What a difference a firmware update makes! When I purchased the Nikon D800e last year, I was so excited about having a camera that I could use for landscapes, nature, portraits and birding.

I have always loved my D3s for sports and low light shoots, but I knew it wasn’t quite the right tool for some of my new explorations outside the horse shows. While the D800e worked wonderfully in some capacities, especially on the tripod for landscapes and macro photos, I found more often than not when I worked with moving targets I had more deletes than saves.

Well, thanks to the Nikon firmware update that’s changed. I took the camera out yesterday during Cam’s first soccer scrimmage of the season and was very happy with the results. The dark, overcast skies required me to shoot at 1500 ISO, but even then the focus tracking was spot on. I decided to shoot without a monopod to really test it, and it worked great. The focus was much quicker, and the tracking never wavered even when other players moved in and out of the frame.

I never really regretted investing in this camera, but I did begin to question my own capabilities sometimes when I downloaded my cards. I read and reread the manual and instructional books, hoping to figure out what I was doing wrong. Thankfully, it seems that now we’re all on the same page!

The update was perfect timing, too, as tomorrow I’m taking the D800e out for a spin during the Blue Ridge Photography Workshops Annapolis Single Focal Length Workshop. Hopefully, we’ll capture some action!