Space shuttle Discovery was transferred to the Smithsonian [how do they hoist the shuttle on top of the plane?] yesterday in the Udvar-Hazy center of the National Air and Space Museum and is opened to the public. Over at Luminous Landscape, Captain Alan G. Poindexter (USN), former NASA Astronaut shares his photographic experiences on the International Space Station during the STS-131 mission aboard Discovery (April 2010). The availability of the Nikon D3s as a low-light camera was especially appreciated and it allowed the astronauts to capture some beautiful available light images in the challenging confines of the ISS and the harsh bright/darkness contrast of space.

Read the article and view the images at: Luminous Landscape.

Aurora Australis - © Ron Garan

Astronaut Ron Garan has posted the last shots taken aboard the International Space Station before returning to Earth. Photos taken with a Nikon D3s.

View more pictures at: Ron Garan.

via geekosystem

Stefan Simonsen gives us a behind the scenes look at how he lights the Volunteer Firefighteers Calendar Shoot. It’s almost as good as a tutorial.

PART 1st

Watch: Part 2 and Part 3.

Nikon and NASA have worked closely together through the years to bring us dramatic images of space. Nikon is now exhibiting selected images captured with the Nikon D3S digital SLR cameras equipped with NIKKOR lenses, Speedlights and other accessories. To date, NASA has captured more than 700,000 images with Nikon equipment. The images captured under the extremely low-light conditions of space demonstrate the superior image quality of the D3S noise suppression features.

PRESS RELEASE

Nikon To Introduce The Latest Images From Space Captured With Nikon D3S Digital-SLR Cameras And NIKKOR Interchangeable Lenses Ordered By NASA

July 8, 2010

MELVILLE, NY (July 7, 2010) – The images exhibited were captured with equipment, including Nikon D3S digital-SLR cameras, NIKKOR lenses, Speedlights and other accessories, kept aboard the ISS. To date, NASA has captured more than 700,000 images with Nikon equipment carried into space. Among these many images, those rare and precious photos that can only be captured from space, as well as those captured under the extremely low-light conditions of space that exhibit the superior image quality of D3S noise suppression features are introduced.

Continue Reading »

Nikon D3s

“The Nikon D3S is currently the best camera for shooting runway shows. High ISOs are clean, the camera is fast, accurate and flexible.”

DigitalCameraReview has taken the Nikon D3S [QuickPrice Check] on assignment at the New York Fashion Week.

You can read the Nikon D3s Report at: DigitalCameraReview.

Nikon D3s

“The Nikon D3S is probably among the most capable pro DSLRs on the market today.”

We’ve added another Nikon D3s [Specs] review to our Reviews Matrix. Is the Nikon D3S the world’s best digital SLR camera?

DigitalCameraReview has published their review of the Nikon D3s, a professional full-frame DSLR camera. “The Nikon D3S is an amazingly capable professional digital SLR, retaining most of what was great about the Nikon D3, and adding astonishing improvements in low-light capability and a larger image buffer size.”

You can read the full Nikon D3s Review at: DigitalCameraReview.

Focus Numérique has a very interesting article where they interview three pro sports photographers who use the Nikon D3s (Bernard Papon) and the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV (Michel Birot and Julien Poupart) and learn how they use their cameras and what they like about them. The article is in French but you can get a translation here.

I find it very interesting that Bernard Papon simply sets his Nikon D3s to 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 and ISO AUTO. He lets the camera selects the appropriate ISO because of the incredible low noise the Nikon gives even up to ISO 12800.

Michel Birot and Julien Poupart both regret the Canon’s Continuous Shooting limitiation when using RAW and dislike the smoothed out background at high ISOs (max ISO 6400).

As expected, none is willing to exchange cameras due to the investment in lenses and other equipments, as well as being comfortable with one particular workflow that works for them.

Read the article at: Focus Numérique.

Nikon D3s

“The sensor of the D3S is simply unmatched in terms of its ability to convert light to useable signal.”

We’ve added another Nikon D3s [Specs] review to our Reviews Matrix. Is the Nikon D3S the world’s best digital SLR camera?

DPReview has published their review of the Nikon D3s. As expected, the D3s rates a “Gold Award” from DPReview.

You can read the full Nikon D3s Review at: DPReview.

Rob Galbraith compares the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV [Specs] against the Nikon D3s [Specs] in the realm of professional sports photography, and the winner is…

Read the answer at: Rob Galbraith.