Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

EXPOSURE SETTINGS Halo says… I tend to keep my shutter speed between 1/80 and 1/200 sec to either extend or freeze the water droplets, while keeping the model sharp. I shoot wide open to add depth to the rain via a mix of sharp and blurry droplets, adjusting the ISO or the intensity of the lights to compensate. FOCUS MODES Halo says… You can use Face/Eye Detection with some success, but I prefer to use single-point AF (AF-C), because the rain can cause hunting. I’ll often target areas on a similar focal plane to the model’s eyes, like a shoulder, especially if it’s shiny and wet, which helps the camera to lock on. SPEED TRAP Halo says… I try to avoid using the very fastest burst speeds available, otherwise you…

The Three Sisters of Glencoe ADAM BURTON Breathing Spaces – Finalist I captured these dramatic mountain peaks, which are known as The Three Sisters, on an atmospheric afternoon in winter. They form part of the Bidean nam Bian mountain range, and are found situated above the Pass of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands. Camera: Nikon D850 Lens: Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 Exposure: 1/80 sec, f/13, ISO400 In the Autumn Forest PIOTR GROCHALA Trees, Woods & Forests – Finalist I captured this atmospheric woodland landscape, with the trees receding into the mist, during one foggy day in autumn, in a beech forest in the Beskid Mountains, Poland. Camera: Nikon D810 Lens: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO400 Mangrove Tree (from Underwater) LEENA ROY Plants & Planet – 1st Place A…

The Lake District offers a rich tapestry of natural beauty and diverse landscapes, providing a plethora of subjects for landscape photographers. Few destinations in the United Kingdom boast the convergence of stunning lakes, scenic valleys, verdant forests, impressive waterfalls, charming tarns, towering mountains, and even coastal beauty. The area stands as a unique haven that encompasses all these elements, making it a photogenic hotspot for visitors eager to capture its diverse and alluring landscapes. Introduction to Lake District photography The majority of tourists capture a few snapshots as a keepsake of their visit. More committed photographers come with the sole purpose of delving into the region’s photographic possibilities. These enthusiasts rise early and extend their stay into the late hours, seizing those golden moments when the interplay of landscape and…

Soft light has a notable impact on colour perception, as colour is relative and dependent on its surroundings I have always held the belief that much like painters – who are recognized for their consistent tendencies, unique styles and brush strokes – landscape photographers can develop distinctive post-processing styles. Post-processing has no definitive right or wrong; it is shaped by your subjective vision and your skill in extracting the best from your image. The elements of light and colour Two initial elements that immediately capture my attention in any landscape image are light and colour. How these elements are manipulated defines one’s style and can result in either a successful shot or a poorly executed one. Light and colour play a pivotal role in breathing life into otherwise-dull scenes, allowing…

Despite the increasingly early starts, spring is the favourite time of year for many landscape photographers. It’s warm, the weather is – in theory – more settled, and the landscape is starting to come back to life with fresh, green leaves on the trees and beautiful wildflowers in the countryside. One of the most enchanting sights of the season has to be a thick carpet of bluebells covering a woodland floor, with a vibrant canopy above. Bluebell woods are not just a stunning sight; with their intoxicating aroma and the sounds of nearby wildlife, they can be a complete sensory experience. While you can’t photograph the scent or sounds of a bluebell wood, the right technique and a bit of creativity will help you to capture some springtime magic. How…

When it comes to editing portraits, a few simple techniques can take your image in all kinds of interesting directions. In this project we’ll explore a range of edits you can make in Affinity Photo. Most of these are carried out in the Develop Persona, which is the workspace for Raw editing. This is the place to process and enhance your Raw photos before taking them into the main Photo Persona for further editing, if necessary. Straight-out-of-camera Raw files tend to look a little flat and dull. But this is because Raw is meant to give you the best possible starting point for editing. Raws contain greater dynamic range and colour data than JPEGs, and we can use the tools in the Affinity Photo Develop Persona in order to harness…

1 Shoot into the sun The best sunset colours usually appear around the direction of the setting sun. Here it meant turning away from the sea towards the land, but if you can get an angle with the sun setting over the sea, even better. Often the best sunsets occur after a storm or a rainy day, as the clouds will be lower and heavier. 2 At the beach A wide flat beach is ideal for this, especially if there are pools and puddles of water to reflect the sunset sky. Look for a beach with an expanse of sand, like our shot here at Dymchurch, Kent. Time your visit so that the tide is out, as this way you’ll achieve pristine sand and puddles for reflections. 3 Get low with a tripod…

A setting or rising sun gives us the opportunity to shoot for a sunstar. Use a narrow aperture, like f/16. You can sometimes create sunstars with wider apertures depending on the lens, but, in general, the narrower the aperture the stronger the star shape. That shape tells you something about the lens too. If its a six-bladed aperture, you’ll see six spikes on the sunstar. If the lens has an odd number of blades you’ll see double the number of spikes, so a nine-bladed aperture will result in a star with 18 spikes. Typically you’ll want to position the sun against a dark object like the edge of a person. A partially-obscured sun tends to work better as it makes for a smaller point of bright light. The dark shape…

■ Lens aperture values follow a fixed sequence of values from f/16 to f/11 to f/8 and so on. Your Nikon DSLR or mirrorless can also set intermediate values, which we have shown above in smaller text between the main ones. ■ Professional-quality lenses usually offer wider maximum apertures than cheaper ‘consumer’ lenses – even lenses that have the same focal length. ■ Professional zooms usually have constant maximum apertures through the zoom range. ■ Cheaper ‘consumer’ zoom lenses will usually have a lower maximum aperture at full zoom than at their shortest length.…

Q I’m going to the Atacama Desert and want a faster, more compact wide-angle lens than my Z 14-30mm f/4 for shooting the night sky. What would you suggest? Bruno Wägli A I have the Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S myself and think it’s a phenomenal lens – with fabulous image quality and all-round performance, and it’s refreshingly compact for a full-frame wide-angle zoom. However, its f/4 aperture is a bit ‘slow’ for astrophotography. I actually wanted something a bit different that would be suitable for shooting the night sky, as well as giving an alternative creative effect in other scenarios. A while ago, I reviewed the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.8 fisheye lens in Z-mount, and liked it so much I ended up buying one. It’s amazingly sharp for a fisheye…

When we reviewed the Nikon Z f, we called it ‘Nikon’s best-looking camera since 1982!’ And now, together with Nikon UK, we’re giving you the chance to win this full-frame retro-style Z camera. It’s an incredible prize that’s worth a whopping £2299/$1999. Enter any of the 12 rounds of NPOTY 2024 to be in with a chance of taking Nikon’s nostalgia-infused Z camera home – and of being crowned N-Photo’s Photographer of the Year 2024. A blast from the… future? The Z f is far from retro under the hood. It’s built around a 24.5Mp full-frame CMOS sensor and inherits some of the latest advancements from the Nikon Z 8 and Z 9. It’s powered by the latest EXPEED 7 processor, has a native ISO range of 100-64,000, and uses…

£879/$719 www.astrhori.cn Although niche and rather oddball, the AstrHori 18mm f/8 2x Periscope Probe Macro isn’t a new concept. It’s essentially a newer version of the company’s full-frame compatible 28mm f/13 2X Probe Macro lens, but designed for crop-sensor Z-series Nikon cameras. As such, it has an ‘effective’ 27mm focal length and gives virtually the same field of view as using the preceding 28mm lens on a full-frame camera. The AstrHori 28mm itself wasn’t a whole new thing. It looked a very close copy of the Venus Optics Laowa 24mm f/14 Probe, which was also designed for full-frame cameras. However, both of the AstrHori 18mm and 28mm lenses only cost about half the price of the Laowa 24mm optic. Key features If you’re into shooting bugs, you’ll know they can…

£269/$277 Feel the need for speed? A key Feature of this lens is its relatively fast f/1.7 aperture. Shoot with the Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR zoom at the equivalent 24mm focal length and the widest available aperture is f/4.2. That’s just over 2.5 f/stops slower. Add in the crop factor of DX format cameras and you get an ‘effective’ focal length of 36mm, equating to moderately wide but very natural viewing perspective. As well as enabling fast shutter speeds under low lighting conditions, the wide aperture delivers a tight depth of field for close-up photography. Speaking of which, the minimum focus distance is very short at just 18cm, with a maximum magnification ratio of 0.19x, which is very similar to the other Nikon lenses on test. The optical…

Our lab test results for distortion don’t tell the whole story. As with other manufacturers, Nikon has been designing some of its more compact lenses for mirrorless Z-system cameras with downsizing in mind. The Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 and Z 28mm f/2.8 on test are a case in point. As such, some lenses rely heavily on automatic in-camera correction for distortion, which can’t be disabled in the menu system. The same correction is also tagged in Raw files, so it’s automatically applied when processing images. For most lenses in the group, distortion results are shown with no correction applied.…

£383/$459 When limited to the fixed focal length of a prime lens for everyday shooting, many photographers opt for a 35mm focal length (in full-frame terms), as it gives a moderately wide but very natural viewing perspective. Others prefer to see the ‘bigger picture’ with a more expansive field of view. That’s certainly delivered by this Viltrox 13mm lens for Z DX format cameras, giving approximately a 20mm focal length in full-frame terms. Naturally, combining a significantly wider viewing angle with the same f/1.4 aperture necessitates a larger and heavier build, but the 13mm lens is still fairly compact at 74x90mm and 455g. It features a plated brass mounting plate, metal barrel and hood, as well as a USB-C socket for applying firmware updates. This time weather-seals are also added.…

Unlike with distortion, automatic in-camera correction is applied for colour fringing in Z-system and recent Nikon DSLRs with no option of switching it off. Even so, our lab test results are based on processing image data without any correction, revealing the true extent of colour fringing. It’s absolutely minimal in most cases but can be slightly noticeable with some of the lenses, either at wider or narrower aperture settings. When uncorrected, it typically displays as coloured fringes around high-contrast transitions, like dark tree branches against a bright sky.…

The Lake District regularly tops the polls as Britain’s favourite national park, and capturing its stunning natural beauty is on every landscape photographer’s bucket list. Pro photographer Edyta Rice is lucky enough to call it home, and in this issue’s lead feature she shares her top tips for getting your best-ever images of the Cumbrian countryside. The weather can be wild in the mountains, mind, so our apprentice opts for the comfort of an indoor portrait shoot with a difference: it’s in a rain studio. But at least the rain is warm… In our Gear section, we put eight wide-angle primes that are ideal for street and walkabout photography through their paces. We also check out a macro lens for DX-sensor Nikons that not only renders everything twice as large…

AN EVEN SPREAD Halo says… Use Adobe Photoshop’s Patch or Clone Stamp tool to fill in dry areas of the image with water droplets to keep the rain looking more full and even. Only work on small areas at a time. This will minimize the chance of the rain looking too repetitive and fake, because real rainfall is very random. SELECTIVE EDITS Halo says… I used a layer mask to selectively enhance details on the backlit subject without blowing out the backlight behind. I brightened the midtones of a duplicate layer using Curves, added a layer mask, inverted it (Cmd/Ctrl+I) and then painted the layer back in, using a soft white brush. MAP IT OUT Halo says… I like to add in painterly tones by duplicating the layer and adding…

Take a second camera body for back-up and convenience – dedicating one for wide-angle lenses, the other for telephotos Venturing into uncharted territories in the Lake District demands a balance of knowledge and courage. If your intention is to photograph such landscapes, thorough preparation is crucial. Having a car is essential, as relying on local public transport proves challenging at best, and seldom aligns with the optimal arrival times for capturing the best lighting conditions. Scouting and planning your expedition To start, consider whether you’re comfortable navigating alone or if a knowledgable guide is necessary. If driving independently, ensure your vehicle is reliable. While in the area, engage with locals for valuable insights – they can often offer indispensable tips. For extended hikes, carry ample food and water, accounting for…

Creating beautiful landscapes sometimes involves pushing the established norms and prevailing trends, even if it means defying conventional rules. Two distinctive techniques that can inspire creativity and yield original results are high-key and low-key photography. Both techniques are known to complement challenging weather conditions, offering the chance to experiment. Overexpose for high-key images When overcast conditions prevail with flat, grey light, uninspiring skies, snowy landscapes or foggy scenes, high-key photography can be a compelling choice. This style uses exceptionally bright lighting to diminish or entirely blow out dark shadows in the image, resulting in a positive and calming aesthetic. When shooting high key, camera settings should be configured to intentionally overexpose the scene. Post-processing of high-key images can involve converting them to black and white initially to assess their potential.…

It’s easy to shy away from portrait photography. On the surface, it doesn’t seem very accessible: you need a willing model, super-fast lenses and all manner of lighting equipment, right? But portrait photography might be more accessible than you think. Sure, you can’t get around sourcing a model, but you’d be surprised how family and friends are happy to sit in return for some photos. And failing that, there are plenty of portrait groups out there that share the price of hiring a professional model or two. While I’m sure we’d all love the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S, you can pick up some really affordable f/1.8 primes, such as the superb Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 Z, that will stand you in good stead. And as dynamic range and image quality…

If you’ve been paying attention to photography news outlets, you cannot have failed to notice the furore over AI-image generation. Generators such as Stable Diffusion, Dall-E and Midjourney make it possible to create artwork from nothing more than a sentence. This has caused excitement and apprehension among photographers, and the way these tools gather and reassemble the substance of existing photographs raises genuine concerns about intellectual property. Whether you see AI as ground-breaking technology or a threat to traditional creatives, there’s no denying that we’re entering a new era of image-making. Users looking to experiment with text-to-image generation will find an intriguing tool within Photoshop’s Beta software (at the time of writing). The Backdrop Creator Neural filter lets you create a whole new backdrop from just a few words. Of…

1 Look for clouds A bit of cloud cover is usually best, as if the sky is too clear then the sunset can look dull. Scattered high clouds are ideal. If they’re too low, they’ll block the sun at the critical moment as it dips towards the horizon. There are lots of sunset apps to help you predict when a good one will appear. 2 Underexpose the subject Underexpose the subjects so they come out dark and you get a bold, vibrant sky. A sunset can look better than it does to the naked eye when underexposed, so take test shots and keep things dark. Use the histogram to ensure that the highlights aren’t clipped. 3 Shoot lots of poses We shot a set of photos here while the kids ran, jumped…

Such is the attraction of Iceland as a destination, that you could be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t any professional landscape photographer worth their neutral density filters who hasn’t lugged a tripod and ball head to its seismic shores. Yet, until a year ago, Northern Ireland’s John Miskelly had been deliberately avoiding making the flight to Reykjavík. “I had always avoided Iceland because I thought it had been shot to death,” he says. However, recent volcanic eruptions and the chance to use a drone for aerial views of the landscape enticed his change of sentiment. “I went for an 11-day trip and rented a Jeep with a roof tent and stopped at the campsites scattered around the country,” he enthuses. “The drone gave me the opportunity to do a…

1 The focal length always comes first, so we can see this lens has a focal range of 18-55mm. 2 The maximum aperture setting of the lens is next – here it’s f/3.5-5.6. 3 This information tells us the maximum aperture changes from f/3.5 at a focal length of 18mm to f/5.6 at a focal length of 55mm. The lens is a variable aperture zoom. 1 This lens has a focal range of 24-120mm. 2 The maximum aperture is just one number – f/4. This tells us that it’s a ‘constant aperture’ zoom – the maximum aperture is f/4 throughout the zoom range.…

Q I want a greater zoom range than my AF-S 18-55mm. Can you recommend a good but very low-budget option? Liz Miller A Matthew recommends… Nikon launched the AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR in 2008. It’s since been discontinued but remains a bargain secondhand buy. Even better the more powerful 18-140mm. Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR THERE ARE SOME SERIOUS SECONDHAND BARGAINS TO BE HAD FOR THIS POWERFUL ZOOM LENS THAT HANDLES MOST SCENARIOS RELEASED: 2013 PRICE NEW: £599/$497 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £125/$200 ‘Good’ £100/$170 Sold separately and as a kit lens option for various DX format Nikon DSLRs since 2013, this Nikon zoom has a lot going for it. The zoom range is much more generous than in the 18-55mm kit lens, equating to 27-210mm in full-frame…

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…

From £35.99/$49.95 www.wacom.com Graphics tablets can be a welcome alternative to hunching over a trackpad and can even enhance your workflow, when using brushes for tasks such as dodging and burning. Some boast thousands of pressure levels, shortcut buttons and premium styluses, but the One by Wacom offers a no-frills approach that’s ideal if you want a portable tablet at an affordable price tag. Mightier than the mouse We reviewed the small variant, but if you want more real estate you can pick up a medium variant. The tablet comes with a stylus, microUSB-to-USB-A cable, a trio of replacement nibs and a nib-removal tool. No drivers or installation wizards are required for compatible Chromebooks, but a quick-start guide provides a link to set up instructions where you can find Windows…

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. These include DSLRs like the D850 and D7500, and mirrorless cameras like the Z 7II and 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 charts and processing the results with…

£529/$497 Walkabout lenses don’t get any smaller or lighter than this. The most compact and lightweight lens in Nikon’s Z-mount line-up to date, the Z 26mm f/2.8 measures just 24mm in length and tips the scales at a featherweight 125g. Even so, it gives a generously wide 79-degree viewing angle on FX cameras, as well as a very natural 39mm ‘effective’ focal length on DX format bodies. Ultimately, it’s a strong contender for candid street photography as well as for travelling light. Despite only having eight optical elements in total, three of them are aspherical, which helps to reduce size and weight while minimizing unwanted aberrations. Further downsizing is thanks to the lens being supplied with a slip-on front cap rather than Nikon’s usual chunkier type that clips into the…

£649/$699 Voigtländer started making lenses all the way back in 1840, so the D23mm f/1.2 Nokton very much looks the part. With an ‘effective’ 35mm focal length on Z DX cameras at which it’s aimed, it’s ideal for street photographers who pride themselves on reacting to unfolding events. The convention is to focus manually in advance and, indeed, this is the only manual-focus lens in the test group. Zone focusing is often the preferred method in street photography, so you can set the near and far limits of sharpness, catering to the depth of field delivered by various apertures. The Voigtländer obliges with focus distance scales in both feet and metres, and colour-coded depth of field markers for apertures of f/4, f/8, f/11 and f/16, being adjusted via the built-in…

Nestled amidst rolling hills and mirror-like lakes, the Cumbrian landscape stands as a captivating muse for photographers seeking to capture the soul-stirring essence of its beauty. In the pursuit of trying to encapsulate its awe-inspiring scenery, many photographers often embark on a challenging journey, seeking to freeze fleeting moments and evoke profound emotions. However, not every endeavour ends up in success. Some photographers may struggle with conveying the evocative essence, others with composition, and a few may fall short in the face of technical limitations. In these instances, the path to capturing the elusive beauty of Cumbrian landscapes becomes a humbling exploration, reminding photographers that every frame is a lesson, and not every attempt results in the envisioned masterpiece. In this journey through the lens, I delve into the enchanting landscapes…

I want to highlight key factors that play a pivotal role in my personal approach to Cumbrian landscapes Capturing the essence of a season in the Lake District involves exploring the transformations in the landscape that occur during specific times of the year. This requires an understanding of the season’s unique characteristics, encompassing its weather, light, colour and demands on your camera skills. The approach to seasonal landscapes is a two-fold process, requiring both keen observation to appreciate what makes each season special and the knowledge of how to effectively document it with your camera. Changing seasons and different challenges Landscape photographers often engage in varied discussions about weather, and I firmly believe there’s no such thing as inherently good or bad weather. Each set of seasonal conditions presents distinct…

This portrait was taken in Braunston where I met Nick who works and lives on an old narrowboat. My image shows him in the small boatman’s cabin, which he calls home. When photographing a documentary-style portrait, it’s essential that you capture the subject’s character and frame their surroundings to build a strong narrative. 1 Build a rapport Absorb yourself in your chosen environment. I spent time chatting to all the different characters who live along the canal. Living on a boat myself meant I was able to quickly establish a rapport. It’s essential that you choose a topic that interests you both, so you can build genuine relationships. 2 Put them at ease You may need to make a few visits to really build a relationship with your chosen subject. I spent…

As any photographer worth their salty tripod legs knows, sunrise and sunset is a good time to head out to the beach with the camera. When the sun goes low and reflections tint the water, we can be treated to one of the most gorgeous sights of the great outdoors. But the best sunset photos capture more than just bold clouds and vibrant colours. What we need is a subject to frame against the sky. Because of the stark contrast between the sky and foreground, it’s often impossible to record detail in both. Instead, we have the opportunity to capture bold silhouettes. You can have all kinds of fun crafting playful silhouetted portraits. In this project, we’ll show you how to shoot for a striking stitch. This involves capturing our…

1 Boost the colours Highlight the set of images in Adobe Bridge, right-click and ‘Open in Camera Raw’. Use the tonal sliders to fine-tune brightness, contrast and colours to one image, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+A to select the rest, right-click and sync your edits. Hit OK, then go to Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. 2 Align and mask In the Layers panel, hold shift and click the bottom layer to highlight them all. Go to Edit > Auto-Align Layers, set Auto and hit OK. This corrects any slight misalignment. Next, hold Alt and click the eye icon on the bottom layer to hide all the others. Reveal the layer above, then Alt-click the Mask icon to add a full mask to it. 3 Combine your shots Grab the Brush tool…

The aperture setting of the lens controls the amount of light that passes through, so you can use this setting as part of your exposure adjustments. In dim light you can use a wider lens aperture so that more of the light gets through to reach the sensor, and in bright light you can use a smaller lens aperture to reduce the intensity. There are other exposure adjustments too, of course, including the shutter speed (or exposure time) and ISO (or sensitivity setting of the sensor). In practice, you adjust all three – aperture, shutter speed and ISO – according to the conditions and the type of subject you’re shooting. However, if the lens lets through more light, you can use a faster shutter speed, which means you can freeze…

PORTRAITS ■ A wide maximum aperture will let you shoot indoor portraits with out-of-focus backgrounds. It will also let you use faster shutter speeds in dim light. With a kit lens at full zoom you might get a speed of 1/8 sec, for example, but with an f/1.4 lens you could shoot at 1/125 sec in the same lighting conditions. SPORT ■ For sporting events such as football you need to be able to shoot at 1/500 sec or faster to freeze the action and stop the players turning into a blur. Nikon’s 70-300mm consumer lens has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 at full zoom, but the 300mm f/2.8 pro lens offers speeds three stops faster. NIGHT ■ The light levels at night are very low and it’s not always…

Everybody uses a zoom lens for general shooting nowadays, right? Actually, no. A ‘fast’ standard zoom tends to be big and clunky, so many discerning photographers go for prime time instead. Indeed, N-Photo’s in-house pro photographers based in our studio are usually spotted out and about with a moderately wide-angle prime lens as their tool of choice. So what are the plus points? First up, if you want to freeze movement under dull lighting conditions, relatively fast prime lenses enable fast shutter speeds without the need to bump up your camera’s ISO setting, which degrades image quality. Next up, you can get a tight depth of field when you want it, for isolating the main subject in a scene against a blurred background. And yes, size matters. If you’re on…

£269/$325 Viltrox burst onto the Z DX format scene with a trio of 23mm, 33mm and 56mm lenses. All three are virtually the same size and weight, have the same 52mm filter attachment thread and, more crucially, the same fast f/1.4 aperture rating. They all feature a physical aperture control ring, which has a calibrated scale in one-third f/stops but a de-clicked design, more ideal for shooting video. Naturally, there’s an A (Auto) position at one end of the travel for setting camera-based aperture control. Build quality and handling are exemplary, especially for a lens with such a budget-friendly price tag. The barrel, mounting plate and even the petal shaped hood are all made from metal rather than plastic, the front element has a moisture/grease-resistant fluorine coating and there’s even…

£459/$449 This is one of three Sigma lenses to be adapted for Z DX mount mirrorless cameras, the other two being 30mm and 56mm lenses. They give popular ‘effective’ focal lengths of approximately 24mm, 45mm and 85mm respectively, all with the same fast f/1.4 aperture rating. From Sigma’s ‘Contemporary’ line-up, they’re designed to have a modern look and feel, while aiming to combine good performance with a compact, lightweight construction. As it turns out, the Sigma 16mm is almost identical in size to the Viltrox 13mm lens on test, and a little lighter at 415g compared with 455g. The Sigma has a mostly TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) plastic build rather than being all-metal, but has a plated brass mounting plate. The lens feels solid and handling is straightforward but refined.…

£899/$847 The most expensive lens in the group, this one has a relatively modest f/1.8 aperture rating, shared by various other S-line primes in Nikon’s Z-mount line-up. However, it’s much more high-tech than Nikon’s older F-mount 35mm lens, also featured along the bottom of these pages, taking the count of aspherical elements from one to three and doubling up on ED elements, aiming for maximum clarity and colour fidelity. It also features a combination of both Super Integrated Coating and Nano Crystal Coat, for minimizing ghosting and flare. The stepping motor-based autofocus system is typically fast and virtually silent, while enabling very smooth and accurate manual focusing via its electronically coupled control ring. As usual with Z-mount lenses, when you’re autofocus mode you can customize the function of the control…

Let’s set up camp in full-frame territory to start with. Of the three Z FX lenses on test, the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S easily wins out for build quality, image quality and all-round performance. We’d expect nothing less, as it’s the only S-line lens in the group. Even so, the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE is very capable and super-stylish, whereas the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 ‘pancake’ lens might look like a novelty item but punches well above its diminutive size and weight. Naturally, you can use Z FX format lenses on Z DX bodies with no restriction, whereas you can also fit Z DX lenses to full-frame cameras and shoot in DX crop mode. For performance, handling, build quality and image quality, our top two DX picks are…

DX DSLRS NIKON D7500 THE D7500 SHOEHORNS the best bits from the now-discontinued pro-grade D500 into a smaller, more affordable body. The control layout makes everything easy to get at, and there’s a top-plate info LCD, 51-point autofocus system, fast 1/8000 sec shutter speed and 8fps continuous drive rate. Video resolution stretches to 4K. TESTED IN ISSUE 155 • £1099/$897 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 TAKES the D750’s winning design and handling cues, but adds on-sensor phase-detection autofocus and EXPEED 6 processing, inherited directly from the Z 6. The result is a capable and natural-feeling DSLR…