Photography News Issue 24

News

Previews

Clubs Tests

Exhibitions

Techniques

Interviews

Competitions

Photography Produced by

Issue 24 17 Sept – 15 Oct

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Your FREE newspaper packed with the latest news, views and stories from the world of photography

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Look inside this cover wrap for the latest issue of Photography News

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News

Previews

Clubs Tests

Exhibitions

Techniques

Interviews

Competitions

Photography Produced by

Issue 24 21 Sept – 15 Oct

news

Your FREE newspaper packed with the latest news, views and stories from the world of photography

GET YOUR

FREE DIGITAL EDITION every month*

*at absolutephoto.com

Taking the wider view Turn to page 28 for perfect panoramas

WIN!

Flying high with Bird Photographer of Year

Test lens special

Samsung memory duo

Behind the scenes interview, page 22

Get the low-down on 9 new optics, page 36

Enter the competition on page 62

A classic upgrade Olympus enhances its affordable, award-winning OM-D E-M10 CSC, announcing its successor, the Mark II

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 is undeniably popular with its award-winning credentials and fair price point, so with the release of the Mark II, its successor has rather big boots to fill.

If you’ve got something that works, there’s no need to fix it and that philosophy carries with the Mark II. It takes forward its predecessor’s 16.1-megapixel sensor, Wi-Fi connectivity and tiltable, bright and contrasty touchscreen. The big improvement comes in the form of

5-axis image stabilisation – compared with the E-M10’s 3-axis system – as well as a viewfinder with quality that’s almost double that of the original’s.

Body only, it costs £549.99, add a 14-42mm pancake lens and it rises to £649.99. With the pancake lens and a 40-150mm, it’s retailing at £749.99 and with the 14150mm you’ll pay £799.99. olympus.co.uk

Fixed and fast Two new exciting SP lenses from Tamron, the fast, fixed focal SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD and the SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD Continue reading on page 5

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News

Fixed and fast

...Continued from cover

Tamron’s long established SP family of top class lenses has gained two additions

Designed for full-frame DSLRs and compatible with APS-C format models, the SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD has a ten-element, nine-group construction using two aspherical elements, one LD (Low Dispersion) and one XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) element. The SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD is a fixed focal standard lens with a ten-element, eight-group construction, using two aspherical elements and one LD element. The aspherical elements compensate for spherical and chromatic aberrations for uniformity throughout the frame, whilst the LD and XLD elements help to deliver crystal clear images without any residual colour fringing.

Both feature Tamron’s lens coatings to suppress ghosting and flare and each has high-speed AF with an Ultrasonic Silent Drive for quiet, quick shooting. A fluorine coating repels water and helps keep fingermarks at bay, whilst the moisture-resistant construction keeps your kit protected.

Both will be available as of October in Nikon and Canon mounts, with Sony mount release dates to follow. Guide price of each lens is £579.99. tamron.co.uk

TLE Expo 2015 The date for the very first TLE Expo is 27 September and it all happens in Andover, Hampshire. The day is jam-packed with all things photographic, from seminars with leading brands like PermaJet and Photoshop whizz Guy Gowan, through to a range of photo opportunities, including period sets with vintage cars, to practise your technique on. Steve Comber, one of the world’s top aerial photographers, will also be there giving a presentation on his experiences capturing everything from heritage aircraft to fast jets

Wide eyes The upgrade to Canon’s EF 35mm f/1.4L USM has arrived and with the users asking for more advanced optical technologies, that’s exactly what you’ll get with the EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM. It’s the first Canon lens to incorporate its Blue Spectrum Refractive (BR) optics. These work on a molecular level to reduce chromatic aberration. Also helping achieve top results is Subwavelength Structure Coating that improves contrast and minimises flare.

You’ve got a fast f/1.4, nine-blade aperture for total control over the depth-of-field as well as helping with shooting speedier subjects when working in lower light. Add to that an ultrasonic AF motor and weather sealing and you’ve got a fast worker that can autofocus near silently, in any weather. You’ll have to hold off until October to get your hands on this lens; expect to pay £1799.99. canon.co.uk

and iconic airplanes, and he’ll also be available for a Q&A session, so come armed with questions.

The usual line-up of photo-related firms will be showcasing their wares too, from Canon and Nikon to Hähnel and Cactus. Tickets are £25, but you’ll get a voucher to the same value on arrival to use against a purchase made on the day. You haven’t got much time so book your place right now. timelineevents.org

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News News in brief Print anywhere

The Wireless Print Server, the WPS-1 EU, from DNP Photo Imaging Europe creates a hotspot to get you printing instantly without the need for a router or a PC. If your DSLR has Wi-Fi connectivity, you can print straight away via the server. camranger.com Sell your pics

Get 8-9 October (10.30am-6pm) in your diaries ready for ShootLDN, a Hasselblad organised two-day event at the Old Truman Brewery in London, covering all things photo, from seminars on building your brand to lighting demos and live shoots. As well as photo legends such as landscaper Charlie Waite, dance shooter Nicola Selby and architectural photographer Sean Conboy, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to get up close with the latest kit, there’s even the chance to test out a Hasselblad on a fashion shoot.

Fancy seeing your image grace the front cover of a mag? Our sister title Photo Professional is giving you the chance to shoot issue 114’s front cover. Just try your hand at shooting the cover image at the event and our judges will invite a final two photographers to a special front cover shoot at a later date.

ShootLDN is free to attend. Just register online and come along. hasselblad.com © Nicola Selby

Always wanted to sell your photos but never been too sure of how to go about it?

The Freelance Photographer’s Market Handbook 2016 32nd Edition is just the ticket.

Coming out in November for £14.95, it’ll guide you through the whole selling process. thebfp.com

Shoot LDN Pimp your phone Don’t want to lug around your pricey DSLR wherever you go? The DxO One might just be the thing for you, if you have an Apple iPhone that is.

It’s a pro-quality camera featuring a one-inch sensor that plugs into your iPhone (5 and later) and delivers 20.2-megapixel images through a f/1.8 prime lens equivalent to 32mm in 35mm format. You can take manual control of focus, extend your exposure times up to 15 seconds and choose PASM mode, plus the ISO range extends to 51,200 (equivalent).

Before the year is out DxO is promising extra features, including highspeed Raw burst, a horizon level and an advanced viewfinder.

The DxO comes out in Europe this October and will sell for £449 and we’ll be testing it very soon. For a compact, lightweight alternative, though, initial results are very impressive. dxo.com

Publishing platform

Less than a year after the launch of calendar publishing platform Calvendo, the free-to-use service has now hit the 1000 registered user mark. Self-publishers get royalties on each calendar sold, with prints made upon orders being placed. calvendo.co.uk

A print above the rest Filling in all those customer feedback forms has paid off, as PermaJet has put your thoughts into practice to bring you refined Fibre Based papers, which use new multi-layer technology and coating processes.

Combine that with modern ink technology and you’ve got some pretty high Dmax ratings. Now, you can get these papers in ten-sheet boxes and the range comes in Gold Silk 315, Royal Gloss 310, Matt 285, Satin 310 and Distinction 320, with prices starting at £10.79. All come in sizes from A4 to A2 sheets and rolls.

We’re testing samples right now so expect a full review in the next issue of Photography News, out Monday 19 October. permajet.com

The full 360°

It doesn’t look like any of our normal camera kit or gear, but that’s probably because the Ricoh Theta S is something other than ordinary.

An upgrade to the original Theta series of spherical cameras, the S doesn’t disappoint in producing 360° scenes in 14-megapixel quality or in full HD, recording videos as long as 25 minutes. The improvements in quality are down to an enlarged image sensor and a new fast f/2 lens for even more detail. The Ricoh team has tinkered with the Wi-Fi connectivity on the new S model, the result of which means you can now get your images and footage transferred to your tablet or phone up to four times faster than with its predecessor. The internal storage has also been upped; now it can hold up to 8GB worth of data and you’ll get a clearer view of what’s going on with a new face-mounted LED mode indicator. The S is out as of October for £299.99. ricoh-imaging.co.uk

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News

Win a Bouncelite

Want to improve your flash photography?

We’ve got three superb modifier kits to win...

The Bouncelite is a clever flash modifier that fits over your accessory flashgun and improves the light in a huge number of ways. Incorporating both a large diffuser panel at the front and a bounce door on the top to spill the light or reflect it off a ceiling or wall, you can adapt the illumination to any subject and get everything from hard or soft looks whenever you want them.

Weighing only 250g it’s very portable, too, so it won’t slow you down on a day’s shooting, and, of course, it can be used to improve the light on or off the camera. See our full review on page 50 for more details or check out bouncelite.com for the full story.

So, if you’d like to be in with a chance of winning your own Bouncelite Venue kit, which includes the basic Bouncelite model, plus a range of colour filters that are inserted using the supplied filter cassette – a package worth a total of £119.99 – just answer the following question:

News in brief Editing in Windows 10

Keeping up with the latest operating systems, Cyberlink has now upgraded its PowerDVD and PowerDirector media playback and editing apps so they’re compatible with the new Windows 10. cyberlink.com G-Tech rethink

In line with customer demand, G-Technology has now launched a brand-new platform, the G-Technology Windows Format Wizard, which enables users to quickly reformat their drives for a PC in under two minutes. It’s also added a number of new drives to its series, including the G-DOCK ev Solo (£67) and the G-SPEED STUDIO XL with two ev Series Bay Adapters, with prices starting at £1867 for a 18TB version. g-technology.com

Q: Where is the Bouncelite’s bounce door?

A: On top B: On the side C: At the back To enter, head to our website at absolutephoto.com. The closing date is 30 November 2015 and winners will be chosen on 10 December. Entries are open to UK residents only and you’ll need to be 16 or over to take part.

Prizes will be shipped for arrival before Christmas. Entry is restricted to one per person. Full terms & conditions are on the website.

Good luck!

Lens bundle promo

Samsung ups its memory game High capacity, rugged USB memory available USB drives don’t exactly get the pulse racing, but Samsung’s new range of slim USB flash drives are pretty impressive.

The Bar type version is lightweight and designed specifically for use with PCs, coming in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities and offering read speeds of up to 130MB/s, which equates to downloading a 2.4GB full HD video in less than 20 seconds. The most compact USB in the range is the FIT. Designed for use with slim notebooks, it comes in 32GB and 64GB capacities and has a read speed of up to 130MB/s as well. For use with a smartphone or tablet, there’s the DUO. It comes in the same sizes and has the same read speed as the FIT. Each USB can survive up to 72 hours in seawater and in temperatures from -0°C to 60°C. samsung.com

Hasselblad shooters listen up. You can now get your hands on the H5D-50c (with or without Wi-Fi) with an HC f/2.8 80mm lens together for £16,295 (£16,995 with Wi-Fi). Or you can trade in your mediumformat camera for a discount of £1000 on any Hasselblad lens; trade in two and get a £2300 discount on any two Hasselblad lenses. The offer stands until 31 December. hasselblad.com

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News News in brief Smooth moves

Manfrotto’s new sliders give smooth and accurate movement thanks to their eight high precision steel ball bearings. The Slider system with 391RC2 head enables a pan and tilt motion as well, whilst the system with a 494RC2 is perfect for a fast setup with a quick release plate. manfrotto.co.uk

Express yourself Photographic printing at home is made even easier with Epson’s latest all-in-one printers Epson has laid down the gauntlet for all-in-one printers with its release of models in the Expression range. Joining the already popular line-up in the Expression Premium series are the XP-830, XP-635, XP‑630 and XP-530, which set out to produce everything from glossy photos to clear text documents. The next level quality of these latest Expression printers is thanks to a new four-colour dye and pigment ink set, making your colour prints even more vibrant and if you’re into black & white shots, the addition of a Photo Black ink cartridge makes blacks appear deeper and richer.

For the money-conscious, the Expression Home range, comprising the XP-435, XP-432, XP‑335, XP‑332 and XP-235, is designed to cost you less cash without compromising on quality.

Individual inks help keep the cost down, whilst a compact overall size means it can fit compactly into any space, home or office. A brand-new EcoTank range also helps you save pennies with every print. It boasts an ultralow cost per page and its refillable ink tank does away with the need for ink cartridges. epson.co.uk

Another way to edit Corel is challenging you to resist opening Photoshop for your picture editing, instead giving its latest X8 and X8 Ultimate versions of PaintShop Pro a go. Interested?

Corel is offering a free 30-day trial, giving you enough time to see if this subscription-free, affordable software is all its cracked up to be. All new tools make the latest PaintShop Pro versions intriguing, with the X8 now featuring Magic Move, a content-aware tool to replace backgrounds to remove people or moving objects amongst other features. The X8 Ultimate also enables quick conversion and editing of Raw files as well as a range of creative filters and presets. The X8 will set you back £59.99 whilst the Ultimate X8 version costs £64.99. paintshoppro.com

Leica-ed to thrill The Leica S (Typ 007) mediumformat camera is faster, more sensitive and comes with even more features than its predecessor.

A MAX CMOS sensor and Leica Maestro II Imagine processor work at speeds up to 3.5 framesper-second, delivering videos in Full HD or 4K and regardless of ISO levels, you’ll still be getting exceptional quality.

The autofocus system has been upgraded too, working at higher speeds and more precisely, in part to help deliver more accurate tracking of moving subjects. The sensor has a dualaxis position so when shooting through the viewfinder, you’ll be seeing the precise horizontal and vertical orientation for bang-on positioning of your

subject without the help of any accessories. There are, of course, the usual extras too, with the built-in GPS and Wi-Fi offering extra functionality.

As you’d expect from Leica, the Leica S (Typ 007) is never going to be a spare of the moment purchase.

It’ll set you back £12,900. uk.leica-camera.com

Monitor magic The BenQ 27in monitor brings exceptional colour accuracy and high specs to the table, all with for a reasonably affordable price.

The BenQ SW2700PT is the second colour critical monitor released by BenQ and is designed for pro picture editors, with a 2560x1440 resolution display, 99% Adobe RGB colour space and IPS technology. A controller is included for quick switching between three custom modes:

Adobe RGB, sRGB and black & white photo mode.

Included with each model is an individual factory-tested colour calibration report whilst a ten-bit display panel facilitates smooth shading and colour transitions in natural gradations.

The BenQ SW2700PR is available to buy now and costs just shy of £500. colorconfidence.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News News in brief Noiseless update

Macphun has released a new version of its Noiseless app, a one-click noise reduction solution, which can be purchased as an app if you’ve already downloaded the original. Noiseless Pro owners will receive the update automatically for free. The latest version now enables batch processing. macphun.com Colour correct

The Cube takes the guesswork out of colour matching, pairing with smartphones and desktops to save, store and work with real-world colour. It picks up on your desired hue to record the raw colour values for use whenever you like. colorconfidence.com

Sony’s sensitive side There’s a new full-frame mirrorless camera on the scene, the Sony A7S II. This low-light demon features a high top ISO sensitivity of 409,600, and that’s with low noise throughout the range too. The full-frame 12.2-megapixel sensor helps to deliver excellent dynamic range right across the ISO range and even in extreme conditions it promises to capture crystal clear images packed full of detail. The II is also equipped with a new fiveaxis image stabilisation system that can be found on the A7 and A7R II models. There’s been an upgrade in the video department too, now including 4K movie quality in the XAVC S format, and

when you’re shooting in Full HD, there’s no pixel binning, just full pixel read-out. The autofocusing system hasn’t been overlooked either and now has 169 AF points and can react just as quickly down to -4EV as it does in daylight, even when you’re finding it tough to pinpoint the subject. The OLED Tru-Finder in the A7S II offers an impressive magnification of 0.78x and a Zeiss T coating reduces reflections on the viewfinder for a clear view of the scene ahead.

You’ll have to wait until November to add an A7S II to your kitbag, and prices have yet to be revealed. sony.co.uk

Zeiss has a family

More memory from Toshiba

Toshiba has extended its Exceria range of memory cards to include new Compactflash, SD and microSD cards, which all combine high capacity with fast read and write speeds, making them ideal for sports photographers or those shooting in Full HD. toshiba-memory.com

The Zeiss Milvus family of prime manual focus lenses has been announced for Canon and Nikon DSLRs. These lenses have been optimised for high resolution cameras, whether shooting stills or video.

Six focal lengths have been announced and the range will be added to in due course. The first six optics are a 21mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 50mm f/2, 85mm f/1.4 and 100mm f/2. All Milvus lenses feature Zeiss’s Floating Elements Design to minimise lens aberrations at different focusing distances. Other common features include T* anti-reflective lens coating to combat ghosting and flare when shooting into the light, as well as dust and spray waterproofing.

Prices are to be confirmed but deliveries to dealers will start in October.

Trio of releases from Wacom

Wacom has launched three new products, the Bamboo Spark (£119.99) for writing and sketching, the Intuos range of new tablets (from £54.99) for pen drawing, and the Bamboo Fineline 2 pens (from £9.99). wacom.com

zeiss.com/milvus

Lowepro bag it Lowepro has redesigned its Daypack series, coming up with the Slingshot Edge range of bags. A slimmer design and added storage for tablets make them the kind of bags you’ll want to take out and about with you on a day’s shooting. There are two sizes, the 150 AW (£63) and the 250 AW (£74), and each comes with dedicated compartments to bring a little organisation to your kit.

If you’re shooting with a CSC the 150 AW will do just fine. There’s room for your camera with lens attached as well as a second lens and small tablet, along with the usual smaller accessories. For DSLR users, the 250 AW is the one. It has room for your DSLR with a lens attached as well as a flash, full-size tablet and the rest of your photo accessories. The AW in the name alludes to the built-in All Weather cover, keeping your gear safe and dry. lowepro.co.uk

Built for both

Featuring 4K technology, the Lumix GH4R is a happy medium for both photographers and videographers.

The Lumix GH4R includes V-Log L video capability which allows for greater accuracy and flexibility when recording videos. Having been developed with similar characteristics to the Cineon curve, the industry standard for film digitalisation, you can use the same Look Up Table for reference. panasonic.com/global

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News

The top fifty

Above Madrid, Spain, 1933. Henri Cartier-Bresson: Magnum Photos. Courtesy Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

You can’t talk about photography without the name Henri CartierBresson cropping up. Considered by many to be one of the most important photographers of the 20th century you can now see 50 of his famous masterpieces at The Fine Art Society in London.

They’re on display from 6 to 29 October.

Having travelled the world as a photojournalist, Cartier-Bresson has witnessed an impressive

list of historic events, from Gandhi’s last days through to the Communist victory in China.

The collection of signed prints shows many of Cartier-Bresson’s most renowned pieces of work, including Behind the Gare St Lazare, Paris, 1932; Coronation of King George VI, 1937; and portraits of the likes of Henri Matisse and Marilyn Monroe.

Undercover GoPro Ever felt like your GoPro stood out a bit like a sore thumb in a sea of chrome and leather covered DSLRs and CSCs? Well you’re clearly not the only one. New-Zealand based EXO Camera Equipment has come up with a nifty solution to disguise your GoPro as an ordinary camera to help make taking stills with it that little bit easier.

It has started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the creation of the Exo GP-1, which the guys at Exo say will help unlock the power of your action camera. So with the GP-1 external housing you’ll have your GoPro looking slick in the style department, but you’ll also be able to mount your GoPro on a tripod and use it alongside conventional camera accessories. It comes with a viewfinder and you’ll even be able to fit filters to the front to get even

Kit to go

more out of your GoPro than ever before. The possibilities with this product are exciting and endless. A minimum pledge of $5 will get you a thank you from the Exo team, but if you want to get your hands on the product itself an early bird offer of $245 will get you a brown or black version of the GP-1 – but act fast before the offer runs out. exo.camera

News in brief Save your images

Kodak has launched a new free service, the all-in-one Kodak Moments app. This enables you to both capture and preserve your pictures, as well as edit and order prints for home delivery or collection. It’s for both Android and iOS devices. kodak.com Don’t miss the next issue

Issue 25 of Photography News is out on Monday 19 October. If you want to submit your club’s news for it, we’ll need it by 8October. absolutephoto.com

There are two new Braun camera bag ranges, the Kenora and Ocean series, both of which have now hit the high street.

The Kenora series comes in five sizes and is made for DSLRs as well as CSCs; divide your gear between two compartments; the top is the easy-access pouch for your personal items while the bottom area is set aside for camera equipment with quick access from the side. There’s a laptop compartment in the back section and it’s cushioned throughout for added protection.

There are six sizes in the Ocean series and each model comes with quick side access and can store a DSLR or camcorder.

Prices start at £13.80 for the Kenora series and £10.44 for the Ocean series.

faslondon.com kenro.co.uk

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

News

September has seen a rush of new photo books, the first of which is the compendium of stunning results of this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards. The sixth book in the series covers everything from creepy crawlies through to rarely seen species and urban wildlife. The Collection 6 book is available now for £25.

Iceland is a photographers’ paradise and analogue shooter Tim Rudman is one of the many to have been enticed by its beauty. He’s now collected his images of the magic island for his latest book, Iceland. An Uneasy Calm. Due for release in October, the book features 98 reproductions of toned silver gelatin prints and has taken him the best part of eight years to complete. Read our interview with Tim in this issue.

©Tim Rudman

Booked up Get started in night photography and light painting with the aptly named Night Photography and Light Painting.

This latest edition guides you through capturing urban nightscapes as well as shooting the landscape by starlight. It’s by Lance Keimig, who has been shooting night photos for 30 years. It costs £21.99.

Last but not least, photographer Tim Booth has been working on his collection of the hands of Britain, which took him on a journey to capture over 110 hands including Alistair McGowan and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

A Show of Hands will be available to buy from 6 October. bwpawards.org, opasbooks.com, bit.ly/Keimig, timbooth.com

WIN

RUGBY WORLD CUP

TICKETS!

Photo culture A new way to get your hit of culture without leaving the house, the Stand & Stare Editions provides a curated collection of limited edition contemporary prints by leading photographers, and if you fancy keeping a copy for yourself prices for images start at £35.

© Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers

Try your luck As official sponsors of the Rugby World Cup 2015, Canon is giving you the chance to win one of 50 pairs of tickets when you buy a selected Canon product, including the EOS 7D Mark II, the 750D and the PowerShot G7 X. If you don’t win tickets, you’ll still get to take home a free Gilbert Official Rugby World Cup 2015 replica ball* with your new camera. The offer is running up until 9 October, so act fast to be in with a chance. canon.co.uk/RWC2015

CLAIM AN

If you’d like to have your work considered for the online gallery, visit flickr.com/groups/ standandstaresubmissions.

More of a traditional culture vulture? Then visit the Burden of Proof: The Construction of Visual Evidence, which is on display from 2 October until 10 January 2016

*While stocks last

L OFFICIA ALL RUGBY B

Olympus photo comp opens Olympus’s online photo contest has now opened its doors to entries, welcoming photos into four categories under five themes: Life (Birth), Future (Places to Preserve), People (Smiles and Laughter) and Technical (Macro and Art). You can fancy your chances up to five times per theme. The Grand Prize winner will take home the latest PEN series camera and nearly £5,500. A further 14 prizes are up for grabs across

all the themes too. Winners will be announced in February 2016.

Get inspired for your entry by visiting Olympus’s outdoor photo exhibition, which features the work of ambassador shooter Edmond Terakopian, shot on the E-M5 Mark II. Titled Opera By the River, it’s free to visit, and it’s on London’s South Bank until 11 October.

© Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers

standstareeditions.com thephotographersgallery.org.uk

A flight of photos Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has officially launched the 2016 Bird Photographer of the Year competition, which is asking for entries before the closing date of 9 January 2016. There are eight categories to pick from, including Best Portrait, Bird Behaviour and Creative Imagery, giving you plenty of creative scope when capturing your avian images. A top prize of £5000 in cash is up for grabs, along with other prizes and if your image is chosen as one of the winning or shortlisted images, it’ll be published in the competition coffee table book too. Get your entry in before 30 September and you’ll get 30% off the entry fees.

For more details on this contest and why it was launched read our interview with Rob Read, organiser and judge, in this issue. birdpoty.co.uk

WIN a trip to Australia The Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition is on the hunt for the next winner, who will either take home £3000 in cash or be boarding a flight to Western Australia for a photo commission. Tempting.

The competition is run in conjunction with The Independent newspaper and the winning photos will be printed in the paper as well as in travel magazine, Wanderlust. The winning images will also be shown in an exhibition at a holiday and travel show. Runners-up in the comp win a Nikon D5500 with an 18-55mm lens.

You’ve got until 31 October to get your entries in. travelphotooftheyear.co.uk

gopc.olympus-imaging.com

© Klaus Bjerre/Nature Photographers Ltd

at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. It pulls together an intriguing collection of images that have been harnessed as evidence in instances of crimes or acts of violence.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Club news

Tell us your club’s latest news, email: clubnews@photography-news.co.uk

Camera club news If your club has any news that you want to share with the rest of the world, this is the page for it. Your story might be about your club’s success in a contest, or a member’s personal achievement; it could be about a group outing you had recently or when the annual exhibition is on show. Any news is eligible for inclusion, so club publicity officers please take note of the submission guidelines and get your stories in

How to submit

Deadline for the next issue: 8 October 2015

We need words and pictures by 8 October for the next issue of Photography News, which will be available from 15 October. Write your story in a Word document (400 words maximum). Please include contact details of the club, exhibition or event – website, meeting times, opening times, whatever is relevant. Images should be JPEGs, 2000 pixels on the longest dimension, any colour space, and image credits should be included. If the story is an exhibition or event, please send a picture from the exhibition (not the publicity poster) or one from the event. If it includes people please identify them.

Attach the Word document and JPEGs to an email and send to clubnews@photography-news.co.uk.

Season kicks off at Farnborough Above inkJeTT is a group of retirees, all keen amateur photographers who have been studying digital imaging for the past 12 years – since giving up their darkrooms. They’ve been exhibiting their work since 2001, and are now putting on a new exhibition at Leominster library. The display is on 5 to 16 October (closed Wednesday) and is free to visit.

An evening with…

It’s a knockout © Simone Sbaraglia

Farnborough Camera Club got the 2015/16 season off to a flying start with a display of members’ work, a successful first meeting and plans for a talk.

They pre-empted the season with a display of members’ work in Farnborough’s Princes Mead Shopping Centre on 15 August. The display attracted much attention from the public, and it’s hoped it will bring new blood into the club.

Subsequently the first meeting of the season on 3 September welcomed new as well as existing members. The meeting included a competition for those who had scored ten in the last season. This was won by club president, Terry Redman.

Throughout the season, Farnborough CC meets weekly on Thursdays and its busy programme is on its website. On 22 October, the club welcomes Tim Mannakee, a finalist in the Travel Photographer of the Year 2013 competition, to talk about his life as a travel photographer. Tickets are available from the website for £5.25 or can be bought on the door for £6.50. farnboroughcameraclub.org

© Lesley Taylor

Knaresborough Camera Club is inviting professional photographers to judge its competitions and speak at its meetings this season. It’s a formula the club has used before, so this season’s programme features professionals involved in commercial, industrial, landscape and portrait photography. The full line-up is on the club’s website.

Chairman Richard Bryant comments: “It’s amazing what you can get if you just ask. The professionals we have lined up have given their time so willingly. They readily accept our invitation because they say it’s their opportunity to give something back to the art they love.”

Among the first lined up is Richard Bunce, who will be discussing what makes a good image with the club on 22 October. Knaresborough is also pleased to be hosting this season’s speakers in its new venue.

The club now meets in Knaresborough’s Chain Lane Community Centre. Meetings are every Wednesday from September until April.

cityandcripplegate-ps.org

© Chris Kenward

Turning to the pros

Enjoy an evening with Simone Sbaraglia, acclaimed nature and wildlife photographer courtesy of City of London & Cripplegate Photographic Society on Tuesday 6 October.

Concentrating on endangered species and ecosystems, Simone aims to highlight the beauty, harmony and uniqueness of our planet. The awardwinning photographer also teaches and leads workshop, so this is a great opportunity to learn from him.

Tickets for the evening are £5 and will be available on the door. The evening takes place at St Joseph’s Church Hall, EC1Y, starting at 6.45pm.

Kingston’s annual exhibition Kingston Camera Club’s annual exhibition showcases the best of its members’ work from the past year.

The exhibition takes place at Kingston Museum’s Art Gallery, from Friday 23 October to Saturday 7 November. It includes images from pictorial and landscape to natural history and abstract colour fantasy. The exhibition is open 10am-5pm, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 10am-7pm on Thursdays. Entrance is free.

knaresboroughcameraclub.blogspot.co.uk kingstoncameraclub.co.uk

To mark its 10th year, Cheltenham Camera Club is holding a Three Counties Photo Day on Saturday 24 October, at the town’s Bacon Theatre.

The three counties involved are Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, from where clubs are invited to enter the Three Counties Digital Projected Image Knockout and the Three Counties Show.

One club will be announced as the best in the show in the Knockout, and attendees can vote for the prints in the Show, all on the day, when PN’s editor, Will Cheung will be there to present the prizes.

There will also be trade stands at the theatre during the afternoon, and club attendees can enjoy a three-course meal afterwards. In the evening, Will Cheung will give a presentation, My Passion for Photography, showcasing some of his images and covering everything from natural history to landscape, from street to portraits.

Day tickets for Three Counties photo club members are £10 in advance; £12 on the day. A day ticket including the meal is £19, and these must be booked by 17 October. cheltenhamcameraclub. co.uk

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Exhibition Interview

© Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn As photographer and film-maker Anton Corbijn’s exhibition goes on tour, the legendary band photographer reveals the inspiration behind and the motivation for his long career Words by Ian Farrell

Smells like teen spirit Corbijn first picked up a camera in 1972. “I was young and a very shy guy. I’d moved to a new town and I didn’t know anyone at school,” he says. “There was this concert I wanted to go to, but I felt too shy to go. I thought that if I took my father’s camera then I could get to the front by the stage and be on my own. So I took a few pictures and sent them to a magazine, and they got published. That was the answer for me: how I could be connected to music, which was really my big love.”

For the next 20 years Corbijn photographed musicians exclusively. “It was all I really picked up my camera for,” he says. “In later years I shot actors, directors and people like that too, but it’s always been people whose work I knew of. I think when you’re familiar with someone’s work you can get an idea of their state of mind.”

The interpretation of music into visual themes is something at which Corbijn is highly skilled. He gives the impression this is an organic process that comes from within. “We just try something… it’s a slow and gradual process,” he comments.

“I’ve always tried to reflect in my pictures the music of the people I shoot. For instance in the 1970s when I was shooting Joy Division, I once asked three of them to walk away from me while one looked back – that seemed to me to be the vibe of their music right there.

“I think Bono once said that I photograph U2’s music rather than the band, which I take to be a compliment. I think he meant it positively.”

Corbijn’s pictures have a very strong visual style, making them instantly recognisable. He shoots only on film, specifically Kodak Tri-X, thousands of rolls of which he has stored in three fridges at home.

Bono once said that I photograph U2’s music rather than the band, which I take to be a compliment

Above Nirvana, Seattle, 1993. Right Nick Cave, London, 1988.

“I feel the way I work is adventurous: you meet someone, you photograph them and for a few days you don’t know if you’ve been successful or not. I’ve always found that to be an interesting stress – an adventure!

And how did his style come about? “You don’t set out to make a style. You basically can’t do it any other way, because you’re not skilled enough to do it any other way. It’s basically your disability that becomes your style. That’s how it is with me: this is how I shoot, but it’s also because I can’t do it any other way. I guess I could learn to, but I don’t want to. So I make it work for myself.”

Corbijn says he finds digital cameras irritating to use. “You see too well what you are doing. People shoot and they look at the back of the camera and see if the image needs to be more perfect and shoot again. Perfection is a killer in photography, and imperfection is totally underrated, just as sharpness is overrated. I like to keep that element in my work.”

© Anton Corbijn

In some ways Anton Corbijn is like a rock star: he’s been described as the fifth member of U2 and is credited with developing Depeche Mode’s entire visual style, having directed their videos, shot their photography and designed their record sleeves for 30 years. I asked him if the famously long-term relationships he develops with his subjects makes him feel like a member of the band too.

“Well, not financially!” he laughs. “But I guess there’s no need for any of these guys to keep coming back to me if they don’t want to. It’s flattering and touching and great to know that what I shot for them last time worked, and that they liked it. When I started in photography people were hesitant to like my images, especially in Holland. So when things that you never really felt were good enough suddenly find an audience, that’s a great feeling.”

Corbijn’s modest, down-to-earth personality is extremely likeable. In fact one of the reasons so many big-name bands keep coming back to him is because they enjoy his company as well as his photography. Flick through the 352-page coffee table book that accompanies his exhibition and the anecdotes from the likes of Michael Stipe and Nick Cave describe just how much fun an Anton Corbijn photo shoot can be. “Look at some of the ridiculous outfits Anton has persuaded us to wear over the years!” writes Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, himself pictured in a wedding dress. “Believe me it look a lot of love and trust. He deserves it!”

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Exhibition © Anton Corbijn

© Anton Corbijn

Perfection is a killer in photography, and imperfection is totally underrated, just as sharpness is overrated

© Anton Corbijn

However Corbijn is not against digital in his workflow. “I love the possibilities that digital photography gives me postcapture. I shoot on film and use digital for post-production and printing. It’s the best of both worlds,” he says.

In fact, digital manipulation has enabled Corbijn to recover pictures he thought were lost. “Going through my archive for the exhibition, there were negatives that were so badly under or overexposed that I wasn’t able to make a print from them originally. But scans have given me information in these images that I couldn’t see before, and I can use that to make a print.”

Going through his archive while curating the show was a mammoth task.

“I went through 25,000 contact sheets,” he recalls.

“Sometimes you look at pictures and you think ‘what was I doing?’ but other times you find a picture you’ve forgotten about and you think ‘wow! I love that.’

“So many years down the line you look at your work differently, because it’s lost its need for immediacy. ” Alongside this career in stills, Corbijn has won huge praise for his music videos. He’s worked with names such as Nirvana and Johnny Cash, as well as his regulars like U2 and Depeche Mode. In more recent years it’s also led him into directing feature films: Control, The American and A Most Wanted Man have all won considerable acclaim. And for Corbijn, feature films are where his attention is right now.

“I’m not putting down photography, because it’s my big love, and I will always take pictures, but the focus at the moment is very much on films,” he says. “They are demanding in terms of energy and time and I can’t pursue stills photography to the same level I have in previous years. So it has to take a bit of a back seat. The exhibition is kind of a goodbye to that involvement in photography – for now.”

The next Corbijn-directed film scheduled for release is Life, which looks at the photographer Dennis Stock and his images of James Dean.

Looking back over Corbijn’s career so far, it’s impossible not to be impressed by the creativity, variety and quantity of his work. He has vision, and doesn’t try to shoot like anyone else.

His images are as recognisable as the voice of REM’s Michael Stipe or the guitar of U2’s Edge.

Above left Bono, Ireland, 1984. Above right Siouxsie Sioux, London, 1983. Left Mick Jagger, Toronto, 1994.

See it yourself 1-2-3-4, the exhibition is at the C/O Berlin Foundation, Germany, from 7 November until 31 January 2016. The accompanying exhibition catalogue is available from Prestel priced £50. prestel.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Interview Biography

Profile

Kirk Paulsen

Known for its digital imaging solutions, DxO is unleashing the ONE this autumn – a 20-megapixel camera for your iPhone. Senior VP for marketing, Kirk Paulsen tells us all about it

Years in the photo industry?

Over three decades. I was an assistant to a National Geographic contributing photographer when I was 21, a long, long time ago Current location Dividing my time between our teams in Paris and San Francisco Last picture taken One hour ago (over lunch) When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Cinematographer Dogs or cats?

Not at the moment Toast or cereal?

Toast Email or phone call?

Text

Can you introduce the DxO ONE and its concept to everyone?

The DxO ONE is a new high-quality sub-compact camera with a large 20-megapixel sensor and fast f/1.8 lens that connects directly your iPhone or iPad via a Lightning connector. The direct connection allows the DxO ONE to transfer high-quality, high-resolution images to your iPhone photo library, seamlessly and silently so your favorite photos are always with you and ready to share.

Who is the DxO ONE aimed at?

The DxO ONE is designed for pros and photo enthusiasts who want to capture high-quality photos, even in extremely low light, with a device that’s small enough to keep with them at all times. It also allows you to instantly share those images.

Because so much of photography is aspirational, the DxO ONE will appeal to image lovers who aspire to take photos with pro-level quality and creativity.

Why did you develop the ONE? First and foremost for our own use, as we are passionate about the art of photography. We were confident in our ability to bring our experience in image science we’ve been perfecting for the past decade to a new category of camera. We wanted a camera that was small enough to keep with us and produced images with DSLR-quality images that could be shared immediately.

What response have you had after the product announcement?

We are thrilled with the initial response to the DxO ONE. From the positive reaction received from virtually every corner of the world, it’s clear the ONE is perfect for photographers who love their iPhones but want DSLR-quality images available at all times.

We wanted a camera that was small enough to keep with us and produced DSLR-quality images that could be shared immediately

What were the main design challenges?

Our image science made the DxO ONE possible, with a large sensor positioned directly adjacent to the optical assembly. This enables us to achieve a high level of image quality from a remarkably small device. A tremendous amount of engineering expertise went into the remarkable, patentpending Lightning connector, which swivels +/- 60° to allow for very creative compositions.

It was challenging to design the companion app, which packs incredible power and control into a small display.

How are you marketing the ONE? Initially, the DxO ONE will be available via our own online DxO store at dxo.com. We’ve had a number of very encouraging conversations with both online and traditional retailers, and we look forward to extending the DxO ONE’s routes to market.

Was the ONE developed with Apple to ensure full compatibility and ongoing support?

Apple has been very supportive of the DxO ONE, since we first discussed the concept with them.

The Lightning connector is fully approved by Apple’s MFi (Made for iDevices) group, and the companion iOS app has been approved for download via the iTunes App Store.

Does the ONE have its own power source or does it take power from the iPhone? If the latter what is the impact on the battery?

The DxO ONE camera has both its own internal microSD card slot, as well as an integrated lithium ion battery, so it won’t impact your iPhone storage space or talk time.

The lens is a fixed 32mm f/1.8 equivalent. Do you think a zoom lens is a viable option?

Many serious photographers prefer prime lenses even on their compact cameras, because they work exceptionally well in natural low light, and provide elegant bokeh, especially with portraits. We think our choice of fixed focal length and maximum aperture is perfect for these users.

Is it a DxO sensor?

The DxO ONE uses the same highquality one-inch 20.2-megapixel backside illuminated Sony sensor as a number of other popular oneinch format cameras.

Who do you think will be buying it? Are you after the phone, the premium compact or the moreserious photographer market?

The DxO ONE isn’t intended to compete with the iPhone’s exceptional camera. Nor is it meant to replace a DSLR body or lenses.

It’s designed to fit that spot where a photographer has only their iPhone with them, but wishes their DSLR was handy because they’ve spied something that would make a great photo. The ONE is especially useful in very-low light environments, which we encounter daily.

DxO is famed for its DxOMarksensor testing system. When you developed the sensor did you have a target score in mind?

We knew the expertise of our image science team to produce images of exceptional quality, with virtually every optical flaw considered and corrected. We were surprised by the remarkable DxOMark sensor score they achieved using our new SuperRAW image format and the associated post-processing of our companion desktop applications DxO Connect, DxO FilmPack and DxO OpticsPro. Have you compared the ONE’s ISO 51,200 setting with DSLRs and CSCs offering similar sensitivity? Can you give us an idea how quality compares?

The DxO ONE provides ISOs of 12,800, Hi 1 (at 25,600) and Hi 2 (at 51,200). At these very high ISO levels, it’s best to capture in the new SuperRAW format that can be enabled with a tap. When the camera is tethered to a Mac or PC, DxO Connect software can apply spatial and temporal noise reduction to your high-ISO images.

DxO Connect offers a split-screen comparison of the before and after.

The ONE is cheaper than current premium compacts so do you think it will affect that market?

The DxO ONE is a premium compact camera, and as such is definitely positioned to compete with others. That we could price it at £449 is testament to the expertise and efficiency of our operations and manufacturing teams.

Our readers are mostly Canon and Nikon users so how does the ONE’s image quality compare?

Your readers are welcome to review the DxOMark’s objective scientific measurements as they relate to image quality, where scores for the DxO ONE can be viewed alongside those of other camera bodies. The real proof is in the photos, and we’ve been very pleased by what we’ve seen from early prototypes.

Do you think a dedicated DSLR user would benefit from having a DxO ONE? If you carry your DSLR with you at all times, then you’ll probably have no need for the DxO ONE. If you ever find yourself out without a DSLR, then you could definitely find enjoyment capturing special moments with your DxO ONE. If there is one feature of the ONE you want to shout about, what would it be and why?

The DxO ONE can capture remarkable photos in extremely low-light situations. We are able to retain important details and bring the noise level to an minimum, thanks to the SuperRAW™ format which uses both spatial and temporal NR when processing Raw images. The process is automatic via any of DxO’s companion desktop apps (Connect, FilmPack and OpticsPro), which are included for free when you buy a DxO ONE.

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Profile Biography

Before the Judge

Brian Hopper Each issue, a respected judge or exhibition selector shares their thoughts and experiences. This month, we hear from international judge Brian Hopper Words by Brian Hopper

Brian Hopper Not just an international photography judge, Brian is also a competitor with one of his most impressive achievements to date being his print coming top at the 2012 PSA (Photographic Society of America) conference, an invitation only event that he was invited to because of his PSA Gold Medal in an international salon.

Years in photography I have been interested in photography for some 45 years.

Home club Not attached to any club at present Favourite camera My trusted Nikon D3 Favourite lens The Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 Favourite photo accessories My Lee filter kit and my Benbo 2 tripod Favourite photographic subject or technique I have concentrated over the last year on seascape photography, in particular sunrises and sunsets.

Awards I have attained some 2700 acceptances with just over 350 awards in international salons and, if asked, I would have to say the 18 FIAP Blue Badges (Best Author in an international salon) would occupy pride of place in my awards collection.

Top Boat at sunrise.

Right Raphaella’s dance.

It is important that each photographer is true to themself and their photography

Like many others I gravitated to judging when I proved I could produce good images; in other words when I walked the walk.

I started, like most, by judging within my local club and then I was requested to judge in other clubs. I have been involved in assessing distinction panels at every level and consider this element of judging a considerable honour and a huge contribution to my overall experience. I regard it as a privilege to be asked to judge other photographers’ work.

At some stage the success I attained was noticed by others and as a consequence I have been lucky to have been invited to judge international salons. I have judged online and in other countries and enjoy the process immensely. When someone approaches you after a competition and comments that as a judge you were very fair, you can consider you have done a good job.

Club photographic competitions can be the seedbed of improvements in amateur photography but constant effort must be made to expand the knowledge base by entering national and international competitions because club photography can easily become confined in technique and style. Amateur photography is generally very healthy and is open to many new techniques. In general, amateurs are not restricted in technique or subject and as such tend to experiment in their image making. I don’t mind how an image is made as long as it works.

In general, many judges are open to the views of other judges and it is important to air your viewpoint when judging as a member of a panel. The result of judging is a balanced and collective result; the viewpoint of each member must be taken into account and the result should not be influenced unduly by any one member. My fear in judging an image is that I don’t or can’t understand what the author

is trying to get across. I think experience comes into play here; the more you see, the more you understand or learn to appreciate.

It’s always a pleasure to look at work which demonstrates a high technical ability or indeed work which breaks new ground.

A technically good image should always gain an acceptance. Those images which portray emotion and indicate a strong personal approach or input from the photographer will always attain success.

It is most important that each photographer is true to themself and their own photography. I say this because some photographers end up very frustrated when they feel it necessary to follow trends in photography and try to cater for the tastes of particular judges.

Too many photographers overengineer images both at the taking stage and in post-processing. In landscapes or seascapes, many

photographers try to control the dynamic range by balancing the light and controlling the exposure.

Many photographers use multiple exposures or reverse grad filters to control the light from the sun but they can inadvertently cause the image to look unnatural. The sun should be the brightest part of the image and can be catered for within an image with careful post-processing.

Understanding the capabilities of your camera is extremely important when considering dynamic range.

My particular pet hate is the over sharpening of images. Every image requires sharpening and the trick is to know what amount is correct for any particular image.

HDR is another pet hate, especially when it is overdone.

We have all seen images ruined by unnatural, near psychedelic rendering of colours. Maximising the dynamic range within an image – whilst keeping it natural – is one of the most important aspects when post-processing in landscape or seascape photography.

One of the highlights of my judging career has to be the 7th

International Photographic Salon Varna when I was appointed the chairman of the judges; this I consider a singular honour as the organisers placed a high level of trust in my ability to implement the standards of the international bodies, which accredited that salon.

Last year I was invited to judge in the 1st International Salon of Print and Digital Art Photography Varna and was again appointed the chairman of the judges.

My background, experience and the awards I have attained all provide me with the tools to judge the images produced by other photographers.

I believe judges have to prove themselves by walking the walk and by being prepared to constantly challenge themselves by placing their work for others to judge. I feel it is very important to treat the work of other photographers with the same respect you would expect for your own images. An encouraging critique, even if critical, will help more than negative comments, a trait that is too common in the judgment of photographs. creatingapicture.com

What do you think?

Have you seen a photographic judge at work who you’d like to see profiled in Photography News? If so please drop us a line to opinion@photographynews.co.uk with the judge’s name and, if possible, their contact details.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Competition

Flying high Bird Photographer of the Year

A new photo comp has taken off and it’s all about birds. We speak to organiser and judge of the British Bird Photographer of the Year, Rob Read, to find out more © Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd

Interview by Megan Croft What role do you take in the competition?

I am responsible for organising the competition in conjunction with the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology); the project manager if you like. From appointing the web development team and overseeing the web build, to sponsor negotiations, marketing and promotion and everything in between.

Why was the climate right to launch the comp now?

Digital technology has revolutionised photography; particularly in the last two or three years. Major advances have been made with top-end DSLRs and everything from bridge cameras to smartphones. Pretty much everyone takes pictures and some surprisingly good ones at that.

The competition subject is very specific; why do you think it’ll work?

It’s a targeted competition that provides the opportunity for a growing interest in birds to be celebrated visually. There are so many species of bird and they have such diversity as a group, no wonder so many people dedicate their lives to studying and recording their varied habits. You only have to look at the growing interest in birds generally and the spread of digital photography to realise that it will be a popular competition. Recording bird sightings on a camera is the modern birder’s notebook and method of choice.

The photo industry is flooded with competitions, what do you hope will make yours stand out from the rest?

Firstly it promotes a strong conservation message through its financial support for the BTO. It also provides the entrants with the

It’s a targeted competition that provides the opportunity for a growing interest in birds to be celebrated visually opportunity for recognition and the chance to be published in the competition book.

Importantly, there are great prizes on offer too.

The top prize for the winning image is £5000 with generous category-winner and runner-up prizes available from our sponsors Swarovski Optik, Alamy and Country Innovation. Not only this, but there is also a prize of £2000 for the best portfolio of six images, recognising a consistency of skill and technique; something many competitions seem to overlook.

And young photographers aren’t forgotten about either. We think it’s important to nurture the next generation and have partnered with the Cameron Bespolka Trust to offer the Young Bird Photographer of the Year title in Cameron’s memory. Cameron was a talented young birder who was tragically killed in an accident two years ago. All images submitted by entrants under 18 on the date the competition closes will automatically be entered for this prize.

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Competition © Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd

What are your aims with setting up this new competition?

Not only does the competition aim to raise funds for the great research work that the BTO undertakes, but it also seeks to raise their profile. We should be very proud of this organisation, the work that they do and the benefits to conservation that they bring.

Bird Photographer of the Year is also about celebrating the modern digital photography era and the artistry and skill employed by many talented photographers. It provides the opportunity to have their work critiqued by experts, recognised and published.

© Klaus Bjerre/Nature Photographers Ltd

The competition is a collaboration between Nature Photographers Ltd (NPL) and the BTO, how did this partnership come about?

NPL has been working with the BTO for many years and they have collaborated on a variety of book projects. More recently NPL has taken responsibility for managing their image library. Bird Photographer of the Year was an obvious alliance and we are proud to work with such a respected organisation.

What kind of experience as a photographer or birdwatcher do you need to do well in this competition?

There is no substitute for understanding and knowing your subject. Photographers who are able to employ this knowledge and have the best understanding of the fieldcraft techniques required, will undoubtedly do well. Those with the ability to control their cameras and can create desired effects will improve their chances. But it will not be to the exclusion of the less experienced. The competition allows single-image entries, so even if you have only one great image it still has a chance to take the title and £5000 prize.

© Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers

© Klaus Bjerre/Nature Photographers Ltd

You can name the illustrious Chris Packham as head judge, what do you hope he’ll bring to the competition?

As BTO President, Chris is the obvious choice to lead the judging panel. Not only has he the credentials in the natural history arena, birds are a passion and he is a well-respected photographer in his own right. His knowledge, critical eye and strong leadership will prove invaluable during the judging process.

What are some of the challenges a photographer might encounter when capturing birds on camera? Do you have any top tips to overcome them?

That’s a subject you could write a book about, and some people have! Knowing your subject and having an instinct for fieldcraft are far more important than the latest kit. Get to know your subject and its habits before pointing a lens at it, and be prepared to be patient.

What are you looking for in a winning image? What will make it stand out?

For most judges, a good photograph is when you wish you had taken it yourself.

Good photographs elicit a strong emotional response. It’s all about a combination of lighting, composition and technique, freezing a moment in time, immortalising it in pixels.

Get to know your subject and its habits before pointing a lens at it, and be prepared to be patient © Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers

How will judging work? Do you have other judges to support Chris?

There will be two rounds of online judging via a tried-and-tested scoring system. This will produce a shortlist of images in each category, which will then be discussed by the judging panel and the winners decided upon.

The overall winner will be chosen from the eight category winners. The final judging panel includes a mix of experienced birders and photographers. In addition to Chris Packham is Andy Clements (CEO of BTO), Alan Capel (head of content at Alamy), Nigel Redman (former head of Natural History at Bloomsbury Publishing) and myself.

There are eight categories, why did you settle on these ones in particular?

We felt it was important to recognise and celebrate the diversity of the subject and to generate a book that showcases it; we hope the category choices reflect that. We wanted the competition to be as inclusive as possible.

Whether you photograph blue tits in your garden or chase shearwaters at sea, there is at least one category that will appeal.

Is there a category you are most excited about seeing entries in?

We’re looking forward to seeing the entries in all categories. I have a particular eye on the Creative Imagery category where all the usual rules about digital manipulation are disregarded and we actively encourage the use of the digital darkroom. Anything goes in this category and it will be interesting to see what people come up with.

Are there any birds or behaviours that you’re really keen to see through the comp?

There are too many possibilities to list! That’s the great thing about birds, the species and behaviours are so diverse. The competition will no doubt prove testament to that.

What are your ambitions for the competition in the future?

Bird Photographer of the Year will set a gold standard for photography competitions and promote this fascinating section of the natural world. Open to entries from around the world and to pictures of any species, we hope the competition will quickly become established as a favourite and a much-loved annual event that grows in its reach and recognition. bto.org, birdpoty.co.uk

Get your entries in With £15,000 worth of cash and prizes up for grabs, it’s definitely worth entering the Bird Photographer of the Year comp. There are eight categories to submit your images into as well as a portfolio and a young person’s category. Charges range from £10 for a single image to £64 for 48 images, across all categories with a maximum of six in any one category. Get your entry in before 30 September to bag a discount of 30% off the entry fee, otherwise you’ve got until 9 January to enter.

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Interview

An Uneasy Calm Iceland book

A familiar face on the camera club circuit, fine art photographer Dr Tim Rudman FRPS, FRSA has been making silver gelatin prints for his latest book, Iceland, An Uneasy Calm. We find out what it took to put together such a venerable collection © Tim Rudman

Interview by Megan Croft Why were you first drawn to photography?

It was an epiphany moment when I was a medical student and I found a book of black & white images by Sam Haskins. I had always drawn and sketched (and always in black & white) and as a boy I had used a camera, but I had never seen photography used as an art form in this dramatic way. It was an instant conversion and within weeks I found a darkroom and began to teach myself to print.

You’re known as a film shooter, why do you continue to choose that medium?

I like to make prints by hand. I like to start with a virgin sheet of photo paper, expose it, spread the light as I want it, develop it and

see that image appear. If it looks right I take it through various chemicals to change the way it speaks to a viewer, wash it, dry it, press it and end up with the finished work on that same piece of paper that I handled through each stage of its progress. I like that manual creative process and feel I have a connection with the result. Doing it on a screen doesn’t do it the same for me.

Why did you decide to create a new book?

When I was learning to print – long before the Internet existed – finding information and techniques was difficult and I decided that one day if I cracked it I would write the book that I wished I’d had when I was learning. So all my previous books have been information and technique books, whereas this is an image book.

You’ve travelled the world, so what is it about Iceland that for you warranted further exploration through a book?

I originally wanted to go to Iceland back in the 70s, but suddenly it became the place for photographers, so I decided I no longer wanted to go and follow the trend. But I always had a yearning to go there one day.

Interestingly, it seems that the same thing is happening now with Iceland, but largely since I started going there and got hooked.

There is something special about Iceland, both the land and the people. It has a way of calling you back and the more you go the more it gradually reveals of itself. I’m by no means the first to have fallen under its spell.

When capturing Iceland, did you always have in mind that you’d create a book?

There is something special about Iceland, both the land and the people. It has a way of calling you back

Above Resting place, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin print.

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Interview © Tim Rudman

Above clockwise Aurora Borealis, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin. Winter homestead, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin. Moonrise Myrdalssandur, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin.

Lines of communication, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin. Summer night, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin.

is not unusual and I have had many similar experiences, especially in winter. You really have to respect the weather there.

On my last visit I got stranded in a whiteout and blizzard on top of a mountain pass in the north-east. The road had been officially closed for three days but was opened when the weather cleared. It was sunny when my wife and I set off, but without warning the weather changed at altitude and it became impossible to see anything at all, even to the front of the car. The rescue services were great but the two-hour crossing took eight hours, and much of it in the dark of course.

In winter, daylight shooting hours are very short, as low as four hours, so time is precious. But sunrise doesn’t come before 11am, so late risers will be happy!

Below After Dark, selenium and thiourea toned silver gelatin print.

Were there any technical issues with shooting using film?

It can get quite chilly in winter and some film cameras (and batteries) don’t like that much. Iceland is relatively mild in the south and even in the north winter temperatures are typically only around -10ºC, but they can plummet to -25ºC or so and wind chill makes it seem colder. My camera’s focal plane shutter exhibited drag in the cold, making the printing trickier. Also medium-format offers relatively few exposures per roll and reloading in bad weather can be challenging.

What are some of the challenges of shooting in Iceland?

It depends when you go. The weather and the light are notoriously changeable in Iceland, but they have a saying “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute”. The last January that I was at Dyrhólaey looking down to the beach below I arrived on the cliff top in sunshine and blue sky but within 15 minutes was standing in driving snow with minimal visibility. Half an hour later it was almost impossible to stand up against the wind. That © Tim Rudman

Why black & white for this book?

I always liked black & white anyway, but it is well suited to the way I see Iceland with its black lava, ice and white surf. It has a graphic look. Black & white simplifies things to their form, texture and tone. It also removes them one step from reality. Adding false colour through toning allows me to take it a further step from reality and frees the viewer to find their own interpretation more easily.

Any highlights from the project?

Many. Some weather and location related and some people related. And those magic moments when a picture ‘works’. Perhaps the annual autumn horse round-up; especially the night before with the horse owners who came from far and wide. Prodigious amounts of alcohol were consumed, whilst singing and feasting on vast quantities of home-cooked specialties into the small hours.

© Tim Rudman

© Tim Rudman

Did you head out there with an agenda of what you wanted to shoot, or did you just take each day as it comes?

A bit of each really. I have some ideas and locations in mind but try to be open to what presents itself and to be prepared for the unexpected. I also like to just go off and explore and search for the unexpected.

© Tim Rudman

With Iceland being a hot destination for photographers, did you find taking unique photos that bit more challenging?

Not once I had developed a rapport with it – which did take a little while. I think we all see things differently and it depends on what you are looking for as a photographer. Although Iceland does have many must-see hotspots, the spirit of a place is often better found elsewhere and sometimes that is away from the tourist spots. My pictures are a mixture of both. For example, the cover image (below) was a nowhere in particular location that nobody would go to specifically for a picture. I was driving past after sundown one night and the light was just so. It said something to me about the eruptions that formed the country and it starts the story. It would probably look quite bland on another occasion. The final image of the illuminated graves (left) that closes the book and, metaphorically, nature’s cycle was similarly not a spot that would be on a photo tour, but was very powerful for me.

© Tim Rudman

I had no idea I’d be making a book when I went to Iceland, and initially I found the landscape there quite difficult to connect with. Gradually, over a few years as the work grew the book concept began to develop. It was to be a book of the landscapes of Iceland, but as I met more of the people there and both learned and experienced more of the country, its history and its cultures the book changed and morphed through a number of iterations before the final one. It still contains many landscape images but also references the barren nature of this active volcanic island, its unstable eruptive forces and the uneasy relationship with those who settled there, eventually drawing power and energy from the land but ultimately returning into it. It’s a metaphor for the universal cycle of matter.

How long did it take to complete the book?

That is a difficult question to answer. The negatives were made from 2007 to 2014. The book concept became redefined over four or five years, printmaking spanned eight years, putting the book together took three years.

What are some of the hurdles you face when putting a book together?

Firstly to have a clearly defined concept and a purpose. This may change and develop but needs to be clear. Secondly I’d say to be organised and disciplined. It can be important to have someone to consult for a critical second opinion. It is easy to become too close to the work to be objective. If doing it yourself, design, printing, budgeting and marketing are all vital aspects that have to be addressed and can be challenging, depending on the scale of your project.

When it came to putting the book together, was it tough selecting the final images?

The criteria changed over time as the book morphed from landscape images into a bit more of a story vehicle. This meant that I eventually included some images that were never intended for the book, but they had a place in the background narrative. Similarly, some personal favourites had to go because they didn’t fit or because there wasn’t space.

What’s next on the cards for you?

I hope the exhibition of this work will tour if funding permits and I do have other projects.

At this stage, watch this space. timrudman.com iceland-anuneasycalm.com

Iceland, An Uneasy Calm Eight years in the making, Tim Rudman’s latest book, Iceland, An Uneasy Calm, exploring the landscape, culture and people of Iceland through 98 prints comes out this October. Snap it up early for a pre-release price of £45 (excluding shipping) or if you miss out, it’s retailing at £55. opasbooks.com/book

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Interview Pro focus

Captured by the 5D Canon’s EOS 5D system is ten years old, and to celebration we caught up with one of its biggest admirers, pro landscaper David Noton. Here’s his take on the influential range… > Interview by Roger Payne

© David Noton

© David Noton

© David Noton

© David Noton

In 2004 David Noton was at a crossroads. 20 years into his professional career, he could see the inexorable march of digital technology and was ready to take the plunge. However, he was a Nikon user, which made his decision doubly difficult. “Nikon didn’t produce a fullframe DSLR in 2004, so I agonised over switching to Canon. In the end, my entire Nikon system went on eBay,” he tells us. “When you decide to commit to a system you shouldn’t just consider one camera, you need to look at the whole system, how the company views its professionals and whether it’s going to be a system at the cutting edge not just now but in five to ten years time. I felt confident Canon ticked all those boxes and I’ve had absolutely no regrets since.”

With no EOS 5D system in existence in 2004, David plumped for the EOS‑1Ds Mark II, then moved on to the Mark III in 2008.

The EOS 5D Mark II was launched the same year, so he bought one as a backup. But he soon realised the 5D Mark II had strengths all of its own.

“The comparison in image quality between the two cameras was so close – I’d defy anyone to see a difference.

But the 1Ds Mark III was a bulky camera, whereas with the 5D Mark II I could attach a battery grip or not.

In situations where weight was an issue, the 5D Mark II was better.

“I then bought the EOS 5D Mark III as soon as it came out and that, for me, really superseded the EOS-1Ds Mark III and became my workhorse body, which it still is today. It’s such

a flexible tool, good resolution but also very capable at high ISO,” he continues. “It was nothing groundbreaking but if you put all the changes over the Mark II together it created an incredibly versatile and flexible tool. People get really hung up on the small resolution increase, but there’s far more to it than that.”

When we talked, David was about to head to Scotland, where he was going to be using the EOS 5DS R. After initially trying a preproduction model he was sold on the image quality and believes the camera has changed the way he captures images. “It’s brought back the kind of care and thought you have to apply to your photography when you’re shooting with large-format cameras,” he admits. “That care

It’s changed the way I think about photography

should always be there, but slowing down and being more meticulous about what you shoot is crucial.

“It’s quite a demanding camera to use. Initially, I didn’t bother shooting with it handheld, but I have found that raising the ISO and shooting with image stabilisation on has tamed it,” he explains. “I look at the quality and it is astounding. Compare the technical quality with what I was shooting five or ten years ago and it’s night and day.” davidnoton.com

IMAGES David Noton initially moved to digital with the EOS-1Ds, buying a 5D Mark II as a backup but soon realised the EOS 5D system perfectly suited his photography.

This excerpt was taken from Professional Photo’s tribute to ten years of the EOS 5D system. Read more pro interviews, advice, features and gear reviews in the latest issue.

You’ll find more insight in latest Professional Photo – the only mag dedicated to full-time and aspiring pro photographers

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Technique Panoramic shooting

Broaden your horizons Great panoramic images take enormous skill to produce because you need to think outside of the viewfinder, planning and plotting a sequence of shots that will realise the scene as you imagined it. But get them right and you can make images like no other...

Words by Kingsley Singleton

© Kris Williams

If you’ve ever looked at a scene through your camera’s viewfinder and wished you could squeeze just a little more of the detail into the frame to make the perfect composition, then panoramic shooting is the answer.

Producing a wider than normal frame is easy in the modern era of photography, as specialist cameras and panoramic film are no longer required – you can even do it ‘live’ with a ‘sweep panorama’ function if your digital camera has it, or you can crop regular photos for a more appropriate, wider aspect.

But for best results panoramas still need to be created with sensitivity, making sure they work to capture the scene as your mind has composed it, rather than just for the sake of a wider view. And as you’ll find out in this month’s guide, panoramas aren’t limited to the horizontal either. Think outside a single frame and stitched views can give your pictures extra detail and depth, like Kris Williams’ sunset stitch of South Stack in Anglesey (on the right). Here, eight frames were combined for the shot, allowing a better view of the cliff face and lighthouse than a standard wideangle shot would have allowed.

So, this month brush up on your panoramic technique as we break the process down into seven steps, covering everything from better composition and framing to improved shooting and creative ideas.

© Kris Williams

1 For best results panoramas still need to be created with sensitivity, making sure they work to capture the scene as your mind has composed it...

How wide should your pano go?

Thanks to...

Our thanks go out to Brian McCready (brianmccready.com) and Kris Williams (facebook.com/kriswilliamsphotos) for providing their beautiful images and perspectives on panoramic shooting.

Composition is hugely important in all photography, but becomes even more vital and exacting when you’re shooting panoramas.

And probably the main stumbling block is that, while panoramas are all about creating a wider than normal view, there is such a thing as too wide.

Basically, if you try to take in too much, the scene will lose its heart and its balance, becoming simply a recording of everything in that location and not a considered photograph.

360º and virtual-reality panoramas are very cool, but for the most part they shouldn’t really

be considered creative photography; they’re unedited views, which are fun, but lack the impact of a proper picture. Like an orchestra with every instrument playing at once, they’re not selective, or edited or controlled – all those things that make a good picture.

Therefore, before shooting you still need to decide where the picture begins and ends, just as your viewfinder would normally help you do. Decide this, then compose and count the number of complete frames the scene covers.

If your camera has a 3:2 aspect ratio, like most DSLRs, this will ideally be no wider than two

horizontal or four-and-a-half vertical frames – a total aspect ratio of 3:1.

If it’s more than that, think about recomposing or the panorama will be uncomfortably compressed into a long and thin shape that causes strain on the viewer’s eye; the opposite of what you ideally want. For proof of this, look to Hollywood where even the very widest films don’t exceed 3:1 – the Ultra Panavision format of 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty comes pretty close at 2.76:1 – and most of the time these days it’s 2.35:1. Follow that and you’ll be onto a wide winner.

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Technique

2 What you really don’t want is for the viewer’s eye to be bouncing from subject to subject and failing to settle… © Brian McCready

Imagining a wider than normal frame, it’s obvious that compositional methods like foreground interest and lead-in lines need to be used differently; a shallow, long frame is not going to function in the same way as one that’s a lot closer to square, because there simply isn’t room for masses of foreground detail.

But that’s not a bad thing as the elongation means that panoramas can often function without much foreground at all (and it’s actually a benefit when it comes to controlling ‘parallax errors’, see page 30). So long as you create a balanced composition that will lead the eye in to settle on the distant view or a strong subject then you’ll have no problems.

With the broader angle of view you’re taking in, also be careful that there’s not too much going on in the frame, because just

like a regular scene, you don’t want various elements fighting for attention; in fact, you’re more at risk of this in a panorama than elsewhere.

A wider frame isn’t an excuse to ram everything you can into it and what you really don’t want is for the viewer’s eye to be bouncing from subject to subject and failing to settle; if the eye works too hard in this way it gets tired and the picture isn’t pleasant to look at. Conversely, sometimes the panoramic format actually makes more sense of a scene; its alternative shape being a natural way of simplifying a view.

The eye also likes symmetry, so there’s nothing to stop you from placing subjects centrally in a wider view if that makes visual sense; a lone tree or solitary lighthouse placed in the middle of a wider frame will accentuate them as singletons. © Brian McCready

Below Although the regular digital route of creating a panoramic image is to shoot a sequence of separate frames and stitch them together in software, there are now a raft of modern cameras that let you accomplish the whole process without going anywhere near a computer. When placed in their panorama mode, these work by capturing the wider scene ‘live’ as you turn through it, producing a single file with panoramic dimensions.

The shot below was taken on a Leica Q, which produced a 4592x1920 file straight out of the camera, but while the technique of shooting itself is different, the fundamentals of composition remain the same. Although panoramas are less reliant on such devices than regular frames, try to include foreground interest, or a lead-in line, as seen here at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial.

Composing for the wider view

© Will Cheung

Filling the frames Wide views don’t always need the same level of foreground interest as you’d find in regularly framed landscapes, but images still need a good flow. In Brian McCready’s shot of Brandy Pad in the Mourne Mountains, above, the view naturally sweeps down from the mountains and hills towards the water creating a simple and elegant composition.

© Kingsley Singleton

Above This panoramic image of the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye, was created from three horizontal shots; if you shoot vertically you’ll require more frames to cover the width of the scene.

Stitched in Lightroom, the latest version allows you to stitch Raw files into a panorama that’s still in a Raw format, so you can easily make exposure and colour changes.

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Technique © Kris Williams

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More frames, more quality Shooting at Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia, Kris Williams shot 12 vertical frames for the panorama above. The more overlap there is, the easier the pictures are to stitch and finally a crop can be made to refine the composition.

Turning heads for better shots For the most distortion-free results, especially when dealing with scenes that have complex foregrounds or other close-up details, like architectural interiors, you need to be aware of parallax errors – and how to deal with them.

Parallax errors occur when the camera’s line of sight changes in relation to the subject.

So, for example in one shot a foreground rock might line up with a part of the scene in the mid-ground or distance, but alter the angle of the camera in the wrong way and it will no longer be aligned, its relative position having changed.

Close one eye and hold your thumb up against something in the distance; then look at it through other eye and you’ll see how even a shift of 6-7cm in angle can throw things off. Like other distortions or changes in exposure, this causes problems with the stitching process later.

To fix the issue you need to keep the line of sight consistent, and doing that means turning the camera through the sequence of shots on a particular axis based on the ‘entrance pupil’ or ‘no parallax point’ (NPP).

Each lens has an entrance pupil and once the point of rotation is locked to that, everything will align.

Sticking to the entrance pupil however, is quite tricky, because it differs on each

Shooting for a perfect stitch It’s important to consider that, unless you’re using a panoramic-format camera, or one with a ‘sweep panorama’ function, you’re recording the raw materials to stitch your pano later. This isn’t a natural feeling when you’re used to perfecting a scene in one go, but you just need to get a series of images that are as level and distortion-free as possible, along with a good amount of overlap in them for the software to work with. Serious panoramic photographers use special tripod heads for their images, but you can usually get away with shooting from a regular tripod. The only time you may run into trouble is when you’re shooting with a very complicated foreground.

Don’t shoot with too wide a focal length; it’s natural to want to do this for landscapes,

but if you’re shooting at something like 16mm you’ll add a lot of distortion which becomes obvious in the stitch as bowed, wavy lines. A focal length around 35-50mm is more fitting and although you might shoot more frames that way, the increased quality is worth it.

Keeping level is best done by panning from a tripod and using a bubble-level or your camera’s electronic level (if it has one).

If you’re hand-holding, an electronic level is useful, but you can use the lines or AF points in the viewfinder too; align one of them with the horizon to make sure you’re following it.

Go for around 30-50% overlap of the frame and to help, pick an object at the edge of the first frame and make sure it’s in the middle of the next and so on.

4 Each lens has an entrance pupil and once the point of rotation is locked to this everything will align

lens and at each focal length – that’s where panoramic tripod heads come in.

These heads make it much easier to lock the camera’s rotation to the entrance pupil, by positioning it on a sliding bar. The entrance pupil is then calculated, usually by taking a couple of test shots until a foreground and background element are aligned. Once you’re used to doing it, it doesn’t take long.

Panoramic heads are an additional expense, but one that’s definitely worth it if you’re going to be shooting in this format. Take a look at heads from manufacturers like Nodal Ninja, Panosaurus, and Manfrotto, which cover a wide range of budgets and specifications.

Heads you win If you’re serious about panoramas, investing in a dedicated panoramic (or VR) head can make all the difference, allowing you to shoot more complicated scenes without parallax errors. Pictured here is the excellent Manfrotto MH057A5 Long Head, which you can pick up for around £350. © Brian McCready

The no parallax view Changing the camera’s shooting position, as you’ll naturally do even by a few millimetres when turning through a scene, leads to parallax errors. Herein, one shot will see that a close object will line up with a distant one, but in the next shot they will then be misaligned.

But by rotating around the lens’s entrance pupil you can make sure that everything lines up perfectly.

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Technique © Kingsley Singleton

© Kingsley Singleton

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Mix and match Shooting multiple frames to make a panorama doesn’t mean that you need avoid other techniques. In fact, mixing up your shooting and processing techniques can make your images stand out from everyone else’s. For instance, the picture above started life as 15 frames – three sets of five shots – that then made up an HDR panorama.

Improve results by mixing techniques Like any other photographic technique, panoramic shooting is simply a tool that helps you reproduce your ideas; it’s a method for problem-solving which lets you increase the amount of detail you can show by squeezing more of the scene into your final image. For that reason, it can be seen as very similar to shooting high dynamic range images; one solves the restrictions of focal length, while the other solves the shortcomings of exposure.

With that in mind, it’s well worth remembering that, just because you’re giving a scene the panoramic treatment, you don’t need to stop there; the images in your imagination can require more than one specialist technique to make them work.

For the shot above, taken in the North York Moors, I knew I wanted to make the most of the heavy contrast in the scene – the deep shadowy sky, and the patches of light on the hillside – and to finish it off with a mono conversion that’d allow me to work the contrast even harder.

To record all the light via an HDR process and to get the wide view, I therefore needed to shoot several bracketed exposures for each turn in the panorama. This eventually gave me 15 vertical shots covering -2EV to +2EV, which I merged in HDR Soft’s Photomatix Pro to give me three tonemapped images covering each part of the scene.

After stitching the three images with Photoshop’s Photomerge function and then desaturating the image, I went to town with the Dodge and Burn tools. This let me brighten the highlights and darken the shadows so I could achieve the high-contrast look I had originally intended.

Use manual settings for consistency Autoexposure is the friend of the modern photographer, but it doesn’t work so well for the separate images required to make up a panorama. The reason is that, as you turn through a wide scene, the light levels are very likely to change, especially if you’re featuring a low sun or sunset; shooting in auto, you’ll get a good exposure for each part of the scene, but it won’t be consistent across the set. Therefore you’ll need to use manual mode to make sure that your scene will be consistently exposed across each frame.

For best results, find the brightest part of the view, and set the exposure for that, taking a test shot to ensure you get good highlight and shadow detail. Also, take a shot of the darkest part of the scene to make sure it’s not too dark.

With the ISO, shutter speed and aperture set, you can shoot, but it’s good to reassess the exposure for each new series of shots, in case light levels have changed. Shooting in Raw is also a good idea, as Photoshop and Lightroom let you stitch multiple shots into a Raw file and enjoy the benefits that brings.

Once you’re used to the central techniques of composing and shooting panoramas, it’s well worth exploring other ways in which a stitched image can better capture the scene that you’ve found. For instance, if the scene demands a tall composition, rather than a wide one, like this shot from Tokyo, you simply need to pan up (or down) taking the same care when it comes to levelling, exposure and overlap as you would from left to right. If you’re using a panoramic head to turn through the entrance pupil it works in just the same way as it would if you shot a horizontal panorama.

You shouldn’t feel limited to a single row of shots to make up your stitch either; although we naturally think of panoramas as long, wide images, if you shoot several rows to cover your composition then you might end up with a much squarer shot, but could still enjoy the extra-wide view (as on page 28).

Remember that panoramic images can work for subjects other than landscapes and urban scenes, too. If you’re shooting an environmental portrait for instance, and you’re working in an interesting location, you can expand the view around the subject without needing to shoot at a wide-angle that would distort them.

The key is to free yourself from thinking of photography as a single frame. If you can do that then you’ll have more expansive images to show for it.

Left Horizontal panoramas aren’t the only way to go. Tall and slim, vertical panoramas are very fitting for urban scenes and can be shot in the just the same way as horizontal versions, making sure the exposure and shooting position are consistent. The latter can be even more important due to the amount of detail and hard-edged subjects. For extra detail shoot the frames horizontally and then merge them into a vertical panorama.

© Brian McCready

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Vertical panoramas & other reasons to stitch

Other settings which need to be kept in manual are white-balance and focus, as you don’t want these varying across the series of shots either. For white-balance, set the preset that best suits the conditions or dial in a manual Kelvin setting. For focusing, use AF as normal, then switch to manual to lock it in. Finally, it’s a good idea to remove your polarising filter if you’re using one, as shooting at different angles to the sun throughout your turn will inevitably give different results in each shot.

Print out and show off your panos To appreciate your handiwork – and the splendor of the original scene – print it out and get it on the wall. Using a commercial printing service is one option, but if you have an inkjet printer at home, that’s the way to go. Most printers work with a long sheet of paper and you don’t need a printer with a roller feed mechanism although you will need to make a custom paper size in Photoshop when preparing to print.

Before you begin though, you need the right paper. Permajet (Permajet.com) offers roll sizes in many finishes so you can trim it to fit, and a 13inx10m roll of Oyster costs £32.95.

Fotospeed (fotospeed.com) and Paper Spectrum (paperspectrum.co.uk) offer cut sheets as well as rolls. For cut sheets Fotospeed offers six finishes in 210x594mm size and a 25 sheet pack of Photo Smooth Pearl costs £29.99 or Platinum Baryta 300gsm costs £64.

Paper Spectrum offers three sizes of its Pinnacle Photo Lustre, the largest being 297x900mm and 10 sheets cost £23.99. Make sure you print your panoramic work and you’ll really appreciate the detail you captured.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Portable light

On location lighting The Profoto B2 battery-powered system is perfect for location photography whatever the subject. Here we take a B2 outfit for a nature ramble Portable flash has applications way beyond improving your outdoor portraits and such is the portability of the Profoto B2 off-camera flash system that it suits landscape and nature shooting too, as we see here.

Fungi is a challenging photographic subject in two main ways. Most species are tiny so a macro lens is needed and they generally prefer poorly lit, often awkward to get at habitats. Shooting with natural light necessitates a tripod and long exposures – and that can be awkward on windy days.

A battery operated flash system like the B2 seems the perfect solution.

The B2 system comes supplied in a carry bag, but for this trip, the two heads, power pack, cables and OCF Snoot from Profoto’s large range of light shaping tools were decanted into a photo backpack for convenience. A compact lighting stand and a clamp were included together with, of course, the camera, a macro lens and travel tripod.

The other key accessory not yet mentioned is the Air Remote TTL-N. The Profoto B2 system offers the convenience of TTL functionality with Nikon and Canon DSLRs. This radio trigger sits on the camera’s hotshoe and offers TTL or manual flash control, and from this unit, the power output of each head can be adjusted wirelessly.

All that sounds a lot of kit, but such is the smallness of the B2 power pack and heads that carrying it around was fine.

Once on location and a subject spotted, setting up takes a matter of minutes. One B2 head was fitted to a lighting stand and that unit was fitted with the OCF Snoot. The Profoto light modifier mounting system is really simple but very effective and secure too. Some modifiers like this snoot simply push on but the fit is secure so no issues with it coming off. Some modifiers have a clamp to hold them in place.

The snooted light was placed low to the front of the subject to spotlight it as well as light an area of dark tone directly behind it. A test shot with the Air Remote TTL-N in TTL mode showed that was contrasty and onesided. Perfect, now to balance the lighting up.

The Air Remote TTL-N was working very well with the camera and the exposure was perfect

Above The two B2 head lighting set-up was used for these pictures.

Above This naturally lit scene needed an exposure of 5secs at f/13 and ISO 100.

About the Profoto B2 system

A second unit was attached to a clamp and then tried in different situations. Again test shots were done in TTL mode, with just this single head firing to check the effect.

As luck would have it, a nearby sapling provided the perfect lighting boom arm and the B2 head was tried there first to give direct from above lighting. The B2’s low weight meant this was a practical option – heavier units would simply be too much for the sapling to support.

In the end, after checking out the test shots the second unit without any modifier in place was clamped to one of the tripod’s legs for frontal lighting.

Now with both units firing, another test shot was done and that looked spot on.

The Air Remote TTL-N was working very well with the camera and the exposure was perfect. Should it have needed adjusting the output of either head via the radio control is really simple and adjustable in 0.1EV steps.

The Profoto B2 system is available in different configurations to suit different budgets and needs.

The B2 250 AirTTL ToGo kit costs £1695 and this comprises a B2 head, B2 250 AirTTL power pack, battery, charger and cables plus carry and location bags.

If you need greater lighting flexibility, the Profoto B2 250 AirTTL Location kit comes with two heads and batteries and costs £2298. B2 heads on their own costs £540 each.

Once you have the basic kit, a wide range of modifiers including softboxes of various sizes is available in Profoto’s light shaping system.

For flash triggering, the ideal option is the Air Remote TTL radio trigger. This sells at £318 and is available in Canon and Nikon versions to give the convenience of full TTL flash control with most cameras from those brands. The unit sits on the camera’s hotshoe to give you fingertip, wireless control of individual B2 units.

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Advertisement feature

Above Lit with a B2 head fitted with the OCF Snoot and this was attached to a small lighting stand.

Above Light from one bare B2 head, held in place with a clamp on a tripod leg.

Left Lit with both B2 heads firing with flash metering controlled by the Air Remote TTL-N. The exposure was 1/60sec at f/11 and ISO 100.

Also, although a tripod was used for these shots, shooting at the camera’s flash sync speed with the B2 meant that hand-holding is no problem – a great help at awkward lowangle viewpoints and speeds up shooting too.

So, all in all, while many photographers will look at the Profoto B2 as an ideal solution for outdoors people photography it’s a perfect fit for other subjects too. profoto.com/uk

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Technique Lighting academy

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Most photographers start off with a single light and a reflector, so here are three easy ways to make the most of them...

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Simple, elegant softbox effects

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Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton Basic portrait set-up If you want flattering, even lighting on the subject, you need to reflect or diffuse the light somehow – both will give softer shadows and reduce contrast. Reflective umbrellas are often used for soft light, firing away from the subject to bounce the illumination off walls and ceilings for lots of scattering and diffusion. But with a softbox you can position the light closer and give it more direction while still combining it with softness thanks to their diffusion panels.

The larger and closer the light to the subject, the softer the illumination can be.

For a simple, classic look, place the flash with softbox a few feet to the front and at around five o’clock to them, firing it down a little for the most natural look – here we used a Lencarta Smart Flash 2 head and Profold 90cm Octa softbox with the inner and outer diffusers fitted for maximum softness. At this point, switch on the modelling light and check that shadows – even though softened – aren’t too broad or long.

For example the nose shadow shouldn’t cross the top lip and the eyes shouldn’t look ‘sunken’.

Position a reflector on the opposite side, using the modelling light as a guide to tell if it’s returning the amount of light you want. Only then should you use a flash meter (or take a test shot) to work out the exposure, as the light level will increase as the shadows are filled in. If you move the light, subject or reflector, meter again.

Far right With only one light and a reflector, you can get a soft, flattering look.

Middle With no reflector used, the shadows are stronger, but the light is still soft. However, if you position the light too far to the side – at three o’clock to the subject – the lighting on the face is split and becomes less flattering.

Beautiful clamshell lighting This is among the most flattering lighting effects you can get from a single softbox and reflector set-up. It works very well for simple beauty shots, giving a magazine cover-style look, where light floods the subject, reducing shadows, lowering contrast and giving a wraparound look.

Placed above the subject and set at the same angle as they’re facing, the alignment of the softbox creates a pleasingly symmetrical look to the illumination. The softbox should be used at around 45º so that the light is reasonably full and the soft shadows produced aren’t too long. Alone the look is still flattering, but the shadows are quite dark. When even a small reflector is placed at the opposite angle below, the light bounces back to fill in and lighten those areas.

If your flash has a modelling light you’ll be able to judge how best to angle the reflector and see the illumination move as you do – don’t rely on the room lights, as any reflection based on them won’t necessarily show up when using the flash as the light is bouncing at a different angle. If you’ve got no modelling light or can’t use one, shoot and review pics on screen to see how well the reflector is working. The colour of the reflector makes a difference, too. We used silver, which produces the strongest fill-in effect and more closely matches the colour of the light than the white side.

Above Placing the softbox above and the reflector below the subject creates a simple but effective clamshell look (right), filling in the shadows. Placing the softbox and reflector in this way also adds a pleasing and distinctive catchlight in the subject’s eyes.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Technique The kit we used

You can use this set-up in lots of environments, but it looks most dramatic with a darker background Moody, low-key backlighting The first two set-ups detailed on the left are great for basic, flattering portrait lighting, but if you want something more moody and dramatic, there’s plenty more you can do with just a single Octabox softbox and a reflector.

Although it normally relies on using two lights, a good one to try is backlighting and using a reflector to illuminate the subject’s face. You can use this set-up in lots of environments, but it looks most dramatic with a darker background.

Position your softbox slightly above and behind the subject, and turn it back towards the camera a little, so that it lights their hair, but not their face (avoiding the face isn’t vital, but it’s advisable if you want a flattering look, as even when using a softbox you’ll get lots of contrast this way). Now position a reflector on the opposite side to the softbox, and using the modelling light, check that it’s throwing enough illumination back in. An assistant or a stand is most helpful here.

The light returned will inevitably be at a lower level than from the flash as some is scattered, but the closer you position the reflector, the more intensity it will have. Its height also has a large effect, and for the most natural-looking results it should be angled similarly to the softbox behind. That said, angling it from below is easier and isn’t unattractive, with more of glowing look. We used a silver surface because, as with the clamshell lighting previously, that will bounce more light than the white version and looks more natural than gold.

To increase the intensity of the light, try using a grid (the 90cm Profold Octa softbox has one included) as this will channel the light more, preventing spill and, being more focused allowing a more intense reflection.

With the Octabox and reflector in place, and working well, we metered the light from next to the subject’s face using a Gossen Digipro F2. Metering here means that the exposure will be accurate for the face, which is what’s important, and at around 1/8th power we were getting f/8. However, to heighten the mood, and stop the backlighting effect being too strong, we dropped this to 1/16th.

With just a backlight and reflector be careful that results are flattering (assuming that’s what’s desired!). The light is best when it doesn’t cross the subject’s face (top left) and too much uplighting from the reflector can look odd (above left). Using the softbox without a grid (above right) gives a softer look than with (below).

READER OFFER

For the shots in this month’s Lighting Academy we used a Lencarta SmartFlash 200 flash (£109.99) with a 90cm Profold Octa softbox (£119.99) and a 5-in-1 collapsible reflector. The design of the Profold Octa softboxes (which also comes in 120cm and 150cm versions), allows the modifier to set up incredibly quickly when compared to a standard softbox. The Profold Octa softbox is erected just like an umbrella, but pushing down on a central collar and locking the mechanism in place, which takes seconds.

The difference between that and laboriously slotting rods into a tent is huge. The inner and outer diffuser panels then attach by Velcro, with the latter leaving enough space for an included grid/honeycomb to attach in front of it. Dismantling is just as quick.

Coming with a carry bag, the Lencarta Profold softboxes use a standard Bowens S fitting, so they’ll attach to a huge range of flash heads, but speedrings are available for fitting to other brands.

Right now, readers of Photography News can get a 10% discount on any Profold softbox – just point your browser at lencarta. com/profold.

Thanks to This month’s Lighting Academy model was the brilliant Harriadnie Beau (harriadniebeau.com).

Find out more about Lencarta lighting kit at lencarta.com, where there is also a blog with detailed lighting tutorials and practical advice on getting the most from your lights.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Tests Optics round-up

Lenses

With new lenses coming out all the time, we take a close look at some of the very latest touting for your cash Words by Will Cheung and Kingsley Singleton

Specs Price £699 Format APS-C Mount Fujifilm X Construction 11 elements in 8 groups Special lens elements Three extra-low dispersion elements Coatings Super EBC Filter size 62mm Aperture range f/2-f/16 in 0.3 EV steps Diaphragm 7 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, full-time Minimum focus 60cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 0.2x Distance scale No Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions (lxd) 105x75mm Weight 540g Contact fujifilm.eu/uk

A very fine performer capable of sharp pictures at every aperture

Fujifilm XF90mm F2 R LM WR £699 Years ago, the first lens every keen photographer bought after the 35mmstandard lens was the 135mm, a good general-purpose telephoto – the focal length this Fujifilm XF90mm F2 with the 1.5x crop factor of the format equates to. It’s a useful focal length for portraits, action, scenics and more, and it has an f/2 maximum aperture to help cope with less than perfect light.

The lens bears a strong family resemblance to other X-series primes, with a finely machined focus barrel, an aperture ring that can be set on 0.3 EV steps and there’s an A position for fully auto operation in program mode.

The lens has the WR designation so you know it is weather resistant to match the X-T1, and it’s also an LM lens which means the focusing system uses a Linear Motor for speed and quietness. Linear motors are featured in other X-lenses but this is the first X-series lens to have an innovative Quad Linear Motor which uses four magnets for greater torque with faster autofocus as a result.

Autofocus from infinity to minimum focusing distance takes about 0.8sec, and it’s swift, smooth

and silent. In good light there is no twitching, with the lens going through the point of sharpness and then back again in an instant. Indoors or when the light levels are low, autofocus remains responsive so long as the camera’s focus point is aimed at something within the scene with contrast or a hard edge. I shot a lowlight concert with the camera set to ISO 3200 and the lens to f/2, and it worked very impressively.

Optically this lens is a very fine performer capable of sharp pictures at every aperture. The central area is very sharp at f/2 and gets better from f/2.8 onwards, giving crisp, detailed images. Central image quality is high at all aperture settings and the same is true at the edges. Again, quality starts off high at the edges – although not quite as high as the centre – and the improvement with stopping down is significant at f/4 onwards.

In sum, this lens is capable of critical use at every aperture which means choice of f/stop has more to do with required depth-of-field than stopping down for better quality.

That’s a great situation to be in. WC

Full-frame

F/4

F/5.6

F/8

F/11

F/16

F/28

How it rates Verdict

There is a lot in this lens that appeals. Its optical skills are straight out of the top drawer, the fast aperture is more than a little useful and handling including speedy autofocus is impressive. It’s not a small lens though and fixing on the supplied lens hood adds another 6cm. It’s also quite weighty, and the lack of any IS system is the only detraction.

It’s not a cheap lens but it’s a brilliant, multi-purpose telephoto and one worth having in the bag.

Features IS would have given the lens top score

23/25

Performance First-rate sharpness at every aperture

24/25

Handling Works well, feels great, very smooth, big though

23/25

Value for money Not cheap, but it’s an excellent lens

23/25

Overall 93/100 This medium telephoto lens might not have universal appeal but it’s a lovely optic Pros Optical quality, 60mm close focus, full-time manual focus, fast AF Cons No IS

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Tests

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM £2799 A member of Canon’s L lens family, this is the world’s widest zoom lens (as claimed by Canon) and its rectilinear projection (straight lines stay straight) means it’s perfect for all sorts of subjects, especially scenics and interiors. At £2799, though, it costs more than most cameras which limits its appeal.

Construction is first rate, as you’d expect for the price, and the lens feels very, very robust while the separate zoom and focus barrels are smooth with just the right amount of resistance. There’s only one control on the lens barrel and that’s an AF/MF focus switch, but the lens offers fulltime override anyway.

The lens’s most notable physical feature is its bulbous front element and although the fixed cutaway lens hood does offer a limited degree of physical protection, its effectiveness in strong lighting is more difficult to gauge. Flare, though, is well controlled thanks to the various exotic lens coatings. Given the amount of exposed glass, it pays to regularly check the front surface for dust, scuffs and, god forbid, fingerprints.

This design does mean that if you intend to use filters then you’ll need to invest in the Lee Filters SW150 system when a suitable adapter becomes available. That is a significant investment but if you want to use filters then options are limited, and you can’t hold the filter in front of the lens because of obvious size, reflection, and flare issues.

This is a fabulous – and fun – lens to use. True, it’s a beast and frontheavy on an EOS 5D Mark III and the pair is a strain on the wrists, but such issues fade when you start to enjoy the lens’s amazing field of view. For drama, set 11mm, move in close, and dynamic foreground and amazing lead-in lines are yours.

11MM

Optically, the lens is no slouch which is just as well given its price tag.

Starting at the 11mm end, central image quality is very impressive from maximum aperture onwards and only slips away at f/16 and f/22 thanks to some diffraction.

Images are also full of contrast and detail which you may not expect from such an extreme lens. Edge quality is less impressive but that’s only in a relative sense. The extreme edges need stopping down to f/8 and f/11 for high sharpness.

A similar pattern of optical performance is seen at 16mm. There’s very good central sharpness wide open, improving to f/8 and f/11 and then dropping away at f/16 and f/22.

Edge sharpness starts at a higher level than at 11mm and is very good from f/4 onwards.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the 24mm setting gives a high level of performance too, notably in the centre where sharpness is very high from f/4 onwards, again to f/22 when the image loses its bite. Edge quality gains with stopping down, peaking at f/11 before fading away at the smaller values.

All round, it is impossible not to be impressed with this lens’s performance given its extreme wideangle setting. To be honest, f/22 is the only aperture to be wary of because image sharpness is less good – but even here some use of unsharp mask makes a noticeable improvement. WC

Optically, this lens is no slouch which is just as well given its price tag

16MM

Specs Price £2799 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Canon EF Construction 16 elements in 11 groups Special lens elements Ultra-low dispersion, Super UD elements, four aspheric Coatings Subwavelength Coating (SWC), Air Sphere Coating (ASC), UD (Ultra low dispersion) Filter size Optional filter holder Aperture range f/4-f/22 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Full-time override, switch on lens

How it rates

Minimum focus 28cm

Verdict

Focus limiter No

This is not a lens for the faint-hearted. It’s darned expensive and not everyone will have a use for it. It’s also a serious lens to use too – even more so if you want to use filters with it. But if it appeals and you have the budget, it’s a remarkable, highly capable optic.

Maximum magnification 0.16x (at 24mm) Distance scale Yes, and IR index

Features World’s widest rectilinear zoom lens

25/25

Performance It delivers very sharp images at most apertures

25/25

Handling Big, heavy and filter use difficult, but still rates very highly

21/25

Value for money It’s a serious investment, but potentially worth it

20/25

Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood Built-in Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions (lxd) 132x108mm

91/100 Overall An amazing lens with huge creative scope Pros Optical quality, wide setting Cons Filter use only possible with a suitable and expensive holder, bulky

Weight 1180g Contact canon.co.uk

11MM, F/4

11MM, F/8

11MM, F/16

16MM, F/4

16MM, F/8

16MM, F/16

24MM, F/4

24MM, F/8

24MM, F/16

24MM

The images We fixed our test lens to a tripodmounted Canon EOS 5D Mark III and then shot at every aperture and at three focal lengths.

The enlargements on the right were taken from the centre (left half) and the edge of the frame (right half) to examine sharpness.

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Tests

Kenko 2x Teleplus HD DGX teleconverter £279

Specs Price £279 Mount Canon EF/EF-S Construction 5 elements in 3 groups Coating Digital Multi-coating Diaphragm coupling Fully automatic Light loss 2 EV Minimum focus Same as prime lens Depth-of-field Half of the prime lens In the box Pouch, front and back caps Dimensions (lxd) 35.8mm Weight 157g Contact intro2020.co.uk

How it rates Verdict

Teleconverters don’t seem to be as popular as they once were, but there is every reason to consider them particularly if you’re a photographer who only occasionally needs extra pulling power and can’t justify or afford a longer lens in the first place. This Kenko unit at £279 is certainly worth a look. It’s cheaper and fits more lenses than Canon’s own which is a bonus.

Features Retains full lens functions

If you’ve not encountered them before, a teleconverter is a compact optical accessory that fits between the lens and camera body and increases the lens’s effective focal length by a factor of 1.4x, 1.7x or 2x, depending on the model. So fitting this 2x teleconverter to a 70-200mm results in a lens of 140-400mm.

Fit anything optical between the objective lens and the camera body and there is an inevitable impact, so there is a loss of optical quality as well as loss of light. A 2x converter gives a 2 EV light loss, so fitting Kenko’s latest addition to a 70-200mm f/4 lens turns it into a 140-400mm f/8 lens. With the excellent high-ISO performance of current digital cameras that is not the headache it used to be with film, but it remains an issue even on bright days.

This Kenko 2x teleconverter sells for £279 and it has the advantage of full coupling so the camera and the lens can communicate fully via the converter, meaning exposure control and autofocusing are maintained.

You even get the correct EXIF data on your files. AF is only maintained if the camera’s AF system can handle the lower light levels reaching the sensor through the lens/converter combination. You might find that the AF is working at your DSLR’s AF sensitivity limit so its responsiveness is dulled, and you might even find that manual focusing is needed.

The Kenko features five elements in three groups and multi-coating to optimise light transmission and minimise flare. It’s solidly built, too, with a comfortable grip. The unit’s only control is the lens lock release button and no issues with that.

I tried the teleconverter with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a Canon 70-200mm f/4 L USM telezoom. It’s a decent lens but not the best Canon offers and this highlights an important consideration. A teleconverter can’t improve the quality of the lens, it can only impact on it negatively, so using the best lens possible to minimise quality loss is obviously a very good

It was impressive – providing the focus point had decent contrast thing. The resulting Raw files were processed in Lightroom CC with default sharpening.

The Mark III with that lens worked well providing swift, smooth and nearsilent AF. With the converter added nothing changed, and even though the lens was an effective f/8 AF even indoors it was impressive – providing the focus point had decent contrast to work on. Even moving to an AF point away from the centre didn’t dent the AF’s performance either.

In servo AF the converter continued to perform well, and in good light or contrast, tracking was decent so good job there. AF was still good with close subjects (the lens’s minimum focus is retained) in favourable conditions.

For the optical part of the review, I mounted the camera to a tripod, set up the self-timer and mirror, and shot with the short, middle and long end of the zoom, using every aperture value.

Open aperture performance (effectively f/8) is very good in the centre but sharpness drops at the edges and was most noticeable at 400mm. Stopping down to f/16 improved matters noticeably at the edges and in the centre, too, and it’s probably the best performing aperture. Most lenses work best two stops down so that is borne out here, but then comes the practical matter of shooting at f/16. On a cloudy day with an action subject you might need ISO 1600 or more to enable this aperture with action-stopping shutter speeds.

Overall, though, the Kenko did well optically and mechanically but good camera technique is essential to make the most of the accessory. WC

140MM

200MM

400MM

Shot with Kenko with a Canon 70-200mm f/4 zoom on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. The blow-ups below were taken from the centre (left half) and the edge of the frame (right half) to examine sharpness.

25/25 140MM, F/8

140MM, F/16

140MM, F/32

200MM, F/8

200MM, F/16

200MM, F/32

400MM, F/8

400MM, F/16

400MM, F/32

19/25 Performance AF very good, optically good Handling Compact, well built

25/25

Value for money 20/25 Much cheaper than buying a long telephoto 89/100 Overall Handy for those occasions when a longer lens is needed Pros Compact, works well, cheaper than Canon’s and works with more lenses Cons Light and quality loss – a problem with converters generally, not just the Kenko

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Tests

Olympus 7-14mm ED f/2.8 Pro £999 Lens options for the Micro Four Thirds system continues to grow and this ultra-wide zoom is the latest from the Olympus stable. With the 2x crop factor of the format, this 7-14mm is an equivalent to 14-28mm in the 35mm format. A constant f/2.8 aperture 35mm format lens of this range would be a hefty piece of glass, so it’s no surprise that this lens is reasonably big for an Micro Four Thirds optic.

Its internal design, though, means the lens does not change size during focusing or zooming.

I tried the lens on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and OM-D E-M10 Mark II cameras. You won’t be surprised to hear that both combinations are front heavy but not uncomfortably so, and there is plenty of lens surface for left-hand support. Autofocus is lightning fast and in good contrast, even in poor light, locking on was no issue at all. In practical terms, the AF is also silent.

One quarter lens rotation takes you from one end of the focal length range to the other, and it’s almost identical in manual focus going from infinity to the lens’s 20cm minimum focus distance. One control

I thought could be better is the manual/AF clutch.

It could benefit from being a little more stiff as I managed a couple of times to inadvertently switch to manual as I pulled the lens from the bag.

At minimum focus and the 7mm setting you have about a two inch clearance from the front element so take care. Watch out for the lens’s shadow too if you move in this close.

Some keen landscapers might rue the fact that using filters is a challenge. If Lee came up with an adaptor for its SW-150 system (see First Tests this issue) that might be an option but using such a large filter system on such a compact camera system sounds counter-intuitive.

Nothing counter-intuitive about the lens’s optical skills. It is simply a consistently very sharp lens especially at the centre of the image from f/2.8 to f/11 and from 7mm to 14mm. In the corners and edges detail is softer at those apertures but can be easily improved with a little unsharp mask.

From f/16 onwards diffraction has an impact and the images are less impressive so if you want critical

Specs

results shoot within the range of f/2.8 to f/11 with f/5.6 being generally the best overall aperture for image sharpness.

Distortion is not such a big issue nowadays because it is easily fixed in software, which of course applies equally to such failings as chromatic aberration. But distortion, surprisingly for such a wide lens is under tight control. WC

Autofocus is lightning fast and in good contrast, even in poor light, locking on was no issue at all

Features A pro spec ultra-wide with plenty of specialist glass

24/25

Performance Less impressive at its two smallest apertures but generally a high flyer

23/25

23/25 Handling Very good even for a big lens in Micro Four Thirds world. Manual focus clutch OK Value for money You get a lot of lens and well priced at a smidge under £1000

23/25

93/100 Overall Great for scenics, interiors and dynamic compositions Pros Impressive AF speed, minimum focus distance, image quality Cons Manual focus/AF switchover ring could be better, filter use an issue

The images We shoot a great many and a wide variety of pictures for our lens tests. Here, though, we shot the same scene at three focal lengths and at every lens aperture to assess image quality. The 7-14mm was fixed to a tripod-mounted Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II shooting Raw format.

Construction 14 elements in 11 groups

Coatings ZERO – Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical Filter size Not applicable Aperture range f/2.8-22 Diaphragm 7 blades

Manual focus Barrel slides back

Verdict

14MM

Mount Micro Four Thirds

Internal focus Yes

True, this is a weighty lens in the Micro Four Thirds world, but the fact is remains that it’s compact for what you get and any negative thoughts about its bulk are swept away once you start using it. Simply, there is a great deal to enjoy about this lens. Its wide field of view is brilliant for making the most of strong foregrounds, it handles really nicely and optically it delivers in spades.

High sharpness, excellent flare resistance and minimal distortion all help to make this a very desirable lens.

10MM

Format Micro Four Thirds

Special lens elements Two aspherical ED (extra-low dispersion), 1 DSA (dual super aspherical), 1 aspherical, 3 Super ED, 1 ED, 2 HR (high refractive)

How it rates

7MM

Price £999

Minimum focus 20cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 0.11 Distance scale Yes, in manual focus mode Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Olympus use an in-camera system Tripod collar No Lens hood Yes, fixed Weather-sealed Dust, freeze and splash proof Dimensions (lxd) 106x79mm Weight 534g Contact olympus.co.uk

7MM, F/2.8

7MM, F/56

7MM, F/11

10MM, F/2.8

10MM, F/56

10MM, F/11

14MM, F/2.8

14MM, F/56

14MM, F/11

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Tests Specs Price £1849 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Pentax K Construction 19 elements in 16 groups Special lens elements Four super-low dispersion elements, two (ED) elements, two Super ED glass elements Coatings HD coating, Super Protect coating, Aero Bright coating Filter size 77mm Aperture range f/2.8-22 Diaphragm 9 blades, rounded Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, constant AF override Minimum focus 1.2m Focus limiter Yes Maximum magnification 0.13x Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No (in body) Tripod collar Supplied Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions (lxd) 203x91.5mm Weight 1755g Contact ricoh-imaging.co.uk

Pentax HD D FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW £1849 Launched at the start of this year, the HD Pentax-D FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW is designed for use with all current K mount Pentax DSLRs, giving an equivalent focal length of 107-307mm (due to the crop factor of those cameras’s 23.5x15.6mm APS-C format sensors). The lens features the company’s new High Definition (HD) coating designed to cut out flare and ghosting, four super-low dispersion glass elements, two Extralow Dispersion (ED) elements, and a pair of new Super ED glass elements – the benefit of which should be to counter fringing and improve image sharpness. There’s no image stabilisation of course as that’s inbody with Pentax’s excellent Shake Reduction system.

Thanks to its large maximum aperture of f/2.8, which is constant throughout the zoom range, the lens provides lots of light, so you can use faster shutter speeds in more gloomy sporting situations, such as under floodlights, and of course you also get a pleasingly shallow depth-offield, making it just as suitable for portraits or wildlife applications.

With a very high-grade, professional feel, a reassuringly solid build and an all-metal barrel, the 70200mm f/2.8 is also part of Pentax’s All Weather (AW) range, featuring extensive sealing to protect it against moisture and dust. And it has an Super Protect coating on the front element to repel water, oil and dust and make cleaning easier.

All this build quality and the fast aperture does come at a cost however – the lens is heavy at 1.755kg, and pretty hulking in its size too, with a consistent width of 91.5mm right up to just before the mount, leaving only a few millimetres between its girth and the pentaprism’s forward

How it rates

projection. The heaviness – it’s 600g more than the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 – makes it rather cumbersome to carry and swing around to follow subjects, and by the end of the air show I was using it at, it felt like I was carrying a wet Spitfire. But at least I got a workout.

Using the lens, handheld, on a Pentax K-3 II (785g fully loaded), it didn’t feel completely balanced either, but like all big heavy lenses, that weight can be born by a monopod or a gimbal head on a tripod, so it’s not necessarily a big deal. The zoom and focus rings are very nicely weighted and have a non-slip texture that complements the AW specification.

AF performance was rapid and very quiet, and the lens locked on with precision. To speed focusing further and prevent hunting, it features a focus limiter switch on the barrel, allowing you to restrict the range to 1.2-4m (useful for closeup portraits), and 4m to infinity (for sports or action).

Optical performance was overwhelmingly good. Shooting Raws and applying only default sharpening in Lightroom, at 70mm and at a middling 135mm, optimum centre and edge sharpness was between f/5.6 and f/8, while at 200mm results weren’t quite as crisp, but still very good, with the most clarity between f/8 and f/11.

There is minor vignetting at f/2.8, occurring mainly at the long end, but it’s negligible, easily correctable and disappears at between f/4 and f/5.6. Contrast remained excellent in most circumstances, even when shooting against the light thanks to the HD coatings and while distortion was invisible to the naked eye, automatic correction was applied by Lightroom’s own presets. KS

70MM

200MM

135MM

The images Shooting against a flat subject, like this window frame, allowed us to test the Pentax 70200mm f/2.8’s sharpness both at the centre of the frame, and the edges, throughout its aperture range. Images are shown at a 200% enlargement.

70MM, F/2.8

70MM, F/8

70MM, F/22

135MM, F/2.8

135MM, F/8

135MM, F/22

200MM, F/2.8

200MM, F/8

200MM, F/22

Verdict

This lens is a great performer optically and its build quality suggests it could survive a direct hit from an H-bomb. Its toughness comes at a cost though, as the size and weight will begin to drag after a few hours shooting unless you’re using support. Autofocus is fast and accurate, but overall it’s an expensive offering.

Features 24/25 Great build, weather sealing, an integrated collar and a fast constant aperture Performance Very good image quality and speedy autofocus

23/25

Handling 24/25 Top-notch zoom and focus rings, but heaviness takes its toll in carrying and use Value for money 19/25 Great quality throughout, but the Tamron alternative is a quarter of the price Overall Top quality, and tank-like build, with a price and weight to match Pros Image quality, build, AF Cons Heavy and pricey

90/100

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Tests Specs Price £349 Format Full- frame, APS-C, Micro Four Thirds Mount Canon EOS, Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X, Nikon, Olympus MFT, Olympus Four Thirds, Panasonic, Pentax K, Sony Alpha, Sony E, Samsung NX Construction 15 elements in 12 groups Special lens elements One High Refractive and one Extra Low Dispersion glass element Coatings UMC Ultra Multi Coating Filter size 67mm Aperture range F/2.8-32 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, manual only Minimum focus 30.7cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 1:1 life-size Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood included Weather-sealed No Dimensions (lxd) 120.6x72.5mm Weight 705g Contact intro2020.co.uk

F/4

Samyang 100mm f/2.8 ED UMC MACRO £349 Unlike many telephoto zooms and compact cameras that claim a macro function, the Samyang 100mm f/2.8 offers a ‘true’ 1:1 reproduction ratio at its closest focusing distance, so what you’re shooting is reproduced at lifesize on the sensor. While you’ll find dedicated macro lenses in a variety of focal lengths, at 100mm this one is good for subjects that require distance, like wildlife or where composition is restricted. The fast f/2.8 aperture lets in a lot of light, allowing both hand-holding in low-light situations and also very shallow depth-of-field, and combined with the 100mm focal length it can also be used for portraits and telephoto landscape shots. Available in 11 different fittings, the lens becomes longer on sensors with a crop factor, so you could have anything from a 150mm equivalent on a Nikon DX DSLR, to 200mm on a Micro Four Thirds camera.

We tested a Nikon-fit version on a D800 body and the pair proved very well balanced. The 100mm macro is by no means light, at 705g, but it weighs less than the Sigma and Nikon 105mm macro lenses. It complemented the camera body and didn’t feel front heavy, but on smaller, light bodies this will be less of a case.

The Nikon version is actually the lightest of the 11 fits (the heaviest is the Fujifilm X mount at 770g), but the lens is beautifully put together, with a smooth, mottled plastic finish to the barrel, and feels solid. The aperture ring turns at half-stop increments, but the Nikon version offers autoexposure when the ring is set to f/32.

Like others in the Samyang range, the lens is manual focus only, and ordinarily that might seem like an issue, but for macro photography, manual focusing is often preferred.

The lens is a joy to shoot with.

Focusing in live-view mode, and using a magnified view of the subject on screen, the 100mm f/2.8’s large focusing ring offers excellent control.

It’s well weighted and its finely grooved surface provides plenty of grip. The minimum focus distance is just over 30cm, and that’s where the largest reproduction ratio is found (it drops to 1:8 when focused around infinity), and to go from one end to the other, takes a half turn.

The Samyang 100mm f/2.8 macro uses HR and extra low dispersion (ED) glass along with Ultra Multi Coating (UMC) to improve image quality and give a sharper image, as free as possible from ghosting and fringing.

To test this we shot a macro subject in Raw and throughout the aperture range, with sharpness compared at the centre and edges of the frame. Results were good with some very nice details reproduced, and when focusing at the closest setting, to produce a true macro image, the best performance at both the centre and edges was between f/5.6 and f/8. Wide open details were still good, just not as crisp. Beyond f/11, sharpness dropped off in both areas as the effects of diffraction kick in, but pictures are still usable even at the top range. The lens displays little distortion and vignetting was well controlled (best results again were at f/5.6-f/8). No fringing was noticed. KS

Results were good with some very nice details reproduced…

How it rates Verdict

This is a well-built lens that handles very nicely, and it’s backed up with very good image quality at all but the very extremes of the aperture range. Manual focus only, its large focusing makes it a pleasure to use for macro work, but it’s a little pricey considering there’s no image stabilisation or autofocus.

Features Fast, constant aperture, but no image stabilisation or autofocus

20/25

Performance Very good image sharpness and very few optical defects

22/25

Handling Well-weighted focus ring control allows precise manual changes

24/25

Value for money Good quality, but pricey compared to rivals with AF and stabilisation

17/25

Overall A good lens that won’t disappoint macro enthusiasts Pros Image quality and handling Cons No AF, no stabilisation, pricey

83/100

F/5.6 Full-frame

F/8

F/11

F/16

F/32

The images To test the Samyang 100mm f/2.8’s optical quality we set up a simple still life and framed up the camera’s position locked off on a tripod. These images were taken at the closest focusing distance which produced a 1:1 reproduction ratio. Comparisons were taken from the centre and from the edge to assess sharpness at different apertures.

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Tests

Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art £949 Joining Sigma’s line of premier Art lenses is the world’s first 24-35mm full-frame zoom with a constant f/2 aperture. Priced at £949 and replacing three high-speed primes – 24mm, 28mm and 35mm – in the camera bag, this zoom deserves to be very popular.

Canon and Sigma mounts are on offer, with Nikon due later in the year.

The lens is beautifully put together, it’s solid and immaculately finished.

The zoom barrel is nice and firm to use, which is good as not much rotation is needed to cover the entire focal length range. The same applies to the focusing barrel – which allows full-time manual focus override – so it’s speedy manually focusing from infinity down to the 28mm minimum focusing distance. Get this close and it means the front element of the lens is just three inches from the subject.

Of course the short travel helps with AF speed as the camera’s drive motor doesn’t have to work too hard to shift the lens groups around. AF is swift and very responsive, and the lens’s hypersonic motor means it’s effectively silent – you can hear some low-level noise when you’re behind the camera but you will be the only person to hear anything.

To enable a constant f/2 maximum aperture, the front lens element is large resulting in a 82mm filter size, though normal filter use is straightforward. A bayonet-fit lens hood is supplied.

24MM

I tested this lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III shooting Raws processed in Lightroom with default sharpening.

The camera and lens make a wellbalanced combination that isn’t front heavy. Shooting at slow-ish shutter speeds for pin-sharp images is feasible though the lens doesn’t have inbuilt IS. As a guide, on a still summer’s day outside I got down as low as 1/20sec and still got acceptably sharp shots.

At 24mm, the central area of the image was sharp from f/2 onwards, improving when stopping down – the optimum being f/4 and f/5.6. By f/16 the image had softened by only a tiny amount. Edge quality at wider apertures was less good but from f/4 onwards it proved very good.

At 28mm, the best performance at the centre and edges was seen at f/8, and while image quality at the wider apertures was more than decent some unsharp mask was needed to make them crisper especially those shot wide open. F/8 was the peak and sharpness fell away at f/11 and f/16.

A similar performance to the 28mm setting was seen at 35mm. Open aperture central and edge sharpness looked very good but stopping down made matters better, with f/8 and f/11 critically the best apertures.

Flare protection was impressive and not even shooting towards the sun elicited nasty flare spots. No serious issues with distortion or CA either.WC 28MM

Specs Price £949 Format Full-frame and APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon, Sony Construction 18 elements in 13 groups Special lens elements One FLD, five Special Low Dispersion elements, two aspherical SLD lenses, one aspheric lens Coatings Multi-layer Filter size 82mm Aperture range f/2-f/16 Diaphragm 9 rounded blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, switch on the lens, full-time override

How it rates

Minimum focus 28cm

Verdict

Having an aperture of f/2 with such a popular range of focal lengths is really useful, and the fact that the lens is critically usable at that aperture makes it even more appealing.

This is undoubtedly a class lens that’s very capable and truly belongs to Sigma’s Art line. At £949 it’s a very tempting proposition.

Features Fast, constant aperture and very useful focal length range, no IS

24/25

Performance Very sharp, deals with against-the-light shooting well

24/25

Handling 24/25 Excellent AF, short focus and zoom throws, takes filters without extra accessory Value for money Price seems high but you get a lot of lens for your money Overall A top-end lens covering a really useful focal length range Pros Image quality, price, fast constant aperture, handling Cons No IS – a small detraction

24/25

Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 1:4.4 Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood LH876-03 included Weather-sealed No Dimensions (lxd) 122.7x87.6mm

96/100

Weight 940g Contact sigma-imaging-uk.com

24MM, F/4

24MM, F/8

24MM, F/16

28MM, F/4

28MM, F/8

28MM, F/16

35MM, F/4

35MM, F/8

35MM, F/16

35MM

The images We fixed our test lens to a tripod-mounted Canon EOS 5D Mark III and then shot at every aperture setting and at three focal lengths – the shortest, the longest and a midpoint. The Raws were processed in Lightroom with default sharpening.

The enlargements on the right were taken from the centre (left half) and the edge of the frame (right half) to examine sharpness.

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Tests Specs Price £849 Format Full- frame, APS-C Mount Canon EOS, Nikon, Sony Alpha (tba) Construction 18 elements in 13 groups Special lens elements XGM (eXpanded Glass Molded Aspherical) and Low Dispersion Coatings Fluorine-coated front element, BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) and eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) Filter size No Aperture range F/2.8-22 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus No Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 28cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 1:5

Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD £849 The first thing that strikes you about the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 is its size. In fact, you’d better hope it doesn’t strike you because it’s a real monster; it’s bigger and heavier even than Nikon’s chunky 14-24mm f/2.8, which its specification most closely matches. The lens is 100g heavier and almost 15mm longer than the Nikon, but that size is all about packing in quality and it’s fair to say the lens doesn’t disappoint. Fitting full-frame and APS-C Nikon and Canon DSLRs (there’s also a Sony variant on the way), the zoom features a fast f/2.8 aperture throughout its very useful 15-30mm range, making it a very attractive companion for landscapers and low-light photographers; and on the latter score it boasts builtin image stabilisation (Vibration Compensation) – a first for a lens this wide and fast. Topping off the build, the lens features moisture sealing, and while like the Nikon and Canon’s ultra-wides, its bulbous front element doesn’t accommodate screw-in filters it has a fluorine coating to repel water 15MM

and dirt, and make cleaning easier.

Handling wise, the lens is a real pleasure. On larger bodies, like the Nikon D800 we tested it on, it’s pretty well balanced, though it is still a little front heavy. Obviously it would be less suited to smaller bodies, but the lens is aimed at full frame cameras, so that’s to be expected. And while its diameter makes using the zoom and focus rings a bit of a stretch for smaller hands, their ribbed, rubberised designs are very nicely weighted. The zoom ring in particular has a very positive feel, turning smoothly with a nice short throw that takes you from 15mm to 30mm in less than a quarter of a turn and not showing any creep. Also on the barrel are two switches for AF/MF and VC on/off, both of which fall easily under your thumb.

The 15-30mm’s autofocus is brisk, accurate and near silent, thanks to a built-in Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD), but the focus ring remains active, allowing minor manual adjustments after focusing with the AF, and there was no hunting to speak

22MM

30MM

Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Yes Tripod collar No Lens hood Yes (built in) Weather-sealed Yes (moisture resistant) Dimensions (lxd) 145x98.4mm Weight 1.1kg Contact intro2020.co.uk

15MM, F/2.8

The images To illustrate the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8’s optical quality, we set it up on a Nikon D800 and shot square on to this church, so that sharpness could be assessed using details both the centre (right-hand boxes) and the edges (left-hand boxes).

Taking shots at the wide and long ends of the zoom as well as in the middle, and exposing throughout the aperture range, the images are reproduced as 200% enlargements.

15MM, F/8

of even in low-light. The VC function is excellent; we noticed a benefit of around three stops, and because the effects of camera shake are already less noticeable at wide angle, those with a steadier grip can shoot handheld at surprisingly slow shutter speeds, like 1/15sec or 1/8sec.

Equipped with a newly designed eXpanded Glass Molded Aspherical (XGM) and Low Dispersion elements, as well as a BroadBand Anti-Reflection (BBAR) and eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) coatings, the lens showed great sharpness and admirable control over barrel

distortion, though it does creep in a little at the wide end. There was great clarity at the centre, even at the widest aperture and focal length, and this got even better when stopping down to between f/4 and f/5.6. Corner sharpness reaching its peak at around f/8 in the middle of the zoom. Offering a great performance throughout, the lens actually seemed slightly sharper at its wide end, which is great, as that’s where I found myself using it the most. Vignetting, though subtle, was most pronounced wide open at 15mm, but quickly reduced through f/4 and was far less obvious at the longer focal lengths. KS

15MM, F/22

How it rates Verdict

Although it’s a hefty specimen, this lens packs a punch where it matters; in image quality, handling and focusing speed. Sitting very favourably in the ultra-wide angle bracket, it’s a near perfect landscape optic and one that should deservedly find its way into your camera bag.

22MM, F/2.8

30MM, F/2.8

22MM, F/8

30MM, F/8

22MM, F/22

30MM, F/22

Features Not much missing bar filter attachment and a distance scale

24/25

Performance Speedy focus and superb image quality even wide open

24/25

Handling Generally superb, but size and weight could put some off

23/25

25/25 Value for money Competes brilliantly with its camera brand rivals at a significantly lower cost 96/100 Overall A superb lens for landscapers at a brilliant price Pros Image quality, handling, AF, VC, price Cons Bulky and heavy, no filter attachment – or buy the Lee SW150 system

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Tests

Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 £3299 Every manufacturer hypes up their products. Anyone who says its xxx product is really average and not worth the money won’t be in business for long. So when Zeiss says its Otus 85mm f/1.4 lens is ‘the best short tele lens in the world’ you can’t but wonder if there’s any truth in the claim.

There are two lenses for Canon and Nikon users in the Otus range.

This one and the 55mm f/1.4, and both are aimed at Canon and Nikon users who’s first priority is top-class optical performance.

The Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 is a sizeable lens, dwarfing the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 and even Canon’s 85mm f/1.2.

It’s beefy too – it weighs around the same as a Nikon D4S body – thanks to its 11 element design and very solid construction. It is also a very tactile lens and the 3cm wide rubber-finished focusing barrel is silky smooth.

This lens is manual focus only so this is important and on the Canon fit model the focus barrel is the only control – the Nikon fit lens has an aperture ring. Focusing distance in imperial and metric units plus a depth-of-field scale are provided.

There are no bells and whistles here so no image stabilisation, macro mode or even a tripod mount which would add weight as well as spoil the lens’s design aesthetics.

You do get a bayonet fit metal lens hood. Should you want to use filters – and with this lens you’re surely going to fit a protection filter – the thread is 86mm and needless to say, buy the best you can afford and not something you picked up at a boot sale.

I had a ZE fit lens so tried it on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Mark III as well as the EOS 760D APS-C camera.

On these bodies, the combination is most definitely front heavy, but not uncomfortably so and the lens’s size means that your whole left hand can offer support. You wouldn’t want to hold the camera/lens up to your eye

Specs Price £3299

for too long though because you might start getting the shakes.

With no IS and the lens’s heft, you need to be wary about hand-holding at relatively slow shutter speeds.

Personally, I found my hand-holding limit to be 1/60sec and I wouldn’t drop down any further.

The smooth focusing has already been mentioned but bears repeating.

We’ve all gotten used to AF lenses where manual focus is almost a secondary function and often the barrel is loose or geared. Manually focusing many modern lenses is not always a treat for the senses.

Of course there’s nothing wrong in that, but the Zeiss shows how it can be and it is incredibly smooth and perhaps the only, very minor downside is that from infinity to minimum focusing distance is about three-quarters rotation of the barrel.

The bright viewing image means achieving pinpoint focus is simple enough (and the camera’s in-focus confirmation aid helps) and with such limited depth-of-field at maximum aperture, that is a crucial point.

Get the focus spot on and your hand-holding technique right and you will be rewarded with awesomely sharp pictures. It is critically sharp wide open and that impressively high standard is maintained throughout the aperture range.

Fine details within scenes are beautifully rendered with plenty of crispness and contrast. Stopping down does little to improve the very high image quality except perhaps in the extreme corners where detail is sharpened up, so aperture choice is really a matter of deciding much depth-of-field you want.

The lens is an apochromatic so no issues with chromatic aberration and flare is well controlled, too. I did shots without the lens hood with the sun just out of shot and suffered no ghosting or contrast loss. WC

How it rates

Format Full-frame Mount Canon EF (ZE), Nikon F (ZF-2) Construction 11 elements in 9 groups Special lens elements Six anomalous partial dispersion elements, one aspheric Coatings T* anti-reflective coating Filter size 86mm Aperture range F/1.4-16 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, manual only Minimum focus 80cm Focus limiter No

The images We shot many pictures for our lens tests, like this set below.

This set was shot with the Zeiss 85mm using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III mounted on a tripod. The Raws were processed in Lightroom with default sharpening applied. For shots taken at each aperture we then made an enlargement to help

Performance Optically brilliant

25/25

Handling Wonderfully smooth focusing but heavy

20/25

Value for money A top lens at a top price

19/25

Overall 84/100 It’s a no compromise lens but its no compromise price means few will get to enjoy it Pros Outstanding image quality Cons Big price, big lens

Depth-of-field scale Yes

Tripod collar No Lens hood Supplied Weather-sealed No Dimensions (lxd) ZE 141x101mm, ZF-2 138x101mm Weight ZE 1200g, ZF-2 1140g Contact zeiss.co.uk

F/2

F/4

F/5.6

F/8

F/11

F/16

A truly remarkable lens that sells at a remarkable price. Clearly, it is not a lens with mass appeal, but if quality truly counts and you can see yourself spending £3299 on a manual focus prime lens, then Zeiss is right and this is the best short tele lens in the world.

20/25

Distance scale Yes

Image stabiliser No

Full-frame

Verdict

Features A lot of lens, no frills though

Maximum magnification 1:7.7

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

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First tests Specs Prices SW150 Filter Holder Mark II £150, adapter rings £93.60, SW150 ND grad set comprising ND 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 £258, SW150 polariser £180, SW150 Big Stopper/Little Stopper £132, SW150 System adapter £48 SW150 adapter availability Canon 11-24mm, Canon 14mm, Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 14mm, Samyang 14mm Sigma 12-24mm, Tokina 16-28mm Dimensions 11 elements in 8 groups Filter holder 163x146x39mm Adapter ring 120x25mm Graduate filters 150x170mm Polariser, Big and Little Stoppers 150x150mm Weight holder 213g Adapter (Nikon 14-24mm) 140g

First tests Accessories

We get our hands on the latest kit and share our first impressions – so you know whether or not to add it to your wish list Reviews by Kingsley Singleton and Will Cheung

Lee Filters SW150 Mark II holder £150, adapter £93

Contact leefilters.com

Lee is committed to providing fixing solutions for new optics

How it rates Verdict

If you want to use filters on your ultra wide-angle lenses, options are rather limited and Lee Filters offers a great, albeit pricey, solution. The system is well thought through especially the adapter system which offers an elegant and secure filter-holding solution with no vignetting or internal reflection issues.

Pros The system works brilliantly and very effectively, excellent build quality too Cons Bulk, cost

I tried the SW150 system with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. To gather enough light to enable a constant f/2.8 aperture means this lens needs a large bulbous front element and the lens is fitted with a fixed vestigial lens hood. Using filters on this lens without a purpose-built holder just isn’t practical and even if you owned large enough filters you can’t hold a filter in place because you’ll suffer from reflections and flare.

As each ultra wide-angle needs its own dedicated SW150 adapter, not every wide-angle lens is catered for. For example, an adapter for the Canon 11-24mm tested in this issue is not currently available. However, Lee is committed to providing fixing solutions for new optics as they become available.

Lee has an excellent range of filters available for the SW150 system including a wide range of graduates, a circular polariser as well as the Big and Little Stoppers, so most needs are met.

Out of the box, the adapter separates into three component rings which is perplexing to start with. Checking out the video tutorials on Lee’s website made things clear and makes you appreciate the neat design. Once on, you can leave the adapter in place. Lee supplies a neoprene cover to protect the lens front element and while leaving the adapter in place does bulk up the lens it saves you time when you’re out shooting.

The filter holder and integral light shield slide onto the adapter and a locking screw holds it in position allowing for speedy orientation changes. The rubber light shield keeps out extraneous light so there is no risk of reflections or flare, and that makes the use of the Big Stopper possible. Owners of the Mark I holder

can buy the light shield separately. Because a tight seal is needed, sliding the Big Stopper into position, using the slot closest to the lens, means you may have to gently ease the light shield to enable this but that is a simple process. Just ensure the Stopper is correctly seated because any light leakage can ruin your shots.

My Nikon has an eyepiece blind but that can still leak light in bright daylight and I often (unless it’s really windy) drape a small travel towel, held in place with clothes pegs or clips, over the camera too. The towel is big enough to cover the rear of the filter holder too so I tried that on some of my Big Stopper shots.

However I didn’t suffer from any ill effects on my two minute Big Stopper shots in sunlight even without the towel.

With two slots, it is no problem combining filters. Something you need to be aware of with the circular polariser is that it is a square-shaped filter and that can mean for the maximum polarisation effect its orientation might not suit the use of a graduate filter at the same time. To have a polariser in a circular rotating mount wide enough for the SW150 system would mean a very wide diameter and expensive filter.

The size of the holder and filters does mean extra effort to lug the kit around, and that’s not helped by the usual bulky nature of fast-aperture ultra-wides.

If you already use Lee’s 100mm system, a £48 adapter is available to use the SW150 holder on the smaller system’s adapter rings so that might save you some weight.

Handling, though, is generally good, and it is certainly worth the effort to enjoy filter usage on ultra-wide lenses. WC

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First tests Specs

Hähnel Captur from £59.99

Transmitter/receiver set £59.99 Spare receiver £29.95 Module Timer £39.99 Module Pro £99.99

Captur Remote and flash trigger Availability Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Panasonic In the box Transmitter, receiver, 3 cables, 4 AAs Range Up to 100m Other features Receiver – 2.5mm phono, tripod bush Power 2 AAs Dimensions (lxwxh) Trigger: 87x43x33mm, receiver: 87x43x40mm Weight (with batteries) Trigger: 96g, receiver: 101g

Captur Module-Pro In the box Module-Pro and Module-IR, protective covers, 4 AAs Delay mode, Long exposure Up to 99h, 59mins, 59secs Interval timer 1secs to 99h, 59mins, 59secs, 1-999 frames, unlimited option Trigger methods Sound, IR, light, laser, auxiliary (such as third party pressure plate, temperature sensors, DIY options) Other features Lock possible, beep option, LCD stays lit for around 8secs, 2.5mm phono and micro USB sockets, tripod bush Power Two AAs Dimensions (lxwxh) 149x52x20mm, Module-IR: 79x63x23mm Weight (with batteries and protective cover) 154g, Module-IR: 108g Contact hahnel.ie

Verdict What the innovative Captur system offers is versatility in terms of your triggering method – and it is very effective too. Plus it’s flexible delay, long-exposure intervalometer as well as a radio flash trigger. At £160 for the transmitter/receiver set and the Module Pro, you have a great value accessory that deserves to be in your creative armoury.

Pros Versatile, adjustable, working range, good price, performance Cons On the Module Pro the connected nature of the delay, long exposure and intervalometer functions

Review by Will Cheung The Hähnel Captur is a radio camera and flash-trigger system available for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Panasonic cameras. A trigger and receiver set with leads and four AA batteries costs £59.99 (shown above) and for multi-flash set-ups, extra receivers are available at £29.95 each. If you want to remotely trigger the camera as well as a flashgun you need two separate sets.

The Nikon set I tried comes with three cables including the popular ten-pin.

It’s easy to use too, and when the units are powered up they automatically pair up or matching can be done using Digital Channel Matching (DCM). To do this, turn on the transmitter and receiver units while holding the release button. Turn them all off and they are paired when you next turn them on.

I tried the Captur as a camera trigger and a flash trigger with a flashgun slipped into the unit’s hotshoe fitting and it worked perfectly well. The supplied three cables does not include one for studio flash so you need a 2.5 or 3.5mm mini-jack cable (whatever your flash system uses).

The Captur receiver does not have hotshoe contacts for TTL functionality when mounted onto the camera so there’s off-camera TTL either. What you also don’t have is high-speed flash sync capabilities (Auto FP in Nikon, High Speed Sync in Canon).

As the triggers are radio – using 2.4GHz – range is excellent with 100m claimed and it also works round corners and through walls.

So far, nothing different in that and there are plenty of similar devices around. But buy the Module Timer for £39.99 or the ModulePro for £99.99 and your creative horizons are massively expanded. The Module Timer lets you enjoy time-lapse and long-exposure work, but given the money it is worth going for the Module-Pro set. You get the intervalometer/ long-exposure function and a great deal more.

The Module-Pro kit comprises two units, but it’s the larger one that is the key unit.

With it you can set the camera or flash to fire using sound, light and a laser. Use the two units together in IR mode and the camera or flash fires on the beam being broken by the subject. There is also an auxiliary option for third party or DIY devices.

Essentially, the Captur system is for creative still lifes, nature and action work as well as being a camera/flash trigger and intervalometer device Essentially, the Captur system is for creative still lifes, nature and action work as well as being a camera/flash trigger and intervalometer/long exposure device, so it is a very versatile system.

Set-up of the Module-Pro obviously depends on what you want to do. Basically, each mode lets you adjust sensitivity, the time delay, the length of time you want the unit to work once triggered and the number of shots.

So, in Sound mode, pushing the Set button takes you to a sub menu where sensitivity can be set between one and 99 – these are arbitrary figures, not related to decibels. Set to 99, I clicked my fingers behind my back and the camera fired. Set to one, a very loud whistle close to the unit was needed to fire the shutter. You can adjust sensitivity in real time by watching the green LED at the top of the unit. When it turns red you know it is detecting the triggering medium.

Next you can set the delay between the triggering sound and when you want to camera or flash to fire. This is adjustable from 0.00 to ten seconds in 0.01sec steps.

Next you can set how long you want the trigger to operate for. The maximum is five seconds adjustable in 0.01secs. So, for example, if the camera is set to continuous drive, and the Module-Pro is set to 5secs, the camera will continue to release for five seconds once triggered. In single shot mode, the camera will fire as often as the Captur trigger is tripped.

The final option is number of frames. This can be zero or set between one and 999. There is a ‘t’ option too and the camera will release according to how the intervalometer is set up.

These set-up parameters are available in Sound, Light, Laser and Auxiliary. In IR, sensitivity is set on the Module IR unit, with the option of high or low.

The laser option requires a separate laser – I used a projection pointer so these are easily

available. With this, the same fine-tuning options are available and you just need to set the laser up so it is pointing directly into the Module-Pro’s sensor. The top-corner LED changes from red to green when you have it spot on and the camera/flash will now fire when the beam is broken. The laser option gives a very narrow angle of sensitivity compared with the IR option, which has a much wider field.

Once you have the settings sorted, push the Start/Stop button and do whatever it is to trigger the camera/flash.

I have to say that the system works well and while it all sounds quite involved the reality of setting up the Module-Pro is simple and intuitive. However, as anyone who has tried to shoot balloons bursting or water droplets will tell you, you will have to fine-tune your camera/flash set-up, so you need to work at it and you can’t expect perfection immediately.

I found working out how the delay timer/ intervalometer worked took more time than the various triggering options. This is because the Delay, Long and two interval timer options are interconnected. While this does make the unit more versatile, it can be confusing to start with.

The important thing is if you just want a single time-delay shot or a long B exposure, then remember to check the interval timer settings before pressing the trigger button.

Just make sure the number of frames set for INTVL 1 is at one – don’t have the ‘---’ set because that means unlimited shooting.

Setting a figure higher than one means the intervalometer kicks in too. The process is easier once you done it a few times.

The upside, though, is the unit’s versatility.

So it’s easy, for example, to set a time delay and series of exposures, the gap and number of which you can determine, and then repeat that sequence as much as you want, with a time gap that you can set.

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First tests A

C

The Captur in use

B

D

E

One of the big plus points of the Captur system is its versatility and adding the Module-Pro opens up more opportunities.

For this test we explored the Sound option.

The aim was to record the instant a waterfilled balloon was burst by a dart. The set-up was fairly simple. I shot in the garden because I knew it would get messy and got everything ready at dusk to do the shots when darkness fell using the camera’s B setting and flash.

A water-filled balloon was hung from a crossbar using fishing line. I knew I’d need several goes, so had a dozen balloons ready.

A tripod-mounted Nikon D800 with a 105mm lens and remote release was used.

Focus was set to manual and I had a head torch ready to help here when it was dark.

Two flashguns were placed close to the balloon on lighting stands. I had a Nikon SB900 and a Phottix Mittros+. Both were used in manual, with their zoomheads at a tele setting to focus light on the subject. I wanted a very brief flash duration so set both units to their minimum 1/128th power output. After a couple of tests, I set the lens at f/8 (Pic A).

Both units were mounted in the Captur receivers’ hotshoes and these in turn were mounted in hotshoe adapters on the lighting stands. To detect the sound of the bursting balloon I wanted the Module-Pro close to the subject so attached this to one of the lighting stands supporting the balloon.

With everything ready, it was time to set the Module Pro at a level to detect the sound of a bursting balloon. I didn’t want to waste any balloons, so just gently clapped my hands to see when the Module Pro would detect the sound and fire the flash.

I started at its maximum sensitivity of 99.

A gentle clap from the balloon’s position and the flashes fired. Great. This is going to be a doddle I thought. A neighbour shut his car door, the flashes fired. Another neighbour’s dog barked, the flashes fired. Yes, the Captur is very sensitive, so I lowered the unit’s sensitivity to 50. A gentle handclap, no flashes; a more enthusiast clap, still no joy.

Back at the Captur, I set 65. This time the flashes fired on my handclap but ignored yet more car door closing and barking – the dog was probably barking at the flashes firing!

With the sensitivity set, it was time to do some test shots. The Module-Pro lets you vary the delay between the sound being detected and the flashes firing. I started at no delay – 00”00 on the LCD. I opened the camera shutter, threw a dart at the balloon. Missed. Threw another, missed; the third hit the balloon but punctured it rather than burst it.

Hmm, not a good start. Throwing a dart at a water-filled balloon in the dark and bursting it is not as easy as I thought. Of course, you can’t light it up to make things easier because that would ruin the B exposure. I turned the kitchen light on and that gave enough glow on the subject so I could see the target.

Another dart at a balloon and this time it burst and the flashes fired. Closing the shutter, I got a shot of the dart actually piercing the balloon. (Pic B) This was good, but clearly I needed more time delay. I set the Module-Pro to 00”20.

I was getting more accurate with the dart throwing now and the first dart was a direct hit. This time, I got a black frame with a few water droplets. Okay, so this time the time delay was too long.

I set 00”10 and got my first decent shot (Pic C) with plenty of water in shot, but no balloon material and no dart. From here I went to 00”05, which worked out fine, and I used the rest of my balloon stock at that setting. (Pics D and E) There are lots of variables so you need several goes. For example, one balloon burst but didn’t make a sound. But out of my 12 balloons I got five well-timed shots thanks to the Module-Pro, a good hit rate.

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First tests Specs Price £119.99 Mounting method Rubber strap In the box Bouncelite device, 2x filter cassettes, 6x colour temperature gels, storage wallet, flash spacers, neoprene case.

Bouncelite’s listed compatible models Canon 430EX I & II, 580EX I & II, 600EX-RT; Nikon SB-700, SB-800, SB-900, SB-910 AF; Nissin Di600; Di622, Di700, Di866, MG8000; Metz 44 AF-I, 52 AF-I, 58 AF-I, 64 AF-I; Leica SF 58; Fujifilm EF 42; Olympus FL-50R, FL-600R; Phottix Mitros TTL; Sunpak PZ40X, PZ42X, PZ-5000AF; Polaroid PL-126, PL144, PL-150, PL-160, PL-190; Sigma EF610 DG; Yongnuo YN-500, YN-565, YN-568, YN-600, YN-608; Godox TT520, TT560, V860; Aputure MG-68; Panasonic DMWFL500, DMW-FL580L; LumoPro LP-160, LP-180.

Dimensions (wxhxd) 88x137x109mm Weight 250g Contact bouncelite.com

Bouncelite Venue £119.99 Review by Kingsley Singleton Shooting with an accessory flash, or speedlight, is a big upgrade on a popup flash; power is greater and more controllable, and you can (usually) swivel the head to bounce the flash, so it’s not too direct. Yes, speedlights give better results, but you can improve things further with a modifier, like this Bouncelite Venue kit. Thanks to its unique design, the Bouncelite offers a range of lighting effects; you can soften the direct light via its large central diffuser, and bounce it at any angle using the bounce door section, which works like a much larger version of a bounce card. Because you can also get a mixture of both these styles its design makes flash lighting a lot more versatile, and it can be used in vertical and horizontal shooting positions.

The basic Bouncelite attachment is a sturdy plastic box measuring around 100mm high, with the diffuser dominating the front and a hinged door on the top, while the inner is covered with reflective panels.

It can be bought in three different kits – Solo (BL1, £99.99), Venue (BL2, £119.99), and Adventure (BL3, £139.99), each coming with the basic unit, but with the Solo you get a case, filter cassettes, and rubber spacers to enable a tight fit to your speedlight.

The Venue and Adventure versions come with those bits, plus additional colour correction gels to fit in the two provided cassettes (there are six gels on the Venue, and the same again on the Adventurer plus eight more colour filters and two ND filters).

We tested the Venue fitted to a Nikon SB-800 flash, itself mounted on a Nikon D700. Using the flash head vertically, and turning it through 90º, the unit is slipped on top and the strapped on with a heavy

duty rubber belt. With a good stretch of the latter holding it firmly to the flash, there was no movement of the unit detected, even when shaking the camera, or holding it upside down.

None of the included spacers seemed to be required for the SB800’s head, which measures around 60mm across, but if your flash head is smaller it’s well worth using them to compensate; they have a strong adhesive patch on the rear, so while they can be removed after mounting them, a dry-fitting test is a good idea first. Continuing the high build quality, the filter cassette slots in with a very reassuring click and the top door has a strong metal hinge with an Indirect, with diffuser and bounce

action that’s just stiff enough to give precise settings.

The SB-800 we tested it on weighs around 350g, and the Bouncelite 250g, so while nearly doubling the weight, the setup didn’t feel particularly unbalanced, just a little top-heavy, as expected. However, one issue of adding weight to the flash head, is that, even though the SB-800 has a locking mechanism, occasionally sudden movement would cause the head to flop over, so some care is required.

In use the Bouncelite worked well.

The front diffuser, while not large enough to provide very soft shadows, added a much smoother transition to Direct, no diffuser

Verdict The Bouncelite is a unique lighting accessory, and in just one unit it offers a range of styles, and effects that would normally require several. Because it does so much, in theory you can also leave it attached throughout shooting, whether you want the most direct results, diffused light, or colour effects to balance natural and man-made light.

For £119 you get a respectable amount of kit and the unit is very well made indeed, fitting and functioning smoothly, with a solid feel. In fact, the ability to improve flash lit results is priceless as you can’t correct badly lit subjects, so events photographers in particular should take a look at the Bouncelite.

Pros Great build and light shaping.

Cons Some weight issues.

Direct diffuser, no bounce

Direct diffuser, with bounce

The Bouncelite’s design makes flash lighting a lot more versatile results than the unmodified direct flash, and opening the door to let light spill and bounce filled these in further. However, we found the real benefit was in angling the diffuser away from the subject, while also opening the door, which gave the most indirect flash and shadowfree results that would have been impossible with a single flashgun.

Of course by rotating the head and opening the door you can still get a direct lighting effect from the flash without removing it if required.

Above With its reflector door, large diffusing panel at the front, and filter cartridge, the Bouncelite offers a mix of light shaping effects. Attaching securely via a rubber belt you can swivel it with the flash head.

Left Thanks to the Bouncelite’s design you can soften or bounce the light from your flash in a huge number of ways, varying the modelling and the look of the shadows. Here, four different approaches see the shadows soften from the original direct flash, finally disappearing as the Bouncelite’s diffuser panel and door are both directed away from the subject.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

First tests Specs Price £399 Camera compatibility Canon EOS-1D X, 1D C, 5D Mark III, 6D, 7D Mark II, 70D, 60D, 1200D. Nikon D4, D810, D800, D800E, Df, D750, D610, D7000, D5500, D5300 iPad compatibility iPad Air & iPad Air 2 Mounting method 3/8in universal mount Power supply 4x AA cells Battery life 15 hours Maximum working temperature 40°C Supplied cable length 1m USB cable Dimensions (wxhxd) 26.4x17.9x4cm Weight 290g without an iPad, 861g with an iPad In the box Manfrotto Director, AC adapter and plus 1m USB cable Contact manfrotto.com

Verdict The Manfrotto Digital Director is a neat ingenious device that is easy to use. The question is, do you need one? The answer, as ever, lies in what you do in your imaging.

It works really well in the studio, whether you are shooting stills or video, and if you are shooting outdoors remotely, although you are limited in range because it’s not wireless. It also might have a use for training where you can see the results immediately and on a good-sized screen too.

Pros Intuitive in use, works well, fast Cons Price, not wireless

Manfrotto Digital Director £399 Review by Will Cheung How we capture photographs and movies is evolving all the time, fuelled by manufacturer innovation and user ingenuity.

The Manfrotto Digital Director is a fascinating innovation with plenty of potential in the right hands. It’s an electronic device that is Apple MFi (Made for iPad) certified so it’s fully compatible with an iPad Air and works with most Canon and Nikon DSLRs – see the specification panel here or go to Manfrotto’s website for the latest information.

The Digital Director incorporates a dedicated microprocessor and works in conjunction with the free dedicated app. The combination works together to let you view the live image as well as letting you adjust key functions via the USB connection. Once you are happy you can take the picture or start recording remotely and download the result to the tablet – the results stay on the camera’s storage too.

Getting the unit working with your camera is very easy. It takes four AA cells and an AC adapter is supplied in the box too. On the unit’s base, where the battery compartment is accessed from, is a 3/8in screw fitting so the unit can be mounted onto a stand or accessory arm like those in the Manfrotto range or tripod – an adapter is needed to fit 1/4in screw fit devices. Also here is a USB interface, an on/off switch and the AC adapter socket.

The iPad Air simply slides into position so that the unit’s Lightning connector slips into the iPad’s socket. A simple slider secures the tablet into position. Plug the USB into the Director and camera and you’re ready to go. To ensure correct operation, turn on the tablet first, then the Director and then finally the camera.

A very short while later, you’ll be viewing on the iPad what the camera lens is seeing and you’ll

also have remote control of the camera’s main settings. This includes aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation and ISO, but there’s also white-balance, drive control and a degree of AF control.

The specifics can vary depending on the camera – for this review I used a Nikon D800 via its USB 3.0 connection. The supplied cable is mini USB fit so I reeded a USB 3.0

cable. Because my cable was quite short, I used a 3m extension USB 2.0 cable and that also gave me the chance to check functionality with a longer cable. In fact, I tried the unit with two 3m cables joined together and the Director’s responsiveness was just as quick as using a shorter cable.

The Director is fun to use and intuitive; it is like having a huge remote control. Everything worked more or less instantly including the shutter release and there was minimal shutter lag.

If there was anything slow performance-wise relative to using

a DSLR up to the eye it was focusing as you are using the camera’s live view AF. One thing to bear in mind is the burden on the camera battery. It will drain relatively quickly because the image is fed to the Director via live view, so make sure you have a spare if you are planning a long shoot. The Director itself lasted well on a set of AA cells – 15 hours is claimed. With the AC adapter in use, the iPad is charged via its Lightning socket.

However, if you have rechargeable AA cells loaded in the Director they are not charged via the Lightning connection.

The Digital Director interface The app displays a Gallery on the iPad, where you can categorise and filter your shots. You can also view (and in some cases alter) camera settings, such as exposure compensation, ISO, shutter speed, aperture and the histogram.

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Accessories test Buyers’ guide

Tripod heads

MANFROTTO XPRO 3-Way geared head £160 1

Type: Geared Height: 130mm Weight: 750g Max load: 4kg

SIRUI PH-20 £400 Type: Gimbal Height: 230mm Weight: 1.09kg Max load: 20kg

Explore the world of specialist heads and see how investing in different models can improve your shooting...

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The point at which you start thinking about tripod heads as separate things to tripod legs defines you as a photographer; most of us start off with a lowcost, all-in-one model where the head is stuck fast to the legs, but move on to twinning separate heads and legs and you’re really getting serious.

Unlike all-in-one affairs, enthusiast pairings let you adapt to different subjects, improve your shooting, and help you pack smaller and lighter, if required; they come in shapes and sizes designed to meet every need there is, so whether you shoot wildlife, sport, landscapes, still-life or anything in between, there’ll be something to suit your needs.

Even if you already have an enthusiast tripod and head set-up, investing in alternative heads is important because although you can often use the same set of legs for different subjects, different heads let you specialise and get the most from your shooting. Fortunately, the commonality of tripod head connectors means you can mix and match manufacturers, because the vast majority mount using a 3/8in thread and use a 1/4in threaded quick-release plate to attach your camera, and improve stability and the speed of access.

When buying, first consider the application; what are you shooting and what’s the best model for the job? After all, we can all agree that Ferraris are awesome, but trying to off-road up a mountainside in one is anything but.

So, while a ball head allows fast and free movement, it’s not necessarily as accurate as a three-way model. Pick the right head for the job and success will come. The weight and load capacity are also vital – you don’t want to be carrying more than you need to, but conversely if your kit is in the heavyweight bracket you need a head that will support it with ease. Also consider the load-bearing of the tripod it’s going onto, because that has to support both the head you’re using and the camera gear on top. Now let’s get to picking your next tripod head…

VANGUARD PH-304 window mount £35 Type: Window mount Height: 145mm Weight: 730kg Max load: 4kg

Type: Pistol grip Height: 125mm Weight: 440kg Max load: 5kg

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Above Though tripod legs can be used for a wide range of photography, specialist heads help you adapt to specific subjects.

NEST NT-301 Pistol Grip £35

3

Manfrotto XPRO 3-Way geared head £130

This XPRO 3-Way geared head will provide very precise framing thanks to the ‘geared’ part of the name. Like a regular three-way head, it pans and tilts both to the front and either side, but each axis has a rubberised ‘micrometric’ knob, which you turn to slowly change the orientation making minor adjustments easy to apply.

Unlike a ball head, you can adjust one plane of movement at a time, and you don’t need to support the camera when recomposing, so it’s great for macro work, or exacting architectural compositions.

The geared operation shifts the view about 5º per turn and there are builtin scales on the knobs to calculate this.

When quicker movement is needed, there are levers that you pinch into the knobs for a free, sweeping turn. Befitting its precision objectives, the head also has bubble-levels on each axis, so you can make sure you’re shooting straight.

The XPRO 3-Way uses a standard Manfrotto 200PL quick release plate and it supports loads of up to 4kg, so it will accept most DSLR set-ups. Weighing 750g the head has a sturdy feel, too, and a standard 3/8in screw thread, so can be mounted on almost any set of legs. manfrotto.co.uk

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Sirui PH-20 £400

When using long telephoto lenses, some support goes a long way in reducing camera shake and producing sharper pics. But you also need a freedom of movement and balance that isn’t usually offered by typical ball or three-way heads.

Gimbal heads, however, offer a much better solution, letting you mount long, heavy lenses at the centre of gravity of the lens and body, then track the subject with very little effort as, when correctly adjusted, the camera and lens will feel almost weightless.

This PH-20 gimbal head is a top-notch example and with its supporting arm being made from multi-layer carbon-fibre, it provides lots of strength at a minimal weight. Combined with aircraft-grade aluminium alloy in its bracket support, it’s a stable, versatile platform for camera and lens set-ups weighing up to 20kg, but weighs only 1.09kg itself. The carbon-fibre arm also means it’s more comfortable to handle in freezing conditions, where metal can stick itself to your hands. The head can move through 360º horizontally, and has a broad tilt range of +150 to -60º, so following subjects is easy. It also uses an Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release system, and a plate is included. sirui.eu

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Vanguard PH-304 window mount £35

Now you might think that a windowmounted camera support is a bit of a niche buy, but get ready to think again, because having one in your arsenal can be very useful indeed. This excellent example, the Vanguard PH-304 doesn’t only attach to car or building window frames, it’ll sit securely on pretty much any object that you can fit within its vicelike jaws; fences, branches, pipes… even the legs of a tripod itself are fair game if required, allowing an almost unlimited range of locked-off exposures and creative compositions. So, whether you don’t have your tripod to hand and simply want a little more stability in your shots, or need to position a camera in place that a regular tripod and head can’t reach, the PH-304 comes in extremely handy.

And with its smooth, free movement, you can use it for a spotting scope or video applications, too.

On top of the adjustable base sits a three-way head with a front to back +90 to -60º tilt and a 0 to 90º lateral one, and the head also pans through 360º. Camera attachment is via an included Vanguard QS-36 and the head will support loads of up to 4kg, weighing only 730g itself. vanguardworld.co.uk

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Accessories test VELBON PHD-64Q 3-Way head £115

INDURO PHQ1 5-Way head £180 Type: Five-way Height: 100mm Weight: 900kg Max load: 11.5kg

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Type: Three-way Height: 133mm Weight: 850g Max load: 10.4kg

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BENRO V0E ball head £110 Type: Ball Height: 94mm Weight: 370kg Max load: 8kg

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SYRP Genie Mini motion-control head £249 Type: Motion control Height: 40mm Weight: 230kg Max load: 8kg

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NEST NT-301 Pistol Grip head £35

The NT-301H combines a regular ball action with a specialised locking lever to make operation faster and easier, especially when shooting in gloves, which can be very difficult and fiddly when using smaller mechanisms. You simply squeeze the grip to unlock the ball mechanism, adjust the composition, then release it to lock again. The pistol grip format also works well when shooting from a monopod or where onehanded operation is required because you don’t need to support the camera after slackening the lock as you do on a regular ball head.

Made from high-grade aluminium alloy and supporting loads up to 5kg, the head is perfectly suitable for small to medium sized DSLR and also features a built-in bubble level for fine alignment and making sure you’re shooting on the level. As well as the ball positioning, it features a separate 360º panning function at the top, just below the included quick-release plate with safety lock. The fluidity of the head can be controlled using a separate lock and with a standard 1/4in attachment screw it can be used on any tripod or monopod. nest-style.com

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Induro PHQ1 5-Way head £180

Adding an unprecedented level of control to your shooting, the Induro PHQ1 features adjustment over five separate axes. These adjustments are possible, thanks to its dual tilt, base and top plate rotation controls, and together, they should allow any shooting position to be covered, particularly as rotation can be applied to both the base and the tilting head individually.

The tilt and the panning controls are each fully lockable so you can make precise adjustments to one without affecting the others, making the head an excellent choice for macro or architectural work, and there are bubble levels on each to help set a horizontal plane. Each axis, also has graded scales, allowing, along with optional accessories, a lens’s nodal point to be set so you can use the head for improved panoramas.

The PHQ1 is strong as well as precise, taking loads of up to 11.5kg, so even heavy bodies and lenses can be accommodated, and for further stability it uses a dovetail style, Arca-Swiss compatible quickrelease system. The tilt handles are of a folding design, allowing them to be tucked into the head when not in use. indurogear.com/uk

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Syrp Genie Mini motioncontrol head £249

Modern DSLRs can shoot a lot more than just stills, and time-lapse photography is a great example of that. The simplest time-lapse effects shoot long sequences of images from the same position, but for a little extra flare, the camera can be moved between shots; that’s where motion-control heads come in, allowing you to automate the process, and one of the most compact and easy to use is the new Syrp Genie Mini, which turns to give a smooth panning time-lapse effect.

Sitting on top of a regular tripod via a standard 3/8in thread, the Mini’s pocket-sized form supports anything from camera phones to large DSLRs, connecting via a simple accessory cable and being remotely controlled via the Syrp Genie App; beginner friendly, the App has lots of presets allowing you to shoot straight away. Capable of over 40 hours of time-lapse shooting and over five hours of video, the motion of the Genie allows perfectly smooth panning movies and it also has a neat ‘ease in, ease out’ feature allowing you to accelerate the motion at the beginning of a sequence and slow it at the end, which adds to the professional look. syrp.co.nz

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Velbon PHD-64Q 3-Way head £115

Three-way models are one of the most popular types of tripod head and with good reason; they let you position the camera with great precision as each movement can be controlled independently. They also allow onehanded operation if required and, with a panning control that ball heads usually lack, you can use them for moving video as well as stills.

This versatile Velbon PHD-64Q 3-Way head will support heavy loads, up to 10.4kg, making it suitable for large DSLRs and lenses, but it weighs only 850g, so it won’t slow you down on a hike. Its sturdy build comes, in part, from a magnesium alloy construction and the head offers full 360º panning as well as forward and lateral tilt, each controllable separately.

It comes with a large QB-635L quickrelease plate, but also supports the smaller Velbon QB-157 if you have those already in your kit, while the lateral tilt handle and panning lock can be swapped over to accommodate right- and lefthanded users. The lateral levers can also be retracted for easier transport and there are no less than three spirit levels so you can get shots perfectly level. velbon.co.uk

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Benro V0E ball head £115

Many photographers use ball heads due to the speed and freedom of movement they give, and because they’re more streamlined than threeway models. All those things are true of the Benro V0E ball head, but it also has some neat additions. For starters there’s a separate pan control at the base, which has scale markers for exact results letting you turn the whole unit without compromising the position locked in at the top. The anodised, polished ball section offers smooth movement, and is controlled by a large lock. There’s also a friction-control wheel to set the tension of the movement to a comfortable level.

Like most ball heads, there’s also a vertical notch for switching to a portrait framing, and the separate panning control makes this easier to use than on heads without.

The V0E ball head (and others in the V Series, of which the V0E is the smallest) uses a universal Arca-Swiss type release plate (a Benro PU50 plate is included), and to prevent any accidental release of this, there’s a pull-and-twist safety lock.

A bubble level is included to ensure the camera is horizontal and the head supports loads of up to 8kg, weighing only 370g itself. benroeu.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Technique Photo school

Camera class

Explained Metering modes

Everyone has to start somewhere, even pros, and in Photo School we look at the core skills every beginner needs. This month, all about metering modes, and how to control exposure in Lightroom Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton

Like foundations supporting a house, good metering is the basis of an accurate exposure. It’s the reading of the light being reflected from the subject and it lets the camera choose the appropriate exposure settings to record the scene.

However, if the subject is metered poorly, over or under exposure will occur, making the picture too bright, or too dark, and you won’t get the results you’re after.

Modern cameras’ metering systems should make a good reading easier than ever before. And most of the time they do. For one thing, light is measured through the lens (TTL), so that the reading is based purely your composition. In many cases, metering systems are also intelligent enough to read the subject and the type of light it’s in. So why do you sometimes still get exposures that are lighter or darker than you expected?

Well, it’s not really the camera’s fault. It’s only doing what you tell it. And there’s no perfect metering mode to use all the time. Whatever camera you have or mode you use, the system is basing its exposure on an assumption that the scene averages out to a mid-tone. This works fine for most subjects, but when the subject is overwhelmingly dark, or light, or there’s tricky lighting, like the sun behind the subject, it can struggle.

This problem is easily fixed with exposure compensation, bracketing or using the camera’s exposure lock, or by picking a light measuring mode that better suits the subject. See right for more. The other methods we’ll be discussing in forthcoming Camera Class features.

A

B

C Multi-segment metering This is the generic name for the camera’s intelligent metering. It goes by names like Evaluative (Canon), Matrix (Nikon) or ESP (Olympus) and divides the frame into segments, each assessed on its brightness. It can also take note of where you’ve focused, biasing the exposure to that area, or the subject type or colour. The segment pattern varies according to the camera.

Centre-weighted This mode biases the reading towards the middle of the frame. Therefore tones in the middle are given preference. Although exposures based on centre-weighted, can look similar to multi-segment metering, this mode is less likely to be thrown off by bright or dark areas at the edge of the frame. It’s good for portraits or backlit subjects, so long as they’re in the middle, metered area.

Spot (and partial) metering

A. Here multi-segment mode gives a lighter exposure than desired as it’s reading the whole scene and trying to balance the bright sun and the darker foreground. B. Basing its reading from the middle of the frame, here centre-weighted mode gives the best exposure, controlling the sun without the shadows getting too dark. C. Aimed at a bright point in the sky, here the spot metering mode produces a very dark exposure as it is reading very bright tones.

Spot metering is the most accurate mode you can use, but also the most fiddly as it’s used to measure just a small part of the frame – this can be 2-3% of the total area. Partial metering measures 10-15% of the frame. The benefit is the same; you can point the spot or partial meter at part of the frame you want to come out best – here a spot reading from the sky has silhouetted the boat.

Software skills Controlling brightness in Lightroom If you’ve metered inaccurately and need to fix an exposure in software, it can be done easily in Lightroom, and there are several ways to do it, plus safety nets to stop lightening or darkening it too much. Of course you can’t change the original metering or exposure settings, but the tones in the image can be lightened or darkened with great flexibility.

Once you’ve loaded the picture into the Develop module, locate the Basic tab on the right-hand side. It’s here that global exposure changes are made to the image (global being those which affect the entire image). The slider with the greatest say in brightening or darkening the picture is Exposure. This affects the image much like raising the ISO sensitivity in camera and it runs from +5.0 to -5.0 stops, so great changes can be made. Unfortunately, just like raising the ISO in camera, if you do a lot of brightening you can see digital noise creep into the picture. Here’s how to use it along with some other useful sliders in the same tab.

1. Use the Exposure slider

2. Control the highlights

3. Control the shadows

Drag the Exposure slider right to lighten all of the tones in the image (or left to darken them).

Note how the Histogram also moves to show how the tones are lightening (or darkening).

To check you’re not ‘clipping’ the tones and losing detail, switch on the Highlights (red) and Shadows (blue) clipping warnings using the arrows at either end of the histogram.

If you see clipped highlights move the Highlights and Whites sliders to a negative value, as above. As you do, the red clipping warnings will reduce. These sliders affect only the very brightest parts of the tonal range, so you can darken those parts of the image without changing the overall brightness of the mid-tones and shadows.

If you see clipped shadows, move the Shadows and Blacks sliders to a positive value. As you do, the blue clipping warnings will disappear. These sliders affect only the very darkest parts of the tonal range, so you can lighten those areas of the image without changing the overall brightness of the midtones and highlights.

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Competition Editor’s letter

Plan for the future

WIN!

Samsung memory duo

Capture life’s special moments across all devices with the ultra-reliable Samsung SD memory cards. Samsung’s latest SD cards can write data at an impressive 40MB/s and read data at an even higher 80MB/s. The cards are also amazingly reliable being water, temperature-, X-ray-, magnet- and shockproof, so shooting in the most challenging conditions isn’t an issue. We’re giving away two 32GB Samsung PRO SDHC UHS-1 cards to two lucky winners. Just complete the wordsearch below, and you’ll find one word in the list that’s not in the grid. Email us on puzzle@photography-news.co.uk with that word in the subject line by 19 October 2015. samsung.com and search for memorycards

I'm not being morbid or anything but I was thinking about death the other day, my death.

I’m not expecting to depart for the great darkroom in the sky any time soon but it was brought about by thinking about my will. And that got me thinking about prints – bear with me, all will become clear in a short while.

The thing is, when I’ve gone my sisters, nephews and nieces will rummage through my worldly possessions and much of them will end up going to a used-camera dealer, anything of value (not much) will be shared out, and the rest skipped. The rest will likely include the hard drives holding most of my photography archive, thousands of negatives and a couple of boxes of prints. These prints are A3s and A2s of trees, landscapes and other attempts at creative photography. Invaluable to me but meaningless to the rest of the world – and that includes my family.

The point I’m trying to make is that the valuable pictures, the truly valuable pictures, of the family at Christmas, weddings, christenings, barbecues and so on will be safely stashed on the hard drives heading for disposal at the local landfill site.

I know for a fact that no one in my family is going to fire up the computer with the hard drives connected and scour the Lightroom catalogues looking through thousands of images for these priceless shots. And I haven’t made it easy by having all these pictures in a folder labelled ‘Pictures: please enjoy upon my death’ sitting nicely on my desktop.

Long story short, I and most of you are not printing – and if you are printing it’s for a club competition or to hang on your wall so the prints, in all probability, will have no sentimental value to your loved ones.

We are shooting more than ever but unlike in the heyday of film when we went to the local photo dealer after special occasions and holidays with rolls of film to be processed and printed so you had something tangible to enjoy, these images will stay on our hard drives or used on social media sites. Neither have any long-term benefit to the family.

To be fair it’s not a revelation on the scale of an apple bouncing off Newton’s head or Archimedes flooding his bathroom, but it has made me go through my Lightroom catalogues searching for important snapshots that the family might enjoy seeing after I’ve gone.

And I’ve had 6x4in prints made of them at 5p each using an online lab – that’s £5 for 100, an absolute bargain.

These prints now reside in a fireproof box, alongside my hard drive back up and passport, with the key tied to the handle. I hope my family appreciate the effort when I’ve gone and if they decide to keep them like a family heirloom, my job is done. Perhaps you need to think about your legacy, too.

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As well as your local camera club, you can pick up Photography News in-store from: Calumet, Cameraworld, Castle Cameras, Jessops, London Camera Exchange, Park Cameras, Wilkinson Cameras

Photography News is published on the third Monday of every month by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Photography News is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Photography News that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. While Bright Publishing makes every effort to ensure accuracy, it can’t be guaranteed. Street pricing at the time of writing is quoted for products.

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Hasselblad shootLDN

London’s calling Hasselblad’s shootLDN event on 8 & 9 October is a must visit for any pro, plus you could win the chance to shoot our cover!

© Nicola Selby

shootLDN has plenty for photographers, stylists, artists and agents – anyone connected to photography could benefit Calling all dedicated followers of photography. Put 8-9 October in your diary, because you’ll want to go to shootLDN. The Hasselblad organised event devotes two days to all things photographic. Offering seminars on building your brand, lighting demos and live shoots, shootLDN has plenty for photographers, stylists, artists and agents – anyone connected to photography could benefit. And the best news is, it’s all free. Simply register at the website, and turn up. Just get there in good time to bag a seminar seat.

Seminars run throughout the two days and cover topics as diverse as The Rise of the Instant Photographer and Colour Management. There are Hasselblad-shooting, photographic royalty set to share their thoughts on photography, such as

landscaper Charlie Waite, portraitist Tom Oldham, dance shooter Nicola Selby and architectural specialist Sean Conboy.

Among the manufacturers demonstrating their wares, and the ways they can improve your business, will be broncolor, EIZO and Metro Imaging, plus of course Hasselblad, whose CFV-50c will be in action. There will also be opportunities to get hands-on and try things out, including shooting fashion with a Hasselblad.

Visitors will get the chance to shoot Professional Photo’s front cover image. Try your hand at shooting the cover during the event and you could be selected for a shoot-out: the judges will invite just two photographers to a special cover shoot at a later date. The winner’s image will grace the front cover of issue 114.

This year, the AoP Awards exhibition will run alongside shootLDN, in adjoining rooms at the Old Truman Brewery.

The awards ceremony takes place on 8 October, at 6.30pm – a perfect social evening during the two-day shootLDN event.

Tickets for the awards ceremony are available from the AoP. Also on display will be the Hasselblad Masters Finalists Exhibition. The icing on the cake, as two exhibitions, more demos and seminars than you can shake your ball head at, plus plenty of networking opportunities with fellow pros, adds up to the recipe for a perfect photographic feast, we think. See you there. shootLDN 8-9 October, 10.30am to 6pm Old Truman Brewery, London E1 6QL hasselblad.com

Photography News Issue 24 absolutephoto.com

Photography news

Editorial Team

Advertising Team

Publishing Team

Editorial director Roger Payne

Sales director Matt Snow 01223 499453 mattsnow@bright-publishing.com Sales executive Krishan Parmar 01223 499462 krishanparmar@bright-publishing.com

Managing directors Andy Brogden & Matt Pluck Head of circulation Chris Haslum

Editor Will Cheung FRPS 01223 499469 willcheung@bright-publishing.com Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire, CB22 3HJ www.bright-publishing.com ISSN 2059-7584 When you have finished with this newspaper, please recycle it

Contributing editor Kingsley Singleton kingsleysingleton@bright-publishing.com Features writer Megan Croft megancroft@bright-publishing.com Sub editors Lisa Clatworthy & Catherine Brodie

Design Team Design director Andy Jennings Designer Katy Bowman Junior designer Lucy Woolcomb

As well as your local camera club, you can pick up Photography News in-store from: Calumet, Cameraworld, Castle Cameras, Jessops, London Camera Exchange, Park Cameras, Wilkinson Cameras

Photography News is published on the third Monday of every month by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Photography News is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Photography News that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. While Bright Publishing makes every effort to ensure accuracy, it can’t be guaranteed. Street pricing at the time of writing is quoted for products.