NASA Upgrades to Nikon D3x but Fails to Teach Astronauts Photography Technique
by Miserere
Courtesy of NASA's optimistic Expedition 22 astronauts onboard the International Space Station on February 9th 2010
It seems NASA did not get as agitated as old Adolf with the D3x’s price, and they probably ordered quite a few of them too. And yet, one needs more than an $7,500 camera and $9,400 lens plus 1.4x TC combination to take a technical photo. Sure, it’s a pretty sunset from space, and there’s the space shuttle Endeavour moving towards us while the Blue Danube plays over the loudspeakers, and you’re in free fall, and your 13lb (6kg) camera+lens kit weighs as much as a feather…but dude, did you really think 1/30s was a fast enough shutter speed for this scene?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click on the photo for a full resolution view and look at the space shuttle. He came so close to a perfect photo…
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Tags: Astronauts, NASA, Nikon D3x, Photography, Space
Nikons know what they are doing, it’s just us mere mortals that don’t understand it. If the P mode said 1/30, then it’s 1/30. Heck, let’s blame the shuttle too for traveling that fast.
Yeah, let’s blame the shuttle!
What–too lazy to zoom with his feet?
He should have tried harder to keep the horizon straight. No one will want to buy a print with such a crooked one.
Yes, he clearly broke one of the cardinal rules of Landscape Photography.
Ah heck, still a nice photo, and the motion blur does give a pleasant impression of, well, motion.
Maybe a D3s would have come in handy, though. Patrick of NeutralDay says its 1600 ISO looks just like the 100 ISO, quite impressive.
Oh yeah, it’s a nice pic, no doubt. I’m sure a D3 would be a better option, but Nikon has to do something with all those D3x’s that are just sitting there in warehouses because nobody’s buying them
I think it’s a pretty cool shot, but 1/30 was too fast. They could use more motion blur to make it more dynamic!
That’s certainly a different take on it
It’s great that Nikon has this contract with NASA, but am I the only one that thinks it’s a little bit sketchy that they’re bringing up loads of camera equipment onto a space station that’s supposed main purpose is for experiments. I mean, there’s already countless pictures from the ISS in low earth orbit, it’s not like we’re landing on mars for the first time. What I’m getting at is, I wonder if the real intention of all this camera equipment is for surveillance. I know there’s already a bunch of spy satellites in orbit to do this, but there’s always a transmission back to earth that’s capable of being intercepted. With the ISS, the images can simply be taken back down to earth with zero risk of being intercepted. What makes it worse is that Nikon has a contract with the Rososmos, and the ISS is pretty much theirs at the moment, since they’re the only ones capable of transporting ppl up. This picture says it all… astronaut ab workouts – the two on the right that appear to be very absorbed using the camera system are cosmonauts, and the astronaut innocently working out with an ab belt is on the left. Now if that doesn ‘t look bad, then idk what does…
Eric,
You’ve just won the 2011 Fox Mulder Award for this most excellent conspiracy theory
The US military has spy satellites in orbit that can take photos of much, much higher quality than even a Nikon D3x with a 600mm f/4 ever could take from the Space Station. Sad but true.