Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2020 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

TRIPOD SETTINGS Andy says… When using a tripod, switch off Vibration Reduction to prevent the system compensating for movement that isn’t actually there. Once autofocus is achieved, switch this off to lock it in. Macro lenses can be slow to focus, so use the focus limiter switch to prevent excessive hunting. EXPOSURE DELAY MODE Andy says… When shooting up close, even the teeniest amount of movement will be amplified, so I suggested John set a three-second exposure delay. After pressing the shutter the camera raises the mirror and then waits to allow vibration from this movement to subside before taking the exposure. APERTURE PRIORITY Andy says… When shooting close-ups, depth of field is everything, so I suggested shooting in Aperture Priority mode; shutter speed becomes irrelevant when using a tripod,…

While the hyperfocal distance method may not be the ultimate solution in the modern age of high-resolution cameras, it still offers a rapid and uncomplicated approach. It is possible to quicken the process even further by excluding the need for referencing numerical values in a physical document or using an app. Here’s how to make use of DoF preview to instantly find the hyperfocal distance. Enter exposure settings Set your aperture to a minimum of f/11, to ensure enough depth of field to cover your scene. Next, manually calculate the appropriate shutter speed, or use Aperture Priority mode to correctly expose the image, with the desired f-stop fixed. Use Live View Switch to Live View mode and zoom in to a distant area of the scene, approximately at the horizon…

The Mission – Capture a heart-shaped shadow by illuminating a ring in the fold of a book Time – 20 minutes Skill level – Beginner Kit needed – Tripod – Ring – Book – Torch VIEW THE PROJECT VIDEOS ONLINE www.bit.ly/NPhoto115 If you’ve ever dismissed working with artificial light, just because you don’t have the space or the funds to invest in expensive lighting equipment, here’s a neat little project that anybody can do at home. All you need is a ring, torch, tripod and a book. This tried-and-tested method combines the circular shadow cast by a ring and the folds of a perfectbound book to create an impression of a heart. It’s a popular image that’s sure to do well on Instagram or wow family and friends as the…

Open in Camera Raw Highlight your sequence in Adobe Bridge (select the first image, hold Shift and select the last image). Right-click and select Open in Camera Raw. Hold Shift and select the last image in the left panel to highlight the sequence. Edits will now affect all of the images. Colour temp Once you’ve selected Remove Chromatic Aberration and Enable Profile Corrections in the Lens Corrections tab, check the exposure and colour temperature of each image. Ensure you fix any inconsistencies before blending your panorama and select Done. Import into Photoshop With the images still selected, click Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge. Make sure Auto and Blend Images Together are selected when the Photomerge window opens and click Browse to select the images from your sequence. Hit OK to start the merging process.…

The Mission – Use a Photoshop brush to change the weather Time – 20 minutes Skill level – Intermediate Kit needed – Photoshop CC VIEW THE PROJECT VIDEOS ONLINE www.bit.ly/NPhoto115 Mist can greatly enhance the atmosphere in a landscape, but more often than not, when we reach a stunning spot, we’re met with bright sunshine instead… However, you can alter the atmosphere later on using this simple Photoshop technique. Of course, it’s not the same as capturing a misty scene in the flesh, but it is a striking moodchanger and also introduces several key Photoshop tools. Using simple layer tricks and brushes, we’ll transform a scene bathed in sunlight to one shrouded in atmospheric mist. Along the way we’ll learn key Photoshop skills, from isolating parts of an image with…

Camera: Nikon D500 Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6 Exposure: 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO160 MISSION: Capture images that show off the incredible beauty and power of awe-inspiring aircraft at one of the UK’s biggest air shows PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrew Yeates LOCATION: County Meath, Republic of Ireland KIT USED: Nikon D500, Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR INSTAGRAM: @andyy28 Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated with all things aviation. From watching the ’80s action series Airwolf on the telly and building hundreds of model kits to plane spotting. I’ve even had helicopter flight lessons! I started to photograph air shows around Ireland in 2011 and joined my local camera club in 2014. I took a big interest in wildlife and macro photography, but always returned to aviation. Eager to learn more, I…

Q I have 12-bit and 14-bit colour depth options for Raw files in my D750, plus two types of compression, or no compression at all. Which is the best setting? Clive Gordon A Most of us convert our Raw files to JPEG format, which only has 8-bit colour depth. Compared with this, 12-bit Raw files can hold a lot more information, while 14-bit Raw files go even further. Greater colour depth in Raw files gives more latitude for editing, for example with extra greater dynamic range. This can help with reigning in highlights, and boosting shadows to give greater detail. For compression settings, the regular compression option is slightly lossy, a bit like using a very high-quality JPEG mode, so some image information is lost. Lossless compression is similar to…

The Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S has a lot to live up to in the photographic world. Both of Nikon’s 24-70mm Z-mount f/2.8 and f/4 standard zooms are tremendously versatile, but what do you do when you want a wider viewing angle? The most obvious choice is the similarly excellent Z 14-30mm f/4 S zoom, which gives a mighty maximum viewing angle of 114 degrees. However, if you’re after a fixed focal length and a faster aperture rating, the newer 20mm lens is, literally, a prime candidate. It gives a generous 94 degree viewing angle on FX bodies, and a useful 70 degrees on the DX format Z 50, which is the equivalent to using a 30mm lens on a full-frame camera body. Key features The Z 20mm has a…

£349/$399 Extra reach comes with greater quality Sigma produces a number of superzooms, including 18-200mm and 18-250mm models, but this 18-300mm is the most attractive option, not only due to its longer focal length, but because its image quality is generally superior, too. It’s not the most compact lens, weighing in at 585g and with a 72mm filter thread. The construction employs Sigma’s TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) material that’s resistant to size fluctuations during temperature changes. There’s a metal mounting plate but no weather-seal ring. As with other Global Vision lenses, it’s compatible with Sigma’s optional USB Dock. Upgraded glass sees the inclusion of four top-grade FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) elements along with one SLD element. Performance Typical of motor-based ultrasonic systems, the one in this lens isn’t that speedy…

£519/$627 The smaller and lighter Nikon 18-300mm Nikon’s first 18-300mm lens was a hefty affair that was less than ideal for a travel or holiday lens. This is the second one to come to market and, while it has a narrower aperture rating at the long end, of f/6.3 instead of f/5.6, it’s much more manageable, smaller and lighter than the older lens. The optical path includes three aspherical elements and three ED elements. Build quality feels pretty good overall and, as with most Nikon lenses, the metal mounting plate comes complete with a weather-seal ring. In other respects, however, the lens feels rather basic compared with the Nikon 18-200mm on test. There’s no focus distance scale, no additional ‘Active’ VR mode, and the hood is sold separately as an…

£789/$847 The best choice for FX bodies The extra quality enabled by an FX rather than DX format camera comes at the cost of extra weight and price. It may seem counter-productive to hang a superzoom lens on the front of such a camera, but it helps you react to wide-angle and telephoto shooting ops without needing to swap lenses. With a bigger image circle required to fill a full-frame sensor, this lens has a larger diameter and weighs in at 800g. Tamron also markets a 28-300mm FX format lens, but the Nikon isn’t much more expensive yet has a faster aperture rating at the long end, a faster and quieter ring-type (rather than motor-driven) ultrasonic AF system, and a dual-mode optical stabilizer. It’s the same VR II generation fitted…

We’ve had some polarizing emails recently regarding DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Some from F-mount stalwarts who are desperate to see more DSLR content in N-Photo and some from mirrorless converts who can’t see themselves going back. I’m a DSLR user myself, and I think we do a pretty good job at representing both systems. We obviously can’t dictate what cameras N-Photo contributors use and our reviews section is bound by what Nikon releases. But when you consider the Big N’s newest bodies, the Z 50, D780, D6 and Z 5, it’s a 50/50 split. Nikon has made it very easy to transition to mirrorless with its FTZ Adapter and increasingly attractive prices, but the recently released pro-grade D6 is proof it still stands firmly by F-mount too. Heck, if you’re…

Whether your preference is shooting landscapes or city streets, freezing action in its tracks or getting super-close with macro, the secret of a good photograph is being pin-sharp in all the right places, so in this issue’s lead feature we share our top tips to shoot it sharper. Our Apprentice, meanwhile, learns the tricks of the trade for shooting painterly images of pretty plants under the guidance of Royal Horticultural Society photographer Andy Small and his amazing array of homemade props. Want to shoot everything from wide-angle to telephoto without changing lenses? We put a selection of eight superzooms to the test, including the spanking-new Z 24-200mm – Nikon’s first such lens for its Z range. Also exclusively for mirrorless cameras, we see if the Z 20mm f/1.8 S continues…

THE RIGHT PROFILE Andy says… The Profiles that appear in Lightroom’s Camera Calibration panel vary depending on the camera. I check what effect the Profiles have on an image – they can have a big effect on colours, especially. In this instance I chose the Camera Standard profile as it emphasized the purple in the top right and looks brighter overall. MAX OUT THE HISTOGRAM Andy says… The shot needed more contrast, so I moved the Blacks slider to the left to deepen darker tones, and Whites to the right to increase lighter tones. I try to ‘stretch’ the histogram as much as I can, using the whole dynamic range. I add further contrast by adjusting the Darks and Lights in the Tone Curve. CROP, CLEAN & SHARPEN Andy says……

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While the focus-recompose technique offers speed advantages, at longer focal lengths and with shallower depths of field it is less applicable. Modern Nikon cameras use extensive arrays of AF points that are user-selectable. Once you have a composition planned, use the D-pad or joystick on the back of your body (or touchscreen if you have one) to select a point covering key areas of interest, such as your subject’s eyes, and then focus as normal. The peripheral focus points are often less sensitive than the central points, which are more likely to be of the ‘cross-type’ variety, but this strategy will produce more reliable sharpness regardless. Displaced focal plane The centre AF point was used to focus on the eye, but as the scene was recomposed the rotational shift moved…

The Mission – Understand the Brenizer method, and shoot and edit your own portrait Time – One hour Skill level – Advanced Kit needed – Fast standard or telephoto lens – Adobe CC (or similar editing suite) VIEW THE PROJECT VIDEOS ONLINE www.bit.ly/NPhoto115 The Brenizer method is the brainchild of renowned wedding photographer Ryan Brenizer. It’s sometimes referred to as the bokeh panorama, owing to the wide frame and super-shallow depth of field that characterizes the style of images. Bokeh panoramas boast shallower depths of field than are achievable with a wide-angle lens and give APS-C and full-frame users the ability to produce portraits with a large format aesthetic. The key to this striking technique is to use a fast telephoto lens to achieve a creamy depth of field and…

The Mission – Get pin-sharp shots of your pets’ eyes with the latest mirrorless firmware updates Time – 30 minutes Skill level – Intermediate Kit needed – Nikon Z camera VIEW THE PROJECT VIDEOS ONLINE www.bit.ly/NPhoto115 When taking pictures of people, it’s common wisdom that focusing on the eyes is key to a killer portrait. Nikon has made this a whole lot easier with the introduction of Eye-Detection AF in its mirrorless cameras, which automatically detects human facial features. Well now getting your pets’ eyes sharp is just as easy, thanks to the introduction of Animal AF on Nikon’s Z range of mirrorless cameras. Z 50, 6 and 7 users may have to update their firmware to enable this feature, while the new Z 5 will come with it pre-installed.…

Where to get My Tide Times A HANDY TOOL – My Tide Times is available on iOS and Android through the App Store and Google Play. It has tidal information from over 40 countries and is free to download. VIEW THE PROJECT VIDEOS ONLINE www.bit.ly/NPhoto115 The weather isn’t your only environmental consideration when shooting a seascape, as tides can be an equally important factor. The position of the sea can impact your composition and what you’re able to shoot. For example, if you’re planning to use rock pools as foreground interest, you’ll need to shoot at low tide, but if you want your subject surrounded by water you might have to wait until it rises. This isn’t just about photography; for safety reasons anybody visiting the coast should be aware…

I am passionate about landscape photography, and have been improving my technique, equipment and processing skills over 25 years. Norway, and especially its far north, have delighted me for many years. It’s a stunning country that focuses on ecology, and its friendly people truly respect and care for nature. During the past 10 years I visited Norway five times, and this is a selection of photos from my last trip to Norway, in March 2019. I flew from Poland to Trondheim, where I travelled by bus to Bodø, from there I took a ferry for a four-hour cruise to reach the Lofoten Islands The islands are connected by bridges and tunnels, and the places you’ll find there are so photogenic, including Reine, the nearby village of Å, and Hamnøy, a…

Camera: Nikon D750 Lens: 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Exposure: 1/640 sec, f/13, ISO200 MISSION: Create dance images that are timeless and that further my own photographic abilities PHOTOGRAPHER: Simon Fox LOCATION: Airdrie, Scotland KIT USED: Nikon D7100 & D750, Nikon 50mm f/1.8, 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6, 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3, 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 & 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 WEBSITE: www.simonfoxphotography.com INSTAGRAM: @simonfoxphotography I love to travel and when I’d visit beautiful places I’d marvel at the cinematic nature of it all. I wanted to capture it, so I got my first DSLR – a Nikon D3100 – about six years ago and started shooting. My first dance shoot was to promote a short film. From there, I started getting requests from more dancers wanting shoots and, though I didn’t know much about dance, the challenge was exciting. Kit is…

Q I’m after a budget portrait lens to use with my D700 camera. What do you think? Mark Shrives A Matthew recommends… A fast 85mm prime lens is great for portraiture, and Sigma’s now obsolete ‘EX’ edition is an excellent secondhand buy. You should be able to find a good example at an attractive price. Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM AN ‘EXCELLENT’ SIGMA LENS THAT DELIVERS BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT IMAGES RELEASED: 2010 PRICE NEW: £650/$970 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £385/$485 ‘Good’ £270/$300 As one of Sigma’s EX (Excellent) lenses, this one is designed with quality in mind. Launched in 2010, it predates the Global Vision range of Art, Contemporary and Sports lenses, but is more compact, lightweight and less expensive than the newer 85mm f/1.4 Art edition. The premium optical design…

A joy of any interchangeable lens camera is that you can fit the right kind of optic for the task at hand. The drawback is that a big bag of lenses can weigh you down when you’re out and about. A superzoom aims to satisfy your needs for most everyday shooting scenarios, offering everything from wideangle coverage to serious telephoto reach, without the need to carry additional lenses, or to swap the lens that’s fitted to your camera body. The majority of superzooms on the market are designed for DX format cameras, and typically start with an 18mm focal length. The Tamron 16-300mm is an exception, giving even wider coverage. The long end of the zoom range is a more moveable feast, with various other lenses offering maximum focal lengths…

The above series of photographs shows the approximate difference in wide-angle potential between the varying focal lengths of 16mm and 18mm on an APS-C format body, as well as the longest competing zoom settings of 200mm, 300mm and 400mm. On a full-frame body, the Nikon AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens gives just roughly the same zoom range an 18-200mm lens allows for APS-C format cameras.…

£449/$587 An older but better superzoom A subtle refresh of Nikon’s original 18-200mm lens, this one gets a zoom-lock switch but keeps the same optical design and image stabilizer. For image quality and performance, it’s our favourite DSLR superzoom. There are three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements in the optical path and the second-generation VR system has switchable Normal and Active modes. The first of these includes automatic panning detection, while the second counteracts increased physical vibrations. Handling benefits from a smoothaction zoom ring and a ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system. It also manages to be quick and quiet, while enabling the focus ring to remain stationary during autofocus, as well as offering full-time manual override. Performance In our tests, sharpness proved better than in the Nikon 18-300mm, throughout the albeit more…

The philosophy surrounding sharpness has changed significantly over the history of photography. Modern sensors and lenses are now capable of capturing a previously unobtainable level of detail, which has resulted in a cultural shift amongst photographers and the users of the photographs that we produce. The expectations of quality – a perceived baseline standard level of sharpness – has increased amongst an ever-more-demanding audience. This means that, where a fundamental skill such as focusing is concerned, it can be quite difficult to hide any flaws in the photographer’s technique. Correct focus is imperative, not only because blurred images fail to convey detail and act as a distraction, but also because the viewer of a photograph is led by where the plane of focus falls. If misplaced this can incorrectly indicate to…

Bit of a blur A fast lens is essential for achieving a shallow depth of field. In this instance, we used the Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4G, but the classic 50mm f/1.8G could also work well. Thankfully, you’re not limited to just prime lenses though. A fast telephoto zoom, like a 70-200mm f/2.8, will still produce a suitably blurry background for this effect. Consistency is key As you’ll be merging photos, each image needs to be as consistent as possible. To prevent the white balance from changing mid sequence, head to Shooting Menu> White Balance and select the desired preset. We’d suggest shooting in Raw so you can tweak the colour temperature later. Frame your shot You’ll have plenty of room to crop your large panorama in post, but you should…

Nationwide tides My Tide Times isn’t just useful in the UK, it’s compatible with over 40 countries. The main interface is a surprisingly detailed map of the world. Red markers are present along coastlines, which can be selected to reveal a plethora of information on that specific location. Set your location To find a location you can use the search bar or scroll around and zoom into the map to find places manually. You can also allow the app to track your location, so it will send you a list of the nearest tidal spots, which you can select to retrieve data quickly. Information overload Once you’ve selected a location you’re presented with a plethora of information, including times and depths for low and high tide, as well as the…

1. Lights of Yi Peng BY RODNEY EE This image was taken at the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A pond in the grounds of the Lanna Dhutanka temple provided the reflection that allowed for this stunning symmetrical composition. Lanterns evenly occupy the sky and the silhouetted crowd has been captured crisply. There was no room for error as the lanterns were only released once. Camera: Nikon D800 Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/50 sec, f/3.2, ISO3200 2. The Young Breeder BY ROBERTO PAZZI Cattle are very important in Mundari culture as this portrait of a child and bull clearly conveys. The photograph was taken in Terekeka, South Sudan, and stands out as both subjects are looking directly into the camera. The wide 24mm focal length has captured…

£189/$199 A smart buy as a holiday lens If you’re going to splash out on a ‘holiday lens’, it makes sense to keep the price down and buy something that you’re not going to be too precious about. With the least expensive price tag in the group, the Tamron 18-200mm is low-cost and, at 400g, it’s also very lightweight. As the second edition of Tamron’s 18-200mm lens, it adds VC (Vibration Compensation) and boasts an upgraded autofocus system. It’s still based on an electric motor but with an integrated gear train that runs more quietly than the original lens. The focus ring rotates during autofocus and doesn’t enable full-time manual override. The lens is 30g lighter than its predecessor, despite being a bit larger. This is due to the fitment…

£499/$629 There’s no beating this lens for girth A shortest focal length of 18mm has become a standard in DX-format superzooms, but this Tamron bucks the trend. Shaving off a couple of millimetres gives an ‘effective’ wide-angle focal length of 24mm in FX terms, compared with the 27mm of other superzooms. There’s no holding back at the long end either, with an effective 450mm max zoom. Handling is more refined than with any of the other Sigma and Tamrons on test. Unusually for an ultrasonic motor-based lens, the focus ring doesn’t rotate during AF and enables full-time manual override. Optical highlights include LD (Low Dispersion), XR (eXtra Refractive) and ASL (Hybrid Aspherical) elements, along with advanced multi-coatings. Performance The extra zoom comes with some compromises. Centre-sharpness drops off through the…

£599/$649 The ruler for telephoto reach Following on from the Tamron 16-300mm, which offered an extra-wide viewing angle, Tamron’s latest superzoom goes extra-long instead. Stretching to 400mm, it beats every other DX format superzoom on the market for telephoto reach. Aiming to keep the size down and the quality up, the optical design includes two moulded glass aspherical elements, one hybrid aspherical element, plus three low-dispersion elements. Autofocus is driven by an HLD (High/Low torque-modulated Drive) motor, which is quick and quiet. But as with the Tamron 18-200mm and Sigma 18-300mm, the focus ring rotates during autofocus and there’s no full-time manual override. Build quality is good and the construction features weather-seals, including one on the metal mounting plate. Performance It’s a big ask to deliver good sharpness at 400mm…

£849/$867 The perfect superzoom for Z-mount cameras Competitively priced at a little over the much older AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED VR for DSLRs, this Z-mount lens is noticeably slimmer and less than three-quarters of the weight. It gives greater wide-angle coverage but loses out at the long end. Build quality is very good, featuring plentiful weather-seals and a fluorine coating on the front element. Premium glass includes two ED elements, one aspherical ED element, and two further aspherical elements. Top-quality ARNEO Coat minimizes ghosting and flare. The 4.5-stop optical VR system is based on voice coil motors. It gives enhanced performance in conjunction with the in-body stabilization of FX Z-mount cameras, and is even more essential on the Z 50, where it gives an effective zoom range of 36-300mm.…

When it comes to outright image quality, Nikon’s new full-frame Z 24-200mm is hands-down the winner, but that’s not the full story… It’s the priciest option in the group, has the shortest zoom range of any lens here – by some margin – and for those of us using DSLRs, it’s simply not an option. For the rest of us, Nikon’s ageing DX 18-200mm certainly may not win any prizes for outright zoom range either, but compared with the Sigma and Tamron lenses on test, it has a more refined ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system, a dual-mode optical stabilizer, better handling, and delivers superior image quality. For a budget buy, the Tamron 18-200mm offers unbeatable value for money, at under half the price. If a greater zoom range is the most…