tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30014453908760718302024-03-13T11:16:07.791-07:00Through The Eye Of E2 - Photography Instruction, Reviews, and Fun. Photography Instruction, Reviews, and Fun.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-42536507502383377462015-08-18T19:41:00.001-07:002015-08-30T16:13:38.248-07:00Did You Miss It???<div dir="ltr">
My wife and I took a trip this past weekend with a large portion of it being photography. For this particular weekend I brought an old friend along, my Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E. I haven't used this lens much since going to digital. It is manual focus, and without the electronic interface, my D5200 doesn't even know it is there. This means that along with manual focus there is no exposure metering either so you have to revert to the "Sunny 16" rule.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kiyXxQOFw0r4DeKJXUt7VJPNgIIw52a5lqTliI5wNyCJ-u7mKBQ3NA2zIyz917Zitz-s_v1QOS2cOcvHEV0SHNLI2ydp99GjRgn6BjHrLLv_Hbo81BV0J4Hu6u3B69HcL0XJqrsZWQg/s1600/i-dj8XmCH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Front" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kiyXxQOFw0r4DeKJXUt7VJPNgIIw52a5lqTliI5wNyCJ-u7mKBQ3NA2zIyz917Zitz-s_v1QOS2cOcvHEV0SHNLI2ydp99GjRgn6BjHrLLv_Hbo81BV0J4Hu6u3B69HcL0XJqrsZWQg/s200/i-dj8XmCH.jpg" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Front" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Camera: Droid MAXX</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Lens: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Focal Length: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Shutter: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Aperture: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">ISO: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Flash: N/A</span></td></tr>
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Regardless of the extra effort required, I really enjoyed shooting with the old 100mm. When I was talking with Karla about it and the added enjoyment it was providing I realised she missed it! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdo6BGe4ZBZQ6H9TzannD8DJTbu5UxnSUs-7vNtVRJrpzBX_rTRF0-MH_chrQnCMIOFB18RRFPPnq2YtexDhIriLCLCYpx4JFwCg6mymjuZh5ZfJmyqusynelHranGBOb4JYCjoO_aDk/s1600/i-9jcbHhL-X3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E on a Nikon D5200" border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdo6BGe4ZBZQ6H9TzannD8DJTbu5UxnSUs-7vNtVRJrpzBX_rTRF0-MH_chrQnCMIOFB18RRFPPnq2YtexDhIriLCLCYpx4JFwCg6mymjuZh5ZfJmyqusynelHranGBOb4JYCjoO_aDk/s200/i-9jcbHhL-X3.jpg" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E on a Nikon D5200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Camera: Droid MAXX</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Lens: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Focal Length: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Shutter: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Aperture: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">ISO: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Flash: N/A</span></td></tr>
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You see, Karla got into photography after I had made the switch to digital photography. All her SLRs have been digital and fully automated. While she uses the PSAM modes like a pro, she has never experienced a full manual camera with real manual focus lenses. Back when I was using my all manual SLRs I always looked forward to getting more automated SLRs. And now that I have them, did I lose something?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOAwuhmZs4XIRdbO3UVtvJxm1Q6R9_HFofovOyfetHj3zrx-Gq8fC1kVCOgoeHL4w4NVOQ9Kien-HqTZUPmXk4DWFo9vIluA6-pCym4UMD7YQYAUpaTIOFKKaqWHvadxfp5n_litkBdc/s1600/i-2jhk52Z-X3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Rear" border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOAwuhmZs4XIRdbO3UVtvJxm1Q6R9_HFofovOyfetHj3zrx-Gq8fC1kVCOgoeHL4w4NVOQ9Kien-HqTZUPmXk4DWFo9vIluA6-pCym4UMD7YQYAUpaTIOFKKaqWHvadxfp5n_litkBdc/s200/i-2jhk52Z-X3.jpg" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Rear" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Camera: Droid MAXX</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Lens: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Focal Length: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Shutter: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Aperture: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">ISO: N/A</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5600004196167px;">Flash: N/A</span></td></tr>
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Now I know that my automated SLR allows me to focus on what I am shooting and not worry so much about the camera's settings, but did the experience become something less? I think in the end it did, and having less automation allows me to slow down and even take more care in my shots. And I enjoy the experience of shooting that much more. If you have never shot full manual you owe it to yourself to try a proper manual focus lens (AF lenses in manual mode aren't the same), and with third party manufacturers like <u>Samyang</u> producing some fantastic optics in manual focus package the opportunity to get a great lens cheap has never been better!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-2887899504550996822013-02-27T20:23:00.003-08:002013-02-27T20:23:34.743-08:00Beginner To Pro: Lesson 1 - CompositionToday is the start of a series dedicated to growing the photographer in you. It will start with the basics and will slowly advance toward more complex and creative aspects of photography. I am going to put these lessons together one by one in the order that they should be learned. So welcome budding photographer!<script type="text/javascript">
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If you have always enjoyed photography, but have never been completely satisfied with the results, this is for you. Composition is the biggest defining factor of what turns a snapshot into artwork. You don't need an expensive camera or lighting, what you need is composition. Artwork has been made with pinhole cameras, cruddy Holgas, and even phones.</div>
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So what is composition? There are a lot of so called "rules" to composition, but for every piece of art that follows the rules, there is one that breaks them too. One of the more popular rules is the rule of 3rds. This states that if you break your picture up into three sections vertically and three sections horizontally that you should put the focus of your picture on one of the lines that separate the thirds. This does work to help make a lot of shots much better than they could have been if it wasn't followed, but one of the reasons it works is it makes you make a decision. It makes you decide what is it that is interesting, and that is really what you should be thinking of. This picture of the Space Needle shows the rule of thirds in action, the Space Needle itself is on one third line while the tree in the foreground is in another. I didn't even think of the rule of thirds when taking this shot, I only thought of the composition, but it does show how that tool can be used to help as you start out. Just remember not to be a slave to the rule, don't force it on all of your subjects if you don't think it works for it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHnur3VwhjgZ4KfpOp895HgiiuxGs6Ixmi687KnjgbQAonKFRWK0F0HzWWfqg79MyJ1KU52BiP9RKtlZrHzGMx2GO_cCMB1ZO1nMHlrTBkim8a1tFbNUaLCupup_p8IVtK8yCkqfS7Po/s1600/Rule+of+3rds_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rule Of Thirds" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHnur3VwhjgZ4KfpOp895HgiiuxGs6Ixmi687KnjgbQAonKFRWK0F0HzWWfqg79MyJ1KU52BiP9RKtlZrHzGMx2GO_cCMB1ZO1nMHlrTBkim8a1tFbNUaLCupup_p8IVtK8yCkqfS7Po/s320/Rule+of+3rds_600.jpg" title="Rule Of Thirds" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />Lens: Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D<br />Focal Length: 28mm<br />Shutter: 1/6<br />Aperture: f/3.8<br />ISO: 1600<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
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Think of this instead, when you go to take a photo what made you decide to take that photo, why are you there? If you can decide why you wanted to shoot this particular subject in the first place, then you can compose an image around it. Once you have decided what you want to shoot and why you want to shoot it, look at what potential distractions there are in and around your subject. There may be too many to get that shot you really want, so what alternatives are there. For instance, I love shooting vintage cars and motorcycles, and sometimes I happen upon them in parking lots. I always feel lucky for the find, but then realization sets in, a parking lot (or car show for that matter) is the absolute worst place to shoot. Why is that? There are always too many distractions to get a clean shot of the full vehicle that you probably wanted. Don't fret though, there are probably plenty of pictures of that same exact make and model vehicle, or whatever it is, everywhere. What makes the one you are looking at unique? Is there anything you can do different? Once you know what it is, GET CLOSE. When you are trying to separate something out and make it the focus there is no replacement for getting close. Resist the urge to zoom in, zoom in with your feet.</div>
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So lets look at some examples of getting close to get the shot. First we will start with this old Packard. This car is just so interesting to me. No real damage to be seen, but it has been withering away in the elements for a long time. It is just a cool old car, but, in every angle there are ugly power lines, the tops of other buildings, no real way to get a clean shot of it. Here is your typical 20 foot snapshot that most tourists would take of the car. It will bring back the memory, but you probably aren't going to hang it on your wall.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX56OLtzAGw6m5Gm69gkGcAGWgurtMr_hQx1JEWRAcOCBuEy95573gmw9N6B9kOcc3mptxvnEHUvJ9t-7BrUKbYEdxmr3-ZSlt7JEyBdG4Icn30Pa6sKurkQLRwBQ46BurEy4bSKyfs1Q/s1600/dsc_1211_160x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1941 Packard One Eighty" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX56OLtzAGw6m5Gm69gkGcAGWgurtMr_hQx1JEWRAcOCBuEy95573gmw9N6B9kOcc3mptxvnEHUvJ9t-7BrUKbYEdxmr3-ZSlt7JEyBdG4Icn30Pa6sKurkQLRwBQ46BurEy4bSKyfs1Q/s320/dsc_1211_160x600.jpg" title="1941 Packard One Eighty" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80 <br />Lens: Nikon 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5 AF-D<br />Focal Length: 24mm<br />Shutter: 1/100<br />Aperture: f/5<br />ISO: 100<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
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Now when I really ask myself, what draws me to this car, it's the patina. The rusting showing through the paint with that orange hue on otherwise undamaged bodywork. It just shows how long that it has been here. The fact that it sits in front of a haunted hotel all the better. So I decided that since the patina attracted me, that is what I want to see. I focused on several areas around bits that were interesting. Badges, lights, etc... obviously not just the side of the door. After getting several shots I found what I was looking for. Working within mere inches of the car with a 24mm lens (on DX so 36mm equivalent) I produced this shot.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRuFp_1rw5dPAwAh9AIXkexEzBWVtOvwqBzdDaUvSEIFYG7ILiczCAr5cUypKu_eDFoj-m1O57nCMX4em-STZaHwWwDpw56lqRcGEhHiqcTGFlrXkkMi2arI4K3tqOUvOfMif9R4KZ7Q/s1600/dsc_1213_161x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1941 Packard One Eighty" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRuFp_1rw5dPAwAh9AIXkexEzBWVtOvwqBzdDaUvSEIFYG7ILiczCAr5cUypKu_eDFoj-m1O57nCMX4em-STZaHwWwDpw56lqRcGEhHiqcTGFlrXkkMi2arI4K3tqOUvOfMif9R4KZ7Q/s320/dsc_1213_161x600.jpg" title="1941 Packard One Eighty" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />Lens: Nikon 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5 AF-D<br />Focal Length: 24mm<br />Shutter: 1/100<br />Aperture: f/5<br />ISO: 100<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
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I think you'll agree that by finding a piece that is interesting and different that I was able to produce a piece of artwork from a subject that would have otherwise been just a nice family trip snapshot.</div>
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This second set of examples is a motorcycle in my daughter's school parking lot. I really liked the look of this bike. It looks like a well ridden restored classic (when in actuality it is a well ridden 2003 model) that is really quite tough to find nowadays where every classic bike is either a restored show piece or really rough in dire need of a restore. It is hard to find the look of an enjoyed every day but not ultra clean cycle, so I really wanted to get some shots of it. The problem is it is in a school parking lot, worse yet it is parked next to a white truck that I can see from any angle shot from the left, and reflects in the fuel tank really well shot from the right. Oh, and a modern scooter is in the spot with it. Ugh. This is the snapshot that I took at the start.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhlUVnM6v6uA73ypDs6Wzjm_e4LUVVmQfZ1UgeRh0oRV4auLcMmHhFRinYnC_gOtB4WCYvq1HFpbGD4LO30erK_U3Tf_HELy-109bOqnZQwcdRYqeGjgHh4zrpFAUlNEFuAv_s1ICbLI/s1600/dsc_4474x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="2003 Royal Enfield C5 Bullet" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhlUVnM6v6uA73ypDs6Wzjm_e4LUVVmQfZ1UgeRh0oRV4auLcMmHhFRinYnC_gOtB4WCYvq1HFpbGD4LO30erK_U3Tf_HELy-109bOqnZQwcdRYqeGjgHh4zrpFAUlNEFuAv_s1ICbLI/s320/dsc_4474x600.jpg" title="2003 Royal Enfield C5 Bullet" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />Focal Length: 18mm<br />Shutter: 1/60<br />Aperture: f/4<br />ISO: 100<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
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So what is interesting about this bike. Well, the tank is well worn while otherwise undamaged, so I like that. There is a bodge job fix to the external oiling system on the right side of the engine, and the dirty carburetor is on the right side of the engine as well. But, probably the best item that is happening at the time of my shot is the sunset. Now be careful, looking at the sun through your viewfinder is a very very bad idea. Be very careful, I kinda work with my eye away from the viewfinder and scan around inside to frame my shot, but it means I will be making a few shots to get it just right. In this case I wanted to have the sun cresting the tank just at the leading edge of the fuel cap. As you can see from the shot, I think it worked. There are still some distracting light poles and stuff in there, but I feel the rest of the shot overshadows the flaws enough that I have included it in my collection.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoXTbv15Lodju658CIL5xCALxl_WWVj-fdLo2jxNYWPzT7WlMythsyjO2gkh7WENlTmPswe74qEGkFQXKyxHlUvr5pcz9maaSvRjd8TUPu0aOcNphxySiS0M_U3tzAtNpaTXkhMDK3Ak/s1600/dsc_4495_356x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="2003 Royal Enfield C5 Bullet" border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMoXTbv15Lodju658CIL5xCALxl_WWVj-fdLo2jxNYWPzT7WlMythsyjO2gkh7WENlTmPswe74qEGkFQXKyxHlUvr5pcz9maaSvRjd8TUPu0aOcNphxySiS0M_U3tzAtNpaTXkhMDK3Ak/s320/dsc_4495_356x600.jpg" title="2003 Royal Enfield C5 Bullet" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />Focal Length: 18mm<br />Shutter: 1/60<br />Aperture: f/6.3<br />ISO: 100<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now that we've talked about getting close lets talk about GETTING LOW. Changing the perspective can add interest to otherwise mundane everyday items. We see our entire life from eye level, change your perspective. The best thing about getting low is you don't need anything to do it, just a willingness to lay on the ground. Some of my best shots have been made squatting or laying on the ground. Take this shot for instance, one of my absolute favorites (and is my mom's favorite). This is a set of plain sheet metal mailboxes. Who cares, right? What is holding them up is a Singer sewing machine treadle covered in vines. Now I could have shot them at eye level or at mailbox level and would have a nice shot to remind me of it. But anyone else viewing wouldn't notice. They'd walk by and wonder why I shot that and then hung it on a wall. The treadle had to be the focus, so I laid in front of it and shot one of my favorite pieces. Not only does it make the treadle stand out more, the perspective throws the casual viewer off kilter and makes them think, what did he do here. A wide lens again makes sure that my close personal proximity to the subject brings it to the forefront of my shot.</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGuAxqeynHJ90WI9uVOvbPHRDZUq0y1P8hzq-l48EYJs2UZJMUpsjGngRtZkZEsq0rZdtdZvqpK4a0vWb24LDm3JJXJAkntkw_3djuz0A887qvKy8JCpYZ9LCA3sh5KzvQj6BlAxQawA/s1600/transparencies061x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mailboxes on Singer sewing machine treadle" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGuAxqeynHJ90WI9uVOvbPHRDZUq0y1P8hzq-l48EYJs2UZJMUpsjGngRtZkZEsq0rZdtdZvqpK4a0vWb24LDm3JJXJAkntkw_3djuz0A887qvKy8JCpYZ9LCA3sh5KzvQj6BlAxQawA/s320/transparencies061x600.jpg" title="Mailboxes on Singer sewing machine treadle" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon F4<br />Lens: Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AF-D<br />Focal Length: 24mm<br />Shutter: N/A<br />Aperture: N/A<br />ISO: Ilford Delta 100<br />Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
DON'T TRY TO COPY someone else. The best way to make nothing is to try and copy someone else's style. You are the artist, something drew you there, what is it. My best example would be my fiance. We were hiking in Sedona and I was carrying my camera as always, shooting items that jumped out at me as interesting. As the sun was going down she told me to "shoot that". I gave her the camera and she resisted at first, but as I told her, she is the one seeing the interest in the shot and she knows what she wants in her minds eye. She went on to shoot what she saw, and I really like it. She saw something I hadn't at the time, and she captured her vision. </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXX1Ot0EVBlkHpMGVne3WzFKyWEJYjdSyJcO2pkre3KFtOeLCxYKPCxdkYbD-lvY92q7oYsJJ5MKr407aN6Ce7m70muGdVjxwZkkR4uVmFDEDrBNZvrv3UA2J5t90k2iDaTzbpifozlo/s1600/dsc_2251_147x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sunset through trees" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXX1Ot0EVBlkHpMGVne3WzFKyWEJYjdSyJcO2pkre3KFtOeLCxYKPCxdkYbD-lvY92q7oYsJJ5MKr407aN6Ce7m70muGdVjxwZkkR4uVmFDEDrBNZvrv3UA2J5t90k2iDaTzbpifozlo/s320/dsc_2251_147x600.jpg" title="Sunset through trees" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />Lens: Nikon 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5 AF-D<br />Focal Length: 18mm<br />Shutter: 1/400<br />Aperture: f/10<br />ISO: 100<br />Flash: None<br /><br />Photo Courtesy of Karla Sapien</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
DON'T RELY ON ZOOM to make your frame. Zoom lenses really spoil us. The problem is that sometimes they make us lazy and uninteresting too. I occasionally go out with nothing but a prime lens to reacquaint myself with the need to move to get the shot I want. It is way too easy to just stand there and rotate the zoom ring until the framing is proper, there is a place for it but if you find you are always zooming to frame you may be cheating yourself out of better shots. Sometimes it is needed, and when you are trying to match two greatly different sized objects (like a mountain behind people) they can be a godsend, but remember that your feet work too. </div>
<div>
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<div>
In the end make sure you are being true to yourself and your vision, that is what makes you unique. Show others how you see the world and what in this world interests you, there is a following out there for everything, even if what you find interesting is shooting the hands on clocks. And if someone hates your work that is ok, good art should evoke dramatic feelings, and dramatic feelings will always leave people either loving or hating your work. One of the (ahem) great things about the internet is that you are sure to hear about it when somebody hates your work. And lastly never lose sight of the fact that photography should always be fun, if you aren't having fun then you're doing it wrong.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-39127101024852750492013-02-24T18:31:00.001-08:002013-02-28T10:32:06.033-08:00Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCgeO_tsOWG6rVjYdOp49zlahNEhHTsnuqFh00jc3wxy3evVVehxMWN18b9eddI6YPZqPd8lGSKCKUYpm9lDvQ-KfPp2w0wuu79-rcOYIqBKuM0nw0QPdlLxqZ076c3BIIXR5Mb2xi1g/s1600/DSC_4440x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCgeO_tsOWG6rVjYdOp49zlahNEhHTsnuqFh00jc3wxy3evVVehxMWN18b9eddI6YPZqPd8lGSKCKUYpm9lDvQ-KfPp2w0wuu79-rcOYIqBKuM0nw0QPdlLxqZ076c3BIIXR5Mb2xi1g/s320/DSC_4440x600.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80 <br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/11<br />
ISO: 560<br />
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not all of us can afford the latest greatest lenses Nikon has to offer, so sometimes we have to make due. When I go to sporting events I like to shoot them. I happened to be going to a Phoenix Suns game but I was in the real nose bleed seats, 12 rows from the very top. Not really a premiere vantage point for shooting the game, but I wanted to anyway. I had nothing near long enough to do anything decent, so I snagged this Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai for a steal of $159 through <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=category&cat1=Used&KBID=68057&sub=EmbeddedArticle">Adorama's used site</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUM-vcKfXTy6TT1-KaXnQbAMPZqP2xVBySe93-Io9RqK-wH6noDjhudPWa0MT-96vuRI_8HBboRJDOGUEf9nGaVhkrRrEzu7_uoqxcqcni7o6JhGFwzBwN2gMC_tOpwTR_O_xLCby0AQ/s1600/DSC_4439x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUM-vcKfXTy6TT1-KaXnQbAMPZqP2xVBySe93-Io9RqK-wH6noDjhudPWa0MT-96vuRI_8HBboRJDOGUEf9nGaVhkrRrEzu7_uoqxcqcni7o6JhGFwzBwN2gMC_tOpwTR_O_xLCby0AQ/s320/DSC_4439x600.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/11<br />
ISO: 140<br />
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On my Nikon F4 that I paired it with for that game it works very well. It is of course manual focus, but it will operate in all the PSAM modes just fine. My Nikon D80 that I use most often now is a different story. You don't get any metering at all, so you are on your own with full manual exposure. That being said, I can safely and successfully use this lens whenever the need arises.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUKSv59p3132wvHxJS78aQoNq1R53Ei1CqAyGcAJ8KC05vPz0TXX04a2XIgLnvXOJYYVJ5edyzDsmXZbwUdMeRlL1P90ZA9NcuHkruP_RCoZNZzGp4GvAv5W7cbd1vNDoPacPI0q22h8/s1600/DSC_4438x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUKSv59p3132wvHxJS78aQoNq1R53Ei1CqAyGcAJ8KC05vPz0TXX04a2XIgLnvXOJYYVJ5edyzDsmXZbwUdMeRlL1P90ZA9NcuHkruP_RCoZNZzGp4GvAv5W7cbd1vNDoPacPI0q22h8/s320/DSC_4438x600.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/11<br />
ISO: 450<br />
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This lens isn't very fast, 4.5 is slow. Also, and probably the biggest detractor from this lens is close focusing. It only focuses down to 13 feet. So if you wanted to do any close-up work with it you will need to use extension tubes to do it. But, since there aren't any electronics or AF, you can use them just fine.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JT4pIJag1I1rt8iyazTCnim_8zPxzPjyfBHiHGbRSSuNMFPWk-v5OzQDdS5GT87qT1hOu_t6-lb3Xf4aGydBAfrm3VflMKzBs0qOI0cBc760MOiX_Ch8YI74N4TxzCowpEubKgHaMYo/s1600/DSC_4437x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JT4pIJag1I1rt8iyazTCnim_8zPxzPjyfBHiHGbRSSuNMFPWk-v5OzQDdS5GT87qT1hOu_t6-lb3Xf4aGydBAfrm3VflMKzBs0qOI0cBc760MOiX_Ch8YI74N4TxzCowpEubKgHaMYo/s320/DSC_4437x600.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/11<br />
ISO: 500<br />
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
SPECS:<br />
<ul>
<li>Focal Length: 300mm</li>
<li>Aperture: f/4.5 - f/22, 6 blades</li>
<li>Close Focus: 13'</li>
<li>Lens Type: <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai">Ai</a></li>
<li>Filter Size: 52mm</li>
<li>Weight: 39.8oz (1126g)</li>
</ul>
<div>
Shooting at my standard test target here. Not quite as square as I'd like, but it will get the job done. :-)</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJishyI_2UisSn_kfEfmsCb8x3yy_x3EDiCzTbUSr6qrKCqlIb7RK9Op53-KUdmGNJSPyNzmIlxCQXtqDLPUpmoGcrUl4HD5pwhmXvmfUTwBeiql8toRgQ74c0zTDRCcHQhGTfjWeFpM/s1600/DSC_4430x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJishyI_2UisSn_kfEfmsCb8x3yy_x3EDiCzTbUSr6qrKCqlIb7RK9Op53-KUdmGNJSPyNzmIlxCQXtqDLPUpmoGcrUl4HD5pwhmXvmfUTwBeiql8toRgQ74c0zTDRCcHQhGTfjWeFpM/s320/DSC_4430x600.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S<br />
Focal Length: 300mm<br />
Shutter: 2 sec<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I really like the optics on this lens. They are definitely crisp as you can see on this center crop of our test image. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPb60nz0mjwP2f94jhjDukmnRq9ZoWysVyFDxhc0JYr6VXw-lsGrmaYlSVJrNX84bKQw3lDtJDIvMKSUf_prl3J4D2PaeKVf2EcxsY-U0QTo0vbwgVNAeXYi2CmUJqeeYdufetg5IOhSs/s1600/DSC_4430x600_Center.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPb60nz0mjwP2f94jhjDukmnRq9ZoWysVyFDxhc0JYr6VXw-lsGrmaYlSVJrNX84bKQw3lDtJDIvMKSUf_prl3J4D2PaeKVf2EcxsY-U0QTo0vbwgVNAeXYi2CmUJqeeYdufetg5IOhSs/s320/DSC_4430x600_Center.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S<br />
Focal Length: 300mm<br />
Shutter: 2 sec<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And that crispness goes right to the edge of a DX frame. A very slight red/green color shift can be seen at the edges of the black areas.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFpqpNDDwCN8Nj_ftib8NtxY9FPoCKsQ6uJB_p5VOaI2nMilF7_N82bYc_-Ub9PU5EyrSD4-4z_G6rBePO2VqZnyf_tsO74aQKoXmEH8kPOPPqAX9hVHhpdbcQ8VHD2Rsp7-4lsnRuDw/s1600/DSC_4430x600_Corner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFpqpNDDwCN8Nj_ftib8NtxY9FPoCKsQ6uJB_p5VOaI2nMilF7_N82bYc_-Ub9PU5EyrSD4-4z_G6rBePO2VqZnyf_tsO74aQKoXmEH8kPOPPqAX9hVHhpdbcQ8VHD2Rsp7-4lsnRuDw/s320/DSC_4430x600_Corner.JPG" title="Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S - Test Shot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S<br />
Focal Length: 300mm<br />
Shutter: 2 sec<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you can deal with all manual operation then this lens can really add to your arsenal for nearly the same price as an 18-55mm VR. While I want to upgrade to a newer 300mm AF-S lens myself, I find it hard to justify when I look at what I can do with this lens. If you don't mind going full manual, or you intend on using a full manual film camera then go for it! <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-83183517236454918182013-02-23T10:40:00.000-08:002013-03-09T13:05:09.976-08:00Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9QrNisV8hZEKHTsHSnNxm40DNC4wEInJILD8QNLRVxjy-itoW_DABVf2CPQI7kfhyphenhyphenboDg_P5-ADbmgUJCG7GB5TsBWVcvnA-5J2Ef5xANTBKj-EkVpWhMlqS3CvMnEE3FNz1AHACKQY/s1600/DSC_3513_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9QrNisV8hZEKHTsHSnNxm40DNC4wEInJILD8QNLRVxjy-itoW_DABVf2CPQI7kfhyphenhyphenboDg_P5-ADbmgUJCG7GB5TsBWVcvnA-5J2Ef5xANTBKj-EkVpWhMlqS3CvMnEE3FNz1AHACKQY/s320/DSC_3513_600.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Lens: Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 100mm</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1/50</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Flash: SB-600</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">View my </span><a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-18-55mm-f35-56G-VR-DX/28347027_tfMw6p#!i=2395134490&k=s5PXhfH" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX</a>.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the short time I have used the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbeddedArticle">Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</a>, it has become my favorite DX lens. It is light, gets fairly wide, and has VR so I can shoot hand held very slow. At 18mm I have successfully shot this lens hand held at 1 second. This is an <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-S">AF-S</a> lens so it will auto-focus on every Nikon auto-focus camera. Being that it is DX it will not produce a full image circle on FX or film. It is also a G lens which means no aperture ring, so cameras with no electronic aperture control cannot use this lens in "A" or "M" modes, but since all DX cameras have aperture control, this shouldn't be a problem.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmttn3lrbGVP1Q_AIvkGyFl_WamoBZHTdf_gKvKHZMcyRVfFX5qQVQx0WZKo9LrHxe33HAYgKiXItEfD8uzFLKqAi-Te2aCITPLHbzcZIRSzAenA2qKu-_MlaQ9tlEBaFz76d5tdN-e9E/s1600/DSC_3516_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmttn3lrbGVP1Q_AIvkGyFl_WamoBZHTdf_gKvKHZMcyRVfFX5qQVQx0WZKo9LrHxe33HAYgKiXItEfD8uzFLKqAi-Te2aCITPLHbzcZIRSzAenA2qKu-_MlaQ9tlEBaFz76d5tdN-e9E/s320/DSC_3516_600.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Lens: Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 100mm</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1/50</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Flash: SB-600</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This lens is all plastic including the mount, so it is a lightweight. The lens is shortest at about 30mm and focused to infinity. The front element rotates with focusing and the lens gets longer as you get wider or longer than 30mm. This lens does require a switch to be moved to go from auto-focus to manual-focus. So far I have only used it in manual-focus for close-ups. The manual-focus ring is really just a small line of knurls on the front element, but it is so easy and smooth it isn't a big deal. What is a big deal is that the throw from closest to furthest focus is not much, only about 90 degrees. I'm not sure if I'll manual focus much beyond focusing for closest focus.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCZGIRIHrfdYtV_wtLaHQ_2yZKO-shoD-Y3Jatkevy8vufywe45dMVwn_4iA1LsFRj75ONqHCpcexl3t-WOWQ9AxrcOHF_CRZYdzuoYG5NwoahJ5r2KiiT0USBRw1A4vkXqoD6ZfAWbM/s1600/DSC_3514_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCZGIRIHrfdYtV_wtLaHQ_2yZKO-shoD-Y3Jatkevy8vufywe45dMVwn_4iA1LsFRj75ONqHCpcexl3t-WOWQ9AxrcOHF_CRZYdzuoYG5NwoahJ5r2KiiT0USBRw1A4vkXqoD6ZfAWbM/s320/DSC_3514_600.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Lens: Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 100mm</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1/50</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Flash: SB-600</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In my current arsenal this lens spends the most time on the camera, it is just perfect for low light and hand held. I love wide angles so I wish it was 14-16mm on the wide end but that would make it much more expensive as well so 18mm is probably a good compromise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;">SPECS:</b></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Focal Length: 18-55mm</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aperture (18mm): f/3.5 - f/22, 7 blades</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aperture (55mm): f/5.6 - f/36, 7 blades</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Close Focus: 6"</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lens Type: <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-S">AF-S</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Filter Size: 52mm</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Weight: 9.4oz (265g)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some test images for comparison. This is the overall image and is shot at the closest focus distance, so only about 7 inches or so from the target.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWh2QZvq7vNzQLrF-jJNzxMacI1n6IKnoYvLoInMmwjd1qc5YcbrZEVBLozfeUFCbkvhUtyB5YgzC5r4RKFxrFtUStVkXX2uAGBYEEWVw0vwReneabq8HonvJN8FXawwtTkg6HQRj-YUA/s1600/18-55mmVRFull400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWh2QZvq7vNzQLrF-jJNzxMacI1n6IKnoYvLoInMmwjd1qc5YcbrZEVBLozfeUFCbkvhUtyB5YgzC5r4RKFxrFtUStVkXX2uAGBYEEWVw0vwReneabq8HonvJN8FXawwtTkg6HQRj-YUA/s320/18-55mmVRFull400.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 2.2 seconds<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I don't see any discernible distortion in this shot. Everything looks straight.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next image is the very center at full resolution.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxF0Z3UJESLkndDbWk2zhci22CXuij9KUv4sRIWn-dR8JeGKkeyelmSwEezF165QwkqeHThVIw5fkLUakw9r9ZPq71FmDtCj5EqQj_O3nnRTKkzmQwGaipRcdxiKn0afVY4jMXvvvd94/s1600/18-55mmVRCenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot Center" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxF0Z3UJESLkndDbWk2zhci22CXuij9KUv4sRIWn-dR8JeGKkeyelmSwEezF165QwkqeHThVIw5fkLUakw9r9ZPq71FmDtCj5EqQj_O3nnRTKkzmQwGaipRcdxiKn0afVY4jMXvvvd94/s320/18-55mmVRCenter.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot Center" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-.6 G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 2.2 seconds<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I am going to do some re-shoots, but all of my images shot at my "target" appear just a little soft. This is the case even though the focus confirmation was lit. Even though it is soft, it is nothing to worry about for most images and I don't let it bother me.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this final image is from the left corner at full resolution.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ctV7O2jCm6oXA7eHvLso7aWsQkWtA1GiItLHSK5KKoFIDBj41JaN-ZaPMpD2B5t5wqhFzYcNSq01ubZzrkTf5zGB0T5Jv70mx2uo_llLXadv92nz-fKUNOQmwBnQEZtT8BtrjLCQNHA/s1600/18-55mmVRCorner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot Corner" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ctV7O2jCm6oXA7eHvLso7aWsQkWtA1GiItLHSK5KKoFIDBj41JaN-ZaPMpD2B5t5wqhFzYcNSq01ubZzrkTf5zGB0T5Jv70mx2uo_llLXadv92nz-fKUNOQmwBnQEZtT8BtrjLCQNHA/s320/18-55mmVRCorner.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - Test Shot Corner" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 2.2 seconds<br />
Aperture: f/8<br />
ISO: 100<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">A little softer still at the edge. For most images it is a non issue. If I want to make a large 50" print I'd see it, but I don't view 50" prints from closer than 6-7 feet, so it wouldn't be noticeable at that distance.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In the end I'd freely recommend this lens. It is a lightweight go anywhere lens that can shoot most everything I shoot. I've shot landscapes as well as waist-up portraits with it. And hand held with VR it is a joy. Most of the time you can get it kitted with a camera, so that makes it really cheap. Are you a beginner? If yes, just use this lens until you outgrow it. I know that is hard to do, we all want new toys, but you'll progress faster just learning this lens and everything you can do with it first.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">View my </span><a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-18-55mm-f35-56G-VR-DX/28347027_tfMw6p#!i=2395134490&k=s5PXhfH" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-75765925721419460632013-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:002013-02-23T14:34:24.265-08:00What's In My Bag: School Concert<script type="text/javascript">
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Time for my daughters school concert? Time for photography. I've got enough flash to reach her, but that is disruptive so I am going without. The Nikon D80 has ISO 3200 (Hi 1) so I am going to use that to get the shots. Lens wise I would normally use my Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-n">AF-n</a>, but that lens wasn't available, so i am going old school with my Nikon 300mm f/4.5 <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai-S">Ai-S</a>. The 300mm Ai-S has no electronics or anything so the D80 doesn't like it. No metering at all and no P, S, or A modes, strictly manual. You'll need to use the histogram here to get your exposure set.<br />
<ul>
<li>Camera: Nikon D80</li>
<li>Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai-S">Ai-S</a></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSGclVwcVa1G-5m4cD-0qtXytc9g7om6AdnkBAS5l6FKzpBnSUxyHmzAjC7PSppR4S39OIeDwjfrHS-P8Yy8LxGLdolXoDnD_Q4Wve0bNZrfseqpots3XDT6KfVYxisWkn_-AbuAsP_E/s1600/DSC_4243x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Concert - Playing Clarinet" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSGclVwcVa1G-5m4cD-0qtXytc9g7om6AdnkBAS5l6FKzpBnSUxyHmzAjC7PSppR4S39OIeDwjfrHS-P8Yy8LxGLdolXoDnD_Q4Wve0bNZrfseqpots3XDT6KfVYxisWkn_-AbuAsP_E/s320/DSC_4243x600.JPG" title="Concert - Playing Clarinet" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S<br />
Focal Length: 300mm<br />
Shutter: 1/80<br />
Aperture: f/4.5<br />
ISO: 3200 (Hi 1)<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Yep, as I write this I was trying to figure out what I forgot, nothing, that is all I brought. Overall it worked well. Being all manual made it a little more challenging, mostly in exposure, but as you can see I got the shots any parent would be proud to get. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWb_hCWwUdX9fC6vD3dJdvj8TlC2t4E9EsCWQFM_5sBT_3eLLfXcyLE_LG0PTK1OkUYQmZMv0UdoeR-5_DjXsgbxwp800e073jjjAH7UNE720ARn5i1hwCjbFhNEoktWH4XHupas80fg/s1600/DSC_4257x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Concert - Portrait" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWb_hCWwUdX9fC6vD3dJdvj8TlC2t4E9EsCWQFM_5sBT_3eLLfXcyLE_LG0PTK1OkUYQmZMv0UdoeR-5_DjXsgbxwp800e073jjjAH7UNE720ARn5i1hwCjbFhNEoktWH4XHupas80fg/s320/DSC_4257x600.JPG" title="Concert - Portrait" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 Ai-S<br />
Focal Length: 300mm<br />
Shutter: 1/100<br />
Aperture: f/4.5<br />
ISO: 3200 (Hi 1)<br />
Flash: None</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Thanks for reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-56320408471987334562013-02-21T21:58:00.003-08:002013-02-23T12:33:06.940-08:00What's In My Bag: Night Landscapes<script type="text/javascript">
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Tonight I am going to South Mountain overlooking Phoenix to do some night photography. For this I will definately need my tripod and a remote shutter release since most of my exposures will most likely be 30 seconds or longer. For this I should only need one lens, my 18-55mm G VR, but for the heck of it I am also bringing along my 60 year old Kilfitt 400mm f/5.6 "FrankenLens". Here is the rundown.<br />
<ul>
<li>Camera: Nikon D80</li>
<li>Lens 1: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR</a></li>
<li>Lens 2: Kilfitt 400mm f/5.6 "FrankenLens"</li>
<li>Shutter Release: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKMCDC1.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbeddedArtcle">Nikon MC-DC1</a></li>
<li>Tripod: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/FPTPL100.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbeddedArtcle">Flashpoint L100</a></li>
<li>Tripod Head: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GTMH1304110C.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbeddedArtcle">Giottos 1304 Ball Head</a></li>
</ul>
My intention was to get some cityscapes during sunset and early evening. I spent most of my time shooting the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR</a> and it worked brilliantly. Shooting between 30 seconds and 5 minutes I got some gorgeous shots.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqDb5cVolUbm35UidFnEI47_H7PhlGzRkErOZ2XTxqGiP3J3mql48hLPmCS4-4XGu2ydvPiQsL79p18j1IkRgEMSqFY8EeSgjIBU1xmNRtxCC64qlNSD5Vuz9R_VDSUDepUufSEyKFZ4/s1600/dsc_4162_349x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Phoenix Arizona Cityscape at Sunset" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqDb5cVolUbm35UidFnEI47_H7PhlGzRkErOZ2XTxqGiP3J3mql48hLPmCS4-4XGu2ydvPiQsL79p18j1IkRgEMSqFY8EeSgjIBU1xmNRtxCC64qlNSD5Vuz9R_VDSUDepUufSEyKFZ4/s320/dsc_4162_349x600.jpg" title="Phoenix Arizona Cityscape at Sunset" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera:
Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens:
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal
Length: 18mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter:
26.7 sec</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture:
f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO:
100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash:
None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just to see what it could do I pulled out the Kilfitt 400mm f/5.6 "FrankenLens". This is a lens that was given to me with the original mount boogered up to fit some unknown camera. So I went ahead and bought some (ahem) high quality super cheap extension tubes and pressed a tube onto the mount. These all screwed together so I was able to mix and match until I got the lens mounted at the correct distance from the focal plane. It is definately a kludge job, but it works, and works quite well. Here is a shot from the old Kilfitt...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAPxomVNk3ptMRsP9yje52IpFJMCI7eTdGenW7PBmvxuxWrXd2Zjs9pWOuo_OfAloP__y0DLKHdO3ednsk0y605LTdAjASBwu3q9e7puL6ssH6Nt2up5hveDkERrz5Mp-YystDk_Tt6w/s1600/dsc_4149_348x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Phoenix Arizona Cityscape Closeup at Sunset" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAPxomVNk3ptMRsP9yje52IpFJMCI7eTdGenW7PBmvxuxWrXd2Zjs9pWOuo_OfAloP__y0DLKHdO3ednsk0y605LTdAjASBwu3q9e7puL6ssH6Nt2up5hveDkERrz5Mp-YystDk_Tt6w/s320/dsc_4149_348x600.jpg" title="Phoenix Arizona Cityscape Closeup at Sunset" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: Kilfitt 400mm f/5.6 "FrankenLens"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 400mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 3 sec</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Overall not bad. This was a good shoot, had the right equipment, and came home with some stuff I was proud of, and that is all you ever want.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-27530275333581108532013-02-20T19:05:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:33:17.043-08:00Shooting Digital? Choose The Right Film!<script type="text/javascript">
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For me, this is what I find as the BIG TRAP of digital photography, and I fall into it myself. Either you just start shooting and forget, or you figure it is digital and I can just fix it later. The fact of the matter is that choosing the right settings (film) is just important in digital photography. Sure you can fix it later if you shoot RAW, but if you shoot JPG no matter what you do you are throwing away information and quality, and why would you want to do either? One just wastes time, and the other throws away quality, why did we spend the money on an expensive DSLR then.<br />
<br />
When we shoot film, we choose it specifically for the job. Want your colors to POP pick out a contrasty slide film like Velvia, shooting portraits grab something much smoother and finer. We can do the same for our digital photography.<br />
<br />
Personally when I am shooting landscapes, cars, or motorcycles, give me it all. I turn everything up to get the color to scream. Here are my settings for this on my Nikon D80:<br />
<ul>
<li>Image Sharpening: +2 Medium High</li>
<li>Tone Compensation: Auto</li>
<li>Color Mode: IIIa</li>
<li>Saturation: +</li>
<li>Hue Adjustment: 0</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghxtzuDvpMa5mbFrwoxdVGFowheybc6g5wz9dCgjuvlXIHkxrQplXdNtYsFXyqzfK7rwsBeAjpyLgXrupWLDWowXh4oTQtGDIXll7ZET6G_8p2LGY9dB9uMN0HRfgA3gWS4mjACjKZjE/s1600/DSC_4199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flowers" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghxtzuDvpMa5mbFrwoxdVGFowheybc6g5wz9dCgjuvlXIHkxrQplXdNtYsFXyqzfK7rwsBeAjpyLgXrupWLDWowXh4oTQtGDIXll7ZET6G_8p2LGY9dB9uMN0HRfgA3gWS4mjACjKZjE/s320/DSC_4199.JPG" title="Flowers" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 40mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.3</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As you can see, the only items I haven't changed are Tone Compensation and Hue Adjustment, and Tone Compensation may get changed, but so far it has worked well at Auto.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now for shooting people this is a horrible setting. For people I run something more like this:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Image Sharpening: -1 Medium Low</li>
<li>Tone Compensation: Auto</li>
<li>Color Mode: Ia</li>
<li>Saturation: Auto</li>
<li>Hue Adjustment: 0</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntOY2MlwXhYbgleZ_KFmMwL7tCEKLeExlofpNSKmB-9OUNJGlNjrFzIoVgO2tpXA-g42Wls-wAnaebcI11N9fp1zAdK08AdReA6-8LmXIgzgREj-JOiljCm-upQmdKQnCWg2fdfuDCoY/s1600/DSC_4202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flowers" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntOY2MlwXhYbgleZ_KFmMwL7tCEKLeExlofpNSKmB-9OUNJGlNjrFzIoVgO2tpXA-g42Wls-wAnaebcI11N9fp1zAdK08AdReA6-8LmXIgzgREj-JOiljCm-upQmdKQnCWg2fdfuDCoY/s320/DSC_4202.JPG" title="Flowers" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 40mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.3</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
So for people we need to run the subdued colors of Ia and a lot of sharpening pulled out. Saturation is set to Auto, and you could go further and set it to - to really reduce it, but Auto seems to work well.</div>
</div>
<br />
If you have been reading this blog you know that I am a firm believer of getting the shots straight out of the camera. It saves me time not having to constantly fool and adjust every image. I do shoot RAW+JPG (which some consider foolish, but space is cheap) but the RAWs are there specifically as a backup or if I just utterly screw up (I am human :-) ). I use the RAW file usually only if the color still wasn't loud enough for me. If I do manipulate I only manipulate RAWs.<br />
<br />
So you still want to manipulate JPGs? In case you didn't know manipulating JPGs is DESTRUCTIVE. Here we'll take a look at it. For this case I will start off with an image that is over exposed.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTeI_g5hXOJvYvtAPj6XsLI4ShcomxYQdZTWubKW_K1mq1XZlj9mB7QHWbZMwHm5syNgOTWXSB5q_-SDKWfsmtQZI9LliKWBiR0jCUr3lTaeREpp37Wtm4KiCGndhn3M-xXpUx7uCDS0/s1600/DSC_4048_Raw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Waterfall" border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTeI_g5hXOJvYvtAPj6XsLI4ShcomxYQdZTWubKW_K1mq1XZlj9mB7QHWbZMwHm5syNgOTWXSB5q_-SDKWfsmtQZI9LliKWBiR0jCUr3lTaeREpp37Wtm4KiCGndhn3M-xXpUx7uCDS0/s320/DSC_4048_Raw.JPG" title="Waterfall" width="320" /></a></div>
So you can see that this image is pretty well blown out. This histogram is all off to the right confirming this. So from here you'd want to fix this in your favorite image editing software. If you are fixing the JPG maybe you'd do something like this.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3OYMYRhGxQq2tlXuuJYaKzXIV2Ifb5djz1PXMxPHKYa0yYPK1JkjF9GF7eM7qycocOdIZW9cf4svcEahCQWPiF0bN-PdqXwNIHb8vuT5-EqOu2I1R8lWj-3IMtLidxPo77hWPHFLJrQ/s1600/DSC_4048_FixedInGimp.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Waterfall" border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3OYMYRhGxQq2tlXuuJYaKzXIV2Ifb5djz1PXMxPHKYa0yYPK1JkjF9GF7eM7qycocOdIZW9cf4svcEahCQWPiF0bN-PdqXwNIHb8vuT5-EqOu2I1R8lWj-3IMtLidxPo77hWPHFLJrQ/s320/DSC_4048_FixedInGimp.JPG" title="Waterfall" width="320" /></a></div>
Much better. But what are all those gaps in the histogram? Well, in order to stretch the data that was there it had to cut gaps into your shot. Also those blown out pixels in the water, well, they are still blown out. But what if you had the RAW file to work with?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt_GF9mkOKw_8WXwm7VeXbM2sX67X_FjqgoiBbqhbQF8UGcyq9CTbdQOw9hKxQZqCfhr2QfePgN-7RZjragN00A6GgY9z9liw_Al726djmgGpEPg-BKx1hLTaeALybKu5vukRhd8mTQ8/s1600/DSC_4048_FixedInNx.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Waterfall" border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt_GF9mkOKw_8WXwm7VeXbM2sX67X_FjqgoiBbqhbQF8UGcyq9CTbdQOw9hKxQZqCfhr2QfePgN-7RZjragN00A6GgY9z9liw_Al726djmgGpEPg-BKx1hLTaeALybKu5vukRhd8mTQ8/s320/DSC_4048_FixedInNx.JPG" title="Waterfall" width="320" /></a></div>
The NEF really helps out here because it has data that the JPG doesn't. So stretching out that histogram here retains a lot more information, and hey, a lot more of those blown out highlights are there now! Awesome. But why did I just waste several minutes making a useable image, when I could have got it straight from the camera.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGcpNy3Lc0ZulmnOSR_wHBIcnOTepc4zjiiAxcgRGkKLOK1oQlZOEl7xA82NWUl9mrQmoEUmKI3i4K4QJnrTi5GeAQL7Dyce1E-O0qSYUFKAfdEagVOoG_4zhWTNXIUzbxo3ClPuSBxo/s1600/DSC_4044_DoItRight.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Waterfall" border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGcpNy3Lc0ZulmnOSR_wHBIcnOTepc4zjiiAxcgRGkKLOK1oQlZOEl7xA82NWUl9mrQmoEUmKI3i4K4QJnrTi5GeAQL7Dyce1E-O0qSYUFKAfdEagVOoG_4zhWTNXIUzbxo3ClPuSBxo/s320/DSC_4044_DoItRight.JPG" title="Waterfall" width="320" /></a></div>
No nasty blown out highlights, no gaps in my histogram (so no data loss), and best of all, no waste of my time. This goes for everything, exposure (which I used here since I had the pics handy), color saturation, sharpness, etc. Post production of all these items is a second rate solution.<br />
<br />
In the end you'll do yourself a favor by setting up your camera to get the shots how you want them straight out of the camera. For me, not wasting time manipulating images on a computer means I can be out shooting more, and that is what it is all about.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!<br />
<div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-48085715935631065572013-02-17T19:00:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:33:36.091-08:00Nikon EM: Can You Live With This Little Gem?<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDpxhGQz3nObGNk6XkzprpRuJhyOq-79KIJ7TWclifYjeDno0SXJ0sW0iEuGn_39iTTyycL08ccC84eJYtxxK0T-2ULVttZFGrZB4ezAlYtTmYI153ZXOF2lKlm1vQjl28565-_aYjdI/s1600/DSC_3834_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon EM - Front" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDpxhGQz3nObGNk6XkzprpRuJhyOq-79KIJ7TWclifYjeDno0SXJ0sW0iEuGn_39iTTyycL08ccC84eJYtxxK0T-2ULVttZFGrZB4ezAlYtTmYI153ZXOF2lKlm1vQjl28565-_aYjdI/s320/DSC_3834_600.JPG" title="Nikon EM" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is the Nikon EM. This camera is very very small as small as many rangefinder cameras. Is it worth a shot? This was my first Nikon camera. It will work with any <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai">Ai</a>, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai-S">Ai-S</a>, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF">AF</a>, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-n">AF-n</a>, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-D">AF-D</a>, or <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-I">AF-I</a> lenses. Non-<a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#G">G</a> <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-S">AF-S</a> lenses will also work with this camera, but not <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#G">G</a> series <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-S">AF-S</a> lenses. Note though that this is a manual-focus only camera, so while the auto-focus lenses work properly, they will not auto-focus on this camera. This camera is an auto exposure camera that provides Aperture Priority mode only. The extent of it's controls are a shutter release, a switch that provides Bulb/M90/Auto modes, an ISO selector, a self timer, and a back-light button.<br />
<br />
I do like this little camera, you have to get creative for some situations, but it can do most anything. When I was shooting film I usually took this when I wanted to travel light. I would usually pair it with the 24mm AF-D lens seen here. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVVjRpyi1s1nEE_bjMPj7GXSNPMZla9aYmQbyCjSDhVNh883MZcjdxaH7DkGFuAgkKefd2mu8Y5ixVgkUsQGCxc62C9tjPMRoGbl1ZO9xuNwL-Nll4YnPRrP9LAdtRM7VSAsbbH5bNmE/s1600/DSC_3835_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon EM - Rear" border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVVjRpyi1s1nEE_bjMPj7GXSNPMZla9aYmQbyCjSDhVNh883MZcjdxaH7DkGFuAgkKefd2mu8Y5ixVgkUsQGCxc62C9tjPMRoGbl1ZO9xuNwL-Nll4YnPRrP9LAdtRM7VSAsbbH5bNmE/s320/DSC_3835_600.JPG" title="Nikon EM" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
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You have three modes of operation, of which most of the time you will use Auto. In Auto you select the aperture and the camera will select the appropriate shutter speed and display it for you with a matchstick in the viewfinder. It displays from 1 second to 1/1000 second in one stop increments with 1 - 1/30 second in red. If your shutter speed goes faster than 1/1000 second the camera will beep to warn you of the over exposure, and if you go into the red zone at 1/30 second or slower the camera will also beep to warn of possible camera shake. One of the more interesting features of this little camera is the back-light button. This is the little silver button on the front of the camera. When you press this button in Auto mode it slows the shutter speed 2 stops to increase the exposure 2 stops so if you a back-light subject they wont just be a black shadow in your picture. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EazCGCpODZNcB37Y2aoO7h9TtoX3G_YWGZkUixpWJgTjYsQHc6PCdAcS_YAbbxAP_axca5XMSN1FmC_Q93flTDf6tWac52YGp3e3YjFKXVVpGZwbHx_L6kQ-4aoQ2-9dCQAcFxOtUWA/s1600/DSC_4111x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon EM - Shutter Release" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EazCGCpODZNcB37Y2aoO7h9TtoX3G_YWGZkUixpWJgTjYsQHc6PCdAcS_YAbbxAP_axca5XMSN1FmC_Q93flTDf6tWac52YGp3e3YjFKXVVpGZwbHx_L6kQ-4aoQ2-9dCQAcFxOtUWA/s320/DSC_4111x600.JPG" title="Nikon EM" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/11</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere, off-camera)</div>
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You also have a M90 mode. This mode is a mechanical shutter release at 1/90 of a second for in case the battery dies. You can also use this if you are using an older, or non-Nikon flash that doesn't command the camera to use 1/90 second. In the 6 years I've owned this camera, the battery is still good, so it isn't really needed for the battery but I did use with a generic flash.<br />
<br />
There is also a Bulb mode that is also mechanical that will hold the shutter open as long as you want. It does have a provision for a shutter release cable so you can do timed exposures, and since the shutter operates mechanically for Bulb those timed exposures can go for as long as you like.<br />
<br />
This camera is before TTL flash, so you have to go manual. It will automatically set the shutter speed to 1/90 second when you put the flash on if you are using a Nikon flash that provides that information to the camera. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LOqJ7_BKjBrvsmzXB_lnrSWVANoOPCvMARnDjHvKgTVfxYA-bFkFdloVop5JLuQWtToaWykfmOams_zJ6np6JobprCzjo3AvqIP2LyjZYnezX6DnU9znl66klbOG8dAK-5XIFdJiqeg/s1600/DSC_4110x600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon EM - ISO Selector" border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LOqJ7_BKjBrvsmzXB_lnrSWVANoOPCvMARnDjHvKgTVfxYA-bFkFdloVop5JLuQWtToaWykfmOams_zJ6np6JobprCzjo3AvqIP2LyjZYnezX6DnU9znl66klbOG8dAK-5XIFdJiqeg/s320/DSC_4110x600.JPG" title="Nikon EM" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/11</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere, off-camera)</div>
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</tbody></table>
I have 2 complaints with this camera. I don't like the ISO selection. You lift it up to change it, but the detents aren't deep enough and sometimes it gets inadvertently changed. Since there is no viewfinder verification, there is nothing to warn you. The other is that there is no shutter release lock. So if you advance the film and then decide not to take the shot there is no way to lock the release. I wish the B/M90/Auto switch had one more position, but it doesn't.<br />
<br />
You can get creative with this little guy if you want to. There is no manual mode except for M90, and there is no exposure compensation... or is there? You may notice my little origami film reference card, the reason for this is because the ISO that is selected may not be what is in the camera. I often used the ISO selector as my exposure compensation to adjust for different lighting situations.<br />
<br />
SPECS:<br />
<ul>
<li>Media: Film</li>
<li>ISO Range: 25-1600</li>
<li>Shutter Speed Range: 1-1/1000</li>
<li>Operating Modes: Aperture Preferred only.</li>
<li>Flash: Manual</li>
<li>Weight: 16.7oz (473g)</li>
</ul>
<div>
This camera won't be for everyone, it requires you work around it's limited controls. But if you want the absolute lightest SLR film camera you can get that uses the Nikon lens system it is hard to beat this one. In the end I chose to use this camera because it gave me the opportunity to always have my superb Nikon optics even when I needed to travel at my lightest. Some people will look down on this camera, but don't let that stop you. It is about image quality, and this can provide you Nikon optics in a package not much larger than a point and shoot. And in the end EVERY film SLR body is nothing but a controlled shutter. As long as the shutter timing is correct your optics are the only difference in the photo, and this EM uses the same quality optics of my F4s. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-76839593922690805702013-02-15T18:21:00.001-08:002013-02-23T12:34:12.229-08:00What's In My Bag: Product Photography - Church<script type="text/javascript">
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I got commissioned to shoot for a Teaching Mass at a Catholic Church. This required me to come prepared to shoot the items as they are. I was not going to be moving the items to a prepared location to shoot them. This provides for nice creativity opportunities to make each shot look it's best, but it also means I need to be portable. I decided on the following gear to go with me.<br />
<ul>
<li>Camera: Nikon D80</li>
<li>Lens: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR</a></li>
<li>Flash: SB-600 (w/ <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a>)</li>
<li>Reflector: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/WEPB5I140.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Photo Basics 5-way Reflector</a></li>
</ul>
The whole key here was to make sure I was able to get the shots done right, and get them done quick. I really only had an hour to work, and a lot of pieces to shoot. The reflector was good insurance but I ended up not needing it. The big thing was monitoring the exposure. My D80 would get fooled by an open book and I'd have to up the exposure come to +1 to get it exposed correctly. For instance, check these two shots of the same subject, one closed, one open.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuwVjF90lM4Ji3lzyGMv3O1lnlKbMfTUiohIPwU_WJTtKz6j-zY_3Il9pR5TXXXjFQJwOjdLwB0KX-OpBMAV2SrrNGwv-RYBftK3CtmZs5p0nfUjHlgkIBZ-mPPjjZOSzKA5YGB3OdMM/s1600/dsc_3945_284x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lectionary" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuwVjF90lM4Ji3lzyGMv3O1lnlKbMfTUiohIPwU_WJTtKz6j-zY_3Il9pR5TXXXjFQJwOjdLwB0KX-OpBMAV2SrrNGwv-RYBftK3CtmZs5p0nfUjHlgkIBZ-mPPjjZOSzKA5YGB3OdMM/s320/dsc_3945_284x600.jpg" title="Lectionary" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/40</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 800</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Exposure Comp: -1 2/3</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJ-eK1nH2LKjyPNMYeYd6p6VG6b_uR-0uF-A42bZI1_X-T_aRodNdf19-X6cHcgpQenMA_aVT1XUzI_-ThcVYNLHo0VlUl4GEaeoFwLhhSYc-LGfh8Bw5q0ooSEguNktU1n51BOQtgJk/s1600/dsc_3948_285x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lectionary" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJ-eK1nH2LKjyPNMYeYd6p6VG6b_uR-0uF-A42bZI1_X-T_aRodNdf19-X6cHcgpQenMA_aVT1XUzI_-ThcVYNLHo0VlUl4GEaeoFwLhhSYc-LGfh8Bw5q0ooSEguNktU1n51BOQtgJk/s320/dsc_3948_285x600.jpg" title="Lectionary" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 500</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Exposure Comp: +1/3</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (w/ Gary Fong Lightsphere)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Did you see it? 2 stops exposure compensation difference between the shots. After you learn composition, exposure compensation is the next big thing to learn, and situations like this show just how much your light meter can be fooled. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the end, that is what was in my bag, and in this case it worked beautifully.<br />
<div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-1019993328792321392013-02-14T16:55:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:34:23.309-08:00Standards Change: Your Best Today Doesn't Make The Grade Tomorrow<script type="text/javascript">
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I had a revelation today. What I thought was great yesterday, I wouldn't even show today. Now, to put in perspective, I am never happy with my work. I have two grades, passable, and complete failure. I always have something I don't like about each shot, but I get better everyday. You can judge for yourself, we all have different tastes and different standards, so you may think these are great, you might think they are garbage but I am giving what I thought was great yesterday and today.<br />
<br />
This shot was a time exposure at Tempe Town Lake. I was really bad at taking notes, so I couldn't tell you how long the exposure was, but I know that I was running around 16 minutes shooting water at night back then. The light stream in the bottom is a boat that entered my shot, but I liked it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9nDdMr-dEhWb3r0Yy0Nr79bmMYElmTuA-GdBInUjaHki2ZtrpFHyHrFivZJ791Kqfvi1qwe-h-vsL_YNXiQCKDDMRAvIHdD6PCkaJfJ2D2puOBLm3zknLM9sMCe3j1ZvjvRW9XiaZCM/s1600/Transparencies081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Industrial, bridge, lake" border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9nDdMr-dEhWb3r0Yy0Nr79bmMYElmTuA-GdBInUjaHki2ZtrpFHyHrFivZJ791Kqfvi1qwe-h-vsL_YNXiQCKDDMRAvIHdD6PCkaJfJ2D2puOBLm3zknLM9sMCe3j1ZvjvRW9XiaZCM/s320/Transparencies081.jpg" title="Industrial, bridge, lake" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Petri FT1000 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: Petri 135mm f/3.5</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 135mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 50 (Fuji Velvia)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I first took this shot I loved it, it was the pinnacle of my abilities at that time, and shot with my first eBay bought SLR. Today I wouldn't show it (except here for instructional purposes).<br />
<br />
Now, a Christmas card photo?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcyOLg8e5PfAbhd3bg7MI6bbvIN-BoisGHr-N5cqrZ-wdv-2381-0RWui7Rja4LEnNC5qktFXvhVb8VuKr4_svGUEaq5YQ95mY5pTyuA0iLWFlq6sbId1YqPtwYQa_uhw6z_8eUAZ2A4/s1600/Transparencies073x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Christmas Mouse" border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcyOLg8e5PfAbhd3bg7MI6bbvIN-BoisGHr-N5cqrZ-wdv-2381-0RWui7Rja4LEnNC5qktFXvhVb8VuKr4_svGUEaq5YQ95mY5pTyuA0iLWFlq6sbId1YqPtwYQa_uhw6z_8eUAZ2A4/s320/Transparencies073x600.jpg" title="Christmas Mouse" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Petri FT1000 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: Vivitar 28mm f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 28mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 50 (Fuji Velvia)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This was one of my early attempts at close-up work (it isn't close enough to be considered macro). I was thrilled when I got this shot. Composition wise, this shot I still like. But the image is soft. It is just slightly out of focus. No one to blame but me, the FT1000 is a manual focus SLR. The other problem is that it really should have been shot on a tungsten film rather than daylight, so it is very warm even though I did correct it during the transparency scan. <br />
<br />
It's all about color!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Ew6LFomF5ZhF1yMkC-0iqWtURB8JwaaQyYz0k-Pc4nf2rdk1l_5PGlDpzly5iqdbnBgVd2MLgiEFEEWUYx8Nugx4hmyPTl5UtcURtWtSpM2Lo6aKmLBgd88tt8XFnbXL5bvXJtB2WYE/s1600/Transparencies079x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lake Sunset Cityscape" border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Ew6LFomF5ZhF1yMkC-0iqWtURB8JwaaQyYz0k-Pc4nf2rdk1l_5PGlDpzly5iqdbnBgVd2MLgiEFEEWUYx8Nugx4hmyPTl5UtcURtWtSpM2Lo6aKmLBgd88tt8XFnbXL5bvXJtB2WYE/s320/Transparencies079x600.jpg" title="Lake Sunset Cityscape" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Petri FT1000 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: Industar 50mm f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 50mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/22</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 50 (Fuji Velvia)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unfortunately that is all this shot is about. I wish there was a little more to the composition. When I first shot it I loved the color. But composition ruins it. What is it a picture of? The power poles on the right? Did I really leave those in the shot, what was I looking at. The buildings on the left are too small to be a prominent feature, so when the viewer sees this, what do they see, pretty color. Great, I just provided the same experience a box of crayons creates. Oh well, I continue learning.<br />
<br />
The point of all of this is to just show that as you continue to learn and grow, what you shot that you love today will lose it's luster tomorrow. And you wont realize it until you have some reason to go back and look at all those "Great Shots". That is what I just did the other night, I pulled out the file of transparencies that I had separated out as my best works. I was disappointed when I found those "Great Works". I take better photos today with my phone. But then I realized, I shouldn't be brooding over the works from the past that I no longer like, I've grown beyond the talents I had then, and that is always a good thing.<br />
<br />
So remember this, don't compare your works with that of other artists and get discouraged, they were once where you are now. Keep refining your artistic vision with every shot and one day you'll be looking at that "Great Shot" you made 5 years ago asking yourself, "What was I thinking?". My work from 5 years ago, yeah, it just doesn't make the grade.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-51818153571649820302013-02-05T12:34:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:36:23.104-08:00What's In My Bag: Basketball!!!<script type="text/javascript">
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As a photographer I take every opportunity to shoot to hone my skills. Tonight I have such an opportunity, my niece has a basketball game. So what parameters to we have here, sports in a Jr. High gymnasium. Although I could get closer than a professional sports event, I am probably still going to be at a distance and the lighting will be dim. So I will pass up my 18-55mm because I won't need anything as short as 18mm and 55mm might even be a little short. I have a 300mm Ai-S that I have shot the Phoenix Suns with and it worked very well, but I was at quite a distance for that and would rather not shoot at that distance today. So I am going to bring my 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n and nothing else lens wise. Lastly, since the lighting is going to stink, I will add my SB-600. I have mostly shot outdoor sports, so shooting this game will be a little different. I usually don't use a flash outdoors but definitely want to give it a go here.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Camera: Nikon D80</li>
<li>Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</li>
<li>Flash: SB-600</li>
</ul>
<div>
RESULTS: Well, like I said, this is not my forte and I didn't do as well as I would have liked. Probably the biggest issue was that I should have had the flash in rear curtain mode so that the exposure would stay the same as for non-flash, and I would just get a little fill from the flash. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-55296491872228048212013-02-02T18:30:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:34:43.472-08:00Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E: Small, Light, And Powerful<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAtYpmEhrysPDbd2E6BSRfX03FFbGL8BWg8j-Hh5iqNxRuBiXVN6XgUvq-RvuJT2SJZUX39rRTXFrbCFpkw-yUDKmcFE1YfxDC56B0A1gykElzZqZIjckEBbQ2jccuW3yWHilzc7TltA/s1600/DSC_3497_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAtYpmEhrysPDbd2E6BSRfX03FFbGL8BWg8j-Hh5iqNxRuBiXVN6XgUvq-RvuJT2SJZUX39rRTXFrbCFpkw-yUDKmcFE1YfxDC56B0A1gykElzZqZIjckEBbQ2jccuW3yWHilzc7TltA/s320/DSC_3497_600.JPG" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I am shooting film, this is usually my number 2 lens. It is the smallest, lightest 100mm/105mm lens you can get. It is manual focus, but for shooting things that don't move, that isn't a big deal. The ergonomics on this little guy are butter smooth. The focus ring feels precise and the aperture ring moves smoothly with sharp detents. The optics are wonderful. In everyday shooting I don't see any discernible distortion or light fall-off.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNR7iJX_TjFv_S9xjgL8m8P-sfiE1-l6qTWK0MlrLPsfFr4NXMlLi4rMZUfVmYVpfbwadOh1bKJ5U18h6LCGAFqAZT52c_KoFmcTVh9DC2Dx_NTGxrM5-p7tMHC2A_sND7lc0-yRmZYk/s1600/DSC_3498_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNR7iJX_TjFv_S9xjgL8m8P-sfiE1-l6qTWK0MlrLPsfFr4NXMlLi4rMZUfVmYVpfbwadOh1bKJ5U18h6LCGAFqAZT52c_KoFmcTVh9DC2Dx_NTGxrM5-p7tMHC2A_sND7lc0-yRmZYk/s320/DSC_3498_600.JPG" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being a Series E lens means that this is also an Ai-S lens. An Ai-S lens will not function anything on the D80 I use, or any of the lower tier cameras. Unless you are shooting a pro tier camera, you will have no metering and your camera will only operate in M mode. This isn't a complete tragedy as with a little practice you can use it manual. The product shot below was actually done with this lens, on a D80, and even with a SB-600 flash (which also has to be used in manual mode), and it came out fine.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwi_TR__8pa0JQAetflALxvrGS1ENl7WHRtwZoeNerr5FQLtV_toxzNhzBpmBpzN6TCD6d4rC_TgPaSgrU6FdMmobn4-6D0L7YsCMfGHxt0qp6D5VAMxAYSf_lB0avhW1HJpZSNSuxKY/s1600/DSC_3513_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwi_TR__8pa0JQAetflALxvrGS1ENl7WHRtwZoeNerr5FQLtV_toxzNhzBpmBpzN6TCD6d4rC_TgPaSgrU6FdMmobn4-6D0L7YsCMfGHxt0qp6D5VAMxAYSf_lB0avhW1HJpZSNSuxKY/s320/DSC_3513_600.JPG" title="Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There is an option, you can have this lens chipped and then it will fully operate on the low and mid tier cameras (no AF of course since it is manual focus) with full metering and full PSAM. I am considering this since I really do like this lens for its light weight and I think it will work well on DX as a headshot lens. If/when I do have this lens operated on I will update the review.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>SPECS:</b></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Focal Length: 100mm</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22, 7 blades</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Close Focus: 38"</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Lens Type: <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Ai-S">Ai-S</a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Filter Size: 52mm</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Weight: 7.9oz (223g)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Here are some test images for comparison. This is the overall image and is shot at the closest focus distance, so about 3 feet or so from the target.</span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNp7Ji3mUuHsP1r1oLm9wg0krhIf86kczvBodypUNHCG3y6xWBgjxsoAvGnOC1XQCf4Qm_zEEMLJHqS25u6e58189o3VFMBT26TBnWY5-ihxKN3PijIBv-_ClL0UVXdvr5YwsIoCikBY/s1600/100mmFull400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNp7Ji3mUuHsP1r1oLm9wg0krhIf86kczvBodypUNHCG3y6xWBgjxsoAvGnOC1XQCf4Qm_zEEMLJHqS25u6e58189o3VFMBT26TBnWY5-ihxKN3PijIBv-_ClL0UVXdvr5YwsIoCikBY/s320/100mmFull400.JPG" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Except for the fact I have the camera a little crooked, there is no discernible distortion in this shot.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The next image is the very center at full resolution.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlZToAGaFdZJgnOip7JuhBS-RU8wI_kAqwRvw54vRDbOeI3zO-_k5x6XsuQoQjJ5fLFhBbZdNOWfPqolFDP0YFfOP-abvPfRQ0hAgTPQhYUXzdDtStHzovDfKaNA8xYiW4yV7Dl7ZOUI/s1600/100mmCenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot Center" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrlZToAGaFdZJgnOip7JuhBS-RU8wI_kAqwRvw54vRDbOeI3zO-_k5x6XsuQoQjJ5fLFhBbZdNOWfPqolFDP0YFfOP-abvPfRQ0hAgTPQhYUXzdDtStHzovDfKaNA8xYiW4yV7Dl7ZOUI/s320/100mmCenter.JPG" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot Center" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">As expected, the lens is very clean in the center, looks great.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">And this final image is from the left corner at full resolution.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40-UH7nESDdVfKoKqUmaa7ce4d7Fgfrp0BGPGP0P7ct3faoERfpkvozJaUemzQrb-CYhyphenhyphen-Q2cL4oO3mm79ht_SqMFZt1TFLvEPigUWtEApXBf8HESbNAklT7M0Zes0hSshq3FmoWtZpc/s1600/100mmCorner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot Corner" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40-UH7nESDdVfKoKqUmaa7ce4d7Fgfrp0BGPGP0P7ct3faoERfpkvozJaUemzQrb-CYhyphenhyphen-Q2cL4oO3mm79ht_SqMFZt1TFLvEPigUWtEApXBf8HESbNAklT7M0Zes0hSshq3FmoWtZpc/s320/100mmCorner.JPG" title="Nikon 100mm f/2.8 Series E - Test Shot Corner" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Here is the proof that the Series E lenses are of excellent optical quality. There is nothing to complain about in this image.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I love this lens on my F4. I could live my entire life with just this lens, and the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK2428AFDU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">24mm f/2.8 AF-D</a> on a 35mm/FX camera and never need another lens. This one is a keeper which is why I am considering the Ai-P (chipping) upgrade.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-54654830470195686652013-02-02T10:26:00.000-08:002013-12-27T14:58:05.703-08:00Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n<script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXJjlKWyEDFZtncBfDR4fO_ZNwRKC93gS2-dSuGCVwpCbgiPgZWAPUfYdAp_XYG0FAPUaTOl-eiE843ux2Oex_sUfSn0GWYDhgkjyj_dwytKlBQY3PCg9C3JXmylSy3uWHIE8XhVXGXI/s1600/DSC_3504_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXJjlKWyEDFZtncBfDR4fO_ZNwRKC93gS2-dSuGCVwpCbgiPgZWAPUfYdAp_XYG0FAPUaTOl-eiE843ux2Oex_sUfSn0GWYDhgkjyj_dwytKlBQY3PCg9C3JXmylSy3uWHIE8XhVXGXI/s320/DSC_3504_600.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
View my <a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-70-210mm-f4-56-AF-D/28406974_MXWjNc#!i=2405820568&k=sh5Bxkf" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</a>.<br />
<br />
This lens has been serving me for many years, and in day to day shooting, the optics are great. Although the auto-focus is fairly slow, I have used it to successfully shoot football games with no complaints. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwD2tUZ1myJdmgNnWgItGuMGDFtBxtANxwY4ZL8cS7S0WbMtSIE5dbQdzoSXzv4KZRcjNDdPhFKYdXOGDm9sgTj8edFGC-yuCyVWc-RNA7f-u_QF1o_RpJoDA394lpw8cHYWYbc0svW0/s1600/DSC_0533_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flag Football" border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwD2tUZ1myJdmgNnWgItGuMGDFtBxtANxwY4ZL8cS7S0WbMtSIE5dbQdzoSXzv4KZRcjNDdPhFKYdXOGDm9sgTj8edFGC-yuCyVWc-RNA7f-u_QF1o_RpJoDA394lpw8cHYWYbc0svW0/s320/DSC_0533_600.JPG" title="Flag Football" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 116mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/1000</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/11</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 500</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Shooting static objects the auto-focus has always been accurate with no complaints. That is not to say I have no complaints with this lens. This is the only Nikon lens I have ever owned, that has failed. I was shooting a NASCAR event and I swapped this lens on and the auto-focus did not function. After checking all of the camera settings I pulled the lens off and noticed that the auto-focus screw drive wasn't flush with the lens mount like normal, but inset a few mm. At first I thought that something had happened inside the lens, but then I found the little button on the ground that had actually fallen out. I have since been able to get the button reattached to the lens, but the manual focus while never smooth is now nothchy and atrocious.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>UPDATE: </strong></span><span style="color: black;">This lens has now had it's second failure, and again, it is the only lens to ever fail on me so I have concerns for it's durability. As for the second failure, I was shooting a wedding with it when I noticed that the focus had all of the sudden gotten jammed when zooming. So if I left the zoom in one position it was fine, but when zooming and focusing at the same time it would stick. At this same point I noticed that the zoom ring, which should feel solid, seemed to have some play in it. I moved it back and forth and while it felt horrid I could not see anything out of place. I went back to attempt a shot with it and when I zoomed in the zoom ring and front element came right off the front of the lens. Luckily I had a backup camera and another long lens to complete the shoot. When I got home I found two screws floating inside the barrel and noticed that there are supposed to be 3 holding the zoom ring to the rest of the lens (you can see the screw heads if you look through the front element). Being someone who never likes to toss something out I have reassembled it, but it will never see professional work again.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsj6S1fwe0ImJf0LPvPv0KRlF_z9cpn0gYREeP-IUzcHScJVSmTljFFcg4CF4LigVMbuMHW_iNqhWwI9FiZve09J2P2jo3Ln3RnncJYiB06wBqFDj6HZVhr3KrF8P00DqtbNFvR2AKYUo/s1600/DSC_3506_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsj6S1fwe0ImJf0LPvPv0KRlF_z9cpn0gYREeP-IUzcHScJVSmTljFFcg4CF4LigVMbuMHW_iNqhWwI9FiZve09J2P2jo3Ln3RnncJYiB06wBqFDj6HZVhr3KrF8P00DqtbNFvR2AKYUo/s320/DSC_3506_600.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The zoom on this lens is a bellows type. While it seems that most lenses nowadays are a twist zoom, I actually prefer and feel that I have more control with a bellows zoom, so this is a selling feature for me. The zoom is spaced well through the entire zoom range with no crowding at either end. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvZ75c9OLB-MYQ2-rYbnUlVKOcueNaIkT5CVwV0Jhf2bIXoiNtOIOJvUGHlu2-iG6zF1_eoisg8LQzfrz7P5_tEcE6xKg1Z8aFW5FSwTJNzV4SrvyhOZDebF_zF1aOLeUTr9o9Re9F5k/s1600/DSC_3508_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvZ75c9OLB-MYQ2-rYbnUlVKOcueNaIkT5CVwV0Jhf2bIXoiNtOIOJvUGHlu2-iG6zF1_eoisg8LQzfrz7P5_tEcE6xKg1Z8aFW5FSwTJNzV4SrvyhOZDebF_zF1aOLeUTr9o9Re9F5k/s320/DSC_3508_600.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being an <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-n">AF-n</a> lens the aperture ring only has a small button to lock it in the tightest aperture position. I hate this tiny button. It is so easy to hit that I constantly have to put it back to f/32. This is a pain when you are in a hurry. Invariably when you are in a hurry you'll snap it on, put the camera to your eye, and see <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#FEE">FEE</a> in the viewfinder as nothing happens. This ergonomics problem wont hurt your photos, just keep you from getting them.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvGahdacWlj6Iu_eIbjuIj5et0q_0s8Sgl8_Bj4Iafc3Zq0i8ozN9ZbouzlPJiFGyG4otgMGrsi99stjczE44PduPSkNop170qy6ZqrcNeC_DjxnqyNdqc5LDZBJCVUlqFuwAtaD-lYU/s1600/DSC_3507_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvGahdacWlj6Iu_eIbjuIj5et0q_0s8Sgl8_Bj4Iafc3Zq0i8ozN9ZbouzlPJiFGyG4otgMGrsi99stjczE44PduPSkNop170qy6ZqrcNeC_DjxnqyNdqc5LDZBJCVUlqFuwAtaD-lYU/s320/DSC_3507_600.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">SPECS:</b><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Focal Length: 70-210mm</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Aperture (70mm): f/4 - f/32, 7 blades</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Aperture (210mm): f/5.6 - f/45, 7 blades</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Close Focus: 36"</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Lens Type: <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-n">AF-n</a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Filter Size: 62mm</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Weight: 21.9oz (620g)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
Here are some test images for comparison. This is the overall image and is shot at the closest focus distance, so only about 9 inches or so from the target.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnUoK8wH6angJqE_Q16Wij5uZCvZF7CDCRfDC8xCAFIBTQszefyzf5P_iaAN3YlQQez0fiuWgm2fBkX5LU7aa1z0m2BUMQaGWA2WXpWILDrmKJ_RXEt6Y_NtTJnjHRSiAnUiesVRhT3U/s1600/70-210mmFull400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n - Test Shot" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnUoK8wH6angJqE_Q16Wij5uZCvZF7CDCRfDC8xCAFIBTQszefyzf5P_iaAN3YlQQez0fiuWgm2fBkX5LU7aa1z0m2BUMQaGWA2WXpWILDrmKJ_RXEt6Y_NtTJnjHRSiAnUiesVRhT3U/s320/70-210mmFull400.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n - Test Shot" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 210mm</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1.6 sec</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Flash: None</span></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Maybe a little hint of pincushion distortion but not enough to worry about.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
The next image is the very center at full resolution.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6PoisF6GFSLsybsV8_-Uir0T1kFqirAo-XSb4afVMmDrO-vyc1024WOCJ9ZrqnS4XHFLllg4oAwsFW4gp8ZJQoaxP2cWxMYIxr2cvDz1SjeUi35HTeS7WLwGprgr45LV8JON9pLiByc/s1600/70-210mmFullCenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6PoisF6GFSLsybsV8_-Uir0T1kFqirAo-XSb4afVMmDrO-vyc1024WOCJ9ZrqnS4XHFLllg4oAwsFW4gp8ZJQoaxP2cWxMYIxr2cvDz1SjeUi35HTeS7WLwGprgr45LV8JON9pLiByc/s320/70-210mmFullCenter.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n - Test Shot Center" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 210mm</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1.6 sec</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Flash: None</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
To my eye this image looks very clean and sharp, but that is pretty much as expected.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
And this final image is from the left corner at full resolution.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBDYdgX4J5S72zJGDWoSN0x5rmzImWri-K1BW6T5akLT27GDYlX8GedPVt0fkgrZMy6T-15xadmmFDRCCBfZPq8g9xVRI3w1c5KRLWBN7K4E_l9iwQGKui0I00yZiXyjdA71xDSksHok/s1600/70-210mmCorner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n - Test Shot Corner" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBDYdgX4J5S72zJGDWoSN0x5rmzImWri-K1BW6T5akLT27GDYlX8GedPVt0fkgrZMy6T-15xadmmFDRCCBfZPq8g9xVRI3w1c5KRLWBN7K4E_l9iwQGKui0I00yZiXyjdA71xDSksHok/s320/70-210mmCorner.JPG" title="Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n - Test Shot Corner" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Camera: Nikon D80 </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Focal Length: 210mm</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Shutter: 1.6 sec</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Aperture: f/8</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">ISO: 100</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Flash: None</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">
The corner shows this image is very crisp and clean out to the corner and I cannot see anything here to complain about.</div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">So the final thoughts. I find this lens serviceable with excellent optics. As far as reliability, it is the only Nikon lens that has ever failed on me. Ergonomically I personally like the bellows zoom, but hate the aperture ring lock. If you need this focal length and can find it cheap go for it, but I will be replacing it with either the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK55200VRU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G</a> or <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK55300VRU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 55-300 f/4-5.6G</a> for a DX camera, or the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK70300AFVRU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 70-300mm f/4-5.6G</a> for FX. You'll get those reviews when I make the purchase.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
View my <a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-70-210mm-f4-56-AF-D/28406974_MXWjNc#!i=2405820568&k=sh5Bxkf" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6 AF-n</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-41106778681220709782013-01-28T22:24:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:35:01.692-08:00Gary Fong Lightsphere: Does It Work?<script type="text/javascript">
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The <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a>, an interesting attachment for your on camera flash that gives the promise of studio lighting anywhere! <br />
<br />
What it is, is a dome that that attaches to your flash to soften the light. It comes in "Cloud" or "Clear" versions and you can have several choices of domes that cover the top. The one I am using here is the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Lightsphere Universal Cloud</a> with a Cloud dome.<br />
<br />
<b>INDOORS:</b> Flash photography indoors presents a problem, you have to balance the light from the flash with the available light in the room. If your indoor setting is lit with incandescent light and you are using a flash, you need to cover the flash with a filter to balance the "daylight" flash to the incandescent room lighting. If you do not and you light the subject the subject will be lit (most likely with the correct color balance since your camera will Auto WB to daylight) but the surroundings of the the room will turn red orange. Same with fluorescent except that the surroundings will be more green. The <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Lightsphere</a> can help you overcome this by for the most part overpowering the ambient room lighting. The big dome on the flash with the flash standing straight up blasts the entire room with a soft daylight balanced light, and it really works. The downside is the amount of power it takes. Even in a normal size living room so much light is used to light the entire room that you are running near full power blasts which eats up batteries. Shooting one wedding reception I shot through 2 full sets of batteries and part of a 3rd, so it uses a lot. <br />
<br />
<b>OUTDOORS:</b> Flash is a must for shooting people outdoors. At short distances with the flash head aimed forward instead of up it can do the trick to give a nice soft light, but I am not sure that the light produced is any softer than the SB-600 provides with the built-in diffuser. If you have your subject at a decent distance you need remove it, it wont let the light make it. You can leave it on if you already have it on and just pull the dome off it, that is how I do it if I already have it attached. Difficult to find a place to put the dome though, if I have jeans on I can usually get it into my back pocket, just don't sit on it.<br />
<br />
<br />
So down to business, I have shot numerous shots for comparison and am putting them in what I think is the worst to first order. We have bounce flash at 90 and 45 degrees with and without diffuser, straight on with and without diffuser, a full studio light set up, and the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a>. All of these have been shot with a 100mm f/2.8 Series E lens. The aperture has been varied as needed to get proper exposure, but we are looking at lighting in general, so for our comparisons here it is irrelevant. Lets see how it fares!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>#8</b> Here poor Karli is just being blasted head on with the SB-600. The light is harsh and there is a very crisp shadow on the backdrop from the flash.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4AxvARC1QPBm6ZQsnnzWveNQXXuHd0FCmwVdVNr18HmmVk7W29LrqNkyPQRiyD-mHPghe6cBNG-sFim3ZjiIHAQN9tt3rdmc-yoHe86csVdx8yRXqf3C5Po378cWDcz4nBMOqpjEeZ4/s1600/8_DSC_3733_221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4AxvARC1QPBm6ZQsnnzWveNQXXuHd0FCmwVdVNr18HmmVk7W29LrqNkyPQRiyD-mHPghe6cBNG-sFim3ZjiIHAQN9tt3rdmc-yoHe86csVdx8yRXqf3C5Po378cWDcz4nBMOqpjEeZ4/s320/8_DSC_3733_221.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/16)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>#7</b> Dropping the diffuser down but still pointed directly at her made it a little better, but not much. Here features are softend and the shadows are less harsh, but still not great.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigebMuVZW7pJTT3qyUkhxiqlpzo9MBQ1wmWBF7ZAfWdNJ8HKpykYlANRbzqwFg-EgS4J0EEGbi4d7hMX2nuTE379I6AH2rZvCD_Dw5-Y7nOU25uEkP6elXX2dtLuOqbyo4JmrVWb8fAZw/s1600/7_DSC_3737_225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigebMuVZW7pJTT3qyUkhxiqlpzo9MBQ1wmWBF7ZAfWdNJ8HKpykYlANRbzqwFg-EgS4J0EEGbi4d7hMX2nuTE379I6AH2rZvCD_Dw5-Y7nOU25uEkP6elXX2dtLuOqbyo4JmrVWb8fAZw/s320/7_DSC_3737_225.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/2 w/Diffuser)</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
#6 Oddly the 45 degree bounce with diffuser is next. As we continue we see the light getting softer and more attractive and we are starting to get a more attractive photo here. Obviously the shot would be helped by having an uplight lighting the backdrop to get rid of the shadow, but if we are going through that effort then why not get out the studio lights.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2Bt_sJwQNLSfAeBX52cZ571H6Xazh5QrQNr7j9rhF13lYjyga2IHl2cglJBdSrrbBFYkebwiKDsxsRz4MWiAk2ibudyBQYBdRi7rZyyA3xndkOURYpt5h7KXKWWCRstnFDITvESAgzM/s1600/6_DSC_3738_226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2Bt_sJwQNLSfAeBX52cZ571H6Xazh5QrQNr7j9rhF13lYjyga2IHl2cglJBdSrrbBFYkebwiKDsxsRz4MWiAk2ibudyBQYBdRi7rZyyA3xndkOURYpt5h7KXKWWCRstnFDITvESAgzM/s320/6_DSC_3738_226.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/1 w/Diffuser 45 degree bounce)</div>
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#5 Here is the 45 degree without diffuser. I really expected 5 and 6 to be reversed, and maybe this was due to the reduced power needed to run without the diffuser, but I like this one better. There is even less shadow behind, maybe the tighter light source helps get it lit better. I may play with this a bit more in my studio and see what comes of it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32bQm4c5aD86pf0-w2YmzyhcYqqkbdkP1E_lT7ukVAQMoIgEYQhFbupiPkLpXU8cR7iQGXhen_oCT_4K19CiHRFL56YZrJkVK1daxBB1MDoBJ1RezPplKOkZRmlwY3oW9l4-dSE0DbVg/s1600/5_DSC_3730_219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32bQm4c5aD86pf0-w2YmzyhcYqqkbdkP1E_lT7ukVAQMoIgEYQhFbupiPkLpXU8cR7iQGXhen_oCT_4K19CiHRFL56YZrJkVK1daxBB1MDoBJ1RezPplKOkZRmlwY3oW9l4-dSE0DbVg/s320/5_DSC_3730_219.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/1 45 degree bounce)</div>
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#4 And for my eye, they swap around again here. This is the non-diffused flash at 90 degree bounce. As the story continues to go, the lighting gets more even as we go. However, one note to look at, the lighting is noticeably picking up color from the room paint which is brown.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSvYPhWDGckXg3Pn3mUJyvPoqThrBsTipgHIp2J79TnyJ7zB2_AlMiTXJK6OqQcFw52yixnQtxrqGjziN9fGbpfJWT0TSXbOHlmvX-glNxYoF_gdmPQVMlxb7WdW4dTb7sjX-XOiCrgI/s1600/4_DSC_3740_227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSvYPhWDGckXg3Pn3mUJyvPoqThrBsTipgHIp2J79TnyJ7zB2_AlMiTXJK6OqQcFw52yixnQtxrqGjziN9fGbpfJWT0TSXbOHlmvX-glNxYoF_gdmPQVMlxb7WdW4dTb7sjX-XOiCrgI/s320/4_DSC_3740_227.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/1 90 degree bounce)</div>
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#3 Not much different from #4 is the 90 degree bounce with diffuser. To my eye this is just a little better than the prior shot. Again, getting color cast from the room paint.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2EtKr80QoRVfa0uhyz_S22Z3shAkmktVqDK2NqP-LZqoIW3v27LTihoKb85lVun8Y_R3QkrX-17QdytVljhbRH9XpqovXsauq1X_KCpytHJnQcjHl_5q-GL1DVucDIb9znw8G8TY9Fg/s1600/3_DSC_3729_218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2EtKr80QoRVfa0uhyz_S22Z3shAkmktVqDK2NqP-LZqoIW3v27LTihoKb85lVun8Y_R3QkrX-17QdytVljhbRH9XpqovXsauq1X_KCpytHJnQcjHl_5q-GL1DVucDIb9znw8G8TY9Fg/s320/3_DSC_3729_218.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/1 w/ diffuser 90 degree bounce)</div>
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#2 The <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a>. As you can see here, the lighting is still as smooth and even as #3, maybe even a little more so, but the color cast from bouncing has gone away even though the flash head is in the 90 degree bounce position. Since most of the bounce is happening off the dome of the Lightsphere you wont pick it up as much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmO1yyXmZmOe1H7NE_sVbseVgNZQJ45pA8lUyzy8NV4LO6j5uPLFvFaDeFCGcGxldDFztRUOlazy5XhY_M6ADRScIbXL9_LafjzA-M97wf8qyE90FHF5UoAoSvrhk7OnSTbFWhheAd0_E/s1600/2_GFLS_DSC_3727_216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmO1yyXmZmOe1H7NE_sVbseVgNZQJ45pA8lUyzy8NV4LO6j5uPLFvFaDeFCGcGxldDFztRUOlazy5XhY_M6ADRScIbXL9_LafjzA-M97wf8qyE90FHF5UoAoSvrhk7OnSTbFWhheAd0_E/s320/2_GFLS_DSC_3727_216.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/2.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600 (M 1/1 Gary Fong Lightsphere)</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">#1 And of course, here is why studio strobes still sell. Nice even lighting across Karli, no color casts, and no distracting shadows. But we can't drag strobes everywhere, in fact, event shooting will demand portability, and in those cases the </span><a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink" style="text-align: left;">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a><span style="text-align: left;"> can be the ticket to getting great shots.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDmtiPdRjp4x-feFJmTTJVZyNOGs68Nlj0Rw271Jqds1BbTE1u1ISblX0o-nlr6Zi0-sKB79gxcazOTt4Pz21io0J-PU47k6JGNy0pqGBGFDYxlc_-9cB3RI6YUd3KTXOh0ci_Duty6M/s1600/1_DSC_3667_231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDmtiPdRjp4x-feFJmTTJVZyNOGs68Nlj0Rw271Jqds1BbTE1u1ISblX0o-nlr6Zi0-sKB79gxcazOTt4Pz21io0J-PU47k6JGNy0pqGBGFDYxlc_-9cB3RI6YUd3KTXOh0ci_Duty6M/s320/1_DSC_3667_231.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 100mm f/2.8 Series E</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 100mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: 2 500 w/s Studio Strobes w/ Brolly Boxes</div>
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So my final thought on it? Flash photography is the most difficult thing to get right. You can destroy a picture with improper flash. Indoors the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Gary Fong Lightsphere</a> does make the job easy at the expense of flash battery life. Outdoors it is a toss up, you can use the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Lightsphere</a> or a diffuser for short distances. Longer distances you will want to go to direct flash or a bounce card. At $40 or so you can't really go wrong, and it will help almost anyone get great shots indoors. A pro that shoots flash indoors can probably get better results with technique, but for most people the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/GALSU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">Lightsphere</a> will let them do a better job.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-51103301596448272282013-01-26T12:26:00.004-08:002013-03-09T13:05:40.014-08:0024mm f/2.8 AF-D: My Favorite 35mm/FX Lens<script type="text/javascript">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivubPGDx8edpOUK3HcoCxfEOsjMu5kQQ35PC1Q7612hOjx50rGdPqekC_MdXQ7yemttaYf4M2N-WJCFfovAktAHJimLEDj0dHiH6I92KIaPSFZq70OT6tegbTaJ6DRTWRTudKLB2oDRro/s1600/DSC_3501_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivubPGDx8edpOUK3HcoCxfEOsjMu5kQQ35PC1Q7612hOjx50rGdPqekC_MdXQ7yemttaYf4M2N-WJCFfovAktAHJimLEDj0dHiH6I92KIaPSFZq70OT6tegbTaJ6DRTWRTudKLB2oDRro/s320/DSC_3501_600.JPG" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">View my </span><a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-24mm-f28/28347092_KrNSdW#!i=2330681345&k=BTGkG2T" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF-D.</a><br />
<div>
<br />
Here it is, the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK2428AFDU.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">24mm f/2.8</a>. When I was shooting film I couldn't wait to get this lens. You could buy it for a reasonable price used, I think I paid $250 for mine. At the time it was the single most expensive piece of camera gear I had ever bought. I'll admit it, I am a cheapskate and pretty much buy everything used. I had a 28mm leans, and it just wasn't wide enough for my tastes. This lens on 35mm/FX gets close, in fact when I shoot at car shows with this lens I typically have to wait for people to get out of my shot since they don't realize they are in it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXU8DryKFv6hthWSj54taVMBkemLybBdMF0xC0MzRFWgf0911fkYLl-uI7PqHs-5EFrOkPYXrizKRxleB4mo4ldCdKZlQcO3tcZ_I0km_-YMhq2JMgECC2pJ2rAb98g6n7qRClYNcYdY/s1600/So-Cal+Swap+Meet+-+135201006121+-+006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXU8DryKFv6hthWSj54taVMBkemLybBdMF0xC0MzRFWgf0911fkYLl-uI7PqHs-5EFrOkPYXrizKRxleB4mo4ldCdKZlQcO3tcZ_I0km_-YMhq2JMgECC2pJ2rAb98g6n7qRClYNcYdY/s320/So-Cal+Swap+Meet+-+135201006121+-+006.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon F4 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100 (Ilford Delta 100)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the shot above, I am typically less than 2 feet from the car, sometimes only 1 foot. People won't realize you are getting the whole car in, so you'll have to wait. But, for shooting at car shows this lens is perfect. All the cars are right on top of each other so to single one out you have to get close. Also, living in Arizona, we do a lot of car shows in the very early morning or in the evening. A short focal length and a loose aperture allows for some nice slow hand held shooting. This lens does not have VR but the reasonable sized f/2.8 aperture and short focal length can let you do some fairly low light hand held shots.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B0IthywgYfoJ70dDUVBBXokoYK0IEGYKVwygwdjxBcgE2myzLhSNZIcf__iSIftEVGgS56xy45zmxsUm2q7NCs47E22-jEP_LF5YnnH46db6dOQr13w4bb9mEW0R-m7pUP5SO0IxIuw/s1600/DSC_3502_600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B0IthywgYfoJ70dDUVBBXokoYK0IEGYKVwygwdjxBcgE2myzLhSNZIcf__iSIftEVGgS56xy45zmxsUm2q7NCs47E22-jEP_LF5YnnH46db6dOQr13w4bb9mEW0R-m7pUP5SO0IxIuw/s320/DSC_3502_600.JPG" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This lens is small light and perfect for carrying all day. I would go on hikes with only this light little lens and a 100mm f/2.8 Series E lens and never want for anything else the entire trip. I shot this tree on a hike in Colorado, and the low position I took for the shot combined with the short focal length allowed me to pull the tree out of the background so it dominates the focus.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQd-ZEBVICkHGNN45fuFvbkXU4g_322aXemDFFbowUuzi1PjY_rqpqe_KeO-Z-iks2J1s-9GnhzHDOOo59Yj0cUAOcYsPVW4b-6BcW0GcYoOv8zcQwx0rbrCZYpgABXvyCBaQgqwLl_ys/s1600/Transparencies063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQd-ZEBVICkHGNN45fuFvbkXU4g_322aXemDFFbowUuzi1PjY_rqpqe_KeO-Z-iks2J1s-9GnhzHDOOo59Yj0cUAOcYsPVW4b-6BcW0GcYoOv8zcQwx0rbrCZYpgABXvyCBaQgqwLl_ys/s320/Transparencies063.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon F4 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100 (Ilford Delta 100)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It still works wonderfully on my D80, but it is equivalent to a 35mm on DX which honestly is a focal length I have never used much, so since my D80 is my go to camera nowadays, this little 24mm has seen a lot less use. One other concern if you are going to use one, it will not auto-focus on the lower tier cameras like the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD3200K.html?KBID=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">D3200</a>, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD5200.html">D5200</a>, and D40. <br />
<br />
<b>SPECS:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Focal Length: 24mm</li>
<li>Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22, 7 blades</li>
<li>Close Focus: 12"</li>
<li>Lens Type: <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#AF-D">AF-D</a></li>
<li>Filter Size: 52mm</li>
<li>Weight: 8.8oz (248g)</li>
</ul>
<div>
Here are some test images for comparison. This is the overall image and is shot at the closest focus distance, so only about 9 inches or so from the target.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ff8_v2CEahlCYK4iBrKdZDO0sPnlHD8df0WBtDThlRJNP63oU5gN8D9ALdLJDkU9IHmAWKz-Xu5rflLLlirQ9JG7_rhDF9m9NWGXmtt0LK52GTa8IHMbUGLU8I5pqpXhGrWFqt3ZBZs/s1600/24mmFull400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ff8_v2CEahlCYK4iBrKdZDO0sPnlHD8df0WBtDThlRJNP63oU5gN8D9ALdLJDkU9IHmAWKz-Xu5rflLLlirQ9JG7_rhDF9m9NWGXmtt0LK52GTa8IHMbUGLU8I5pqpXhGrWFqt3ZBZs/s320/24mmFull400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Quick inspection shows some barrel distortion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The next image is the very center at full resolution.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDvYlwhSxY6WjXTAqs4yupdStq4nZSgxiiCLNJSxA-d6v_4dMyN_HUAEab9XPQewZMNJs7pydWA8Vr6q9FWtH2N4JznBqv5ThClOBFKaSgF3HeoY2JzPxBIArB3C3acCfPXnjhYZcHg8/s1600/24mmCenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDvYlwhSxY6WjXTAqs4yupdStq4nZSgxiiCLNJSxA-d6v_4dMyN_HUAEab9XPQewZMNJs7pydWA8Vr6q9FWtH2N4JznBqv5ThClOBFKaSgF3HeoY2JzPxBIArB3C3acCfPXnjhYZcHg8/s320/24mmCenter.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
To my eye this image looks very clean and sharp, but that is pretty much as expected.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And this final image is from the left corner at full resolution.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhhH2oPSbcxOldF9aDQ8eztY_CN9cLmJN7Cb-nsE37sZKsPSW3aNN8F7qkUhyphenhypheneDbmYGnvh7eJi-U84JvFmyNu3nQuYMyDsBw2gAP4EdDIQ07GXxhjwlCessTFYYkwxAxHqSqVTMk_6xI/s1600/24mmCorner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhhH2oPSbcxOldF9aDQ8eztY_CN9cLmJN7Cb-nsE37sZKsPSW3aNN8F7qkUhyphenhypheneDbmYGnvh7eJi-U84JvFmyNu3nQuYMyDsBw2gAP4EdDIQ07GXxhjwlCessTFYYkwxAxHqSqVTMk_6xI/s320/24mmCorner.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 4 seconds</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
The corner shows just how good this lens is. This image is very crisp and clean, and I cannot see anything here to complain about. This just shows why this lens became my favorite, it looks great.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
In the end, for me, I am still trying to find a use for this on DX. For shooting FX it is my favorite lens and I use it 95% of the time on FX. If you want to shoot close and in your face photos and you are using FX, get it and learn how to use it, and it will help you create masterpieces. On DX it has for the time being been replaced by my <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</a>. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">View my </span><a href="http://ericevansfineart.smugmug.com/Reviews/Nikkor-24mm-f28/28347092_KrNSdW#!i=2330681345&k=BTGkG2T" target="_blank">Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF-D.</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-36518286018030842782013-01-18T21:52:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:36:44.015-08:00PSAM: Why I Settle For Nothing Less<script type="text/javascript">
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So you just got your first DSLR and are ready for action, you are excited to take that first shot, so you toggle your new DSLR to "Auto" scene and run outside. I did it with my first DSLR too. Modern DSLRs give you several programmed scene modes just like every point and shoot camera, but unless you are just wanting bigger and better lenses on a point and shoot, why not learn the advanced features your new camera has to offer.<br />
<br />
First off let me explain about something scene modes, they are nothing magic. All that the scene modes are s the "P" mode with specific generic setting set for a specific scene. For example, for a landscape scene it will run a tighter aperture and will make the image a little sharper, for a portrait it will open the aperture up to reduce depth of field and reduce sharpness and saturation. We can do all this on our own, and more.<br />
<br />
I started my photography in landscapes, black and white, and color. So most of the time I used Ilford Delta 100 (for black and white) or Fuji Velvia (for color). But when I shot people I usually grabbed Fuji Astia 100. When you shoot film, you choose that film for what you want to get out of it. If I were to shoot people on Velvia they would look horrible with red faces and way too much contrast, but Astia has reduced contrast and less saturation for smooth features. Using the PSAM modes you have virtually any film at your fingertips.<br />
<br />
For black and white I shot most landscapes with Ilford Delta 100 and an orange filter. If you shoot with any of the scene modes, you are shooting color and that is it. Sure you can black and white any image after the fact, and probably get a decent result, but my goal when I shoot is to get the image straight out of the camera, and not waste time in photo editing software later. Shooting in PSAM I can do that, and can give my camera any film I want. I can go into the "Shooting" menu, "Optimize image" and select BW and I have black and white. I can even add some digital contrast filters on if I don't want to use real ones. When I want to do color, I have the "Custom" optimization already set up for it, color mode pumped up, saturation pumped up, and others to get as close to Velvia as possible. <br />
<br />
Changing your "film" is just one piece that you can use to get anything you want straight out of the camera. And lets face it, if you are like me and go away for a 3 day weekend and come back with 2000 shots, the last thing you want to do is have to fiddle each one to make it usable. So now that you know why you want to, lets learn about PSAM!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqK_TJpBwrZ767oGC2HY3-joDzkpLNB06vQI_KpyHkOd2-wOSVl_a7JXS9UDTNnUqd-iPJB7stUggfRHPg6Kw3Yf1MgZPMzGVKxDqFKoHo6yCyKHyFu_vnrTX6S_NdTDJG3gJ8dJAoMk/s1600/2013-01-18_21-10-32_HDR_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqK_TJpBwrZ767oGC2HY3-joDzkpLNB06vQI_KpyHkOd2-wOSVl_a7JXS9UDTNnUqd-iPJB7stUggfRHPg6Kw3Yf1MgZPMzGVKxDqFKoHo6yCyKHyFu_vnrTX6S_NdTDJG3gJ8dJAoMk/s320/2013-01-18_21-10-32_HDR_400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shot with my DroidX in cruddy light, it sucks, <br />just here to show the selector. :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
PSAM are four settings:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>P - Program: This program selects a shutter speed and aperture based on <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">exposure value</a> and usually focal length. Generally, unless it can't help it due to lighting, it will stay a stop or two away from full open aperture and won't go tighter than f/11. Your camera may be different, this is just a generality.</li>
<li>S - Shutter Preferred (Tv - Time Value for you Canon folks): In this mode you select the shutter speed to use and the camera, using a similar program to the Program mode, will select the aperture.</li>
<li>A - Aperture Preferred (Av - Aperture Value for Canon folks): This mode is the opposite of Shutter Preferred. You select the aperture and the camera, using a similar program to the Program mode, will select the shutter.</li>
<li>M - Manual: This is no program at all. You set the aperture, you set the shutter. Now, there is a twist here. If you have Auto ISO turned on, the camera will vary the ISO to maintain correct exposure for the selected shutter speed and aperture value. I have heard this called a bug, but I have found it very useful and will explain it later in this article.</li>
</ul>
<div>
So what do I shoot? 95% of the time my camera is in "P". When shooting landscapes, cars and bikes, or even fast action of people, it is the mode that just gets the job done. Unless there is an artistic need or a technical need for something else, I use "P".</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCOCjXywgxWCAdebXhZd5k9ceStXFX4nJ985GqVME6qBx3_ODtcHKrudN64Nn3FXHTFwN2VIyzIyXZLUbEGKGwGiYK6zJTsO-qXqObvMgDERhtA5HhoUxxHjM1cIf910TSUBdZfYZV2s4/s1600/Crown_King_20100323_-_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCOCjXywgxWCAdebXhZd5k9ceStXFX4nJ985GqVME6qBx3_ODtcHKrudN64Nn3FXHTFwN2VIyzIyXZLUbEGKGwGiYK6zJTsO-qXqObvMgDERhtA5HhoUxxHjM1cIf910TSUBdZfYZV2s4/s320/Crown_King_20100323_-_007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon F4 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 24mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: N/A</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I am around water, that is when I move from "P". I love shooting water, it is one of my favorite subjects. And I love smooth flowing water. I love waterfalls that just look like silk. To get what I want I switch the camera to "S". This allows me to take my <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 18-55mm</a> to 18mm and close to my subject and crank off a hand held 1sec exposure standing in the middle of a river. "S" is the way to go for this shot since my main concern is a slow shutter speed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsc2sI3AzfaNmgZzuwCfB7f8E0roxKnZOByXfx7KssvvcFoFEz-FYL7E9OiA8xrn488Et7FLEkpYD6rT5Qn3aGO9vFkQziIKoIIGLJxSB0M3lniHvPwYyq5ifuF2pZpAiDFl_GBiUpsao/s1600/DSC_3272_106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsc2sI3AzfaNmgZzuwCfB7f8E0roxKnZOByXfx7KssvvcFoFEz-FYL7E9OiA8xrn488Et7FLEkpYD6rT5Qn3aGO9vFkQziIKoIIGLJxSB0M3lniHvPwYyq5ifuF2pZpAiDFl_GBiUpsao/s320/DSC_3272_106.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6mm AF-D</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 145mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/80</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/4.8</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The next time that I always differ from "P" is shooting portraits. I also change my "film" here to a much more subtle setting. When shooting portraits I want to get the depth of field just right. That means I want full control of the aperture, so "A" it is. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkTyZKLpK5AzIBoYAvT96W3TdFlbWdRcBdzK6jpnqRl0nMVuVyrvCQ2zrtRucBaxnUfLJoNYnXTQY5x7he7GNnZFhG0wlnrkOILTIKeRukqL3t_-BKjEKgmpjxAn2OzULAbt17odDsJM/s1600/DSC_0316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkTyZKLpK5AzIBoYAvT96W3TdFlbWdRcBdzK6jpnqRl0nMVuVyrvCQ2zrtRucBaxnUfLJoNYnXTQY5x7he7GNnZFhG0wlnrkOILTIKeRukqL3t_-BKjEKgmpjxAn2OzULAbt17odDsJM/s320/DSC_0316.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And the final differ is actually a different mode, "M", which is convenient for this article. I use this mode, with Auto ISO, to shoot my fiance's flag football games. Why you may ask? Well, I run an old 70-210mm AF-D when I am shooting these games and put myself in a position to have a full frame shot of the quarterback from the defensive side of the field at 210mm. This allows me to track the action as it comes up the field zooming from 210 down to 70mm. So to sufficiently stop the action and get decent sharp shots I want a 1/250sec shutter speed. Part two is that I want a fairly decent depth of field and being that I am running 210mm on the long end, I like to run it at f/11 if I can. Since Auto ISO will vary the ISO for me from 100-1600, I can just leave these set and go. If shooting in the early morning I do need to run a little more open aperture and a little slower shutter to maintain the ISO in range, so I just monitor the ISO as I go and then work the aperture and shutter towards where I want them as the sun comes up. For me, it is the only way to shoot football.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I hope this helps drive you to learn how to use these modes, properly used they can greatly improve your creativity.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks for reading, and happy shooting!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-3748408623309613482013-01-17T18:18:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:36:54.651-08:00VR (IS): Why You Want It On Every Lens<script type="text/javascript">
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I'm not going to mince words here, VR (IS for Canon) is the absolute biggest advancement in photography in the last 20 years. No other advancement has done anything to make your photos better. Let me explain, every other advancement made has been an advancement in convenience, but they do not make your photos better. Even digital, which is a huge advancement, only makes photography more continent, not better. Sure, you can bring a tripod around, but why if you don't have to. One of the hardest technical things to master will be shooting with very slow shutter speeds. <br />
<br />
So for example, I can shoot reliably sharp photos with an 18mm lens at 1/10 a second without VR. With VR I can shoot at 1 second and get it sharp. To show the difference, here is a full size crop of fabric flowers at 1 second with no VR.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJElygYjIZHp19uGJPABOBC7OFBOGnI9R_ZRYj1HuFb3UAChJc5sGD43b7hXhRQqoad-Bib1yiWTXnP4N_6TepjC4TKJArK8Ji9WubhgsTZuT73_vFxJcm1b48brlf36Juuib5guFCeH8/s1600/DSC_3114_209_400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJElygYjIZHp19uGJPABOBC7OFBOGnI9R_ZRYj1HuFb3UAChJc5sGD43b7hXhRQqoad-Bib1yiWTXnP4N_6TepjC4TKJArK8Ji9WubhgsTZuT73_vFxJcm1b48brlf36Juuib5guFCeH8/s320/DSC_3114_209_400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 18mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/1</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
VR: Off</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As you can see, the picture is useless, but now, the next shot all that is different is I flicked the VR switch on. Still 1 second, still 18mm.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-MDiPM4YySwT80ufjjGpqZtt97QztgscymXD8fejAUKNaatkE9SRwoLPO2Ih2IB8yL85UQ_5Cnn7gUYodKCLgeE-eJSY5DB9hzgUWALHL08419EJWrL-3VDtW_dy1zzkp-h8_LWkyXA/s1600/DSC_3113+(1)_214_400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-MDiPM4YySwT80ufjjGpqZtt97QztgscymXD8fejAUKNaatkE9SRwoLPO2Ih2IB8yL85UQ_5Cnn7gUYodKCLgeE-eJSY5DB9hzgUWALHL08419EJWrL-3VDtW_dy1zzkp-h8_LWkyXA/s320/DSC_3113+(1)_214_400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 18mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/1</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
VR: On</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That shot is sharp and good.<br />
<br />
Now of course we could always use a big aperture instead. For instance, I could use a <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK5018GU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">50mm f/1.8</a> instead of the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK1855VRU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6</a>. At 50mm the 18-55mm will have an aperture of about f/5.3. Now Nikon claims you can shoot 4 stops slower shutter speed with VR, but even 3 stops will allow you the same <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">exposure value</a> as the 50mm. For instance, if we follow the wives tale of shooting no slower than your focal length then the darkest light we would want to shoot in with ISO100 is <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8</a> which we would be at with ISO100, f/1.8, and 1/60sec. With the 18-55mm at 50mm our aperture is 3 stops tighter at f/5.3, but because of VR we now can shoot 3 stops slower at 1/8sec to make up the difference and still have proper exposure for <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8</a>.<br />
<br />
An added benefit is that we don't have to change out artistic impression of a shot due to light. As we learned in <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/aperture-using-aperture-to-focus-your.html">Aperture: Using Aperture To Focus Your Viewer</a>, opening up the aperture shrinks our depth of field. With VR we are now not locked into have our aperture determined by available light. For me, it isn't even an option, if VR is available, then VR it is. For instance, the Nikon's <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK55200VRWB.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">55-200mm G</a> is available in non-VR and <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK55200VRWB.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">VR</a> versions, and even though there is a significant price break, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/NK55200DXU.html?kbid=68057&sub=EmbedArticleLink">non-VR</a> isn't even an option for me.<br />
<br />
I hope these articles are informative, drop me a line and let me know.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-54301146031717087482013-01-16T21:15:00.001-08:002013-02-23T12:37:08.160-08:00Aperture: Using The Aperture To Focus Your Viewer<script type="text/javascript">
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In the articles <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/stops-what-are-all-those-numbers.html">Stops: What Are All Those Numbers</a> and <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/exposure-triangle-how-to-make-those.html">Exposure Triangle: How To Make Those Nutty Numbers Work</a> we learned how the aperture is one of the ways we control light, but that isn't all it can do. <br />
<br />
The aperture has a creative function as well, it can control the depth of field. The depth of field is how much is in focus. Now don't get me wrong, only the distance you are focused at will be absolute tack sharp focus, but the aperture along with focal length determines how quickly objects go out of focus as they get nearer or further than the focused distance. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NcEz9c0eTvLpCpw9quLF0mWxv3NtH7Z_362Tyk68sixyxbobf08XSlvqxBsIKppSqn7k9Md_CcUut06MFp_yOvMtC7ntccbYFzOVpXHg7dKVclMs0TLmLLuQVNDv87QXzJAw1h_YKs8/s1600/DSC_3169_400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NcEz9c0eTvLpCpw9quLF0mWxv3NtH7Z_362Tyk68sixyxbobf08XSlvqxBsIKppSqn7k9Md_CcUut06MFp_yOvMtC7ntccbYFzOVpXHg7dKVclMs0TLmLLuQVNDv87QXzJAw1h_YKs8/s320/DSC_3169_400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/11</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Great for us because we can use that to creatively modify a picture. Lets look at the picture at the right. This is one of my prized possessions, my Petri f/1.9 rangefinder camera. Here we can see that focus is is perfect on the focus ring, but decent focus is maintained throughout, only getting soft on the nearest part of the lens but not so soft that you cannot read the shutter speed numbers. But lets say we wanted to focus our viewers attention on the focus ring, maybe we are giving a lesson and the reader may be confused if they see the numbers on the shutter speed ring. What we can do then is open up the aperture from f/11 to f/5.6 to reduce the depth of field.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCthHkJx7xXw2xathQ_BndCYU3Lkfd-xsxZ76gjxPzs4CQIShghY_p_KamuwRIrZCRbmeHBda6nnOTPhyphenhyphenEHUvLDIlvQGaOIYZZeYoF-CTp_runNLqJMuYN2o2O_-VQiuv8S9VE9BOsAI/s1600/DSC_3170_400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCthHkJx7xXw2xathQ_BndCYU3Lkfd-xsxZ76gjxPzs4CQIShghY_p_KamuwRIrZCRbmeHBda6nnOTPhyphenhyphenEHUvLDIlvQGaOIYZZeYoF-CTp_runNLqJMuYN2o2O_-VQiuv8S9VE9BOsAI/s320/DSC_3170_400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: SB-600</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here we have reduced the depth of field dramatically. The focus ring is still in sharp focus, but the shutter speed numbers have been all but obliterated. Even the knurled silver aperture ring just this side of the large black focus ring has softened as well as the leatherette covering which is now only sharply textured near the focus ring and softened toward the perimeter of the photo. <br />
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As you increase in aperture size this effect gets even more and more pronounce with f/1.4 lenses getting a depth of field that may only be a few millimeters deep.<br />
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For the artist, this article is complete, it is really all you need to know. Practicing and knowing how and when to use short depths of field, as well as long ones will help you make your art more interesting and convey a specific message or thought. If you are a tech head, by all means continue on...<br />
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Now as I mentioned before, there is really only one distance of sharp focus, everything outside of that point has some sort of circle of confusion. So what is a circle of confusion, well, lets say we have a white wall with a 1 micron dot on it and we shoot it with a macro lens at 1:1. At the precise focus distance, there will be a 1 micron dot on our sensor. But as we move from that perfect focus distance that dot will grow since that pinpoint of light will no longer make a pin point, but a confused circle. The further from the perfect focus distance we are, the larger that circle gets. <br />
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Now how quickly that circle grows as we move from perfect focus is dependent on the aperture and focal length. As the aperture gets larger, or the focal length gets longer, the circle of confusion will grow quicker. As the aperture gets smaller, or the focal length gets shorter, the circle of confusion will grow more slowly. <br />
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A thing of note here is that the circle of confusion is only affected by focal length and aperture. So lets say you take the exact same picture but with three different cameras. First a DX sensor camera with a 35mm lens, second a FX sensor camera with a 50mm lens, and lastly a medium format camera with an 85mm lens. All of these combinations will produce roughly the same framing with the same angle of view. But, if we sot them all at f/2 the depth of field among them would be vastly different. The DX with the 35mm will have a huge depth with almost everything in focus, while the medium format with the 85mm lens will have almost nothing in focus but the actual focus depth. <br />
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So if you are selecting a lens specifically for short depth of field, keep in mind that as your focal length grows there is less of a need for big f/1.4 apertures. Also it is of note that as you combine large apertures and long focal lengths the unnecessary accuracy of your focus goes way up and proper AF calibration will become paramount. Even a 50mm f/1.4 will show minute inaccuracies, so the wonderful 85mm f/1.4 will require even more accurate focusing.<br />
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Hope this helps you enjoy your shooting and gets you what you want.<br />
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Thanks for reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-78540255924695280232013-01-14T20:22:00.001-08:002013-02-23T12:37:34.316-08:00Exposure Triangle: How To Make Those Nutty Numbers Work<script type="text/javascript">
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The Exposure Triangle is an important concept to understand especially if you do any fully manual shooting. It defines the interactions between the 3 determining factors of exposure. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGSHRVs6yiEHwLruB6_bjFIsRW2NnL3ObptFRmA8DnyjK0lCpmLiUc0A0EIlVOxi1MuxmwiXC4UhMS9ifIMPgNfFKtBgtlVpdxB5x_gcVQNe0ooQ4ZhPIRb6eDJFtA_1a9TtWndB6r1k/s1600/ExposureTriange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGSHRVs6yiEHwLruB6_bjFIsRW2NnL3ObptFRmA8DnyjK0lCpmLiUc0A0EIlVOxi1MuxmwiXC4UhMS9ifIMPgNfFKtBgtlVpdxB5x_gcVQNe0ooQ4ZhPIRb6eDJFtA_1a9TtWndB6r1k/s320/ExposureTriange.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In the previous lesson <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/stops-what-are-all-those-numbers.html">Stops: What Are All Those Numbers</a> we learned about stops, and the numbering systems of Shutter Speed, ISO, and the Aperture. Now we are going learn one other concept to help see how they interact together.<br />
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This concept is <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">Exposure Value</a> or <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV</a>. The easiest definition of of <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV </a>is a value of light. <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV15 </a>defines the light level of a typical sunny day. Every <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV </a>value is separated by, you guessed it, a stop. So <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV16 </a>is one stop more light (double the light) than <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV15</a>, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV14 </a>is one stop less (half the light) than <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV15</a>. So you can use <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV </a>to describe a light level. To give us a reference point, <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV0 </a>= ISO 100 @ 1 sec @ f/1. But <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV0 </a>does not have to be ISO 100 @ 1 sec @ f/1, but any combination that produces the same exposure. If we increase the ISO to 200 we would now be at <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV1</a>, to get back to <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV0 </a>we need to change either the shutter speed to 1/2 sec or the aperture to f/1.4.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDu4Rr9Na15Hp-lLEt_dXA_x3RM1kp4Ca3EkKQE5JfRSKP-Elvk_oSKuA5SWtmlXI7OG6EKbe88mcp9lEVHUT4LgR-Cpl1NTjprAn7H-qYN9rRci2I0XqbHaAaTz4yRyEEK123VSkLac/s1600/DSC_2054_202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDu4Rr9Na15Hp-lLEt_dXA_x3RM1kp4Ca3EkKQE5JfRSKP-Elvk_oSKuA5SWtmlXI7OG6EKbe88mcp9lEVHUT4LgR-Cpl1NTjprAn7H-qYN9rRci2I0XqbHaAaTz4yRyEEK123VSkLac/s320/DSC_2054_202.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 34mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/250</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/4</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 1600</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
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</tbody></table>
Now lets see this in action. It isn't hard to see that even though the subject is the same, these two photos are drastically different. These shots were taken one after the other in the exact same conditions, but using the Exposure Triangle allows the manipulation of the shutter speed to either stop the water, or to have a nice smooth flow.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdgSDeSrgVUuKAriVRxjMOaS0tZ_POHASSb4wqJm82wkaLg9LS680ztknw8w5rruaBksB66D3YuTSBUP56pSnvgqvfaVMxcgasTiWAJqONa_zPoFHhKv4yneVH7HVCNqpVFhDpRdWZI8/s1600/DSC_2057_203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdgSDeSrgVUuKAriVRxjMOaS0tZ_POHASSb4wqJm82wkaLg9LS680ztknw8w5rruaBksB66D3YuTSBUP56pSnvgqvfaVMxcgasTiWAJqONa_zPoFHhKv4yneVH7HVCNqpVFhDpRdWZI8/s320/DSC_2057_203.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Lens: 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5G</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Focal Length: 34mm</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Shutter: 1/15</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Aperture: f/4</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
ISO: 100</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">
Flash: None</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So the first shot is taken at ISO1600, 1/250sec, f/4 which is <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8</a>. To get to 1/15 of a second we need to slow the shutter speed by 4 stops (1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15). But just slowing the shutter speed won't do the job. Since we slowed the shutter speed by 4 stops we are now 4 stops over exposed and are now adjusted for <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV4</a>. What I chose to do was slow down the sensor by 4 stops (ISO: 800, 400, 200, 100) to get the exposure correct again and back to <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8</a>. I could have also reduced the aperture by 4 stops (f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16), or a combination of the two. <br />
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In this case our light level being <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8 </a>gives us numerous options, these are some of the options for <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html#Exposure_Value">EV8</a>:<br />
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<ul>
<li>ISO100, 1/15sec, f/4</li>
<li>ISO200, 1/30sec, f/4</li>
<li>ISO200, 1/15sec, f/5.6</li>
<li>ISO800, 1/30sec, f/5.6</li>
</ul>
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All these provide the same exposure level but can dramatically effect the picture. Look for the next article <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/aperture-using-aperture-to-focus-your.html">Aperture: Using The Aperture To Focus Your Viewer</a>.</div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-76000684323559556192013-01-12T18:04:00.002-08:002013-02-23T12:37:47.069-08:00Portrait Perspective: Ignore Those Wives Tales<script type="text/javascript">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NLAnwjq-xMEmjlAvZVe-hY_4UP9p9W-XyfEkFpzMk0Yz_jdfIR72KpFp7YYJggZ5k5HZBin5glLo5rmJHvOLtZEn8iYlVSbyZBXNLUltMsc5J6siBNP0IoGbA0ie-uAjkawIyxWhj3g/s1600/DSC_3443_185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NLAnwjq-xMEmjlAvZVe-hY_4UP9p9W-XyfEkFpzMk0Yz_jdfIR72KpFp7YYJggZ5k5HZBin5glLo5rmJHvOLtZEn8iYlVSbyZBXNLUltMsc5J6siBNP0IoGbA0ie-uAjkawIyxWhj3g/s320/DSC_3443_185.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
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Focal Length: 55mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/5.6</div>
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Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How many times have you seen this. It is pretty common nowadays with the proliferation of social media, everyone want to show a new pic of themselves right where there at. On the one hand, we now have more pics of ourselves and families than we ever have in the past, but at what expense. Portrait pictures are all about the perspective of the shot, and the 3ft of your arm just isn't enough to do you justice. Now, I have no thoughts that people are going to stop shooting photos of themselves with their phones, it is just way too convenient, but you as a photographer should keep it in mind.</div>
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Now one of the things that is great about the web is that there is a lot of information available, the bad thing is, there is also a lot of wrong information. Now people aren't trying to point you in the wrong direction, they are just parroting what they've heard, it's human nature and we all do it. The biggest one for portraits is the 85mm lens, or less often the 135mm lens. The bad thing about this is that these wives tales have been around since film, and they didn't change when everyone started using DX sensors. People just kept on parroting. What you need to remember is that you select your focal length to frame the shot the way you want, you don't simply put on an 85mm lens and then move 5ft away from your subject to do a head shot.</div>
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Portraits are all about perspective and you get that perspective by maintaining a proper distance from your subject. No matter what kind of shot you are taking, headshot, or full length, you need to maintain a minimum of 15ft from your subject for proper perspective. Now I will demonstrate that. My beautiful daughter has allowed me to post the absolute ugliest photo I could make of her on the web for your benefit, so here you go.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mY7K3KzgPE15sGX8rZVmqX2EjzfkkkTzdTv-Zywz16-6STU2vxJUr1jakLgZ5jtnGafUXd0KHirHkWfe7AczIKgkRdsVf3v10TpDd2Qxr1dbki0tYqaaCEnM1Er0jyzK6jVcNgw9aoo/s1600/DSC_3444_186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mY7K3KzgPE15sGX8rZVmqX2EjzfkkkTzdTv-Zywz16-6STU2vxJUr1jakLgZ5jtnGafUXd0KHirHkWfe7AczIKgkRdsVf3v10TpDd2Qxr1dbki0tYqaaCEnM1Er0jyzK6jVcNgw9aoo/s320/DSC_3444_186.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div>
Focal Length: 18mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/4</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>18mm DX / 27mm FX:</b> POOR GIRL. She is such a trooper that she allowed this. At this focal length I was right in her face, and just look at what it has done. She is balding worse than her dad, her nose has grown like Pinocchio, where are her ears, and you can see every pore on her face. Every feature at this distance of about 1.5 feet is grotesquely exaggerated. Now even you people shooting yourselves with phones are doing it this close, but it magnifies just what your are doing with that close perspective.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKdL6Ge2YLlb4pJG3j75mWJU-_VTIccHvSTYDlVfhuWkaLFgSJZXHMVXxM8TpbM5hHefFX5SCPK8cNQh_YacCXpAnGKHT51lSJkFbvssCtupzbaPYdIVCKvpk3bXK_rJINk7GuPU8sTU/s1600/DSC_3445_187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKdL6Ge2YLlb4pJG3j75mWJU-_VTIccHvSTYDlVfhuWkaLFgSJZXHMVXxM8TpbM5hHefFX5SCPK8cNQh_YacCXpAnGKHT51lSJkFbvssCtupzbaPYdIVCKvpk3bXK_rJINk7GuPU8sTU/s320/DSC_3445_187.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
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Focal Length: 35mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div>
Aperture: f/5.3</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>35mm DX / 50mm FX:</b> Already we have improvement. This has moved me back to about 4ft. Her hairline is still receded and her nose is still enlarged, but this is definitely improving. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAfj10sqNh8Eji-zi5W14VuVDu4KSQGzgHS5ysCOon9ssGFpvLHBzoEhhzAy2j1E-VcFjwybM-7nvXU9HAqmTCkCQwTJzJUTl84R9XOSwOmUp79LM7ZwMmwfzDJx9CogfFZQOfcU_9KU/s1600/DSC_3446_188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAfj10sqNh8Eji-zi5W14VuVDu4KSQGzgHS5ysCOon9ssGFpvLHBzoEhhzAy2j1E-VcFjwybM-7nvXU9HAqmTCkCQwTJzJUTl84R9XOSwOmUp79LM7ZwMmwfzDJx9CogfFZQOfcU_9KU/s320/DSC_3446_188.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div>
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
<div>
Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>55mm DX / 85mm FX:</b> Here is your fabled portrait lens (on 35mm film). So this lens is really still too short for this shot as we are only about 7ft away from her here. Even though we are still too close, the proportions are really starting to become "human" and this shot could be used if we can't get any further away due to a confined space. And although this picture is looking good, you will see that there is still more improvement and that her hairline is still receded in this photo.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkCjHR8ikr0rmFJI99biEG7ahqL5sB_unbRO0huBsHuk0D4i-HRYFZuFjGBIt1NMTiBmgZ76inHwGo4q88OSjo8BQvzk-nX8i_zkBKI7i5ujtxkxZHF5Qs-gssQPT491va5U3TlN7_Gs/s1600/DSC_3447_189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkCjHR8ikr0rmFJI99biEG7ahqL5sB_unbRO0huBsHuk0D4i-HRYFZuFjGBIt1NMTiBmgZ76inHwGo4q88OSjo8BQvzk-nX8i_zkBKI7i5ujtxkxZHF5Qs-gssQPT491va5U3TlN7_Gs/s320/DSC_3447_189.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6</div>
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Focal Length: 110mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div>
Aperture: f/4.5</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>110mm DX / 165mm FX:</b> Now we are getting somewhere. This is longer than any of the so called "portrait lenses" due to the fact that we are framing a headshot here. For this shot we are just short of the 15 feet at about 14 feet. If you looked at these shots in order you probably thought the last shot looked really good, until you saw this one. This is a completely usable shot, and I think my daughter would be happy with this one. Unless forced by constraints of my environment, this is the closest perspective I'd use for any portrait shots.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoulU_EdXt6fdK2HuHNILrQz3qG7YhrDFHr4QzormKlz1bUDs-M8UcrArTHf0emfBl8xJSN6Yf4tovNHv-_S2ou9peiMWIi8buKfz27csClTodhnO0CAFcLN1fQR55uoU_4RMj0IjGnIk/s1600/DSC_3448_190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoulU_EdXt6fdK2HuHNILrQz3qG7YhrDFHr4QzormKlz1bUDs-M8UcrArTHf0emfBl8xJSN6Yf4tovNHv-_S2ou9peiMWIi8buKfz27csClTodhnO0CAFcLN1fQR55uoU_4RMj0IjGnIk/s320/DSC_3448_190.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6</div>
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Focal Length: 135mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div>
Aperture: f/4.8</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>135mm DX / 200mm FX:</b> We are to the point of incremental improvement here, but still improvement. We are about 16ft now. Although the improvements are incremental, why not give your subject all you can and flatter them. That is why I didn't stop here, I had zoom left, so lets see what's left.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3olGRErR0uAPoRuv8-CNJGuAI7iSUsmawFAJ43ES0ZSQTx45PQ4sg8nlNFTf_c2o9V332UkhTzsBjeCjdXB5kH75QkNy77Ur3h1UOji2l6NdZefkvINp7zPS_GFwF9xwYCw2Cor2Q3f8/s1600/DSC_3449_191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3olGRErR0uAPoRuv8-CNJGuAI7iSUsmawFAJ43ES0ZSQTx45PQ4sg8nlNFTf_c2o9V332UkhTzsBjeCjdXB5kH75QkNy77Ur3h1UOji2l6NdZefkvINp7zPS_GFwF9xwYCw2Cor2Q3f8/s320/DSC_3449_191.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: 70-210mm f/4-5.6</div>
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Focal Length: 210mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
<div>
Aperture: f/5.6</div>
<div>
Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>210mm DX / 315mm FX:</b> I am still seeing improvement here at 20ft, but it is minimal at this point.</div>
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Now portraits aren't just head shots, so lets take a quick look at a full length shot.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn0aLzUkS6BpKixdEwf7UBXOl2wufGPs6g-qSqYgC-p3d87qCMAE3XpvF96vWb7QaPymNqEP_d7y16MFXkfA_uyiPOKXbXkr0x9dxTg7gWx-HhvlKxKMaDjEYj7qdeW2NcBfBoYTq4EU/s1600/DSC_3450_192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn0aLzUkS6BpKixdEwf7UBXOl2wufGPs6g-qSqYgC-p3d87qCMAE3XpvF96vWb7QaPymNqEP_d7y16MFXkfA_uyiPOKXbXkr0x9dxTg7gWx-HhvlKxKMaDjEYj7qdeW2NcBfBoYTq4EU/s320/DSC_3450_192.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div>
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
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Focal Length: 18mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/4</div>
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Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>18mm DX / 35mm FX:</b> So here we are at that original 18mm lens we used for the first shot, but since this is a full length we are about 6ft away. Not terrible, but we aren't doing her any favors here either.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbm4wOt2lTkzDLHxP8MOIaNilRORNZRSLZG5wemGKFDYNqT6BGy6hkLVfpFzrtIe0uFgVku71XVph5fDYZD5uudXKF6ZRlU0Rozc6Hh_7V6zpopiaNrUiLNt7wS1lS1cdkIBoJkACNcI/s1600/DSC_3451_193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbm4wOt2lTkzDLHxP8MOIaNilRORNZRSLZG5wemGKFDYNqT6BGy6hkLVfpFzrtIe0uFgVku71XVph5fDYZD5uudXKF6ZRlU0Rozc6Hh_7V6zpopiaNrUiLNt7wS1lS1cdkIBoJkACNcI/s320/DSC_3451_193.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
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Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
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Focal Length: 55mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/5.6</div>
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Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>55mm DX / 85mm FX:</b> Now we are back to 15ft, and there is a noticeable difference. Just like the headshot, 15ft gives us the proper perspective for a full length photo too. But as you see here, it required a much shorter lens than the headshot.</div>
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So make sure you flatter your subjects by providing them the proper perspective.</div>
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Thanks for reading.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-86900671518845503832013-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:37:57.544-08:00Stops: What Are All Those Numbers<script type="text/javascript">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you are new to photography, or maybe just new to more advanced cameras, you may have noticed something about the numbers on that camera. They don't go evenly do they, some of them double as they get larger, and well the f/stops, well they're just funky all together. The reason for all this numerical nuttiness is called stops, and everything in photography is measured in stops. To understand stops you have to understand that photography is all about light, and more importantly, how much light is hitting your sensor. All cameras have a sensor, be it film or electronic. In order to get a properly exposed photo you have to have the proper amount of light reach the sensor and you do that by adjusting the light.</div>
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So what is a stop? A stop is a measurement of light. As you increase the light by a stop, you have just doubled the amount of light hitting the sensor. As you decrease the light by a stop, you have just halved the amount of light. That is the simplest definition. But this will help you understand the numbers you are seeing.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbOk2Cyak-Yszwl_42C6xNYQ9IG5T957L1YHWHeIs-9c5FZZeKK6GU_phSjsz2bE-ooyS_Y5CQ7u3k5RfRvo2JzvBv5kDPRmvfQ8M6QekAR4tt4xnzTc5kM7nVS-qeUZHfsiV_Xm_gwg/s1600/DSC_3432_Blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbOk2Cyak-Yszwl_42C6xNYQ9IG5T957L1YHWHeIs-9c5FZZeKK6GU_phSjsz2bE-ooyS_Y5CQ7u3k5RfRvo2JzvBv5kDPRmvfQ8M6QekAR4tt4xnzTc5kM7nVS-qeUZHfsiV_Xm_gwg/s320/DSC_3432_Blog.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Focal Length: 55mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/5.6</div>
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Flash: SB-600</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The easiest number to understand is the shutter speed. The numbers you will see are 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250... but this is only the denominator half of the number, so the real shutter speeds are 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250. These indicate how long the shutter will stay open in seconds and they are separated by stops. So if your set at a shutter speed of 1/60 and you decrease the shutter speed to 1/30 then the shutter will remain open twice as long and doubling the light (one stop). If you change your shutter speed from 1/60 to 1/125 of a second then the shutter will only remain open half as long and halving the light (one stop). Clear as mud right.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXM40ystwyoeGFY3xjQVvgNG9ltSpOJWJvo7hmtPcrgh-Oeog2LntXhfEjmegZUs69GeT8v3jnC4__6onX1ZMeSqHZ66f9EDzzgPHUmj7SEcA4ZpQ77iH6mBpgKdbNV1LjZ0y7QhhBuRE/s1600/DSC_3436_Blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXM40ystwyoeGFY3xjQVvgNG9ltSpOJWJvo7hmtPcrgh-Oeog2LntXhfEjmegZUs69GeT8v3jnC4__6onX1ZMeSqHZ66f9EDzzgPHUmj7SEcA4ZpQ77iH6mBpgKdbNV1LjZ0y7QhhBuRE/s200/DSC_3436_Blog.JPG" width="174" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/5.6<br />
Flash: SB-600</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you've shot with film, and probably with digital you've seen ISO numbers, even if you haven't known you have. ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600... There are those doubling numbers again. The ISO number tells you how fast your sensor responds to light. This higher the number, the quicker the sensor responds to light. So lets say you are shooting ISO 400, if you move to a slower sensor of ISO 200 you will require twice as much light, if you move to a faster sensor of ISO 800 you will only require half as much light.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpse3Opgw9NsGoYPmrDfmeSkiN-MWocsSeVMNku1roxop5aQzjwK0oTa9THor3bZkTTVRIZ5hbscvQvzhOStUxA_0tABxpHhdtxD4LDGeS3rrw44kyBnADeEh1lXibPsfgGyBb2D0yY0/s1600/DSC_3441_Blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpse3Opgw9NsGoYPmrDfmeSkiN-MWocsSeVMNku1roxop5aQzjwK0oTa9THor3bZkTTVRIZ5hbscvQvzhOStUxA_0tABxpHhdtxD4LDGeS3rrw44kyBnADeEh1lXibPsfgGyBb2D0yY0/s320/DSC_3441_Blog.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camera: Nikon D80<br />
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G<br />
Focal Length: 55mm<br />
Shutter: 1/60<br />
Aperture: f/5.6<br />
Flash: SB-600</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The confusing number is the aperture or f/stop. These numbers will look like 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32. These reference an adjustable hole (aperture) in the middle of the lens. These numbers represent the diameter of the aperture. Divide the focal length of the lens (i.e. 50mm) by the number and that is the diameter of the aperture. So at f/2 the diameter in a 50mm lens will be 25mm. At f/4 it will be 12.5mm. And these again half and double the light. If your lens is set to f/2.8 and you open it up to f/2 you just doubled the amount of light hitting the sensor, go from 2.8 to 4 and you just halved the light. Simple.</div>
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But here is the absolutely best part of this article. None of this junk matters! While in future articles we will delve into the more creative aspects of shutter speeds and aperture settings this is just a primer. I know when I got my first camera I was inquisitive and wanted to know what the heck all those numbers meant, and while there are reasons to know them, it isn't a requirement. So if you aren't understanding them yet, don't worry about it, in the end it doesn't matter.</div>
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Next in the instructional series will be the <a href="http://throughtheeyeofe2.blogspot.com/2013/01/exposure-triangle-how-to-make-those.html">Exposure Triangle: How To Make Those Nutty Numbers Work</a></div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001445390876071830.post-88059520516436372022013-01-10T22:37:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:38:13.598-08:00Welcome To Opening Day<script type="text/javascript">
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No, it isn't baseball (although I love my Arizona Diamondbacks). No, this new blog is dedicated to all things photography. I hope to provide a fun interesting read along with lessons in photography, real life reviews reviews of products I use, and just the day to day life of this photographer. I will try to hit on things that I haven't seen before on the internet, as well as new things I pick up along the way.<br />
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So who is the guy behind the keyboard? My name is Eric Evans, the double E initials becoming E squared, or E2, hence the name of this blog. :-) I am a photographer in Phoenix, Arizona. I have been a landscape photographer since 2005 and have recently moved into portrait and wedding photography. I have worked with 35mm, and medium format (6x6) film, and more recently digital photography. <br />
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Currently all of my Eric Evans Fine Art sites (including this blog) feature a picture of this camera.<br />
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Camera: Nikon D80 </div>
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Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G</div>
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Focal Length: 55mm</div>
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Shutter: 1/60</div>
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Aperture: f/5.6</div>
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Flash: SB-600</div>
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There is a reason. Without this camera, we wouldn't be speaking right now. The camera before you is a Petri f/1.9. This camera which was manufactured in 1959 was purchased by a doctor who would bring it with him through the Vietnam War as a medic. Some time later, he befriended my father who was an airframe and powerplant mechanic maintaining (and flying) this doctors airplanes. He at some point passed this wonderful small rangefinder camera to my father, and I do remember seeing my father take photos with it. Over the years I have grown a fondness for antique items, and remembered that old Petri well. One day, just because of that love of antiques, my father passed the old Petri on to me. I was ecstatic. I had dabbled in photography for many years, and did well with what I had, but I couldn't quite achieve what was in my head, so being that I have high standards for myself i was always disappointed. When I got that old Petri it allowed me to get more expressive and have more control. With the first roll of film eagerly put in, and armed with an old Sekonic light meter from eBay I was off. That first roll sold me, don't get me wrong, shots 1-22 fell short of my eye once again, but shot 23... when I was inside with dim lighting coming through a window, to low of light to register on the old selenium cell light meter... I winged it, f/1.9 (all the aperture she had) and 1/50 sec shutter speed... When I got the results they were magic. When I took the picture I hadn't realized the implications of that wide open aperture yet, but the low key lighting and the short depth of field as my daughter played her game brought her into sharp focus while everything else melted away into a soft blur. I wish I had the photo to share, if I find the old negatives I most certainly will.<br />
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That Petri doesn't get much use now days, but I still love it, and it gave me that spark. It still sits on display in my living room, it is a piece of art in and of itself.<br />
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Thank you for reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03055518099539168769noreply@blogger.com0