On my last night in Luxor, Egypt, I attended the sound and light show at Karnak Temple. I had heard that it would be crowded and that we’d be on the move, walking through the temple as it was illuminated, so I left the tripod at the hotel and hoped that the low noise of my new D700 would allow me to get what I needed. Now that I’m home and have the images on screen… suffice it to say that I’m impressed.

The shot above was taken at ISO 3200, f/2.8, handheld at 1/10 of a second with a Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 17-35. ISO 3200. With my D200 I would cringe every time I cranked it up to 800. There’s a bit of noise when you look at this image at full size but very, very little. Yes, I’m quite pleased.

Would a tripod have improved this shot? Sure. I could have left the ISO at 200 and had no noise whatsoever. But I have a whole variety of shots from this evening. I could compose and recompose quickly without the burden of the tripod. In the end, I think I came away with more usable images than had I taken the sticks.

Thanks, Nikon. I’m a believer.