Danum Valley 2013: D600 takes on Orang-utan and Red Leaf Langur

I shot my entire Danum Valley trip with my Nikon D600. Although, I brought along my D300s as back-up but I ended up not using it.

Am I entirely happy with D600?

Not exactly.

I complaint about low-light focusing issue in my previous post . So why am I still using it?

Well, D600's ISO performance is simply outstanding. I had my D600 on AUTO-ISO for day time shots. I set the highest ISO at 3200 with minimum shutter speed at 1/160. As long as the photo is properly exposed, I don't find noise a problem.

Photographing the Orang-utans

Below are some shots of a Orang-utan with her baby, feasting on a Jackfruit tree near the cookhouse.  Images were captured using AFS 300mm f2.8 VR with a 1.7x Teleconverter.  The combination was quite an overkill as I was not expecting the Orang-utans to be this close.  The images turned out to be sharp even at high ISO.

Nikon D600 with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f8 1/160 AUTO ISO @2800 

Nikon D600 with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f8 1/160 AUTO ISO @2000 

Nikon D600 with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f8 1/160 AUTO ISO @2200

Nikon D600 with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f8 1/160 AUTO ISO @2200

Nikon D600 with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f8 1/160 AUTO ISO @1000 -1.7EV (This was underexposed. I bring up the exposure slightly.)

Photographing the Red Leaf Langurs on DX mode

While, I was quite happy with D600 on the Orang-utan, I was not too pleased with it on the Red Leaf Langurs.  This was because the langurs were too high up on the tree, thus I was forced to use DX mode (3936x2624 = 10.3MP) since I only had my AF-S 70-300mm VR on.  They were also shot in poor lighting, some under canopy at dusk. Again, I encountered focus lock issue but it was likely due to focusing on low contrast subjects at strong backlighting.  The images were also soft due to the less sharp AF-S 70-300mm VR.  The images quality do looked like captured from a D300s though.

Nikon D600 @ DX with AFS 70-300 VR @ 300mm, SB900,  f8, 1/160, ISO 2200 (Image sharpened, you can see the noise)

Nikon D600 @ DX mode with AFS 70-300 VR @ 100mm, SB900,  f8, 1/160, ISO 1100 +0.7 (Image sharpened)

Nikon D600 @ DX mode with AFS 70-300 VR @140mm, SB900,  f8, 1/160, ISO 400 +0.7EV

Nikon D600 @ DX with AFS 70-300 VR @ 300mm,  f8, 1/160, ISO 3200

The image below was captured with my AF-S 300mm VR prime on 1.7x Teleconverter in DX mode.  It was roosting on a tree not far from the rest house, I rushed back and grabbed my big lens. I think I still need to work on how to get better results on DX mode as I am unable to get sharp images on DX mode yet. 

Nikon D600 @ DX with AFS 300mm f2.8 VR  (now replaced by Nikon 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II ) + 1.7x Teleconverter @ f4.8 1/160 AUTO ISO @2500 

IMHO

D600's clean ISO opens up the opportunity for wildlife photographers to capture images of wildlife which dwells in low-light habitat such as tropical rainforest.   Imagine try capturing such images on a D300s, I will probably push D300s up to ISO 800. With ISO 800, I would not be able to capture the images at this shutter speed. Slow shutter speed will mean less sharp images.

But I do missed the reach of my D300s. Although, I can set my D600 on DX mode, I am struggling with the image quality.  I wonder if a D7100 would be a better choice for my kind of photography.

Nevertheless, D600 can deliver with terrific results when used with the right lens. The 24.3 MP is useful when you need to crop. I was impressed by the image quality of my highly cropped portrait of the bearded pig image in my last post.  You can check out the post here.

Get a D600 if you often photograph animals in low-light. Of course, pick the right lens.

How to Get There?

Danum Valley is a located in Sabah, East Malaysia on an island of Borneo.  It is about 2-3 hours drive from the nearest town Lahad Datu. 

To get there,

1. Book a flight to Kota Kinabalu, the capital state of Sabah. You can fly in from major cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei,Seoul, Manila, Denpasar/Bali.
2. Fly domestic via MASwings to Lahad Datu.
3. Arrange for transport if you are staying in Borneo Rainforest Lodge.

Where to Stay?

I would highly recommend Borneo Rainforest Lodge. The accommodation is great and the food is excellent. They have very professional guides. Night tours are also conducted. All these come at a cost of course.

I would not recommend DVFC as it is a facility meant for researchers. They are not so into eco-tourism.  Accommodation and food are just sufficient.  It is less expensive though.

Support

If you enjoyed this blog, you can help support this blog by using the above links to buy camera gears from Amazon.  I get a small referral fee for each purchase made that comes from this blog. It's a great way to show your appreciation and keep this blog up and running. Thank you for your support.