Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

Stories During Dinner ISABELLE HATTINK A couple of kids in their finest attire, clearly bored of the formalities, captured my attention as they played around the family table at a huge wedding banquet, while the rest of the guests celebrate the newlywed couple. Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/200 sec, f/4, ISO6400 Selling Fish MD MAHABUB HOSSAIN KHAN Naya Bazaar is one of the oldest weekly fish markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We can see rare and expensive species of fish here that cannot usually be seen in other markets. Camera: Nikon D3000 Lens: 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 Exposure: 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO800 Peaches MAJA KOWALCZYK One of my favourite summer fruits, photographed under a tree in our garden. I focused on the foremost fruit, and employed a shallow depth of…

When we travel to photograph, we go on a journey to explore exciting and unfamiliar landscapes, setting out with the goal of uncovering new and unique subjects and compositions. Discovering a new landscape always brings that sense of exhilaration that strokes our creativity and passion. The excitement that comes with such discoveries is undoubtedly one of the greatest gifts of what I like to call wanderlust photography. WHY WANDERLUST PHOTOGRAPHY? Wanderlust photography helps us to grow at a personal level; it changes us. I think that one of the greatest lessons from my travels was that nature runs at its own pace, and yet always accomplishes everything it aspires to. Wanderlust photographers have a similar trait. We quickly learn that success does not come fast: we need perseverance, patience and…

Capturing landscapes throughout the seasons can completely change the appearance and the feel of the place. Of course, the timing and characteristics of the seasons depend upon where the location is on Earth. While everywhere has something unique to offer in every season, some locations are better travelled during specific times of the year. Choosing your destination can be overwhelming given the sheer number of possibilities. SEASONAL CONSIDERATIONS I frequently visit my favourite European destinations to take advantage of seasonal transitions: capturing the stunning kaleidoscope of colours bursting into bloom on the Dutch tulip fields in spring; photographing the beauty of Provence lavender in the summer; chasing the early-morning fog and light of a Slovenian autumn; and getting the most out of winter in Iceland. Each season has its advantages…

Capturing the vibrant energy of a dancefloor after a wedding is a real technical challenge. There’s little light to work with, and focusing on moving subjects in the near-dark isn’t an easy task, even for a capable camera like the Z 6II. While a fast prime lens and a high ISO setting will allow you to preserve the ambient light and produce atmospheric pictures, one surefire way to shoot truly dynamic dancefloor photos is to use the shutter drag technique. This combines a slow shutter speed with a burst of flash to freeze the action, and also injects colourful swirls and streaks of light to the frame. So whether it’s the bride and groom busting a move to their favourite tune, or a drunk uncle air-guitaring to Livin’ on a…

If you know how to merge two photos together, you can create all kinds of amazing images. It’s a useful skill to learn, whether you want to make imaginative, surreal composites or for more everyday image editing, like combining multiple exposures. The standard approach for making a composite would be to use selections to isolate the subject, then a layer mask to remove the background. But this can be time-consuming. Sometimes there’s a quicker way. The Blend Options dialog in Affinity Photo lets us blend layers based on luminosity. In a way it’s a bit like a layer blend mode, but with far greater control. It’s ideal when you want to combine images like ours here, where one has a very bright background. Rather than painstakingly cutting out the person…

1 Steady camera The luxury we have with a static scene like an interior is that we are free to light it in segments over several frames. Once the camera is locked off on a tripod, we can move around the scene popping the flash. An easy way to set it off is to set up a self-timer to take a sequence of shots with a few seconds between each one. 2 Camera settings Our camera is set to manual exposure mode with aperture f/11, shutter speed 1/100 sec and ISO200. This gives us a good base exposure for the outdoor scene, but leaves the interior looking rather dim. From here, we can use our flash to lift different parts of the interior so it balances with the exterior view.…

The star of our interior scene here is the ornate fireplace, but during the shoot we weren’t able to light a fire. Thankfully, we can add a few flames later on in Photoshop with relative ease. First find a suitable photo of flames (we found a free image on www.pixabay.com, search for image no.1241199) then copy and paste it into your image. Go to the Layers panel and change the blend mode of the layer to Lighten, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to transform it and resize and position it in the fireplace. Next, add a layer mask and paint black to hide any parts of the layer you don’t want to include. Make a new layer, drag it below the flames layer and set the blend mode to Overlay. Grab the…

Most Nikon cameras offer two speed settings – ‘Ch’ and ‘Cl’. The Ch setting offers the highest speeds the camera is capable of, while the Cl mode shoots at a slower rate to suit slower-moving subjects. You might use the slower rate for photographing catwalk models at a fashion shoot, for example, and reserve the faster rate for explosive action events. As the sequence of a pro tennis serve (below) shows, even when you’re shooting at a rapid-fire 8fps, there are significant differences in the positions of both ball and player in successive frames, with the risk that the exact moment you want to capture falls into the gap between them. This is why pros are prepared to pay a hefty premium for cameras like the Nikon D6, which can…

In these trigger-happy days of digital photography, keeping tabs on your sprawling image library can be a real headache, and finding a particular shot you vaguely remember taking can become an impossible task. Mylio Photos aims to solve all this, collating all your photos and videos into a single, private and well-organized library that’s easy to search. This clever software takes the work out of organizing your library. As you browse your photos, they are automatically arranged by date and folder, and if your existing library is in chaos, Mylio Photos can auto-organize folders on import and remove duplicates. The software also connects to popular social media and photo sharing sites, and imports everything you’ve already shared. Essential editing tools automatically enhance images so they look their best, with easy…

Q I photograph a variety of collectables at home for selling on eBay. What software would you recommend for tethered shooting with my Z 7 and a Windows laptop? Amanda Yeo A If you have an Adobe Photography Plan, you can use Lightroom Classic for tethered shooting. If you don’t, you can download NX Tether for free from Nikon’s website. It’s compatible with all Z system cameras plus the D780 and D6. The only downside is that it doesn’t give you a live view display of what you’re shooting on your computer screen. For that, you’d need Nikon’s Camera Control Pro 2, which is pricey at around £169/$145. I’d actually go for ControlMyNikon from www.tetherscript.com, compatible with most Nikon cameras. It includes computer screen preview and advanced features like timelapse…

When we reviewed the Nikon Z 9, we called it: “Simply the best camera ever!” And now, together with Nikon UK, we’re giving you the chance to win the flagship Z camera. It’s an incredible prize that’s worth a whopping £5299/$5499. All you have to do is enter any of the 12 rounds of NPOTY 2023 to be in with a chance of taking Nikon’s most advanced camera home and being crowned N-Photo’s Photographer of the Year 2023. Mirrorless behemoth The Nikon Z 9 features some truly ferocious specs, as you’d expect from a pro-grade, full-frame, flagship camera. It boasts a stacked 45.7Mp CMOS sensor and runs via Nikon’s EXPEED 7 image-processor. It also packs Nikon’s most advanced AF system and can shoot bursts at an astonishing 120fps, making it…

£379/$359 The Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR fills a hole in the company’s line-up of APS-C format Z-mount lenses. Previously, there were no ultra-wide-angle options, so you’d need to use something like the Nikon AF-P DX 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR via an FTZ or FTZ II mount adapter, which certainly isn’t ideal. The 12-28mm therefore makes a welcome addition to the trio of Nikon Z DX lenses already on the market: the unfeasibly small Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR standard zoom, the Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR telephoto zoom, and the Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR superzoom. Key features With its video-centric design, the Z DX 12-28mm is a perfect match for the Z 30, a camera more suited to vlogging than to stills photography, as it lacks a…

To test real-world performance, we use lenses in all sorts of lighting conditions, for indoor and outdoor shooting scenarios. We check for good build quality and handling, smooth and precise operation of all controls, and we test the speed and accuracy of autofocus. We typically test full-frame compatible lenses on a range of FX and DX bodies, whereas APS-C format lenses are just tested on DX cameras. Our test cameras include DSLRs such as the D850 and the D7500, and mirrorless cameras such as the Z 7II and the Z fc. In-camera and Raw processing corrections for chromatic aberration, distortion and vignetting are disabled where possible, throughout lab-testing, to better reveal the true optical performance of each lens. In our lab, we test lenses under controlled conditions, shooting specialist test…

£288/$359 Despite being the least expensive FX format lens in the group, this Z-mount Yongnuo boasts a high-end feature set, with fast and highly accurate stepping motor-based autofocus; an easy-access AF/MF switch; and a nippy aperture rating that matches Nikon’s pricier Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens. It goes one better than the Z 50mm by adding a duplicated pair of customizable L-fn buttons. These are typically used for AF-hold, but you can assign other functions via an in-camera menu option. The only catch is that the buttons are wired up in parallel, so you can’t assign different functions to each button. However, the design makes the buttons equally accessible whether you’re shooting in landscape or portrait orientation. Autofocus is driven by the now-usual type of linear stepping motor. And as…

£259/$277 Can’t decide between a 35mm and a 50mm lens? Both focal lengths are highly popular for street photography and everyday shooting, so it can be a difficult decision. The Nikon Z 40mm f/2 is perhaps the ideal compromise. It’s not quite as fast as an f/1.8 lens, but is only a third of an f/stop slower. The lens is very compact and light, measuring 70x46mm and 170g. This little Nikon really punches above its weight for image quality and all-round performance. Centre-sharpness is excellent, even while shooting wide-open, while corner-sharpness becomes really impressive at f/4 and narrower apertures. Colour fringing is negligible at all apertures, and barrel distortion is very minor. All in all, it’s a cracking little lens.…

£349/$399 Like Sigma’s companion 16mm and 56mm Contemporary lenses, this one was originally launched back in 2019. It’s available in a variety of mount options, the Z DX version being a relative newcomer. As with most lenses for mirrorless cameras, it has an autofocus system based on a virtually silent stepping motor. This naturally requires power from the host camera battery for operation of both autofocus and manual focusing, via the comfortably wide ‘fly by wire’ focus ring. It’s smooth in operation and enables excellent precision for manual focusing. The optical path includes nine elements in seven groups. Two of the elements are aspherical, but the lens features neither FLD (Fluorite-grade Low Dispersion) nor SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements, often used in Sigma lenses to boost sharpness and contrast. Unlike…

£367/$459 While the Viltrox 23mm, 33mm and 56mm f/1.4 primes are all the same size and weight, the AF 13mm is a little bigger and heavier. But not by much, as it’s still very compact and light for such a wide-angle lens, giving an effective focal length of just under 20mm. It’s actually similar in size and weight to the Sigma 16mm lens, the Viltrox measuring 74x90mm and weighing 420g. Build quality is impressive and handling is refined. This lens matches the other Viltrox primes on test with a metal barrel, mounting plate and hood. Image quality and all-round performance are simply superb, with excellent corner-to-corner sharpness throughout the aperture range, and negligible colour fringing and distortion.…

It’s almost impossible to pick one outright winner in this test group. A lot comes down to whether you shoot with a DX or an FX format Z-series body, and what it is that you actually shoot. Naturally, wide-angle, standard and short telephoto lenses are better suited to different genres. Ultimately, if you shoot with a DX format Z camera, fast primes are thin on the ground: there’s nothing in Nikon’s own line-up, so you have no choice but to look elsewhere. The Viltrox 56mm comes up trumps because it’s a practically perfect portrait lens for DX bodies, whereas you can get away with zoom lenses for landscape, architecture and general shooting. We’re equally impressed with all of the other Viltrox Z DX format lenses, although the Sigma alternatives are…

Summer has arrived! It’s the time of year when many of us look forward to heading off on vacation, along with our trusty Nikons. But in this issue’s lead feature, rather than returning from your overseas trip with a selection of hastily captured so-so holiday snaps, Edyta Rice explains how to shoot carefully considered ‘wanderlust’ travel images. Our apprentice stays closer to home as he’s instructed in the art of capturing summer scenes by landscape pro Stu Meech, in the delightful countryside of the Cotswolds. We rate eight pieces of fast mirrorless glass that are ideal for portraiture – and that don’t cost an absolute fortune - in this issue’s Big Test, and bring you our verdict on Nikon’s Z DX 12-28mm, its first ultra-wide zoom for Z-series crop-sensor cameras.…

Creating a photograph with a sense of wanderlust should be a process of immersion We all have those wanderlust dream missions that, one day, we will accomplish. It could be shooting glaciers in Iceland, capturing the tropical beauty of the Caribbean, or taking early-morning shots in the majestic Dolomites. Regardless of where you are heading, it is important to do some advanced planning to make your epic shots happen. PLAN YOUR PHOTO TRIP Planning starts with figuring out how you’ll get around. Will it be by plane, camper van or rental car? The next aspect is the route you are going to take, taking into account factors such as access to basic facilities, electricity, internet connection and ways of backing up your photos. Think about where you are going, and…

In today’s day and age, everyone has a camera. Millions of photographs are taken all around the globe every single day. The best work finds its way onto the covers of glossy magazines and is displayed in the prestigious galleries, while the rest circulates around the web on social media platforms and stock image websites. But what does this mean to you? Well, it means that in order to compete, you need to find a way for your images to be different; to try to develop your unique style. DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE Building your own photography style goes beyond the subject of your photographs or the techniques that you deploy. It is very much about how you see the world around you, and how you express it in your…

It’s hard to put a foot wrong capturing close-ups with a macro lens. The super-shallow depths of field and the otherworldly shapes and textures seen at high magnification can make almost anything look good. But creamy bokeh aside, macro lenses can create a challenge for anyone wanting to capture a close-up subject that’s entirely in focus. This is especially evident when you photograph plants like our thistle. In the ‘before’ image, you can see that the front of the seed is in focus, but the leaves around it are completely blurred. That’s because macro lenses produce depths of field that are too shallow to provide adequate focus, even at narrow apertures. Unless your subject has very little depth – like shooting down onto a flat daisy flower head – you’ll…

1 Find the main POI At first glance it can be tricky to determine what to include and leave out. Take a moment to identify the key points of interest. It might be a sweeping staircase or an ornate piece of furniture. Here it’s the fireplace with the painting above. To make it more inviting we put logs in the fireplace, then added flames later in Photoshop to introduce a comforting homely fire. 2 Don’t go too wide There’s a temptation to use your widest focal length to try to fit everything in, but this can lead to distortion. Often you’re better off going slightly longer and picking out key features. You don’t need to show everything. It is fine to crop into objects, such as the dresser edge. 3…

Usually at the start of an interview, to provide an easy way into their story, I often ask nature photographers a simple question: “Which interest came first: nature or photography?” More often than not, the short answer is nature, and that is certainly the case with Norway’s Lina Kayser – but it is her longer answer that provides the insight into how her life has evolved. Lina describes her childhood and upbringing in a way that suggests a life in nature photography was almost inevitable. “When I was a kid, we spent all the weekends hiking in nature. My mum taught me about birds and flowers, and my dad got me interested in dog training and hunting. When I got older, I got my own dog and started bringing a…

Interval timer Nikon calls this ‘Interval timer shooting’, and you’ll find it on the Shooting menu. It fires the camera at set intervals that you define, from seconds to hours. Start time Usually you’ll want to start straight away, but you can start the sequence at a specific time, which may be useful if you need to leave it to work unattended. Interval Next, set the interval between shots. This can be in hours, minutes or seconds – here, we’re setting the camera up to fire at intervals of one minute. Number of shots (1) Now you choose the number of shots. We’ve set our Nikon to take 60 frames which, with an interval of one minute, gives us a sequence lasting an hour. Number of shots (2) You can…

1 To get started, go to www.bit.ly/myliophotos and click the Download Now button. The website should detect and download the correct software for your device, be it a Mac or a PC. 2 On a Mac, look for the Mylio.dmg file in your Downloads folder, double-click it, and drag the app into your Applications folder. 3 On a PC, double-click the installer in your Downloads folder and follow the on-screen instructions. 4 Open the Mylio Photos application. The first time you run it, you will be asked for your email address. 5 You will need to verify your email address. Go to your email app and open the email that Mylio should have sent you, and select ‘Click here to log in’ within the email. 6 A web page will…

Q I tried a Z 85mm f/1.8 lens and found in-body stabilization really helpful. Is there a stabilized lens for DSLRs? Mo Scott A Matthew recommends… Stabilization can be a big help for handheld portraiture and still life photography but I can only think of one optically stabilized 85mm prime for Nikon DSLRs, which is now obsolete. Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 VC USD THIS OPTICALLY STABILIZED TAMRON LENS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED BUT MAKES A GREAT SECONDHAND BUY RELEASED: 2016 PRICE NEW: £749/$749 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £420/$450 ‘Good’ £370/$400 With a strong, weather-sealed metal barrel and mounting plate, this Tamron lens features two types of nano-structure coating, which keep ghosting and flare to a minimum. Further high-tech finery includes a highly accurate ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system and Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration…

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 The best performance, design and value A product that gives you more for your money The…

To get a really tight depth of field and make the main subject in a scene really stand out against a blurred background, there’s no substitute for a prime lens with an aperture of around f/1.4 to f/1.8. This kind of lens also enables you to freeze movement even under very dull or indoor lighting, without the need to bump up your camera’s ISO setting, which can impact on image quality. Some primes are even faster, like the Nikon Z 50mm and Z 85mm f/1.2 S lenses. They’re both fabulous lenses, but pricey at around £2300/$2100 and £3000/$2800 respectively. That’s a deal-breaker for many of us, as the budget simply won’t stretch that far. Look further afield, however, and there are some independent lens manufacturers serving up fast glass with…

£263/$299 While the Viltrox AF 33mm that we kicked off with gives an entirely standard field of view on DX format cameras, this one is more akin to an 85mm lens in full-frame terms. It therefore gives a short telephoto perspective that’s ideal for head-and-shoulders and half-length portraits, while offering the same fast f/1.4 aperture as the AF 33mm, for a tight depth of field. That’s great for blurring the background and really making the main subject stand out, as well as for retaining fairly fast shutter speeds to freeze any movement, even in low lighting conditions. Like the 23mm and 33mm f/1.4 lenses in the Viltrox trio, this one has a 52mm filter attachment thread, so you can use the same filters with all three lenses without needing step-up…

£249/$256 There are some seriously wide-angle rectilinear lenses for mirrorless full-frame cameras, but fisheye lenses really take off the blinkers. Unlike a circular fisheye, which gives a full 180-degree viewing angle in both the vertical and horizontal planes but only uses the central region of the image sensor to create a circular image, this 7Artisans lens is a diagonal fisheye. As such, you get about a 180-degree viewing angle measured on the diagonal, and the whole image sensor is used to create rectangular images. It’s super-sharp and great fun to use, making that classic extreme barrel distortion effect for which fisheye lenses are notorious. 7Artisans also make a good but basic 7.5mm f/2.8 Mark II for DX mirrorless cameras, which sells for £149/$139.…

£320/$379 This sibling to the Yongnuo 50mm lens on test has a short telephoto 85mm focal length, nicely suited to portraiture on FX format Z-series cameras, with the same f/1.8 aperture rating. The 85mm features a fast and virtually silent autofocus system driven by a linear stepping motor, a customizable focus ring and a customizable L-fn button – although, in this case, there’s just the one button rather than a duplicated pair. That’s a bit of a shame, as you’re likely to use an 85mm lens more often in portrait orientation (upright) mode. Both Yongnuo lenses are almost identical in size and weight, and feature one LD (Low Dispersion) element and nano-structure multi-coatings. The 85mm also adds an HR (High Refractive index) element in its optical path. Further similarities include…

£449/$499 Wide-angle lenses with fast aperture ratings can be big and heavy, quite at odds with slimline mirrorless camera bodies. Now available in Nikon Z DX format, this 16mm f/1.4 lens from Sigma’s Contemporary line-up proves that smaller really can be better. Giving an effective focal length of 24mm in full-frame terms, it measures 72x92mm and weighs just 405g. Even so, it packs a lot in, including three top-class FLD (Fluorite Low Dispersion), two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) and two aspherical elements. In our tests, we found that sharpness was a little lacklustre wide open at f/1.4. However, centre-sharpness becomes very good at f/2, and the edges and corners of the image frame come on song at f/4 and narrower apertures.…

£450/$349 Think ultra-fast primes, and you’re probably thinking of hefty lenses with horrific price tags. This 7Artisans lens will make you think again, shoehorning a phenomenally fast f/1.05 aperture into a compact 61x86mm package that tips the scales at a mere 606g. And it does so at just a fraction of the price of Nikon’s mighty Z 50mm f/1.2 S, which weighs in at more than a kilogram – that’s 40 percent more. There is a catch, however. As is typical of 7Artisans lenses, this one is a manual-focus design that lacks any built-in electronics. This means that you need to adjust the aperture via an onboard, stepless control ring instead of from the host camera. This takes your Nikon’s Program and Shutter Priority shooting modes off the menu, although…

Perhaps the most surprising lens announcement in this issue is the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR (see page 90). We knew a mysterious 200-600mm lens was listed on the Z-lens roadmap, but with no fewer than four super-telephoto optics announced in 2022 – as well as the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S, announced at the tail-end of 2021 – I’ll readily admit that for a hot minute I’d forgotten there was one more super-long lens in the pipeline. Setting the standard What makes this lens stand out among all the other Nikon super-telephoto lenses to come out of Minato, Tokyo recently? Well, for starters, it’s not an S-Line lens. While Nikon’s premium-label glass is undoubtedly a good thing for professionals and serious enthusiasts, not everyone is willing to part with…

THE PRO NAME: Stu Meech CAMERA: Nikon Z 6II Stu hails from Stratford-upon-Avon (aka Shakespeare Country), so it’s hardly surprising that his working week is split between landscape photography and theatre production – he’s either out in the field gathering light or beaming it onto the stage. When he’s not exhibiting his award-winning images or lending his expertise to the photography press, you’ll find him leading 1-2-1 sessions. To see more of Stu’s work or book your own workshop, visit: www.stumeech.co.uk THE APPRENTICE NAME: Robert Speak CAMERA: Nikon Z 8 Shropshire-based Rob has spent the past 60 years taking photos. He used to work for the NHS and later studied to become an archaeologist. He spends much of his time visiting dig sites, and uses his camera skills to document…

I let myself get lost on purpose, and wander curiously to see where it takes me Getting the most out of your wanderlust adventures means having fun exploring the world and time to experiment. When I am travelling, I usually reserve early mornings and late evenings for photography, and leave mid-afternoons for scouting new locations and exploring new shooting possibilities. For me, it’s a great way to really get to the heart of a place and spot things I’d never normally notice if I was just a visiting tourist. MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TRAVELS I prefer to avoid crowded spots, and instead dare to explore places where tourists might not consider going. Occasionally, I let myself get lost on purpose, and wander curiously to see where it takes…

Creating starbursts is an essential technique to have in your landscape photo armoury. Preparation is key. You need to find out at which time of year the sun will set through your subject; when the weather conditions will be suitable; and, for seascapes like this, how the tide will affect access and safety. 1 Be prepared I think that good preparation alone gives you a 50 per cent chance of success. I use Google Maps’ satellite view to scout locations; The Photographer’s Ephemeris to provide sunrise and sunset times; AccuWeather for an hour-by-hour forecast; and Windfinder to keep tabs on wind conditions. 2 Early riser Arrive early so you have time to set up your tripod and find the best composition. You must be facing the sun, and it must…

Whether you want to capture your home, make images for a holiday rental site, help out with a house sale or simply create lovely architectural photos, interior photography is a great skill to learn. It can also be an enjoyable challenge for your camera and lighting skills. There are three key skills in interior photography. First there’s the composition. This isn’t just about picking the best camera angle and lens, it’s also about creating a clean, simple frame that shows the interior at its best. It might mean shifting the furniture, placing items in certain spots, or posing objects to create the most attractive whole. Next is the lighting. If the ambient light is good enough, then you’ve got lucky. More often than not, the ambient light will be too…

1 Open as layers Go through your images and select those that you’d like to use, then make any initial changes in Camera Raw. Highlight the images in Adobe Bridge and go to Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. Once open, go to the Layers panel and click the eye icons to hide all but the bottom layer. 2 Blend with masks Reveal the layer above and assess which parts you want to use, then hold Alt and click the Add Layer Mask icon to add a full mask to the layer. Grab the Brush tool, set colour to white then paint to reveal the parts you want. Next, do the same to the layer above, then keep at it until you’ve blended all the layers. 3…

Continuous mode On some Nikons, such as the D850, the release mode is selected via a dial under the exposure mode dial. On others, there may be a button on the back or top of the camera. Continuous AF You should also set Continuous AF mode. If you don’t, the camera will stutter between shots as it waits to lock on to a subject. In Continuous AF mode, the camera keeps shooting. AF area mode The Dynamic Area AF mode is best suited to moving objects: if the subject leaves the selected focus point, the camera switches to neighbouring AF points to maintain accurate focus. Raw versus JPEG Raw files are top-quality, but fill the camera’s buffer quickly. Choose JPEGs instead and you’ll typically get hundreds of shots in a…

Auto-exposure bracketing is a feature found on all Z-series Nikons and all but the most basic DSLRs, such as the D3500. You use it to make certain of getting a good exposure in difficult lighting conditions. In this mode, the camera takes a series of shots (usually three) in quick succession, using a different exposure for each one. One shot is at the recommended exposure, one is deliberately underexposed, and the other is deliberately overexposed. You can choose how much the exposure is adjusted between each shot. The problem with auto-exposure bracketing, though, is that you have to remember where you are in the sequence. Pictures are shot in sets of three, so you have to mentally count them off as you go along to avoid getting out of sequence…

1 QuickFilters Enables you to quickly find specific images, no matter how large your library. AI SmartTags automatically detect elements such as people, animals, sky, water and vehicles, without having to tag keywords. 2 Top App Bar Get quick access to the following functions (from left to right): Add Media, Notifications, Activities, Devices, Help, Account, and More. Use this final option to change the way images are displayed. 3 Right Sidebar (From top to bottom) Expand to review info, edit images and sync library; add ratings, flags and labels; share; tag faces; add media; rotate and crop; delete; zoom; copy; and find more actions. 4 Dashboard Within the Dashboard you will find a step-by-step guide to the software; an Actions panel that enables you to tag faces, add devices and…

1. Strictly Superb BY @MATTHEWDCROSBY This month’s winner is beautifully lit and perfectly sharp, but the real standout feature is the dancers’ dynamic poses. The graceful lines and shapes formed by their bodies are aesthetically pleasing, and the couple’s faces haven’t been obscured. To top it off, the woman’s dress has been frozen while billowing beautifully, adding to the pleasing selection of shapes and conveying movement. Camera: Nikon D500 Lens: 18-35mm f/1.8 Exposure: 1/160 sec, f/13, ISO100 2. Blue Angel BY JOHAN15 This Super Hornet is part of the US Navy’s famed Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron. We like the unusually intimate depiction of an aircraft in flight, thanks to the tight crop. Not only is the plane sharp, but it’s been captured breaking the sound barrier. This conveys a…

1. APS-C ruled the photography world. What happened? We only have to go back to 2015, the year the Nikon D7200 was launched, and perhaps the high water mark of beginner and enthusiast photography. Nikon’s APS-C lens range was extensive and mostly inexpensive. Sure, pros would be looking at the best full-frame cameras, but you could build a serious system around an APS-C camera… https://bit.ly/3MEUSyJ 2. I don’t care about the Nikon Z 9, but I do want the Z 8 While others might be drawn to the Z 9 as their sports or wildlife camera of choice, I think the Z 8 is a better option for both those genres of photography – while also turning its hand to landscape photography. But the real reason this retired sports photographer…

Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR £1799/$1699 www.nikon.co.uk Priced to be within the budget of enthusiast photographers, Nikon’s Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR super-telephoto zoom had actually been listed as a 200-600mm lens on the Z-series lens roadmap – so the official announcement offers a bonus 20mm reach at the wide end. Nikon very much sees this as the Z-mount successor to its popular 200-500mm f/5.6 F-mount super-telephoto lens for DSLRs. It’s aimed at amateur wildlife, aviation and motorsports photographers. The Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR has Vibration Reduction rated at 5.5 stops, to keep shots pin-sharp even when you’re shooting handheld. For fast-moving action, a Sport mode stabilizes the viewfinder image, making it easier for you to capture unpredictable or fast-moving subjects. The lens has been constructed from 25 elements arranged in…

£239/$279 Viltrox currently offers a trio of DX format 23mm, 33mm and 56mm f/1.4 primes that are pretty much identical in size and weight, and have the same handling characteristics. Paired with a DX Nikon, they deliver what you might call ‘classic’ effective focal lengths, equating to about 35mm, 50mm and 85mm in full-frame terms. There’s also a 13mm lens that has the same f/1.4 aperture rating, but is a little larger and heavier. The 33mm essentially works as a ‘nifty fifty’ for DX Z-series cameras. It’s particularly well-matched with the retro-styled Z fc, as it has an aperture control ring that’s entirely in keeping with the Z fc’s hands-on control layout. The control ring is marked in one-third f/stop increments, and it’s permanently de-clicked, which is ideally suited to…

We’re getting used to seeing lenses designed for mirrorless cameras that rely entirely on in-camera correction to fix distortion. That’s not the case with any of the lenses in this test group, which generally produce very little distortion to need correcting. Technically, the Viltrox 33mm and both Yongnuo lenses are the worst offenders – but even they produce fairly little pincushion distortion, which can be automatically corrected in-camera or during editing. The Samyang and 7Artisans lenses produce barrel distortion instead, but it’s very mild.…

£319/$399 The latest Nikon Z-series cameras have highly advanced face-detection and eye-detection autofocus systems, so it would be a shame not to make the most of them. Or would it? Like the 7Artisans lens in this test group (page 103), the Samyang MF 85mm is a fully manual lens, with no autofocus and no internal electronics whatsoever, so it can’t communicate with the host camera body in any way. You can therefore only shoot effectively in fully Manual or Aperture Priority modes, and you can only adjust the aperture via the control ring on the lens itself. The aperture value is neither shown in the camera’s information display, nor recorded in EXIF information. Similarly, there’s no autofocus or optical image stabilization. While the feature-set might sound a dead loss, the…

Automatic correction for lateral chromatic aberration has been featured in Nikon DSLRs and mirrorless cameras for many years, but we run our lab tests without these corrections being applied. In purely optical terms, the Yongnuo lenses produce the most lateral chromatic aberration, the 50mm at wide apertures and the 85mm throughout the aperture range. The Viltrox 33mm and two Sigma lenses performed very well in the lab, and all of the other lenses proved impressive for control over lateral chromatic aberration.…

£449/$499 One of Sigma’s trio of 16mm, 30mm and 56mm fast primes for DX format mirrorless cameras, this one is now available in Nikon Z-mount. All have speedy f/1.4 aperture ratings, and all are highly desirable – but, for us, the 56mm is the pick of the bunch. Its focal length equates to about 85mm in full-frame terms. Typical of Sigma’s Contemporary line-up of lenses, it’s designed to be relatively compact and light. It’s actually remarkably small for a 56mm lens with an f/1.4 aperture, and weighs just 280g, making it a perfect match for slinky Z DX bodies. Although small and light, the lens is smartly turned out, and has a solid feel to it. The only external moving part is a comfortably wide manual-focus ring, which is electronically…

£263/$329 For street photography with a full-frame camera, many photographers reach for a 35mm prime. This 23mm lens gives the same field of view for a DX format Z-system camera, along with a fast f/1.4 aperture rating. Keeping step with the Viltrox 33mm and 56mm lenses on test, it’s the same size and weight, and has the same handling attractions, with a de-clicked aperture control ring. Its metal build extends to the mounting plate, barrel and lens hood. As well as delivering quick and accurate autofocus performance, the lens is impressive in terms of image quality. Centre-sharpness is excellent even while shooting wide-open at f/1.4, and the corners catch up at f/4. Bokeh is nice and smooth at f/1.4.…

DX DSLRS NIKON D7500 AN ADVANCED DSLR that’s easy to use, the D7500 delivers superb performance and image quality, plus great value. The D7500 steals most of the best bits from the now-discontinued pro-grade D500, and squeezes them into a smaller, lighter body at a much more affordable price. TESTED IN ISSUE 141 • £1049/$997 Sensor 20.9Mp, DX (5568x3712) Processor EXPEED 5 Viewfinder Pentaprism, 0.94x, 100% ISO 100-51,200 (50-1,640,000 expanded) AF 51-point (15 cross-type) LCD 3.2-inch, tilt, touch Max burst (buffer) 8fps (50 Raw) Memory card SDXC UHS-I FX DSLRS NIKON D780 THE D780 IS a highly capable and entirely natural-feeling DSLR for shooting stills in viewfinder mode, coupled with the same kind of accuracy and performance as a mirrorless camera in live view and for shooting movies. Despite its…