Photography News Issue 25

News Tests Clubs

Exhibitions

Techniques

Interviews

Competitions

Reviews

Photography Produced by

Issue 25 19 Oct – 12 Nov

news

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

Taking the wide view

Buyers’ guide

See the SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD in action

The low-down on 10 top Tamron lenses: a lens for every occasion

Tamron’s SP family grows

Advertisement feature

Pro location shoot

Fashion forward Pro shooter Christian Altengarten tests the SP 35mm & 45mm

SPECIAL EDITION

See inside for more

SP primes & portraits with Martin Krolop

Tamron’s SP lens family has gained twins with the arrival of the 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD and 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD. Both lenses mark a new era for the brand with a fresh and innovative design philosophy Tamron’s SP lenses offer exceptional performance at competitive prices and a great alternative to camera-brand lenses. The two new SP standard prime lenses have seen Tamron going back to basics and starting from the ground up with new optical designs and great looking cosmetics with the emphasis on the design philosophy of ‘Human Touch’. So each lens features new typefaces for distance markings, a sleek and elegant barrel finish and, probably the most striking, a luminous-gold band that signifies the close relationship between the camera and lens and it will be a feature of all future SP lenses. Every lens in the range will also have an SP emblem on its barrel.

The great news is that beautiful looks come with class-leading performance. Both optics feature Tamron’s highly regarded VC (Vibration Compensation) system to minimise camera shake and maximise quality from the latest high resolution DSLRs, impressive minimum focusing distance for close-up shooting and the latest optical advances to ensure maximum image quality especially at the wider lens apertures. Low dispersion (LD) and extra-low dispersion (XLD) glass elements have been used to minimise chromatic aberrations and produce crystal clear images.

Tamron’s proprietary lens coatings, BBAR and eBAND, have also been used, to minimise flare and ghosting in challenging lighting conditions.

More and more photographers are enjoying the delights of attractive bokeh or background blur and with the excellent wide-aperture performance of these SP optics and the circular nine-blade diaphragm, beautiful out of focus highlights are readily achievable.

Both lenses are priced at £579 and will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sony fittings. tamron.co.uk

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

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Specs Price £849 Format Full-frame and APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon, Sony Construction 18 elements in 13 groups Special lens elements XGM (eXpanded Glass Molded) aspherical and LD (low dispersion) lens elements Coatings BBAR and eBAND coatings, fluorine coating on the front element to repel water and dust

Lens overview

Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD

Whether your interest is architecture, landscapes or people, a wideangle zoom is worth its weight in gold, especially if it’s a high-spec model with a constant f/2.8 aperture like this one from Tamron

Filter size Not applicable Aperture range f/2.8-22 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes, using Tamron USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 28cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 1:5 Distance scale Yes, feet and metres Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Yes, Tamron’s VC system Tripod collar No Lens hood Integrated flower shaped hood Weather sealed Moisture-resistant Dimensions (dxl) 98.4x145mm (Canon) Weight 1100g Contact tamron.co.uk

The advanced 18 lens element design gives corner-to-corner sharpness

Wide-angle lenses are immensely useful whatever your photographic interests and having a quality one available in your bag is totally worthwhile to ensure you make the most of great photo opportunities.

The Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 is a leading light among wide-angle zooms and its focal length range covers not just the popular settings of 24mm and 28mm, but at the short end goes as wide as 15mm. It’s perfect when you want really visually dynamic foregrounds or to shoot in tightly confined spaces. Such a great focal length range is immensely useful and that is enhanced further because it comes in combination with an impressive f/2.8 maximum aperture, which is constant throughout the range.

When light levels are low, mounting the camera and lens on a tripod gives you total freedom when it comes to aperture choice and depth-offield. On the occasions when a tripod is not a practical option, this lens features Tamron’s innovative VC (Vibration Compensation) technology.

Unlike like some camera shake reduction systems that only work in horizontal or vertical axes, Tamron uses a tri-axial system where the VC lens group works in conjunction with three pairs of driving coils and low-friction ball bearings to automatically compensate for any movement detected by the sensors and enable shake reduction in every plane. The VC system can give up to a 4EV benefit. This means it is possible to shoot at 1/8sec and get shots as sharp as if you had taken them at 1/125sec. Of course, lots of variables come into play here – such as weather conditions and the user’s ability to hold a camera still – and it’s possible to get successful, shake-free handheld shots at even slower shutter speeds. While it doesn’t mean that the VC system can replace a solid camera support, it does mean you can get sharp pictures in lowlight situations handheld and that is a massive benefit.

VC is just one of several key Tamron technologies embraced by this lens. The advanced 18 lens element design gives corner-to-corner sharpness even when used at its maximum setting and that high level of performance has been made possible by the use of several LD (low dispersion) elements and a XGM (eXpanded Glass Molded) aspherical element designed to control lens aberrations and enhance image quality.

Above Tamron’s SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD is capable of exceptional performance even when used at its maximum f/2.8 aperture. This interior shot of Chester Cathedral was taken at the 17mm setting to make the most of the interior and was exposed at 10secs at f/11 and ISO 100 on a tripod-mounted full-frame DSLR. With such a wide view, flare is a potential risk but Tamron’s exclusive coatings minimise that threat. There’s eBAND (Extended Bandwith and Angular Dependency) and BBAR (Broad Band Anti-Reflection) coatings to help deliver exceptionally clear images, completely free of lens flare and ghosting.

The bulbous front lens element means that a protection filter can’t physically be fitted but Tamron has fluorine-coated that element’s surface to repel water and dust. This coating also helps to make smudge removal easier, too.

Finally, the lens features Tamron’s USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) motor for responsive, accurate and silent autofocusing. The high torque motor together with the short throw of the internal focusing mechanism means autofocus is achieved very rapidly. In addition, the smooth manual focusing barrel can be adjusted at any time should the camera be struggling to achieve precise autofocus.

With photographers constantly striving to achieve images with a difference, this Tamron ultra-wide zoom has the potential to deliver outstanding-quality images with a difference thanks to its very wide setting, but its range also means that it’s ideal for general use, too.

News Tests Clubs

Exhibitions

Techniques

Interviews

Competitions

Reviews

Photography Produced by

Issue 25 19 Oct – 12 Nov

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

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FREE DIGITAL EDITION every month*

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Stirring stuff Salgado documents coffee growers, page 16

Camera Club of the Year winners Meet the reigning champions on page 24

WIN!

OM-D E-M10 Mark II

Samsung memory duo

Olympus’s latest medal contender? Page 36

Enter the competition on page 58

Classy G compacts from Canon Canon’s PowerShot family of high-end G-series compacts has gained two new members, the G5 X and G9 X

The PowerShot G5 X and G9 X are priced at £629.99 and £399.99 respectively and both will be available from this November.

The 20.2-megapixel G5 X has a one-inch back-illuminated CMOS sensor and DIGIC 6 processor and is aimed at keen photographers which explains its uncompact-like body shape and control layout. It has the profile of a scaled-down DSLR and while that might look unusual, handson experience showed that it handled really nicely. The integral zoom lens is a 4.2x f/1.8 zoom giving a focal length range of 24-100mm.

The G9 X is a slimline, easily pocketable premium compact with a three-inch touchscreen. It uses the same sensor as the G5 X, while the integrated lens is a 28-84mm f/2-4.9 optical zoom.

Canon also added to its EOS M CSC range. The EOS M10 is an entrylevel model with an APS-C sized 18-megapixel sensor working with

Speedy, manual and nicely priced a DIGIC 6 processor. Autofocus is handled by a Hybrid CMOS II sensor with 49 focusing points and the threeinch touchscreen offers fast handling.

Launched alongside the M10 is a new standard zoom for the EOS M

system. This is an EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM, a lightweight, collapsible lens with STM technology for smooth and near-silent AF.

Samyang introduces fast-aperture 21mm and 50mm lenses for photo and video shooters Continue reading on page 5

canon.co.uk

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

News ...Continued from cover

Speedy, manual and nicely priced

Samyang introduces fast-aperture 21mm and 50mm lenses for photo and video shooters

Samyang’s latest manualfocus offerings are aimed at photographers and video makers who use APS-C format CSC cameras. For stills, the 21mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.2 are priced at £279.99 and £309.99 respectively, and will be available in Sony E, Micro Four Thirds, Fujifilm X and Canon M fittings. The two video lenses, the 21mm T1.5 and 50mm T1.3 are available in the same fittings and are priced at £309.99 and £339.99, respectively.

The introduction of these new lenses brings Samyang’s range up to 13 photo and video lenses.

The 21mm f/1.4’s construction features eight elements, one low dispersion and three aspherical in seven groups. Samyang’s UMC (Ultra Multi Coating) optimises light transmission and minimises flare and ghosting. Minimum focusing distance is just 28cm.

Nine elements with two aspherical lenses in seven groups and UMC are the highlights of the super-fast 50mm f/1.2 together with the promise of lovely bokeh.

The video versions feature the same optical design but feature quiet and smooth de-clicked focus and aperture rings. The video lenses have the distance scale and T values marked on both sides of the lens for convenience during filming. All four lenses are available now. intro2020.co.uk

Intelligent Canons We caught up with Canon’s David Parry, product intelligence professional, about the new launches Interview by Will Cheung

“The top-end compact PowerShot G-range now has five members with the G5 X and G9 X joining the G1 X Mark II, G3 X and G7 X. “The G5 X is especially interesting.

Pick it up and use it, and it feels right. A DSLR looks the way it does because it has been developed over tens of years to look, act and behave in a certain way with buttons in a particular position because it is right.

The G5X feels right because it has the same sort of button layout as a DSLR. The viewfinder is dead centre in the body, which makes it feel natural in use. The shutter button and the lens control are in the right place, and the dial for the forefinger for changing aperture or shutter speed feels right and the rear dial for changing ISO feels perfect. Couple all this with the

flip-out vari-angle screen and you have a really good combination.

“You could say the EOS-M10 replaces the original EOS-M which has gone out of the market. So we now have two CSCs, with the M10 joining the M3. I think launching another CSC and a new lens system shows that we are serious about that market.

“The M10 could be the first interchangeable-lens camera for many users and the M3 is for people who want to delve into photography with a smaller, versatile camera. We will be steadily launching more CSC products but obviously we have a DSLR business as well. We now have a total of 11 interchangeable-lens CSC and DSLR cameras in our range.” canon.co.uk

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News News in brief Instagram users read this One Vision has recognised that there are huge numbers of people using Instagram and many of them are making 10x10cm prints. So One Vision has launched a series of products to cater for those folk. So there is the Ten Squared Print box, the Ten Squared Magnetic Print Frame, and the Ten Squared Peg Frame.

Ten Squared Print Box comes in 11 different styles and costs £12.50 each and with the box comes 27 prints that you can have made using a choice of nine print templates. Design and uploading software is available from the One Vision website. onevisionimaging.com

In-car cameras More and more drivers are fitting cameras to their cars in case of traffic incidents.

Garmin has introduced the Dash Cam 30 and the Dash Cam 35, priced at £129.99 and £159.99 respectively.

Both can capture in 1080p, 720p or VGA onto Micro SD cards. The 30 has a 1.4in LCD and the 35 has a 3in screen. Immediate playback on the screens is possible and there is a snapshot feature so they can be used to record any damage, too.

The Dash 35 is GPS-enabled so can automatically label footage with date, time, latitude and longitude details and speed. Have an incident and you know precisely when and where it took place. It also has driver alerts like forward collision, red light and speed camera warnings. garmin.com

Pentax lens ready for new full-frame DSLR? Pentax DSLR system owners are in for an optical treat with the arrival of a high-end standard zoom. The HD Pentax-D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 ED SDM WR will undoubtedly attract existing Pentax users, but the lens has been launched now in readiness for the company’s 35mm fullframe DSLR that has already been announced and is currently under development for a 2016 launch. On a K-series APS-C format Pentax the focal length is equal to 37-107mm.

This fast zoom has a 17 elements in 12 group construction that features three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and four aspherical elements to minimise lens aberrations and deliver high-

contrast, fine-detailed and evenly lit images. HD lens coating also helps with image contrast and combats flare and ghosting.

The SDM (Supersonic Direct-drive Motor) gives a quiet, high-speed AF. Should you need to tweak focus, the lens’s Quick-Shift Focus System lets you adjust focus manually without having to put the lens in manual focus mode.

Also featured is a weather-resistant build with seals to stop water getting inside the lens body.

This fine lens will cost £1149.99 and will be available later this October. ricoh-imaging.co.uk

Studio-quality light from your flashgun If you want to make more of your flashgun, check out these handy multifunction flash and brolly holders from Phottix. The Varos Pro BG Umbrella Holder costs £25 and is available in three sizes, Small, Medium and Large, capable of holding 25kg, 28kg and 30kg loads respectively. Each is solidly constructed from aluminium alloy and with metal cold shoes, and is designed to securely hold your flashgun and brolly on a standard lighting stand. The included tripod-mount fitting means that you can fix the holder to a tripod with a 1/4in or 3/8in bush. eu.macgroupus.com

Instant fun from Fujifilm Instant photography is hugely popular especially among younger photographers and Fujifilm Instax is the choice of many.

The new Fujifilm Instax Mini 70 is available in canary yellow, island blue or moon white and costs £99.99 including a ten shot pack of Instax mini film.

Inside its stylish body the mini 70 has an autoexposure mode that measures light in the scene and adjusts camera settings and flash output to give the best result, three-stage focusing (macro, normal and landscape), and there is also a new selfie mode. fujifilm.eu/uk

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News

Power to your portraits Popular portrait software PortraitPro has been updated and version 15 is now available. Three versions are available at special launch prices. The entry-level PortraitPro is a standalone software but doesn’t give Raw file support and costs £29.95; PortraitPro Studio is fully featured, works with Raws and can be used standalone or via Lightroom or Photoshop and sells for £49.95; and the top version PortraitPro Studio Max costs £99.95 and has all the features of the Studio version, plus a full batch mode. Mac and Windows versions are available.

Version 15 has a host of new editing features that will come in very useful to most portrait workers. Headline features include a full set of make-up controls for realistic cosmetic effects, an enhanced child portrait mode and advanced skin colouring controls to healthy, glowing flesh tones that don’t look over the top.

The software is easy to use and there is a great deal of manual control so if you don’t like what the software has done you can tweak and save the settings for future use.

The various versions of PortraitPro v15 are available to buy from the website. A free trial is also available. portraitprofessional.com

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News

Support on the go Manfrotto has added to its family of Pixi mini supports for CSCs, action cameras and smart phones.

The Pixi Evo is aimed at enthusiast photographers. This sturdy but lightweight support (it weighs 250g) is made from aluminium and will take a load of 2.5kg so CSCs and even DSLRs can be used. Or it can lend support to a telephoto lens via its tripod collar.

Its adjustable two-section legs have five selectable steps to cope with uneven surfaces and there are two leg angles so you can shoot ground-level images.

The Evo costs £44.95.

The Pixi Xtreme and Pixi Smart cost £24.95 and £34.95 respectively, and weigh just 191g each. The Xtreme is for action cameras and a kit is available which comes with a GoPro tripod-mount adapter. With the Pixi Smart kit is a special clamp to grip the phone securely in place.

Both the Xtreme and the Smart can be used as mini tripods but also can be used an ergonomic handgrips for shooting on the move.

All these units are in-store now. manfrotto.co.uk

Phottix Laso Canon

Calibrate it

Phottix has released a wireless flash trigger system for Canon flashguns.

The Laso system comprises transmitter and receiver, which work both with Canon’s RT wireless radio flash system and standard non-radio flashes. Available from the end of October, the transmitter costs £149, and the receiver is £99.

Datacolor has released Spyder5Studio, its latest colour-calibration suite.

Comprising three devices, Spyder5Studio is aimed at users who want optimum colour accuracy. It includes the Spyder5Elite monitor calibrator, the SpyderCube for setting the whitebalance, exposure etc. and the SpyderPrint for creating custom print profiles. The Spyder5Studio costs £390.

macgroupeu.com

Epson’s largeformat printers Epson has extended its SureColor line-up to include 24in and 44in largeformat printers. Already with A3 and A2 SureColor printers in the market, the larger SC- P6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 are designed for the pro photo, fine art and proofing markets, offering easy use, a wider gamut, vibrant colours and more neutral black & white prints.

The 24in SC-P6000 and 44in SC- P8000 are likely to appeal to the pro who’s serious about printing. Both use eight UltraChrome HD pigmentbased inks, which offer improved lightfastness on Epson’s Premium Glossy Photo Paper. The 24in SC-P7000 and 44in SC-P9000 use a ten colour UltraChrome HDX ink set, which uses a violet ink to reproduce 99% of Pantone colours. An alternative ink configuration is available with Light Light Black for high-end photographic and fine art use in colour and mono.

All models come with Epson’s SpectroProofer for fast, accurate calibration.

All models are available from November. Pricing to be confirmed. epson-europe.com

datacolor.com

In the air DJI has launched the Osmo, a camera designed to shoot sharp pictures and video in any situations. It uses DJI’s three-axis gimbal stabilisation technology to eliminate shake and its modular format makes it compatible with DJI’s Zenmuse camera series but it comers standard with a 4K, 12-megapixel camera with a 1/2/3in sensor and 94° field of view lens. The DJI Osmo camera costs £549. dji.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

News News in brief Profoto firmware update The latest firmware from Profoto, downloadable from the website, enables TTL flash control with Canon EOS 5DS/R DSLRs among other improvements and minor bug fixes. profoto.com/offcameraflash

Six app outfit from Macphun

//KIT PIC FROM PROFOTO// In Advertorial this issue

Save on a Hasselblad The Hasselblad CFV-50c digital back can be fitted onto V-system cameras dating back to 1957 so can now enjoy the latest digital imaging technology on your old ‘blad.

Until 31 December 2015, there is a special discount price of £5995 plus VAT. See the website for details and to book a demo. hasselblad.com/digital-backs/cfv-50c Four new voice recorders from Olympus The VP-10 is a pen-shaped digital voice recorder that comes complete with antirustle technology to enable high quality recording when then the unit is in your pocket.

It sells for £79.99.

The other three models are the VN741PV at £44.99, the WS-852 at £59.99 and the WS853 at £69.99. olympus.co.uk Snap from Polaroid The Polaroid Snap is a 10-megapixel camera with an integrated printer so users can enjoy 2x3in prints automatically after a picture is taken. Images are also stored on a Micro SD card so you can upload and edit pictures later. polaroid.com

Mac software specialist Macphun has announced a six app bundle for creative photo editing. Noiseless, Tonality, Intensify, Snapheal, Focus and FX Photo Studio are the six apps in the bundle and it is available from the website for $149.99. Each app offers something different and all are useful depending on what you want to achieve.

Noiseless is a very effective noise-reduction app that can be used as a oneclick solution or if you prefer more advanced customised editing is possible.

If you want excellent black & white conversions in different styles, Tonality is the app for you, while Focus lets you achieve lens effects like selective focus and tilt-shift after the shoot and without the need for specialist lenses.

Manfrotto’s street style Manfrotto’s latest bag collection is the Street range. Designed with enthusiast photographers in mind, these bags are perfect for the urban environment with excellent functionality, high levels of security and fashionable, contemporary good looks.

Four bags are on offer and all feature Manfrotto’s Protection System for maximum gear safety.

The Street Medium backpack costs £109.95 and is big enough for a DSLR and lens with space for a couple more lenses and accessories. There is also a 15in laptop pocket, and a tripod carrying solution.

For carrying a mix of photo and personal gear is the Street Messenger that costs £79.95. This has a 13in laptop pocket and a protective removable insert for a camera.

When you want to travel lighter, the Street Shoulder bag and the Street Holster, at £34.95 and £29.95, respectively, are good solutions to consider.

Both will take a DSLR or CSC with standard zoom and the Holster has a secure belt loop but can be carried on the supplied strap too.

The Street range is in-store now. manfrotto.co.uk

FX Photo Studio will appeal to the creative artist in you and a whole range of arty effects like pencil sketch and oil painting can be done easily but if all you want from editing is to remove distracting objects in your shots or smooth skin tone Snapheal is the app to try.

Finally, there is Intensify, an app that allows you to intensify contrast and make more of richly detailed pictures. You can either take the singleclick approach or roll up your proverbial sleeves and get really stuck in with advanced functionality. macphun.com

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News

Limited-edition Ricoh Only 1200 of these very special celebration kits will be available

Ricoh is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the first digital GR camera with the launch of a GR II Premium kit. With only 1200 units available worldwide, if you want to invest in this very limited edition, speak to your Ricoh dealer right now. The outfit costs ÂŁ999.99 and it will be available from 28 October.

The camera has the same specification as the standard GR II but the kit comes with several exclusive items such as the aluminium case, leather camera case, coloured ring caps, and a GR Digital anniversary pin badge. Also enclosed is the GV-1 external viewfinder, wide-angle converter, lens hood, and orange camera strap and jacket. ricoh-imaging.co.uk

Are 250-megapixel cameras on the way?

Canon has announced it’s working on a 250-megapixel sensor. The APS-H sized sensor measures 29.2x20.2mm with 19,580x12,600 pixels and Canon claims it can capture images enabling the distinguishing of lettering on an airplane flying 18km away. The lettering was seen when zooming on a section 1/40,000th of the image.

The sensor achieves an ultra-high signal read-out speed of 1.25 billion pixels per second, avoiding signal delays and time discrepancies. Video capability is equally impressive with movies delivered at a resolution 125 times better than Full HD and 30 times better than 4K. When the technology will appear in DSLRs is unclear, with incremental increases in pixel count more likely first.

That said, the company also announced an 8K video camera and a 120-megapixel DSLR are in development... canon.co.uk

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News © David Noton

Noton show on the road Leading landscape photographer David Noton’s Chasing the Light Roadshow is taking place at the Chequer Mead Community Arts Centre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead on Tuesday 24 November at 7.30pm.

In his talk, Noton will take viewers on a journey around the world with stories behind some of his brilliant pictures.

Canon UK is supporting this talk and will have an array of its latest cameras and lenses available to get hands-on with, and experts will be available to answer questions.

Noton will also have his books and DVDs on sale, too.

Tickets cost £15, £11 for concessions, and are available from the website below. chequermead.org.uk/whats-on/theatre/

News in brief

© David Noton

Amazing science Revelations: Experiments in Photography features pictures from the 19th century onwards and includes historic images

by Talbot and Muybridge. The show features rare and trailblazing scientific images such as early X-ray prints, speeding bullets and water splashes.

Revelations also explores and highlights the relationship between scientific imagery and the work of contemporary artists.

The show is at the National Media Museum, from 20 November until 3 February 2016. Entry is free. nationalmediamuseum.org. uk

© Bullet through Apple, 1964 – Color . Harold Edgerton, MIT, 2015, courtesy of Palm Press, Inc.

© Peter Dench

Dench does Dallas 50 decisive moments © Madrid, Spain 1933. Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Courtesy Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson

On show until 29 October at the Fine Art Society in London’s New Bond Street are 50 masterpieces by the legendary photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Cartier-Bresson was one of the greatest and most-influential photographers of the 20th century, and you can enjoy his most iconic images at this show. The exhibition has been staged in collaboration with the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica. Fetterman worked closely with Cartier-Bresson for over 14 years.

The gallery is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm and the nearest Tube stations are Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Green Park. faslondon.com

Olympus commissioned Peter Dench to photograph the American city of Dallas using the OM-D E-M5 Mark II. Dench normally uses a full-frame DSLR so using a different camera in a new setting was a potential challenge for him.

“The lightweight camera and accessories saved me energy in sweltering conditions and its performance gave me the confidence to discard the flash in many low-light situations,” comments Dench.

“I was really excited to point the camera at people, and it was great to

see that people wanted the camera pointed at them.

“It made me a better photographer.

I was inspired to explore more intensely; I paid greater attention to the movement of light and tightened up my compositions.”

This exhibition opens on 29 October at the Bermondsey Project Space and runs until 7 November.

Entry is free and it’s open 11am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 4pm on Saturday. olympus-imagespace.co.uk

Get the bird The North West Bird Watching Festival takes place at Wildfowl & Wetland Trust Martin Mere in Lancashire on 21 and 22 November.

Over the two days, there will be six speakers including Andy Rouse, Mark Avery and Simon Barnes and there will be seminars too.

The reserve opens at 8am so there are winter photo opportunities with thousands of pink-footed geese and Whooper swans as they awake and leave their roost. Later in the day there is the chance to shoot up to a thousand Whooper swans feeding.

It should be an actionpacked event and adult tickets cost £17, £14 concessions. For full details see the website. wwt.org.uk/nwbwf

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

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

Clubs

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

We need words and pictures by 5 November for the next issue of Photography News, which will be available from 16 November. 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.

© Charlie Waite

News in brief

Deadline for the next issue: 5 November 2015

© Barry Dewdney

Make landscapes with Charlie Waite

Doyen of British landscape photography visits Viewfinder PS Award-winning landscape photographer, Charlie Waite is visiting the University of Hull, on Thursday 29 October. Courtesy of Viewfinder Photographic Society, Charlie will be giving his new talk, Behind the Photograph – making landscape images, and showing some of his photography.

Charlie has lectured throughout the UK, Europe and the US over the last 25 years, as well as holding numerous one-man exhibitions, and publishing a number of photographic technique books. He was awarded a direct fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society in 2014.

Tickets for the event are £8, under 16s £5, by calling 01482 876370, emailing tickets@viewfinderphoto. org or visiting the website.

Gavin Hoey shakes up Worthing YouTube and Adorama TV star, and photoshop expert, Gavin Hoey is visiting Worthing Camera Club on 27 October. He’s delivering a lecture, Camera Shake Up, which covers a variety of photographic and postprocessing techniques and includes demonstrations.

The talk is at Lancing Parish Hall, Lancing. It starts at 7.30pm and entry is £5. There will be light refreshments and a raffle during the interval.

Worthing CC meets on Tuesdays at the Quaker Meeting House in Worthing. worthingcameraclub.org.uk

Left Valensole II, France, by Charlie Waite.

© Kathryn Graham

Enfield’s annual exhibition Enfield Camera Club is holding its annual exhibition at the Dugdale Centre’s Gallery, from Monday 2 until Saturday 14 November.

The exhibition features mounted prints by the entire club, from enthusiastic, comparative beginners to highly technical, advanced workers. A popular event, the exhibition is always well received and has led to new members joining in past years.

Admission is free, and visitors can vote for their favourite photos.

Refreshments are available at the centre’s cafe.

The club meets on Thursdays and its programme features illustrated talks as well as competitions. Find out more on their website. enfieldcameraclub.co.uk

viewfinderphoto.org

Busy bees at Farnborough There’s a busy schedule at Farnborough Camera Club this month, with Travel Photographer of the Year 2013 finalist Tim Mannakee visiting, a macro evening and a fungi field trip planned.

Tim Mannakee is visiting on 22 October with his talk, The Secret to Travel Photography – so get your skates on, tickets are available on the door. He’s showing both landscape

and people images. On 29 October, the macro evening is a practical session, with different techniques and equipment being demonstrated.

And the fungi field trip is planned for Friday 30 October.

For more information about future meetings and events, visit the club’s website.

Harwich & Dovercourt CC changes gear

In preparation for its Diamond Jubilee next year, Harwich & Dovercourt Camera Club has splashed the cash to superzoom them into the 21st century, but has still retained its wide-angle appeal.

Under the stewardship of chairman, George Fossey, the club boasts state-of-the-art equipment like a powered wall-sized screen and topof-the-range Epson DPI projector, so members and visitors can enjoy photography and even videography in high definition.

The club meets every other Monday evening at the Ramsey Memorial Hall, Harwich throughout the year, and also organises special events and training on other Monday evenings. Everyone is welcome to visit and join the friendly, thriving club. harwichcameraclub.co.uk

farnboroughcameraclub.org

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

News Salgado book

Spilling the beans Sebastião Salgado is one of the world’s leading photojournalists and his latest book brings together ten years of his work documenting the grass roots of the world’s coffee trade

Sebastião Salgado’s photographic career began in 1973 when he made switched from being an economist. His black & white documentary images led him to work for photo agencies Sygma, Gamma and later Magnum Photos, before setting up his own agency with his wife, Amazonas Images.

My own earliest recollection of his work was a photo essay published in The Sunday Times Magazine sometime during the mid-eighties of pictures from the Serra Pelada gold mine in Brazil. His shots of the pain, hardship and spirit of people in atrocious, dangerous conditions, digging for gold by hand were truly memorable.

The Scent of a Dream is Salgado’s latest book (published last month) and represents more than ten years of work documenting sustainable and traditional coffee growing across the globe, covering, among others, China, Colombia, Guatemala, India and his own native Brazil.

“I began working on it [the book] in 2002 almost in my own backyard,” he says, “in the contiguous states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, where rolling hills are landscaped with acres upon acres of coffee trees under the sun. My first stop was the area around Manhuaçu, where my father had collected coffee decades earlier. I returned 12 years later. But it was in Espírito Santo, when I photographed a mule train picking its way along a stony mountain path, that I suddenly realised I was revisiting my father’s life. In fact, in many ways, my father accompanied me on much of my lengthy journey through the world of coffee.”

This beautifully presented book shows off Salgado’s journey brilliantly. Wonderful compositions full of intricate detail and mood are fully exploited by high-quality printing, and there is inspiration on every page.

Brilliant and thoroughly recommended.

See it yourself The images featured here come from Salgado’s latest book, The Scent of a Dream: Travels in the World of Coffee, ISBN: 978 1 4197 19219. It’s published by Abrams & Chronicle and costs £50. Its design is very sympathetic and tasteful, and shows off Salgado’s monochromes to great effect. In addition, its production values are very high, and printing quality is excellent, too, so the images are beautifully rich. A deserving addition to every photographer’s library. abramsandchronicle.co.uk/books/photography amazonasimages.com © The Scent of a Dream: Travels in the World of Coffee Sebastião Salgado published by Abrams (English-language edition) and Contrasto srl (Italian edition)

© Sebastião Salgado /Amazonas Images

Words by Will Cheung

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News © Sebastião Salgado /Amazonas Images

Left Coffee cooperative Toda Santería. Todos Los Santos coffee valley, Cuchumatanes range, Guatemala, 2006.

Above Coffee – and rice – growing village of Bokin. Coffee area, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, 2014. Right Coffee pickers.

Finca La Hilda on the slopes of Poas volcano, San José region, Costa Rica, 2013.

© Sebastião Salgado /Amazonas Images

In many ways, my father accompanied me on much of my lengthy journey through the world of coffee

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Interview Profile

Leo Steinberg Independent lens brand Tamron has been supplying game-changing products for many years. Its latest SP lenses show it’s still working hard at pushing back the boundaries, so we took time to catch up with Tamron Europe’s marketing manager Biography Years in the photo industry?

Eight years working at Tamron Europe and in the photographic industry, and before that I was hobby photographer at heart Current location Cologne, Germany Last picture taken At the weekend, the little newborn daughter of my brother. These small fingers…amazing…

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Phew, good question Dogs or cats?

I have two cats, but the dog of my parents seems to be my biggest fan, ever Toast or cereal?

No breakfast at all Email or phone call?

Email. Very close contacts via Messenger

Until the launch of these two lenses, the SP range covered focal lengths other than standard focal lengths. What was the thinking behind launching lenses of 35mm and a 45mm focal length?

We asked ourselves “what should be a character of a standard lens in the era of the new generation of very high-resolution full-frame DSLR cameras?”

We also had to consider that the vast majority of DSLR camera owners use APS-C format DSLRS and we wanted to bring more of the joy of photography to this large group with our new SP lenses.

In full-frame, the 45mm focal length provides a natural field of view angle close to the visual perception of the human brain, while the 35mm delivers a taste of wide-angle view without drastically departing from that natural look. Of course, with APS-C DSLRs there is a crop factor of around 1.5x, so the 35mm lens gives the look of a 52mm lens, while the 45mm is equivalent to a 68mm lens in the 35mm format. That means APS-C users can still enjoy our new lenses for most subjects.

What we imposed on ourselves as the key characteristic was to provide the ultimate freedom in picture taking. We wanted our new lenses to suit any subject distance especially for scenes close to the camera, so we have an extremely short minimum focusing distance.

We also want users of our new SP lenses to have total freedom with aperture choice to suit the effect they are trying to achieve, so it is possible to get pin-sharp images under any lighting conditions without being affected by camera shake. The integration of our VC system was a logical choice in this context.

How long have these two SP lenses been in development?

The development of these two new lenses and the whole NEW SP project started around several years ago. As you might guess lens development, takes huge investments of time, budget and personal resources especially if you want to start a new, very sophisticated series like we do with our new lenses. This is especially true here because not only was the optical design new, but also the total design approach, the exterior form and the whole marketing and packaging.

Who are you targeting with these two lenses?

We are targeting enthusiasts as well as semi-pros and professional photographers looking for high image quality and perfect versatility.

The biggest challenge was the balancing act to identify and produce an optimal solution for multiple contradictory attributes

What was the most challenging aspect in the development of these lenses? Was it the installation of Tamron VC technology in fast aperture, full-frame compatible lenses?

The biggest challenge was the balancing act to identify and produce an optimal solution for multiple contradictory attributes. Providing superb optical performance was taken for a given, yet we also wanted to deliver the closest possible minimum focusing distance as well as integrating VC – image stabilisation systems are rare in fullframe standard focal length lenses. And we wanted to do all this in a compact body form with minimum weight.

On top of all of the above, the ‘Human Touch’ design was a whole new challenge for the design engineers at Tamron. The result is as demonstrated here, and we are reasonably confident that said balancing act came together to shape a form in the most ideal fashion.

Can you expand more on the technical benefits of Tamron eBAND and BBAR lens coatings please and what are their key benefits to photographers? eBAND (Extended Bandwidth and AngularDependency) coating and BBAR (Broadband Anti-Reflection) coating both provide superior anti-reflection properties. These technologies have been adapted to each lens and provide crystal-clear images by suppressing element surface reflections that lead to ghosting and flare. eBAND coating is a nano-structured layer that is deployed on the critical element surface. In addition to any other regular antireflection coatings, eBAND coating offers higher transmissivity and a significant improvement in anti-reflection characteristics against angulated incident rays.

Can you expand a little please on the ‘Human Touch’ aspect of these two lenses? What do you mean by this?

The keywords of the new product design is summarized as ‘Human Touch’.

Be it a lens or a camera, it is nothing but an industrial product. And yet, what we aimed for was a product that would function as an organic unit, blending into the hands of the user, and delivering a sense of affection being used more extensively at any occasion. Design consideration of that kind was the first priority behind the two lenses.

The brand identity ring in luminous gold is located at the interfacing section and not only symbolizes the engagement, but also signifies the commitment of Tamron to our customers.

Is fluorine coating a new innovation on Tamron lenses?

Developed for industrial optics, fluorine coating offers long-lasting oil and water resistance to the lens surface. Moisture and smudges wipe away more easily, making it simpler to keep your lens clean. Our first DSLR lens with fluorine coating was the well-acclaimed SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD wide-angle zoom which we brought to the market in first half of 2015.

You stress the benefits of the excellent minimum focusing distance of both lenses and the lovely bokeh it’s possible to achieve. What has made you concentrate on these two lens characteristics?

The excellent minimum focusing distance combined with the wonderful bokeh (achieved with a nine-blade rounded diaphragm) provides many creative photographic possibilities. This is a unique feature of both new lenses and makes them much more versatile compared to other lenses of same focal length. Especially the 35mm, as it also has the capability of being used like a macro lens therefore enabling new perspectives and possibilities.

What aspect of the two new SP lenses are you most proud of?

The whole package is amazing, the new design meeting the very high-performance criteria.

And once you try the short minimum focusing distance you will not stop. It really encourages you to get very close to the subject and try new perspectives with your photography.

I appreciate it is like asking a parent to choose their favourite child, but which of the two lenses do you like using most?

That is really a difficult question because both have their own perspectives. Personally I would say the little wider angle of 35mm, which gives a bit more dramatic field of view.

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Interview Pro focus

Antarctic adventure Heading as far south as you possibly can, wildlife photographer Alex Bernasconi tested himself and his kit to the extreme. Find out how he got on in this exclusive extract from Professional Photo magazine‌

Š Alex Bernasconi

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Interview © Alex Bernasconi

Opposite Gentoo penguin landing on a beach on Saunders Island, Falkland Islands. Above Colony of King penguins, St Andrews Bay, South Georgia. Above A wonderful arch in an iceberg near Paulet Island.

© Alex Bernasconi

> Words by Lisa Clatworthy The coldest and windiest continent of the seven, Antarctica presents challenges to any adventurer, and among those encountered by fine art nature photographer Alex Bernasconi were an early morning slip into a stream and a katabatic wind storm capsizing a Zodiac inflatable boat.

Thankfully, the seasoned adventurer went prepared, so these events simply served to “remind us that when you’re in such extreme and remote locations, it’s mandatory to be extra careful,” he says. “In comparison with other trips, this is a real expedition: you have an indicative plan, but it’s always subject to changes caused by the weather. ” Although Alex couldn’t exactly make an itinerary for the trip, planning started a year beforehand, and packing included pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.

“I’m not one of those wise photographers who are able to pack the strictly necessary: I don’t want to miss the chance of capturing an image just because I wanted to save a few kilograms,” he explains. “As a result, I brought almost every kind of lens, from 14mm to 500mm, and I had the chance to use them all, even if

the wide-angles and medium zoom were the most utilised. The extreme conditions compel you to carry more gear in case of malfunction or damage: salt spray, rain, wind and the cold can affect even the most rugged equipment. An essential part of the equipment is a waterproof dry bag to protect my backpack during Zodiac transports and landings. Rain protection for my camera and lens is also vital on rainy or snowy days.”

The result of the trip is his second book, Blue Ice, but he didn’t set out to create a book. “I just planned to work primarily on my fine art print collection,” he says. “But when I came back, I realised that I’d been lucky enough to collect a solid body of work.

When I reviewed the images with my publisher, Alexandra Papadakis, the book materialised immediately.”

Polar royalty Professor Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, and Dr Peter Clarkson wrote the foreword and introduction to Blue Ice. Alex is honoured by their contributions, as he believes “conservation should be paramount for any nature photographer – we must hope that our images can move people to become more conscious and respectful of our planet.” alexbernasconi.com

I’m not one of those photographers who are able to pack the strictly necessary: I don’t want to miss an image just because I wanted to save a few kilograms

Pro inspiration Professional Photo issue 112 is on sale now. Also included this issue is Pro Moviemaker worth £4.99. Get this monster bargain for just £3.75 with the voucher overleaf.

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Interview © Alex Bernasconi

Above Blue iceberg with Adélie penguins, near the South Orkney Islands. Below Upland goose with goslings on Saunders Island.

Below right Adélie penguin in close-up, Paulet Island.

Blue Ice: reviewed I’d had a sneak preview of Alex Bernasconi’s latest book, Blue Ice – via a PDF prior to interviewing him – but it didn’t really prepare me for how stunning this book is. This largeformat, hardback book certainly does justice to Alex’s gorgeous images of Antarctica.

With a foreword by Professor Julian Dowdeswell and an introduction by Dr Peter Clarkson not only does this book look amazing, it’s also thought-provoking. As well as describing the challenges of working and living in the extreme environment of the Antarctic, the foreword and introduction also explain the impact of climate change on the area and its inhabitants.

Alex Bernasconi’s own account of his trip sets the scene, and prepares you for the desolate beauty of the landscape and the wonder of the wildlife. From chinstrap penguins and cute, fluffy goslings to chilling glaciers and dramatic icebergs, Antarctica is pictured here in all its glory, thanks to Alex’s superb photography.

Production quality is high too, doing justice to the photos. The fold-out panoramic images are simply breathtaking.

© Alex Bernasconi

Blue Ice by Alex Bernasconi is published

by Papadakis Books and retails for £30 papadakis.net

© Alex Bernasconi

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

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Clubs

The winners Camera Club of the Year 2014-15

Amersham Photographic Society emerged victorious in a hard-fought contest, fending off opposition from 50 camera clubs and photographic societies from around the UK. PN’s editor went along to a recent meeting, to congratulate the winners and hand over the prizes © Steve Brabner

Words by Will Cheung The winner of our first Camera Club of the Year photographic contest was Amersham Photographic Society, who beat Ayr Photographic Society by just one point. Congratulations to Amersham, commiserations and a huge thank you to Ayr and all the clubs that entered.

Amersham PS’s reward for its success is a Canon XEED WUX 450 multimedia projector worth £3000, 25 Irista memberships worth £45 each and a day’s training workshop from

top landscape photographer David Noton.

We went along to Amersham’s first meeting of the new season to meet the members and hand over the Canon projector.

With a healthy membership of more than 140 members, Amersham is clearly a thriving club and it is still growing.

“We are doing well with new members thanks to local publicity and an exhibition which we aim at new members,” explained chairman John Caton. “Looking around tonight I reckon we have around 20 potential new members which is a very good start for the season. We like to see more diversity in the

club and new members help that.

“Obviously members come and go.

Some move out of the area, some find the competitions tough and some new members move on for no reason. I joined seven years ago when we had about 80 members; now we are almost double that. We are gaining more members than we’re losing so the trend is certainly upwards.”

Having numbers is one thing, but keeping them inspired is another. The Amersham PS team work hard at keeping their members inspired as well as active, with a full programme of external speakers,

The winner of our first Camera Club of the Year was Amersham PS, who beat Ayr PS by just one point

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Clubs © Andrew Hale

© John Caton

© Peter Jones

© Rod Darrah © Gillian Morgan

frequent camera craft sessions and several special interest groups. A digital group helps members with post-production, a mono group encourages black & white image-making through traditional and digital means, and finally, there is the PIC group.

“Our PIC (Photographers in Camera) group is not into competitions but encourages members to work in themes or on projects or towards photographic distinctions,” says vice chairman Malcolm Cartledge. “We do have many members with distinctions to help fellow members achieve theirs.

“Generally, our members are very active.

We are changing the way we run print competitions because they are so popular and an increasing number of members are putting prints in so we have changed the process to make judging more manageable.

“It is also interesting that many new members are preferring to enter print competitions rather than DPI, which seems counter-intuitive because more work is actually involved.”

Perhaps one reason for this switch to prints is that internal Amersham PS contests are based on skill level, ie. the entry categories are beginner, intermediate and advanced and not subject-led. The club abandoned subjectled contests 15 years or so ago and it has been running open competitions ever since.

Internal competitions are popular, and Amersham PS is, of course, still entering outside competitions, and not just our Camera Club of the Year.

“We used to do well in outside competitions but in the past few years we have done less well,” says John. “I think that is down to our nature pictures. You do need a very good base

Winning images, clockwise from left: Buffalo Road by Steven Brabner; Turbulence

by John Caton; Make A Wish by Andrew Hale; Common Blue Butterfly by Peter Jones; Clinging On by Gillian Morgan; and Rhythm of the Dance by Rod Darrah.

We are delighted to be the Camera Club of the Year and it’s a credit to our members of nature pictures and we have lost some of our best natural history workers. Of course, the quality of entries from other clubs is going up too.

“We are delighted to be the Photography News Camera Club of the Year. It’s a credit to our members and we have to give special thanks to Gill Morgan, external competitions secretary,” says John, who actually coordinated the club’s entries.

“We’re doubly pleased that we’ve won a new Canon projector, which was something we were looking at buying anyway because our old one has a problem,” he concludes.

“The timing has been brilliant.” amershamphotosoc.com

From left to right: From left to right: Richard Yerby, president and honorary member who joined Amersham PS 55 years ago; Malcolm Cartledge, vice chairman; Gill Morgan, external competitions secretary; Will Cheung, PN’s editor; and John Caton, chairman.

Camera Club of the Year 2015-16 Full entry and prize details of this season’s Camera Club of the Year competition will be announced in the next issue of Photography News, available from 19 November.

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Advertisement feature Paul Cooper

Profoto B1 & B2

Lighting the way With a demanding job that often involves shooting away from a mains power source or on location, Paul Cooper relies on the versatility and power of the Profoto B1 to achieve the pictures he needs

When your job involves photographing top athletes you know your time is going to be limited so your lighting kit needs to be adaptable and quick to set up.

Paul Cooper shoots sport for highend advertising campaigns, and has worked with the likes of the Everton and Lizzie Armistead. His recipe for success is based around the flexibility of Profoto’s B1 and B2 lighting system.

What led you into shooting sporting portraits?

After shooting editorial for many years, and having a love of sport I realised that my style was suited to sports advertising and I started to shoot sports portraits for campaigns with big sports teams such as Manchester United and Manchester City. I also started to photograph sporting celebrities such as Sir Chris Hoy and Jack Laugher. I like the dramatic lighting you can create for sports portraits, which might not necessarily work if you’re shooting fashion.

Profoto B1 & B2 One of the keys to great photos is lighting. A well-lit photo stands head and shoulders above the rest, giving your work a professional edge.

Lighting doesn’t need to be complicated though and with the Profoto B1 and B2 off-camera flash systems, achieving slick expert-level shots is easy. The B1 has completely cordless TTL operation and is ten times as powerful as your average speedlight, making it your goto flash for on-location shoots.

On the other hand, the B2 (shown above) is TTL ready too, can be used both on and off camera and is versatile enough to use as a gentle fill light or as your main light source. profoto.co.uk

How do you find the perfect spot for your subject when you arrive?

With most sporting celebrities I get just five to ten minutes within which to work if I’m lucky, and it’s quite common for me to have no access to the location until around half an hour beforehand. I always ensure I get there as early as I’m permitted so that I can recce the area for possible locations and consider which lighting set-ups will work. Even then there have been times where a pre-planned slot for the shoot gets pushed back and all the planning goes out the window. So knowing your lights and being able to set up them up quickly is a distinct advantage.

poppy, one light and sometimes up to five lights. It all depends on the person I’m photographing, how much time I have to set up and the mood I want to create.

I don’t have set lighting plans; rather they tend to be fluid depending on the situation unless a client has asked for a specific look.

My forte is using my ingenuity to create a professional-looking image, ready to change everything around at a moment’s notice should the need dictate. Given the number of people who might be on set I also need to be aware of the potential for distractions and safety issues, and this whole approach has to be geared around getting the job done with the minimum of fuss.

What lighting set-ups do you use?

My lighting set-ups vary from high key/low key, dramatic/bright and

Do you usually work alone?

Depending on the shoot, I might have an assistant to monitor the

The portability is a massive bonus.

When I’m shooting alone, I just attach a battery on the side of the head workflow as I generally shoot tethered. However, the beauty of the Profoto B1 system is that using the Profoto Air Remote TTL-N for Nikon I can shoot a test shot in TTL if I’m a bit rushed and then change to manual and adjust all the lights from the Air Remote.

The portability of the lights is also a massive bonus; in the past we would need to carry heavy packs and there would be cables all over the place, now it’s simply a matter of positioning the light where you want it and moving it if necessary is a breeze. When I am shooting alone, I just grab the light, attach a battery on the side of the head and I’m ready to shoot.

With the RFI Speedring, setting up softboxes etc is also super quick, and the beauty dishes have the speedrings attached so it’s just a matter of popping the dish on.

What about modifiers?

I use Magnum Reflectors, a Zoom Reflector and grids and 6x1 Strip boxes with grids, I also have a silver and a white beauty dish with grids, a 5ft Octa and a 3ft Octa with grids and am adding

some more medium-size softboxes soon. I love the grids: they offer great spill control and allow me to control precisely where the light falls on my subject. I use grids in at least 70% of my shoots. The silver beauty dish is my favourite modifier, as it produces crisp, edgy light that’s perfect for athletes.

What is the main advantage of the B1 kit?

The B1s are an excellent choice for location and studio. I recently shot an ad in Portugal on a beach in the midday sun, and the lights, combined with the HSS, made it possible to shoot at f/3.5 and 1/1000sec and still obtain a soft outof-focus background, something that would have otherwise been impossible unless I’d used such things as ND filters.

The B1s are also perfect for overpowering the sun; the Profoto HSS is fast enough to keep up with my camera and the lights are ten times as powerful as any speedlight and extremely consistent, which is important for ad shoots. pcooperphoto.com

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Advertisement feature Tom Dymond

Profoto B1 & B2

Taking the pressure Tom Dymond spends much of his time on TV sets, shooting portraits in-between takes. The pressure is on, but his Profoto B2 kit is up to the challenge and capable of overpowering the studio lights

As the B2 is so versatile, lightweight and powerful, I’m finding myself preferring that

Tom Dymond’s family was very involved with motor racing and, that exposure developed his interest in photography, not just shooting action shots but also making portraits of the drivers and cars. This then led on to a press and editorial photography course at Falmouth University, where he had the good fortune to be tutored by renowned portraitist Gered Mankowitz, who encouraged him away from the sports arena and more into general portraiture.

You shoot a lot of portraits of stars on TV sets. How did you come into this line of work?

I was shooting a lot of PR photography and in the course of this I found myself on the set of TV advertisements where I would be shooting behind-the-scenes images. Over time I got put into that box, and I enjoy it.

The pressure can be pretty heavy, but you get used to having just three minutes with someone, or jumping in between takes to get

what you need. You’ve just got to be comfortable with your kit, know it inside out and be ready to go as soon as you get a chance.

What do you hope to come away with on a TV shoot?

I like to shoot with three layers in mind. The first layer is a really clean unit still, and from there I like to capture a more behind-thescenes image. Then I look for a nicely lit, clean portrait, with eyes looking straight into camera.

I need to make sure that I get a strong set of images for newspapers and magazines and then possibly a nice behind-the-scenes feature for magazine or online use and a few shots that are more promo style.

Some of my favourite portraits have been simply shot against a wall outside a dressing room, or I might just tape a small roll of Colorama up on a door.

What lighting are you using?

I mainly use a Profoto B2, usually with just one head and a brolly for portraits and then the Profoto Softbox Mini Octa for everything else. The Octa never leaves my kitbag; its weight and size is amazingly manageable, and I can add it to my camera belt and have it ready for whenever I need it.

I use my Profoto 7b light when I’m on location and shooting bigger set-ups, but as the B2 is so versatile, lightweight and powerful, I’m finding myself preferring that now, and I’ll shortly be looking to swap the 7b for a B1.

Do you use manual control or TTL flash with the Air TTL trigger: and why?

I try and use manual where possible, as I like to meter the shot properly, but I have found the Air

TTL to be a lifesaver. It enables you to get that first exposure when you’re working under time pressure, and once you’ve grabbed that first frame with the TTL you can set to manual.

How long might you usually have for a shoot?

The stills often get put to the back of the queue, so you’ve got to work fast and be confident in your kit.

I’ll always get a brief, but most of my clients trust me to understand intuitively what they are thinking, and then add my own little personal touch as well, be it the way I light, the expression I get or the process or feel I put on my images.

What has been the most memorable shoot you’ve undertaken using Profoto lighting?

I did a shoot for UNICEF a few months ago with Liam from One Direction, Jack Whitehall, Sue Barker and Andy Murray, who were jointly performing a sketch.

I was using the B2 as my key and

all of a sudden they stated messing around and throwing tennis balls about and, as the B2 recycled so quickly, I was able to catch all the action as the balls flew everywhere.

You’ve also worked with some major charities and NGOs over the years?

I’ve worked with a few NGOs such as Comic Relief, Save the Children and UNICEF, mainly in Africa but also documenting projects here in the UK. With these trips you’ve got to travel light as it’s hot and there’s a lot of walking involved, and the B2 has been perfect for this kind of work since I can leave it in my bag and set it up really quickly when I need it. If I am travelling overseas then size and weight are the biggest issues, and again the B2 ticks all the boxes. Even the batteries, which are the li-ion type, operate at a low wattage, so there’s never been a problem from the airlines in terms of me travelling with them. tomdymond.co.uk

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Technique Astrophotography

Stars in your eyes As the skies darken towards winter, it’s time to feel the wonder of astrophotography.

This month take your first steps in shooting the night sky...

Words by Kingsley Singleton

© Chris Woodhouse

Each image is a unique challenge and a triumph over practical problems (and the English weather)... so each gives immense satisfaction As photographers we’re always looking for new ways to see the world; ways that can amaze us and the people who see our shots. And like the microscopic detail of macro photography, or the flowing water of long exposures, which give a view that’s impossible to see with the naked eye, astrophotography can produce that same sense of wonder.

Of course, astrophotography is a discipline in its own right and like any other it takes work to be good at it, as well as the right kit. And while astrophotography is a somewhat general term for shooting the night sky, which takes in both wide-angle and cropped-in shots of the stars alone, here we’ll be looking at the latter.

Fortunately though you can start simple and still get some great shots before moving on to more exacting set-ups, and with even the bare minimum of knowledge and equipment, you could be shooting lunar landscapes, the Pleiades cluster, and the Andromeda Galaxy sooner than you’d thought possible.

Expert advice To help, we’ve enlisted the help of Chris Woodhouse ARPS, author of the book The Astrophotography Manual. An experienced photographer in other fields, too, Chris has always held a general fascination for astronomy, and having been “blown away

by the images that ordinary guys were achieving”, he bought some used kit from eBay to try it himself. Soon he was hooked and kept striving for better, becoming a fully-fledged night sky expert.

“One of the thrills of taking a really good night sky image,” Chris says, “is the fact that, even though we could all potentially take identical pictures, we just don’t. Apart from the fantastic colours that emerge out of an apparently monochrome sky, each image is a unique challenge and a triumph over practical problems (and the English weather). You cannot take anything for granted so each image gives immense satisfaction.”

Above The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, also known as Messier 45 or M45, is a big and obvious target in the night sky, and one that’s ripe for shooting even if you’re a beginner. It can be seen with the naked eye, and, says Chris Woodhouse, is a subject that “you often see taken with a DSLR on an inexpensive telescope or telephoto lens”.

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Technique © Chris Woodhouse

Above Another subject in the night sky that many take using a DSLR and a telephoto lens, Chris’s image of the Horsehead nebula was shot “with a short focal length telescope and a lot of patience.” Due to very different light levels, the nebula and stars were captured in different exposures and combined later on.

Shooting the moon with a telephoto zoom

© Chris Woodhouse

Shooting the moon is how most of us cut our teeth in astrophotography, and quickly find out that it’s not as easy as first thought (though a good deal easier than shooting smaller, dimmer objects). But in a few simple steps you can get excellent lunar images.

As Chris says: “a sturdy tripod and a telephoto lens with a teleconverter will deliver good results. The trick is to take a few dozen images and ruthlessly discard those blurred by atmospheric turbulence”. You can even shoot it in the daytime or low-light for a different look.

First though you’ll need a lens with a long focal length, because although the moon can look large to the naked eye, it’s actually pretty small – about the width of your little finger when held at arm’s length. Shoot it at the long end of your 18-55mm and it’ll still be tiny in the frame, but a lens like the Tamron 150600mm, at around £800, will get you nice and close. You can also increase focal length with a teleconverter (see this month’s Buyers’ guide), or simply shoot with something like a 70-300mm lens and crop the pic in Photoshop. If you’re handholding, switch any image stabilisation on to avoid camera shake.

Exposure is the next hurdle; the moon is actually surprisingly bright (it’s a very efficient reflector), and, as it won’t fill much of your viewfinder, multi-zone metering will average out the scene and turn the moon into a glaring, featureless beacon. Therefore you need to switch to manual mode. Of course, the actual brightness depends on the phase of the moon (how much of it is out of the Earth’s shadow and reflecting the sun), but kick off with something like 1/200sec at f/5.6, ISO 200.

The moon is also surprisingly fast – when zoomed right in, it’ll appear to sprint across a locked-off frame, so you’ll need to recompose often. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, shoot the moon in different phases – at its half and crescent stages it’s often much more interesting than full, because like terrestrial landscapes, when the sun strikes the moon at a more oblique angle, the detail of its surface is more prominent. © Kingsley Singleton

Above This image of the Heart nebula is an example of something you can move onto as your astro skills grow. Chris employed a narrowband imaging technique, using filters to pick out the ionised oxygen, sulfur and hydrogen gases in the nebula – a bit like using an IR filter to shoot just that part of the spectrum.

Aside from the technical challenges of shooting the night sky and the pleasure of overcoming them, astrophotography can also offer up more aesthetic struggles, because, as Chris elaborates, “you can often tell if an astrophotographer is already a photographer, just from their images. Rather like the early days of digital photography, some beginners get carried away with the effects and lose sight of finesse! A good image has colourful, small and round stars, as well as subtle detail in the galaxy or nebula, without any obvious digital noise.”

One small step So how do you get started? Well, for detailed shots of the night sky, all you really need is a telephoto lens (possibly with a teleconverter attached), a sturdy tripod and a means of tracking the stars’ movement through the sky; used in the right way, these will be enough to get good astro photos and if you enjoy what you’re doing and want to get more magnification, you can take it further by investing in more specialised kit. What that means is that you’ve probably got most of the kit you need already.

“There’s often a misconception” says Chris, “that you need a long telescope; but most of my images are taken with lenses of 400mm focal length or shorter.” Indeed, with the right settings and with the right weather and atmospheric conditions you can shoot objects you’d think were taken using much more sophisticated gear. “The Andromeda Galaxy is a favourite, also given the catalog name M31,” enthuses Chris “It is BIG, about 6x wider than the moon at its fullest extent, and relatively bright. My first photographs used an APS-C DSLR, fitted with a 300mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter. That’s all you need to deliver your first ‘wow’ moment.”

But before you head out, remember that shooting at night can get chilly even in the summer months, so wrap up against the cold and also give your camera and lens time to adjust to the change in temperature; putting them in your bag and standing it in a cool spot for an hour or so before venturing out is a good idea.

Get sensitive Before we come to tracking, the camera still needs to be set up so that it’s very sensitive to

light. Therefore, switch to manual mode and dial in a wide aperture to let lots of light in.

Telescopes are designed to only operate at full aperture (about f/5.6 to f/10) but with a camera lens you might want to stop down to improve optical quality across the entire image. As Chris says, “although stars are a simple subject, they are the most demanding subject to photograph, so much so that star images are used for testing optics”. Because many of the more interesting astronomical objects are very dim and faint, be prepared to use high ISO sensitivities, too.

This will introduce more digital noise into your shots, but that’s a small price to pay for more detail and with the right software you can filter it out. Focusing can also be tricky in the dark, so it can be a good idea to focus on a distant object in daylight, then leave the lens set there and switch to manual so it doesn’t wander when you come to start shooting. Alternatively, if your lens has a focus distance window, manually set it to infinity, but check the results on screen to make sure you’re getting the stars pin-sharp – and don’t turn the focus ring past the infinity marker, which most rings will do.

Not so happy trails When it comes to shutter speed, you’ll need exposures of many seconds or often minutes for the fainter objects, and this is where tracking comes into play. When shooting from a regular tripod in a locked-off position, you’ll pick up unwanted movement in the stars’ paths; the longer the focal length of the lens you’re using, and therefore the more cropped your view of the sky, the more exaggerated this will be as the movement of the Earth is picked up, turning the stars into streaks of light.

In fact, movement is one of the biggest challenges in astrophotography – movement combined with the lengths of exposure needed to pick the dimmer and more interesting objects in the night sky. But as Chris says, “the technical challenges really only start when you try to increase the image magnification and the length of the exposure to capture small and dark objects. That’s when you need a mount to track star movement.”

That means, of course, that you can shoot shorter exposures at wider focal lengths and still enjoy the night sky, as you won’t be picking up so

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Technique © Chris Woodhouse

ASTRONOMICALLY GOOD PICTURES For an extra dollop of inspiration in your night-sky photography, the winners of 2015’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year were recently announced. Included in this year’s winners was David Tolliday’s shot of a stellar nursery that is in the Orion Nebula lying 1300 light years away and the Running Man nebula another 200 light years away, captured from the Elan Valley in Wales. It was David’s first attempt at astrophotography and earnt him the Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer. All the winning and shortlisted images can be seen in exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich now, so for more info and to see how you can enter next year’s competition, head over to rmg.co.uk/astrophoto. © David Tolliday

Above This is a shot of the recent lunar eclipse, taken half way through with a Fujifilm X-T1 fitted to a 916mm focal length telescope. Here, two exposures were combined to show the light and dark sides without losing detail to the highlights or shadows; one taken at 1/1000sec, the other at 1/4sec. Because the moon is so bright, you can also easily shoot it with a telephoto lens and teleconverter.

© Chris Woodhouse

Physically tracking the movement of the stars with your camera is something you’ll need to do if you’re using very long exposures much movement, and this is a good introduction if you’re not using a tracker.

© Lefteris Velissaratos

© Daniel Fernandez Caxete

© Ignacio Diaz Bobillo

The right atmosphere The objects you’re trying to image can also be disrupted by atmospheric conditions and by light pollution. Although by no means the only time you can shoot, cold, clear nights, such as those

found in autumn and winter are a great time to do it, as the lower temperatures cut out any heat haze that can blur the subject. Subjects that are higher in the sky, ie. further from the horizon, can also be clearer because you’re viewing them through less of the Earth’s atmosphere; when you see a star twinkling that interference caused by moving pockets of air, so the less air the better (that’s why the best telescopes are in space).

“Autumn is a favourite time for me,” says Chris “but each season brings its unique rewards and even in the height of summer, it is possible to image the moon, bright clusters and star-fields.”

And despite what you might think, “some of the best imaging conditions are immediately after a shower, whereas anti-cyclones [as found in highpressure, fine weather], often cause high-level mist and dust to accumulate in the atmosphere, which makes observation poorer.”

The spill of light from our over-illuminated towns and cities also means that observing and recording the night sky becomes more difficult, but, says Chris, you shouldn’t let an urban location put you off from having a go: “Light pollution appears like a nicotine haze, but it’s possible to reduce its effects during editing.

Better still, is to use a filter which selectively blocks the common colours from street lighting.”

Generically, these are called broadband lightpollution filters and they’re made by astronomy

© Michael van Doorn

Tracking your quarry Physically tracking the movement of the stars with your camera is something you’ll need to do if you’re using the very long exposures vital for picking up faint objects. This means the stars will stay in the same position on the sensor and won’t blur, as the two move in unison. “The stars wheel around Polaris (the Pole or North Star) at the rate of 1° every four minutes”, explains Chris “and that’s a moon-width every two minutes.”

You can also visualise that distance by holding up your little finger at arm’s length – the width is about 1° of the sky. Of course, objects further from Polaris, will appear to move faster than those closer to it, just like the centre of a wheel moves less than the rim.

Unfortunately, tracking the stars isn’t something you can do by hand, like a panning shot. Astrophotographers use motorised equatorial mounts to do it, but these can be anything from DIY barn door models to affordable off-the-shelf versions, while there are also more complicated models that use a second tiny camera to feed back guiding corrections. This, according to Chris, “ensures the imaging camera follows the star to within fractions of a pixel, over the entire exposure. It sounds complicated, but folks all around the world are doing it every night, with all manner of ingenuity and patience.”

Above This image of Jupiter is the result of Chris’s first attempt using a webcam mounted onto a longish telescope and also fitted with a teleconverter. He shot a 90 second video then used Registax software to align and process the 1000s frames into a final image.

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Technique © Chris Woodhouse

Nothing really beats a dark-sky site however, as found in uninhabited areas, so you may need to travel for the best results, but your efforts will pay off... equipment suppliers like Orion (SkyGlow and UltraBlock filters), Astronomik (CLS filter), Lumicon (Deep-Sky filter), and IDAS (P2 Light Pollution Suppression Filter), the latter costing about £250 for a 72mm version.

Nothing really beats a dark-sky site however, as found in uninhabited areas, so you may need to travel for the best results, but your efforts will pay off through improved image quality and reduced exposure times or the ability to work at smaller apertures and lower ISO settings.

You’ll also need to guard against light pollution caused by yourself. For instance, once your eyes have accustomed to the dark, it’s easy to blind yourself with a regular torch, so invest in a redbeam version when working in the dark.

Finishing touches Finally, there’s plenty you can do to improve shots in processing. “Image acquisition is only half of the fun,” beams Chris, and a big part of astrophotography is to do with stacking separate night-sky exposures in software, which, when properly blended, allow you to

© Chris Woodhouse

Taking it further The possibilities of shooting astronomical objects increase when using a camera that’s attached to a telescope, so how do you go about doing that? Well it’s actually quite simple, and while the subject of setting up a telescope itself isn’t something we’ve space to go into here (there’s plenty of great information on the subject in Chris’s book – see panel), the benefits of a telescope’s magnification will very quickly become obvious as, depending on the model, it’ll take you way beyond what’s offered by a telephoto lens.

Unlike the photography industry, says Chris, “where we put up with the myriad camera Raw file formats, battery shapes and continual updating of software to keep pace with new developments, the folks who designed telescopes and their software collaborated on some standards. One of those standards is the T-thread coupling. Virtually every telescope can be converted to have a T-thread on its end and with the help of a suitable bayonet to T-thread adapter to put on your camera, this allows direct connection.”

A quick Internet search will show you that adapters exist for any mount, and they’re not expensive, often costing under £10. “I have adapters for Micro Four Thirds, Fuji X and Canon EOS, says Chris “I used my Fuji X-T1 to shoot colour pictures of the lunar eclipse last month, through a 916 mm f/7 refractor.”

After focusing the telescope itself, you need to do the same on the attached camera, and this is best done in manual focus mode, while using the screen as a guide. Zoom in to check sharpness before you get too far into the process.

If you’re able to tether your camera to a laptop or tablet, even better as you’ll get a larger view allowing you to achieve critical focus (and possibly be able to sit indoors while you shoot).

Tethered shooting also allows remote firing of the shutter, but even if you’re not tethered, a remote release is vital in not jogging the camera and tripod during the exposure.

Above Chris’s latest image of Andromeda, taken three years after the first (left). This is the product of about 20-hours exposure time across 100s of different images.

Left Chris’s very first image of the huge Andromeda Galaxy – taken with Canon EOS 40D, fitted with a 300mm f/4 L lens.

Learn more You can read more on the subject of astrophotography in Chris’s book The Astrophotography Manual, (£31.99) which takes astrophotographers with a basic knowledge onto greater things.

The book covers choosing and using dedicated astro equipment and software in a technical yet down-to-earth manner, helping you create the very best quality images since, as things become more sophisticated, the practical and technical challenges multiply too. For more info visit focalpress.com. create brighter pictures, freer of noise. “Great images are the outcome of patience more than luck. Mine typically comprise about 150-200 separate exposures of between five and 20 minutes each and the same again for sensor calibration. It sometimes takes months to find enough clear nights to build up all the exposures for a single image! Separate exposures are carefully combined, aligned and then averaged, in a way that makes airplane trails, cosmic ray hits and meteors simply disappear.”

Fortunately, many objects in the sky can be captured over an extended period because they simply don’t change, being so far from us that the perspective remains the same. Planets, though, will move, just like the moon. Of course you can do it with fewer exposures, and still feel the benefit, as according to Chris, “every time one doubles the exposure time, or doubles the number of averaged exposures, the relative noise level reduces by 40%.”

Although many people do use Photoshop for image processing, there are packages more specifically engineered to astrophotography processing which you should consider, such as DeepSkyStacker (deepskystacker.free.fr) and Registax (www.astronomie.be/registax), both of which are free.

Photoshop, says Chris, “is not the best tool for the job (rather like a Swiss Army knife, it does a lot of things but a dedicated tool is better).

Editing programs that are purpose-built for astrophotography deserve a little perseverance to get the very best from your endeavours. The very best quality images use 32- or even 64-bit depth files to preserve the finest graduations during image processing.” And, says Chris, while the outcome of these stacks is still a mostly dark image with a few stars visible, it’s when you start brightening the picture using curves that “the faint details emerge from the gloom and really lift your spirits.”

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Technique Lighting academy

Feather the light for low-key drama Turn your flash so only its edge catches the subject for soft, glancing light...

Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton If you think softboxes are all about creating shadow-free, low-contrast lighting, get set for a creative surprise, because this month we’re going use one to make a dramatic, low-key portrait with lots of contrast. To do this, we’ll be using a technique called feathering, which is all about angling the light so that just its edge touches the subject, producing a glancing effect.

But doesn’t glancing light normally mean hard shadows? Fortunately not, because used in the right fashion, the look will still be flattering, and that’s partly down to the fact that feathered light from a softbox produces much smoother effects than from a more directed or undiffused light like a bare bulb and spill kill.

Of course it’s a look that won’t suit every setup, but, as with other lighting styles, it’s good to have in your arsenal when you’re looking for a more subdued look, and of course you can mix it with other setups if desired.

What is feathering?

Feathering simply means turning the softbox away from the subject so that less of it is striking them – often so that just the very edge is providing the illumination. To illustrate how this works, imagine yourself in the sitter’s position, as the light is slowly turned away from you; to that view the light would become narrower and narrower, compressing to a thin line, until eventually it’s completely occluded by itself.

Technically any light can be feathered (although the huge spread of an umbrella or a globe diffuser obviously makes that edge far less distinct and therefore near impossible to direct, unless it’s flagged or further restricted somehow). The point at which the light starts turning to shadow, the very edge of the light therefore, is called the penumbra (umbra being full shadow), and it’s here that the most

Here you can see how the light from the softbox is feathered as it is turned in relation to the subject. Starting at the top-left, the light from the edge of the box is minimal, barely touching the subject and too little to use. Slowly turning it back onto the subject gives the look required, and lights the background, but eventually the lighting is too full.

Above In this version the feathered light from the softbox is working well, glancing across Harri’s face to give the low-effect required. The angle of the softbox also allows it to strike the background, adding light there and creating a nice contrast between the darker, shaded side of Harri’s hair and face.

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Technique All about softboxes Feathering simply means turning the softbox away from the subject so that less light is striking them...

Softboxes are one of the most common light modifiers used in flash photography and will often be supplied with a flash head in kit form.

But when you get into expanding your range of modifiers you’ll find that you can buy softboxes in a variety of sizes and shapes. The basic construction of a softbox remains consistent across all types, with a flash head places inside a closed chamber, and diffused by at least one layer of translucent material; a second internal baffle is often used to further diffuse the light.

This arrangement means that light is more directional than an umbrella but still remains soft and even. The shape of the box changes the spread of light and also the style of the catchlights in the subject’s eyes, so a while a square box will produce a straighter edge, octagonal softboxes give a more rounded look.

Deeper boxes are more focused than shallow ones. You’ll also find strip softboxes, which are long and thin to produce more restricted spread of light. Softbox size is also a factor, as the larger the box in comparison to the subject, the more shadowless the resulting light will be; smaller boxes produce harder shadows.

obvious effect takes place. Different modifiers, even different types of softbox produce different thicknesses of penumbra, so it’s well worth experimenting with the gear you’ve got to see how the shape and size of the shadow’s edge changes; for example, here we used an octagonal softbox, which would have a subtle difference to a square one.

What all this means is that, while aiming the softbox directly at the subject will produce one look, turning it so that only the edge is used to light them will look very different again, and it shows how small changes can make a big difference. You’ll also notice that catchlights in the subject’s eyes look different – they’ll be thinner, because the lightsource is so angled away from them that it becomes a thin beam.

Octa softbox

Subtle light In this month’s technique, the purpose was to create subtle glancing light, while also allowing the illumination to spill onto the background.

The latter part allows the shadowed side of the subject to stand out against a lighter pool, and while this is something you’d often use a second light to do, the combination of the glancing light, the spill and the heavy shadowed side, makes it possible with just one (learn to use fewer lights, and you’ll be able to work more easily on location). If you don’t want a lit background, you can angle the softbox away from the background and use the other side of the light for the feathering, though of course in that position it will be firing back towards you so will need to be flagged from the front to prevent lens flare. Alternatively, you can use a grid attachment on the softbox to restrict its spread.

Setting up With Harri around three feet in front of a dark backdrop in the studio, we set up a single light in the four o’clock position. Fitting this with an 85cm octagonal softbox and using both the diffusers in the ’box for the maximum softening effect, the light was directed straight onto her. Next, to find the edge of the light, as desired, we switched on the modelling light, turned it up and swivelled the head away from her towards the background. In doing this, we didn’t move the position of the light itself, just the way it was facing.

In turning the head, eventually no light will be striking the subject directly and they’ll be in full shadow (umbra). You can judge this by eye, but it’s often easier to take a test shot. Once Harri was in full shadow, we started to turn the light back onto her very slightly, stopping pretty much as soon as any light hit her face.

With just the edge of the light catching the subject, and most of it being blocked by the side of the softbox itself, the subject is now in the transitional point between full light and full shadow. From here, before you get to metering and shooting, it’s all about checking that the modelling on the subject is as you desire, and because the lighting is so precise, it can be helpful if they don’t move too much and keep looking in the same direction. If the light is too full, feather it away a little more. If not enough of the subject is lit up, bring it back.

In this position we also assessed whether the enough light was falling on the background,

Square softbox

Strip softbox

Modifying the setup very slightly, by using a silver reflector, we were able to throw some of the light back onto Harri’s shadowed side giving the picture a little more balance. The reflector must be carefully positioned as the amount of light hitting it is minimal. Check out the shape of the catchlight, too – the softbox feathered it’s just a sliver of light. too, and with the light basically turned onto the area behind Harri, there was plenty.

How much power?

With the light in position, you can then meter it in order to get the correct exposure. We did this using a Gossen Digi Pro F2, and with the light at 1/4 power it delivered an aperture of f/5.6 at ISO 200 – the low f/number / wide aperture might seem unusual at corresponding power but this, of course, is because the power of the light is reduced in the penumbra. Next there was an aesthetic choice to make – whether to stick to the metering or underexpose a little to keep up the moody look. It’s best to try both, and in this case, the metered exposure was a little too bright, losing some of style we

wanted, so we dropped closed the aperture by 2/3 of a stop to f/7.1.

Another choice to make is whether you want to provide any fill light using a reflector.

In our setup, this added a little more detail to Harri’s hair, but again the choice is purely up to the style of lighting you want. Positioning the reflector can be tricky as so little light is being directed towards it from the feathered softbox; keeping the subject in position, so they don’t block the sliver of light, move it around until it catches; silver and gold surface will have the most effect here.

Finally, remember that glancing light can be unflattering, so use it wisely, and carefully retouch any areas where the light is creating too much texture and contrast in the skin.

Next month Find out how using two softboxes can give you a variety of different portrait looks.

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

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Camera test Specs Price £549 body only, £649 with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ pancake lens, £749 with 14-42mm and 40-150mm f/4-5.6, black or silver models available Sensor 16.1-megapixels, 4608x3456pixels with Supersonic Wave cleaning filter Sensor format MOS Micro Four Thirds 17.3x13mm, shooting 12-bit Raw ISO range 200-5000, expands to 100-25,600

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II

Say hello to the new entry-level yet richly featured OM-D that’s sure to build on the success of the original model

Shutter range 60secs-1/4000sec; electronic shutter in silent mode 60secs1/16,000sec, flash sync at 1/250sec or 1/4000sec in Super FP mode. B 6-30mins selectable in the menu.

Short delay and anti-shock mode Drive modes Continuous, up to 8.5fps Metering system 324 zone Digital ESP, spot, centreweighted, highlight, shadow Exposure modes PASM, 25 scene modes, 14 art filters, photo story mode Exposure compensation +/-5EV in 0.3, 0.5 or 1EV steps, AE bracketing +/-5EV in 2, 3, 5 or 7 frames in 0.3, 0.7 or 1EV steps Monitor 3in tiltable touchscreen with 1040k dots, EVF with 100% view, 2360k dot resolution Focusing Contrast detection system with manual, single AF, continuous AF, single AF-MF, AF tracking. Face and eye detect Video 1920x1080 pixels, built-in stereo microphone Connectivity USB 2.0, Micro HDMI, wireless Storage media 1xSD/SDXC/SDHC Other key features Five axis IS, multiple exposure feature, level gauge, integral flash with 8.2 GN (ISO 200/metres) Dimensions (wxhxd) 120x83x47mm Weight 390g body only Contact olympus.co.uk

It is easy to get hung up on looks, but I think the Mark II looks the business and it feels great, too, bearing in mind its price

Review by Will Cheung Olympus seems to have struck a chord with its OM-D Micro Four Thirds family, and photographers of all ages and experience levels have been lapping them up.

The E-M10 was a high-spec entrylevel model and the first OM-D to sport an integral flash. It was well received and proved a big seller. The Mark II has a flash and continues on the theme of offering lots of features for your money so it seems set to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps.

At the Mark II’s heart is a 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds Live MOS sensor. Nothing new here and this sensor has been seen on previous OM-Ds so it has been tried and tested.

The same goes for the processor, the TruePic VII engine, which has also been seen previously.

What the Mark II has gained is five-axis image stabilisation, a much improved high-resolution EVF, video features like 4k time-lapse, 60p recording, and an electronic shutter. It has also had a significant styling make-over compared with the original E-M10 and that, in my view, has had significant benefits in the handling department.

It is easy to get hung up on looks, but I think the Mark II looks the business and it feels great, too,

bearing in mind its price. The body feels robust and while it does not have the E-M5 Mark II ’s weather sealing, I’d be happy using it in poor weather, protecting it as much as possible.

As is their wont nowadays, camera makers are designing bodies to make the purchase of an optional hand grip almost essential. For the Mark II the ECG-3 hand grip costs £60 and it gives improved grip, but the body’s default design is still sound with an angled finger grip on the front and a protruding thumb grip at the back so perhaps the optional hand grip is not vital – just a nice luxury.

Olympus has waved its wand over the control layout to great effect. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the on/off switch – just like the OM-1’s circa 1972. On the Mark II there is a third position and that is to activate the pop-up flash.

The biggest change is on the right side of the top-plate where we have the exposure mode dial as well as the front and rear dials. Olympus has gone for height on these controls and their knurled finish really helps handling, making these key controls usable even with gloves on.

Scattered around the body are three function buttons that each give 28 options including off. But that’s not all because the movie record offers the same number of feature options and the two of the

four four-way controls also allow customisation. Some cameras have even more function buttons which makes them bewildering to use, Olympus has got the balance right here, offering enough flexibility but making it manageable to memorise which button does what.

Moving to the camera’s back, here appearances are pretty conventional so nothing too unusual here. The touch-screen monitor angles out for shooting from above or from lowdown – it doesn’t swing out which might disappoint selfie fans.

Switchover to the EVF is automatic when the eye is placed at the viewfinder, and the EVF is greatly improved over the original E-M10.

Doing a side-by-side test proved the new camera’s finder shows more detail as you would expect with the screen’s higher resolution, but the image has more contrast and the overall image has more ‘snap’.

Handling and overall performance of the E-M10 Mark II rate highly. In fact, it was a real treat to use and I couldn’t find any major concerns.

I shot nearly 1000 images mostly in program and aperture-priority AE using ESP multi-zone metering and I had the camera set to deliver JPEGs and Raws. The Raws were viewed and processed in Olympus Viewer 3 – Raws were not compatible with Lightroom at the time of writing. I

also tried a variety of M.ZUIKO lenses including the new 8mm f/1.8 fisheye and 7-14mm ultra-wide, but also the 12mm f/2, 45mm f/1.8, 60mm f/2.8 macro and the original 14-150mm.

In extreme against-the-light situations the camera seemed to opt for shadows so the highlights were burnt out and beyond recovery even in Raw. That’s not a failing but if you want a silhouette or a have a preference for the highlight details it’s worth remembering during metering.

Confronted by strong side-lighting, high-contrast or plain, flat lighting, the camera handles itself very capably indeed and even straight-outof-the-camera JPEGs looked spot on.

No problems either with autofocusing, which is typically fast, silent and responsive in all sorts of light. The AF sensors are arranged in a 9x9 grid filling most of the frame and these are individually selectable if preferred. In AF/MF mode you get speedy AF with manual finetuning with peaking and a magnified viewing image if you choose.

Shutter noise is minimal and lowpitched. A silent option is available with the camera’s electronic shutter.

The soft shutter action, smooth release and the five-axis stabilisation system means you can shoot shakefree handheld images in upright or horizontal formats with confidence at seriously slow shutter speeds.

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Camera test Anatomy From the front •L ooking from the front, the extended height of the exposure mode and shutter release/input dial controls can be more easily appreciated. They certainly seem to dominate the E-M10’s smooth profile.

•T he raised angled finger grip does work to help get a secure purchase on the camera body. An hand grip is an option (the ECG-3 costs £60) but with this nice bit of design it is not essential.

•U nder the ‘pentaprism’ housing is an integral flash, GN8 (ISO 200/ metres). The neat design means the flash is as high as possible which might help avoid red-eye and lens shadow problems. The flash is activated with a third position on the camera’s main on/off switch.

•T o the right of the flash housing is the AF illuminator and self-timer countdown LED, and below that is the lens release button.

From the top • Those of you with good memories will notice that the main on/ off switch is identical in design to those of the OM-1 and OM-2, classic cameras of four decades ago. It shows that great design doesn’t date.

• There is plenty of customisation potential in the E-M10 Mark II with its several function (Fn) buttons, probably far more than you might expect on a reasonably priced camera.

• It’s rather crowded on the right side of the top-plate. The exposure dial does not have a lock but it is firmly click-stopped so it is unlikely to be altered by accident.

The two large, machined input dials you’ll either love or hate because they are rather dominant. Aesthetics aside, there is no denying that they are excellent to use whether with the thumb or forefinger. Their purpose as well as direction of operation can again be customised and these settings can be varied depending to the exposure mode you’re in.

From the back • The camera’s rear is mostly taken up by the 3in monitor that can be angled up or down – it does not fold out to the side. It is touch sensitive but the features that you can adjust with it are limited. You can’t, for example, navigate the menus by touch but you can focus where you want and fire the shutter with it, though, so handy when candids or when the camera is tripod-mounted.

• A high-quality EVF is provided if you prefer using a viewfinder, and the quality of image it provides is excellent with no smear as you pan around and fine detail is easy to appreciate.

• With both monitor and EVF, various viewing options are available and pushing the INFO button scrolls through them. One option shows the image and battery condition only.

• The protruding thumb grip doesn’t look especially elegant but it is very effective and the angled plinth does mean there is room for another function button.

• The cluster of controls tucked underneath the grip is easy to use despite the fact that they are close together.

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Camera test ISO performance

Original image

The smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor, 17x13mm, does mean the format starts at a disadvantage compared with APS-C and full-frame when it comes to noise performance. However, it is also true that the Micro Four Thirds format has made massive strides in this regard and noise levels are constantly being improved.

The E-M10 Mark II shows how capable the format currently is and its noise performance is more than a little respectable. The ISO 800 image, for example, is very clean and while you can see noise, it is barely discernible and if it troubles you it is easily removed with a little noise reduction in software. The good thing is also that the noise at this speed is neutral and not coloured which always looks less attractive. Fine detail remains crisply rendered compared with lower ISOs. Detail starts to suffer at ISO 1600 although noise levels remain impressively low although some blotchy colour is visible in the shadows.

This is probably the highest ISO speed to shoot at for critical use.

From ISO 3200 onwards noise and its impact on fine detail means the higher speeds need using with discretion. The top native ISO of 5000 is still respectable and should the need be great, then it can be used but expect areas of even tone to be noisy. The two top expanded speeds are best avoided unless you are really desperate.

The base exposure of the ISO 100 shot was 1.6secs at f/5.6. The Raws were processed using Olympus Viewer 3 with the noise filter turned off.

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

High ISO noise filter If you need to shoot at very high Full-frame image ISO settings the E-M10 Mark II has an in-camera noise filter with three working levels. This works on the JPEGs only. Use it on Raws, and the instruction is transferred to Olympus Viewer 3 so the set level of noise filtration is applied during processing.

For this test, I shot at ISO 3200 upwards with the filter off, at low, standard and high. You can see its effectiveness and it manages to smooth out the high noise levels with minimal detriment to fine detail. The Standard noise filter setting can be left as a default for high ISO shooting.

No NR

Standard NR

Low NR

ISO 6400

Keystone compensation filter Shoot a building and point a lens upwards to include the top and you suffer converging verticals. Editing software is a quick and effective way to solve the problem while the E-M10 Mark II offers an in-camera fix. The Keystone Correction filter is prominently placed in the camera’s menu (in Shooting Menu 2) and not buried deep in the extensive menus so Olympus is clearly keen on the feature. Should you want even quicker access to it, the feature can be assigned to one of the camera’s function buttons.

This scene was shot with an Olympus 12mm wide-angle and while a two-storey building is not a severe test of the filter’s skills you can see that it works fine. As with most in-camera filters, the Keystone Correction filter only works with the JPEG file even if you are shooting Raw simultaneously, but the filter is present in the Olympus software so can be applied during processing.

High NR

The Keystone Correction filter is prominently placed in the camera’s menu

ISO 12,800

No filter

With filter

ISO 25,600

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Camera test Art filters

Grainy film

M.ZUIKO Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ ED

If you have the time, skill and inclination, all sorts of effects can be applied in post-processing. Olympus has been a leader in offering creative effects in-camera and it has probably the best selection currently available.

Fourteen effects are on offer and you can even set an art filter bracket so you get all (or as many as you choose) of them with one push of the shutter button. It’s JPEG only so the consequences on card capacity are not too severe and the in-camera processing is quite speedy.

No filter

Pop art

Pinhole

Olympus has been a leader in offering creative filters in-camera and it has probably the best selection available Cross process

The E-M10 Mark II is available in different lens packages or body only. Supplied for review was the M.ZUIKO Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ ED MSC. This is a neat little lens and it protrudes around 22mm from the body so it is does make for a very compact combination.

It’ll slide into a decent-sized jacket pocket. Turn the camera on and the lens automatically glides into its working position and sticks out 46mm from the body.

The broader inner barrel adjusts the zoom setting. This is motorised and you can zoom quickly or slowly depending on how you operate the zoom barrel – a quick twist gives the fastest zoom action. Even zooming slowly, you can miss the setting you want.

The smooth thinner, outer barrel looks after manual focusing and this is good to use. The action and the grip means fingertip control is easily possible. For filter users there is a 37mm thread and this doesn’t rotate during focusing.

Lens performance is good.

Given its price (£269) and its design philosophy (size comes first) that is probably no surprise.

It’s not a poor performer though.

Used a couple of stops down and you can get excellent pictures and it is better than many so-called kit lenses. At the wider setting, sharpness is good from the maximum aperture onwards.

Specs

Dramatic tone

Construction 8 elements in 7 groups. (1 Super HR element, 1 ED lens, three aspherical lenses) Minimum focus 20cm at widest setting, 25cm at longest Aperture range f/3.5 (14mm), f/5.6 (42mm) to f/22 Diaphragm Five blades Filter size 37mm Dimensions (wxhxd) 60.6x22.5mm Weight 93g

Verdict Entry-level models can be disappointing whether it’s a car, TV or camera. With fewer features, a cheaper feel and less performance. So it is a real delight to report that Olympus’s budget OM-D is feature-rich, feels great and delivers firstrate pictures. For the money, it’s a bargain and anyone who buys one is unlikely to feel an urgent need to upgrade, which can happen when you buy a basic entry-level product.

For me, price and high level of performance apart, I really appreciated the design changes. There is nothing seriously wrong at all with the original E-M10 and it is a perfectly sound camera but the two big knurled input dials and the repositioned on/off switch make handling a real pleasure.

Negatives? At this price, I’d have to get serious nit-picky to highlight any detractions and even so I am struggling to come up with any, and at this price I don’t expect weather-proofing and a swivel monitor.

The E-M10 Mark II is rich in features so whether you are a photographic newcomer or a seasoned veteran, there is plenty to explore and enjoy. Also, for £649 with the 14-42mm EZ lens (a lens that on its own costs £269) this camera is also compellingly good value.

How it rates Features An extensive and impressive features list for the money

25/25

Performance AF is swift and responsive, exposures consistently accurate

24/25

Handling Easy to get used to and generally good, especially the two input dials

24/25

Value for money A big bang for your buck so rates very highly

24/25

Overall Potentially another winner from Olympus Pros Long features list, great price, smart looks, handling Cons Extensive menus

97/100

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Camera test Specs Price £649 body only, £947 with EF-S 18135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM, £767 with EF 50mm f/2.8 STM Sensor 24.2 megapixels, DIGIC 6 processor Sensor format APS-C 22.2x14.9mm, 6000x4000pixels, EOS integrated cleaning system

Canon EOS 760D Of Canon’s two new EOS cameras aimed at users with a bit more experience, the EOS 760D has £149 worth of extra features to enjoy

ISO range ISO 100-12,800, expansion to ISO 25,600 Shutter range 30secs to 1/4000sec. Bulb, flash sync at 1/200sec Drive modes Continuous, 5fps max Metering system 7560 pixel RGB+IR sensor, metering area divided into 63-segements (9x7). Evaluative, partial, spot and centre-weighted Exposure modes PASM, scene intelligent auto modes Exposure compensation +/-5EV in 0.3EV or 0.5EV increments. AEB three shots +/2EV, 0.3EV, 0.5EV steps Monitor Touch screen vari-angle 3in Clear View II TFT Focusing TTL-CT-SIR with CMOS sensor.

AI focus, one shot and AI servo modes. Predictive AF up to 10m Focus points 19 cross-type AF points. AF point selection – 19 point AF, single point AF selection, zone AF Video 1920x1080 pixels Connectivity Hi speed USB, video output, HDMI mini, W0Fim NFC Storage media 1xSD/SDHC/SDXC card Other features Canon direct print with Pictbridge, 14 custom functions, 0-5 stars image rating, intelligent orientation sensor Dimensions (wxhxd) 131.9x77.8x100.9mm Weight 565g body only Contact canon.co.uk

Review by Will Cheung Canon has always done well with DSLRs aimed at keen enthusiasts and its two latest introductions are unlikely to buck that trend. The EOS 760D tested here and its close relation, the EOS 750D, are aimed at more-experienced users and both models share features. Resolution is an impressive 24.2 megapixels, autofocus is swift and accurate thanks to Canon’s Hybrid CMOS AF III sensor, and the DIGIC 6 processor offers an ISO of 100 to an equivalent 25,600 in expanded mode.

The 750D is cheaper than the 760D, and while it delivers the same image quality there are key features missing including the rear command dial, the top-plate LCD display, servo AF in live view and the viewfinder/ EVF auto changeover eye sensor.

But with the 750D body selling for a little over £500 the question to ask is whether the 760D is worth the extra £149 investment that seems a great deal given that you’ll get identical shots from both cameras.

The extra money, assuming you have it, is worth spending on the EOS 760D over the 750D. Its handling is very much more ‘Canon’. By that I mean that Canon hit upon a winning formula some while ago with the large rear command dial and the top plate LCD readout playing key roles, and the 750D (and earlier entry-level models) misses out here. The 760D’s thumb-operated command dial on the back with a four-way cluster and the LCD readout for at-a-glance checking of settings make a massive

difference to the smooth handling.

Owners of older EOSs moving to the 760D will find their way around the physical layout very quickly although the menus might take a little longer. Total newcomers to Canon EOS cameras won’t struggle too much either because Canon’s design formula is a winning one.

Having waxed lyrical about Canon’s ergonomics, one thing I didn’t like was the on/off control. My moan is that on several occasions I found myself going beyond ‘on’ and into movie mode. A lock or firmer click-stop would be an advantage.

That it’s on the left-side top-plate is a minus point, too; on the right by the shutter button would make onehanded switching on possible.

The camera’s menu structure has 11 ‘tabs’ across the top with a maximum of seven items on show under each tab. It’s a straightforward, really good system that minimises downward scrolling by having every item under each tab visible.

In the playback menus you can rate your shots, and this rating follows the image through to Lightroom or Canon DPP. In playback you can also apply seven creative filters to your files. Grainy BW, Fish-eye, Art Bold, and Toy camera effects are some of the options available. From Raw originals you can save shots as JPEGs and if you are shooting JPEGs you can save filtered files as new separate files rather than overwrite the original. These creative modes are only available in post.

Select SCN on the exposure mode dial and you’ve access to three-frame HDR Backlight Control mode, Night

Portrait, Kids, and Food settings.

There are six options in all.

The excellent vari-angle monitor with its touch sensitive screen provides a fine, contrasty viewing image. In live view, there is the option of touch-screen AF and realtime exposure simulation, too. The touch function can also be disabled.

Many settings can be altered with the touch screen – in manual, there are 16 changeable items including image quality mode, white-balance, focus zone selection and metering mode. Touching the Q icon makes the items active and the screens stays active for around ten seconds.

AF is typically Canon: accurate

fast, and responsive, and various focus sensor options are available. In single zone AF, there are 19 zones.

The 760D’s exposure system also proved excellent. Shooting into the light, dark scenes, white subjects; all were handled expertly and if there were issues, the tolerance of the Raws was good enough for recovery work in post. For example, shots of a white windmill were marginally underexposed and lightened with a tweak on the exposure slider and a silhouette scene was improved with a tweak of the shadows. Generally, the EOS 760D did a great job in delivering high-quality images with little extra intervention.

Above Shot in strong morning sun with the Canon 15-85mm zoom. The original image was marginally underexposed which can happen with a bright white subject – snow presents the same exposure problem. Easily corrected in processing. The exposure was 1/400sec at f/9 and ISO 100.

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Camera test ISO performance

Full-frame image

ISO 100 and ISO 200 give very clean images as you’d expect. At ISO 400 and ISO 800 shots are pretty good but noise is evident at both speeds, although detail isn’t too adversely affected. From ISO 1600 onwards noise is much more obvious although at ISO 1600 and 3200 it’s very filmic – not blotchy or coloured. ISO 1600 is good enough for critical use and with some noise reduction in software will give impressive results. Noise from ISO 6400 onwards is strong and detail is lost amid the noise so the top speeds are best avoided for critical work.

Shot on an EOS 760D with an EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. The exposure for the ISO 100 shot was 1.3secs at f/8. Raws were processed in Lightroom CC with no noise reduction.

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

Shooting into the light, dark scenes, white subjects; all were handled expertly Verdict

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

The EOS 760D is a good, solid APS-C format Canon. There is nothing especially outstanding or noteworthy about it, but then there is nothing that irritates or no flaws that will put prospective purchasers off. It delivers a fine performance with high picture quality in smooth, unruffled fashion, and at £649 body only it is a very sound buy.

How it rates Features 23/25 A quality APS-C format Canon with much going for it

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

ISO 25,600

Performance Delivers high-quality images time after time

23/25

Handling 24/25 Smooth-performing camera with a few minor niggles Value for money 24/25 Represents sound value and it’s a capable camera 94/100 Overall If you’re looking for a quality APS-C DSLR, look at this Canon Pros Quiet, swift AF, vari-angle monitor Cons On/off switch could be better

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First tests Specs Materials N100 nylon with UTS coating, N210D HD Oxford nylon, stretch polyester Waterproof Yes, All Weather AW cover built-in and stowed in the base 150 AW Capacity CSC with lens Extra lens Tablet, ie. iPad Mini Small accessories Dimensions External 24.3x15.5x38.8cm Bottom compartment 22x11x18.5cm Top compartment 21x9x17.3cm Tablet compartment 18.8x2x18.5cm 250 AW Capacity Compact DSLR with lens or CSC with lens Extra lens Tablet, ie. iPad Mini Small accessories

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

Lowepro Slingshot Edge 150 AW £63 & 250AW £74

Dimensions External 26.7x15.6x48cm Bottom compartment 23x12x21cm Top compartment 22x10x23cm Tablet compartment 19.5x2x23cm Contact lowepro.co.uk

The 150 AW is very cute. It looks like it started life as a full-size rucksack and was then subjected to a shrinking ray A camera bag designer’s job is a challenging one. It must be like having to redesign the wheel every time the computer is switched on. The remarkable thing is that time after time, they come up trumps. Case in point, Lowepro’s latest bags, which are from its urban daypack series, the Slingshot Edge.

Designed specifically for the photographer about town who wants to travel light with a bag that offers high levels of protection without compromising accessibility to its contents, the series comprises the 150 AW and 250 AW. In my view, the 150 AW is very cute.

It looks like it started life as a full-size rucksack and was then subjected to a shrinking ray. It has been designed with CSCs in mind so I tried it with the Fujifilm X-T1, a larger CSC, as well as an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II. Both cameras fit the bottom compartment very nicely so getting at the camera while it’s in place is no

problem. The double zip gives you options on fastening, too.

Under the dividers that support the camera, there is room to possibly stow a couple of lenses, depending on their size, or, more particularly, their girth.

To get at them, though, means tugging at the Velcro dividers so it needs a little effort.

The supplied dividers can be removed entirely so you can quite easily shuffle things around. Two little pockets with elasticated covers for spare batteries are incorporated into the compartment cover which is a neat design.

The padded divider between the top and bottom compartments is stitched and not removable. There is plenty of room in the top compartment so space for a telezoom and/or waterproofs, snacks or whatever.

The fitted shoulder strap is comfortable and wide, and it’s quickly adjusted once the bag is on your back.

There is an extra strap on the bag, and

this is to keep it in place, ie. when you don’t want it to ‘sling’. For example, I used it when I went cycling with the 150 AW on my back. When not in use, rather than have the strap dangling down I stashed it in the AW Weather cover pocket.

Away from the main compartments, there is a deep external pocket for stuff like a notebook and pens or photo odds and sods like filters. An elasticated water bottle holder, the AW cover stashed in the base in a zipped pocket and tripod holding straps complete the 150 AW’s key features.

Given the bag’s length, a traveller style tripod or a GorillaPod is perfect and the good thing is that you can still get at your kit without having to unstrap the tripod first. If you are shooting without your tripod, the supplied straps can be taken off and stowed so they’re not dangling as you stroll around.

The 250 AW is basically a stretched version of the 150 AW so it’s just as

slim and the deeper compartments means it’ll happily accommodate an APS-C DSLR. I tried a Canon EOS 760D and a couple of lenses and that worked well. Those of you with a larger CSC, like the Fujifilm X-T1, with several lenses might find the 250 AW to be the better solution, assuming you want to carry a more extensive outfit around.

In use, I thought both bags performed very well indeed and I had no issues with getting at the contents, The protection levels were also impressively high. The slim nature of the bags was also a handy quality when getting on and off rush hour public transport and content security rates very highly, too.

Of the two I found 250 AW marginally less comfortable to tote around and use and this is down to my body shape. It does go to show the importance of personally checking a bag’s usability in-store before making your buying decision. WC

How it rates Verdict

I enjoyed using both the 150 AW and the 250 AW. My personal favourite is the 150 AW, a lovely little bag, perfect for strolling the city with a small CSC outfit on your back. Of course, I have nothing against the 250 AW, and its bigger size does suit APS-C format DSLR users to a T, but the lighter CSC option has a great appeal.

Whichever model you go for, you are guaranteed excellent protection and quick access to your kit so definitely worth checking out.

Pros Size (especially the 150 AW), slim, lightweight, integral AW cover, attractive looks, good price Cons A very personal thing – the 250 AW didn’t suit my body shape

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First tests

PermaJet FB Baryta papers test pack 2 From £11.95 As a wet darkroom printer, I have always loved air-dried gloss paper finishes, so when I started making prints on an inkjet printer it was a simple and very natural progression to use papers that give a similar effect. Of course, the beauty with inkjet media is the huge range of excellent finishes available, and I have regularly used PermaJet FB materials so when the new FB range was announced it made sense to do some testing.

I used a wide selection of known images, pictures I have outputted previously on PermaJet materials. Images included scenics, portraits, studio still-life shots, and a colour test chart.

My tests were done with a selection of Epson printers, from my own golden oldie, the Stylus Pro 3880, to the new generation of printers, also from Epson, the SureColor P400, P600 and P800 models. The same file was printed in each of the new materials using generic profiles downloaded from the PermaJet website.

Buy a pack of PermaJet papers and you can have a customised profile for your output system made to ensure you get the bestquality results.

The results that I achieved with generic profiles, however, were impressive so it is up to you if you want to have any custom profiles made.

How it rates Verdict I enjoyed PermaJet’s previous range of the FB paper and outputted a lot of work on Royal Gloss, Warm-tone and Distinction 360. I did have the odd issue of headstrike and some of the surfaces were prone to scratching, so handling had to be quite considered.

I think, however, that the new finishes have resolved any issues of the older range and they are capable of outstanding print quality. Whether outputting colour or black & white images use one of these materials and you will be rewarded with outstanding results.

I thought all the papers performed really well and there was no weak one, so picking which to use is very much a subjective choice. Clearly, if you are unsure which to use at this point, buy the test sample pack and go from there.

I had two personal favourites. I like rich prints and in black & white, I love deep, deep blacks and I thought FB Gold Silk did the best with delivering them and the material’s tone appealed, too.

My other pick is FB Matt 285. I feel my images don’t suit matt finishes generally, but I thought this material was actually quite sympathetic to my work so I’m happy to explore its potential.

Pros Print quality is better than the older versions, good range of finishes Cons Only one matt/art finish to choose from

FB Gold Silk 315

FB Royal Gloss 310

If the FB Royal Gloss 310 is too rich for your tastes and perhaps the FB Satin 310 not strident enough, FB Gold Silk, could be the material for you offering a mid-point between the two. The finish is luxuriously silky but it has a lovely smooth sheen to it, too.

Print quality is excellent with lots of vibrant, solidly saturated colours to enjoy but this is not at the expense of more delicate hues which are well recorded. It works well for monochrome because you get punchy images that aren’t overly contrasty. The marginally warmer white base works well for most subjects, too.

In the previous range, FB Gloss and Royal were my favourite materials, but some prints suffered from head strike. Those two materials have been replaced with this one that utilises new coatings on a lighter base to give a flat-lying material for superior printer loading. It’s the glossiest material in the FB family, and the paper surface is very smooth. The gloss finish gives prints an extra bit of life and the white base, similar to Satin, make images stand out. With its depth, this paper is excellent for gutsy black & white images and richly saturated colour scenes.

Prices A4 25 sheets £24.95, A3 25 sheets £49.95 Tone 6 (PermaJet’s own rating with Oyster being 1 and the brightest base) Weight 315gsm

Whiteness 101 (CIE) Coatings Single-sided, acid-free smooth silk/satin baryta paper Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in and 44in rolls

Prices A4 25 sheets £27.95, A3 25 sheets £55.95 Tone 5 Weight 310gsm

Coatings Single-sided, microporous acid free art paper Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in and 44in rolls

Thickness 0.34mm

Thickness 0.31mm

Whiteness 98.5

FB Distinction 320

FB Satin 310

In the FB range Distinction easily has the whitest base and that is immediately apparent when you lay out the prints made from the different finishes. It’s not unpleasant at all but it’s white to the point of coolness and that might not appeal to everyone.

In terms of output quality, Distinction is as capable as any in the FB family. Whether images are subtly or vividly coloured they come out beautifully on Distinction. With its very white base, black & whites can look marvelous, and pure whites, bottomless blacks and smooth mid-tones come out exactly as intended.

PermaJet’s old FB range did not have a Satin option so this finish offers something new with a very subtle sheen and a very smooth surface. It is very much an air-dried gloss print but probably with even less sheen. Look with an oblique light and you see a little surface texture. For exhibition or display work this paper would suit because it’s not very reflective. Colour rendition is first rate.

Rich without any brashness and highly saturated, though it’s not a high-gloss material. My black & white shots came out superbly with gorgeous blacks, crisp highlights plus a hint of warmth.

Prices A4 25 sheets £29.95, A3 25 sheets £58.95

Prices A4 25 sheets £27.95, A3 25 sheets £55.95

Tone 3 Weight 320gsm Thickness 0.35mm

Whiteness 106 Coatings Single-sided, acid free smooth white baryta paper Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in, 44in and 60in rolls

Tone 5 Weight 310gsm Thickness 0.34mm

Whiteness 103 Coatings Single-sided acid free, fine art pearl paper Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in and 44in rolls

FB Matt 285 The only paper without a sheen in the FB range is FB Matt 285, and it does offer an interesting counterpoint to the other finishes.

Using the Matt Black ink option available on Epson printers, our test showed that this material is certainly from the top drawer.

Matt finishes, by their very nature, usually lack the depth and vibrancy of their gloss or lustre rivals and that is true in the case of this material but the difference is much less than you might think.

Our test prints look excellent, and certainly if you want a matt finish that doesn’t produce flat-looking prints this is the paper for you.

Of course, a matt paper is so-named for its lack of surface sheen and there is no problem in that respect either with a totally smooth matt finish that’s free of any sheen. In terms of base tone, FB Matt 285 is more akin to Royal and Satin than the slight warm of Silk or the brilliant white of Distinction.

Prices A4 25 sheets £19.95, A3 25 sheets £41.95 Tone 5 Weight 285gsm

Thickness 0.31mm Whiteness 101.5 Coatings Single sided, ultrabright smooth paper

Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in and 44in rolls Contact permajet.com

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

First tests

Manfrotto MT290XTC3 £195 Manfrotto’s 290 tripod range was recently refreshed with several new models, including Xtra and Dual versions, plus a monopod. The MT290XTC3 carbon-fibre model, which we’ll focus on here, is in the Xtra bracket and is the lightest of the lot, being the only carbon-fibre version in there. Feature wise, it looks sparse; there are few bells and whistles, such as a bubble level or leg pads, and, unlike the Dual version, the centre column is only reversible, rather than having a mechanism to switch it horizontally. But this basic design is twinned with exceptional quality, and the stripped-down features list keeps it light. I took the legs, twinned with a Manfrotto XPRO ball head on a recent shoot in Iceland and found it performed very well throughout.

The MT290XTC3 has an exceptionally well-made feel and the build quality suggests that, with care, it will last a lifetime. In striking the tripod, the legs operate with reassuring smoothness, taking just the right amount of force to position them without feeling stiff and neither is there any wobble or looseness. The leg sections, of which there are three, slide out easily and lock firmly with no sign of slippage. The maximum payload is rated at 5kg, which might not sound a lot, but even with lots of extra downward pressure exerted to test the strength of the locks there was only very minor movement.

The lever leg locks are made of magnesium alloy and fast to use. And because there are only two on each leg you can operate them together to speed up operation. The locks are also easily tightened or loosened with an Allen key, so you can do a bit maintenance if required.

Thanks to having only three sections, and with reasonably large diameters of 25.3mm, 21.7mm, and

Mini tests Western Digital My Passport Ultra 2TB £100 Having a secure back-up of your files is such an important facet of modern life. You might be using cloud-based back-up which is okay for smaller files but photography is rarely about small files so a physical drive is better.

The WD My Passport Ultra hard drive is available in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 3TB sizes. The interface is USB 3.0 and a cable is supplied, as are software utilities that let you check the drive’s status. There is a security feature that lets you password-protect the drive’s contents, in case your drive gets stolen. A nice choice of colours, too.

Write performance is impressive with 20GB of material transferred and written from my iMac Mini in four minutes. I appreciate that speed is not always important but it’s great to know it’s available. WC Verdict Reliable storage is important and I had no issues with this unit. I uploaded a bunch of files and had the drive (without extra protection) in my bag for a few weeks. While a longer test might say different, I didn’t manage to break the unit so that is definitely a good thing. wdc.com

The leg sections slide out easily and lock firmly with no sign of slippage 18.2mm respectively, there’s no ‘whip’ to the legs as you’d find with thinner versions, either, so it offers a very rugged and stable platform. The large rubber feet add to this, and I found they prevented slipping on all but the slickest rocks; they’re removable for cleaning or replacing with spikes when you need to dig in. As with most tripods, there’s also a hook for attaching ballast.

At full extension, minus the centre column, the MT290XTC3 reaches a respectable 142cm (this increases to 165.5cm with the centre column up).

Minimum height is 30.5cm which is fine, unless you want to shoot very close to ground level, in which case the centre column is reversed by loosening it, removing the rubber cap, flipping it over and inserting it back into the tripod collar from below. Thankfully, this can all be done without removing the head.

With four leg angles available, uneven terrain was easily negotiated The strength and build quality are equalled by the lightness of the legs, and I really didn’t notice it when hiking to locations, and the lightness also means that it’s less likely to unbalance your load when it’s strapped to a backpack. It comes with a carry bag of its own, too. Closed, the legs measure 62.7cm, so they’re by no means small, but I had no trouble fitting them in a suitcase for travelling. KS

Top Three leg sections and carbon-fibre construction means the MT290XTC3 is an excellent outdoor tripod providing solid support. At £195 (legs only) it is very competitively priced, too.

Specs Construction Carbon fibre Leg sections 3 Leg angles 4 (25°.46°.66°.88°) Leg tube diameters 25.3, 21.7, 18.2mm Leg lock type Lever Reversible centre column Yes

How it rates Verdict

In many ways this is an ideal landscaper’s tripod – it’s light, tall and easy to use with a classically simple and effective design. You’re unlikely to exceed the max payload of 5kg even with a full-frame DSLR. At £195 you won’t feel short changed by the build, either, making the MT290XTC3 highly recommended.

Pros Simplicity, build, handling, weight Cons Maximum load, minimal features

Maximum height 142cm; with centre column 165.5cm Minimum height 30.5cm Closed length 62.7cm Maximum load 5kg Weight 1.540kg Contact manfrotto.co.uk

Tenba Tools from £18.99 Being organised is so important, especially if you’re on the move. Leave an Allen key, cable, charger or card reader at home and you can be snookered. Tenba has a range of good-value products in its Tools collection that will help keep you organised.

The Tools collection comprises a number of bags and wallets and here, I focus on the Tool Box and Cable Duo bags.

The Cable Duo 8 (£18.99) has storage both sides and the clear TPU plastic windows mean you can see what’s inside. One side has a series of elasticated loops for cables and tools. There is a carry loop, too.

While the Cable Duo is a soft bag, the Tool Box 8 (£30) has greater rigidity and it’s padded so more protective, ideal for flash triggers, microphones and filters. It comes with a selection of movable dividers and the clear front means you know what’s inside without opening it.

Storage isn’t very exciting but it’s so essential, and being organised saves time and angst. I packed the Cable Duo with all the stuff I need when I travel including tea bags and headache tablets as well as photo stuff. None of the items are needed at home as I have duplicates so it means when I pack, I can just grab the Cable Duo and go. In the Tool Box 8 I packed a flashgun and radio triggers so it is all together. WC Verdict Great idea, great design, well executed and excellent value, too. Perfect stocking fillers for Chrimbo perhaps! tenba.com DigiPower Re-fuel RF-A52 £32 Many of us can’t live without a mobile phone or tablet, but the thing is they consume quite a lot of energy. To overcome the potential disaster of having a flat battery, you need a portable power pack like this Re-fuel unit from battery specialists DigiPower.

Portable, easy to use and effective, this power pack houses a lithium polymer 5200mAh rechargeable battery with two sockets, one micro USB input and one standard USB. Plug the unit’s micro USB into a USB socket to charge and you have four LEDs to indicate the charge. All four LEDs glowing shows you’re fully charged. The other USB socket is used to connect your smart device. Plug your device in, turn the Re-fuel on and charging starts. It also turns off when fully charged.

On an iPhone 5C with 20% charge to a full charge took two hours with the Re-fuel still showing three LEDs at the end. It is no problem getting a partial top-up and the iPhone was up to 55% in 30mins. Also, you can carry on using your device while the Re-fuel is connected.

I got 2.5 charges of my phone from the same starting point before the Re-fuel needed charging. WC Verdict Definitely worth the investment for those occasions when you can’t access any form of recharging. A good reliable unit that doesn’t take up much room, and is excellent value. intro2020.co.uk

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

First tests Specs Price £1799 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Canon EF Construction 14 elements in 11 groups Special lens elements BR Optics (Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics), two aspherical, one UD element Coatings Subwavelength Coating (SWC), fluorine coating on front and rear surfaces to repel liquid and dust Filter size 72mm Aperture range F/1.4-22 Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 28cm Focus limiter No Maximum magnification 0.21x Distance scale Yes, metres and feet Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser No Tripod collar No Lens hood EW-77B supplied, bayonet fit Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions (lxd) 80.4x105.5mm Weight 760g Contact canon.co.uk

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L II USM £1799 Fixed focal length (prime) lenses have suddenly come back in vogue and there are some brilliant examples out there, from camera and independent brands. After years of living on modest-aperture zooms perhaps someone realised that there was an appetite for truly fast-aperture, highspec primes.

The EF 35mm f/1.4 L II USM is Canon’s latest and it fills the need for a top-end lens that gives a natural perspective, and the semi-wide view is ideally suited to most subjects. The need has been created by the arrival of 50-megapixel full-frame DSLRs in Canon’s range that demand the best possible quality lenses to fulfil their potential. The original 35mm f/1.4 was launched back in 1998 when film ruled so, while a fine lens, it isn’t ideal for the 5DS/R, and the other current 35mm is an f/2, non-L version.

While the EF 35mm f/1.4 L II USM is a top-end lens it’s not especially exotic on the outside at least. There is a red line to signify its L status and it is weather proofed, but there’s no IS and the only control was an AF/ MF switch. Internally, however, it’s a different story and this lens is the first to feature Canon’s proprietary Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics (BR Optics for short). This is in addition to two aspherical elements and one UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) element.

BR Optics feature new organic material designed to refract blue light to a greater degree compared with existing special optical glass to control colour fringing as much as possible. Used in combination with conventional glass elements, BR Optics produce very sharp, contrasty images with minimal chromatic aberration. That’s the theory and there is no doubt that this lens is very capable. I suppose the question I have is, since chromatic aberration is more of an issue as focal length increases,

Full-frame

Images We fixed the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L II USM lens onto the 50-megapixel EOS 5D S with ISO set to 100 and shot a bunch of Raws.

The files were processed in Lightroom CC with default sharpening. The enlargements on the right were taken from the centre (left half/yellow) and the edge of the frame (right half/pink).

how much impact do BR Optics have at 35mm where CA is less of an issue in the first place?

Quality is high from f/1.4 onwards and gets even better from f/2.8 and peaks at f/5.6 and f/8. Edge sharpness is also good from f/1.4 and peaks at f/8.

Diffraction takes its toll at the smaller apertures and while f/16 still delivers a high standard of performance, f/22 looks less impressive.

Flare resistance is excellent. It is possible to induce a few faint flare marks by including the sun’s disk at the edge of the frame but still good in the situation.

Physical handling is good. The lens is no lightweight but it is well balanced on something like the EOS 5DS, the camera used for this test.

The lens’s only control is an AF/MF switch but the focus barrel allows fulltime manual override anyway. WC

How it rates Verdict

Some lenses are like works of art, some more workmanlike. This lens falls into the latter category with the only frill being the red line around the end of the barrel. The manual focusing action is nothing special, there is no IS and there’s only one control. Put the superficial aside, though, and what Canon has done internally has been remarkable and, while this lens is £1799, you do get an outstanding optical performance.

Features Lots of exotic glass to optimise performance

24/25

Performance Amazing in the f/4-11 range and impressive at the wider settings too

23/25

Handling No concerns, good in bad weather conditions, too

24/25

Value for money Serious outlay for a serious lens

22/25

Overall A leading and very useful standard prime so a great investment Pros Optical performance, USM Cons Price, no IS

F/1.4

F/2

F/2.8

F/5.6

F/11

F/22

93/100

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

First tests

MagMod 2 Basic Kit £90 and MagBounce reflector £50

Specs Price MagMod 2 Basic Kit £90 MagBounce £50 Mounting method Silicone rubber and magnets Selected compatible speedlights: Pixapro: Li-Ion580, Li-Ion580ETTL, Li-Ion580ITTL Canon: 380EX, 420EX, 430EX, 430EX II, 540EZ, 550EX, 580EX, 580EX II, 600EX-RT Nikon: SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, SB28(DX) SB-50DX, SB-80DX, SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900, SB-910 Sony: HVL-F60M, HVL-F58AM, HVL-F56AM Olympus: FL-50R, FL-600R Yongnuo: YN560, YN560-II, YN560III, YN568EX-II, YN565EX Pentax: AF540FGZ, AF540FGZ II, AF360FGZ Sigma: EF-610 Metz: 44 AF-1, 52 AF-1, 52 AF-2, 58 AF-1, 58 AF-2 Vivitar: DF-286, DF-293, DF-383, DF483, DF-583, 385HV Phottix: Mitros, Mitros+ Contact magnetmod.com essentialphoto.co.uk

The freedom with which the modifiers attach, I think, actually makes you more likely to experiment

Below Easy to fit, the MagBounce reflector and MagGrid can quickly improve lighting, spreading the flash, or restricting it.

Naked flash

As soon as you start using flash you realise how important flash modifiers are; bursts of light without modification are brutal and uncontrolled. Unshaped and unfiltered, flash won’t improve photos like it’s supposed to. That’s why photographers go to great lengths to control flash, both in terms of ingenuity and expense; they craft home-made diffusers and reflectors, or they spend hundreds on gizmos to do the job. Now, the MagMod 2 system seeks to combine ingenuity and performance with a price point that’s makes DIY options seem like a waste of time.

A slight update on its first incarnation, the system is still designed around the use of strong magnets (neodymium rare-earth magnets, since you asked), but these are now stronger and more securely fitted. These, in combination with a silicone rubber design, make it very easy to fit and use. The MagMod 2 Basic kit comprises a MagGrip, which stretches over the speedlight head, and a MagGel 2 and MagGrid 2 which then cling strongly to it. The grip took a bit of a stretch to get it over the Nikon SB-600 flash used in the test, but once on it was very secure. Because the magnets are aligned at either side and very strong, when they attract the modifiers are brought perfectly into place, with no adjustment needed.

In fact, you only need to bring them within a couple of centimetres and let them go and they snap into position.

Compare this with having to tighten and adjust Velcro fittings, or slide and clip modifiers into place and the advantage becomes clear. As well as the eight coloured gels and filters supplied, there’s also a Transmitter Band in the package, made of the same silicone rubber, which is used to attach a wireless receiver if required, and this attaches with the same ease. The semi-translucent white MagBounce works in the same way, but has four magnets, allowing it to be rotated to through 90° if required.

When it comes to the MagMod system’s construction it certainly appeared to be as durable as it is easy MagBounce

to use. The silicone rubber employed is claimed to hold 99% of its elasticity over time, and showed no inclination to tear or stretch out of shape. Being soft rubber they are prone to damage from sharp objects though, so care must be taken if shooting in a knife factory, and the magnets should be kept away from anything that’s sensitive to them – your camera, flash, memory cards are fine, as are solidstate drives – but caution should be taken with regular hard-drives, credit cards and any eight-track cassettes in your Pontiac Firebird.

The rubber material does have a tendency to pick up fluff, but while a slicker finish would fix this and improve the look, it doesn’t affect performance in any way.

When it comes to packing them away and transporting, the silicone means they crush down without harm, springing perfectly back into shape when released. They’re very light, too, at just over 100g for the MagGrip, and much less for the Grid and Gel holder respectively. The MagBounce is larger but still weighs just over 300g. In use, while light in their own right, the modifiers do add weight to the flash head, like any modifier would, and the SB-600’s Naked flash

head became a bit more floppy with the kit attached; sudden movement sent it lolling forward. However, it locked happily into its normal positions when static so therefore worked fine.

The degree of modification from the light is excellent and the freedom with which the modifiers attach, I think, actually makes you more likely to experiment. The MagGrid cuts the angle of the flash to 40°, so does a standard job of channeling the light, but due to the way the magnet system works, you can stack additional grids (at £35 a piece) to cut the light further. The MagGel works very well, too; the eight polycarbonate MagGrid

filters provided (Full CTO, 1/2 CTO, 1/4 CTO, 1/2 Blue, 1/2 Straw, 1/2 Plusgreen, Opal Frost Diffusion, and a 8X (3EV) neutral density) slot into their rubber housing easily, which in turn attaches to the Grip or Grid. You can stack three in the one holder and I particularly liked the Frost and 1/2 Straw gels diffusion mixed with the grid which gives a slightly warmed, soft, but focused look. The coloured gels did an excellent job of balancing the flash’s colour with available light, but can also be used for subtle colour effects. And there’s a set of stronger coloured gels available if you want to take it further. The MagBounce also worked well, expanding the area of light output by about 300% and therefore softening the look. Snoots and globes are also available if you buy into the system. KS

Verdict With products this good and this affordable, it’s time to say goodbye to home-made contraptions like fag paper diffusers and sweet wrapper gels.

The MagMog system is incredibly easy to use, takes up virtually no space in your bag, and gives great results. Highly recommended.

Pros Easy to use, light, durable and expandable Cons Rubber can get fluffy

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

First tests

Phottix Indra360 TTL kit From £779

Specs Price £779 includes one Indra360 head, battery pack in pouch, charger, S-mount reflector, softbag, manual on USB stick. AC adapter £290, Easy-up Umbrella softbox 70x70cm £70, Luna folding Beauty Dish 85cm £68, Odin from £150 Maximum output 360 watts, adjustable in 0.3 or 1EV steps Flash modes TTL auto, manual, multi Modelling lamp Yes, 4.5W with 9 adjustable levels LCD Yes, 320x240 TFT display with orientation sensor and choice of 3 colours Built-in radio trigger Yes, 100m range Wireless trigger modes Odin-C, Odin-N, Strato II, via port Optical slave Indoors 12m, outdoors 7m High-speed flash sync Yes, with Odin-C or -N trigger Sync port 3.5mm minijack Channels 4 Multi-flash Frequency 1-100Hz, 1-100 times Output colour temperature 5500K +/-200K

There have been huge advances in flash over recent times and there are so many options. For location shooting, you can either take the speedlight approach with portable camera flashguns or the other option is using a system that is at home whether in the studio or in the great outdoors, like the Phottix Indra360 TTL. The Indra360 kit tested here sells at £779 and comes with a portable, high-capacity battery pack. Buy the optional AC mains adapter for £290 and up to two heads can be run from the mains like any studio flash.

Choice of power is just one key feature. The Indra360 TTL can be used manually where you have total control over output but invest in the Odin radio trigger (Canon, Nikon and Sony are available for £150-160) and you have the option of TTL flash control and even high-speed flash sync. The Odin has the choice of manual wireless, cable sync and an optical sensor, so it really depends on how you prefer to work.

The Indra360 head is a solidly constructed unit that inspires confidence, but it’s no lightweight.

Design, though, is excellent. The rear panel is clearly laid out and there is a large readout with four menus for plenty of control.

The portable battery pack is impressively compact and comes with belt pouch. The power cable is permanently attached and the only socket is for recharging. Plug the lead into the head, hold down the on button for a couple of seconds and the battery comes up with green LEDs indicating power level – four means fully charged. Click on the on switch on the head and you’re ready to go.

Scrolling through the four menus is done by the orange control and

then each item is accessed by pushing the button under it. The orange button scrolls through the options and pushing the same button down confirms selection. It is an easy and quick to use system with a little experience. The large LCD is excellent and very clear.

No trigger comes with this kit so allow £150 for an Odin, £75 or a Stratos or use your existing trigger via the sync socket or another flash.

To aid focusing (or for use as a continuous light source) there is a built-in modelling lamp. This can be controlled wirelessly with the Odin.

Modifiers fit via the head’s S-bayonet – this is a very widely used fitting so third-party modifiers fit and there is plenty of choice from Phottix’s own system. The very quick to set up and solidly made Luna 85cm Beauty Dish is especially worth a look for anyone using an S-fit head Battery capacity is very good. From a fully charged pack I got over 250 fullpower manual flashes and still had one LED’s worth of energy left. You’d get many more in TTL or at lower output settings. Recharge time in full manual was 5secs and stayed the same until 140 flashes when it slowed to 6secs. By 235 bursts recycling time extended to nine seconds.

In terms of power, I set the head on a stand and used a Gossen meter to measure output. With the supplied reflector I got a full-power reading of f/16 at three metres and ISO 100. With the Luna 85mm Beauty Dish modifier I got f/8.09 at the same distance and output while the Easy-up Umbrella softbox gave f/11.

For a compact unit, this is impressive and certainly versatile enough with respect to aperture, capacity and modifier options. WC

Cooling Built-in automatic cooling fan

From a fully charged pack I got over 250 full-power manual flashes and still had one LED’s worth of energy left

Recycling time With AC adapter 0.1-1secs, with battery 0.1-5secs Dimensions (wxhxd) 140x267x190mm Weight Head, no reflector 1795g, battery pack, case and lead 595g Contact eu.macgroupus.com

Top The Indra360 TTL kit comes with head, battery, case and cables.

The Odin trigger that allows TTL control is extra and costs £150 for Canon and Nikon, and £160 for Sony. Left The LCD readout is excellent and whole control layout is well considered and easy to use once you get used to it. Below The head is solidly constructed but it is no lightweight.

How it rates Verdict

There is a great deal to like about the Indra360 TTL. I tried the unit with a basic radio trigger and then also with the Odin-N in manual and TTL mode. It is an excellent system to use and the TTL system works well – obviously the camera plays a major part here – and accurate results are readily achievable. The compact battery (that can also be used to power speedlights with the appropriate cable) has plenty of capacity and enough for most shoots.

All told, a lovely kit that is portable, great to use and versatile. If you are looking for a flash system that works from a battery or from the mains, the Phottix Indra360 TTL must be on your shortlist and as it comes, it is impressive value for money.

Pros Compact, good output, capacity, handling, LCD Cons Cost of accessories such as the £290 AC adapter, cooling fan comes on a lot

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Lens tests Specs: SP 35mm Price £579 Format Full-frame and APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon, Sony (no VC) Construction 10 elements in 9 groups Special lens elements Moulded glass aspherical, low dispersion and extra low dispersion Coatings eBAND, BBAR and fluorine coating Filter size 67mm Aperture range f/1.8-16 Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes with USD (ultrasonic silent drive) AF motor Manual focus Yes – switch on lens, full-time override Minimum focus 20cm Focus limiter No

Two from Tamron One new Tamron lens is cause for celebration, two calls for bunting, cake and much trumpet blowing. These new optics both sit in the SP range, sporting a new design philosophy Review by Will Cheung Tamron started working on this pair of SP lenses with a blank sheet of paper and the objective of offering superior optical performance with today’s high-resolution cameras in a great-looking bodyform and with excellent handling.

You can’t help but be impressed with the elegant cosmetics of these SP optics. The main body has a smooth black sheen, offset by the luminous gold-finish ring at the back of the lens. This ring will appear on all new SP lenses – it signifies the relationship between the camera and lens.

In terms of handling, the internal focusing barrel is smooth with the right amount of resistance. It allows full-time manual override on most cameras and there’s an AF/MF switch on the side if you need to declutch the focusing mechanism. AF speed and responsiveness, on our test Nikon D800, rated highly. Fast, sure-footed, smooth and almost silent. Behind the camera you will hear the gentle whir of the USD focus motor.

The other switch is for Tamron’s Vibration Compensation that can give up to a 4EV benefit. It’s proven technology that helps avoid shake in any alignment, not just in horizontal or vertical axes.

Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD I shot a variety of images using both of these lenses, and as our review samples were Nikonfit I used a Nikon D800 body throughout. I shot handheld and with a tripod (using models from Benro and Gitzo). When on a tripod, I used a remote release or exposure delay mode to release the shutter.

Test images were Raws processed through Lightroom with default sharpening applied.

There is much to like about this lens’s optical showing. Simply, it is a capable lens, delivering quality images from the maximum aperture onwards and the only setting that’s less good is f/16 where diffraction softens overall sharpness.

At the key wider apertures, this lens delivers from f/1.8 onwards, especially when appropriate levels of unsharp mask are applied before use. If you want to enjoy shallow depth-of-field, shooting

wide open or at f/2 is perfectly feasible and you’ll get nice out-of-focus highlights, too.

Fine detail is very nicely recorded from f/2.8 with the optimum aperture for excellent central and edge sharpness being either f/4 or f/5.6 – in terms of sharpness there is little to choose between them. Shooting with the sun in the frame didn’t give any serious flare problems.

See opposite for details about the VC test.

Verdict

Maximum magnification 1:2.5

This focal length is great for so many subjects and this lens is going to be popular simply because of its versatility. This 35mm is a lovely lens to use and with no direct competition from the camera brands, its price is attractive, too.

Distance scale Metres and feet Depth-of-field scale No

How it rates

Image stabiliser Vibration Compensation Tripod collar No Lens hood Supplied Weather sealed Moisture resistant construction Dimensions (dxl) Canon: 80.4x80.8mm Nikon: 80.4x78.3mm Weight Canon: 480g, Nikon: 450g

Features Great looks, VC, fast aperture, USD AF, exotic lens coatings

25/25

Performance Very impressive at its optimum apertures

23/25

Handling Good balance, smooth focus, VC very effective

25/25

Value for money Very competitive for a high-spec prime lens

22/25

Overall A quality, very versatile prime Pros Great looks, performance, VC, flare resistance Cons Less good at f/16

Contact tamron.co.uk

F/1.8

F/1.8

F/2.8

F/2.8

F/5.6

F/5.6

F/11

F/11

F/16

F/16

Sharpness test: SP 35mm

95/100

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Lens tests Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD

Specs: SP 45mm

The 45mm f/1.8 is physically a few millimetres longer than its 35mm brother, but that apart, these two SP lenses are like twins.

They share a similar high level of optical prowess, too, although it is fair to say that the 45mm is very marginally less good at maximum aperture.

However, matters take a turn for the better, even just 0.3EV down to f/2 and from that point on image quality continues to improve with stopping down. F/5.6 and f/8 both gave a high level of performance where fine detail looks excellent. A high standard was maintained right down to f/16 where this lens continued to turn in sharp, detail-packed images and the impact of diffraction was not too much of an issue.

Both lenses seem to combat flare very well and even shooting with the sun in the frame was handled well with minimal spots and ghosting. The lenses come supplied with identical hoods.

It is also the case that both lenses seem to be highly corrected so distortion was not a significant factor at all.

On full-frame and APS-C cameras, the 45mm length is ideal for so many subjects including close-up portraits to make the most of any bokeh.

Price £579 Format Full-frame and APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon, Sony (no VC) Construction 10 elements in 8 groups Special lens elements Moulded glass aspherical, low dispersion Coatings eBAND, BBAR and fluorine coating Filter size 67mm Aperture range f/1.8-16

Sharpness test: SP 45mm

Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes with USD (ultrasonic silent drive) AF motor Manual focus Yes – switch on lens, full-time override Minimum focus 29cm

Verdict

F/1.8

F/2.8

F/1.8

F/2.8

Few people will have the budget to buy both the 35mm and the 45mm so you have to think carefully about what you are going to use the lens for. There is no right or wrong here and it is very much a personal choice. If you were to decide on performance alone, the 35mm just has the edge, because it is very marginally better than the 45mm at maximum aperture.

The 45mm is a fine lens with identical characteristics and the same price tag as its brother so it’s a tough decision.

Focus limiter No

How it rates

Image stabiliser Vibration Compensation

F/5.6

F/11

F/11

F/16

F/16

Distance scale Metres and feet Depth-of-field scale No

Features Great looks, VC, fast aperture, USD AF, exotic lens coatings

25/25

Tripod collar No

Performance Slightly soft wide open but improves quickly with stopping down

23/25

Lens hood Supplied

Handling Good balance, smooth focus, VC is effective

25/25

Value for money Very competitive for a high-spec prime lens

22/25

Overall A quality, very versatile prime lens that handles really well Pros Great looks, performance, VC, flare resistance Cons Not much, perhaps f/1.8 quality could be slightly higher

F/5.6

Maximum magnification 1:3.4

To test VC, a series of handheld pictures were taken at shutter speeds down to 1/4sec. It was a still day so wind was not a significant factor.

With the 35mm lens I got acceptably sharp pictures at 1/4sec with a three out of five success rate and that rate improved at 1/6sec. Not only did the hit rate improve, but sharpness did, too. Shots at those speeds without VC switched on weren’t acceptable at all. This shows how effective Tamron’s VC can be so it’s well worth leaving on during handheld shooting.

95/100

Weather sealed Moisture resistant construction Dimensions (dxl) Canon: 80.4x91.7mm Nikon: 80.4x89.2mm Weight Canon: 540g, Nikon: 520g Contact tamron.co.uk

35mm 1/4sec

35mm 1/6sec

45mm 1/4sec

45mm 1/6sec

The longer 45mm means handholding at slow speeds is even more challenging. Nevertheless Tamron’s Vibration Compensation system coped well with the

challenge as you can see here.

The shots taken at 1/4sec and 1/6sec are reasonably sharp and they would certainly be usable at smaller output sizes.

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Accessories test Buyers’ guide

Stargazing and astrophotography essentials Take several large steps towards better pictures of the night sky with this month’s round-up of recommended kit Photography and stargazing share many techniques and technologies – after all, both disciplines primarily rely on focusing light – and they come together in the sphere of astrophotography. So if you’re into the idea of shooting the night sky, as a photographer, you’ll already be at an advantage; your knowledge of working with light will stand you in good stead, but there’s a variety of equipment and new techniques you’ll also need to get the most from this subject. That’s why this month we’re outlining some great products to get you started in astrophotography.

Gear wise, what you need depends on the type of astro shooting you’re intending to do. For landscape-style images that contain both the Earth and the stars, you simply need a tripod and a fast lens, whether that’s something like a 20mm f/1.8 for wide-angle shots, or a 70-200mm f/2.8 or more isolated views. With these, you can shoot exposures of 10-20 seconds and get sharp shots of the stars.

If you’re planning on more highly magnified views and seeking out objects in the night sky that are so small and dim to be virtually invisible to the naked eye, you can still put plenty of what you’ve got to good use; a DSLR or CSC with a telephoto lens, and a tripod, will take you threequarters of the way there. And if you don’t own a sufficiently long lens already, there are affordable options out there, including telephoto zooms and teleconverters to extend the range of what you’ve got.

The only other vital component you’ll need when starting out is a means of tracking the night sky, because at the very long focal lengths you’ll be using, and with the extended exposures required to record faint objects, the rotation of the Earth will blur them into streaks. So, picking a star-tracking, motorised mount is your first job. Fortunately though, there are plenty out there, including affordable kits that contain everything you need to get shooting straight out of the box.

Having got a taste, you might want to extend the magnification of your set-up and that means mounting your camera on a telescope. Again, this is easy if you pick the correct adapters and with modern ’scopes becoming more user friendly, they’re quicker to set up, and will often have a computer controlled, motorised mount that not only helps align and calibrate the kit, but also takes you right to the specific galaxies, nebulae or stars you’re looking for. Of course, there are loads of other things that makes night shooting a more pleasant experience, so make sure you have a think about your clothing and lighting options, too.

2

KENKO 2x Teleplus HD DGX teleconverter £279 1

MACWET Climatec Long Cuff Gloves £30 ORION RedBeam II LED torch £2O

3

4

VIXEN Polarie Star Tracker £299

1

MacWet Climatec Long Cuff Gloves £30

Anyone who’s stood out in the elements waiting for a long exposure to tick down will tell you there’s no quicker way to kill your enjoyment than by getting cold. And your hands will be one of the first areas to feel it. Now, with astrophotography involving exposures of not just seconds, but many minutes, your fingers could be frozen into blocks of ice by the time the shutter drops. So, gloves (along with a cosy down jacket and hat) should be near the top of any stargazer’s shopping list, and these MacWet Climatec Long Cuff versions won’t disappoint. Specially developed to combat colder weather, they’re windproof, water resistant, and fleece-lined on the back of the glove.

The Aquatec fabric used on the palm and fingers gives a sure grip on your gear, even in the wet, as well as retaining enough sensitivity to dial in settings without needing to free your fingertips.

At the wrist of these Long versions, is a thick, elasticated cuff fastened with Velcro to prevent draughts and provide a secure fit. Light in weight, the gloves are available in an excellent range of fittings, from size 6 (XS Women’s) to 12 (XXL Mens), and four neutral colours. macwet.com

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Kenko 2x Teleplus HD DGX teleconverter £279

Many photographers shoot images of the night sky by extending the range of their existing lenses using teleconverters. There is a downside to using teleconverters, as the additional magnification cuts out light, reducing maximum aperture, but if you’re shooting long exposures and using a startracker (as is pretty much vital), that’s not an issue. This new 2x teleconverter from Kenko, which is available for Canon users, and works with EF and EF-S lenses, doubles the focal length of the lens, so fitting it to a 70-200mm f/4 lens will give you a 140-400mm focal length; however the maximum aperture will drop to f/8.

Unlike many, this teleconverter benefits from full coupling, so, while you’re likely to be shooting and focusing manually for most astrophotography, other than the moon, it will allow autoexposure and autofocus in regular use, making it a great option for sports and wildlife, too. To improve image quality, its five-element, three-group construction features multicoating to optimise light transmission and minimise flare, and results show impressive sharpness. It’s cheaper and fits more lenses than Canon’s teleconverters, too, which is a bonus. intro2020.co.uk

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Orion RedBeam II LED torch £20

Light pollution is a big factor in all types of astrophotography; whether you’re shooting expansive, wide-angle views of the night sky, or more tightly cropped compositions of constellations or nebulae it can affect the clarity of your exposures.

But you also need to take care not to disturb your own vision in the dark. Get to a dark spot on a clear night, and wait a while for your eyes to adjust; within a few minutes your vision will adapt to the dark and you’ll see the stars much more clearly; but then flick on a regular torch to make any adjustments to your gear and you’ll ruin this, momentarily blinded by the bright light.

That’s why astronomers use redbeam torches, like this one by Orion, the RedBeam II. The red light is far less disruptive, letting you set up gear, adjust your settings, and move around in the dark without ruining your night-adjusted sight. The torch’s twin red LEDs are powered by one replaceable 9V battery and will give up to 600 hours of use.

And to make it even more adaptable, the brightness is adjustable and the torch has a lanyard so that you can hang it around your neck and not lose it. uk.telescope.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Accessories test

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TAMRON SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD £800

SKYWATCHER T-Mount adapter £10 and Variable Tele Extender £40 6 5

CELESTRON NexStar 130SLT Computerised Reflector Telescope £350

VANGUARD Alta Pro 263AT £129.99 and BBH-200 ball head £149.99

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Vixen Polarie Star Tracker £299

Specialist tripod heads are used for specialist subjects; astrophotography is no different and to shoot highly detailed pictures of the night sky, you’ll need a star tracker like this one, the Vixen Polarie.

This is a motorised camera support that moves the camera, keeping it trained on the stars as they move across the sky (or rather as the Earth rotates). This tracking motion makes sure that shots are kept pin-sharp, even when shooting exposures of many minutes to record the faintest objects; without it and with the camera still, you’ll just get streaks of light.

Like other dedicated astronomical mounts, the Polarie must be aligned with the Pole star to get the correct rotation before it’s used, but this is simple thanks to its supplied compass, built-in latitude meter and polar sight. There are different rates of movement to track the stars, our own sun or the moon, and the tracker has a rated payload of 2kg. It runs off two easily replaceable AA batteries and can operate for over two hours before the batteries need changing, while at 137x95x58mm and 740g it’s small and light enough to justify taking out with you in the hope of clear skies. vixenoptics.co.uk

Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT £129.99 and BBH-200 ball head £149.99

Skywatcher T-Mount adapter £10 and Variable Tele Extender £40

With night sky shooting, your exposures could extend into minutes, so you need to make sure your equipment is kept stable. Vanguard’s Alta Pro 263AT tripod and BBH-200 head will take care of that, supporting loads of up to 7kg without breaking a sweat (the ball head is rated up to 20kg on its own). Combining this stable platform with highly adaptable handling, the tripod features a MultiAngle Central Column (MACC), letting you swing the central column through angles from 0-180°. Setting up is fast with the Quick-flip leg locks, and it extends to a maximum height of 173cm.

With its magnesium-alloy construction and Arca compatible quick-release plate, the BBH-200 ball head combines great accuracy with freedom of movement allowing you to compose with ease.

Getting the head perfectly positioned is simple via its twin bubble levels, while the separate 360°-panning control and oxidized surface of the ball allow smooth, versatile movement. The Rapid Level System automatically locks the ball into place once it’s level. The legs and head weigh 2.44kg and 530g, respectively. vanguardworld.co.uk

Little things make a big difference, so they say and seldom has this been truer than when describing the humble T-Mount adapter. This is the vital link between your camera and the telescope, and it widens the world of astrophotography, allowing you to mount your DSLR or CSC onto the eyepiece connector tube and use the ’scope like a lens; a method called ‘prime focus’. You’ll need to pick the right one for your camera, but they are available for all major fits. The ones from Skywatcher are CNC machined and made from high-quality aluminium with black anodized finish to ensure long life.

You can also use telescope eyepieces (offering different magnifications) if you get a suitable adapter, like the Skywatcher Tele Extender; a method called ‘eyepiece projection’. This adapter fits onto the telescope’s eyepiece holder, into which you place an eyepiece (for example, a common 26mm focal length). Your DSLR then attaches using the T-Mount.

The extender’s length is variable, and is slackened using two grub screws, to give a range of projection, as it slides smoothly up and down. skywatcher.com

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Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD £800

There are plenty of reasons to own this versatile, high-quality zoom lens – it covers everything from portraits to sports shooting; and its huge zoom range means you can use it for great shots of the heavens, too. Try shooting the moon with the lens at its longest 600mm setting and you’ll pick out plenty of fine detail on the lunar surface, and if you’re using a DSLR with a smaller APS-C sized sensor, like a Canon EOS 760D or Nikon D5500, the view will be magnified to an equivalent focal length of 900mm.

Thanks to its Vibration Compensation function, you even attempt those highly magnified shots handheld. Twinned with a star-tracking head, this zoom can be used to seek out distant nebulae and tiny galaxies as well as the moon, and shooting wider, at the 150mm end you can take in whole constellations.

All that reach is nothing without excellent image quality to back it up, and the 150-600mm doesn’t disappoint. The lens uses a high-performance XLD (extra low dispersion) element to avoid fringing and deliver bright, sharp, high-contrast images, while its eBAND coating, works to suppress flare and ghosting. tamron.eu/uk

Celestron NexStar 130SLT Computerised Reflector Telescope £350

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Although it’s possible to produce great astrophotography using just a regular DSLR, a telephoto lens and a motorised mount, if you need further reach, or want to take your stargazing more seriously, it’s time to go for a telescope (onto which you can mount your DSLR using a T-mount).

For beginners, the Celestron NexStar 130SLT is a perfect model to go for. One of the many great features of this scope is that it features a fully computerised GoTo mount that helps you align the system; then key in one of over 4000 objects in the night sky and have the telescope find it for you. This powered mount can be run off a 12V supply, or a using AA batteries.

Being a Newtonian reflector telescope, it uses mirrors instead of lenses in its light path, so viewing (and shooting) is clearer, and overall the set-up is lighter than equivalent refractor models with glass elements. Aperture size is very important, too, with larger versions producing a brighter, clearer view and the 130SLT’s 130mm (5in) spec gobbles up plenty of light, while unlike many ’scopes, its beginner-friendly design means setting up takes only a few minutes. celestron.uk.com

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Technique Photo school

Camera class

Software skills Create a silhouette in Lightroom

Everyone has to start somewhere, even pros, and here we look at the core skills every beginner needs. This month, we explain creative spot metering and how to make silhouettes in Lightroom Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton

Spot metered

Multizone metering

Because of the way that Lightroom lets you easily control the overall exposure of Raw files, as well as individual parts of the tonal range, you can create lots of interesting exposure effects. Silhouettes are a good example of this, and while it’s easy to tweak an image that you intended to silhouette in shooting (as we’ve done here), you can use the same steps to turn a regular subject into something more exciting, too. So long as you have right kind of picture – one where your subject is positioned against a brighter backdrop, you’ll just need to push the sliders a bit further.

Here we’ll be using the clipping warnings overlay, but you can also try holding the Alt key as you move the sliders which will show you how the tones in the images are reacting to your changes. If you need to take things back to the start, just double-click the name of the slider to zero it.

Spot metering on a skin tone (above) Here the multi-segment metering reads the whole scene as usual, and because the background is bright, it underexposes the subject at 1/320sec at f/2.8. Spot metering on the subject’s skin tones – her face – resets the exposure to 1/60sec at f/2.8, giving a more accurate exposure and a high-key look to the background.

Spot metering on a bright part of the scene (below) Here you can see the effect of spot metering on a bright part of the sky and this gave an exposure of 1/200sec at f/11 forcing the darker subject into a dramatic silhouette. The multi-segment meter measured light from the whole scene and gave an exposure of 1/30sec at f/11 so the whole effect is much more airy.

1. Control the exposure Open your picture and turn on the highlights and shadows clipping warnings by pressing J, so you can see what’s pure white and pure black.

Next, move the Exposure slider left to pull back the highlights and make the subject darker, too – it doesn’t need to block out and go totally black yet. In fact, that’s better tackled separately in the next step.

Spot metered Of the several light measuring modes available on your DSLR or CSC, it’s very likely that spot metering is rarely used. And there’s a good reason for that. The wide, multisegment (usually known as Evaluative/Matrix) and centre-weighted modes are quicker and easier to use, giving an accurate reading of most subjects and therefore letting the camera expose ‘correctly’. In fact, although spot metering can be used to give very accurate exposures, for most photographers it’s used when the other modes aren’t capable of giving the results that they’re after; typically creative exposures, like when you’re shooting silhouettes, or very high-key images.

How it works Spot metering measures just a small part of the frame, which could be as low as 2-3% of the total area, assuming that to be a midtone, and basing its exposure on what it finds. This means that, unless you’re shooting a scene that’s primarily midtones, the exposure will vary widely depending on which part of the scene you’re taking the reading from.

For example, take a reading from a very bright part of the subject, and the metering will assume this to be a midtone, then use exposure settings that’ll probably

Multizone metering underexpose the rest of the scene. Conversely, spot meter on a dark part of the subject and the camera will assume that to be a midtone instead, with the resulting exposure settings likely to overexpose the rest of the scene.

Spot metering in action You activate spot metering just like the other metering modes, using either a dial on the body, or via a menu on screen; the icon is a dot. From there it gets slightly more complicated, but not by much. Looking through the viewfinder, or composing on screen, the camera’s spot meter is usually allied with the active AF point. Move the AF point from a light area to a dark one and you’ll see the exposure setting change, as it reacts to the change in brightness. Easy, right?

Now the only trouble is that the area you want to spot meter from is unlikely to be slap-bang underneath the AF point. So what you need to do is take the meter reading, then lock in those settings and recompose before shooting. This is done using the AE-L (Auto Exposure Lock) button, which essentially ‘freezes’ the exposure settings. It’s usually found on the rear of the camera, and on some bodies it’s twinned with the AF-L (Autofocus Lock) button. On Canon bodies it’s shown as an asterisk.

Next Month How to use bracketing

2. Work the highlights and shadows If you need to pull the brighter parts back more, take the Highlights and Whites sliders to the left. Now, for the dark subject, push the Shadows and Blacks sliders left until you see the blue shadows clipping warning start to dominate the subject. There should be plenty of black in there, so don’t be shy!

3. Add definition and colour To crisp up the look, and make the dark subject stand out, you can use the sliders under the Presence heading. Take the Clarity slider to the right to add more definition to the silhouette, and then use Vibrance and Saturation to control the colour. Here, we pushed both sliders right to liven up the dawn colours.

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Competition

WIN!

Samsung memory duo Editor’s letter

Time for primes I have nothing against them and they are obviously a very good thing, but when it comes to zoom lenses I was very much a late adapter.

For a good many years I steadfastly stuck with prime (fixed focal length) lenses for a number of reasons, a key one being that primes were, without question, better optically.

Not only were primes optically superior, but I preferred to move my feet rather than just lazily use a zoom lens, and that made me work harder for my compositions. I am, of course, not suggesting that zoom-lens users are lazy but having that flexibility can encourage it, with the result that a scene is not always fully exploited in terms of composition.

Plus, primes didn’t suffer from pin or barrel distortion in the way zooms did. With film, straight lines coming out banana-shaped was a real issue; with digital, it’s not because distortion can be cured with a mouse click.

I did eventually succumb to zooms once image quality got to a level I was happy with but I was ten years behind most photographers.

I now have a decent collection of them covering from ultra-wide to long telephoto.

I also have a fair smattering of primes, too, and continue to enjoy the discipline (and their lighter weight) of having to use my feet to achieve the required framing.

It is gratifying to see that the lens makers seem to be spending a lot of time and effort working on their primes. Coming out with new ones or revamping existing models with the latest technology to maximise the potential of modern cameras. In this issue we test optics from Canon and Tamron, and last issue we had primes from Fujifilm, Samyang and Zeiss.

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 16 November 2015. samsung.com and search for memorycards

Not only does this reaffirm to old stagers like me the value of primes, but it could mean a whole generation of photographers who have only ever used zooms will find that primes do offer something extra.

Lens maximum aperture is an obvious example of what primes can offer. We have gotten used to zooms with modest maximum apertures of f/3.5 and f/4 and therefore get very excited by a ‘fast’ f/2.8 lens, especially when that aperture is constant throughout the range.

To be fair, current advances in optical design means we are seeing faster zoom lenses, like the Sigma 24-35mm f/2 which we found to be a very fine performer.

You could easily argue that the need for faster apertures is obviated by the quality of current ISO performance where ISO 400 can be as good as ISO 100 in terms of image quality, but a fast prime still offers a brighter viewing image, the chance of shooting with very shallow depth-of-field. And a prime makes you move your feet.

I know I sound like a stuck record on that one but I do see a lot of potentially very good pictures that, to me, could have made the grade had the photographer put in a little more input than just operating the zoom barrel. So, regardless of whether you use a prime, zoom or biscuit tin with a pinhole, move your feet and I guarantee your pictures will get even better.

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Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon, Nikon, Sony Filter size: 82mm Minimum focus: 38.10cm Dimensions (dxl): 88.9x116.8mm Weight: 825g

Tamron lens range

Buyers’ guide

10. 24-70mm

With more than 25 optics in their range, Tamron has a lens for every genre of photography and every photographer. Here are just a few of the prime choices

9. 18-200mm

Format: APS-C Lens fitting: Canon M, Nikon F, Sony E Filter size: 50mm Minimum focus: 49cm Dimensions (dxl): 68.6x101.6mm Weight: 459g

Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A Filter size: 67mm Minimum focus: 20cm Dimensions (dxl): 80.4x81.3mm Weight: 479.12g 4. 70-200mm Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon, Nikon, Sony Filter size: NA Minimum focus: 28cm Dimensions (dxl): 98.4x143mm Weight: 1100g

1. SP 35mm Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A Filter size: 67mm Minimum focus: 20cm Dimensions (dxl): 80.4x81.3mm Weight: 479.12g

5. SP 45mm

8. 15-30mm

Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A Filter size: 67mm Minimum focus: 29cm Dimensions (dxl): 80.4x88.9mm Weight: 498.95g

Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon, Nikon, Sony Filter size: 58mm Minimum focus: 30cm Dimensions (dxl): 76.4x114.5mm Weight: 550g

2. 16-300mm Format: APS-C Lens fitting: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A Filter size: 67mm Minimum focus: 39cm Dimensions (dxl): 75x99.5mm Weight: 539g

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Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD £579

The SP 35mm pairs this versatile focal length with a sophisticated optical layout and VC image stabilisation.

One low dispersion element, one extra low dispersion element and two aspherical elements help to control a variety of aberrations and distortions for consistent and even illumination, and sharpness,. They also reduce any colour fringing, and the eBAND and BBAR coatings work to suppress flare and ghosting for increased contrast and colour fidelity. Complementing the imaging capabilities, this 35mm f/1.8 lens is also characterised by a ring-type USD motor, which provides quick, quiet autofocus performance with full-time manual focus override.

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Format: Full-frame, APS-C Lens fitting: Canon, Nikon, Sony Filter size: 95mm Minimum focus: 30cm Dimensions (dxl): 105.6x257.8mm Weight: 1950g

3. 18-270mm

Format: APS-C Lens fitting: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A Filter size: 62mm

Tamron 16-300mm f/3.56.3 Di II VC PZD £399

This remarkable 18.8x zoom covers the whole range from wide-angle to telephoto, while also delivering macro focusing. To ensure excellent image quality, there is one hybrid aspherical element, three moulded glass elements, two low dispersion elements, one Extra Refractive Index element, and one UltraExtra Refractive Index element. There’s also a Piezo Drive autofocus system, which is powered by a fast and quiet standing-wave ultrasonic motor, and Vibration Compensation.

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Minimum focus: 49cm Dimensions (dxl): 73.7x96.5mm Weight: 450g

Tamron 18-270mm f/3.56.3 Di II VC PZD £269

An ‘all in one’ lens, this impressive 15x superzoom will meet almost all photographic opportunities without the need to change lenses. The addition of the PZD (Piezo Drive) ultrasonic autofocus motor helps make this lens lighter, shorter and slimmer, and it provides faster, quieter autofocusing.

Meanwhile the VC mechanism allows the use of lower shutter speeds, and it automatically detects movement of the camera and compensates for shake when shooting a moving object.

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Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di USD VC £929

This advanced Tamron optic is a standard to telephoto zoom lens with a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the zoom range. It offers superior image quality accentuated by advanced Vibration Compensation and an Ultrasonic Silent Drive motor for quiet, smooth and precise autofocus. A new optical design for this popular focal length zoom delivers high contrast and resolution throughout the zoom range and one extra-low dispersion element with four low dispersion elements minimise chromatic aberrations.

Meanwhile a circular diaphragm that retains its round shape even when taken down two stops from f/2.8 offers expressive background blurring.

7. 90mm

6. 150-600mm

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Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD £579

The SP 45mm comes with VC image stabilisation and an advanced optical design for enhanced image quality.

One low dispersion element helps to minimise chromatic aberrations in order to achieve greater clarity with reduced colour fringing, while two aspherical elements correct for spherical and chromatic aberrations, as well as distortion. Meanwhile eBAND and BBAR coatings on the elements suppress flare and ghosting, for increased contrast and colour accuracy. A ring-type USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) motor is employed to ensure fast, precise and quiet autofocus performance that benefits both stills and video recording.

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Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di USD VC £799

This telephoto zoom offers a versatile focal range, Vibration Compensation and Ultrasonic Silent Drive. A powerful lens, it enables you to capture wildlife close up in detail or at a distance in its natural habitat, without disturbing its activity. Tamron’s proprietary Vibration Compensation image stabilisation system and Ultrasonic Silent Drive allow you to shoot crisp images of fastmoving, distant subjects handheld and it’s suitable for a wide range of applications, including sports, wildlife, travel and portraits.

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Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di USD VC Macro £349

Adopting a state-of-the-art optical design and a rounded diaphragm, the 90mm f/2.8 carries on the tradition of Tamron’s 90mm Macro lenses in delivering stunning blur effects. The two extra low dispersion and one low dispersion element ensure chromatic aberrations are kept to a minimum and images are crisp and clear. The VC image stabilisation mechanism reduces camera shake to deliver sharp images.

The Di in its moniker stands for Digitally Integrated, which means this lens can be used on cameras with full-frame and APS-C sized sensors.

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Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di USD VC £849

This ultra-wide-angle zoom continues Tamron’s development of lenses for serious photographers, adding an ultrawide-angle solution to its line-up of high-quality optics for pro DSLR users.

Suitable for full-frame and smaller sensors, the 15-30mm lens incorporates advanced features, such as a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range, along with quiet and fast USD focusing and water and dirt repellent fluorine coating on the new XGM front element. This lens is suitable for a wide range of photographic subjects, including landscape, travel, interior, weddings, gigs and night photography.

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Tamron 18-200mm f/3.56.3 Di III VC £339

With a minimum focus distance of 45cm, this lightweight zoom lens is great for close-up photography and uses a stepping motor to ensure quiet and quick focusing so your subject is not disturbed. This wide high-power zoom features VC image stabilisation, which provides up to a four-stop antishake advantage when you’re shooting handheld, so you can make full use of the lens’s capabilities even in low light.

Direct Manual Focus (DMF) allows you to make delicate adjustments to the image and precisely focus the image exactly the way you want it to look.

Tamron SP 24-70mm 10 f/2.8 Di USD VC £679 This compact and lightweight highspeed, standard zoom lens incorporates special high-grade glass in three low dispersion elements, three glass moulded aspherical lenses, one hybrid aspherical lens and two Extra Refractive (XR) elements to deliver exceptional images. The Ultrasonic Silent Drive provides quick autofocus that’s quiet, together with full-time manual focus override. Along with its moistureresistant construction, the SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD lens is equipped with a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8 to ensure natural out-of-focus areas with a shallow depth-of-field.

Photography News Issue 25 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Tamron lenses

The promise of superior performance To qualify for inclusion in Tamron’s SP range a lens has to achieve staggeringly high-quality levels, and the brand-new 35mm and 45mm do exactly that They may just be two seemingly innocuous characters – SP – but when they’re used in conjunction with a Tamron lens they’re the ultimate guarantee that the optic is one of the very best around. Shorthand for Superior Performance, the SP range was first introduced in 1979, and now the line has been reinvented to deliver the ultimate experience to match the advancements made in imaging technology over the past quarter of a century. To provide this experience to photographers,

Christian Altengarten

For the past 20 years Christian Altengarten has been shooting pictures of people, both in the studio and on location, and he’s servicing a sizeable list of bluechip clients who love his style.

A fashion-focused shoot in Majorca to test out the new SP 35mm and 45mm lenses was an unmissable opportunity, and Christian relished the opportunity to get hands on with new optics.

“Usually I work with longer lenses when I’m shooting fashion,” he says, “because I’m aiming for a very narrow depth-of-field and a lot of bokeh. To achieve this with wider lenses I knew that I would have to work with them wide open, which is something I don’t normally like to do: I usually have to close the aperture down by one or two stops to get the best optical performance.

However, I quickly discovered that both of these lenses were so good that working at f/1.8 was entirely feasible. The results were outstanding.

Photography news

Martin Krolop

“When I checked the bokeh I was delighted.

It was beautiful and creamy and exactly what I was looking for, and that helped to give me an exceptional series of pictures.”

Another big plus point was the Vibration Compensation (VC). “Most of the time I didn’t have any issues with lack of light,” says Christian, “because Majorca is a very sunny place and I was working fully open. However, there was one situation later in the day in a dark alley when I was walking backwards with the model coming towards me. My assistant was guiding me and there was a lot of potential for camera shake and yet everything came out pin-sharp. The extra help from VC undoubtedly contributed.”

And his verdict on the lenses? He responds with a smile: “If I tell you that after a couple of days I had told Tamron that I wanted to buy the lenses that should tell you all you need to know!” altengarten.de

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A professional photographer, Martin Krolop primarily works alongside fellow photographer Marc Gerst. The two mainly focus on portraits, but they also shoot landscapes.

“I was given the opportunity to take both of the new Tamron lenses on a two-week trip to Iceland,” he says. “In total we shot more than 7000 images in 14 days all around Iceland, and it was a great opportunity to really test them out.

“I really love the two new lenses. In my work I tend to use fixed focal length lenses in any case, so these were ideal. The killer features for me are image quality combined with excellent image stabilisation. I shoot with a Canon EOS 5DS R, and the ultra-high resolution this offers will show up any shake if I’m shooting below 1/200sec. It will be the same for any photographer working with a high-megapixel camera: stability becomes all-important and the VC on the lenses was

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Tamron went back to the basics, revisiting aspects such as functions, manoeuvrability and ease of use. The new SP line is the result of an entirely new approach to optical and electro-mechanical design.

The first two lenses in this exciting line-up are the SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD and SP 45mm f/1.8 Di VC USD, and two top photographers took them out on assignment prior to launch to find out exactly what they were capable of. Here’s what they came back with…

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super efficient. This, combined with a very fast maximum aperture of f/1.8 meant I was able to work in all kinds of conditions and still achieve the results I was after.”

Another big plus point for Martin was the light weight of the lenses, useful when serious amounts of trekking might be called for, and their weather resistance also came in handy in the challenging environment. “A lot of time it was raining or there was a lot of dust around,” he says, “but both lenses ultimately stood up to everything the weather could throw at them.”

Overall it was a really successful trip, and Martin and Marc returned with a set of pictures to be proud of. “The image quality these lenses offer is astonishing,” he says, “and the combination of all the features they’re packed with means that both these new optics have now officially become my all-time favourite lenses.” krolop-gerst.com

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

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