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

Circle of Light ANDREAS ETTL A vivid aurora over Skagsanden beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway. The mountain in the background is Hustinden, which the aurora appears to encircle. Pictures of this amazing phenomenon are so enchanting. The icy temperature of the landscape is almost palpable, with the snow-capped mountain framed by the cold emerald hues. Camera: Nikon Z 7 Lens: 15mm f/2.8 Exposure: 8 secs, f/2.8, ISO1000 Full Moon MIGUEL CLARO A photograph of the last full moon of 2022 immersed in clouds. The colourful ring surrounding the Moon is a lunar corona, which occurs when moonlight is diffracted though water droplets in the Earth’s atmosphere. Mars can just be seen to the right of the moon, appearing as a small orange dot. Camera: Nikon D810A Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/100…

1 THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT Athletics events can position photographers a huge distance away from the action, while boxing photographers are found ringside, poking their camera right underneath the ropes. You could shoot the vast majority of sports with a 24-70mm, 70-200mm and 100-400mm. But what almost all sports photographers benefit from are fast lenses. A wide maximum aperture allows more light into the camera, making it possible to shoot at higher shutter speeds with lower ISOs. Wide apertures also provide shallower depths of field, helpful when framing athletes in front of busy backgrounds such as crowds. Fast-focusing lenses are a boon, too. If you own a Z-series Nikon, for example, native Z-mount lenses should provide snappier AF than their F-mount counterparts. 2 GET A SPORTY BOD DX (APS-C)…

13 STAY ACTIVE Dead space refers to areas of an image that don’t affect the subject, nor add anything to the composition. Active space, on the other, hand affects the viewer’s perception of the subject and aids the composition. For example, if you have a side-on image of a sprinter, running from left to right, framing them on the left-hand side of the frame would leave a larger portion of space in front of their direction of travel. This is active space, because it provides context. It’s where the sprinter is headed. Place them on the right-hand side and the image would feel restrictive, creating unwanted tension. The viewer can’t see where the subject is headed and the blank area of track behind is irrelevant. There are times when this rule…

Camera: Nikon D780 Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8 Exposure: 1/20 sec, f/8, ISO800 There’s nothing better than exploring a new destination on a city break away; famous landmarks, otherworldly old streets, striking examples of modern architecture and culture – whatever your chosen location, it’s likely a paradise for photography. But amongst all the hustle and hubbub it can seem challenging to produce creative and considered travel images that stand out from the crowd, rather than the same tired old tourist snaps. Thankfully there are some very simple steps that you can take to dramatically improve your chances at photos that will have friends and family booking the next flight out or hopping into cars for that road trip they now suddenly always wanted to do. Here are five steps for achieving success…

Layers are one of the most powerful features in Affinity Photo, yet for many they can be rather a tricky feature to master. In this project we’ll explore a host of essential layer skills, from compositing to tonal adjustments, masking, retouching and more. We’ve crafted a simple composite image here, replacing the rather dull sky in the original image of Lindisfarne with a more dramatic sky from another shot – several years ago the winning entry of the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition was later disqualified for similar sky editing of the famous Northumberland landmark. Like stacked pieces of clear acetate, layers allow you to build up an image from several different elements. These could be pixel elements – like the separate sky and land blended here – but…

This summer might just be the greatest season of sport that we will ever witness. That’s the view of Laurence Griffiths, the Director of Sports Photography at Getty Images. We’re speaking the day before the FA Cup Final and a week before the Champion’s League Final, both of which were played at Wembley. They are two of football’s biggest annual fixtures, and yet Laurence seems perfectly calm and relaxed about it all, as if he’s looking forward to stretching out on the sofa to watch the games on telly at home. But don’t be fooled. This is the man who’s been here plenty of times; the planning and preparation is completed, cameras ready and primed all over the stadium, waiting for kick-off. This is merely the start. “We’re just entering…

While its garden is well-trodden, Prospect Cottage’s interiors remained largely private after Derek Jarman died in 1994. The photographs and essays in my book Prospect Cottage explain my experience of being inside Prospect, revealing the care given to it by Derek’s companion Keith Collins across 24 years following Derek’s death, before Keith too sadly passed away. In 2018, Keith became unwell with a previously undiagnosed brain tumour. Friends and neighbours became very concerned for him and for what his illness might mean for Prospect, which he had so dutifully tended to. During this uncertainty, I was asked to photograph the cottage, to record how it was in that moment. The photos were taken between 2018 and 2022. I originally planned to photograph inside the cottage only, with glimpses of the…

When faced with high-contrast lighting scenarios, you can end up with shadow detail being plunged into darkness. This occurs when the camera’s metering mode prioritizes the exposure to capture detail in the brighter parts of the scene. You could manually adjust the shutter and aperture to expose for the shadows, but this will result in blown highlights. In some situations, such as landscape photography, you can use a graduated neutral density filter to reduce the intensity of the light hitting the sensor near the top of the frame. This will help you to expose the landscape’s darker areas and the sky’s brighter highlights in a balanced way. But not everyone has a set of ND grads, and even if you do, not every scene is blessed with a straight enough…

If you’re into sports or wildlife photography, chances are you’ve owned (or still own) a Nikon D500. This rock-solid little camera was launched during the DSLR’s twilight years, making it one of the most advanced F-mount Nikons in existence and hands-down the most powerful DX-format DSLR ever released. In many aspects, it holds up against the current crop of DX-format Z-series cameras and, in some areas, betters them. Don’t be fooled by the APS-C sensor, the D500 is a pro-quality device, deserving of its DX-flagship moniker. It was launched alongside the mighty D5 back in January of 2016. This was by no means a coincidence, because it inherited some serious tech from Nikon’s range-topping flagship. Both cameras debuted the EXPEED 5 image processor and the same 153-point AF system. Add…

1. 120 million Nikkor lenses! Nikon hits major milestone Nikon has reached a major milestone, having produced a total of 120 million Nikkor lenses as of April 2024. That’s 55 million up from 2011, as the company almost doubled its lens production over the past 13 years. Last year saw the company celebrate the 90th anniversary of its first Nikkor release, the Aero-Nikkor lens for aerial photography. https://bit.ly/3Kmtjti 2. Nikon continues its winning streak Nikon picked up most gongs at the 2024 Camera Grand Prix Awards. The Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena won lens of the year, as well as the reader-voted choice of lens of the year. The Editor’s Award and Technology Prize was also won by Nikon with the Z 8 Auto Capture function. The Nikon Z 8…

The summer of sport is upon us! The Euro football championships will be nearing the quarter-finals by the time this issue is in print, the Olympics are just around the corner, the cricket T20 World Cup winners will have just been crowned, and rugby fans have the Autumn Internationals to look forward to – not to mention the various annual tennis, motorsports and cycling competitions. So in this issue’s lead feature N-Photo’s Mike Harris shares his top tips for capturing the action, no matter what discipline – or level – of sport you follow. Our apprentice learns to shoot the split-second action of a different kind, with fishing ospreys on the wing as they dive for their dinner, under the advisement of wildlife pro Gary Jones. We’ve been waiting for…

Never miss an issue! Delivered direct to your door and device NEW! Digital access to every single issue with a print subscription** SAVE 50%* on asix-month subscription “N-Photo is the only magazine for Nikon enthusiasts by Nikon enthusiasts!Adam Waring Editor Reasons to subscribe • Save50%* off the cover price Half-price subscription compared with the newsstand price• 100% Nikon – 100% relevantAll our tutorials and features are Nikonfocused and we only cover Nikon-fit kit• Learn from top Nikon photographers Top-name pros write our features and columns, and appear in our interviews• Expert tutorials and free videos View our accompanying video tutorials on your computer, tablet or smartphone• Digital edition access Complimentary access to the current edition – and every single N-Photo back issue all the way back to number one – for…

“Team sports, such as football and rugby, will challenge even the most advanced AF systems 5 FOCUS ON THE ACTION AF-C is essential when shooting moving subjects. DSLR users will likely spend most of their time using single-point and dynamic-area AF, but high-end Z-series users may wish to make use of subject-detection modes. Do note that the Z 8, Z 9 and Z f’s AF will exceed that of older Z cameras. Team sports, such as football and rugby, will challenge even the most advanced AF systems, due to erratic movements and busy scenes. You may find that single-point AF and dynamic-area AF works best, regardless of your camera. If you’re using a moveable focus point, try keeping it in the centre of the frame during busy moments. Not only is…

A bustling metropolis, such as London, provides a fascinating contrast of old and new, with modern glass-and-steel structures butting up against historic buildings. A case in point is the Millennium Bridge, which opened in 2000, crossing the Thames directly opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, completed in 1710, and providing a wonderful juxtaposition that’s begging to be captured by the photographer. However, cities are also full of people, traffic, building work and other unsightly distractions that could spoil your shot. But employing the use of an ND (neutral density) filter can help blur moving elements, turning a choppy river into a smooth surface and making moving boats magically disappear, as in this shot. Or you can use them artistically to blur passers-by into ghostly shapes, to further emphasize the feel of a…

If you’re wondering whether artificial intelligence will lead to the death of photography, here’s a good news story – AI is amazing at fixing those frustrating noisy photographs. We tested Adobe’s AI-powered Denoise function on several noisy, high-ISO images. This bird picture is a proper test of the tool – a heavily cropped, underexposed image shot in a dark forest at ISO25,600 on a Nikon D850. The Denoise tool worked wonders on this as well as other grainy photographs, producing better results than with older manual noise tools. The tool is particularly effective at preventing colours from bleeding into one another. In our photo, the original individual colours were barely perceptible but the tool pulled out the blues and reds in the subdued subject to an astonishing degree that brings…

Q I’ve traded in my D750 for a Z 6II. The ‘hybrid’ autofocus system seems much more accurate and consistent. What’s the difference in how it works? Simon Halfpenny A When you’re shooting in regular viewfinder mode with a DSLRs, autofocus is based on phasedetection points (51 of them for the D750) in a module that’s separate to the image sensor. Switch to Live View, and slower contrast-detection autofocus is handled on the image sensor itself. With a Z-system mirrorless camera, there’s no independent autofocus module. So-called ‘hybrid’ autofocus is based on a number of phase-detection pixels spread across the image sensor, as well as contrast-detection. The phase-detection points enable fast autofocus performance and are spread across approximately 90 per cent of the image frame. There are 273 AF points…

WORTH £2299! 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,…

£2699/$2499 (body only) It’s been a long time coming and the rumour mill has been at fever pitch for a year or more, but Nikon has finally unveiled the latest in its Z 6 line of ‘enthusiast’ full-frame mirrorless cameras. With a lower 24.5Mp count than Nikon’s more upmarket (and expensive) pro models, which boast twice the resolution at 45.7Mp, it’s a little chunkier than its predecessors (the Z 6 and Z 6II shared near-identical dimensions), but a fair bit smaller than the bigger-bodied Z 8. At a glance it looks very much in keeping with its forebears, with a near-identical control layout. There’s a new button to illuminate the top-plate LCD (which is a little bigger than in previous models), the Playback and Release Mode buttons have swapped places,…

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 for shooting stills in viewfinder mode, coupled with the same kind of performance as a mirrorless camera in live view. TESTED IN ISSUE 155 • £1999/$1997 NIKON D850 THE D850 GOES extra-large in megapixel count with a 45.7Mp image sensor. Further attractions include a high-spec 153-point autofocus system and fairly recent EXPEED 5 processor. For live view and video capture, however, the contrast-detection autofocus system is massively inferior to that of Nikon’s mirrorless cameras and the D780. TESTED IN ISSUE 155 • £2299/$2497 NIKON D6 THE D6 HAS the best autofocus module of any…

Breeding ospreys are now found in England, Scotland and Wales, but once upon a time the birds were locally extinct in all three regions. Thankfully, they returned to Scotland of their own accord in 1954 and in 1996 were reintroduced into England, and subsequently spread into Wales. Rutland Water is the epicentre of the reintroduction project and a stone’s throw from Horn Mill Trout Farm, with its endless supply of osprey food. Once the migratory birds realized an all-you-can-eat buffet existed right on their doorstep, they began raiding the ponds during periods of food scarcity. The site was bought by current owners, River Gwash Trout Farm Ltd, at the turn of the millennium. But with up to 1000 fish pillaged from the ponds every year, something had to give. Rather than net…

Back on 25 May 1965: WBC Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali beats his chest as he stands over a KO’d Sonny Liston during a controversial rematch. 22 June 1986: Argentine forward Diego Maradona leaps above England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and uses ‘the hand of God’ to tap the ball into the net, helping to secure a 2-1 quarter final World Cup victory. 16 August 2008: Usain Bolt forever changes the world of sprinting by celebrating prematurely and still smashing the 100m world record to claim his first Olympic gold in Beijing. These are three of the most famous sporting moments, and they all have one thing in common. Photographers were ringside, pitchside and trackside to immortalize the athletes in sporting history. As you read this, a whole host of major international sporting…

“The bread-and-butter shot type, when photographing sports, is freezing the action 9 FREEZE THE ACTION The bread-and-butter shot type, when photographing sports, is freezing the action. And while the shutter speed you use will depend on the speed of your subject and the length of your lens, you’re typically looking at something within the region of 1/1000 sec to freeze a running footballer or dribbling basketball player. The tricky part is battling the available light. A lunchtime football match on a bright day shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge, but a mid-afternoon match in winter will be shot under floodlit conditions, and indoor sports such as basketball and ice hockey will pose equally challenging lighting. Always shoot wide open to allow as much light into your camera as possible and…

Given that no one in the United Kingdom lives more than around 80 miles from the sea (as the crow flies), it’s no wonder that many of us find ourselves drawn to the seaside during summer. But harsh light and very often no discernible subject can make beautiful beaches challenging scenes to shoot. 1 Trick of the light It can be tricky to shoot during summer with long days of very unflattering light, and painfully early sunrises and late sunsets. If rising early or staying out late isn’t an option, consider heading out on bright but overcast days to keep your highlights in check and shadows suitably soft. 2 Points of interest Compositions can be as simple or as complex as you like, but even for a simple photo I like to…

Until recently, Warhammer was something my little brother used to do when we were kids in the '80s. But my 11-year-old son has got into it and now the house is littered with paints, brushes and all manner of lovingly crafted figures. I wanted to get involved but the dice-throwing was beyond me, so I reached for my camera. These figures are painstakingly painted by hand, a process that often takes days or weeks. So to do them justice we need to take a similarly in-depth approach to our photography and that starts with the composition. This is where we can get creative, placing figures around the frame, experimenting with angles, using different levels to fill the upper parts of the scene, adding details like rocks or moss. Then there’s…

THE HIT LIST ▪ The White Balance setting in your Nikon’s Shooting menu or ‘i’ menu has a list of options, typically Auto, Natural Light Auto, Direct Sunlight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, Fluorescent and Flash, as well as options for Choose Color Temperature and Preset Manual. In the same lighting conditions, shifting from Direct Sunlight through Cloudy to Shade will make images look warmer. GO NATURAL ▪ The Direct Sunlight option here works well in bright sunshine. Above it is the Natural Light Auto setting. This can work under all sorts of natural daylight, in a range of 4500-8000K, for most weather conditions. It reproduces a colour balance that’s as close as possible to how the human eye perceives a scene. The viewfinders of mirrorless cameras give you a preview or…

1 TRY AN EV PRESET Open our start image and toggle open Exposure Compensation in the Basic Edit Palettes. Next, click on the dropdown icon. Here you can simulate the effect of opening or closing the lens aperture by up to a stop in eight plus or minus increments. Leave it on the +0 EV preset for the moment. 2 MAKE A MANUAL ADJUSTMENT Instead of using the limited collection of EV presets, you can make a unique user-defined exposure adjustment using the Exposure Compensation slider. This enables you to brighten or darken an image by up to five stops, or produce a more subtle exposure tweak that won’t overexpose correctly exposed highlights. 3 REGISTER THE ADJUSTMENT Click on the Exposure Compensation dropdown menu and pick Record Adjustments. Label your custom manual EV…

Q I’m looking for a retro super-telephoto zoom for my D300S. What’s a good secondhand buy? Janine Carmichael A Matthew recommends… You can grab yourself a slice of history with the ‘AF’ version of Nikon’s classic F-mount 80-400mm VR lens. Nikon ED AF VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D AUTOFOCUS IS PEDESTRIAN BUT IT PERFORMS WELL IN ALL-IMPORTANT IMAGE QUALITY STAKES RELEASED: 2000 PRICE NEW: £1180/$1680 SECONDHAND PRICE: ‘Excellent’ £419/$363 ‘Good’ £389/$329 Vibration Reduction has revolutionized handheld shooting and this lens kicked off the whole VR era as Nikon’s first optically stabilized lens. Although designed for 35mm film cameras, it’s compatible with all FX digital bodies, as well as up-market DX cameras like your classic D300S. However, as an AF rather than AF-S or AF-P lens, it has no internal autofocus motor and won’t…

Star Letter Firm believer I was wondering if N-Photo might consider publishing an update of the Z-series cameras, once a significant firmware update has taken place? I say this as I believe there has been a shift in Nikon’s approach to camera support. They now seem to be saying that all future cameras will receive regular firmware updates throughout their lifetime (four to five years). Updates have happened in the past but the recent ones are having a bigger impact on the cameras’ performance. As you will be aware, the recent updates for the Z 9 and Z 8 are particularly significant, with the Z 9 now on firmware V5 and Z 8 at V2. Maybe N-Photo could do a follow-up review, focusing on the new improvements, such as autofocus,…

£849/$999 www.tamron.eu The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD G2 is something of a modern classic, reinvented. The original G1 edition of the Tamron lens was excellent in every way, shoehorning a useful ‘standard’ zoom range and fast, constant f/2.8 aperture rating into a compact yet high-quality construction. Tamron never released the original lens for Z-mount, however, Nikon did strike a deal to produce the lens under licence, and its own Z 28-75mm f/2.8 is built largely with Tamron tech, so for practical purposes, can effectively be considered the ‘G1’ version. Naturally, both the Nikon and Tamron 28-75mm lenses lack the wider viewing angle of 24-70mm zooms, but they gain a few extra millimetres at the long end. Tamron’s ‘Generation 2’ lens adds new thrills and frills, making it even…

The Nikon Z 6III is finally here. And I don’t think it’s hyperbole to call it the most anticipated Nikon camera ever. Over the past couple of years, it feels like I’ve seen more Z 6III rumour posts than I have reruns of Only Fools and Horses. Nikon forums and threads have been brimming with lively (sometimes heated) debates as to what’s next for the Big N’s most popular Z-series camera. But when Nikon finally released the imaging world’s worst best-kept secret, one thing was made abundantly clear. For the longest time, we knew bugger all… He said, she said The Z 6III rumour mill has persisted ever since the release of the Z 6II, back at the tail end of 2020. And in that time, we’ve had all sorts…