Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2021 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

LIVE VIEW Edyta says… If I’m searching for a good composition I’ll look through the viewfinder, but once the camera’s on the tripod I’ll refine my framing in Live View. The Grid and Virtual Horizon overlays are particularly useful when using the rule of thirds and ensuring your frame is perfectly level. WHITE BALANCE Edyta says… I always shoot Raw to retain as much detail as possible. This also means I can easily alter an image’s colour temperature in post. Despite this, I tend to use a white balance preset so I can better visualize what the final image will look like in-camera. My go-to preset is Cloudy. BRACKETING Edyta says… The dynamic range of Nikon’s latest cameras is amazing, but there are still high-contrast situations where it’s difficult not…

Edyta says… Dave uses a travel tripod, which is ideal if you want something small and light to take on holiday. But if you’re serious about landscapes – especially in the windswept hills and mountains – I’d recommend a sturdier tripod. I use the FOTOPRO T-74C II carbon fibre tripod and LG-7R head. It can handle a payload of 25kg, but weighs less than 2kg and has weathered storms on the Welsh coast and various peaks.…

Edyta says… Light is the most important element of a landscape photo. I move with the light and follow it as it illuminates different parts of the scene. Sometimes the light is right for only a few moments and when you think it’s gone for good it will suddenly surprise you. That’s why I always recommend arriving an hour before sunrise and staying an hour after sunset. This will also allow you to shoot the blue hour, which some photographers rule out by turning up late or leaving early. I’ll often stay in my campervan overnight to ensure I’m there for the full duration.…

Cities are energetic, vibrant and ever-changing places that can provide photographers with a seemingly endless list of photo opportunities. From amazing skylines and unique architecture to the hustle and bustle of the streets, most cities provide enough opportunity to inspire any willing photographer. While I love working in the wild, the majority of my assignments are actually undertaken in the fascinating concrete jungles that so many of us now call home. I have learnt to love the energy of a city and I believe that some of my strongest images have been taken in urban areas. At first, cities can be a little intimidating and tough to shoot for even the most experienced photographers. Being thrown in to a congested city, full of life with distractions at every corner, can…

The Mission – Shoot abstract images with a macro lens Time – Intermediate Skill level – One hour Kit needed – Macro lens – Tripod – Studio table (or sheet of cardboard) – LED panel (optional) Macro lenses are famed for being able to capture dazzling detail in close-up images, seemingly magnifying insects to the size of elephants or showing the intricate beauty of flowers at incredible magnification, and are usually used at narrow apertures to maximize the notoriously slim depth of field you get when shooting so close. Indeed, tricks like focus stacking are often used to extend the area of focus to make your subjects recognizable. In this project, however, we’re going to do the opposite, and shoot an everyday object up close and with a deliberately shallow…

The Mission – Blend a portrait with a selection of images using layer skills in Photoshop Time – 20 minutes Skill level – Intermediate Kit needed – Photoshop CC Why not give the kids a superhero makeover? By utilizing the power of layer blend modes and a range of free images, it’s easier than it might look to create a shot that could pass for a movie poster. The key skill here is in mastering layer blend modes. These let us combine our portrait with our set of other images. The most useful blend mode for this is Screen, which adds together the brighter parts from each image, cancelling out black areas. It means we can start with a black background then build up our layers on top of one…

Adam Oswell Profile • Australian-born photographer Adam Oswell specializes in covering the wildlife trade and other conservation issues from his adopted home in Thailand.• He has contributed to productions with the BBC, ABC Australia, Traffic, WWF International, Humane Society International and many others.• His work has been published in numerous international titles including The Guardian, TIME, Asian Geographic, Science Magazine and Geographical.• Adam is a contributor to the awardwinning book HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene and his photos have been exhibited in London and Berlin.• His 2005 book Black Market: Inside the Endangered Species Trade in Asia was one of the first publications to extensively document the illegal wildlife trade. www.adamoswell.com www.wildlife1.org It’s a humid April afternoon in the hill country of northern Thailand, and Adam Oswell can’t wait for…

Neil Freeman Nikon Expert Neil is Training Manager at 3 Nikon School, the official tutoring programme operated by Nikon UK, and runs a range of online and on-location courses to help you master your DSLR or mirrorless Nikon: https://nikonschool.co.uk Active D Lighting [1] What it is: Active D Lighting stands for Active ‘Dynamic’ Lighting and is found in the Photo Shooting Menu. It’s used when you have a high-contrast scene and want the camera to try to balance the exposure between the shadows and highlights. [2] Options: You will either have an option for just ‘On’ or ‘Off’, or some cameras have a range of settings such as Auto, Low, Normal, High and Extra High. When activated, it tries to lift shadows and recover highlights in the exposure. [3] Variations: Using…

Select number of shots and EV difference Hold the BKT button (if your Nikon has one, otherwise you’ll have to set exposure compensation manually between each shot), and rotate the rear command dial to set the number of shots. While still holding BKT, use the front command dial to set the EV increment. On Z cameras, exposure bracketing is found in the Photo Shooting menu under Auto Bracketing. Check the sequence over Once you’ve taken your sequence of images, check the results to see the difference between the bracketed exposures – you’ll be able to see even more shadow and highlight detail when checked on a computer. Ensure that you set bracketing back to ‘0F’ when you’re done shooting, otherwise the camera will continue to exposure-bracket every shot you take.…

Where to get Nikon NX Studio FREE DOWNLOAD! – NX Studio software offers a suite of tools for viewing, processing and editing. It combines the photo-and-video-viewing features of ViewNX-i with the retouch tools of Capture NX-D. Download the software completely free from: http://bit.ly/nxstudio The Levels & Curves Adjustments menu is hugely versatile and can be used to maximize dynamic range, create localized contrast adjustments, and lift shadows and recover highlights. Within the Levels & Curves Adjustments menu, you have several options. In the topmost ‘Settings Status’ dropdown: Original Value defaults the levels and curves back to the original image state; Record Adjustments allows you to save a preset of the current levels and curves settings to apply to other images; while Edit Recorded Adjustments lets you alter the presets you’ve…

Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO 499/$499 https://www.venuslens.net The Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO is the first of four ultra-fast f/0.95 lenses from Laowa, the lens brand of Venus Optics. It’s for APS-C mirrorless cameras like the Nikon Z 50, where it offers an effective focal length of 50mm, but it can also be used on full frame Nikon Z-mount cameras in crop mode. This is not to be confused with another similar-sounding Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 full frame lens, which is still on the list of upcoming Argus lenses but yet to be released. Laowa already has a formidable reputation for affordable and often spectacular ultra-wide and macro lenses, and now it’s pushing the lens design envelope in a new direction, with these ultra-fast primes. Laowa says the…

Many of us easing out of lockdown recently have rediscovered the simple joys of ambling around city streets and feasting on the sights and sounds of bustling life. As photographers, it’s only natural to want to capture this ‘new’ normality on camera. And if you’ve never been into street photography before, it’s a chance to try something new. But what exactly is street photography and how do you go about shooting it? Classic street photography is all about reacting to your environment, anticipating events as they unfold and capturing definitive moments. More often than not, classic street images will include people set against urban backdrops, photographed candidly as they go about their lives. You’ll need a camera and lens combo that you can use discreetly, and that enables you to…

This compact and lightweight zoom is designed for DX format DSLRs and is available with or without VR, the stabilized version being the definite favourite. Unlike previous AF-S editions, the AF-P models have a ‘Pulse’ (stepping motor) autofocus system, as featured in Z-mount lenses. Handling is enhanced because, unlike in the AF-S 18-55mm, the focus ring remains stationery during autofocusing. However, the focusing system is incompatible with some older DSLRs, including the D3000-3200, D5000-5100 and D7000. The retractable design enables a small carrying size of 65x63mm, although even that looks quite large compared with the new Z DX 16-50mm. There’s no VR on/off switch, so you’re reliant on an in-camera menu option to turn it off. Performance The baby of Nikon’s range of SLR zooms boasts fast AF speeds as…

Something of a latter-day classic, this is a highly popular 35mm prime amongst Nikon’s DSLR fraternity. Compared with Nikon’s new Z series 35mm for mirrorless cameras, this F-mount lens is smaller, lighter and much less expensive at less than two-thirds the price. Both lenses have the same f/1.8 aperture rating. The ring-type ultrasonic system is typically quick and quiet, as well as enabling full-time manual override. There’s a focus distance scale but it’s of limited benefit for manual focusing, as there are no markings between 0.7m and infinity, and only rudimentary depth of field markers for f/16. Optical highlights include one aspherical element, one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element and Super Integrated Coating. Performance Bearing in mind that this lens is less than half the weight of the competing Sigma, it…

As with other Nikon f/1.8 prime lenses in the Z-mount line-up, prices can look a bit steep compared with counterparts for DSLRs. But you get what you pay for with the Z 35mm f/1.8 S and more besides. It has high-end handling characteristics, superb build quality and delivers spectacular images even in the most demanding conditions. Naturally, it’s not as ‘fast’ as the f/1.4 lenses on test but the f/1.8 aperture rating is easily wide enough for street photography and the physical advantage is a relatively compact and lightweight build. It’s a superb lens that makes the most of what Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless bodies have to offer. On a conventional full-frame DSLR, there’s no beating the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art for outright image quality, although the Tamron SP…

Whether pounding the pavements of your hometown or seeing the sights of the world’s great metropolises, there’s so much to capture in the urban conurbations most of us call home. Awardwinning photographer Jordan Banks shares his top tips for shooting cities in this issue’s lead feature. Heading out into the countryside, our Apprentice heads for the hills of the bucolic Brecon Beacons for a dawn-and-dusk shoot under the expert guidance of landscape pro Edyta Rice. Back in the city, we try lenses that are ideal for street photography; but while ‘street’ used to equate to 35mm primes, times have changed and we’re including widish zooms, too. We also share our pick of photo paper for perfect prints and test the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift – a wide-angle ‘shift’ lens…

Edyta says… I spend a lot of time planning shoots, and apps make the process a lot easier. I use browser and smartphone apps, but the beauty of the latter is that you can easily access them when out in the field. My favourite app is AccuWeather (pictured), which allows you to check the weather at specific times and locations using a variety of detailed map overlays, charts and interfaces. I cross-reference this information with other weather apps, such as Met Office Weather Forecast and Clear Outside. Other useful apps include Sun Position, which maps the position of the sun and details when it rises and sets, and PhotoPills, which is an extremely detailed program. I use it for astrophotography, but it can do much more if you’re willing to…

Edyta says… A figure in a landscape adds a sense of scale and a clear subject, useful when there isn’t one. N-Photo editor Adam was an ideal sitter since his bright yellow jacket popped against the background. Dave used the rule of thirds to position him on an intersection point and the perspective made it look like the subject was standing next to a sheer drop (even though he was quite safe). The hiking poles conveyed a serious hiker. This kind of lifestyle image is very popular with editorial clients, so it’s always worth adding a few to your portfolio.…

Drinking from Garbage MD MAHABUB HOSSAIN KHAN A little child drinking from a bottle. The amount of plastic waste in this image is striking, dwarfing the human element within the frame. Camera: Nikon D7200 Lens: 24-120mm f/4 Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f/7.1, ISO2000 Making Rice Noodles ABDUL MOMIN A worker is inspecting rice noodles, checking to see if they are dried properly or not. Photographs like this really help to uncover the unseen side of the food industry, helping us see things from a different perspective. Camera: Nikon D7200 Lens: 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 Exposure: 1/15 sec, f/4.5, ISO400 Enjoying VIET VAN TRAN In Hoi An old town (a popular tourist destination in central Vietnam that has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site), four young girls were eating sweet…

The Mission – Shoot a scene using a variety of filters to enhance your landscape images Time – Two hours Skill level – Intermediate Kit needed – Square filter kit – Tripod – Remote release If you’re serious about landscape photography then a set of filters should be at the very top of your shopping list. These sheets of glass (or resin) sit in front of your lens, manipulating the light that strikes the sensor for creative effect. While there are all manner of trick filters, the main ones to consider are a polarizer, neutral density filter and graduated neutral density filter – or better still, a kit that contains the lot. Filters come in two main types: ‘circular’ filters that screw into the front of your lens, or the…

The Mission – Light-paint a flower with a UV torch for glowing plant photos Time – One hour Skill level – Advanced Kit needed – Tripod – UV torch – ZWB2 filter for torch – Safety glasses Ultraviolet light can have a dramatic effect on flowers by revealing glowing colours and details unseen by the naked eye. Outside the visible spectrum of light, UV causes phosphors in certain substances and surfaces to store up energy, which is then released as light. A phosphor is something that emits visible light when activated by UV radiation – like your white T-shirt and teeth under UV ‘blacklights’ at a disco. However, those sort of disco lights won’t cut it here. The problem is they produce a lot of visible light (this is the…

In 2018, my partner and I founded the photojournalism project Moving Animals (www.movinganimals.org). Since then, I have worked on the ground across seven different countries to shoot animal issues around the world to help draw attention to the creatures used for entertainment, food and fashion. Initially, my interest in photography stemmed from wildlife photography. I remember visiting a wildlife photography exhibition in London, marvelling at the camera’s ability to inspire the world to protect and appreciate nature. But the image that affected me the most was Broken Cats by photojournalist Britta Jaschinski. The image showed three big cats standing on their hind legs during a wildlife performance. It is a devastating shot, and to me it truly represents the cruelty we inflict on animals. Most of my work is shot…

Press the button The Exposure Compensation ‘+/-’ button is on the top panel. On some D3xxx and D5xxx cameras, you use the ‘i’ menu to set exposure compensation. Shooting modes Exposure compensation only works in Program, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority modes. In Manual, it will only work if you have Auto ISO on. Display settings Rotate the rear command dial while holding the exposure compensation button to see the amount of compensation on the top LCD display or rear monitor. 1/3-stop steps You can add compensation in 1/3EV stops. Most Nikons have a range from -5EV to +5EV, which will allow you to balance exposure in most situations. Fine-tune the level After setting the exposure compensation level, take a shot and review it. Change the levels if you need…

Q I want to upgrade my 12 year-old D3000 and its companion lenses to a newer camera with a variangle screen for shooting video, but on a tight budget. What would you suggest? Elizabeth Kennedy A You’re best off upgrading to a D5xxx series body, all of which have a vari-angle screen that’s great for shooting video, as you can even view the screen when putting yourself in the picture, standing in front of the camera. I’d avoid the earliest D5000 and D5100 models, as they’re not compatible with some of Nikon’s later lenses that feature the AF-P (Pulse stepping motor) autofocus system. Video quality from the D5000 is also relatively poor. The D5200 and D5300 are partly compatible, but you can’t enable or disable the focus ring in AF…

1. Lady in Red BY MUSTAFA ÖZTÜRK We were immediately drawn to the colour grading of this superb macro image. Notice how the turquoise background complements the deep red ladybird and how the soft lighting gently illuminates the insect’s glossy shell without causing any glare. The dandelion seed head is the perfect backdrop, adding depth as the seeds gradually blur into the background. Camera: Nikon D7100 Lens: 90mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO100 2. Face of an Ant BY ABU ELIAS The insane level of detail in this photograph was captured via focus stacking. A whopping 70 images were blended together to create the final shot. The subject is a type of carpenter ant called Camponotus maculatus and was found in the Sultanate of Oman. We particularly like the…

Many photographers feel that a digital image doesn’t become a real photograph until it’s been printed onto paper, and who are we to disagree? There’s also a lot to be said for creating your own prints with a high-quality photo printer instead of uploading your digital images to a lab. For one thing, you maintain control over the whole process and, with a little trial and error, you should be able to get fabulous results exactly as you want them. Picture perfect Photo papers fall into two main categories. The first includes glossy, semi-gloss and lustre papers, which have a protective, shiny top layer. These are most ideal for use with photo printers that use dye-based inks to generate photo output. The water-based ink is fully absorbed beneath the top…

Launched as a kit lens for the DX format Z 50 mirrorless camera, this tiny zoom weighs in at just 135g and, when retracted for stowage, measures a mere 32mm. As such, it almost classifies as a pancake lens. Even when extended for use, the overall length is only 55-60mm, depending on zoom setting. The only real minus point is the f/6.3 aperture rating at long zoom settings. The design includes four aspherical elements and one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element. New-generation optical VR has 4.5-stop effectiveness, beating that of every other stabilized Nikon standard zoom lens. Build quality feels pretty good and, although the mounting plate is plastic (contributing to the lightweight construction), it is pretty durable. Performance Sharpness is excellent, even when shooting wide-open at the shortest zoom setting,…

This Tamron lags behind the Samyang and Sigma 35mm primes for speed, being two-thirds of an f-stop slower. As such it matches the two Nikon lenses with an f/1.8 aperture rating, which should prove easily sufficient for street photography. An upside is that it’s reasonably lightweight at 480g. The Tamron is the only prime lens in the group to feature optical stabilization, with an effectiveness equivalent to about three f-stops, which can be a bonus under dull lighting. Rain needn’t stop play either, as the lens has extensive weather-seals and a fluorine coating on its front element. It focuses closer than any other lens in the group as well, right down to 0.2m, where it delivers a generous 0.4x max magnification. Performance Autofocus and manual focus both work very well,…

The most expensive 35mm lens in the group, this one nevertheless has a modest f/1.8 aperture rating, shared by most other primes in Nikon’s Z-mount line-up. But it’s more hightech than Nikon’s F-mount 35mm lens, taking the count of aspherical elements from one to three and doubling up on ED elements. It features Super Integrated Coating and Nano Crystal Coat, for minimizing ghosting and flare. The stepping motor-based autofocus system is fast and virtually silent, while enabling smooth and precise manual focusing via its electronically coupled control ring. When in AF mode, you can customize the function of the control ring. Typical of most stepping motor lenses, there’s no focus distance scale. Performance Image quality is fabulous, with particularly stunning centre-sharpness. As with other Z-series lenses that we’ve tested, the…

Edyta says… Dave naturally looks for leading lines, which is a great way to create a compelling composition. Objects that carve a path through a scene – such as roads, ridges, walls, rows of flowers and tree lines – can be used to guide your viewer’s eye towards the focal point of the image. The jetty next to the Welsh Crannog Centre is a perfect example of a leading line. Dave lined up his frame so the jetty would zigzag from the left-hand corner of the frame, guiding the viewer towards the hut.…

FIND YOUR BRACKET Edyta says… Open Adobe Lightroom and select File>Import Photos and Video in the top toolbar. Select the three (or more) exposures you want to merge and hit Import. Each image’s composition must be identical, but you don’t necessarily have to select photographs from the same bracket. SET UP YOUR HDR Edyta says… Go to the Develop Module. Click the first image in your bracket and hold Shift as you click the last to select the whole sequence. Right-click the selection and choose Photo Merge>HDR to bring up the HDR Merge Preview window. Lightroom will now build a preview of your HDR image. MERGE AND EDIT Edyta says… Leave Auto Align and Auto Settings ticked and choose your desired Deghost Amount to mitigate movement, such as rippling water…

Great reasons to subscribe now! ✔ Lowepro Tahoe 150 camera backpack The Lowepro Tahoe 150 offers a customizable, well-padded main compartment, and roomy front pocket that offers plenty of storage for a day’s worth of gear ✔ Great savings Subscribe for 12 months and get your issues delivered to your door, plus this great Lowepro backpack worth £66.95 ✔ Free online videos Each issue, you’ll receive access to our fantastic photo project videos Option 1 Quarterly digital subscription (no gift) £12.50 • 13 issues of N-Photo digital edition• Apple Newsstand edition for iOS devices• Pocketmags edition for Android users• Receive the same videos, project files and ebook editions that come with the print mag Option 2 Annual print subscription £54 • 13 issues of N-Photo print edition delivered• Delivery to…

The Mission – Set up your Nikon to capture a floral double exposure in-camera Time – 20 minutes Skill level – Beginner Kit needed – Nikon camera with multiple exposure mode – Close-focusing lens – Tripod A multiple exposure is two or more photos overlaid on top of one another to form a single image. This technique dates back to the Victorian period and could be achieved easily using a film camera by repeatedly exposing the same piece of film (leading to plenty of accidental multiple exposures if you forgot to wind the film on…). Today you can make a multiple exposure in post-production, but many digital Nikons still allow you to replicate this age-old form of image manipulation in-camera with dedicated multiple exposure modes. Part of the charm of…

The Mission – Use blur filters to add motion effects to a car in Affinity Photo Time – 20 minutes Skill level – Intermediate Kit needed – Affinity Photo A touch of motion blur can create a sense of action with vehicles and other moving objects in your photos. Shooting for panning blur involves using a fairly slow shutter speed (usually around 1/100 to 1/20 sec, depending on the speed of the subject), then panning the camera in sync with the object. If the timing and panning is right, the object will come out sharp and the background will be blurred by the movement of the camera. However, it can be tricky to get it perfect in-camera. So if you want to add the motion blur effect to images afterwards,…

SHUTTER SPEED The rear command dial on Nikon DSLRs and Z series cameras is used to set the shutter speed. Depending on your camera you have a range from 1/8000 or 1/4000 sec to 30 secs to control the exposure and motion in the image. APERTURE This is controlled by the front command dial. If you have a D3xxx or D5xxx series camera, you use the rear command dial in Aperture Priority mode, while in Manual mode you need to hold the Exposure Compensation button at the same time. ISO This is set by holding the ISO button and rotating the rear command dial; rotating the front command dial is a shortcut to activate Auto ISO. Not all Nikons have an ISO button but you can also set ISO using…

Don’t get caught up in technicalities Every time we shoot, we aim for technical correctness. But don’t forget that photography is creative and your personal style is also important, so sometimes not have having a ‘technically’ correct exposure and aiming for a ‘creative’ exposure is best if it gets you the image you want. Different strokes You may prefer slightly more atmospheric images that have a ‘low-key’ look, which lend themselves to richer colours. This means that you would be technically underexposing your images, but it’s the correct ‘creative’ exposure. Conversely, if you like brighter ‘high-key’ images, you might be technically overexposing your images by maybe 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop to get the ‘creative’ look you want. In short, different approaches suit different subjects and shooting styles. Utilize…

Q I’m after a high-end, powerful, genuine Nikon flashgun for minimum outlay. What’s a good used buy? Steve Dawlish A Matthew recommends… I’d go for the SB-800, which was the first flashgun to feature Nikon’s ‘Creative Lighting System’. With ‘intelligent’ i-TTL, it’s able to work out flash exposure settings automatically when used in multi-flashgun setups. Nikon Speedlight SB-800 THE SB-800 WAS A BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCT ON LAUNCH, AND IS PARTICULARLY POWERFUL RELEASED: 2003 PRICE NEW: £350/$420 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £80/$90 ‘Good’ £70/$80 The SB-800 has advanced features, including wireless commander and remote functions. It was the first Speedlight to include Nikon’s ‘flash colour info communication’ system, to improve colour accuracy with Auto WB, along with FV (Flash Value) lock for capturing and locking flash exposure settings. Refinements include a motorized zoom…

Lab tests explained Sharpness A chart with multiple sharp boundaries is photographed, the extent of blur at the centre, mid and edges showing how many line widths per picture height the lens can resolve. Simply put, the bigger the numbers the sharper the lens. Fringing Chromatic aberration is visible as purple or green fringing around high-contrast boundaries, caused by different wavelengths being focused on different areas of the sensor. The larger the number, the worse the score. Distortion A lens that bulges towards the edges of the frame produces barrel distortion, shown as a negative score. Pincushion distortion produces a positive score. A score of zero indicates no distortion. Our awards in a nutshell Our scoring system…

Specifications Mount: Nikon Z, Nikon F Full-frame: Yes Autofocus: No Image stabilization: No Lens construction: 17 elements in 11 groups Angle of view: 110° Diaphragm blades: 5 Minimum focusing distance: 0.2m Maximum magnification ratio: N/A Filter size: N/A Dimensions: 79x103mm Weight: 597g Already one of our favourite manufacturers when it comes to offbeat glass, the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift only adds to Venus Optics’ standing as a producer of exotic, esoteric and excellent lenses. On paper, what the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift offers is quite extraordinary: it’s the world’s widest full-frame shift lens, offering ±11mm of shift. But while these properties make it an excellent option for genres like architecture and interiors, unlike the best tilt-shift lenses the Laowa 15mm only shifts – it isn’t able to tilt…

This manual-focus Samyang lens is available in a wide variety of mount options. Most have no built-in electronics, so you can’t control the aperture from the camera body. Instead, you need to use the lens’s own aperture ring, and the viewfinder image gets progressively darker with narrower aperture settings. However, the ‘AE’ version available in Nikon F-mount enables camera-driven aperture control, and thereby a full range of PASM shooting modes. Typical of manual-focus lenses, the focus ring has a long rotational travel and operates with smooth precision. Zone focusing is enabled by the focus distance scale and depth of field markers for apertures of f/2.8, f/5.6, f/11, f/16 and f/22. This is a real bonus for traditional street photography. Performance As an f/1.4 lens, the Samyang is comparatively big and…

maller and lighter than the competing Samyang f/1.4, this lens is relatively compact compared with most Sigma Art-series primes. Even so, it’s still about twice the weight of the slower-aperture Nikon lenses on test. Typical of Sigma’s Art primes, it features a fast and whisper-quiet ring-type ultrasonic AF system. For manual focusing, the generous rotational travel of the focus ring enables fine and precise adjustments, although depth of field markers are only available for f/16, which makes zone focusing impractical. The high-tech optical path includes two aspherical elements, one FLD (Fluorite-grade Low Dispersion) element, and four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements. Build quality is ace, but the lens isn’t weather-sealed. Performance Image quality is epic and the Sigma retains fabulous sharpness for an f/1.4 lens when shooting wide-open. As you’d…

Although it retains a retractable design, this full-frame Z-mount lens is much larger than the DX format Z 16-50mm. On an FX mirrorless body, it has a similar range of viewing angles but an f/4 aperture rating that remains constant throughout the zoom range. That makes it 2.33 f-stops slower than the Z 35mm f/1.8 prime but, what you lose in speed, you gain in zoom versatility. Optical finery includes one aspherical ED element, three further aspherical elements and one additional ED element. Nano Crystal Coat is employed, and there’s a fluorine coating on the front element to repel moisture and grease. The stepping motor AF system works with speedy precision in almost complete silence, and the customizable focus ring is a useful addition. Performance This is the first Z-mount…