give priority to faces and eyes. On the D5, it works staggeringly well.
Let's put it this way - from rugby to dirt biking to motocross to soccer to dimly lit concert venues, we had to go out of our way to find shooting situations that would actually trip the D5's AF system up in 3D Tracking mode (again, if you just use single-point AF and track subjects yourself, the above situations aren't challenging the AF system all that much). Basically, if you are tracking a single, distinct subject, it doesn't really matter how it changes direction or how fast it's moving. The D5's 3D Tracking will just keep up with it, with a very high hit rate. Even a subject as specific as a human eye. The automatic AF point selection part of 3D Tracking does slow down in low light, just like AF in general, but not to the point that it becomes unusable.
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| Despite dim, multicolored and distracting lighting conditions, the camera nailed autofocus in 3D Tracking mode so I could easily capture this touching scene of a man and his tasty beverage. Processed and cropped to taste in Adobe Camera Raw. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F2.8E VR @ 36mm | F2.8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 32000 |
The D5 gains an additional customization parameter for its AF system, allowing you to select whether your subject is moving steadily or more erratically towards, or away from, the camera. This is now in addition to the 'Blocked shot AF response' parameter which ranges from 1 (Quick) to 5 (Delayed) and determines how persistently the camera sticks to your subject before refocusing to a subject in front of, or behind, your initial subject. In our experience, leaving 'Blocked shot AF response' to its default, 3, and setting 'erratic' for subject movement worked very reliably across a wide variety of shooting scenarios.
You can, of course, just use the D5 in single AF mode which will offer excellent precision for static subjects, but the autofocus system works so well that we tend to just leave it in continuous 3D Tracking mode all the time. Here's a list of the other modes offered from the user manual (along with Nikon's use-case based recommended setup for sports):
- Single-point AF - Nikon recommends using this with stationary subjects, but if you can keep the autofocus point over your subject, it works for moving subjects as well. This tracking is only depth-based, and the point will not automatically move around to follow your subject - you have to do that yourself.
- Dynamic-area AF - Similar to single-point in that you must move the camera to follow your subject, only the camera will focus based on information from points surrounding the single point placed over your subject, and use that information to maintain focus if the subject briefly leaves that point. How briefly is defined depends on your 'Blocked shot AF response' setting - the higher your setting, the longer the camera will continue to track your initial subject before just refocusing on whatever's under your selected AF point. There are three different area sizes available, ranging from 25 points to all 153 points, and you'll want to grow the area size as your subjects move more unpredictably (think race cars versus birds in flight).
- 3D Tracking - The camera uses both color/pattern and depth information to automatically move the AF point to stay on a subject. In our experience, this mode works great for general usage, such as placing an autofocus point on someone's eye and then recomposing at will as the point continues to track the original spot you placed it. It also works well with erratically moving subjects.
- Group-area AF - Also similar to single-point and Dynamic-area, the camera focuses using a group of AF points with equal priority, to reduce the risk of focusing on the background if, for example, a single point were to wander off your subject and momentarily hover over a background. This mode is also useful for when you don't have the luxury of precisely placing one AF point exactly over a subject suddenly appearing in the frame.
- Auto-area AF - The camera will automatically detect a subject and select the appropriate focus points, and will give priority to faces and eyes. On the D5, it works staggeringly well.
Auto AF Fine Tune
The D5 and D500 have introduced an arguably ground-breaking automated procedure for fine-tuning lenses. We've already covered it in some detail, but the basic gist is that the D5 will calibrate your particular copy of a lens to itself automatically. It's got some limitations, in that it only calibrates in the center of the frame and offers no provision for multiple values on zoom lenses, nor for multiple subject distances or different lighting (daylight vs. tungsten). That said, it's a thoughtful and handy addition that addresses one of the largest shortcomings of DSLRs compared to mirrorless when it comes to focus accuracy. It's also quick enough to be done just about anywhere. No more LensAlign or FoCal apparati.
AF Fine Tune OFF
(focused on nose)
AF Fine Tune ON
(focused on eye)
Click through for the full-size images. We placed a single AF point over Sam's left eye (on camera right) for focus in both cases, and Auto AF Fine Tune decided our 24mm F1.4 G needed a correction of +14 on our D5 body. In other words, this particular 24/1.4 front-focused significantly out-of-the-box, but automated AF Fine Tune fixed that right up. This is the start of something huge when it comes to DSLRs: saying goodbye to back/front-focus issues. It's not perfect - it doesn't change the AF precision of the system, only AF accuracy - nor can it correct for any miscalibrations between AF points on your camera, but it's a big step in the right direction for DSLRs.
The D5 and D500 have introduced an arguably ground-breaking automated procedure for fine-tuning lenses. We've already covered it in some detail, but the basic gist is that the D5 will calibrate your particular copy of a lens to itself automatically. It's got some limitations, in that it only calibrates in the center of the frame and offers no provision for multiple values on zoom lenses, nor for multiple subject distances or different lighting (daylight vs. tungsten). That said, it's a thoughtful and handy addition that addresses one of the largest shortcomings of DSLRs compared to mirrorless when it comes to focus accuracy. It's also quick enough to be done just about anywhere. No more LensAlign or FoCal apparati.
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AF Fine Tune OFF
(focused on nose)
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AF Fine Tune ON
(focused on eye)
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Click through for the full-size images. We placed a single AF point over Sam's left eye (on camera right) for focus in both cases, and Auto AF Fine Tune decided our 24mm F1.4 G needed a correction of +14 on our D5 body. In other words, this particular 24/1.4 front-focused significantly out-of-the-box, but automated AF Fine Tune fixed that right up. This is the start of something huge when it comes to DSLRs: saying goodbye to back/front-focus issues. It's not perfect - it doesn't change the AF precision of the system, only AF accuracy - nor can it correct for any miscalibrations between AF points on your camera, but it's a big step in the right direction for DSLRs.
Preferred autofocus setup
As a fan of back-button focus, I've set up the D5 to have autofocus decoupled from a half-press of the shutter button, with the AF-ON buttons engaging 3D Tracking (my main AF mode), the 'Fn1' button under my ring finger to switch to single-point AF for situations when I want to freeze the autofocus point movement but keep tracking depth, and a press of the AF sub-selectors to enable 'Auto Area.'
For more casual snapshots, I'll still sometimes focus with the center point and recompose. The Nikon D5's touchscreen allows me to double-tap to zoom in on the face of my subject here in Image Review, instead of defaulting to wherever my AF point was if I used the 8-way controller center button to check focus in playback. Processed to taste from Raw. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.4G | F1.4 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100
What's really cool is that in this setup, I can hold down AF-ON for 3D Tracking, but temporarily disengage automatic AF point selection to freeze my AF point - but continue focusing - by holding down the Fn1 button. When I want the camera to re-start subject tracking (automatic AF point switching to follow my subject), I just let go of the Fn1 button. Lost my subject but need to nail the shot in a fraction of a second? Just jam the AF joystick to enable 'Auto Area' and hope my camera automatically picks up on my subject or a face in the frame. This doesn't always work, but that versatility can make or break a shot.
For more on how this setup applies in real life, let's head to a motocross practice session on the next page.
As a fan of back-button focus, I've set up the D5 to have autofocus decoupled from a half-press of the shutter button, with the AF-ON buttons engaging 3D Tracking (my main AF mode), the 'Fn1' button under my ring finger to switch to single-point AF for situations when I want to freeze the autofocus point movement but keep tracking depth, and a press of the AF sub-selectors to enable 'Auto Area.'
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| For more casual snapshots, I'll still sometimes focus with the center point and recompose. The Nikon D5's touchscreen allows me to double-tap to zoom in on the face of my subject here in Image Review, instead of defaulting to wherever my AF point was if I used the 8-way controller center button to check focus in playback. Processed to taste from Raw. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.4G | F1.4 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100 |
What's really cool is that in this setup, I can hold down AF-ON for 3D Tracking, but temporarily disengage automatic AF point selection to freeze my AF point - but continue focusing - by holding down the Fn1 button. When I want the camera to re-start subject tracking (automatic AF point switching to follow my subject), I just let go of the Fn1 button. Lost my subject but need to nail the shot in a fraction of a second? Just jam the AF joystick to enable 'Auto Area' and hope my camera automatically picks up on my subject or a face in the frame. This doesn't always work, but that versatility can make or break a shot.
For more on how this setup applies in real life, let's head to a motocross practice session on the next page.
Real-world autofocus performance
Motocross practice
For someone as obsessed with motorcycles as I am, it’s almost embarrassing to admit that this was my first time watching motocross in person, much less photographing it. And even though we were shooting a Sunday practice session, it proved a good test for Nikon’s flagship sports shooting machine. As riders brapped and blipped their engines, rocketing around the track at over 40 mph, I snapped and clacked the D5 away at 12 fps nearly the whole time. You just don’t realize how nice all those frames per second are until you really – truly – need them.
Panning shots - they look great, but because of the deep depth-of-field caused by small apertures and potential subject blur from slower shutter speeds, they're not the best for testing autofocus accuracy. Photographed in Auto Area AF. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 24-70 F2.8E VR @ 38mm | F11 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100
But before we get to the burst rate and the photos, it's best to make sure you've read about all the autofocus modes on the previous page for context. The continuous autofocus modes I chose to try out were 3D Tracking, single-point, Group Area AF and Auto Area AF.
It goes without saying that all of these modes, despite how computationally intensive they may be for the D5, work perfectly well at its full burst rate (not mirror lock-up mode). Actually, it's not as obvious as I'm making it sound: a D750 or D810, while excellent at subject tracking when not shooting (that is, for single shots), can falter during bursts,much like a Sony a7R II. And as someone who is used to 5 fps bodies, the higher frame rate was quite an eye-opener.
For someone as obsessed with motorcycles as I am, it’s almost embarrassing to admit that this was my first time watching motocross in person, much less photographing it. And even though we were shooting a Sunday practice session, it proved a good test for Nikon’s flagship sports shooting machine. As riders brapped and blipped their engines, rocketing around the track at over 40 mph, I snapped and clacked the D5 away at 12 fps nearly the whole time. You just don’t realize how nice all those frames per second are until you really – truly – need them.
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| Panning shots - they look great, but because of the deep depth-of-field caused by small apertures and potential subject blur from slower shutter speeds, they're not the best for testing autofocus accuracy. Photographed in Auto Area AF. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 24-70 F2.8E VR @ 38mm | F11 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100 |
But before we get to the burst rate and the photos, it's best to make sure you've read about all the autofocus modes on the previous page for context. The continuous autofocus modes I chose to try out were 3D Tracking, single-point, Group Area AF and Auto Area AF.
It goes without saying that all of these modes, despite how computationally intensive they may be for the D5, work perfectly well at its full burst rate (not mirror lock-up mode). Actually, it's not as obvious as I'm making it sound: a D750 or D810, while excellent at subject tracking when not shooting (that is, for single shots), can falter during bursts,much like a Sony a7R II. And as someone who is used to 5 fps bodies, the higher frame rate was quite an eye-opener.
12 fps
After some quick and informal testing, I soon started to take 12fps for granted. Slowing down the D5 in ‘Continuous Low’ mode to 6fps to simulate a less sports-oriented body was torturous. Predictably, instead of getting a solid six-to-eight shots of a rider flying past me with wide-ish framing, I’d get maybe three. I was often left wanting an additional shot in-between the few that I managed to get, and because of this, I ended up trying to get just a single shot at the right moment and hoping that my timing worked out. It often didn’t. Back to 12fps mode for me.
A high frame rate gives you more compositional options in situations such as this, where two riders are constantly changing their positions relative to each other. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 70-200 F2.8G VR II @ 200mm | F5.6 | 1/1250 sec | ISO 400
After some quick and informal testing, I soon started to take 12fps for granted. Slowing down the D5 in ‘Continuous Low’ mode to 6fps to simulate a less sports-oriented body was torturous. Predictably, instead of getting a solid six-to-eight shots of a rider flying past me with wide-ish framing, I’d get maybe three. I was often left wanting an additional shot in-between the few that I managed to get, and because of this, I ended up trying to get just a single shot at the right moment and hoping that my timing worked out. It often didn’t. Back to 12fps mode for me.
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| A high frame rate gives you more compositional options in situations such as this, where two riders are constantly changing their positions relative to each other. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 70-200 F2.8G VR II @ 200mm | F5.6 | 1/1250 sec | ISO 400 |
Following and focusing with single-point AF
But of course, 12fps is useless if you can’t see what you’re shooting. The good news is that the viewfinder blackout is so ludicrously short on the D5 that I was able to pan and follow a fast-moving rider at a very close distance with ease. Nikon’s 3D Tracking worked well (more on that later), but because I could see so clearly in 'real time' even at 12fps, using single-point continuous autofocus and just keeping a point over my subject was a completely viable option when panning and netted a high degree of ‘keepers.’ What’s more, the autofocus spread is so generous on the D5 that I rarely felt compositionally constrained by picking a single point to keep over my subject.
Of course, for the sake of some variety, sometimes it's best not to follow the action and just let it pass you by. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 300m F4 PF | F5.6 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100
But of course, 12fps is useless if you can’t see what you’re shooting. The good news is that the viewfinder blackout is so ludicrously short on the D5 that I was able to pan and follow a fast-moving rider at a very close distance with ease. Nikon’s 3D Tracking worked well (more on that later), but because I could see so clearly in 'real time' even at 12fps, using single-point continuous autofocus and just keeping a point over my subject was a completely viable option when panning and netted a high degree of ‘keepers.’ What’s more, the autofocus spread is so generous on the D5 that I rarely felt compositionally constrained by picking a single point to keep over my subject.
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| Of course, for the sake of some variety, sometimes it's best not to follow the action and just let it pass you by. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 300m F4 PF | F5.6 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 |
Group AF
Group AF on the D5 works similarly to single-point, but with the idea that a tight group of points will afford you a little more sloppiness in point placement than the higher precision one point alone requires. The idea is great in principle and it usually worked well, but there were a handful of times where I let a part of the group stray off the rider, and the camera quickly readjusted to focus on the background. Part of this is probably due to the fact that I had the AF system set up for ‘erratic’ subjects, and 'Blocked shot AF response' to default (3), since 3D tracking and single-point worked so well in this mode, but in any case I tended to avoid Group AF for the rest of this shoot. It's a great focus mode though for when you expect a subject to suddenly appear in one part of the frame: make sure AF is enabled for your shutter button, wait for it, then when the subject is under the general area of your selected group, jam the shutter button to both initiate AF and take the shot.
Birds Motorcycles in flight. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/1600 sec | ISO 100
Group AF on the D5 works similarly to single-point, but with the idea that a tight group of points will afford you a little more sloppiness in point placement than the higher precision one point alone requires. The idea is great in principle and it usually worked well, but there were a handful of times where I let a part of the group stray off the rider, and the camera quickly readjusted to focus on the background. Part of this is probably due to the fact that I had the AF system set up for ‘erratic’ subjects, and 'Blocked shot AF response' to default (3), since 3D tracking and single-point worked so well in this mode, but in any case I tended to avoid Group AF for the rest of this shoot. It's a great focus mode though for when you expect a subject to suddenly appear in one part of the frame: make sure AF is enabled for your shutter button, wait for it, then when the subject is under the general area of your selected group, jam the shutter button to both initiate AF and take the shot.
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| Birds Motorcycles in flight. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/1600 sec | ISO 100 |
3D Tracking
One of the most exciting autofocus developments for DSLRs in recent years, Nikon’s 3D Tracking, worked as well as I have come to expect with only a single exception. When at wider focal lengths and attempting to initiate tracking on a rider at a distance, the D5 would usually just not be able to find my subject. The user manual reflects this though, saying that the camera collects color information from focus points surrounding the one you've chosen, storing that information and using it to initiate tracking.
So with a distant rider, the D5 was seeing mostly the dirt color, despite the bright colored clothing of my intended subject. Put another way: the metering sensor was not high enough in resolution to discern a small rider from its immediate background. In any case, if I let the subject get a little closer, or if I used longer lenses that produce inherently shallower depth-of-field, 3D Tracking proved itself to be pretty magical, constantly re-focusing and re-positioning the autofocus point in the viewfinder even when I was shooting at 12fps.
Nikon's 3D Tracking did a great job of tracking this rider with a single AF point pegged to his riding suit. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/1000 sec | ISO 100
One of the most exciting autofocus developments for DSLRs in recent years, Nikon’s 3D Tracking, worked as well as I have come to expect with only a single exception. When at wider focal lengths and attempting to initiate tracking on a rider at a distance, the D5 would usually just not be able to find my subject. The user manual reflects this though, saying that the camera collects color information from focus points surrounding the one you've chosen, storing that information and using it to initiate tracking.
So with a distant rider, the D5 was seeing mostly the dirt color, despite the bright colored clothing of my intended subject. Put another way: the metering sensor was not high enough in resolution to discern a small rider from its immediate background. In any case, if I let the subject get a little closer, or if I used longer lenses that produce inherently shallower depth-of-field, 3D Tracking proved itself to be pretty magical, constantly re-focusing and re-positioning the autofocus point in the viewfinder even when I was shooting at 12fps.
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| Nikon's 3D Tracking did a great job of tracking this rider with a single AF point pegged to his riding suit. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon AF-S 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/1000 sec | ISO 100 |
Auto Area AF
The last mode I experimented with was Auto Area AF, which is usually a mode that I tell people to avoid using. The D5 might just change my mind on that one. The camera was able to find a moving subject and hit it with anywhere from one to nine AF points almost every single time.
1 2 3 4 5
In the above series of (unedited) images, Auto Area directed the camera to focus on the background first. But then in the middle of that 12fps burst, focus snapped to the rider flying through the air in front of me within two frames. I generally prefer a higher degree of control than Auto offers, but I can see this mode being genuinely helpful if you have milliseconds to get a shot and you don’t have time to place an autofocus point manually.
The last mode I experimented with was Auto Area AF, which is usually a mode that I tell people to avoid using. The D5 might just change my mind on that one. The camera was able to find a moving subject and hit it with anywhere from one to nine AF points almost every single time.
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
In the above series of (unedited) images, Auto Area directed the camera to focus on the background first. But then in the middle of that 12fps burst, focus snapped to the rider flying through the air in front of me within two frames. I generally prefer a higher degree of control than Auto offers, but I can see this mode being genuinely helpful if you have milliseconds to get a shot and you don’t have time to place an autofocus point manually.
All those buttons
As we've covered on our 'Controls & Setup' page, one of the best parts of the new D5 (and the D500) is the level of button customization regarding autofocus modes. I am a back-button AF shooter, as I do sometimes like to pre-focus and wait for a subject to enter the frame without having to switch into manual focus.
But even with the shutter button decoupled from any autofocus functionality whatsoever, I can assign AF-ON to be 3D Tracking, then assign the Fn1 button on the front of the camera (under my ring finger) to switch to single-point continuous autofocus, and then also assign a full press of the AF joystick to switch into Auto Area mode. Counting manual focus since the shutter button is decoupled, I’ve got four different focus modes at my fingertips without even shifting my grip. This is incredibly handy as I often found myself changing AF modes depending on my lens, my position and the riders' movement. This versatility in instantly switching AF area modes is a feature you won't find on any other camera on the market, save for Nikon's own D500.
Having watched this rider come around this corner a number of times, I wanted focus on just how much dirt he kicked up as he plowed through. Having de-coupled autofocus and my shutter button, I pre-focused just behind where his rear tire is, shot a burst as he entered and exited the viewfinder with the tight framing I wanted and I didn't have to worry about the focus shifting or missing (an admittedly minor concern with the D5). Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/2000 sec | ISO 200
As we've covered on our 'Controls & Setup' page, one of the best parts of the new D5 (and the D500) is the level of button customization regarding autofocus modes. I am a back-button AF shooter, as I do sometimes like to pre-focus and wait for a subject to enter the frame without having to switch into manual focus.
But even with the shutter button decoupled from any autofocus functionality whatsoever, I can assign AF-ON to be 3D Tracking, then assign the Fn1 button on the front of the camera (under my ring finger) to switch to single-point continuous autofocus, and then also assign a full press of the AF joystick to switch into Auto Area mode. Counting manual focus since the shutter button is decoupled, I’ve got four different focus modes at my fingertips without even shifting my grip. This is incredibly handy as I often found myself changing AF modes depending on my lens, my position and the riders' movement. This versatility in instantly switching AF area modes is a feature you won't find on any other camera on the market, save for Nikon's own D500.
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| Having watched this rider come around this corner a number of times, I wanted focus on just how much dirt he kicked up as he plowed through. Having de-coupled autofocus and my shutter button, I pre-focused just behind where his rear tire is, shot a burst as he entered and exited the viewfinder with the tight framing I wanted and I didn't have to worry about the focus shifting or missing (an admittedly minor concern with the D5). Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 300mm F4 PF | F4 | 1/2000 sec | ISO 200 |
The wrap
In all, the Nikon D5 is a fantastic machine that proved to be more than a match for shooting motocross with a variety of lenses. Admittedly, this test is more of a stress on the depth tracking abilities of the camera, and less so its RGB metering sensor-based subject tracking, but I still came away impressed, particularly with the Auto Area AF.*
Nikon D5, you've earned yourself a beer. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 24-70 F2.8E VR @ 24mm | F8 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100
But since the Nikon D5 did so well at motocross, we decided to try something else. We had the opportunity to shoot it at an evening club soccer match in Seattle's Greenlake neighborhood. Let's see how it fared.
In all, the Nikon D5 is a fantastic machine that proved to be more than a match for shooting motocross with a variety of lenses. Admittedly, this test is more of a stress on the depth tracking abilities of the camera, and less so its RGB metering sensor-based subject tracking, but I still came away impressed, particularly with the Auto Area AF.*
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| Nikon D5, you've earned yourself a beer. Photo by Carey Rose. Nikon 24-70 F2.8E VR @ 24mm | F8 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100 |
But since the Nikon D5 did so well at motocross, we decided to try something else. We had the opportunity to shoot it at an evening club soccer match in Seattle's Greenlake neighborhood. Let's see how it fared.
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