Photography News - Issue 3

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Photography news

Issue 3

10 December – 20 January 2014

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

Prints aid typhoon victims

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Competitions to enter, plus the latest gear from Samyang, OnOne and Rogue All the top stories revealed inside

Famous names donate shots to raise funds

www.photography-news.co.uk

How many seconds does a judge look at your salon entry for?

Behind the scenes at Smethwick International

EXPERIENCE Will Cheung

printsforphil.tumblr.com

Hannes Lochner (Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest)

Steve Gosling

Last month, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines. The strongest storm ever recorded to hit landfall, it killed many thousands and affected the lives of millions of people, many of whom had already been left homeless by an earthquake in October.

The international aid community soon swung into action, with appeals for donations going out around the world. Here in the UK, photographer Neil Buchan-Grant is gathering together a group of concerned photographers to sell their photographic prints with all the proceeds going to the DEC Typhoon Appeal. Notable photographers from the UK donating their images include David Noton, David Clapp, Steve Gosling, Damien Lovegrove and Will Cheung, PN’s editor.

You can do your bit by buying a print or offer your own prints for sale – just email Neil Buchan-Grant on neilbuchangrant@me.com if you want to contribute.

Go on, you know it makes sense.

Turn to page 5 to find out what you could get up to on an Olympus Experience Day, and read all about the latest bird of prey Experience.

On test: 6 premium compacts & 7 super wide zoom lenses Turn to pages 19 and 24 for details

Issue 3 | Photography News

Photography News | Issue 3

www.photography-news.co.uk

Latest photography news

Perfect Photo Suite 8 Upgrade your workflow for a smooth and efficient experience with PPS8

The latest version of Perfect Photo Suite from onOne software is now out. PPS8 has eight integrated modules: Effects, Enhance, B&W, Portrait, Mask, Layers, Resize and Browse. Each handles a specific imageprocessing task to help give a smooth workflow.

Three versions are available: Premium, Standard and for Lightroom or Aperture. The Premium edition costs £135 and works as a plug-in for Aperture, Lightroom, Elements or Photoshop or as a standalone software, while the Standard edition is £59 and works as a stand-alone software only. PPS8 is suitable for Windows and Mac.

Going Rogue

Boost your camera’s integral flash with this cost-effective slot-in unit The problem with integral flashguns is that they are not very powerful so have limited use. The Rogue Safari Flash Booster claims to focus up to eight times more light from a pop-up unit and give a much greater range.

It’s optimised for focal lengths of over 100mm, slots onto the camera’s hotshoe and costs £25. To check whether your DSLR is compatible go to http://bit.ly/18dUm2l. π To find out more, go to www.expoimaging.com.

3 NEWS IN BRIEF SAVE MONEY Save up to 50% on Experience Seminar training DVDs aimed specifically at Canon EOS photographers.

Check out the Christmas DVD catalogue on its website for details of the offers including multi CD collections that offer big savings compared with the individual prices. www.experienceseminars.co.uk

OLYMPUS CASHBACK Buy an Olympus OM-D E-M1 before 15 January 2014 and you can claim a £100 cashback on any Olympus accessory worth over £199.99.

You can make the claim when you buy the E-M1 or within 60 days of the initial purchase. www.olympusuk.salespromotions.com

π To find out more, go to www.ononesoftware.com.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 Could you be the 50th recipient of the world famous title (and the £10k top prize)?

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to enter the world’s most prestigious wildlife photography contest. Last year’s contest attracted 43,000 entries from 96 countries, but with a prize pot worth £50,000, the 50th Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest could pull in even more images, so if you fancy having a go make sure you only send your very best.

The closing date is 27 February 2014. π To find out more, go to www.wildlifephotographeroftheyear.com.

Paul Souders

www.photography-news.co.uk

Issue 3 | Photography News

4

Latest photography news Fotocards finishes

Learn Photoshop in the Lakes Practical, hands-on learning with Lakeland Photographic Holidays Lakeland Photographic Holidays (LHP) is hosting a Photoshop for photographers course led by John Gravett at its Keswick base from 2 February.

This five-night course offers three full days of practical Photoshop work and one out shooting wonderful landscapes of the Lake District. It costs £795 (£760 if booked by 31 December 2013) for the five nights and that includes all accommodation, food, tuition and excursions.

Fotospeed’s Fotocards range has expanded with two new sizes in two new finishes. Art Smooth Duo and Matt Duo are both available in A6 and i3 (74x210mm) sizes and are perfect for producing personalised greetings cards using your home photo printer. A pack of 25 A6 cards with envelopes costs £11.99 and £19.99 for Matt Duo and Art Smooth Duo respectively.

LPH has also introduced a practical landscape photography break for people who are less mobile. Workshops are limited to one and a half miles per day over relatively even ground, allowing participants to capture the spectacular scenery without long treks. The six-night stay takes place from 8 June 2014 and costs £750 (or £725 if booked before 31 December 2013) per person. π To find out more, go to www.lakelandphotohols.com.

NEWS IN BRIEF TOSHIBA WIRELESS Toshiba has expanded its FlashAir SD card range with the launch of a 32GB card with a guide price of £60. It’s embedded with wireless LAN functionality and this will also be provided on Toshiba’s 8GB and 16GB FlashAir cards too – an update tool is available for existing cards. FlashAir technology means you can transfer images wirelessly or access them from the computer or mobile devices. www.toshiba-memory. com

π To find out more, go to www.fotospeed.com.

New Samyang wide-angle Nano Coating System debuts on 10mm f/2.8 Samyang has unveiled a new version of its 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS lens, the result of a development programme aimed at achieving the highest possible optical performance while reducing the size.

It’s the first Samyang lens to feature a new Nano Coating System – this coating reduces reflections more effectively than the old UMC system, and benefits include better light transmission and higher contrast.

The optical design includes two aspherical elements and one of extralow dispersion glass to minimise aberrations. The new design also includes an embedded lens hood for a more compact size and a reduction in weight for the Canon version.

The new 10mm lens will be available from the end of January 2014 at a price of £470 for the Nikon version and £430 for other fittings. π To find out more, go to www.intro2020.co.uk Photography News | Issue 3

IMAGES Offering the highest possible performance at a reduced weight, the Samyang 10mm. www.photography-news.co.uk

Latest photography news

5

Olympus experience Five photographers took part in a bird of prey Experience day organized by Olympus

This Experience was just one of a series of exclusive days from Olympus that have so far covered subjects like street, fashion and motorsport photography.

The attendees had the chance to test out Olympus kit including OM-D E-M1 cameras and a variety of lenses to help them capture images of their impressive feathered subjects. Leading the workshop was professional wildlife photographer, John Wright, who was on hand to dish out advice and review the attendees’ images. We asked John to share his top tips.

“Watch your shutter speed! 1/200sec may be okay when photographing people, but birds of prey are always moving so you will probably end up with blurred shots. Increase your shutter speed to 1/500sec, even if the subject is static and increase the ISO if light levels are poor.”

The next Olympus Experience is all about creative light at night. Hosted by trainer Ade McFade and PN’s Will Cheung, it takes places on Tuesday 17 December at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds. Book your place now. π To find out more about Olympus Experience days, visit www.olympus-imagespace.co.uk.

NEWS IN BRIEF

OLYMPUS FIRMWARE UPDATES Olympus has firmware updates for its OM-D E-M1, M.ZUIKO 12-50mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ lens and the XZ-2 compact. http://bit.ly/IIAnjl

EOS-1D X IMPROVEMENTS Canon has announced a firmware update for the EOS-1D X, which will be available in January 2014, offering a number of improvements. www.canon.co.uk

IMAGES Hands-on with wildlife photographer, John Wright at a recent Olympus Experience Day.

NEW FUJIFILM X-SERIES FIRMWARE Fujifilm has firmware updates for its X-Pro1, X-E2, X-E1 and X100S. The X-Pro1 update is available now but the other three will be available from 19 December. www.fujifilm.co.uk

Are you the UK’s best?

Enter your top shots before 6 January for your chance to be part of the World Photo Awards The Sony World Photography Awards has a new section called the UK National Award, which is open to all UK residents and free to enter.

There are ten categories including Architecture, Low Light, People and Travel and the winner will receive Sony camera kit. The winning photographer along with two runners-up will have their work shown at the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition held in London during May 2014.

Entry is free and the closing date is 6 January 2014. π To find out more, go to www.worldphoto.org.

Pedro Londono

www.photography-news.co.uk

Issue 3 | Photography News

6

Camera clubs

An A by phone Marie-Ange Bouchard achieved her Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society with a panel of colour prints. Nothing unusual in that but her panel was the first successful ‘A’ shot using an Apple iPhone. “I couldn’t go to the Assessment Day,” says Marie, “but a friend, Marcus Scott-Taggart, was going and text me the result. I kept checking my phone and finally, a text announcing that the panel had been recommended to the Council for an A relieved me from my misery and I literally jumped for joy. “ We spoke to Roger Reynolds Hon FRPS, chairman of the RPS’s Distinctions Advisory Board for his reaction. “We are delighted with the successful application from Marie-Ange Bouchard.

We welcome photography in all forms and it doesn’t matter how the pictures are taken provided they are up to the high standard required for a distinction.

This stunning set of pictures is clearly up to the required standard. It also goes to show that the RPS is receptive to every style of photography.”

IMAGES A selection of images from MarieAnge Bouchard’s successful ‘A’ panel – all images shot on an Apple iPhone.

New camera club for Warwick

NEWS IN BRIEF SPEAKERS AT GUILDFORD PS

Calling all keen photographers in the Warwick area: members wanted

One of the UK’s leading nature photographers, Mark Sissons is hosting his talk The Secret Life of Puffins at Guildford PS on 6 January 2014.

Tickets cost £10 each.

See the website for location details.

Later in March 2014 renowned landscaper Guy Edwardes is giving a talk and so too is Will Cheung FRPS about his passion for photography. www.guildford photosoc.org.uk

Warwick Camera Club had its first meeting on 27 November with six keen photographers turning up. “I started a club in Leicester a few years ago which ended up with almost 200 members – we started with two people on that club’s first night,” says Steve Jane, the driving force behind the new club. “So with six people plus three more coming to the next meeting, it’s a positive start.

“I’ll be there most meetings to ensure everyone has a great evening but I run my own photographic business so from time to time I might have to rely on others to run meetings, which is how the club is intended to run,” explains Steve.

Warwick Camera Club meet every other Wednesday at the Chase Meadow Community Centre, Narrow Hall Meadow, Warwick CV34 6BT. π To find out more, go to www.warwickcameraclub.co.uk or email steve@strobixphotographyco.uk.

First Df feedback What you think of the Nikon Df “The Df offers much of what most amateurs want; a straightforward full-frame camera without video and minimal in-camera processing. But I can’t understand why Nikon should expect me to pay more for less. Does it do more than the D610?

Hardly. So surely it should come in at around £1000.” Roger Tyler “This camera looks fantastic, if Nikon brings out a DX version I would definitely buy one! Speak to Hiro Sebata for me, haha (I already use Nikon DX).” Gerry Marchant “As a long-standing Nikon devotee, I love the Df which brings back memories of my FE but I feel it’s over priced by £1000.” Bernie Raynard

• John Morris of Scunthorpe CC for getting his LRPS. • Barry Badcock and Elizabeth Hales of Cambridge Camera Club both for gaining their LRPS. • Christine Hart of Ipswich & District PS for getting her LRPS. • Clive Downes of Cambridge Camera Club for gaining his ARPS. Photography News | Issue 3

John Morris

Congratulations to

π We’ll be testing the Nikon Df in the next issue of Photography News (out 20 January 2014) and Advanced Photographer (out 16 January 2014).

PN really does need your help to fill its pages, so if your club has a big speaker appearing soon and you want every seat occupied, or if your club (or an individual member) has just scooped a big award or gained a distinction, or you have an exhibition on, we’d love to hear from you so please ask your secretary or publicity officer to get in touch. Stories should be 250 words maximum and accompanied by a high resolution JPEG (at least 2400 pixels on the longest dimension) and emailed to clubnews@photography-news.com. If we need anything else we will contact you.

Thank you in advance for your help.

The next issue of Photography News is out 20 January.

www.photography-news.co.uk

Profile

7 INTERVIEW

John Walshe

Nikon UK’s general manager answers PN’s questions, including what the rise of the smartphone means for the serious camera, and how Nikon has enabled photographers to shoot in the dark…

What’s your role at Nikon?

Nikon UK is a sales, marketing and service organisation so essentially it’s my job to ensure that we have the right products at the right place, at the right time.

How is Nikon UK doing in these difficult times?

There is no doubt it’s a challenging market but Nikon UK had a record performance last year. By the end of the year, Nikon was the leading imaging brand in the UK and Europe. For DSLRs, our position remains strong and we recently achieved our highest ever market share. Whilst we are pleased with Nikon 1 performance, the overall CSC market has not performed in line with industry expectations and year to date the market has actually been in decline.

Sharing pictures on social networking sites seems to be the current trend. Is this something Nikon is keen to join in?

Social media plays a big part in all our lives.

People are taking more pictures and sharing them immediately as part of the experience of being connected. Many of our cameras feature built-in WiFi, including selected COOLPIX models and the new Nikon D5300, so customers can take high-quality pictures and share them online, via a smart device.

What in your view has been Nikon’s most successful technology of the past few years?

There are so many things to choose from but if I had to pick my top two I’d pick advancements in our sensor and processing technology. The introduction of the Nikon D3 was a landmark change and the advances we made allowed photographers to pretty much shoot in the dark! With the latest generation of processing engines we’ve created products that can shoot at 60fps and 1080p video.

Are compacts doomed with the camera phone playing such a big part in people’s photography?

Sales of compact cameras are slowing but we believe there is definitely a place and purpose for both types of imaging devices. It can only be positive that more people are taking more pictures than ever before – highlighting the significance of photography and also providing us an opportunity to embrace new customers. Smartphones are convenient for capturing unplanned moments, but are limited compared with compact cameras, which boast larger sensors for higher quality images.

With over 20 cameras in our COOLPIX range, there is something for everyone. Active people, for example, will enjoy the Nikon COOLPIX AW110, thanks to its durable design and features – waterproof to 18m, freeze proof to -10°C and shockproof to 2m. www.photography-news.co.uk

Do you think that the infamous D600 oil spots on the sensor issue harmed Nikon’s reputation?

I know there was a lot of discussion on the forums but in reality we received very few customer complaints in the UK. Due to the structure of DSLR cameras, dust is often created internally – and dust can find its way into the camera. We responded to concerned customers by publishing a service advisory with advice and information for them about sending their cameras in to our service department for assessment. I fundamentally believe that customer satisfaction is a key part of the Nikon brand and we want D600 owners to have a positive experience.

The Nikon D800/800E has 36.3 megapixels. Do you feel that is the limit in terms of resolution on a 35mm full-frame camera?

That is a question that has been asked many times over the years! As consumers, we all want maximum

AGE: 48 YEARS IN THE PHOTO INDUSTRY: Just over two CURRENT LOCATION: West London LAST PICTURE TAKEN: Waves crashing at Lulworth Cove HOBBIES? Squash, piano, guitar WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? Astronaut!

DOGS OR CATS? Dogs TOAST OR CEREAL? Both WHICH NIKON CAMERA DO YOU USE THE MOST? Nikon D7100 with 18-300mm lens

flexibility and the highest quality images. So whether it’s more megapixels, faster processing or smaller design, we’ll always want more. However, we all know that it’s not just about the megapixels; the new Nikon Df and Nikon’s flagship D4, for instance, feature a 16.2-megapixel sensor.

Whenever there have been advances that we thought had reached the limit, we’ve always broken through the barrier and taken technology to the next level. If it’s not more megapixels, Nikon will bring other groundbreaking technology to the market.

Any thoughts on the reaction to the Nikon Df? From my perspective, the Nikon Df is in a class of its own – dedicated to pure photography and a retro design inspired by Nikon’s iconic 35mm SLR film cameras. It has been crafted for photographers who are as passionate about their camera as they are about their art. We are delighted with the reaction, the online teaser campaign generated a lot of interest in the run-up to the launch, and consumer and media interest has been fantastic. I only wish I could supply all the demand that has been created.

Nikon has always done well in the SLR market but in recent times the D3 sparked a revival in the company’s fortunes. Has this revival been maintained among pro photographers?

Our top-end line-up goes from strength to strength.

From its launch, the Nikon D3 was considered to be a groundbreaking camera, interesting professionals with its low-light and imaging performance. Since then, Nikon has continued to introduce innovative products, including the D4 and D800. Both cameras have been a great success and have contributed to Nikon’s growing share – particularly visible at major sporting events. Much to my family’s annoyance, I’m forever counting black lenses at events, and more often than not, Nikon has the lion’s share.

The Nikon 1 range is arguably not going to appeal to more experienced photographers using full-frame and APS-C users, are there any regrets that Nikon didn’t adopt the Micro Four Thirds standard or take on the APS-C format for its CSC system?

The UK saw rapid growth in the CSC sector but it is now in decline. UK consumers seem to view the category as an ‘advanced compact camera’, as reflected by market trends.

The Nikon 1 range was introduced to appeal to compact users looking to upgrade to a more advanced system with more flexibility, convenience and speed. In terms of the sensor choice, the CX format sensor was selected to maximise features like 60fps, movie functionality, silent shooting and creative features such as Motion Snap Shot. Earlier this year I saw a number of pros at The Open using a Nikon 1 with long NIKKOR lenses – the silent shooting and video mode go down well with pros.

BIOGRAPHY

How is the Nikon School going?

The Nikon School opened in May 2013 and is going from strength to strength. Over 1300 photographers have attended courses ranging from introductory beginner courses to one-to-one sessions for professionals. All courses are designed to inspire photographers to learn, explore and maximise their creative potential. The central London location and the fact that we now offer courses on Saturdays make Nikon training more accessible than ever.

What is the one feature photographers want but no one has come up with yet?

There is no one specific feature that stands out, however from my own perspective, we all want to take better photos. The more features a camera has to make capturing the moment that bit easier or for added creativity, the better.

What are your future ambitions for Nikon UK? To be the number one imaging brand and I hope Nikon UK can inspire photographers to learn, explore and maximise their creative potential.

It can only be positive that more people are taking more pictures than ever before

The I AM campaign seems to be doing well. Is it?

It has been fantastic and has done everything it set out to do in terms of engaging customers and increasing brand share. It has also won awards. I think it’s safe to say that qualifies as success. π To find out more about Nikon, go to www.nikon.co.uk.

Issue 3 | Photography News

Photography News | Issue 3

www.photography-news.co.uk

Opinion

9

BEFORE THE JUDGE

Rikki O’Neill FRPS

Each issue, a respected judge or exhibition selector shares their thoughts and experiences with us. This month, we put Rikki O’Neill, chair of the Visual Arts Associateship and Fellowship panels, through his paces Words by Rikki O’Neill FRPS

MEET THE JUDGE I have judged extensively at club level and selected at most UK international salons as well as judging abroad in Ireland, Holland and Malta.

Taking up photography is not just about your own images, it’s about looking and learning, and what better way to learn than by looking! I love looking at images.

Club judging can be very satisfying assuming that you give the right advice. But judges can be totally ensconced in their own type of photography and lack the ability to see the good in others. This can have a very negative effect on many club members, especially beginners. It’s not unheard of for a new club member to feel humiliated and leave, due to remarks passed by a judge.

Standards of club competitions can vary greatly.

Many of the experienced members who are regular salon exhibitors are continually producing high standards of imagery, but there is still a tendency for the majority of club work to be of a very ordinary standard. However, on the whole the overall standard of club photography is improving all the time.

In live club judging it is always challenging to be positive and constructive. As a judge we have to remember this is a person’s image, they have spent their time taking it and it may be their pride and joy.

If you don’t give positive and constructive criticism, it can have a devastating effect. No matter how bad an image is there is always something positive to be said about it.

I would have to say that I love all judging but I really enjoy salon judging. There is so much goes into salons. There can be terrific camaraderie, not just between the judges but also all the organising team – there is a wonderful social aspect to it all. You can see the high standard of amateur photography in the UK by looking at the quality of images entered into national and international salons. Many of the top awards are given to UK participants.

In the photographic sense judging should be bifocal. The ability to see a good image and give the appropriate mark has often not happened just because it wasn’t the judge’s own type of photography. I know this is controversial but unfortunately it is true – it’s an issue.

You can often be excited by images that have the ‘wow’ factor and there are always fantastic images submitted, but I do wonder about the submitted images that are so bad visually and technically you wonder why the author bothered to enter. Unfortunately, images can fail for many different reasons. No impact, poor composition, bad lighting, no creativity, no centre of interest, poor colour balance, unsuitable subject matter and not telling a story – any one of these can go against an image. I would probably say images without impact and showing poor technique are probably the two biggest failings. www.photography-news.co.uk

Rikki O’Neill FRPS: Rikki is an artist by profession and a highly respected creative and award-winning image maker. He has been on the Royal Photographic Society’s Visual Arts Associateship and Fellowship panels for the past 11 years and is now their chair. He is also on the Roll of Honour of the Scottish Photographic Federation, a Fellow of the Irish Photographic Federation, a Master of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and member of The London Salon.

Home club Dundee Photographic Society. I’m president.

How many years have you been in photography?

33

ABOVE Rikki O’Neill’s creation, His Own Little World.

Different skills are required to take a good photo and to recognise a good photo.

Having both skills is rare

I have no real pet hates but I do get fed up seeing formulaic images that continually do well and, understandably, this only encourages others to create similar work because of their success.

The organising of group trips has created the ‘holes in the ground tripod shot’ and because of this we see a series of almost identical images.

Photographers should be taking in the knowledge, but also creating their own images.

It is likely in a judging session that after seeing similar images several times over, the next one, even if it works on all levels, could still be marked down.

Different skills are required to take a good photo and to recognise a good photo. Not everyone has these skills, including judges, and having both is rare.

As a judge you have to have a broad perception and understanding of all types of images.

However no matter what a judge’s choice, it is always going to be subjective and those who enter just have to take on board that there are winners and losers. I always tell fellow club members not to worry too much about club judges; take on board the constructive points, don’t worry about your mark; another judge would probably see it differently.

To be successful in contests and salons you have to understand the requirements of entry. You also need to know your equipment, whether it is your camera, the computer or the software. In software, plug-ins are often a great way to help enhance your image but only when understood and applied for positive effect. You also need to be aware of the latest photographic trends, so look at images no matter where they are: books, magazines, TV, galleries, websites and the accepted images at salons.

What is your favourite camera?

I’ve always loved the Olympus as my film camera but am now a Canon lover as regards digital. I also use the iPad. What is your favourite photo accessory?

I could not be without my iPad or a compact – image quality these days is so good you can almost eliminate carrying larger, heavier cameras around.

Certainly for my type of photography I can get away with it.

What awards have you won?

Too many to keep track off but my very first medal, a gold at Solihull in the 1980s, along with being given the chair of the RPS Visual Art Distinctions panel, are highlights.

Who is your favourite photographer?

I love Alexander Jansson because of his art and photography together. He takes imagery to another level visually and to me is a great inspiration. See www. alexanderjansson.com.

What is your favourite lens?

Give me a wide-angle lens every time.

What is your favourite photographic subject or technique?

Creating images that step out of the box, images that break the expected photographic rules.

I just love being told an image is not a photograph, especially when all the elements are there. Being asked what drugs I am on proves that although the images might not be what is expected, they do create a reaction.

π To see more of Rikki O’Neill’s work, go to www.rikoart.com.

Issue 3 | Photography News

10

Competitions JUDGING

Behind the scenes

Thousands upon thousands of photographers around the world submit to photography exhibitions and salons. Few, however, get the chance to see how their images are judged, so join Photography News as we go behind the scenes at the recent judging of the Smethwick International 2014

The popularity of national and international photographic salons has never been higher and entry numbers run into many thousands.

Organising them is a serious undertaking and is hugely time-consuming for everyone involved.

Over 11,000 images were received for the Smethwick International 2014, over 3000 of which were prints. As you might imagine, getting those images in front of the judges – two panels of three – takes time; this year the judging takes place over a long weekend. It starts off on the Friday with Open Colour PDI (Projected Digital Images), Nature Prints and Nature PDI. On Saturday it’s Open Monochrome PDI and Monochrome Prints and then Colour Prints on the Sunday.

We’re sitting in on the Friday judging session, starting off with Nature Prints. The three judges are David Osborn FRPS, John Bebbington FRPS and Mike Lane FRPS, all experts in nature photography.

Smethwick’s team outnumbers the judges.

Chair of the nature judging is Barbara Lawton FRPS, who is calling out the image title, with five others handling the prints – mostly presented in 40x50cm mounts – plus a score checker and another monitoring everything on a computer, to ensure the scores and image title tally.

It’s a very smooth, organised and fair process.

Every image is given fair consideration, but the time spent in front of the judges varies between four and ten seconds, with six seconds being average.

Each judge uses a keypad and scores out of five with the minimum score of two. The minimum score of six isn’t that rare, but the maximum score of 15 was. Each print scoring 13 or more is kept aside and then later all the prints are viewed again to determine the medal winners. It’s worth noting

Judging is a very smooth, organised and fair process. But the time spent in front of the judges varies between four and ten seconds Photography News | Issue 3

that prints scoring 15 do not necessarily win a medal.

In fact 47 prints score 13 or more, meaning they qualify for the final judging. These are whittled down to 36, from which medals, awards and honourable mentions are awarded. This section of the judging takes much longer as the three judges closely inspect the shortlisted entries.

Of course, it is only after the results are confirmed that any photographers’ names are mentioned.

At the same time as the nature judging, in another room another panel of three judges – Peter Paterson FRPS, Simon Allen MPAGB and JeanClaude Menneron MFIAP – are steadily working their way through the 3000 or so images in the Open Colour PDI section.

Here, thanks to a neat software called PhotEX, the judges can work on their own, with just the laptop for company. Originally written for Smethwick by Phil Stapleton, this software is now used by 24 exhibitions in the UK, US, Canada, Norway, Macau and Australia. The club version, PhotoComp, is used by about 50 clubs in the UK. For details see, www.photcompsoftware.com.

The software shows the image with its title and as the last judge votes the image changes – each image is on screen for between five and eight seconds. Not visible to the judging panel, the computer shows the author’s name, title with the image and then the total score before the next picture is shown. It’s a very slick system that works impressively well. Again images scoring 13 and over are in the running for the awards.

All in all, with 39 exhibitions under its belt and plenty of practice it’s no surprise that Smethwick’s operation is so smooth and slick. With so many entries, it can’t be any other way. If you’re a regular on the exhibition scene or thinking about having a go for the first time, you can rest assured that judging and scoring images – if Smethwick is any measure – are as fair as can be. But when you are preparing your entry you must remember that you have perhaps just five or six seconds to get your message across. Shoddy printing, poor presentation, weak compositions and dodgy camera technique will not do you any favours at all. To succeed your photography has got to be at its very best. www.photography-news.co.uk

Competitions

11 IMAGE Smethwick International chairman Roger Parry with just a few of the entries.

This year if you count all the prints and PDIs we’ve just over 11,000 entries from over 1100 individuals

A word with the chairman, Roger Parry “The Smethwick International started 39 years ago as a colour slide only exhibition. My wife Judith has been involved for the whole 39 years.

“Prints were introduced at the third exhibition when Judith took the job as print chairman. In 1998 I became chairman and have done it ever since.

“The chairman starts off the exhibition process six or seven months before the closing date by applying for the patronage of the international bodies, the main ones being the Photographic Society of America (PSA) and FIAP (International Federation of Photographic Art). We also have patronage from the RPS and UPI (United Photographers International).

We have to do this every year and send off the rules of the exhibition for approval too. In the case of the PSA we have to apply to each of their divisions separately so if we have a print section we apply to the print division; if we have a nature section we apply to the nature division and so on. With FIAP it’s one application through the FIAP representative, which is Dave Coates in this country.

“We get medals from all those organisations, which we have to pay for, and these are highly coveted as major awards. We also give medals from Smethwick.

“Then I get a team of international judges together www.photography-news.co.uk

and we start calling for entries.

“People who wish to participate enter via our website. Unusually, not only do they upload their digital images here, the titles for their print entries are added here too. The prints are then posted to us.

Towards the closing date, prints are unpacked, we call their names up on the computer and see what prints they’ve entered and their titles and get labels printed out, so we get some order to a massive pile of prints.

“This year if you count all the prints and PDIs we’ve just over 11,000 entries from over 1100 individual photographers, half from the UK, half from the rest of the world. We have entries from around 66 countries. Smethwick is very popular abroad and we are getting an increasing number of entries from mainland China.

“Of the entry we have about 3250 prints and that includes the nature section, so we have around twice as many PDI entries. Interestingly, this year we’ve had the highest print entry we’ve ever had which is surprising given the cost of postage, but it’s probably because FIAP has said that 10% of acceptances must be prints.

“Across the weekend of judging we will have around 25 club members working. Judging prints takes longer simply because they have to be physically handled. With PDIs, it’s driven by the computer. Our software enables online entry,

TOP LEFT The nature print judging in progress LEFT (2nd from top, l to r) The Open judging panel at work: Jean-Claude Menneron, Peter Paterson and Simon Allen LEFT (3rd from top, l to r) The nature judges deciding the award winners BOTTOM LEFT (l to r) David Osborn, Roger Parry, Barbara Lawton (chair, nature section), John Bebbington and Mike Lane

recording the scores, emailing out the results and producing the text and pictures in the catalogue.

“I don’t think we could handle the sort of numbers we get now with the old manual method we used with slides.

“We open the exhibition for ten days to the public; we are probably the largest exhibition of its type in terms of what’s on show in the UK. All the prints that are accepted are shown in three rooms in the building. All the accepted PDIs are put together in the form of an audiovisual presentation with music so it’s more like entertainment. Over the weekend we get people from all round the UK to see the complete programme – it takes them nearly all day.”

Diary date If you want to see the results of the 39th Smethwick International, the exhibition takes place 4-12 January 2014 at Smethwick’s club room at The Old School House, Churchbridge, Oldbury, West Midlands. π To find out more, go to www.smethwickphotographic.co.uk, email info@spsinternationalexhibition.com or phone 0121 427 4224.

Issue 3 | Photography News

Advertisement feature

12

MANFROTTO BAGS

Bags of quality Often overlooked, but oh so vital is a bag for your kit. Manfrotto’s new range offers the perfect combination of protection for your camera and comfort for your shoulders In the mad rush for megapixels, we often forget that our cameras need decent and comfortable protection. Thankfully Manfrotto hasn’t forgotten; it offers two ranges of bags, Advanced and Professional – that’s 37 bags to choose from.

Manfrotto’s rugged Advanced range comprises 21 camera bags. And the clean lines and neat shapes of the range are just delightful. In other words, you can have the looks and the protection too. Based on your ‘real needs’, as Manfrotto puts it, these Advanced bags are designed to be easy to use. This means there’s a holder for your tripod, some sturdy protective inner pads, plenty of multiuse pockets, a rain cover and a durable High Density Nylon Fabric outer with careful stitching to ensure it lasts. Add to that the metal zips, pulls and buckles, and you’ve got yourself a great bag.

Among the range, there’s a Gear Backpack, which comes in small, medium and large, and is basically a single compartment with well-padded dividers inside to keep gear secure. Meanwhile the Active Backpack (pictured) has a bottom half for camera equipment, and a top half for all the other stuff you need, which means you can go on day trips with your camera and pack in some essential extra supplies too. If you want to experiment with a variety of ways to carry your kit around, try the Tri Backpack. It can be worn in three different ways: straps on both shoulders, straps in an X formation, or one strap used as a sling. It really depends on which works for you, but having these options definitely helps you find the perfect fit.

All in all, the Advanced range comprises some fantastic shoulder bags, holsters and sling bags.

They’re good value for money too. Prices start at just £25 for the Advanced Shoulder Bag 1, and for the Advanced Tri Backpack large you’ll be charged less than £125.

If you want something a bit tougher, check out Manfrotto’s Professional range, comprising 16

Photography News | Issue 3

bags. These bags offer full protection for all your gear – you can rest assured that even the toughest treatment and sharpest knocks won’t dent your kit. And it’s all thanks to Manfrotto’s engineering skills, as the whole range features a clever shockabsorbing design, named Exo-Tough, to diffuse sharp impacts: the force of the impact is cleverly spread across the surface of the bag.

And when you take a closer look, there’s more evidence of Manfrotto’s attention to detail. Open up one of these bags and you are greeted with the sight of 3D foam dividers in the core. These thick, shock-absorbing dividers help spread any impact around the core of the bag, which Manfrotto says gets the brunt of any shock. So your gear is nice and cocooned. Each bag is made of rip-resistant fabric and it has small feet to help keep it off the ground and out of puddles, ensuring equipment stays dry.

There’s also a built-in rain cover to keep things extra dry when the wet stuff starts. And whereas many bags have fiddly zips, Manfrotto’s Professional bags have oversized ones – perfect for large hands, cold days and gloves.

Stylish, down to earth and well built, the Professional range bags don’t cost the earth either. Prices start at £65 for the Holster Plus 20 Professional bag and go up to £320 for the Professional Roller bag 70.

IMAGES Every little detail has been thought about, so Manfrotto’s bags are a perfect fit for your kit.

Manfrotto’s rugged Advanced bags have the looks and the protection too. And they’re designed to be easy to use π To find out more, go to www.manfrotto.co.uk.

www.photography-news.co.uk

Opinion

13 SPEAKERS’ CORNER

How friendly is your club?

This is your chance to climb up on your soapbox and have a rant. This issue, and a few months into the new club season, Del Barrett asks how your new members are faring. Are they still keen as mustard or have they drifted off never to be seen again?

Words by Del Barrett ARPS Recently I met someone for lunch and, given we are both passionate about photography, it wasn’t long before the conversation turned from the business of the day to cameras. After he had been waxing lyrical about his recent competition wins at his local camera club, I confessed I was not a fan of clubs. “I know,” he said “I was warned.” I was surprised my reputation had spread so far, but what he clearly didn’t know was my reasons.

When I’d had a camera for about three months, I Googled around and found a local camera club.

I immediately emailed the secretary and could hardly contain my excitement as Thursday night approached. The prospect of meeting once a week to discuss this great passion was exhilarating.

I duly arrived at the village hall and my first thought was that I was in the wrong place. Had I inadvertently stumbled upon the local Darby and Joan meeting? Having established that I was in the right place, I paid my money and took my seat.

The show began with the chairman making a few announcements, the last of which was that he

wanted two women to make the tea during the interval. I could feel my hackles rising. And I wanted to scream or tie myself to the railings when every manicured hand in the hall shot up, but as the newbie I thought it more diplomatic not to make a fuss in my first five minutes. After all, I didn’t want to get drummed out of something that promised so much. So having chosen the tea makers and sold the raffle tickets, the chair announced that the show was about to begin.

I’d been told to bring a picture for the main event, a competition. One by one, the images were placed on the easel and one by one they were critiqued and laid in one of two piles – the keepers and the rejects. Finally, my photograph was up there. I was rather proud of my image. It showed a vast sweep of the local common taken with a wide aperture, such that the only part of the image that was in focus was the foreground – some blades of grass and a sign warning about speed cameras. I took it because I found it amusing. It was so obvious that there was not a speed camera in sight.

Judge Dread looked at my picture, hummed and ahhed for a bit whilst stroking his chin and then proclaimed: “A nice landscape, but it could be

I had a lifechanging choice to make – abandon photography or abandon the club. It wasn’t a difficult decision

IMAGES Del Barrett ploughs her own furrow, daring to be different with her photography.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Does Del Barrett have a point or she is just smarting from one bad experience? Do you pride yourself in the way your club handles newcomers? Drop us a line at opinion@ photography-news.co.uk.

www.photography-news.co.uk

greatly improved by cloning out that sign.” And with that pronouncement, my picture joined the others on the reject pile. I watched the rest of the evening in horror, as original, stunning images joined my landscape while the keeper pile grew in stature as every bloom, bird and bee was approved.

After the judging, we had the chance to mingle and the secretary took me under his wing. He said that I’d made a poor choice, but he would be happy to look at my portfolio and help me choose one for the following week.

I duly emailed him my favourites and back they came with the comment that they were not bad, but needed a bit of post-processing to improve them. He hoped I didn’t mind, but he’d made a few alterations to show me the sort of thing they were looking for.

I eagerly opened the zip file and my jaw dropped.

I’d like to say it dropped because I was so wowed by the dazzling improvements, but I’m afraid it dropped in horror as I saw that he’d tried to clone out the very things I was shooting – and hadn’t made a very good job of it either as evidenced by the smudgy post-processing artefacts.

I realised I had a life-changing choice to make – either abandon photography or abandon the club. It wasn’t a difficult decision.

What I found disturbing about the whole experience was the dogmatic belief about what constitutes a good photograph. It was evident that the club thinking was so blinkered, that anything slightly different was going to be dismissed.

I don’t know whether it’s a question of the judges not appreciating any genre other than their own, or whether there are certain judging guidelines and technical requirements and anything outwith these is deemed a failure.

But what I find even more disturbing is the hypnotic way that photographers accept these judgements. I see many images in the course of a week and if there is one where I am not fulsome in its praise, I can guarantee that the author will bleat that it recently scored highly at the camera club.

Before you bombard PN’s editor with invitations for me to visit your club because you’re different, take a good look at yourselves and ask if you really are. A friend of mine joined a club last year, insisting that it was not like other clubs. I have watched her refreshingly different approach fade. I no longer envy her portfolio. I no longer look at her images and think ‘I wish I’d taken that’. I no longer seek her opinions on matters photographic, because I know within minutes she will mention the view of the camera club, as if she now has no ideas of her own.

It has been like watching a loved one join a cult as she is brainwashed into thinking that her run-of-themill – albeit technically competent – stuff is worldclass photography.

Issue 3 | Photography News

14

Technology ON TEST

Why Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is fast becoming a standard amongst headline camera specs, but do you know how it can help you as a photographer? We give you an insight into the benefits and find out what it’s like to use Words by Ian Fyfe Wi-Fi first crept into cameras at the bottom end of the market on consumer compacts – you could even argue it was a bit of a gimmick, jumping on the smartphone bandwagon and of no real use to anyone serious about photography. But the last year or so has seen all the major manufacturers add Wi-Fi to more advanced cameras. The vast majority of newly released premium compacts and CSCs now have Wi-Fi as standard, and it’s even becoming more common on DSLRs – indeed, the first DSLR with integrated Wi-Fi was the Canon EOS 6D, a full-frame camera for advanced enthusiasts.

Despite this, I wouldn’t mind betting that the majority of photographers who own such enthusiast cameras with Wi-Fi built-in rarely or never use the function – and I include myself in that majority. It’s easy to still think of Wi-Fi as a gimmick, but it can be a very useful tool. It allows you to connect your camera to a portable device such as a smartphone or tablet, via an app that can be downloaded for free, and this lets you do a number of things.

Firstly, it lets you view images stored on the camera’s card on the bigger screen of your phone or tablet while on location, making it easier to check for sharpness and composition on the spot rather than waiting until you get home to find that your favourite shot of the day is actually blurry.

You can also usually transfer images from your camera to your smartphone or tablet, and this is a good way to make a backup while on the move. This comes with the caveat that it’s usually only JPEG files that can be transferred, and these are sometimes resized for faster transfer speeds, but if your memory card corrupts before you get home, even this is better than nothing. In the best cases, you’ll have a complete set of full-resolution copies.

Transferring your images to a smartphone also means you can use your mobile signal to upload images online while you’re out and about. We might not all want to post pictures on Facebook and Twitter every five minutes, but there are other potential advantages of this – you can post directly to your blog if you have one, and with social media this could help to build a following for your photography online.

Alternatively, you can simply upload pictures to cloud storage

services such as Dropbox or Microsoft SkyDrive, where you’ll be sure they’re safe.

The other big advantage that a Wi-Fi connection can give is remote control from your mobile device. Most connections allow you to see a Live View image on your device’s screen and at least focus and shoot remotely, while others give you comprehensive control over camera settings without even touching it. The simplest benefit of this is that you won’t have to fork out for a cable release for shooting on a tripod, but it can be put to more elaborate use – for example, you could set your camera up at a wildlife hotspot, then hide yourself away while still being able to keep track of what your camera’s seeing and trigger it without scaring anything off.

Once you start thinking of the possibilities for Wi-Fi, it starts to seem like a feature that’s worthwhile having, but exactly what you can do with each system and how easy they are to use varies between manufacturers and even cameras. I’ve tried out Wi-Fi set-ups on enthusiast cameras from seven major manufacturers to see what each has to offer. I used a Samsung Galaxy S4 as my mobile smart device, but any other smartphone or tablet should give similar results.

Canon

The EOS 6D was Canon’s first enthusiast camera with Wi-Fi, and the EOS 70D saw a second outing for the same system. These are serious enthusiast cameras, and the Wi-Fi system matches up.

Setting up with a smartphone is a case of entering identities and passwords, but once done, a connection is established automatically when the EOS Mobile Utility app is opened. The app has two modes: Remote Shooting and Camera Image View.

In Remote Shooting, you can change aperture, shutter speed and ISO – other settings can’t be changed, although you can still use controls on the

camera without breaking the connection. When viewing images via the app, you can sort thumbnails by date, folder or rating, and browse through them at full-screen size. You can also view EXIF data, rate images, save them to your device or even delete them remotely. The only drawback is that files transferred to your phone or tablet aren’t full resolution, but resized for an HD screen.

Besides the app, the camera can be connected to other Wi-Fi networks, allowing remote control from a computer and printing directly to a Wi-Fi printer – functions no other Wi-Fi system offers.

Fujifilm

All Fujifilm’s recently launched CSCs feature Wi-Fi, including the X-M1, X-A1 and X-E2, as does the latest XQ1 premium compact. All these are can be used with the Fujifilm Camera app; I chose the X-E2.

There’s one big absence in the wireless functions, and that’s remote control; Wi-Fi only applies in Playback mode. Set up on the camera is easy, since there’s a Wi-Fi button that activates the signal – from there on, everything’s done in the app. After an initial set-up, connection is automatic, but the arrangement means a connection has to be made every time you want to do something. When it works,

it’s seamless, but I found the connection sometimes failed. Transferring images can be done by selecting images on the camera to send, or you can browse the memory card from the app and select images to download. Transfer is very quick, but that’s partly because the images are resized to 1776x1184 pixels.

Fujifilm’s Wi-Fi system has one function that most other don’t, which is the option to transfer images wirelessly direct to a computer. You need Fujifilm’s PC Autosave software on the computer, and while it does what it promises, a card reader will transfer files in a fraction of the time.

Nikon

Until now, Wi-Fi connection with a Nikon DSLR or CSC meant shelling out £65 for an accessory adaptor. But with the new D5300, Wi-Fi is integrated into the camera and is compatible with Nikon’s Wireless Mobile Utility app. Connection needs to be established manually each time, so the set-up isn’t as elegant as some, but it’s simple enough and works reliably. With the app, you can choose to take or view photos with your smart device.

Remote control switches the camera to Live View, and from your mobile device you can focus and release the shutter, but there’s no more elaborate

control. Unlike some systems, you can change settings on the camera without quitting the app, so it works well as a simple substitute for a cable release where you stay beside the camera.

Viewing photos gives you thumbnail previews of photos on the camera’s card, and you can select to copy across some or all. It’s nice for browsing through images on a bigger screen, but any that are transferred aren’t full resolution; they’re resized for an HD screen, with 1080 pixels along their shortest side. You can’t transfer Raw files, but can download JPEGs that are shot alongside Raws.

Photography News | Issue 3

VERDICT PROS Good remote control, excellent image viewing and transferring interface, computer remote control and direct printing CONS Resizing of transferred images, access to more controls in remote shooting would be nice

VERDICT PROS Dedicated Wi-Fi button, simple connection CONS No remote control, connection not always reliable

VERDICT PROS Can select which photos to download, remote release CONS Remote control is limited, need to specifically turn off WiFi to prevent it running down the battery

www.photography-news.co.uk

Technology

15

Olympus

Wi-Fi first debuted in Olympus’s CSCs in the E-P5, and has since made appearances in its new hybrid camera, the Stylus 1, and its flagship, the OM-D E-M1.

Olympus’s approach to setting up a Wi-Fi connection is unique and more elegant than most.

Turn the camera Wi-Fi on, and you’re presented with a QR code on screen that you scan with your smartphone or tablet using the Olympus Image Share app to make an automatic connection. When you’ve done it once, there’s no need to do it again.

Once connected, you can browse and import photos from the camera’s card. Full-screen images

take a few seconds to load, so if you browse through them, you’re held up at each picture. You can select photos to save to your device – JPEGs that are saved are resized to 2048 pixels on their longest side.

Where Olympus’s Wi-Fi system comes into its own is the remote control on the OM-D E-M1.

Remote control on the E-P5 is limited to Intelligent Auto mode, but with the E-M1, you can not only use it in PASM or auto modes, but you can change mode remotely and have full control over exposure settings and more. It’s the most comprehensive WiFi remote control you can currently get.

Panasonic

Panasonic’s newest CSCs, the GX7, G6 and GF6, and the premium compact L-F1 all feature in-built Wi-Fi that integrates with Panasonic’s Image app. If you’re likely to use Wi-Fi frequently, then Panasonic’s set-up will help because the cameras have a Wi-Fi button.

Press this and you’re led through menus and options that tell you what you can do and how you can do it.

There’s a good variety of options too. Connection to a smart device via the app provides good remote control; you can change the exposure settings and a number of functions such as the focus mode, metering mode and image quality.

Switch to playback mode, and you can flick through images on the camera’s card in thumbnail or full-screen views, and you can just drag and drop to save full-resolution images to your device.

Transferring images over Wi-Fi goes beyond the app too, and you can set up a Wi-Fi Direct connection for automatic transfer of each image straight after it’s captured. This can be to a smart device, or if you’re within range of a network, to a computer or cloud storage service, so it’s ideal for backing up on the move. You can specify whether the transferred JPEGs are full resolution or smaller.

Samsung

Samsung’s Galaxy Camera and Galaxy NX run on the same Android operating system as most smartphones, so you can easily link them directly to networks and there’s no need to transfer images to your phone or tablet before uploading them online.

That’s not to say that you can’t connect the Galaxy cameras to another smart device though, and Samsung’s other CSCs that don’t have Android, such as the NX300, also feature Wi-Fi connectivity.

With the appropriate Samsung apps, this allows image sharing and remote control options similar to most other Wi-Fi systems.

Perhaps the most useful tool for photographers is the ShareShot function, which automatically transfers images to a connected device as you capture them.

This is done via a Wi-Fi Direct connection, which requires no network or passwords, and you can have your phone or tablet in your pocket or bag and it still works. The drawback is that you can only transfer in this way when shooting JPEGs alone, so you have no Raw files on either device. If that’s not a problem though, then each image takes just a few seconds to transfer and it’s saved at full resolution, so it provides a real-time backup on a second device.

Sony

Most of Sony’s CSCs and top-end compacts come with Wi-Fi, although it’s yet to feature in any of its DSLTs. It’s included in the new full-frame mirrorless cameras, the A7 and A7R, and all cameras that do have it use Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile app – I tried this with the RX100 Mark II premium compact.

One excellent aspect of this system is that it’s only switched on in the camera when one of the wireless functions is activated – Wi-Fi is a battery drain, so this saves on power. One-time set-up is needed, and after that simply opening the app when the camera’s WiFi is active is enough to make a connection.

Wi-Fi remote control provides a shutter release and lets you zoom if the lens you’re using has a powered zoom. You have no control over focusing though, and you can’t change any shooting settings except to turn the flash off or activate the self-timer.

The Send to Smartphone function lets you send images from the camera to the phone, or you can use the app to browse previews before selecting which to copy. Full-resolution JPEGs are transferred, so it’s good for backing up your keepers. Alternatively, you can upload images to the Internet through the app without saving them on your phone.

www.photography-news.co.uk

VERDICT PROS Simple and elegant set-up, comprehensive remote control on E-M1 CONS Resizing of transferred images

VERDICT PROS Wi-Fi button, remote control, Wi-Fi Direct connection CONS Set-up menus are a touch slow to use

VERDICT PROS Direct connection to networks, ShareShot as a backup CONS Can’t shoot Raw if you want to transfer JPEGs

VERDICT PROS Wi-Fi only on when needed, full-resolution JPEGs copied CONS No focusing control in remote control

Issue 3 | Photography News

16

Buyers’ guide CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

1 4

t a e r t , n Go o rself you

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‘Tis the season of goodwill and giving, and once you’ve bought pressies for your family it’s time to get selfish and start thinking about you and your photography. Here’s a selection of the latest accessories and gadgets that would make an ideal present just for you 8

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Photography News | Issue 3

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Buyers’ guide

17 1

If you enjoy strobism you’ll love this manual only, highpowered portable flashgun from Lencarta. The kit comes with a rechargeable lithium battery pack, but you can also buy the flashgun and the battery pack separately; with the appropriate lead the pack can be used to power speedlights from Canon, Nikon and Sony. According to our practical tests the flash has a GN of around 42 ISO 100/m at full power, which is plenty for most purposes, while its IGBT circuitry means you get flash durations as short as 1/10,000sec at minimum power without any colour shift. The system is also supported by a range of dedicated light-shaping modifiers. www.lencarta.com

3

2

2

6

Westcott Ice Light £399

Designed by Jerry Ghionis, one of the world’s leading social photographers, the Ice Light is a portable, dimmable, daylight-balanced LED continuous light source that is finding many fans among portrait and wedding photographers. The rechargeable lithium battery lasts 60 minutes at full power – or it will run off the mains if you have that option, and this will also charge the light. Check out the Ice Light website and you can see how creative people photographers are exploiting the potential of this accessory. It’s certainly ideal for producing daylight quality light when the natural stuff isn’t available, and what you see is what you get. www.theicelight.com

3

Cokin PURE Harmonie filters from £39.99

Cokin has launched a range of screw-in filters that are the thinnest and lightest in the world. The UV is 3.3mm thick, the circular polariser 4.5mm and the variable density ND is 9.5mm. Their thinness will help avoid vignetting with ultra-wide lenses while their light weight will help maximum AF performance. All the filters are coated with Everclear 5 multi-layer coating which is water repellent, anti oil, anti dust, anti grime and scratch resistant. The UV and circular polariser are available in sizes from 37mm to 82mm with prices starting from £39.99 and £79.99 respectively. The variable ND starts from £154.99 with sizes from 52mm through to 82mm. www.intro2020.co.uk

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Lencarta Atom 180 £350

Elgato Thunderbolt 256GB Drive+ SSD £430

The problem with conventional hard drives is they have moving parts, which means a crash (temporary or permanent) is potentially just round the corner. Hence the move towards solid state drives (SSDs). SSDs, just like the storage cards in your camera, do not have any moving parts so you get much faster performance and much greater reliability. This rugged external drive (for Mac and Windows) has USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt interfaces and cables for both are supplied. Transfer speed is claimed up to 420MB/s. In our test, using the latest Mac Mini, we transferred 16GB of data in three minutes – both interfaces were about the same speed. This is a write speed of 89MB/s so some way off its claimed speed but still quick. A conventional portable hard drive with FireWire 800 took well over five minutes. Not cheap, but you can’t put a price on reliability. www.elgato.com

5

Benro Ranger Pro 600N backpack £150

Perfect for the photographer who wants to travel around equipped for every photographic opportunity, the Pro 600N will happily take two DSLRs, six to eight lenses, filters and a flashgun, plus a 17in laptop. Of course the only downside is it’s going to be heavy once fully packed, but at least you know your kit will be well protected and all in one place. The 400N and 500N are £130 and £140 respectively, and are smaller options if you don’t need the capacity of the Ranger Pro 600N. www.kenro.co.uk

www.photography-news.co.uk

6

Manfrotto Befree travel tripod £159

The best tripod is the one you have with you and weighing in at 1.4kg and folding down to 40cm, the aluminium Befree, which comes with a smart carrying case, is ideal for the photographer on the move. Despite its small stature, at maximum extension including the centre column, it can give a camera height of 144cm with good stability.

Lever locks secure the legs so set-up is fast and it’s the first tripod to have leg angle selectors – folded, splayed and standard positions can be set. The kit comes with a single locking lever ball head and this head accepts the standard rectangular Manfrotto 200PL metal quick release plate so getting extras if you need them is no problem. www.manfrotto.com

7

SpiderPro Camera Holster £110

Getting at your camera quickly can make the difference between a great shot and an OK picture, whether you’re shooting a sporting event, walking the streets looking for candids or photographing a wedding. The SpiderPro Camera Holster system offers an effective solution. It’s a belt system with a solidly-made holster that holds the camera, which is fitted with a plate that slides into the holster via a pin. The belt, holster and plate are substantially made and impressive. A nice design touch is an Allen key that is safely stashed on the plate. The system is good to use and does allow a very quick draw with the camera, especially if you don’t have the camera locked in place. For security’s sake, however, the camera and pin can be locked into place and released with a quick flick of a switch. Buy an extra holster (or the Dual kit £190) and you can work quickly with two cameras, and accessories are on offer to attach other items to your belt.

It works well and is a good alternative to the ‘pap’ strap. www.spiderholster.com

8

Lowepro Transit Sling 250AW £82

For shooting around town, a relatively small rucksack is exactly what you need and the Lowepro Transit 250AW is one of the best around. It’s big enough for a full-frame DSLR with a lens attached and two extra lenses can be stashed in the bottom compartment. When you want to change lenses, take advantage of the sling function and you have quick access to another lens without having to put the bag down or lift it over your head. There’s also a zipped compartment for a small tablet and even a facility to carry a tripod. Highly recommended. www.lowepro.com

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Toshiba 32GB FlashAir £60

Shoot and transfer images wirelessly with this new high capacity SD card from Toshiba. It’s a Class 10 card that lets you create your own WLAN Access Point independent of existing networks, and it works at home and outdoors. This means you can use it to transfer images to your computer without removing the card from your camera, or transfer them to your smartphone or tablet for uploading while you’re out and about. You can view images in an Internet browser, or download the free app for iOS and Android.

8GB and 16GB sizes are also available. www.toshiba-memory.com

Fotocards 10 Fotospeed from £11.99 If you haven’t got your Christmas cards sorted yet, check out Fotospeed’s additions to its Fotocards range. The prescored greetings cards are available in two new finishes, Matt Duo and Art Smooth Duo, and two sizes, A6 and i3 (21x7.4cm), plus they come complete with envelopes. These join the existing range of Bright White and Matt Ultra, both A5. For a 25-sheet pack of A6 Matt Duo the price is £11.99 while for the same size pack of Art Smooth Duo is £19.99.

Once you have bought the cards, go to the Fotospeed website and download the free templates, then you’re ready to produce your own personalised greetings cards. www.fotospeed.com

Issue 3 | Photography News

18

Advertisement feature TAMRON LENS

A grand day out

SHOT AT 18MM

SHOT AT 270MM

Big cities like London have all the ingredients for a great photo day out, as does the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD lens

London has everything from world-famous landmarks and spectacular architecture through to interesting characters on the streets, museums and exhibitions, and royal parks with wildlife and flower beds. To capture great shots of such a variety of subjects, you might think you need to lug around a bag full of lenses that weigh you down and mean you need to keep switching.

Well, not with the all-in-one versatility and compact size of the Tamron 18270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD. Capture it all Mount this lens on your camera before you set out for the capital, and you know with the huge focal range that you’ll be ready to capture any subject.

The maximum wide angle of 18mm is ideal for framing up buildings like Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, or for capturing sweeping cityscapes from the Millennium Bridge. At the other extreme, the whopping 270mm telephoto zoom lets you pick out architectural details, take pictures of people from a distance or shoot the Queen’s swans – figuratively, of course! What’s more, a minimum focusing distance of 49cm means you can get up close to the greenery in the parks and gardens.

Whatever you’re framing up, Tamron’s Vibration Compensation technology keeps your images sharp, and the Piezo Ultrasonic Drive makes for smooth and efficient focusing – it’s almost silent as well, so ideal for when you want to remain inconspicuous on the streets or avoid startling those cheeky squirrels in Hyde Park. It’s a lens that has everything you need for convenience and performance Available for Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras, the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.56.3 Di II VC PZD retails from around £350.

IMAGES The zoom range of the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD means you can capture all the city has to offer – building façades and architectural details, sweeping cityscapes or even wildlife.

With the huge focal range, you’ll be ready to capture any subject Photography News | Issue 3

π To find out more, go to www.tamron.co.uk. www.photography-news.co.uk

Camera review

19

ON TEST

Travelling Light: Part 2 Looking for a take-anywhere camera that gives you the perfect mix of size, control and performance? One of these premium compacts could be your answer Words by Ian Fyfe If you’re just popping out to the shops, you want a camera to slip into your pocket so you have something with you if an irresistible photo opportunity should present itself. A CSC will give you image quality comparable to your DSLR, but most are still too big to secrete about your person. A camera phone or cheap compact is more convenient economically and dimensionally, but it is unlikely to produce the critical quality you’re after. Thankfully, there’s a halfway house in the shape of premium compacts.

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Premium compacts have relatively large sensors for image quality that far exceeds consumer compacts’ and give much better low-light performance. They also offer full control over camera settings so you can express your creativity fully, but the bodies are small and the lenses often retract so you can tuck the camera away. These compacts are no small investment though, and most will set you back by upwards of £300.

Last month, we saw Canon’s premium compact, the PowerShot G16, give three leading CSC cameras a run for their money in terms of handling, performance and image quality, proving that compacts can satisfy the needs of serious photographers. This time, we see what’s on offer with premium compact offerings from six major manufacturers.

Fujifilm X20

Nikon Coolpix A

As part of the X-Series, the X20 features the same X-Trans sensor technology as in Fujifilm’s CSCs that promises sharper images and excellent low-light performance from the 2/3-inch sensor. It has a 28-112mm equivalent f/2-2.8 zoom lens, as well as a clever hybrid optical viewfinder with LCD.

Many compacts have small sensors that limit image quality, but the Coolpix A has an APS-C sized sensor, the same as in consumer-level DSLRs. This is paired with an 18mm f/2.8 prime lens, a combination that delivers image quality you thought you’d never see from a compact.

Olympus Stylus 1

Panasonic L-F1

The Stylus 1 combines a 1/1.7-inch sensor with a zoom lens that provides an impressive equivalent focal range of 28-300mm and a constant f/2.8 aperture. It’s styled on the OM-D E-M5, but looks aren’t the only similarity; more adopted OM-D technology makes it an interesting prospect.

Most premium compacts are larger and heavier than the average consumer model, but not the L-F1. It packs a 1/1.7-inch sensor and handy 28-200mm equivalent zoom lens along with full manual control into a body that’ll leave room to spare in any pocket.

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Sony RX100 MkII

The Galaxy Camera runs on the same Android operating system as most smartphones, and combines this with a 21x optical zoom and manual control for a full photography experience. It’s available as either a Wi-Fi or a Wi-Fi and 3G model, making it the ultimate connected camera.

The original RX100 has made its mark as one of the best-selling premium compacts.

Now the Mark II has come along, but the changes are small – it keeps the large oneinch sensor and Zeiss 28-100mm f/1.8-4.9 equivalent zoom lens to deliver the same excellent image quality.

Issue 3 | Photography News

20

Camera review Fujifilm X20

Nikon Coolpix A

The body of the X20 is relatively big, and this leaves plenty of space for buttons so it feels more like a CSC in use than a compact. All the main shooting settings are available on the dials and buttons, with ISO by default on the top Fn button, although there are nine alternatives for this button if you prefer. There’s also direct access to drive mode, white-balance, AF mode and AF area selection, and for just about anything else there’s the quick menu.

Also making the X20 feel less like a compact is the optical viewfinder. This is a hybrid arrangement that includes an LCD to display the focus area and shooting settings.

It’s offset from the lens axis, so there are parallax issues when you move in close to your subject and the viewfinder focus area isn’t much use in this case – if you switch to macro mode, the viewfinder display is disabled. It’s easy enough to move to the LCD screen though, since an eye sensor automatically switches between the two.

Fujifilm claims that the X20 can focus in as little as 0.06 seconds, and it’s certainly quick in good light. It uses phase detection combined with contrast detection, and this makes lens movement quick, with little hunting. Manual focusing is less user-friendly because, with no ring on the lens, you have

The Coolpix A is beautifully built. The body feels superb in the hand, while the lens collapses when not in use to make it very pocketable. For users of Nikon DSLRs, the controls and menus will feel generally familiar, although the small body obviously means compromises. The main dial controls all the key settings in combination with ISO and exposure compensation buttons to the left of the LCD screen, and an ‘i’ button activates an on-screen interface for other settings. In terms of handling, it’s difficult to fault.

Focusing isn’t the Coolpix A’s strong point, and a lot of hunting even in good light makes it slower than any of the other compacts in our group. Even if you refocus on the same point, it hunts a long way from the focal point to lock on the second time. The hunting is worse in macro AF mode, which effectively allows the lens to hunt through its full range.

Macro mode is needed for anything closer than 50cm, so with a fixed focal length equivalent to 28mm, you’re more than likely to venture into this range even if you’re not a close-up specialist. Manual focusing isn’t any more helpful – there’s a focusing ring on the lens, which makes it comfortable, but no on-screen aids like magnification or focus peaking, so you’re trusting your eyesight and the LCD’s resolution.

to use the control wheel on the back, and precision isn’t easy with this. On-screen focus peaking helps though.

Overall, exposures were excellent, and the dynamic range impressive, even in JPEGs – shadows and highlights were almost never clipped, even with contrasty scenes. There’s more room for recovery in Raw files too.

It’s also worth shooting Raw for maximum resolution. The relatively large X-Trans sensor ensures there’s a good amount of detail in JPEGs, but the in-camera processing can cause blocking of fine details. Raw files are softer straight out of the camera, but detail is preserved better and the best results are from Raw files carefully sharpened in Lightroom.

In low light, there’s no real worry in increasing the ISO sensitivity to 1600. The top native setting of ISO 3200 has plenty of noise but is still useable, but into the expanded settings of 6400 and 12,800 – only available with JPEGs – fine details are lost, so it’s best to avoid using these.

SPECS

SPECS PRICE £399

AUTOFOCUS MODES Multi, area, tracking

LCD SCREEN 2.8in with 460k dots

PRICE £679

CONTACT www.fujifilm.co.uk

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-2EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB 3 frames in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps

STORAGE SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I compatible

CONTACT www.nikon.co.uk

SENSOR 2/3in 12-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II with EXR Processor II IMAGE DIMENSIONS 4000x3000 pixels

SHUTTER 30secs-1/4000sec METERING PATTERNS Multi, spot, average

ISO RANGE 100-3200 (100-12,800 extended, JPEG only)

DIMENSIONS 117.0x69.6x56.8mm WEIGHT 353g including battery and memory card

SHOOTING SPEEDS 3-12fps

Photography News | Issue 3

SENSOR 16.2-megapixel DX format CMOS, EXPEED 2 processor IMAGE DIMENSIONS 4928x3264 pixels ISO RANGE 100-6400 (100-25,600 extended)

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-5EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB +/2EV, 3 frames in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps SHUTTER 30secs-1/2000sec METERING PATTERNS Matrix, center-weighted, spot

SHOOTING SPEEDS Single, continuous 4fps LCD SCREEN 3in with 921k dots STORAGE SD, SDHC, SDXC DIMENSIONS 111.0x64.3x40.3mm WEIGHT 299g including battery and memory card

Image quality and ISO performance

Image quality and ISO performance

RAW DETAIL

AUTOFOCUS MODES Face-priority, normal area, wide area, subject-tracking

PROS Excellent image quality for a compact, well built and easy to use CONS AF is slow, the big sensor and prime lens come at a high price

PROS A lot of direct access control, hybrid viewfinder, quick focusing CONS Relatively large for a compact camera

JPEG DETAIL

Where the Coolpix A comes into its own is image quality. With a DSLR-sized sensor that has no optical low-pass filter, combined with a high-quality prime lens, pictures are packed with detail, far more than from most cameras of this size. Without an optical lowpass filter, there’s the risk of moiré patterning, and I did see some in test shots – in JPEG files, the camera’s processing compensated, but it remained in Raw files. Nevertheless, it’s worth shooting Raw because the images are much sharper than JPEGs with just default Lightroom sharpening.

The large sensor is good for low-light shooting, and you can happily push the ISO sensitivity up to 3200. There’s some noise at this level, but it has very little impact on the image. Upwards from here, grain increases and obscures fine detail, but there’s still a lot of definition in the images.

Overall, the Coolpix A performs superbly when it comes to image quality, but the fixed focal length may not suit everyone, and the asking price is high.

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Camera review

21

Olympus Stylus 1

Panasonic L-F1

Olympus classifies the Stylus 1 as a hybrid rather than a compact, and when you pick it up, you can see why. It feels more like a CSC, and it certainly wouldn’t fit in your pocket with the viewfinder on the top and large lens.

But the design makes for excellent handling.

The viewfinder is the same electronic unit found in the OM-D E-M5; it’s big, clear and gives an exact preview of the shot. As with Olympus’s CSCs, the controls are well thought out. There’s a ring on the lens, which can be used to control exposure settings, but also to zoom or focus manually. It even clicks when used as an aperture ring but moves smoothly as a focusing ring, and it makes the whole experience feel more natural if you’re used to DSLRs. There are three options for controlling the zoom in all, and the speed of zooming can be adjusted – this is indicative of the general flexibility in the controls.

Not only are there two programmable Fn buttons, but three other preset buttons can be reprogrammed for a personalised set-up.

The principles of Olympus’s Fast AF system in its CSCs has clearly been put to good use again in the Stylus 1, because it’s exceptionally quick to lock onto a subject – easily the fastest of the compacts in our group. The LCD is also a touch panel, so you can place the focus area, and even release the

As compact cameras go, you won’t find many smaller than the L-F1. It’s about the size of your typical sub-£100 compact, but offers much greater control.

As you might expect on such a small body, there’s a general shortage of buttons and dials, but everything you need as a matter of course is within reasonably easy reach.

A ring at the base of the lens substitutes for a main command dial and can be used to change aperture and shutter speed settings, while there’s exposure compensation on the control pad on the back. There’s a customisable Fn button on the back too, but the options for this are limited – for example, you can’t assign ISO to this button, leaving this in the quick menu with no possibility of direct access.

Zooming is controlled with a lever around the shutter button, and it’s not easy to adjust this precisely. There is a clever Step Zoom option in the quick menu though, which allows you to select a specific focal length from a set of options to set the lens to.

Impressively for a camera of this size, there is an electronic viewfinder, although it’s of limited use – so small you can’t see any detail, and it’s simpler to compose using the screen.

Focusing in the L-F1 is quick and in fact, it nearly matched the exceptionally speedy

shutter if you wish, by touching the screen.

Unfortunately, focus peaking hasn’t made its way across from the CSCs, so if focusing manually, magnification is your only aid.

Such a big focal range without a huge lens is possible because the sensor is relatively small, and with this comes a compromise in image quality. Images are still good for this class of camera – they’re clean and punchy, but just lack a little clarity in the details.

Slightly more detail can be drawn out of Raw files than the out-of-camera JPEGs, but the difference is minimal.

Considering the sensor size, ISO performance is good. Above ISO 400, images start to get grainy, but it’s bearable up to ISO 1600. Go beyond ISO 3200 though, and there’s almost no detail left, and the images take on a global colour cast.

The handling, zoom range and technology are excellent, but it’s worth bearing in mind that Olympus’s smallest CSCs, such as the E-PM2, offer better image quality and interchangeable lenses for a smaller price.

Olympus Stylus 1. The screen isn’t a touch panel, so you can’t place the focus area with your fingertips, but you can still move it to anywhere in the frame and you can adjust the size of the area too. If you switch to manual focus, then the lens ring becomes the focusing ring, although this feels a bit strange because it still clicks, and it’s not easy to judge focusing on-screen by eye, even with the help of magnification.

The amount of detail in images is limited, but exposures, colours and dynamic range are all good – plenty of detail was retained in the shadows, even in JPEGs. Raw files contain a little more detail than JPEGs, but the difference is slight and only obvious on very close examination. ISO performance is reasonable too, with noise well controlled up to ISO 800. Above this, noise becomes more of an issue and really starts to eat away at the fine detail at ISO 3200 and above.

The L-F1 doesn’t wow in any single aspect, but it puts in a steady all-round performance – plus its tiny size is convenient, and as one of the cheapest premium compacts around, it’s a bargain.

SPECS

SPECS AUTOFOCUS MODES Single, continuous, tracking, face detection, macro, manual

PRICE £549 CONTACT www.olympus.co.uk

AUTOFOCUS MODES Normal, AF macro, macro zoom, manual

SHOOTING SPEEDS Single, continuous 7fps

PRICE £280

LCD SCREEN 3in with 1040k dots

CONTACT www.panasonic.co.uk

STORAGE SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I compatible

SENSOR 1/1.7in 12.1-megapixel MOS with Venus Engine

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-2EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB 3 frames, in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps

SENSOR 1/1.7in 12-megapixel BSI CMOS with TruePic VI engine

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-3EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB 2-3 frames in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV steps

IMAGE DIMENSIONS 3968x2976 pixels

SHUTTER 60secs-1/2000sec

DIMENSIONS 116.2x87.0x56.5mm

IMAGE DIMENSIONS 4000x3000 pixels

SHUTTER 250secs-1/4000sec

ISO RANGE 100-3200 (100-12,800 extended)

METERING PATTERNS Digital ESP, centre-weighted average, spot

WEIGHT 402g including battery and memory card

ISO RANGE 100-6400 (100-12,800 extended)

METERING PATTERNS Intelligent multiple, centreweighted, spot

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STORAGE SD, SDHC, SDXC DIMENSIONS 102.5x62.1x27.9mm WEIGHT 192g including battery and memory card

Image quality and ISO performance

Image quality and ISO performance

RAW DETAIL

LCD SCREEN 3in with 920k dots

PROS Very small and light, fast focusing CONS Smallness restricts handling a little

PROS Flexibility in handling, huge zoom range, fast focusing, viewfinder CONS Sensor size limits image quality, no focus peaking

JPEG DETAIL

SHOOTING SPEEDS Single, continuous 10fps

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RAW DETAIL

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Issue 3 | Photography News

22

Camera review Samsung Galaxy

Sony RX100 MkII

Controlling the Galaxy Camera is like controlling no other compact because there are no buttons other than the shutter release; everything is done via the huge rear touch screen. You still have full control of the settings though, so long as you select Expert user mode – this brings up an interface of virtual dials for changing aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation and ISO. In the shooting screen, these settings are displayed all the time, and to change one all you need to do is touch it – this reopens the settings interface.

These main settings are the only ones that are so directly accessible; for others you have to go into the settings menu. This gives you fairly comprehensive control – for example, you can change the white-balance, focus mode, drive mode and metering.

Focusing is also down to touch control.

While it’s not the quickest, it’s simple to focus anywhere by just touching your subject onscreen. There are only two focus modes, normal and macro, which means there’s no continuous AF or manual focusing.

One big advantage of the touch-screen control is that, without the need for buttons, there’s space for a huge LCD screen that’s the same HD quality as smartphones – beautiful for composing and viewing your shots.

Despite being so small, the RX100 Mark II feels unexpectedly sturdy in your hand.

It’s built solidly, and the wide-aperture lens adds quite a weight to the front, although it’s still well balanced. Overall, it’s in fact slightly chunkier than the original RX100, and this is because there’s a tiltable screen on the back, which is great for composing from high and low angles.

There’s a lens ring that by default controls the aperture, but can also be assigned to other functions – it’s great if set up as a zoom ring, because it feels natural to turn this to zoom, and it allows much more precise control than the lever around the shutter button. There are plenty more customisation options too.

The quick menu, opened with the Fn button, can be altered to include seven functions of your choice in any order, and four of the preset buttons can be reassigned. Functions that can be assigned to any of these include things like ISO, white-balance, metering and AF mode, so you can have all the main settings arranged exactly as you wish.

My only complaint with the handling is the shutter button. The half press isn’t well defined so it’s difficult to judge and occasionally led to me taking photos unintentionally.

Focusing on the RX100 is a little sluggish in comparison to some of the other premium

The lens, controlled with a lever around the shutter button, provides a massive 21x zoom equivalent to a focal range of 23-483mm.

This is possible because the 1/2.3-inch sensor is small, and this brings with it a compromise in image quality, with less detail than with bigger sensors.

There’s no option to shoot Raw files – it’s JPEGs only. Exposures and colours are excellent though, and the dynamic range is good, with no shadow or highlight clipping even in contrasty light. The ISO range goes up to 3200, and the JPEG processing ensures there’s not too much grain, but detail becomes progressively blurred as you go up the sensitivity scale.

With the Android operating system, you have access to all apps that can be downloaded from the Google Play store, including image-editing apps and useful things like Google Maps and Samsung Photo Suggest, which will help you find photo hotspots on location. With the options of mobile and Wi-Fi connections, you can also share images with other devices, or directly to the Internet and social networks from the playback mode on the camera.

SPECS

SPECS

PRICE £289 (WI-FI), £339 (Wi-Fi+3G)

AUTOFOCUS MODES Centre, multi, face detection

CONTACT www.samsung.co.uk

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-2EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB

SENSOR 1/2.3in 16.3-megapixel BSI CMOS

LCD SCREEN 4.8in HD Super Clear TFT, 1280x720 STORAGE MicroSD

SHUTTER 16secs-1/2000sec

DIMENSIONS 128.7x70.8x19.1mm

IMAGE DIMENSIONS 4608x3072 pixels

METERING PATTERNS Multi, spot, centre-weighted

ISO RANGE 100-3200

SHOOTING SPEEDS Single, continuous

WEIGHT 300g including battery and memory card

CONTACT www.sony.co.uk

SHOOTING SPEEDS Single, continuous 10fps LCD SCREEN 3in tiltable with 1228k dots

SENSOR 1.0 type 20.2-megapixel Exmor R CMOS, Bionz processor

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-3EV in 1/3EV steps, AEB continuous in 1/3, 2/3 or 1EV

IMAGE DIMENSIONS 5472x3648 pixels

SHUTTER 30secs-1/2000sec

DIMENSIONS 101.6x58.1x35.9mm

ISO RANGE 160-12,800 (100-25,600 extended)

METERING PATTERNS Multi pattern, spot, centre-weighted

WEIGHT 281g including battery and memory card

STORAGE SD, SDHC, SDXC, microSD, microSDHC

Image quality and ISO performance

Image quality and ISO performance

Photography News | Issue 3

AUTOFOCUS MODES Single, continuous, manual, direct manual

PRICE £575

PROS Excellent image quality, flexibility in controls, good build quality CONS Spongy shutter button, autofocusing could be quicker

PROS Screen is great for composing and viewing, long zoom, Android apps CONS Small sensor means less detailed images and limited low-light performance

JPEG DETAIL

compacts, but it doesn’t feel like it holds you up. The manual focusing set-up is excellent – the lens ring becomes a focusing ring, and focus peaking on screen provides very clear highlighting of sharp edges, combined with magnification that helps with accuracy.

The sensor in the RX100 Mark II is the same one-inch type as in the original RX100, and this is as big as you’ll currently find in a compact aside from those with APS-C sensors. It’s still around three times smaller than an APS-C sensor in terms of surface area, but from the images, you couldn’t tell.

Images are packed with detail, and resolution and overall quality just about match up to that from the Nikon Coolpix A. With 20.2 megapixels, the quality is easily good enough to produce excellent large format prints.

Where it doesn’t do quite so well is in its ISO performance, where noise starts to become an issue at ISO 1600 and gradually worsens up to the top settings. That said, its performance is a lot better than most compacts of a similar price.

Add the RX100 MkII’s overall performance to its excellent handling and you have a good value compact.

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RAW DETAIL

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www.photography-news.co.uk

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Issue 3 | Photography News

24

Lens review ON TEST

Super wide zoom lenses Give your images greater impact by fitting an ultra wide-angle lens and getting in really close.

Here we test seven marque and independent zooms at a range of prices The biggest problem experienced by newcomers to the ultra wide-angle zoom is simply not making the best use of the frame. The result can be an empty expanse of foreground that lacks interest or any lead-in lines that are needed to take the viewer into the picture. With a telephoto lens, often it’s the background that needs careful consideration; with wideangles, that switches to the foreground so do bear that in mind when you are composing your shots.

Also, don’t be afraid of pointing the lens downwards or upwards. This can intensify strong lines or make converging

Words by Richard Hopkins The ultra wide-angle zoom is an incredibly flexible lens suitable for interiors, landscapes and environmental work when space is at a premium. It’s even great for powerful portraits although it is true that it’s not ideal for flattering images – fill the frame and you suffer from the ‘big nose, small ears’ syndrome. But if you’re not selling your images, getting in close for deliberate distortion is a very powerful technique to exploit.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM dipping below it at f/16. This makes the Canon 1022mm one of the very sharpest super-wide APS-C lenses, perhaps top of the tree. Just to reinforce the fact, 129 lines-per-mm was recorded at MTF 20% in the peak resolution test, and that exceeds the theoretical maximum of any Canon APS-C sensor which currently stands at 116 lines-per-mm (18 megapixels).

This 10-22mm super-wide dates from 2004 and since then Canon has not updated it or added anything similar to the EF-S range that is specifically optimised for crop-format DSLRs. Fortunately, Canon got it right first time and this very sharp and lightweight 10-22mm has been winning fans ever since.

At 10mm, it’s wide – 107° wide on Canon’s 1.6x APS-C format, equivalent to 16mm on full-frame.

Build quality is excellent, with smooth and lightly weighted focus and zoom controls. AF is Canon’s USM; it’s fast and quiet, with full-time manual override.

Optical performance is top drawer, at least on the sharpness front, and is notable for maintaining uniformly high figures throughout the focal length and aperture range, with no significant weak spots.

In the centre, sharpness is well into the Excellent zone at all times, except at f/16 when diffraction takes the shine off things. Edge sharpness is always lower but sits firmly within the Very Good level, only

Verdict The EF-S 10-22mm has several outstanding features: it’s very sharp, especially in the centre; it’s well made, compact and lightweight with excellent AF; and the new, lower price makes it much more affordable.

The key point is sharpness of course. Not easy to say outright that it’s the best APS-C super-wide out there, and at least a couple of rivals are pretty much neck and neck, but it’s as close as makes no difference. Excellent performance.

7854+8256+8258+7954+724960+41 8453+8361+775870+54+5945 7962+7864+756369+59+5849 72

54

49

60

41

f/3.5

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

83

53

77

61

58

70

54 59

45

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

Centre

79

78

62

64

f/4.5 f/5.6

75

63

f/8

69

Edge

59 58

f/11

49

ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

58

84

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

56

79

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

54

82

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

82

78

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

22mm

15mm

f/16

ABOVE This is what we want to see – three graphs with nice high figures well into the Excellent zone, throughout the zoom and aperture ranges, with edge sharpness following close behind. Few APS-C super-wides can match this performance. Overall optimum aperture is f/5.6 at all focal lengths.

Photography News | Issue 3

The original tests featuring these lenses was originally published in Advanced Photographer, issues 35 and 36. Advanced Photographer regularly publishes in-depth lens tests so keep your eye on the magazine for the latest reviews.

SPECS PRICE £490 CONTACT canon.co.uk FORMAT APS-C 1.6x OPTICAL DESIGN 13 elements in 10 groups GLASS TYPES 1x USD, 3x aspherical APERTURE RANGE f/3.5-4.5 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 6 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW APS-C (diagonally) 107° to 63° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.24m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:6 AUTOFOCUS Ultrasonic USM MANUAL FOCUS Full-time override

% MTF at 36 lines-per-mm (APS-C) Sharpness 10mm

vertical lines more obvious, but this can also make pictures more powerful. One thing to watch with aiming the lens upwards is flare. It can be difficult to cut out the sun in this situation so make sure the lens, or UV filter if you have one on, is clean.

FILTER SIZE 77mm non-rotating

How it rates

WEATHER SEALED No

FEATURES

22/25

DOF SCALE No

HANDLING

25/25

PERFORMANCE

24/25

VALUE FOR MONEY

23/25

DIMENSIONS (DXL) 84x90mm WEIGHT 385g ACCESSORIES None supplied FITTINGS Canon only

Versatile focal lengths, USM autofocusing Nice, compact and light, smooth controls.

Fast AF with full-time manual override High sharpness throughout focal length and aperture range is hard to beat Price has recently been dropped by over £100, making it very attractive

OVERALL 94/100

www.photography-news.co.uk

Lens review

25

Nikon AF-S 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 DX G ED SWM IF Aspherical way to f/11. This is not an uncommon characteristic, and most zooms tend to be less sharp at the longer end with edge sharpness often getting more badly affected. In this case, it is the Nikon’s only notable weakness. Peak resolution in the MTF 20% test measured 111 lines-per-mm, at 10mm f/5.6 in the centre – not at all bad, but a little lower than some.

Nikon launched this 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 DX super-wide in 2009, and it sits alongside the very similar Nikon 12-24mm f/4 DX that predates it by several years. The newer lens has several advantages, with a useful extra couple of millimetres at the wide end, while not giving away anything much on the maximum aperture. It’s also slightly sharper, a bit smaller and lighter, and a lot cheaper.

On the important business of optical performance, this Nikon does very well. It gets off to a great start in the centre at maximum aperture, at all focal lengths – comfortably above the Excellent line. This is held until f/8-11, before diffraction starts to become intrusive, pushing sharpness down to Very Good.

Edge sharpness naturally follows a little behind the centre, never quite reaching Excellent levels although very close to it at mid range apertures.

The one area of exception is edge sharpness at 24mm that lags noticeably, playing catch up all the

Verdict The Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 is a super little lens, with the broadest range of any APS-C super-wide.

Optical performance is high, rating Very Good to Excellent right through the most useful range. Even though it’s not quite the sharpest lens of this type, in practice you’d be hard pressed to notice it. That is, all except edge sharpness at 24mm which doesn’t really get going until f/8.

Really the only fly in the ointment is the rather high price.

7657+7759+7664+7463+705963+49+ 7154+7465+7066+6662+5954 7634+7446+6755+6159+5553+ 63

70

59 63

49

f/3.5

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

74

71

54

65 70 66 66 62 59 54

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

Centre

76

74

34

67

46

f/4.5 f/5.6

55

Edge

61 59

f/8

f/11

55 53

ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

74

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

64

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

57

76

59

24mm

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

77

76

15mm

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

f/16

ABOVE In the centre, sharpness is Excellent at all focal lengths, only dipping into the Very Good zone at higher f/numbers. Towards the edges, sharpness scores slightly lower, but always Very Good. The one exception, and it’s not unusual, is edge performance at 24mm that lags behind at lower f/numbers.

Sigma makes two 10-20mm zooms, both for APS-C cameras only. This is the cheaper of the two with a street price of £370 and a variable maximum aperture. Limiting the aperture to f/4-5.6 certainly keeps the size, weight and cost down, and the result is a neat and compact lens. Zoom and focusing rings are very smooth and finger-light. Sigma’s ultrasonic HSM focusing is fast and effectively noiseless, with full-time manual override. All aspects of mechanical performance are excellent.

Optical performance is a tale of two halves – the centre, which is always of a high order, and edge sharpness that is markedly lower. In the centre of the frame, from maximum aperture through to f/11, sharpness never falls below Excellent. It’s very slightly weaker at the 20mm end, as is often the case, but there’s very little in it.

The edges, however, start from a lower position at full aperture, especially at 18mm f/4. Sharpness

improves significantly at f/5.6, and there’s another good jump at f/8, by which time it’s comfortably into the Very Good zone, and this is held to f/11 with only a modest decline at f/16. Optimum aperture for best sharpness across the frame is f/8, though peak resolution was measured at f/5.6, in the centre at 10mm, where a high figure of 121 lines-per-mm was recorded.

Verdict There’s a lot to like here. The overall specification is fairly middle of the road, but another way of putting that is well rounded and balanced.

However, the meat of the matter is optical performance and here it faltered. Sharpness in the centre of the frame is always of a very high order – no problem there at all – but at the edges things didn’t get properly good until around f/8, and that’s a bit of a shame.

7541+7853+786171+61+6052 7752+7853+786370+6161+55 7359+7462+706260+55+ f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

f/5

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

Centre

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

Edge

f/16

ABOVE Classic wide-zoom sharpness characteristics, Excellent levels in the centre from maximum aperture. This standard is held throughout the zoom and aperture range, with a modest dip around 20mm and at f/16. Edge sharpness lags noticeably, especially at the wide end and lower f/numbers. www.photography-news.co.uk

ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

20mm

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR

14mm

POOR FAIR

f/4

FORMAT APS-C 1.5x OPTICAL DESIGN 14 elements in 9 groups GLASS TYPES 2x ED, 3x aspherical APERTURE RANGE f/3.5-4.5 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 7 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW APS-C (diagonally) 109° to 61° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.24m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:5 AUTOFOCUS Ultrasonic SWM

FILTER SIZE 77mm non-rotating

How it rates FEATURES

Winning 2.4x zoom range matches broadest in this class for maximum versatility

23/25

WEATHER SEALED No (mount gasket) DOF SCALE No

HANDLING

25/25

DIMENSIONS (DXL) 83x87mm (extending +8mm)

PERFORMANCE

23/25

WEIGHT 460g

High sharpness throughout, just a blip around the edges at 24mm with lower f/numbers

ACCESSORIES Hood and soft case

VALUE FOR MONEY

22/25

Compact and light, well made, smooth operation and with excellent ultrasonic AF

Compared to sister Nikon 12-24mm, it’s cheap.

Compared to other rivals, much less so

OVERALL 93/100

% MTF at 36 lines-per-mm (APS-C) 100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

CONTACT nikon.co.uk

FITTINGS Nikon only

Sigma EX 10-20mm f/4-5.6 DC HSM

Sharpness 10mm

PRICE £640

MANUAL FOCUS Full-time override

% MTF at 36 lines-per-mm (APS-C) Sharpness 10mm

SPECS

SPECS PRICE £350 CONTACT sigma-imaging-uk.com FORMATS APS-C 1.5x and 1.6x OPTICAL DESIGN 14 elements in 10 groups GLASS TYPES 3x SLD, 3x aspherical APERTURE RANGE f/4-5.6 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 6 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW APS-C 1.6x 107° to 68°; APS-C 1.5x 110° to 71° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.24m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:6.7 AUTOFOCUS Ultrasonic HSM MANUAL FOCUS AF/M switch FILTER SIZE 77mm non-rotating WEATHER SEALED No DOF SCALE No DIMENSIONS (DXL) 84x81mm WEIGHT 465g ACCESSORIES Hood and case supplied FITTINGS Canon, Sony, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma

How it rates FEATURES

22/25

HANDLING

25/25

PERFORMANCE

22/25

VALUE FOR MONEY

22/25

All-round good spec, gets the job done.

Ultrasonic AF, 77mm filters, hood supplied One of the best – nicely proportioned, well made, light and smooth operating High central sharpness at all times, though edges only catch up at mid range apertures One of the cheapest super-wides at £370

OVERALL 91/100

Issue 3 | Photography News

26

Lens review Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 II DG HSM aperture, and to the edges of the frame. It’s already well into the Excellent zone at maximum aperture, gets a little bit better at f/5.6, then holds a very high standard to f/11 before the inevitable diffraction take over. It’s really only the edges at 24mm that show any sign of noticeable weakness and that’s not too bad. Peak resolution in the MTF 20% test measured an impressive 118 lines-per-mm.

First impressions are very favourable. It feels meaty, closer to the hefty Tokina 16-28mm than the smaller APS-C super-wides, with Sigma’s newer smooth black surface finish. Zoom and focusing rings are just right, with no lumps or slop, and nicely weighted.

It feels very well made.

Like some other very wide lenses, the bulbous front element protrudes, protected by a fixed lens shade. This effectively rules out the use of filters, and that will disappoint a lot of landscapers. There are adaptor filter kits available, but they’re cumbersome, expensive affairs.

Sigma has made one significant optical design concession, and that’s restricting the maximum aperture. Running from a modest f/4.5 at 12mm to only f/5.6 at 24mm, this helps improve every aspect of performance, and saves a lot of extra bulk.

Images are good, amazingly good. Tested on fullframe format, this lens is sharp, right from maximum

Verdict The Sigma 12-24mm is full of nice surprises. The 122° field-of-view at 12mm is unrivalled, with high build quality and smooth handling for a decent price, and best of all it’s sharp – very sharp. There are some caveats though, such as a tendency to flare in very bright light and the difficulty with using filters.

Also, this lens really only makes sense on full-frame cameras, and then it’s so wide that sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

% MTF at 24 lines-per-mm (full-frame)

f/4.5 f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

24mm

17mm

f/5

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

Edge ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

8569+8674+847678+7171+63 8670+8774+847280+6873+58 8160+8361+796073+58

Sharpness 12mm

Centre

f/16

ABOVE Considering how wide this lens is, and that it’s for full-frame, sharpness is impressively high.

The modest max aperture helps a lot here. It’s strongest at 12mm, especially in the centre, but edges aren’t far behind. A reduction in edge sharpness towards the longer end is hardly a deal-breaker.

Tamron SP 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) APS-C sensor equates to around 15 megapixels so it exceeds the theoretical maximum there, without taking into account the effect of an anti-aliasing filter that would reduce the camera’s potential further.

Sharpness at the edges takes a further dip, as is always the case, falling to quite modest levels below f/5.6 at the mid and long end. However, edge performance isn’t too badly hit at 10mm, and at f/8 and f/11, sharpness nudges the Very Good standard at all focal lengths right across the frame.

This lens is nicely finished, with smooth and wellweighted zoom and manual focusing controls. One concession to cost is the autofocus mechanism, driven by micro-motor rather than ultrasonic, and the ring turns during focusing – though importantly, the front of the lens does not. There’s no full-time manual override, with manual focusing engaged by a switch. In use, the AF worked very well, decently fast and hardly any noisier than most ultrasonics, so really no complaints there. Filter size is the popular 77mm, and it comes with a lens hood.

Performance, though, is not as good as expected.

It’s not at all bad, particularly in the centre, and that never strayed below Very Good with little difference between focal length settings, even at the longer end which often happens. In the peak resolution test at MTF 20%, the Tamron scored 101 lines-per-mm, at 24mm f/8 in the centre. This is lower than some, but to put that in context, 100 lines-per-mm on an

Verdict With the company’s good reputation, we had high hopes. In direct comparison with other similar lenses, the Tamron doesn’t measure up quite so well. On all other aspects, it is very much on the money. Aberrations control is more than acceptable, autofocus is good, and it’s a nice lens to use – quality made, in a compact package, for a good price.

% MTF at 36 lines-per-mm (APS-C)

6641+6549+644863+4862+4759+44 6026+5933+584458+4657+43 6035+6741+6843+654659+47 f/3.5

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

f/4.5 f/5.6

f/8

f/11

Edge ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

24mm

16mm

POOR FAIR

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

Sharpness 10mm

Centre

f/16

ABOVE Given its range, handling and price, this lens’s performance is disappointing. Centre sharpness is always Very Good, but edges fall noticeably behind, with a dip at lower f/numbers and at mid range lengths. Having tested three samples all with similar results, we have to conclude this is representative.

Photography News | Issue 3

SPECS PRICE £600 CONTACT sigma-imaging-uk.com FORMATS Full-frame and APS-C OPTICAL DESIGN 17 elements in 13 groups GLASS TYPES 1x SLD, 3x FLD, 4x aspherical APERTURE RANGE f/4.5-5.6 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 6 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW Full frame 122° to 84°, APS-C 1.6x 97° to 59° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.28m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:6.4 AUTOFOCUS Ultrasonic HSM MANUAL FOCUS Full-time override FILTER SIZE Via thirdparty adaptor

How it rates FEATURES

22/25

HANDLING

25/25

PERFORMANCE

23 /25

WEIGHT 670g

Excellent sharpness. Aberrations control better than expected for such a wide lens

ACCESSORIES Case supplied. Hood built-in

VALUE FOR MONEY

24/25

WEATHER SEALED No DoF SCALE Yes, applies 12mm only DIMENSIONS (DxL) 87x120mm

FITTINGS Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma, Sony

Ultra-wide-angle is unique, but aperture range is limited and using filters is difficult Quite heavy, but feels solid and well made, with very nice zoom and focus controls

Not exactly cheap, but Canon and Nikon rivals cost considerably more

OVERALL 94/100

SPECS PRICE £370 CONTACT intro2020.co.uk FORMATS APS-C 1.5x and 1.6x OPTICAL DESIGN 12 elements in 9 groups GLASS TYPES 1x HID, 2x LD, 4x aspherical APERTURE RANGE f/3.5-4.5 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 7 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW APS-C 1.6x 107° to 59°, APS-C 1.5x 110° to 61° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.24m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:5.1 AUTOFOCUS Micro-motor MANUAL FOCUS AF/M switch FILTER SIZE 77mm non-rotating

How it rates FEATURES

25/25

WEATHER SEALED No

Very versatile zoom range, 10-24mm is widest in this class. 77mm filters, hood supplied

DoF SCALE No

HANDLING

25/25

PERFORMANCE

18/25

VALUE FOR MONEY

20/25

DIMENSIONS (DxL) 83x87mm WEIGHT 406g ACCESSORIES Hood supplied FITTINGS Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony

Light, smooth operating, compact.

AF is not ultrasonic, but performs just as well Sharpness is disappointing overall, though rises to a good standard when stopped down At £370, considering the focal length range covered, it’s good value

OVERALL 88/100

www.photography-news.co.uk

Lens review

27

Tokina SD 11-16mm f/2.8 (IF) DX II This Mark II Tokina 11-16mm was launched last year and is made to a very high standard. It weighs a little more than other APS-C super-wides, and while the zoom ring is smooth, it’s quite heavily damped – not easy to turn with just one finger, but it won’t move accidentally.

Filter size is a non-rotating 77mm, and a fairly large petal type lens hood comes as standard.

Relatively speaking, this lens’s optical design doesn’t seem overly ambitious – 13 elements in 11 groups, with two SLD elements and two with aspherical surfaces. This reflects the shorter focal length range, but being f/2.8, every element is larger and heavier.

Sharpness is impressively good for an APS-C lens, that we test at a higher resolution than full-frame, to reflect the crop factor, ie. at 36 lines-per-mm, versus full frame at 24 lines-per-mm. This is the main reason for the image quality advantage enjoyed by

full-frame, as APS-C lenses have to work that much harder to reach the same standard.

At f/2.8, sharpness rates as Excellent in the centre, at all focal lengths. The edges lag behind a little, but are still comfortably within the Very Good zone. Stopping down to f/4 sees a significant improvement, particularly at the edges that are now almost on a par with the centre and delivering very high quality. This standard is held pretty much to f/11, when diffraction starts to bite, and gives a very broad spread of usable performance. Resolution peaked at 123 lines-per-mm in the MTF 20% test, the highest here.

Verdict The Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is a high-grade lens but it comes at a price. At £600 it’s not competing with the other independents, Sigma and Tamron, but going head to head with Canon and Nikon.

% MTF at 36 lines-per-mm (APS-C)

7261+7974+797375+7067+63+5651 65+58+807377+74+7372+6664+5653 7247+776577+73+7571+6966+58+ 100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

POOR FAIR

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

Edge ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

16mm

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

13mm GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

Sharpness 11mm

Centre

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

ABOVE A glance shows one of the main reasons why the Tokina rates so highly. Sharpness is high, mostly Excellent, even towards the edges at max to mid apertures, and at the long end. It dips at the highest f/numbers, due to diffraction, but the only notable weakness is edge sharpness at 16mm f/2.8.

Verdict The obvious reason to buy this lens is cost, compared with the much more expensive f/2.8 options from Canon and Nikon. And it’s great value, saving hundreds of pounds, yet the Tokina gives nothing away in terms of sharpness. In fact it’s exceptionally good, with better than average aberrations control for this class as well.

% MTF at 24 lines-per-mm (full-frame)

8861+8771+8374+8274+7572+6865 79+50+8574+8580+8279+7775+7368 75+61+8669+857283+71+8070+6966 100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

POOR FAIR

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

Edge ANALYSIS USING IMATEST SOFTWARE (WWW.IMATEST.COM)

28mm

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

22mm GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

100 090 080 070 060 050 040 030 020 010 000

POOR FAIR

POOR FAIR

GOOD V. GOOD EXCELLENT

Sharpness 16mm

f/2.8

f/4

f/5.6

f/8

f/11

f/16

ABOVE In the centre, sharpness is high, not falling below Excellent when tested at full-frame. From f/2.8 it’s around 80%, gets higher at mid range, before declining in line with diffraction effects. Edges lag somewhat at f/2.8 and f/4, but from f/5.6 they’re Excellent. Overall a very high standard. www.photography-news.co.uk

CONTACT daymen.co.uk FORMATS APS-C 1.5x and 1.6x OPTICAL DESIGN 13 elements in 11 groups GLASS TYPES 2x SLD, 2x aspherical APERTURE RANGE Constant f/2.8 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 9 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW APS-C 1.6x 102° to 80°; APS-C 1.5x 105° to 84° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.24m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:11.6 AUTOFOCUS Silent-drive micro-motor MANUAL FOCUS Clutch-type FILTER SIZE 77mm non-rotating

How it rates FEATURES

No other APS-C super-wide does f/2.8, but 1.4x zoom ratio is limited

22/25

WEATHER SEALED Mount gasket DoF SCALE No

HANDLING

25/25

PERFORMANCE

24/25

VALUE FOR MONEY

23/25

DIMENSIONS (DxL) 84x89mm WEIGHT 560g ACCESSORIES Hood supplied

Excellent build quality and everything works as it should. No complaints at all High sharpness at all apertures and across focal range. Aberrations control typical No direct competition. It’s good, but the price is high.

OVERALL 94/100

In the peak resolution test at MTF 20%, the Tokina scored 105 lines-per-mm, in the centre of the frame at 16mm f/4.

There is a caveat with this lens though, and that’s flare. The big front element can be susceptible to strong side lighting, inevitably really. It’s greatly reduced on stopping down though, and simply shading the lens with your hand is also reasonably effective, but to be fair, that’s the only fly in the ointment.

Centre

PRICE £600

FITTINGS Canon, Nikon

Tokina SD 16-28mm f/2.8 (IF) FX Aspherical The Tokina 16-28mm is designed for full-frame cameras but it will function perfectly well on APS-C too of course. The AF is powered by silent-drive micro-motor and while it’s not quite as fast or silent as ultrasonic AF, it’s more than adequate for the purpose.

The built-in lens hood is fixed, provided for protection as much as anything else, and conventional filters cannot be used.

Sharpness is very high, at all focal lengths, at all apertures, and pretty much right across the image – very impressive. Tested on full frame, sharpness in the centre is never out of the Excellent zone, even at f/2.8. It gets better at f/4, and then declines gradually in line with the increasing influence of diffraction towards f/16. Edge sharpness lags a little at f/2.8, but still rates as Very Good, then at f/4 it jumps up to Excellent, where it sits more or less alongside the centre performance. This is high-grade stuff, and it’s hard to see Canon and Nikon beating it by much.

SPECS

SPECS PRICE £700 CONTACT daymen.co.uk FORMATS Full-frame and APS-C OPTICAL DESIGN 15 elements in 13 groups GLASS TYPES 3x SD, 3x aspherical APERTURE RANGE Constant f/2.8 to f/22 DIAPHRAGM 9 rounded blades ANGLE OF VIEW Full-frame 107° to 76°, APS-C 1.6x 80° to 52° MINIMUM FOCUS 0.28m (from sensor) MAX REPRODUCTION RATIO 1:5.3 AUTOFOCUS Silent-drive micro-motor MANUAL FOCUS Clutch-type FILTER SIZE Via third-party adaptor WEATHER SEALED No DoF SCALE No DIMENSIONS (DxL) 90x133mm WEIGHT 950g ACCESSORIES Hood built-in FITTINGS Canon, Nikon

How it rates FEATURES

22/25

HANDLING

24/25

PERFORMANCE

24/25

VALUE FOR MONEY

23/25

Spec is more than adequate, though a bit lower all round than Canon and Nikon rivals Heavy, and doesn’t take normal filters, but very well made and finished Excellent sharpness, with high levels of performance at all f/stops and focal lengths Brilliant value, no question

OVERALL 93/100

Issue 3 | Photography News

Photography News | Issue 3

www.photography-news.co.uk

Technique

29

PHOTO SCHOOL

Camera class

Everyone has to start somewhere, even top pros, and in our regular Photo School feature we’ll be taking a close look at core techniques that every beginner needs to know. This month, in Camera class, we find out how to use f/number and aperture to express yourself, while Software skills (below) looks at keywording images in Adobe Lightroom Words by Ian Fyfe Last month, we looked at the f/number, how it controls the aperture and how this affects exposure.

But changing the f/number also affects the depth-offield – understanding what this is and how to control it lets you get more creative. n What is depth-of-field?

The depth-of-field is the amount of front-to-back sharpness in an image. With a shallow depth-of-field, sharpness falls off quickly on either side of your focal point so that only a small amount of the scene is in sharp focus. A large depth-of-field keeps everything from front to back sharp.

n How does aperture affect depth-of-field?

Increase the size of the aperture by selecting a lower f/number, and the depth-of-field becomes shallower.

For example, if everything else is kept the same, switching from f/11 to f/5.6 creates a shallower depthof-field. By setting your camera to aperture-priority mode (A or Av), you can change the aperture to control the depth-of-field and the camera adjusts the shutter speed for a good exposure.

SHOT AT F/1.8

n How can I use depth-of-field creatively?

Using a shallow depth-of-field lets you direct attention by picking out your subject from its surroundings. For example, blurring the background with a shallow depth-of-field makes a portrait subject stand out, or in macro photography it highlights specific details. But keeping everything sharp with a large depth-of-field is what you want in landscapes or when capturing a scene as a whole.

Software skills

Take control of Adobe Lightroom. Part 3: Keywording Words by Will Cheung Last month, we looked at using Lightroom 5 to rate your images. This month we consider keywording and using collections. Keywording your images means you can find pictures of a specific subject, location or topic more easily, so if you shoot lots and want to market your images, it’s a helpful function.

It is time-consuming, but it can save you time later on. If you just want to identify your recent portrait shoot as people pictures, that’s easy, but you can go into more detail. You can keyword images as People, and then add the subject’s name, and the fact that they were taken in Manchester with flash in a studio using two heads and a reflector. www.photography-news.co.uk

SHOT AT F/11

NEXT MONTH: SHUTTER SPEED & BASIC EDITING Learn how shutter speed affects exposure and find out how to enhance your images using Lightroom 5.

RIGHT See the difference an f/number makes: a small f/number, f/1.8, means a small amount of sharpness; a big f/number, f/11, and it’s all sharp.

ADOBE LIGHTROOM

n What else affects depth-of-field?

It’s not just the aperture that determines the depthof-field. Getting closer to your subject without changing the aperture or focal length reduces the depth-of-field, as does increasing the focal length without changing the aperture or distance from your subject.

In the next issue, we’ll be taking a look at how your camera’s shutter speed affects exposure.

Keyword your shots Under Keywording in the Library module, type in the tag you want. The latest keyword appears in the Keyword set – here you make your own mostused sets of keywords, nine in each set. Then select the image or images and click on the keyword – a tag appears bottom right of the thumbnail. Or use the Keyword List where all your keywords sit in alphabetical order. Tick the keywords you want linked to the pictures you are keywording.

Make a collection Go to Library and in the drop-down menu you’ll see collection options; pick New Smart Collection and call it People. This will be your master collection of people pictures. Here we went for Any Searchable Text and Contains Words. You can now tap in the keywords you want the software to use to add pictures to this collection; we used people in the studio, using flash, shot in Manchester. You can add extra parameters too – star rating, even camera type – so your Smart Collection can be as wide ranging or as specific as you want. The software will add into the collection all images tagged with the appropriate keywords. Once you have a Smart Collection going, the software automatically adds new images to that collection as you keyword, rate or label them. To find an image, go to the appropriate Smart Collection and search using keywords, star rating or label.

IMAGES You can add as many parameters to your Smart Collections as you want, making them as wide ranging or as specific as you need them to be.

Issue 3 | Photography News

Photography News | Issue 3

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Issue 3 | Photography News

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Prize wordsearch Win Samsung memory cards

Of the 20 words below, only 19 appear in the wordsearch. To be in with a chance of bagging yourself a prize, complete the puzzle, identify the missing word and email us with that word in the subject line. Send your entries to: puzzle@ photography-news.co.uk.

The winner will be picked at random from all correct entries received before the closing date of 19 January 2014.

Win Samsung 32GB SDHC memory cards!

The top prize is a Samsung 32GB Plus SDHC card, and five runners-up will each receive a Samsung 4GB SDHC card. Samsung’s SDHC cards provide ultimate levels of durability and are waterproof, shockproof, resistant to magnetic fields, X-rays and extreme temperatures. All Samsung Plus SD cards come with a ten-year warranty. π To find out more, go to www.samsung.com.

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