Photography News 32 by Bright Publishing

News Tests Clubs

Exhibitions

Techniques

Interviews

Competitions

Reviews

Photography Produced by

Issue 32 9 May – 2 June

news

GET YOUR

FREE

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

Nikon D5 Turn to page 40 for high-speed action

Canon EOS-1D X MkII

Road trip

Mark II explodes onto the scene, page 36

Top 10 tips for terrific travel shots, page 27

DIGITAL EDITION every month*

*at absolutephoto.com

WIN!

A Samsung 64GB Pro memory card

Enter the competition on page 56

Latest medium-format camera offers a 100-megapixel version in the company’s 75th anniversary year

Camera Club of the Year 2015-16: the results

Hasselblad has launched a mediumformat camera, the H6D, with two models available: the H6D-50c with a 50-megapixel resolution and the H6D-100c with 100 megapixels, 4K video and touchscreen functionality. Body prices are £17,900 and £22,600 respectively (both ex VAT). Naturally, both cameras are highly featured. Headline features include a shutter speed range of 60mins to 1/2000sec, an increased ISO range up to ISO 6400 and the 16-bit CMOS sensor has a dynamic range up to 14 stops. USB 3.0 delivers very fast file transfer and both cameras have dual card slots, one for CFast and one for SD cards. For existing Hasselblad users there is an attractive trade-in scheme through participating dealers.

Five of the UK’s leading camera clubs and photographic societies fought it out in the final Turn to page 5 to read an interview with Hasselblad CEO, Perry Oosting

hasselblad.com

Hasselblad hits the 100 barrier

… continue reading on page 14

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature

TIPA award winners

Fujifilm scoops triple crown

When it comes to mirrorless kit, Fujifilm products impressed the TIPA judges more than any other Fujifilm has confirmed its superiority in the mirrorless market by scooping no fewer than three gongs at the recent TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) awards. Leaving its market rivals trailing in its wake, Fujifilm was the only manufacturer to take home three awards for mirrorless products as the X-Pro2, X-T10 and XF100-400mm lens all won. The X-Pro2 was victorious in the Best Mirrorless CSC Expert award, the X-T10 walked away with the Best Mirrorless CSC Entry Level award and the XF100-400mm won the Best CSC Telephoto Zoom Lens award. It seems a very fitting tribute to the success of the X-series range, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary by launching a raft of new products, including the X-Pro2. Keen photographers have flocked to the brand, many trading in their DSLRs in the process, citing the lighter weight, stunning design and image quality as key reasons to switch. The cameras and lenses certainly make a compelling case, with the X-Trans sensor technology delivering image quality that’s more than a match for full-frame rivals. Fujifilm has, of course, also been no stranger to enthusiasts for many years, producing some of the most memorable film emulsions in the pre-digital era. Uniquely, the characteristics of the films have been incorporated into the X-series through the excellent Film Simulation modes. The company also prides itself on a ‘kaizen’ philosophy of constantly improving and updating products, offering regular firmware updates to users ensuring their cameras stay at the forefront of technology. But don’t just take Fujifilm’s word for it, take a look at what TIPA’s judges, comprising 27 editors from photography magazine editors across the globe, had to say: For more information about these products and the others in the Fujifilm X-series line-up, visit www.fujifilm.eu/uk

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature

FUJIFILM XF100-400MM F4.5-5.6 R LM 1 OIS WR BEST CSC TELEPHOTO ZOOM LENS AWARD The furthest reaching lens in the Fujifilm mirrorless XF range, the XF100-400mm opens up a wealth of photo opportunities that had previously been unachievable. Sporting action and timid wildlife are now well within reach, with the weatherresistant design helping to ensure this pro quality optic can be used all-year round whatever the conditions. “Yielding an equivalent 152-609mm focal length range, this lens is constructed with 21 elements in 14 groups and includes five ED lenses and one Super ED lens. It is water and dust resistant; a fluorine coating has been added for further protection in outdoor shooting conditions,” agreed the TIPA jurors. “The FUJINON XF100-400mm is designed for handheld shooting with a five-stop image stabilization system and twin linear motors for fast AF. It features a rounded nine-blade aperture and is compatible with the XF1.4x TC WR teleconverter.”

FUJIFILM X-PRO2 BEST MIRRORLESS CSC 2 EXPERT AWARD The jewel in the X-series crown, the launch of the X-Pro2 kicked off the range’s fifth anniversary in spectacular style earlier this year. Aimed at dedicated enthusiasts and professionals its rangefinder style design is perfect for portrait and landscape work. It is also the first Fujifilm camera to use the new 24.3-megapixel X-Trans III sensor. “This rangefinder style camera features an Advanced Hybrid Multi Viewfinder that allows users to instantly switch between optical and electronic finders,” said the TIPA jury. “The camera has a new 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor that teams with a new X-Processor Pro to deliver an ISO range up to 12,800, extendable to ISO 100 and 51,200. The X-Pro2 has a weather resistant body with 61 points of weather sealing. The camera delivers Full HD video at 60fps with a bit rate of 36Mbps plus various other framing rates for special effects and worldwide compatibility. For stills, phase-detection AF and predictive AF deliver continuous shooting up to 8fps.”

FUJIFILM X-T10 BEST MIRRORLESS CSC 3 ENTRY LEVEL AWARD Perfectly targeted at the first time compact system camera user, the X-T10 packs a real punch despite its compact dimensions. It features the same APS-C sized X-Trans sensor as in most other X-series models, an advanced AF system and an impressive Real Time EVF. “With many of the features of higher-end X-series cameras, the X-T10 is a viable option for hobbyists and creative photographers who want to become involved in quality imaging and extensive lens offerings at an affordable price,” confirmed the TIPA judges. “The X-T10 has a 16-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II APS-C size sensor and Fujifilm’s EXR Processor II inside its magnesium alloy body. Native ISO is 200 to 6400, expandable to 100/51,200. Viewing options include a 2.36 million dot OLED EVF and a tilting three-inch 920k dot LCD. The camera can record Full HD videos and has a built-in stereo microphone, plus Wi-Fi connectivity and the option for remote control operation from a smartphone or tablet.”

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

News

Hasselblad launches H6D Interview by Roger Payne

Hasselblad’s all-new mediumformat camera the H6D is available in two models, the H6D-100c, which boasts a 100-megapixel CMOS sensor, and the H6D-50c, which has a 50-megapixel CMOS sensor. Each model features dual card slots, allowing you to load up on memory with a CFast card and SD card. In addition to this, a USB 3.0 Type-C interface offers super-fast file transfer, while HDMI allows you to connect an external monitor. Improving on the existing mediumformat H cameras, the H6D duo offers a wider range of shutter speeds from 60mins to 1/2000sec and an improved ISO range. The

H6D-50c offers an ISO range of 100-6400 and HD video, while the H6D-100c offers ISO 64-12,800, a dynamic range of 15 stops and 4K video. Both models have a highdefinition, three-inch touch LCD, Wi-Fi connectivity and 16-bit capture. Phocus 3.0, Hasselblad’s free image-processing software, available for Mac or Windows, has been updated to work with the H6D. The Hasselblad H6D-50c is priced at £17,900 and the H6D-100c at £22,600. Both prices are body only and exclusive of VAT. hasselblad.com

Hasselblad CEO Perry Oosting is no stranger to luxury brands. He’s been MD of Bulgari, Gucci and Prada and was a Hasselblad supervisory board member before being asked to take the big job in late 2014. This may have initially caused concerns among Hasselblad’s hardcore followers – a man with experience in fashion brands taking over at a time when the company was producing extravagant CSCs as part of a collaboration with Sony – but they needn’t have worried. After a year of consolidation, the company launched the H6D, which underlines all Hasselblad’s core values as a camera manufacturer. At the worldwide camera launch in London, I grabbed 20 minutes with Perry to chat about his time in the hot seat so far: Photography News: Why Hasselblad? Perry Oosting: I’d already worked with some really great brands, but Hasselblad is such an icon. I had a different vision on how to move forward and that’s what we’ve been trying to implement. PN: What did you inherit? PO: Organisationally there was a lot of disruption in the company. I was the third CEO in three years, so that’s never good. Building trust was important. I had the vision, but I needed the team to help me build and execute a strategy. I think the strategy at the time was correct: segmentation, tiering, a wider audience, but probably the execution – the how – was different. The [Hasselblad Lunar] CSC was a very good camera, but our values are authenticity, optical quality, iconic design, and when you define that as part of your strategy you have to stick to it. That’s what we’ve done with the H6D. PN: You’ve also adopted a more aggressive pricing strategy, has this helped win customers? PO: We want to attract new people to the brand and for some price is still a hurdle. I wanted the H5D-50 to be the entry-level price point so we

Samyang Optics unveils autofocus lenses For the first time in over 40 years the Samyang Optics photo lens line-up has strayed from manual focus only lenses, introducing two new autofocus lenses. The 14mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.4 lenses, both with a 67mm filter diameter, fit Sony E mount, fullframe mirrorless cameras. The two optics feature aspherical lenses

to minimise aberration and light dispersion in images, and are also compatible with both phase-detect and contrast-detect sensors. The lenses will be available from June and will be exhibited at the Photo & Imaging Show 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. Pricing TBC.

changed the price and the results were beyond our expectations; in December we did 25% of our annual volume. And the lens to camera ratio was three times higher. Now we’re offering cashback if you buy into the H6D – it’s showing loyalty. We have had some criticism about discounting and offering promotions and I’d like to get away from that, but we need to look at ways to attract younger and new people into the system. PN: What impact have cameras like Canon’s EOS 5DS had? PO: You can get the same number of pixels on that as a Hasselblad, but I always compare it to eating at a three Michelin star restaurant. Give the chefs there the same ingredients as a non-starred restaurant and you’ll get a better meal. PN: In terms of the H6D, you said that customer feedback was crucial. What did they tell you? PO: Not to change it physically. I’m not a pro photographer, but I sometimes think that great photography comes from the way you hold the camera – and we have certainly achieved what we wanted to in terms of the handling. I pushed the team hard on the touchscreen functionality. The logic of the menu was perfect. Being a Swedish brand, I felt we should excel in terms of form and functionality and making things intuitive. PN: Tell me about the video capability. PO: Our aim was to include video because a lot of customers said they wanted the capability to shoot behind the scenes footage in their studio, but don’t want to have to use another camera. PN: You’ve intimated that the H6D is ‘just the start’ of the announcements in your 75th anniversary year, what else can we expect? PO: It’s a Photokina year, we will talk when we are ready. I think it’s important for Hasselblad to under promise and over-deliver. We need to deliver high-quality products and the consumers should judge us on that. But certainly the wider audience is the target.

Leica M-D (Typ 262) Leica has released its fifth product in the Leica M range – the M-D (Typ 262). Available in black, the M-D is the first digital M to exclude an LCD monitor; instead the M-D has an ISO dial on the back. It features a CMOS full-frame sensor with 24 megapixels and an ISO range of 200-6400. Additional features include a quiet shutter and three frames-per-second continuous shooting. The M-D (Typ 262) body only is priced at £4650. uk.leica-camera.com

intro2020.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

News

Vive le reader!

News in brief MOO Monogram app Business card brand Moo has launched an iOS app, Monogram, which allows you to create a portfolio on the go. moo.com

Kenro expands tripod selection Kenro has expanded its ownbrand of tripods with a new video tripod and monopod kit range, that comprises two tripods and a monopod. Prices range from £149.94-£215.94. Two video heads from Kenro are also available to purchase separately. kenro.co.uk

frenchphotographicholidays.com © Steve Jones

Polaroid releases Polaroid has released two new stabilisers for digital and action cameras, a Handheld 3-Axis Electronic Gimbal Stabilizer priced at £159.99 and a Power Handgrip/Stabilizer for £39.99. Also announced is the SelfieDisc IR Remote Shutter Release. The shutter button can be attached to most Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony SLR cameras and offers remote shutter control via an app for iOS and Android devices. The SelfieDisc comes with a silicon bumper case, a button cell battery and a camera-hanging strap and is available for £24.99. polaroid.com

Back in PN30 we buddied up with French Photographic Holidays (FPH) to bring you an exclusive and valuable competition prize – a week’s photography tuition for two in the fabulously beautiful Dordogne region of France, including full board and sumptuous local cuisine. The prize value was whopping £1900, so as you’d expect we were inundated with entries, and after answering a couple of simple questions, readers were asked to submit their best landscape shots for judging. Following some lengthy deliberation, Paul Edmunds of FPH selected Steve Jones’s misty river shot, taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 and 18-135mm lens as the winner. Paul described the winning shot as “very atmospheric, but with a little room for improvement, so hopefully Steve will get a lot from a week with us.” You can catch up with Steve and see how much he enjoyed the week in the next issue of Photography News.

Cullmann launches bags and tripods The Cullmann bag range features nine new bags, which includes the Sydney PRO Action zoomster, the Ultralight Sport and Lima backpacks and the Ultralight PRO Maxima 120 and 300. In addition there’s also two sporty/messenger Madrid bags, which come in two sizes and two different colours, and can also be used as day bags. Also announced is a new range of tripods and flexipods, which include fullsize tripods, mini tripods and the Titan 935 tripod, which supports 21kg. Tripod prices start from £13.99, with the Titan 935 priced at £399, while the bag prices start from £35.99. intro2020.co.uk

Above Steve Jones won the French Photographic Holidays competition with this image of a misty river.

Miggö Pictar transforms iPhone Kingston USB flash drive and microSD Adding to its line-up, Kingston Digital has introduced the microSD Action Camera UHS-I U3 (Speed Class 3) card for action cameras including GoPro and those on drones. It features read speeds of up to 90MB/s and write speeds of 45MB/s, and is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities from £12. These cards have rugged credentials being waterproof, shockproof, X-ray proof and temperature proof from -25°C to 85°C. Kingston Digital has also announced two new hardware encrypted USB Flash drives; the DT4000G2DM and DTVP30DM, which are available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. kingston.com

Miggö has unveiled the Pictar – a camera grip for the iPhone, which allows for DSLR style shooting on your mobile device. The Pictar has five external controls, which includes a multi-state shutter button, zoom ring, selfie button, exposure compensation wheel, smart wheel for customisation, a tripod mount and also a cold shoe.

Beastgrip Pro adapter The world’s first universal lens adapter and camera rig system for smartphones is available in three kit options with two lenses. The Beastgrip Pro Rig is universal and can work with virtually any camera phone and is also compatible with a variety of conversion lenses and filters. You can buy the Beastgrip Pro Rig on its own for £95.81 or get a kit with wide-angle and fisheye lenses for £199.99. beastgrip.com

Pictar omits sound, inaudible to the human ear, which communicates with the iPhone via an app to perform actions. A Kickstarter campaign is now live and has an introductory price of $90 (£62.28) with retail availability stated for December 2016. mymiggo.com

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

News

TIPA Awards

News in brief

Members of the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) recently voted for the best photo and imaging products launched within the last 12 months. There were 40 awards in total and the winners will be presented with trophies at Photokina, in Cologne, Germany 20 September. Awards included the Best Photo Printer and Best DSLR Professional/High Res, for the Canon EOS 5DS/5DS R. Canon also won four other awards, while Best APS-C DSLR Expert was awarded to the Nikon D500. Nikon also won two more awards. Other winners included Fujifilm who received Best Mirrorless CSC Entry Level and Best Mirrorless CSC Expert, Olympus who received Best Mirrorless CSC Advanced, Best Rugged Camera and Best CSC Wide-Angle Zoom lens. The Leica SL, which was named as the Best Premium Camera and Sigma scooped Best Professional DSLR lens, Best DSLR Telephoto lens and Best Wide-Angle Zoom lens, while the Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC won Best Entry Level DSLR lens.

Use Sigma lenses with Sony Sigma announced the Mount Converter MC-11, which allows you to use Sigma SA and EOS lenses with a Sony E-mount body. Some lenses may require a firmware update to use the converter, which can be updated using the Sigma USB dock, sold separately. The MC-11 costs £219.99. sigma-imaging-uk.com Sigma spring promotions Sigma customers who own a Sigma camera can get £125 cashback when purchasing the dp Quattro camera, until 20 June. If you purchase the 18-300mm f/3,5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM before 31 May you can claim a free AML72-01 Close-up lens. Claims for the lens must be received before 1 July. sigma-imaging-uk.com

tipa.com

Tonality update A major update to Tonality has been announced by Macphun Software. Updates include access to a free preset library, with presets created from professional photographers around the world, a free, three-month 500px membership and an improved and extended Raw file support, plus batch-processing as an inapp purchase for the Mac app store version, as well as additional new features and improvements.

Interfit Softbox & Umbrellas The new range from Interfit includes 13 softboxes, three Parabolic softboxes, 12 umbrellas and 16 traditional umbrellas, as well as speed rings which fit Bowens S-Mount, Elinchrom/EX Mount and more. interfitphotographic.com Boinx FotoMagico 5 Boinx Software has announced a new version of FotoMagico 5. The update has a new Snippets feature, an animation assistant, new dark user interface as well as additional features. FotoMagico 5 is available now for £29.99 while FotoMagico 5 Pro is priced at £79.99. boinx.com

macphun.com/tonality

NanGuang LED Lighting Kits Kenro has introduced two NanGuang lighting kits for photography and video to its range. The NanGuang LED Luxpad43 Kit (large picture above) consists of two slim-design Luxpad43 heads, two CN-20FC heads, four stands and a carry case, and it’s priced at £599.94. The NanGuang CN-T96/3K LED Photo Light Kit, which is ideal for small product photography, includes a three-head lighting kit (CN-T96/3K LED heads), a mini foldable photo table, carry case, five background papers, two mini stand bases, one mini tripod, three adjustable base connectors and clips for the backgrounds. The LED Photo Light Kit is priced at £179.94.

Lexar microSD Lexar has released the Lexar microSD Reader, which features a Lightning connector to allow for quick transfer of files from microSD cards or Android devices to Apple devices, (or transfer between Apple devices). Available now for £34.99 it includes a one-year limited warranty. In other news, Lexar has also announced that the Lexar Professional 1000x (32GB, 64GB and 128GB), and HighPerformance 633x (32GB, 64GB and 128GB) microSDTM memory cards have completed the Works with GoPro verification process. lexar.com

kenro.co.uk

SanDisk Flash Drive SanDisk has launched a nextgeneration iXpand Flash Drive for iPhone and iPads, which features a flexible Lightning connector, USB 3.0 connector and encryption software. It's available now in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB with prices starting from £34.99. sandisk.com

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

News

Sony World Photography Awards winners announced

News in brief Alberto Giacometti exhibition To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Alberto Giacometti’s death in 1966, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, has launched a major exhibition. Alberto Giacometti: A Line Through Time comprises over 150 works from around the world. The exhibition is open until 29 August. scva.ac.uk

Duxford air show To celebrate the opening of the newly transformed exhibition, the American Air Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Duxford will be hosting an American Air Show on May Bank Holiday weekend (28-29 May). The flying programme will include displays depicting bomber operations of the Second World War, the war in the Pacific and the Vietnam War.

Saturday will see the Patrouille de France, while the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Red Arrows will be perforning on Sunday. Adult tickets are priced at £29.50 for one day or £42.50 for two days. All tickets must be booked in advanced and car park passes cost £5. iwm.org.uk

Zeiss Photography Award winner announced © Tamina-Florentine Zuch

Glasgow School of Art students exhibit work in during Photo London Students of the Glasgow School of Art’s Fine Art Photography programme will be exhibiting work at the citizenM Bankside Hotel. The students were invited to submit work on the idea of place: a particular position, point, or area in space – a location. The students’ work will be showcased at the hotel during Photo London, which runs from 19-22 May at Somerset House. gsa.ac.uk

worldphoto.org © Asghar Khamseh

Mobility photography workshops Sue Burton Photography is offering photography workshops for people with disabilities or limited mobility. Weekly half-day or full-day workshops are run in popular locations, which include Lancashire, Cumbria and the Peak District. Tramper Mobility Scooters, where available, are used for the Tramper Photography Workshops and Sue Burton also offers Limited Walking Workshops. sueburtonphotography.com

Iranian photojournalist Asghar Khamseh was named as the winner of the L’Iris d’Or Photographer of the Year in this year’s Sony World Photography Award and received a prize of $25,000. His winning portrait series titled Fire of Hatred shows victims of the violent act of acid throwing. The images, alongside others, were featured in an exhibition at Somerset House, London 22 April – 8 May. A recordbreaking 230,103 submissions from 186 countries were submitted to this year’s competition.

Tamina-Florentine Zuch a student from Hanover, Germany was named as the winner of the first-ever Zeiss Photography Award, Seeing Beyond. The theme of the competition was Meaningful Places and the contest saw 3139 photographers from 116 countries entering 22,000 images. Tamina’s winning photo series documented train journeys in India, which was captured last year when she spent six weeks in the country. Her prize included Zeiss lenses of her choice, to the value of €15,000, and also the offer to cooperate further with Zeiss. See the next issue of PN for an interview with Tamina. worldphoto.org

The Royal Photographic Society offers bursaries To help budding photographers and film-makers with their projects The Royal Photographic Society has announced four bursaries. The funding granted can be used for any aspect of a project, such as travel costs, purchasing equipment, websites or even mounting for exhibitions. The four bursaries are for Environmental Awareness

in partnership with The Photographic Angle, Postgraduate bursary for MA students studying photography, the Joan Wakelin bursary for documentary photography in partnership with The Guardian newspaper and finally a Short Film Award in partnership with Depict! rps.org/project-funding

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

News © Mark Stimpson

Photo 24 is a free photography event taking place in London starting at noon on 17 June ending 24 hours later. The deadline for registrations has passed, but there is still a chance of joining us for this action-packed day This is our fourth Photo 24 and its core principles remain the same. Everyone who comes along can shoot what they want, how they want and where they want. You can stay and shoot for the whole 24 hours or perhaps you might prefer to do a stint on Friday, have dinner then a sleep for a few hours before rejoining the activities for sunrise the following morning. It is entirely up to the individual. We will have photo walks, regular meet-ups during the 24 hours and other optional paidfor events too. Thanks to our association with the Nikon School we will also have access to its central London facilities, a few minutes walk from Oxford Circus underground station, for the whole 24 hours. For those who have never attended this sort of event previously we will have groups dedicated to help you get going and the option of buddying up with fellow photographers.

If you are feeling competitive we’ll have contests running throughout Photo 24 with some fabulous prizes to be won. The best overall image taken wins a Nikon D500, the company’s newest DSLR and the flagship of its DX (APS-C) range. It’s so new we haven’t even seen one yet at Photography News but its specification looks amazing. See the panel for details. Though the deadline for registrations has already passed you still have a chance to get yourself a place. There are always dropouts so we’ve created a waiting list that you can join in order to still be in with a chance of taking part. So if all this sounds absolutely brilliant and you would like to join the waiting list, go to absolutephoto. com, register or log in, go to the Members area and you’ll see Photo 24 there. Click through, fill in the form and keep your fingers crossed. absolutephoto.com

Photo 24 contests

Above Some of the brilliant images taken by readers at last year’s Photo 24 event.

If you are feeling competitive we’ll have contests running throughout Photo 24 with some fabulous prizes to be won

There will be five themed photo contests running for Photo 24 participants with a long-zoom Nikon Coolpix P900 for the winner of each category. This is a 16-megapixel compact worth £449 with an integral 83x optical zoom to help you capture the most distant action. For the image judged to be the best overall, the winner will get a Nikon D500, the brand’s DX-format flagship and in the shops at £1729 body only. It is a 20.9-megapixel resolution DSLR, has a 3.2in tilting monitor and an extended ISO range to 1,640,000 – the native range is ISO 100 to 51,200. Perhaps even more impressively, the D500 has the same incredibly responsive and accurate AF system as that found in the top professional model, the D5. This means 153 AF points, 99 of which are cross-type and a lowlight working sensitivity down to -3EV at ISO 100. (If you want to know more about this AF system, the D5 is reviewed in this issue.) The D500 also has a large buffer and uses the high-performing EXPEED 5 image processor so if you need to shoot 200 consecutive Raws at 10 framesper-second, then this camera can do it. Add 4K video shooting, typically rugged Nikon build, SnapBridge connectivity and XQD/CompactFlash storage card compatibility and you have a hugely impressive and capable DSLR. nikon.co.uk

Photo 24 – Final call for tickets

In association with

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

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

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

Clubs

How to submit

Deadline for the next issue: 26 May 2016

We need words and pictures by 26 May for the next issue of Photography News, which will be available from 6 June. Write your story in a Word document (400 words maximum). Please include contact details of the club, exhibition or event – website, meeting times, opening times, whatever is relevant. Images should be JPEGs, 2000 pixels on the longest dimension, any colour space, and image credits should be included. If the story is an exhibition or event, please send a picture from the exhibition (not the publicity poster) or one from the event. If it includes people please identify them. Attach the Word document and JPEGs to an email and send to clubnews@photography-news.co.uk.

Butterworth to Beacon

Landscape Photographer of the Year winner to give this year’s annual lecture

the clarinet professionally and pursuing his photographic work. Recent photo trips have taken him to India, Australia, China and various European countries. He won the coveted title of UK Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2012, and has since added to his prize haul, with the International Photographic Awards and the Sony World Photographic Awards. Simon will give his talk at the Swan Theatre on Friday 17 June. Tickets cost £15 and are available from the theatre box office.

Earlier this decade, Beacon Camera Club decided to launch the Annual Beacon Lecture as part of its efforts to expand the club’s activities. So far the likes of landscape photographers David Ward and Joe Cornish, and wildlife shooter Laurie Campbell have graced the stage at Worcester’s Swan Theatre to give the lecture, and this year the theatre and club are welcoming landscape aficionado Simon Butterworth. With a background in classical music, Simon returned to his native Scotland where he discovered his love of photography. He now divides his time between playing

beaconcameraclub.co.uk

Nationwide Winchester goes national for second time

The Winchester National Exhibition is taking place for the second time. After last year’s highly successful launch, Winchester Photographic Society has announced the second outing of the Exhibition, in association with BPE. The National Exhibition invites submissions of up to four images in four classes: People, Landscapes, Open and Nature. Each entry costs £1.50, with a minimum fee of £6. Entry for the exhibition is already open and closes on 30 June 2016, with the results due in July. Full entry details of this PDI exhibition are on the club’s website. As well as the first, second and third places in each class, there will also be three Judges’ Choices, certificates of merit and a prize for a competitor under the age of 18.

News in brief Heswall exhibition If you’re quick, you can still see Heswall Photographic Society’s annual exhibition. It’s at Ness Botanic Gardens, west of Chester, from 11 to 16 May. Entrance is free. heswallphotosoc.co.uk Tyndale exhibition Featuring around 200 prints and a slide show of PDIs, Tyndale Photography Club’s exhibition is at Dursley’s Methodist Church on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June. Refreshments will be available. tyndalephoto.org

Above and left Salt fields, Western Australia and Mumbai by landscape photographer, Simon Butterworth who’s giving the Annual Beacon Lecture.

Issue 33 The next issue of Photography News will be out from 6 June.

Gateway wins East Kent Cup The annual East Kent Cup competition was won this year by Gateway Camera Club. Organised by John Renton and his team at Canterbury Photographic Society, the competition comprises both prints and PDIs and invites entries from Gateway and Canterbury, plus Deal and District and Folkestone Camera Clubs and the Isle of Thanet Photographic Society. This year it was judged by Clive Tanner FRPS MPAGB, who also presented the winning club’s chair with the trophy. gatewaycameraclub.co.uk

winphotosoc.co.uk Above Chess mates by Charles Akerstrom. Left Picked Hill by Peter Orr.

Above With the final PDI event of the season at Park Street Camera Club, Rainbow Collection brought Fiona Gurr league victory.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera Club of the Year

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Results 1st Ayr Photographic Society 707 points 2nd Harpenden Photographic Society 672 points 3rd Dorchester Camera Club 665 points

Camera Club of the Year 2015-16: the results Five of the UK’s leading camera clubs and photographic societies fought it out in the final for the top place (and prizes!) and Ayr Photographic Society emerged as the winner

Congratulations to all at Ayr Photographic Society for their much deserved victory, and commiserations to the four other finalists who competed so well. In fact, well done to all five finalists. Each of the five clubs performed so brilliantly to make the final in the face of very fierce competition from many of the leading clubs in the UK. You can enjoy all of Ayr PS’s winning pictures here and we have selected a few of our favourite shots

from the other finalists too (turn the page to see them). One thing our contest definitely showed was that the current state of club photography in the UK is very healthy. Our five finalists qualified for the final by each winning a monthly round – netting themselves a Canon PIXMA PRO-100S in the process. For the final, they were asked to provide 20 pictures by the deadline on four new themes. These were

Creative depth-of-field, The decisive moment, My home town and What I love most. Of course it was up to each club how they interpreted these four themes, but our idea was to have quite open themes in terms of subject matter, but the images had to show great capture and/or editing technique. The decisive moment, for instance, could be depicted by a great sporting image, a brilliant street photo where fleeting expressions have

What Ayr PS says “Wow! What fabulous news,” says the club’s president, Karen Crawford. “I’m feeling hugely proud and honoured to be president of the Photography News Camera Club of the Year. What a fantastic achievement. Massive thanks go to all the members of the club for participating and also to the winning images submitted. Thanks must also go to Eddie Telford for all his hard work, drive and determination in making sure the images were submitted before the deadline. Such commitment. I can’t say how proud I am.” ayrps.com © Graham Taylor/ – Images that move

Above The delighted members of Ayr Photographic enjoying news of their success outside Ayr’s Loudoun Hall.

been captured or a stunning instant in a nature shot. Each image was judged ‘blind’ and marked out of 20 by Photography News editor, Will Cheung, and contributing editor, Kingsley Singleton. All the scores were added together and the club with the highest total judged the winner. Our long-term aim is to run a camera club contest every year so details of the next event will be unveiled towards the end of 2016.

4th Smethwick Photographic Society 656 points 5th Parkwood Camera Club 638 points

Key for Ayr PS’s images, right Theme 1 Creative depth-of-field Theme 2 The decisive moment Theme 3 My home town Theme 4 What I love most

Overall winner prize:

DAVID NOTON exclusive day

Overall winner prize:

CANON imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

Ayr PS wins… glory & prizes! As well as the glory of being crowned Camera Club of the Year, Ayr PS also gets Canon’s very latest photo quality printer, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000, and an exclusive day with renowned landscape and travel pro photographer David Noton, enjoying a workshop and an illustrated talk. A pro-level printer featuring a 12-ink system, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 can produce exhibition quality enlargements up to A2 size. The 12-ink system features Lucia Pro pigment inks that offer a very high level of lightfastness and has the ability to use either Photo Black or Matte Black for fine art media without the need to switch between the two cartridges thus saving both ink and time. The large capacity, ink cartridges also include Canon’s Chroma Optimizer. This is applied over the print to enhance glossiness and smooth bumps between ink droplets to expand colour gamut and ensure maximum blacks. For shots taken on Canon EOS cameras, a new Crystal Fidelity feature ensures faithful reproduction. This printer uses the L-COA PRO Image Processing system to ensure precise placement and mix of the printer’s four-picolitre ink droplets. It also accepts high resolution files of up to 1200ppi for the ultimate reproduction of the finest detail. canon.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera Club of the Year

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Theme 1 Theme 3

Theme 1

Theme 4

Theme 1

Theme 4

Theme 2

Theme 1

Theme 3

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 4

Theme 2 © Alastair Swan

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 4

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera Club of the Year © Tom Couch

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

2nd Harpenden Photographic Society

672 points

harpendenphotographicsociety. co.uk © Paul Johnson

3rd Dorchester Camera Club 665 points

dorchestercameraclub.co.uk

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera Club of the Year

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

4th Smethwick Photographic Society 656 points

smethwickps.co.uk

parkwoodcameraclub.co.uk

638 points

5th Parkwood Camera Club

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Interview Profile

Nigel Fielden Biography Years in the photo industry? More than 35 Current location The office is in Wolverhampton but we live in a small Staffordshire village. Last picture taken There’s a picturesque canal running through the village where we live – even though we’ve been there for 25 years I never get tired of capturing the colours of the boats and the smoke from their chimneys through the arched bridges in the evening light. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? An electronics engineer. I was always fascinated by taking things apart, putting them back together again – and seeing them work! Dogs or cats? Cats Toast or cereal? Cereal Email or phone call? Email – I work across several time zones, so this works best most of the time.

Because we’re not part of a big corporate, we can choose to do the right thing

Images, clockwise from top left Phottix Indra 500TTL and Odin II, MeFoto Daytrip mini tripod and 4vdesign ALA strap.

MAC Group Europe has recently celebrated its first birthday, so we caught up with MAC Group’s managing director, Nigel Fielden, to see how they’re ‘doing things differently’ How did you get into this industry? Well, that’s quite a long story! While at university in London I started working at Leeds Camera Centre (now part of Calumet). The job was working in the basement, packing up orders, shipping them and delivering them to photographers around London. When the owner, Malcolm Whittle, set up the Flash Centre to distribute Elinchrom lighting, I joined him there, repairing flashes and eventually building a team which designed and launched new products – some of which were still in the market until very recently! After that I joined Paterson, initially in another technical role but then I was soon dragged into managing sales and eventually general management. In 2000, when the owner of Lowepro was looking to set up distribution in Europe, he got in touch and we set up the business which is now called DayMen, which grew to distributing Lowepro in six countries and managed distributors in another 50 or so. MAC Group is a new name to the UK – how did the business come about? Historically, MAC Group was very strong in the USA and China. The owners were looking for ways to improve their distribution in other parts of the world, especially in Europe. The owner of MAC Group, Jan Lederman, called me out of the blue to ask for advice and I developed a plan. Part of the plan was to set up a business to directly manage the key markets of UK, France and Germany, building on what we inherited from the previous distributors and growing the business in a structured way. When I presented the plan, Jan asked me if I would join the team to bring the plan to life – and here we are! You’ve gone from 0-60 in a very short space of time – how have you pulled together such a strong team so quickly? It’s simple really – it’s all about the people and their experience. I was lucky to be able to recruit experts in each specific field who were excited to come on board. For example, Gary Sutton, who has solid experience in camera sales and has now moved to the ‘dark side’ of accessories as our sales director, and Mark Hoskins, who must be the industry’s most-experienced tripod brand manager. Most of our team was hand-picked from a group of people we know and trust. It’s no coincidence that several members of the team are enthusiastic and very experienced photographers – they can understand the needs of end users and the trade alike. We try to understand what both trade and end users need – and how these needs change – it’s about balance within the business and passion for the industry. Our team has significant experience on the logistics side too, having set up this type of distribution business before. We know what works and importantly, how to keep the business efficient, streamlined and responsive in a changing economic climate. We also have experience of working across the UK and Europe – so again this enables us to move quickly, with confidence and build strong foundations on which to grow further.

What’s the MAC mission? Our mission is to be different: to offer real support to retailers, working to ensure good margins and working closely with our partners to enable jointly successful relationships. We enjoy bringing to market very desirable products that consumers want to buy – all of our products are designed and built to a desired quality level rather than a price point. So if we want to use the best materials and the latest engineering techniques, we do. We’re not controlled by hitting a price point, it’s all about quality, usability and innovation. Ultimately, our main aim is to support the industry, driving business both into stores, where staff are interested and committed to selling our products, and online for those buyers who choose to shop there. It’s not about flooding the market via every possible outlet, it’s all about focusing on the best products and key relationships with trade partners who add value. Because we’re not part of a big corporate, we can choose to do the right thing. All tripods are the same, right? Wrong! It’s a common myth though. Our factory makes all of our own tripods – and only ours. This includes Induro, Benro and MeFOTO (and Tenba bags too) – but the factory doesn’t make products for anyone else. The factory itself is mind-blowing – amazing engineering capability, massive investment and commitment to quality. We hope to take our media contacts out to China soon – just to see the technology and care taken in the manufacture of our products. Why three tripod brands? We’re targeting all levels of photographer – from people who want

a no-nonsense, durable product, those who want a decent high-spec tripod with a twist of colour thrown in, through to the most demanding pro who’s out shooting in the harshest conditions and wants to carry as little weight as possible. You mentioned Tenba – where does that fit in? The changing trends in hardware and the increasing move to lighter mirrorless systems means we’re spending more time on research and development than ever to ensure our products meet the needs of the consumers and exceed expectations. That said, we’ll continue to support the core DSLR market which still makes up a large segment of the market. As I mentioned earlier, our products are not designed to match a price point – so we’re always looking at the best materials, zips, fastenings etc. – and if silent Velcro is the best, but costs a bit more, then so be it! Our mission is to do whatever it takes to make the best products. What’s next for MAC? Well, we’re seeing exponential success with Phottix, our lighting brand, which has just been awarded a TIPA award – and the marketing for that exciting brand continues. I started out in lighting, so this one is very close to my heart! We’re also continuing to invest resources in finding the best trade partners to work with – although having said that, we’re not planning to over-distribute within every possible channel as others have. Our aim is to work with key partners, to add real value to those relationships and ensure profitable business for all going forward. eu.macgroupus.com

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Profile Biography

Before the Judge

Malcolm Rapier

Each month, a respected judge or exhibition selector shares their thoughts and experiences. This month we hear from Malcolm Rapier who has 25 years of judging experience

Malcolm Rapier Malcolm Rapier has been a member of Edmonton Camera Club for 35 years and has been judging for 25 years. Years in photography I have been involved with photography one way or another for more years than I care to remember. My first experiences came through learning the rudiments at an after-school club when just a pupil. Home club My wife and I have been members of Edmonton Camera Club since 1981. I am a Past President of the Club and we have served as Competition Secretaries for many years. During that time we have organised many Club competitions and exhibitions. We are therefore well versed in what judges expect and what is needed to make an evening go well. Favourite camera My earliest camera was a Zenith E. My current favourite camera is the Canon EOS 7D Mark II which does everything that I want. Favourite lens My Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 -II zoom – it’s great for sport. I have recently acquired a Canon 24105mm f/4 IS lens, which I am also enjoying getting used to. Favourite photo accessories I frequently have the need to use my Manfrotto monopod when out at sports events. I also find that a bin liner comes in very handy when you want to sit on damp grass without getting a wet bum! Favourite photographers So many to choose from. Eamonn McCabe a brilliant sports photographer but so much more. Irene Froy for her amazing ‘seeing eye’ and delicate images.

Awards I regularly enter images in national exhibitions (BPE), international exhibitions and salons (FIAP) and I have been fortunate to have been awarded distinctions and awards. In addition to my ARPS, I currently have the AFIAP award (hopefully the EFAIP in June when ratified), a CPAGB and a 3* BPE rating.

than acting as a dictator as to what’s right and wrong. You really have to respect that somebody has taken the time, trouble and expense to present their work to you. They deserve a fair appraisal. I feel that the overall standard of pictures can be very variable and differs from club to club. Clearly in some clubs there is fierce competition for the top slot. I feel that in many cases photographers would benefit from exposure to competition in a wider arena than only their own club. Entering work for external and international exhibitions has been an individual challenge for me. However, it has made me take stock, to really take notice of what is out there and strive to improve. By and large I feel the standard of amateur photography in the UK to be very good and continuing to improve. One only has to look at the number of acceptances and awards that authors from the UK gain in international exhibitions. There is a strong body © Malcolm Rapier

Favourite subject I’m willing to give most things a go but I derive the greatest pleasure from sports photography.

All my judging experience has been at local club/society level, where I have judged internal competitions, club exhibitions and inter-club battles. I have been judging for in excess of 25 years. I consider local clubs and societies to be the backbone of photography. This is where, with encouragement and advice, photographers can hone skills and go on to greater things. In some ways I fell into judging almost by accident. As a competition secretary interacting with judges, I had my own views as to what constituted a ‘good’ judge. I thought that I should perhaps know a bit more about this judging lark. I attended a judges’ workshop, organised by my club's federation, to see if my thinking accorded with what was considered good practice. A short while later a local club asked me to judge a competition for them and I was on my way. In our area there is a local contact group for programme secretaries. Apparently before too long my name had been passed around as a ‘new judge’ and things went on from there. Things have continued in much the same way. There is a nucleus of clubs that I have returned to many times over the years and new ones are always being added. Judging can be very rewarding – for me it is all about ‘giving something back’. Over the years I have learnt a great deal from some very good and supportive judges. I hope that some of what I have learnt I am now able to pass on to others. It is rewarding when somebody comes up to you at the end of an evening and says 'thank you – I would not have thought of that and it will help me no end'. To return to the same club and be told 'thanks to your encouragement I applied and gained an award' is very heartening. I consider judging to be more acting as a ‘critical friend’ rather

Words by Malcolm Rapier

of photographers flying the flags of the home nations. I believe that UK photographers are less stereotypical than those of some other countries. They seem more willing to embrace a wider range of imagery. As a result we have acknowledged leaders in all fields of our hobby. I have never been lost for words when confronted by an entry. My background and career was spent as a lecturer and senior college manager – such people tend not to be lost for words! However, one sometimes does have to be guarded in what one says. It is not always best to say the first thing that comes into your head, whatever that may be! Sometimes one does see an entry that is quite exceptional. On such occasions I have invited the audience just to pause a moment and really appreciate what is in front of them. Needless to say my comment on such occasions is ‘I really wish that I had taken that’. Three things spring to mind when I think of the biggest or most common failings. The first is simply that the author has not been selfcritical enough. If you think that you have done all you can to an image leave it a couple of days and then have another look. In my experience if you think that something needs cropping or cloning out then deal with it. If you don’t that will be the first thing that the judge will say

when they see it. When you return to an image it is surprising how often you might say to yourself ‘how did I miss that?’ Another bugbear for me is authors doing things because they can and not doing things because it enhances the image. There are a host of plug-ins and other devices out there. Remember, the sliders don’t always have to be pushed as hard over as they will go. I have seen too many harsh, gritty, over contrasty, oversharpened, monochrome images. Mind you I have also seen more than my fair share of mono work that is as flat as a pancake. Some seem to think converting any colour image to mono is a panacea – it is not. The final thing is presentation. Judges should not mark presentation but without doubt it is part of the overall package that influences. Heavy, contrasting and brightly coloured borders with projected images can be a great distraction. My advice to be successful – enter! If you don’t enter you can’t win. If there is a set theme or subject apply yourself to the task at hand. Above all else – don’t be discouraged, if the judge doesn’t think that your image is brilliant, listen to the comments, take them on board, think about them and come back again. It is only by striving to improve that one actually does improve.

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

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique © Nenad Saljic

Delve into the photographer’s mind

How to take Great Photographs

It takes a lot of experimenting to get the right image, and the 30 second exposure was my best bet for this particular shot

A selection of successful photographers share the secrets behind one of their amazing shots in this new paperback collection. We take a look inside What is the secret to taking a great photograph? It’s something that we would all like to know and something that can be quite subjective. In a new book, How to Take Great Photographs, photographers reveal the motivation behind their great photographs and how they were created. A variety of genres from animals, to documentary and reportage, landscapes, sport and more are included and photographers include Wolf Ademeit, Steve Bloom, Darren Heath, Stephen Dalton and David Ward. Here is a selection of excerpts from the book to give you a taster of what you can expect…

Nenad Saljic Nenad Saljic is a Croatian photographer inspired by nature’s textures forms and shapes. His current projects include three books: Matterhorn: Portrait of a Mountain; Petrified, which will showcase his explorations of the Dalmatian caves; and Birth of a Ship, a photographic record of the building of a traditional wooden boat. “The Matterhorn is one of the world’s most magnificent and famous mountains. Although graceful and uniquely formed, it is just a majestic ruin, a mere fragment of an eroded mountain that will eventually round

off and disappear forever. I’ve been working on this project since 2009. “My interest in mountains started at an early age. I was introduced to the mountains and photography by my maths teacher in the 6th grade. He took the class on a two-day hiking trip on a mountain nearby. I have been hooked ever since, and I also started caving when I was 13 with my older friends. I was accepted to the Mountain Rescue Service when I was 18. “I usually plan my trips to come on destination around the full moon phase. It was my first night in Zermatt after 1200 km of driving from my home in Croatia. I set up around 7 km

from the peak. The sky was promising and the moon was almost full with enough light for night shots. I started at around 10pm, took a short sleep, and then started again at 3 am. It was very cold but I made six great images. I stayed in Zermatt for a week, but these were the best that I took. “It takes a lot of experimenting to get the right image, and the 30 second exposure was my best bet for this particular shot. As well as good moonlight you also need good atmospheric conditions. The banner clouds in this image are found in the lee of isolated mountains when sufficiently moist air flows across

Top left 07-01-2012 04:08:29 © Nenad Saljic, nenadsaljic.com Top right The Chaser © Paul Walker, pawspetphotography.co.uk Bottom right Equestrian Cross Country, Olympic Games © Adrian Dennis, adriandennis.com.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique © Paul Walker

I pre-focussed on an area of ground, and then locked the focus as I couldn’t see the dogs approaching especially sharp mountain peaks like the Matterhorn or Mount Everest. “Although I’m an ‘old school’ photographer who has spent a lot of time in a darkroom, I work digitally now. Most of the time I work with low light using a tripod. I made this image in colour as usual, processed it initially in Adobe Camera Raw, then in Photoshop and then finally converted it to black & white using Silver Efex Pro. It took some time to get the right tonal range.” Paul Walker Scottish photographer Paul Walker’s animal photography goes back to his childhood where his pets were the subject of his trusty camera. Paul has extensive experience of photographing pets and animals with many different temperaments, from rescue dogs through to highly trained dogs at Crufts. Ideally he likes to shoot in a natural environment, echoing the everyday live of the animal. “I have been taking photographs of pets for many years and have learned and refined techniques to help me capture the personality of the pet I am photographing. “My priority with this photograph was to capture an image with all of the owner’s dogs. They all had their own agenda and were rarely together, yet were united by their love of chasing a ball. It was an unusual mix of animals including three German Short Haired Pointers and a Jack Russell. All of the dogs were very agile, even the small Jack Russell, so an action image seemed to be the best method for capturing them all in the same frame.

“Usually, when photographing dogs running, it is simpler for the camera to auto focus if you have them running across your front; either from left to right, or right to left. However, with animals running straight towards you the camera’s autofocus can struggle. In this case I pre-focussed on an area of ground, and then locked the focus as I couldn’t see the dogs approaching, but could only hear them. I then shot a burst of images as the dogs ran over the top of the ridge towards me. “It can be useful to have an assistant when photographing pets, and for this shot I had the owner helping me. They were hidden at the far side of the slope and had the challenge of throwing the ball in the correct direction at a time when the slowest of the dogs had a head start.

This was achieved by throwing the occasional ‘dummy’ throw to send the faster dogs in the opposite direction for a few yards. This was necessary to give me the best chance to have all of the dogs in the frame, rather than just the speedy dogs appearing earlier than the slowest members of the pack. I also had to risk being trampled as the dogs came over the ridge! “With the dogs running at high speed over the ridge, and because I was fairly close, f/8 was manually selected as a ‘safe’ aperture. This enabled me to capture all the dogs in focus. “The shot was taken in Raw format to provide the highest quality, and the image was later processed in Adobe Photoshop with tweaks to the hue and saturation to give the overall toning exhibited in the image.” © Adrian Dennis

Adrian Dennis Adrian Dennis is a British photographer who covers a variety of assignments in the UK and around the world with an emphasis on sports photography. Internationally published, Adrian has been a staff photographer for Agence France Presse (AFP) since 2000. Before this Adrian worked for The Independent and The Independent on Sunday (1996-2000). “I was assigned the equestrian cross-country event during the Olympic games in London 2012. Arriving early, around 6am, I scoped out the course. Competitors set off roughly every six minutes so I started high up on the course, shooting the jumps with London as a backdrop. I worked my way down the course, before spending a couple of hours at the water jump, where the Greenwich Observatory provided a beautiful backdrop. After shooting virtually the same kind of action picture for about 20 riders I had to move on to keep my sanity. “I found myself at the top of the spectators’ seating overlooking the main arena. It made a fantastic wideangle picture with Canary Wharf as my backdrop. While waiting for the next rider I leant over the back of the stand and noticed the shadows. I started to think what it would look like when a horse ran directly

Get the book How to take Great Photographs is available to purchase now for £9.95 and we’ve got an exclusive reader offer. To get 20% off the price use the discount code PNEWS20 at the checkout. greatphotographs.co.uk

beneath me and into the arena. The first rider went by and I cropped the shadow too tight, not realizing just how long the shadow was going to be. The next rider fell off before arriving, and with time ticking and the sun moving round there were only a few more minutes before the sun was obscured and the picture would be lost. Luckily for me as Thai rider Nina Lamsan Ligon rode past I made this frame. I knew right away the picture was quite special. But as I turned to photograph the arena again I noticed another photographer climbing up the stairs. I stood facing forward toward the arena willing him not to notice what I’d just shot. He did notice the same shadows – but the picture had more or less gone, as by now the row of spectators wasn’t as long, and the sunshine not quite so intense. Fortunately for me I’d made a pretty unique photograph from an event covered by several hundred other photographers. That doesn’t happen very often! “The settings I used were standard in a sports photographers’ armoury. A fast shutter speed, relatively shallow depth-of-field. The tricky part was getting the camera ‘square’. This meant leaning over a railing 15-20 metres off the ground looking directly down and then pressing the shutter button and firing 3-4 frames as the horse and rider appeared in the viewfinder.”

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique Holiday shooting

Travelling right

Holiday season is almost upon us, so if you’re planning a trip this year and want to make the most of it with your camera, check out our top ten tips for better travel shots Word by Kingsley Singleton Pictures Various

1. Plan for success

THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S EPHEMERIS Available on Desktop, Android and IOS

If you want to make the most of your travels, you need to put in the hours beforehand, not only on the trip itself. Yes, research and planning will put you in the right places at the right times and prevent the frustration of randomly wandering and clicking. Most of us invest in a guide book before going to a new city or country, or read up on what we should see online, but photo planning takes a little more effort, as you’ll need consider the ‘when’ as well as the ‘what’ and ‘where’. Whether it’s exotic landscapes or candid shots of the locals, it’s the light that can make your shots special, not just the view, so check dawn and dusk times, where low light, mist and smoke can add much-needed atmosphere, enriching any subject or location. Create a shooting list and then work out when in the day those locations will be at their best; for instance, a cathedral may be illuminated in the morning, but by the afternoon sit in shadow; streets that look unremarkable by day can come alive when the man-made lights are on. Once you’ve worked out this list, you can plot your movement so as not to miss a single opportunity. In terms of sunrise, sunset and the sun’s position, apps like The Photographer’s Ephemeris (photoephemeris.com) are very helpful, giving the height and angle throughout the day; it’s free on desktop, and a paid-for app on Android and iOS, but well worth investing in. It’s also a good idea to check out the work that other photographers have produced at the sites you’re heading to, and a great source of this is postcards, which will give you clues as to when certain locations are at their best. They can also help you find elevated positions like buildings with observation decks and balconies that give a broader view. On a final note, while planning is very important, don’t let it overwhelm your experience. Mix the grab shots in with your more considered work and you’ll have the best mix.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S BUYERS’ GUIDE

2. Pack the right kit To make the most of your opportunities, picking the right kit is vital, but of course you can’t take everything, so what do you choose? The best way of deciding is to base your choices on where you’re going and what you’re shooting – hence the need for proper planning before you pack. Is it a quick trip with some good opportunities, or a dedicated photo break? The former might mean taking a small shoulder bag or day-pack with one camera, opting for an all-in-one zoom, and a few accessories; the latter will see you wanting more lens choices or a backup body and then a larger bag. Either way, if you can streamline your gear you’ll have a more enjoyable, and less fatiguing trip. When it comes to air travel, no one wants to put their sensitive kit in the hold, so check airline hand baggage restrictions and make sure your bag fits well within them. Again, streamlining is important as even if your bag physically fits, you may go over the weight limit, simply because you’ve squeezed in stuff you may not even use. Extra memory

FOR MORE TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

MIGGÖ SPLAT DSLR mymiggo.com £13.99

LOWEPRO PASSPORT MESSENGER lowepro.co.uk £50

cards and a spare battery will weigh less and be more vital than another lens. What separates photographers from random clickers is often taking a camera support, allowing not only greater sharpness, but also creative effects like multiple and long exposures. Thoughts obviously turn to lightweight legs like the carbon-fibre Vanguard 265CB (see this month’s Buyers’ Guide) but you can get a lot done with a mini version; the Miggö Splat DSLR (reviewed last issue), for instance, has a design that can be flattened and slotted into your bag, and despite weighing only 110g can support up to 1.5kg.

4. Get some local flavour Many successful travel shots have the ability to convey a location without further description. How do capture that essence? It’s tricky for sure, because locations mean different things to different people. As a photographer, the best route is to be true to what you feel. Ask yourself, what is it about the place that strikes you as special and interesting? What were your first impressions and what drew your eye? Was it the sunshine, or the mist? The iconic architecture, the landscape or the way people are dressed? Whatever it was, make it your mission to record it. Add to this visual clues, like distinctively dressed locals, signage, iconography or landmarks and you’ll have a recipe for success.

3. Set yourself some projects To function as a photographer, you need ideas and themes to work with; random shooting is seldom successful beyond being a pure record of where you were and when, and it’s unlikely to offer you much different to the thousands of photographers who’ve been there before you. Try to think in terms of projects when you’re travelling and your efforts will be much more successful. You could pick a specific subject, like food or transportation, or decide to shoot in a particular way, using only certain types of lens or angle. Projects don’t always have to be pre-planned though, and you’ll often find something that interests you in the location. This doesn’t need to be shot at the expense of everything else, but will form a nice study to look back on. On a recent trip to Vienna, I began to notice how prominent the city’s trees were, and how they seemed to interact with the architecture, so I concentrated on them to produce a series of similar shots.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique

Your shooting technique is just as important to pack as any piece of kit, so don’t think that just because you’re presented with an exotic scene you can hose it down without due care and expect it to work. Whatever travel subject you’re shooting, you need to apply your hard-earned skills to it just as though you were shooting ten feet from your front door. After all, travel photography encompasses such a set of disparate subjects that you need to divide it into portrait, landscape, street and so on, applying the most suitable approach. You can apply more creative techniques, too, so if you have a favourite shooting style, try it out on location and your pics will certainly have a different look to the rank and file. For instance, the picture here is a fairly typical scene in Vienna at twilight, with lots of people and street food vendors. Instead of shooting it straight I decided to take two shots, one sharp and one with lots of camera shake, adding little light trails to the scene. Later, I blended the two in Photoshop to frame the sharp focal point with the blur. It’s just a simple example of how you can experiment and add something interesting to your travel shots.

7. Conquer the crowds

6. Nail the exposure

1 © Kingsley Singleton

Whether you’re at a rural beauty spot or the heart of a bustling metropolis, crowds can be a problem, blocking detail, getting in your way and generally making the place less than pristine. If you’re on a tight timescale you’re unlikely to be able to wait them out, but good camera technique can come to the rescue, allowing you to remove moving people entirely or make them part of the scene in a way that adds to the subject rather than spoiling it. It’s worth bearing in mind though, that the ‘right kind’ of crowds can actually make some shots, providing a scene with scale and clues to the culture you’re shooting, where, if you remove them, the composition could otherwise seem sterile.

Method 1: Slow the shutter This is the most traditional route and uses a slow shutter speed to blur the movement of crowds, making them soften or disappear entirely. To get that slow shutter speed without overexposing the scene you’re probably going to need a neutral density filter (like a Hoya 77mm Pro ND 8 at around £60) or a long-exposure filter like Hoya’s screw in 77mm Pro ND 1000 (around £79). Fitted to the lens (check your filter size) this blocks the light, allowing the shutter speed to lengthen, so all you have to do is fire the shutter and keep the camera steady, and anything moving, like milling tourists, will blur. Use speeds of over a minute (in bulb mode) and you can often remove all trace. Method 2: Find a better angle If you’re shooting a busy site with a wide-angle and from street level you’re asking for people to get in the way. Instead, switch to a longer focal length so that you can give the subject more separation. Another method is to find a vantage point where you have more physical separation from the crowd; even a few feet of extra height can help, so seek out something to raise your view, like a wall, chair or steps. Method 3: Shoot a multiple exposure Another way of tackling busy scenes is to make a feature of the movement using a multiple exposure technique. Herein you’ll take several shots from the same position and blend them, so that moving people show up as ghosts but the scene remains clear and solid. Many modern

5. Take your technique with you

DSLRs and CSCs have a multiple exposure mode in their shooting menu, along with options to control how many exposures will be used and how they’ll be combined. Choose the average or auto gain mode so that a good exposure is maintained, then as with a long exposure set the

camera up so it won’t move between the shots. Record a series of images – say five or six – at ten seconds apart and you should get a good effect. You can also shoot the separate shots in Photoshop and stack them as layers, then use the Layer Opacity control to get the same effect.

Time can be tight on tours and opportunities fleeting. So while you’ll want to take all the care you’d normally apply to a shot, it’s not always possible. This is particularly true when it comes to exposure, and you need to guarantee you’ve got a good one as there’s little chance of popping back. There are several steps you can take to ensure you’ve got the goods. The easiest is to make sure you’re shooting in Raw mode, so that you have some control after the event and can for instance control highlight and shadow detail more easily as well as the white-balance. Set Raw from the image quality options, but be aware Raw files will take up more space on your card than JPEGs. Raw can only take you so far though, and you may find that pushing the sliders hard enough to get the look you want causes the image to break up more than is acceptable. For that reason, also consider shooting bracketed exposures. You don’t need to do it for every shot, but if you’re faced with tricky scenes where the dynamic range is very high, ‘over and under’ the metered exposure is a great safety net. If it’s not accessed via a button on the body of your camera, bracketing can often be found within the drive modes menu. Finally, if it has one, try employing your camera’s HDR mode. This will record a burst of shots at different shutter speeds and combine them into a well-balanced exposure. The only problem here is that the file will be recorded as a JPEG, so it’s less useful in editing, but still a way to record the scene without losing highlight or shadow detail. © Kingsley Singleton

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique © Kingsley Singleton

8. Book a dedicated photo holiday

9. Turn your travel shots into a book When you’re back home, there’s always the question of how best to show off your images. One really good option is a photo book, which makes a permanent and very pleasing record of your adventures and certainly beats showing off pics on a TV or tablet any day. Use the same book size and design for several trips and you can create a pleasing set. Sounds great, but there is some effort required for the reward. Like any publishing process, you should start with some strict editing of what’s to be included and in what order. The book could be a chronological account of your journey, but another option is to focus on a specific project you undertook. Either way, put too much in and it will seem vague, so be brutal with your selection and make sure you’re happy with any processing that’s been applied; examine every shot closely – once it’s in print there’s no going back, unless you stump up for a second edition.

Once you’ve arrived at your curated selection of pics, do nothing. That’s right, close the folder and leave them for at least a week. Don’t even look at the shots so when come back you have fresh eyes. You’ll be surprised at what you may want to leave out or re-edit. When it comes to picking a book, try a Loxley Colour (loxleycolour. com) Infinity Coffee Table book, which has very attractive lay-flat pages, printed on high-quality, heavyweight paper with a satin finish. The lay-flat look means you won’t lose detail near the spine and can more easily print across it, allowing more expansive views. The book’s hardback covers can be leatherette, linen or feature an image wrap, and titles can be laser etched on. In size, the Infinity range has 10x8in and 12x9in options as well as square-format ten-inch and 12in versions, with the smallest size and a minimum of ten spreads costs just over £70, up to £85 for 30.

Travel photography and holidays don’t always mix, especially if you’re on a family break. Your time will be split between shooting and other activities, and it’s often too much of a compromise. You wouldn’t expect to get your best landscape results while charging up a mountain with the kids, so why would travel shooting be any different? You need time to immerse yourself, but there are ways to get it. Firstly, be protective of your time; try to allot periods of the day when you’ll be out shooting, undisturbed, and stick to them. Fortunately, shooting at dawn and dusk fits in nicely with this, meaning that you can get a lot done before your brood has even had breakfast. If they love you, they’ll understand! The best way to immerse yourself is to take a dedicated photo holiday. This could be something that you book and organise yourself, or it could be a professional service, where you’ll be guided to the best spots at the best times, and with tutoring on hand if required. One such service is offered by Paul Reiffer (paulreiffer.com). As a commercial photographer Paul shot in amazing locations around the world, and decided to use his experience to help others via a range of workshops. “We offer something unique,” says Paul, “all-inclusive photo experiences with small groups (six, tops), luxury transfers, non-shared hotel accommodation, great food and even helicopter shoots where appropriate – all for a fixed cost. We can cater to photographers of all abilities, but each workshop location has a recommended level to ensure all can enjoy it.” Paul’s biggest workshop yet is about to take place in New Zealand in June; an eight-day, all-inclusive affair, starting off in Queenstown, Otago and then travelling through some of New Zealand’s finest scenery including Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo, the Moeraki Boulders, Nugget Point, Lake Wanaka and Glenorchy. Other trips cover Shanghai, California, New York and Dorset – an Iceland workshop is planned too. “What makes us different,” he says, “is we help participants plan themselves and make the best choice in where and when to shoot. We help people get the best from their kit as well as using filters and tailored tutorials on post-processing. All with no hidden costs.” The company offers private tuition for those wanting to shoot in specific spots and benefit from one-to-one time with Paul. You can find full details at paulreiffer.com/workshops.

10. Be the best If you’re particularly pleased with your efforts, isn’t it time that other people saw them? It’s great to show them off in a book or an online gallery, but the ultimate has to be in the winner’s gallery of the UK’s biggest travel competition, Travel Photographer of the Year. The 2016 competition kicks off on 12 May,

so to make sure you get involved this year, aim your browser at tpoty.com, where you’ll find details on the categories you can enter and the prizes you can win. Entries can be submitted online, or in the post, and there’s a special section for young photographers to enter, too. If you fancy some inspiration and want to see how previous winners impressed the judges of the competition, you can see 2015’s winning entries

in a forthcoming exhibition at Greenwich. Staged at the University of Greenwich, the exhibition will be free to see and runs from 22 July to 4 September.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Interview © Matt Humphrey

Pro focus

1st curtain

What’s not to love about the theatre? It’s a completely different world to immerse yourself in. Pro Matt Humphrey stepped backstage to illustrate the other side of the curtain… Interview by Jemma Dodd Curtain Call: A Year Backstage in London Theatre showcases the work of Matt Humphrey who was given privileged access to more than 50 London theatre productions. From a young age, Matt loved photographing events and special occasions, and even studied art and photography at school. In 2007 he rekindled his love for photography and left his stable job to pursue a full-time career as a photographer. A stop-gap job working on the backstage crew at The Old Vic theatre soon saw him shooting the likes of Hamlet, Billy Elliot the Musical and Hangmen. “I would practise shooting in low light, capturing special moments on the stage and behind the scenes. I came at it from an alternative perspective, and became fascinated with the art of backstage,” Matt says. Having completed a commissioned year shooting backstage at the Hackney Empire, Matt and actor John Schwab, set up Curtain Call, a website dedicated to theatre where fans and

professionals can find out about shows, explore backstage content and connect with theatre professionals. Then came the book. “John wanted to produce a book that encapsulated the backstage life of shows on the West End and I was really interested in taking it on. We set up Curtain Call and reached out to people in the industry that we’d worked with. It took a while to get going, but once people saw what we were doing it was a snowball effect. “We wanted the book to be a review of the year, and to tie in with the Olivier Awards. The Society of London Theatre (which produces the Olivier Awards) was keen to support the project and helped out with access. Theatre works on an annual cycle so it seemed sensible to cover as many productions as we could. “The backstage area is hallowed space, so it is an incredible privilege to be there with my camera, but the key is recognising how incidental I am. Everyone is there to do a job, and there has to be trust and respect between everyone. Technically the © Matt Humphrey

challenges are primarily in lighting – it can be a challenge switching from low available light in the wings, to a well-lit scene on stage,” Matt tells us. “I shoot with high ISOs – which can add grain, but I don’t mind as it adds to the fact that it’s very dark. I scaled down equipment and shoot with just a Leica M-P 240 rangefinder camera and a fast 35mm f/1.4 lens – always on fully manual settings.” While traditional theatre photographers would capture the play from the audience’s perspective during a dress rehearsal, Matt takes a different approach. “I am shooting from a backstage point of view and during a live performance.” Shooting during a live performance definitely has its pressures. There’s only one chance to get the shots during the action, so Matt does as much prep as possible. “We normally arrive at the warm-up and I stay until the end of the show – there are excellent opportunities as people take their bows, or leave the stage,” he says. “We set the shot list ourselves, and I pick out key moments I think will make interesting shots from the other side of the curtain. I come up with a load of ideas, some of which are impossible, others that end up

making great shots, and some that are lucky gems. Excitement backstage is palpable and infectious – sometimes I have to remind myself to take photos.” The images taken for the Curtain Call project have gained attention within the theatrical industry. “A lot of the producers have been interested in using our images as they differ from their usual visual assets. Typically they have been used on social media to interact with fans. That said, I have started shooting my style of theatre photography for more formal uses like rehearsal images that end up in the programmes, as well as behind the scenes at the Olivier Awards,” he says. “Going forward, our plan is to try and produce a book every year. We have only just published this one, but already there have been productions approaching us to cover their shows. In terms of how it has changed my photography, I have become more decisive, and my Leica has become an almost organic extension of my eye and how I see. Quite a few people I photographed have expressed a wish to work together so I am hoping to build my portrait portfolio, too.” You can find further thoughts from Matt, and plenty more pro insight in the latest issue of Professional Photo.

Above As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe). Left Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre).

Get the book

Get the limited first edition for £45. curtaincallonline.com/shop

You’ll find more insight in the latest Professional Photo – the UK’s best magazine for full-time and aspiring pro photographers

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique

Small and light Lighting academy

Two easy lighting set-ups and wrangling tips for children Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton One of the main problems in lighting children is that they can be unpredictable, easily distracted and hate being told what to do. Therefore, finely arranged and precise setups aren’t always successful, unless you have a compliant, distracted, well drilled (or sleeping) subject. Forcing them to work with such set-ups only causes problems, making them behave unnaturally, which will come through in their poses and expressions – the opposite of what you want. But distractions can be used to help position them, and so long as the lighting is adding to the shot, but not interfering with the subject’s behaviour, it’s always a benefit. Our subject, Grace, was a little over two years old, so probably around the hardest to age to shoot; most of her time being spent scurrying about and doing her own thing. The first idea was to get some shots in the garden, but there was no way either I or her dad was going to tell her exactly what to do; so we had to be responsive and use the lights in a way where their effect suited her movement. Faking the sun The first set of shots being outdoors, I wanted them to have a natural, sunlit glow. I was planning on setting up a couple of lights to broadly act as fill flash against the sun, but typically, the latter didn’t play ball. So instead, I started by using one of the two Interfit S1 heads I’d brought along as a stand-in for the sun. This was essential on an overcast day, with the flash required to make the colours pop and add some twinkle. This backlight was placed at one end of the garden, and raised to about 6ft on a light stand. Due to it being placed on a lawn, and the fact that children are intrigued by and allergic to toppling light stands, I secured it at the base. An easy way to do this is using a few lengths of coat hanger wire, to stake it in, like a tent. Because I wanted the light to be as naturallooking and sun-like as possible, I attached no additional modifier; just using the standard frosted-glass dome diffuser that comes with the head and sits over the flash tube to protect it. This also meant that the light would cover over 180° giving me lots of scope for Grace to move around. Using the accompanying S1 remote, this first light was set to Channel 1, Group B, so that I could control its power independently from the second light. The mode was set to TTL, more on which in a moment. Cross light, happy kids The second light was to be the fill light, but how can you position your lights when the subject is always moving? Enter the human light stand! The idea in this case was to have Grace’s dad move around and keep the light to her front, creating a cross-light set-up, so the flash would always be there to fill in the shadows. That also meant I could stay in a position where the first light was always working as a backlight. Of course this is something you can do indoors as well, with

one light in each corner of a room. The second light was fitted with an octa softbox and it was set to Channel 1, Group A. Setting the channels in this way illustrates the advantages of a wireless flash system, and specifically the use of radio triggers, of which the S1 Remote is an great example. The alternative is really to use a speedlight on the camera, but that doesn’t offer the same freedom or power. To make matters even easier, I was using a 70-200mm lens, giving me plenty of scope for framing near and far. Metering on the move As mentioned, I used TTL mode for the garden shots, the reason being that with the unpredictable nature of the subject and her distance from the two flashes, manual settings would’ve been too inflexible. The distance is the clincher; with the flash needing to be raised or lowered in power, responsive to it, so to avoid over or underexposure. Shooting in aperture-priority (A or Av), at f/4 and ISO 200, the shutter speed was locked to 1/60 and the S1’s TTL system did a grand job of getting the power right for me. The only problems I had was when Grace got too close to the backlight, as the power couldn’t drop as a far as required at that point, but these instances were few and far between. With each light triggered in a different group, it also meant I could use the flash exposure compensation feature via the S1 Remote. Why would I do that when TTL was giving good exposures? Well, I actually wanted a little more punch to the ‘sun’, so it gave stronger highlights. All I had to do there, was select Group A and dial in +1.0. The second, mobile light was kept at 0.0, so that the exposure from it would be as metered.

How can you position your lights when the subject is always moving? Enter the human light stand!

Right Because of the overcast day on which we were shooting, using one flash as a stand-in for the sun helped give some moderate backlighting, while the second light filled in the shadows on Grace. Far Right You can see how underexposed Grace’s face is when the lights aren’t used, as well as the lack of highlight in her hair.

Above Shooting in TTL exposure mode, the backlight power was upped to +1.0EV to give the look of a sunny day. The fill light was carried by her dad to keep it at her front.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Technique

To get Grace looking in the right direction, it was necessary to bring out the big guns – Peppa Pig on an iPad

The gear we used Above Using an unmodified octa softbox and reflector the lighting is simple, but a little bland. Left With the octa softbox equipped with a grid and turned away from the wall slightly, the light stays soft but is more directed, giving more shadow in the background. Here, a backlight is also used to add some separation. Below Without the backlight and with the reflector turned around to use its black deflector side, light is pulled out of the scene for a more subdued look. Bottom Holding a distraction means you can direct the subject wherever is required. In this case, Peppa Pig draws a mixture of fascination and smiles.

For this month’s Lighting Academy technique I used a pair of Interfit S1 heads (£799 each). The S1 is a highly flexible and adaptable flash, equally at home in the studio, or on location thanks to its twin power modes; it can be used in DC mode via its rechargeable Li-ion battery and this gives well over 300 full-power flashes per charge; or in AC mode through the included adapter, plugging in like any other mains model. Also of great use in the techniques were the S1’s wireless functions that are activated through the S1 Remote accessory (£80); this operates at distances up to 100m and allows full TTL (Canon E-TTL ll and Nikon i-TTL) metering, as well as allowing power to be set manually over 7 stops in 1/10 stop increments. At the full-power setting, the maximum output is 500Ws, but more importantly it’s easy to set the lights to different power levels right from your shooting position so you have full control over the contrast ratio.

Above Although precise set-ups can be difficult to achieve with children, you can use them in peaceful moments, or where distractions are applied. After Grace had let off some steam in the garden, it was time to try something more sedate indoors. For the second set-up, I wanted to light her sat on a chair in a formal way and with a plain background that contrasted with her colourful toys and outfit; this is where the power of distraction helped. I started off with just one S1 head and an octa softbox positioned so that it was angled down on the chair to create a pool of light and some shadows across the wall in the background. I got this basic set-up working while Grace was otherwise entertained. Shooting in manual (M) exposure mode this time due to the more controllable environment, I set the exposure to 1/160sec at f/16, ISO 200, and took a flash meter reading from approximately where she would be seated, setting the flash power at 5.0 (1/8). Before bringing in Grace, I also set up a large silver reflector at about 90° to my shooting position to provide a little fill light, but also put the other S1 head in the same position, equipping it with a spill-kill reflector. The latter was set to Group B, but switched off via the remote. This meant I could jump between the light and the reflector without disturbing

her. As in the garden, the light to her front was set to Group A, so that I could fully control the ratio and therefore the amount of contrast. To get Grace looking in the right direction, it was necessary to bring out the big guns – Peppa Pig on an iPad. Grace’s dad held this in a couple of different positions, the most successful of which was right next to the softbox, which gave a slightly narrow look. This arrangement gave some good modelling light on Grace, which was improved as I turned the light gradually away from the wall to increase the shadow there. The effect improved further when I added a grid to the softbox as this localised it even more while retaining the required softness. The reflector worked fine, and obviously gave a more rounded look than using nothing in that position, but the effect wasn’t quite as strong as I wanted, so I switched on the second light, setting its power at a low 2.3 (1/64 and 1/3) setting. This gave a nice highlight to Grace’s hair and shoulder, and a slightly more upbeat feel to the image, but if subdued is what you want, it’s likely to be more effective with just the reflector, nothing at all, or a black deflector to draw out the light.

As well as the TTL mode, the S1 has a HighSpeed Flash mode that allows shutter speeds of up to 1/8000sec to be used. It has a solid build, too, with its casing made of aluminium rather than a plastic shell, but it’s still portable at 2.85kg including the battery. The head also uses Bowens S-fit style modifiers, so there are plenty of options there. interfitphotographic.com

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Camera test

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II Weeks after the Nikon D5 was announced, Canon came out with news of its flagship, the EOS-1D X Mark II. Both DSLRs are tested in this issue and here it’s the turn of the Canon Review by Will Cheung

Specs Price £5199 body only Sensor 20.2 megapixels effective with Dual DIGIC 6 processor Sensor format 35.9x23.9mm CMOS ISO range 100-51,200, expansion to ISO 50409,600 Shutter range 30secs-1/8000sec, flash sync at 1/250sec, B Drive modes Single, continuous low, continuous high at 14fps with full AE/AF tracking and 16fps in live view with mirror up and AE/AF locked on first frame, silent single, silent continuous high, silent continuous low and self-timer Metering system RGB+IR sensor with 360K pixels, 216-zone metering, with Evaluative, centre-weighted, partial or spot measurement with multi-spot option Exposure modes PASM Exposure compensation +/-5EV in 0.3, 0.5 or 1EV steps Monitor 3.2in, 1620k-dot, touch-sensitive LCD during live view and movie shooting Focusing 61 focus points with maximum of 41 cross-type and five dual cross-type at f/2.8. The number of cross-type AF points depends on the attached lens Video 4096x2160 with max duration of 29mins 59secs Full HD 1920x1080 with frame rate at 100 or 119fps Connectivity USB 3.0, HDMI type C, audio in and out, headphone socket, Ethernet Storage media 1xCFast 2.0 and 1xCompactFlash type 1 Dimensions (wxhxd) 158x167.2x82.6mm Weight 1340g body only Contact canon.co.uk

The original EOS-1D X had a resolution of 18.1 megapixels, could shoot at 12 frames-per-second with full auto-exposure and autofocus functionality, boasted a 61 AF point system with 41 cross-type sensors and had a top native ISO of 51,200. As you would expect, the Mark II has taken a significant step forward so resolution is up to 20.2 megapixels and the top shooting rate with AE/ AF working is 14 frames-per-second (I got 15fps from our sample) with 16fps possible in live view mode with exposure and focus fixed. Top native ISO is again 51,200 but expansion is to ISO 409,600 compared with the ISO 204,800 available on the Mark I. The Mark II’s AF system again features 61 AF points with 41 crosstype sensors but it is more sensitive down to –EV3 and there is much greater functionality with slower maximum aperture lenses. Shooting a long lens at f/8 (the 200-400mm f/4 with a 2x teleconverter, say) and you get all 61 points working with 21 of them cross-type.

Canon’s iTR AF (Intelligent Tracking and Recognition) system has also benefitted from the new metering sensor in the Mark II. The metering sensor is a 360,000-pixel RGB and IR design with 216 metering zones and, because this has three times more resolution than the original EOS-1D X, it achieves more accurate face and scene/subject recognition data to feed back to the intelligent AF system. In terms of feel, ergonomics and heft, the EOS-1D X Mark II is more or less the same as previous Canon pro models. There is obviously no point changing something that has proved to be very successful and widely appreciated – the large rear command dial has been spot on since its inception. The rear thumb joysticks are more textured, the pentaprism is slightly larger to accommodate the new GPS unit and if you flip open the storage card door you will see a slot for a CompactFlash card and another for a CFast 2.0 card that you’ll need to get

There is obviously no point changing something that has proved to be very successful and widely appreciated more of the camera’s high shooting rate. For this review we used a SanDisk CFast card. With CFast cards Canon claims the camera has a continuous burst rate of 170 Raws and if shooting JPEGs you can keep your finger pressed on the shutter button until you fill the card. Certainly on this test there is no reason to doubt Canon’s veracity in this respect. If discretion is more important than outright speed the Mark II’s quiet mode works up to five frames-per-second. Shooting lots of frames is one thing but those frames need to stack up in terms of image quality too. No worries here with Canon’s 20.2-megapixel

CMOS sensor which claims excellent high ISO performance and features gapless micro lenses for enhanced low-light performance. It is fitted with a low-pass filter and Canon’s integrated cleaning system. It is also the first full-frame sensor from Canon with the Dual Pixel CMOS sensor for touchscreen AF operation during movie shooting. Speaking of which, the Mark II allows 4K shooting to 29mins 30secs and high frame rate shooting at Full HD at 100/120p. The touchscreen functionality is excellent and works very well in accuracy, responsiveness and sensitivity and is very much a boon for movie shooters.

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Camera test Performance: ISO The EOS-1D X Mark II’s native ISO range is 100 to 51,200 with expansion to ISO 50 at one end and ISO 409,600 or H3.0 at its other extreme. Our test shots started life as Raws and were processed in Adobe Lightroom with no noise reduction applied. Full-frame image

Perfectly clean images are possible up to ISO 1600 and noise only starts to have an impact after this point. Noise levels at ISO 3200 are acceptable and easily reduced during processing and detail remains crisp and well defined. The noise itself is neutral and filmic and evident in areas of smooth tone. It’s much the same at ISO 6400 but just more of it – although image quality is still good enough for serious use and for enlargement to A2 and more if some noise reduction is used during processing. I used Lightroom’s NR and Macphun’s Noiseless Pro.

Beyond ISO 6400 and whether those speeds are good enough for critical use depends on the situation because noise levels are high and detail suffers. Venture into the expanded ISO settings and you are into the realm of higher noise, poorer D-Max and less saturated colours but if you need sharp pictures in dire lighting then you have no choice. Despite the fall-off in quality the images at ISO 102,400 are still remarkably good considering the stratospheric sensitivity but I probably wouldn’t go any further.

ISO 100

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

ISO 25,600

ISO 51,200

ISO 102,400

ISO 204,800

ISO 409,600

Performance: High ISO Noise Reduction

No noise reduction

Low NR

The EOS-1D X Mark II has a native ISO range of 100 to 51,200 with expansion to ISO 50 and H3.0, equivalent to 409,600. In-camera high ISO noise reduction for JPEGs is available at three levels, low, standard and high. These sets of shots were taken at ISO 6400, 12,800, 25,600 and 51,200. These shots were taken at The Cisterns in Copenhagen. It’s a former underground reservoir for the city and it is now an art and event venue. For more details see cisternerne.dk. The images are straight-outof-the-camera JPEGs shot at ISO 25,600 using an exposure of 1/30sec at f/2.8 with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

Standard NR

High NR

Full-frame

From our test the standard setting gives a fine balance of lower noise without overly impacting on detail rendition. The high setting seems a little too much and while the noise is very low fine detail has a more smudged appearance which may not suit everyone’s taste. The low setting is the one to go for if you don’t mind a more filmic grain texture without your image looking too aggressive.

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Camera test Performance: autofocusing These test shots were taken at a Canon event at a film studio specifically designed to test the EOS-1D X Mark II’s autofocus skills.

Cops and robbers The bad guys in the BMW were being chased by the police while special effects guys set off an explosion in the background. The cars started from around a bend

Exploding man In this shot, the stuntman ran up and launched himself off a trampoline hidden behind the oil barrels and an ‘explosion’ set off at the same time. Shot with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 112mm. The exposure was 1/2000sec at f/6.7 and ISO 800 with the camera in manual mode. Case 1 and Zone servo AF was set with the active area placed in the upper half of the frame where the stuntman’s head was going to be. In this sequence, 24 shots were taken in high continuous shooting mode from the stuntman on his run up to him landing safely.

and were probably not doing much more than 40mph at their fastest. These shots were taken on the Mark II fitted with a 300mm f/2.8 lens using an exposure of

1/1000sec at f/5 and ISO 800. Autofocus was set to Case Study 1 and the drive to 14 frames-persecond continuous shooting. In this sequence, 45 shots were taken.

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Camera test Original image

-4EV

-3EV

-2EV

-1EV

0EV

+1EV

+2EV

+3EV

Performance: Exposure latitude To get an idea of how much flexibility Raws from the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II can take, I shot nine frame brackets (manually) in various scenes including full sun and shadow-dominated subjects. Large JPEGs were shot at the same time to see how much latitude we had there too. In manual exposure mode and with reference to the histogram, the determined settings for the sunny scene shown here were 1/500sec at f/5.6 and ISO 100. From there, shots were taken to +/-4EV in 1EV steps. During Raw processing in Lightroom, each of the bracketed shots was adjusted to give the same exposure as the correctly exposed shot. The resulting images were viewed on-screen at 100% and 200% to evaluate image quality. Overexpose by 4EV and you are not going to get a top quality result. Pulling the +4EV Raw back gave very flat highlights but the shadow areas came up okay with little discernible extra artefacting. Overexpose a

shadowy scene by 4EV and you might away with it. Pulling the highlights on the +3EV shot was reasonably successful compared with the +4EV shot – still slightly flat and grey but with more diligent processing could be made to look acceptable. Recovering heavily underexposed shots was reasonably successful too. The -4EV shot went slightly magenta (easily correctable) and there was noise evident in the shadows but it wasn’t horrible by any means. The -3EV shot looked fine and while noise levels were still greater than the -2EV shot they were acceptable. In sum, the Raws dealt well with exposure abuse with files recoverable to a high level of quality to +/-3EV. The straight-out-the-camera +/-1EV JPEGs looked okay and with the help of Lightroom looked identical to the correctly exposed shot. In fact, the -3EV and +2EV shots could be improved giving better results than you might expect.

+4EV

Images To see how much adjustment Raw files from the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II can take, a sequence of exposures were taken to give a +/-4EV bracket in 1EV steps. Then in Lightroom, the files were corrected by the same amount as they were over or underexposed and the results assessed.

Verdict There is no doubt that the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II is a fantastic, hugely capable DSLR which, of course, is no more than you’d expect to read. It is simply very, very impressive in all departments especially with autofocusing and autoexposure. All round image quality is excellent too although its very high ISO performance is not the best in its class – one guess which DSLR manages to beat it. But it is still amazing what you get at ISO 12,800 and above. Features 25/25 Very well endowed whether for still or movie imaging Performance 24/25 Autofocus is incredibly good in a very wide range of situations

Above High-quality grab shots can be tackled in very low-light conditions. Here, ISO 12,800 allowed an exposure of 1/160sec at f/2.8 and the lens was the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 set to 63mm. Top right Girl on fire was a handheld scene taken using a 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom at 1/400sec and f/4.5, ISO 1600 and white-balance set to 3200K. Right middle Danish bike was shot with a 24-70mm zoom at 35mm and an exposure of 1/125sec at f/13. Bottom right Night scene. A handheld ISO 12,800 image taken using a 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom at 50mm with an exposure of 1/90sec at f/2.8.

Handling Intuitive, slick and simply great to use

24/25

Value for money Terrific camera but still a lot of money

23/25

Overall 96/100 The EOS-1D X Mark II sets new standards in Canon’s pro DSLR range Pros Fast and accurate AF, exposure consistency, high ISO performance, touchscreen AF during movie shooting Cons Expensive and bulky but what do you expect from a pro flagship Canon?

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test Specs Price £5199 body only Sensor 20.8 megapixels effective 21.33 megapixels total Sensor format Nikon FX 35.8x23.9mm CMOS ISO range 100-102,400, expansion to ISO 50-3,280,000 Shutter range 30secs-1/8000sec, flash sync at 1/250sec, B Drive modes Single, continuous low, continuous high (12fps or 14fps with mirrorup), quiet (up to 3fps), mirror-up and self-timer. Metering system RGB sensor with 180K pixels. Matrix, centre-weighted or spot measurement. Highlight-weighted metering

Nikon D5 It’s no coincidence that we see new professional DSLRs from Canon and Nikon in an Olympic Games year and here we cast a critical eye over Nikon’s latest flagship Review by Will Cheung

Exposure modes PASM Exposure compensation +/-5EV in 0.3, 0.5 or 1EV steps Monitor 3.2in, 2359K dot, touch-sensitive LCD in video shooting Focusing 153 focus points with 99 cross-type of which 55 or 15 are selectable. AF area – single-point, 25, 72 or 153-point dynamic AF, 3D tracking, auto area AF and group area AF Video 3840x2160 (4K UHD) 30p, 25p, 24p limited to 3mins in-camera, 1920x1080, 1280x720 Connectivity USB 3.0, HDMI type C, audio in and out, Ethernet Storage media 2x XQD or 2 CF Dimensions (wxhxd) 160x158.5x92mm Weight XQD model 1405g, CF model 1415g Contact nikon.co.uk

There’s the body choice of a dual XQD slot model or one with twin CompactFlash cards – there is no price difference. For maximum burst shooting capability you need XQD cards but with limited demand they are more expensive than CompactFlash.

Nikon says the D5 is its most powerful camera ever. That’s a bold statement but looking at its long list of highlights, it is fully justified. There’s a new FX sensor with a 20.8-megapixel resolution, the ability to shoot 4k video and an upgraded EXPEED 5 processor. Native ISO is a staggering 102,400 and it can shoot at 12fps – if you need more there’s 14fps although you lose the viewing and the exposure/focus is locked on the first frame. If that isn’t impressive enough the D5 has a new AF system with 153 points, 99 of these being cross-type. It’s working sensitivity is down to -4EV, and the metering sensor has 180,000 pixels. The 3.2in monitor has a 2.36 million dot resolution and it is the first pro-level DSLR to have touchscreen functionality. Add improved battery life, a buffer big enough to allow 200 Raw and JPEG files in a continuous burst and the D5 is a significant upgrade. The D5 will be available in two versions, one accepting two CompactFlash cards, the other two

XQD cards. If fast shooting and video recording are your areas of interest, invest in the XQD version. XQD, the CompactFlash Association replacement for CF cards, has a write speed of up to 500MB/s – the Sony card we used for this test has a claimed 350MB/s write speed. Despite internal improvements, the D5’s physical control layout will be familiar to anyone who has used Nikon’s deep-bodied pro DSLRs, but there are notable changes. The body is still weather-sealed, and has controls duplicated for upright shooting but the has gained an extra Fn button (Fn3) and an ISO button replaces the mode button on the D4s next to exposure compensation. It makes sense as changing mode is less common than altering ISO. Now it’s simple to adjust ISO with the camera up to the eye. I am always twiddling with ISO so the new layout does make a difference. Speaking of ISO, while the D5’s native range tops out at a mere 102,400, it can be expanded to H5.0. This is an incredible effective ISO

Even at the top end of the native ISO range you’re able to shoot handheld with action-stopping shutter speeds... of 3,276,800. But even at the top end of the native ISO range you’re able to shoot handheld with actionstopping shutter speeds in truly appalling light. While on the subject of speed, shooting an online stopwatch showed Nikon’s claims of 12fps and 14fps shooting with mirror-up are fully justified. Being able to catch such fleeting action with focusing and exposure changes at 12fps is remarkable. The new AF system keeps up with fast action and there are plenty of set-up options. Nikon has not gone for the case study approach that Canon has adopted so successfully, wherein the user can select the AF parameters to suit different types of action. The nearest it comes to this is in menu item a3 in the Autofocus menu where you can alter the AF response time when your subject is blocked by something in the foreground, and vary how the system copes with subject motion from erratic to steady. Obviously it depends how you want to work. If you prefer using single AF point selection and singleshot AF there’s either 15 or 55 crosspoints working and the rear joystick makes this procedure speedy and assured. You can have a movable group of four AF points or let the camera do the work in Auto. For action and continuous servo AF there are more options including

3D AF tracking. You can have a single zone working or groups with 4, 25, 72 or 153 sensor options. With a group of AF points you can move them around the 153 total sensors and how many are active depends on where the group is within the 153 sensor pattern. The whole working AF grid pattern is a central rectangle of the viewfinder so for focusing at the edge of the frame you’ll have to use AF lock and reframe. In live view, contrast-detect AF works anywhere on the screen and the AF point can be moved around by touching the monitor. Focusing with live view is swift but not as responsive as the phase-detect system. In normal shooting mode, AF speed, responsiveness and sensitivity rate very highly. Given the new exposure sensor, I expected great things. I shot in Matrix metering mode only and found the camera underexposing by 0.7EV. Checking the histogram proved this was not the monitor showing a darker image. Shooting exposure brackets confirmed the same. It wasn’t all the time, but enough to be noticeable. Battery has good capacity. I can’t recall the last time I did a camera review on one battery charge. I got 1629 frames and 26% of the battery was left. With image previewing, menu exploration and shooting video that seems a very good return.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test Performance: ISO The D5’s native ISO range is 100 to 102,400 with expansion to the equivalent of ISO 50 and 3,276,800 (H5.0). The D5 is the first camera with this incredible ISO range. Out of curiosity I started with the expanded settings just to see what was actually possible from a shooting perspective. The remarkable thing at H5.0 is that you can run out of apertures and shutter speeds even in very low light. A scene needing a shutter speed of 4secs at ISO 100 is 1/8000sec at H5.0 – that’s 15 stops more. What is unsurprising is that the image quality at H5.0 is very poor. Just look at our test image with virtually no detail and just digital noise and a green colour cast. But then if you are in lighting that demands this level of ISO you’re probably grateful even for a smudgy image. Drop down the expansion range and it’s difficult not to be impressed with the D5’s ability. At H1.0 (ISO 204,800) and H2.0 (ISO 409,600) and there’s plenty of noise but there is detail too. If you have to get the shot come what may and the light is that bad, you’d be grateful for the D5’s high ISO skills. I processed ISO 51,200, 102,400, H1.0 and H2.0 Raws through Macphun’s Noiseless

Full-frame image

Pro and made A3 prints from the resulting files. You wouldn’t hang them on your wall, but they are still very impressive given the low lighting. Drop down the ISO scale further and obviously the image quality gets better all the time, so then it is a matter of deciding which ISO level is your limit when image quality is critical. If push came to shove, I wouldn’t get too stressed if the situation demanded I use ISO 12,800 or 25,600 because with some sympathetic processing the results are remarkable. Current DSLRs and CSCs, in the main, have very good ISO performance and shooting at ISO 1600 or higher, and getting exhibition-quality images is perfectly feasible. But the D5 has raised the bar even higher and it delivers high-quality images at ISOs that we could only fantasize about a few years ago. We haven’t even shown the D5 test shots at subISO 1600 because there is so little difference between them. If you are studio-based shooting flash this aspect of performance has no interest, but then this camera is unlikely to be your cup of tea either. But if you do need to eke out very high quality when the light levels drop, the D5 has enormous appeal.

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12,800

ISO 25,600

ISO 51,200

ISO 102,400

ISO 204,800

ISO 409,600

ISO 1,638,400

ISO 3,276,000

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test Performance: autofocus The D5’s system is first class as you would expect – fast, responsive and accurate. It’s sensitive too with the central AF point working down to -4EV and all other points down to -3EV. With -3EV equating to 8secs at f/1 at ISO 100, this is very sensitive and (roughly) in the order of a moon-lit scene. I did some night shooting with the D5 when testing its ISO performance and AF down to EV2 (equivalent to 16secs at f/8, ISO 100) was still working accurately so long as the AF point had some detail to lock onto. More relevant to the typical prospective D5 user, the camera also showed itself very capable with the various action/fast-moving subject situations we pitted it against – traffic, fairground rides, rugby, cycling and trains. In the example below, shot using a modest Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 set to 300mm we got 22 frames shot at 12fps – all sharp – of a passing Grand Central train on the East Coast main line doing around 80mph. The metered manual exposure was 1/1500sec at f/5.6 at ISO 400 and focusing system was set to 25-point dynamic servo AF. The enlargement from the last shot of this sequence of the engine’s number below shows how well the D5’s AF system managed to track focus on this non-stop train.

ISO 51,200 No High ISO NR applied

ISO 51,200 Low High ISO NR

ISO 51,200 Normal High ISO NR

ISO 51,200 High High ISO NR

Performance: noise reduction Shoot JPEGs at high ISO levels and the D5 has a selection of high ISO noise-reduction settings to minimise the grain effect produced. In this twilight scene, shot using a Nikon 24-120mm f/4, even ISO 12,800 needed an exposure of 1/10sec at f/8 so you can appreciate it was pretty dark. I took sets of shots at ISO 12,800, 25,600, 51,200 and 102,400 using no, low, normal and high noise-reduction settings. The images here are at ISO 51,200 and are straight out of the camera with no further noise reduction in software. Choosing the best noise reduction setting to use is often a balancing act and you have to get to the point where noise is reduced effectively but where detail isn’t overly affected. Too much noise reduction can also give strangely smooth shots that simply don’t look natural. On the D5, I’d be happy with the normal or high settings. The high setting on some models can be overly aggressive but on the D5 it’s impressive because noise is significantly reduced and fine detail is still visible.

A blow-up from the last shot

Left The Thames Barrier from the north of the river shooting into the light with an exposure of 1/250sec at f/11 and ISO 200. Above Shot with a 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm and 1/350sec at f/16 and ISO 200.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test Original image

-4EV

-3EV

-2EV

-1EV

Correct

+1EV

+2EV

+3EV

Performance: exposure latitude One of the key reasons why photographers shoot Raw files is the ability to push and pull exposure to get better shadow and highlight detail. That control is important but there is obviously a limit to how much remedial work you can do before your image quality starts to take a nosedive. To get an idea of how much abuse D5 Raws can take, I shot nine-frame brackets in various scenes including full sun and shadow-dominated subjects. In manual mode and with reference to the histogram, the determined exposure for the sunny scene shown here was 1/30sec at f/16 and ISO 100. From there, shots were taken at +/-4EV in 1EV steps. During Raw processing in Lightroom, each of the bracketed shots was adjusted to give the same exposure as the correctly exposed shot. Underexposure, with fewer levels to work with, is always a challenge and here underexposing by 2EV means noise in the shadows starts to appear and is discernible at 100%, but it’s not too obvious. By -3EV noise is much more evident. With overexposure, +2EV was recoverable and the images looked exactly like those correctly exposed. At +3EV and highlights start to look flat and any detail in those highlights are beyond recovery. I did exactly the same set of exposures with a Nikon D810. Raw files from this camera have similar tolerance to overexposure, about 2EV, but were more forgiving to underexposure. A D810 Raw underexposed by -4EV gave better results than a D5 Raw underexposed by -3EV.

+4EV

Images To see how much adjustment D5 Raw files can take, a sequence of exposures were taken to give a +/-4EV bracket in 1EV steps. Then in Lightroom, the files were corrected by the same amount as they were over or underexposed and the results assessed.

Verdict The D5 body comes in at £5199. It’s also big and designed for shooting speed rather than ultimate image quality, so it’s not the camera for everyone. But if you do need a speed machine not just in pure continuous shooting terms but also in respect of high ISOs, the D5 is the one for you. It’s hugely capable, built to withstand the most arduous conditions and turns in more than respectable image quality even at its stratospheric ISO settings. 25/25 Features Difficult to think what more an action/sports pro would need – wider AF coverage perhaps 24/25 Performance Very good in every department and loses a point for occasional exposure inconsistency

I managed 1629 shots in my test and in a wide variety of lighting situations. Above Poplar DLR station footbridge shot at the 24mm end of a 24-120mm zoom with 1/160sec at f/11 and ISO 200. Top right If the D5’s meter had any tendency it was to slightly underexpose in autoexposure. Here the scene was shot on a 24-120mm zoom at 105mm with 1/250sec at f/11 and ISO 200. Right middle Shot with a 24-120mm zoom at 48mm and an exposure of 1/90sec at f/4.8. Bottom right A grab shot using a 70-300mm zoom at 92mm with an exposure of 1/800sec at f/8 and ISO 400.

Handling Fast, intuitive, comfortable

24/25

Value for money You get a lot of camera for your money

23/25

96/100 Overall Nikon has really pulled out all the stops on the D5 and it’s an instant classic Pros High ISO performance, image quality, shooting rate, fast autofocus, handling, good viewfinder Cons Expensive and bulky but what do you expect from a pro flagship Nikon?

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Advertisement feature Fujifilm media

SUN27 first showing for Fujifilm’s new Professional Velvet Launched at this year’s Photography Show, Fujicolor’s Professional Velvet media is already finding favour with photographers and photo labs alike Cumbria-based interiors photographer John Baxter won Best Image at the SUN27 (Shot Up North) Awards recently with his compelling ‘room with a view’ picture (opposite) – and he did it with an innovative touch of ‘velvet’. John, who has made his living from photography for the past quarter of a century, says: “I believe that print quality today is more important than ever before. The presentation of work in any form of business is critical to success. My SUN27 winning image was output on the brand-new Fujicolor Crystal Archive Professional Velvet paper and I have to confess that the quality was just superb. The picture incorporates a fairly limited colour palette with subtle tones, which reproduced really well on this very convincing new product.” He adds: “Fujicolor Professional Velvet has a really creamy texture which is perfect for both black & white and colour prints – and the unreflective quality is ideal for both portfolio

and exhibition work. The thing is, I can never be quite sure what sort of lighting conditions my work will be viewed under – and with the Velvet paper finish also helping to diffuse the light it’s a great combination of qualities.” It’s a paper you can really put your finger on – Fujifilm has created a paper surface with strong resistance to fingerprints before and after processing. Notes John: “Every photographer knows that fingerprints can be really tricky to remove from prints without scratching, so the added protection layer on the new Velvet paper is a real bonus for us.” Alongside photographers, Fujicolor Professional Velvet has been catching the eye of some of the imaging industry’s most experienced lab professionals too. Lab views Genesis’s Ken Sethi (below) says: “Professional Velvet adds to the already successful range

Fujifilm’s Netherlands team celebrates the launch of Professional Velvet.

John Weldon, director at CC Imaging Ltd, comments: “We printed the SUN Awards exhibition images (some winners below) using Professional Velvet and were suitably impressed. It’s easy to work with; shows no fingerprints; it’s easy to clean and it’s virtually reflection free. Additionally, it has a good depth of colour and an excellent black rendition. It was universally well received by the participating photographers and visitors to the awards event in Leeds in November. For fine art prints it’s an excellent alternative to our usual ‘watercolour’ fine art paper and I think our ‘artistic’ clients are going to really love it.”

of silver halide papers that we have been using for C-type printing for many years. We constantly strive to innovate and this paper offers unparalleled diffusion of light and low reflections even under harsh or direct illumination – which is one of the reasons we decided to introduce it to our Lambda C-type printing service.” He adds: “There has always been a desire to reduce reflections on exhibited work and this new product has a remarkable matte finish without the requirement to laminate prints. It’s already a big success with our clients. “Photographers favouring the C-type process now have the ability to produce true matte prints that have a resemblance to some of the matte giclée papers on offer. “The new paper shares the same characteristics as alternative papers in the Fujicolor Crystal Archive range – including true continuous tone; long-term image stability; accurate colour reproduction – and, through our Lambda machine, we can produce ultra-sharp photographic digital C-type images with crisp edge-to-edge printing and absolutely no distortion. Prints are available in colour or black and white up to 1219mm (48in) in width and up to the length of an entire roll – 1968in. Velvet offers a new option – and that’s always a good thing.” And Metro Imaging’s creative director, Professor Steve Macleod believes Fujicolor Professional Velvet could provide ‘the missing link’ for some fine art photographers. Steve states: “I am delighted to see Fujifilm get behind the introduction of a new archival C-type paper. There is still both a demand for, and an appreciation of, archival photographic print media, and to have this stock added to the range is very encouraging. “Orchestrated by our client base, we have been searching for a paper that displays a dead matte, unreflective surface, a paper that absorbs light rather than reflecting it – creating a rich, textural finish. This paper does all these things and more – and we think that for some photographers this could be the paper that has been the missing link in their workflow.” Fujifilm’s Ton Reynders, technical market support manager (with the Project Team in the Netherlands, far left) says: “Our new paper for fine art prints features clearer, more distinctive print images and sharper text quality; a unique deep-matte surface; highest levels of image stability; expanded colour reproduction range ideally suited to commercial, wedding and portrait shooters – and, of course, the very important advantage of fingerprint protection. “This is an added value product and part of a new creative line-up we have in the pipeline.” fujifilm.eu/uk

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

First tests

First tests Accessories

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

Tether Table Aero System From £270 Shooting tethered and controlling the camera remotely, either wirelessly or hard-wired, is big business and all sorts of kit and software is available to enable you to do it. How you prefer to work depends on many variables such as what software you have, computer or tablet, your camera, your budget and how you prefer to work. There is no one-size-fits-all solution here. Realising that there are many ways to skin this particular cat, US company Tether Tools specialises in tethered shooting kit. Thankfully for us, the company’s products are currently distributed in the UK by Flaghead Photographic. I tried the Table Aero System but before getting down to the nittygritty of this particular kit, it is worth spending some time on the Flaghead and Tether Tools websites because there is a bewildering amount of kit on offer so you need to funnel down what you need. On the Tether Tools website there are a couple of excellent PDF downloads to help: Better When You Tether and The Ultimate Tether Guide. I went for the RSTAA4 Rock Solid Tripod Cross Bar to hold the laptop and camera via a separate ball head (not supplied). This is a lovely piece of kit and versatile too. There are four 3/8in screw threads to take

tripod heads, the two on the cross bar can be positioned to suit your needs and lock very firmly in position. The laptop itself sat on a TTAM13BLK Aero for MacBook Pro 13in, a shelf made from aerospace aluminium so lightweight and yet very tough. It features fittings for both 1/4in and 3/8in screw threads and can also be used on any standard lighting stand. Adding a foam cushion pad to stop the laptop sliding off, a USB 3.0 cable to link the camera to the iMac – because I was going for a hard-wired tethered set-up – and a JerkStopper Camera Support to take the strain off the cable-to-camera connection and I was in business. The build quality of the kit is excellent. Solid, the lock controls are big so they are easy to use and work very firmly. I tried this set-up with a still-life shoot with the cross bar fixed atop a tripod, added a ball head to hold the camera and then fitted the laptop shelf. It all felt safe and very solid. In a portrait shoot, the camera can be removed, while, with a suitably long cable, the laptop is left in situ. Alternatively simply use the Aero on its own on a lighting stand. WC flaghead.co.uk tethertools.com

Specs Prices Tether Tools RSTAA4 Rock Solid Tripod Cross Bar £111.39 Tether Tools TTAM13BLK Aero for MacBook Pro 13in £159.90 Tether Tools PDMAC-13 ProPad for Tether Table Aero for MacBook Pro 13in £13.83 Tether Tools TetherPro USB 3.0A/ Micro B4, 6m cable £42 JerkStopper Camera Support £13.83

Verdict The complete set-up I tried (outlined in the Specs panel) costs in the order of £340 but I went for a full set-up. You can just go for the laptop table (various sizes are available) to use on a lighting stand you already have. It really depends on what you have in mind and what other kit you intend to use. Whatever Tether Tools kit you decide to buy, there is no doubt that the build quality is excellent and the concept is well thought through and performs well too.

Images Build quality of Tether Tools kit is first rate and should withstand everyday use and the abuse it’s likely to get in working studio environments. Ergonomics are good too and everything locks firmly and positively without any play.

Pros Build quality, versatility, simply works effectively Cons A versatile system is not cheap but it’s designed to last

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

First tests

Plustek OpticFilm 135 £250 Film is seeing a revival and of course many photographers (me included) are sitting on an archive of film images just waiting to be scanned. So the market for film scanners still needs to be satisfied and the OpticFilm 135 from scanner specialists Plustek is the latest to be launched. At £250, the unit comes with film holders, software and cables so basically it is a ready-to-go box. I tested our sample on a late 2012 2.3GHz Intel Core i7 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM and plenty of hard drive space. Getting the unit set up and running could not have been simpler and minutes after unpacking the unit, the supplied QuickScan Plus software was open and I was loading the supplied film holders. These holders are excellent quality and substantial yet easy to use. With film strip holders keeping the film as flat as possible is important and the

Specs In the box Scanner, 2 film holders (mounted and unmounted negs/slides), USB cable, mains cable, software CD, quick-start instructions System requirements Windows: 7, 8, 10; 2GHz or faster processor; 2GB RAM, 4GB RAM recommended; 10GB free hard drive space; CD/DVD drive or Internet connection Mac: OS X 10.8 or later; 2GHz or faster Intel processor (not PowerPC); 2GB RAM, 4GB RAM recommended; 10GB free hard drive space; CD/DVD drive or Internet connection Image sensor CCD Light source LED

Plustek holders certainly delivered on that front. If you plan to scan panoramic images, you will need an optional film holder as the supplied ones don’t suit. Offer the loaded film holder to the load slot of the scanner and the unit takes over and correctly positions the holder in a matter of seconds. You are now ready to scan. The software interface is very clear with the options of positive, negative or custom and then various resolution, save and file name options. The maximum resolution is 3600ppi and the lowest 600ppi. Click on the Scan button and the unit starts up. There is no prescan option so you can’t make any corrections prior to scanning. Four

Above The original Fujichrome 50 slide was shot under industrial lighting hence the green colour cast and it was taken on a tripod so it’s perfectly sharp. Scanned on the OpticFilm scanner the eight-bit file is 47MB and measures 41x27.6cm at 300ppi. No unsharp mask has been applied to the image in Photoshop and scan quality is good even under critical inspection.

Optical resolution 3600ppi Scan modes Colour 48-bit input, 24/48-bit output; greyscale, 16-bit input, 8/16-bit output Dynamic range 3.4 Scanning speed 205secs at 3600ppi Scanning area 35x226mm Interface USB 2.0 Weight 1.59kg

slides or a strip of six negatives is scanned at the highest resolution in 220secs, so speed is good. A health warning here: the scanner does emit a high-pitched whine during scanning. If your computer is in the living room and the family is trying to enjoy the snooker you might get something thrown at you. The software has no cleaning function so make sure you give your originals a squirt of air to remove as much surface debris as you can. After scanning you can select images to be saved (a select all or deselect none option would be handy here) or you can edit the scans. There are two options, Effect or Adjust. Under the Effect menu are items like LOMO, Night and Portrait with strength options under each one. In Adjust you can alter contrast and brightness among other options. If time is not an issue you could do these in Lightroom/ Photoshop but if you just want to get your images onto Facebook, this software is okay. Scans can be sent straight to your Facebook, Picasa or Twitter account or saved to the hard drive which takes around 30secs.

My slides scanned correctly while my black & white negatives looked overexposed even though the originals were correctly exposed. Using the Adjust options to correct the scans met with limited success. My adjusted negatives just looked flat and grey whether I used the Auto Exposure option or the Advanced option where there is also Auto Optimisation. Not much joy in Photoshop either. This is where a pre-scan option would be handy so you can make sure you get the information you need rather than trying to recover what isn’t there. To get more from my mono negs I scanned them in colour mode to gather more data to work with. These scans ended up with a faint orange band running down the middle of the image, although this was not visible once the image was changed to a monochrome file. I tried a variety of mono films and the overexposed effect was consistent. I also tried a bracketed series of negatives and the 1EV underexposed shot looked nearly right after a little tweak in the Advanced section of the Adjust menu. WC

Dimensions (wxdxh) 175x259x104mm Contact plustek.com

Verdict There are few dedicated film scanners available nowadays and most seem to be from Plustek. The OpticFilm 135 is a good value, easy-to-use unit and well suited to quickly scanning your colour film originals to reasonable quality levels so it can be recommended from that standpoint. If you want ultimate quality, however, with cleaning software, 16-bit output, multi-scan capability and pre-scan flexibility, this is not the scanner for you. Finally, on my sample the mono scanning was disappointing and a software or firmware fix is needed. Pros Good price, easy to set up and use, build quality of the film holders Cons No previews, no cleaning function, editing controls basic, noisy, mono scans unconvincing

Left The supplied QuickScan Plus software is easy to navigate and use but there is not much control if you want it. There is no pre-scan option and the brightness controls in the Adjust menu are basic and not very useful although you can compare ‘before’ and ‘after’ images. In the edit options, aside from the Adjust menu, there is an Effect option where you can get effects quickly.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

First tests

Lee Filters 100mm ND grads from £86

Specs Prices & availability Seven5 Medium grad single filter (0.3ND to 0.9ND) £62.25 Medium grad single filter (1.2 ND) £93.38 Medium grad set (0.3ND, 0.6ND & 0.9ND) £166 100mm Very Hard and Medium grad single filter (0.3ND to 0.9ND) £86.23 Very Hard and Medium grad single filter (1.2 ND) £130.63 Very Hard and Medium grad sets (0.3ND, 0.6ND & 0.9ND) £215.60 SW150 Very Hard and Medium grad single filter (0.3ND to 0.9ND) £95.64 Very Hard and Medium grad single filter (1.2 ND) £143.46 Very Hard and Medium grad sets (0.3ND, 0.6ND & 0.9ND) £258 Contact leefilters.com

Images The Medium and Very Hard grads join Lee’s Soft and Hard filters to give scenic photographers even more options.

Medium

Resin filters can mark or scuff quite easily so the pouch is very welcome

Very Hard

Right To give you an idea of the pictorial effect of the new Lee ND grads we shot the same scene with six of the new filters. You would normally tailor filter choice to the scene but here we stuck to one scene. The shots were taken on a tripod-mounted Nikon D810 with a 24-120mm zoom at 70mm and a manual exposure of 1/50sec at f/11. These are out-of-the-camera JPEGs and white-balance was set to sunny daylight preset.

No filter

Neutral density filters are incredibly useful whether you shoot rural or urban scenes and Lee Filters is the brand of choice for many keen photographers. Lee’s grads are respected for their optical quality and consistency. They are hand dipped in its facility in England and it is because of this production method that the company can offer bespoke filters such as Medium and Very Hard grads in addition to its standard Soft and Hard versions. These were available to anyone who requested, and presumably paid, for the privilege. However, demand has encouraged Lee to make Medium and Very Hard grads available as standard offerings in its range and they’ve arrived for each of its various systems. The exception is Very Hard in the Seven5 system – the Hard grad has the same effect as the Very Hard version due to the smaller image size. It is a good move by Lee because the new options give photographers that extra creative control when the Soft grad transition is too subtle and the Hard grad not hard enough. This means you can darken the sky whether the horizon is clean and unbroken or if trees and buildings are protruding into it. It also means that you have more options when it comes to your aperture and lens choice. A wide-angle lens used at a small

aperture gives a more obvious tonal transition than at a wider aperture or a longer lens at the same aperture value. Thus, now if you want a stronger effect with a telephoto then you can slide in the Very Hard grad. Alternatively, if you need a smoother transition with a wideangle you can try the Medium. I tried the 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9ND Medium and Very Hard sets. A soft three-pocket pouch comes with each set, which helps protect the filters. Resin filters can mark or scuff quite easily so the pouch is very welcome. In terms of performance the filters work as described, giving effective results without impacting on lens quality or white-balance. Obviously it depends on what you actually like to shoot and personal taste, but I found I was getting most use from the Medium set and it does fill that gap when the Soft grad isn’t enough and Hard too much. The Very Hard grads are handy too, but the sharp transition needs careful use and scene selection. I found them especially useful when shooting with telephotos. WC

Verdict Having the extra creative options provided by the new Lee ND grads is very welcome and they will certainly prove popular additions to the filter collections of many photographers. For me, the Medium set is now a constant companion in my camera bag. Pros High quality, neutral, work as described Cons Price, resin filters mark easily

Medium 0.3

Medium 0.6

Medium 0.9

Very Hard 0.3

Very Hard 0.6

Very Hard 0.9

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

First tests

Fotospeed Signature range From £21.99

Run your (clean, dry!) fingers over the paper’s surface and you’ll hear a soft rustle

Four papers sit in Fotospeed’s Signature range offering a selection of surfaces that suit fine art and exhibition use. Each offers wide colour gamut, high D-Max and very clean paper bases. Our test here used an Epson Stylus 3880 printer with Epson inks and generic profiles

– these are free to download from Fotospeed’s website and are available for a wide range of printers. Custom profiles will enable even better performance. Photo black ink was used for Platinum Baryta 300 and matt black ink for the three other papers.

Smooth Cotton 300

Natural Soft Platinum Textured 315 Baryta 300

Platinum Etching 285

This is a gorgeously smooth matt paper and the base is a very clean white which helps sets off your richly coloured images really nicely. Its CIE Whiteness rating is 94, and it’s acid and lignin free for archival printing. Fotospeed in its blurb says this paper is good for highly saturated images and to be honest, that is exactly what I found. Where some matt finishes can lack punch, this material acquitted itself very well and if you like your colour images with a good bit of snap as I do, this paper could be for you. It works well with monochrome too and the blacks have an impressive depth for a matt paper.

Run your (clean, dry!) fingers over the paper’s surface and you’ll hear a soft rustle which tells you the finish is quite subtle. The base is slightly whiter and cooler than Smooth Cotton, just. The colour performance of Natural Soft Textured Bright White 315 (to give the paper its full name) is quite different from Smooth Cotton. With this material colour saturation has been turned down a notch or two and that is really obvious in vibrant colours. This look will suit portrait workers. For black & white images, though, you get deep blacks and white whites with the full range of greys in between.

Etching is 25% cotton and 75% alpha-cellulose and of the three matt finishes here is probably the most textured, although the effect is still quite delicate. If your images feature expanses of even tone, this texture shows through nicely, giving that arty feel. It’s 100% acid free too. Colour images reproduce accurately and with a good deal of sparkle but remain lifelike and natural looking. It certainly suits landscape images because greens and blues come out very pleasingly with plenty of life. Etching works well for black & white images too, with areas of deep shadow coming out solidly while still retaining detail.

A selection of test images was used. These are pictures used in previous paper and printer tests so are known quantities. An image of the X-rite ColorChecker Color Rendition Chart was also used. Prints were checked under a daylightbalanced light source,

Baryta 300 is currently the only glossy finish in the Signature range. The finish is more of a high sheen (unglazed gloss in darkroom parlance) than a high gloss so surface reflections are not an issue unless viewing obliquely. The finish is lovely and the paper base is faintly on the warm side with a CIE Whiteness rating of 100. The material deals with colour and monochrome images very well indeed. Colour saturation is high and natural subjects really sing out and look excellent. Fully toned black & white images come with plenty of contrast but without blacks blocking up and bright highlights hold detail very well.

Specs

Price A4 25 sheets £27.99 – £1.12 a sheet A3 25 sheets £57.99 – £2.32 a sheet

Price A4 25 sheets £24.99 – £1 a sheet A3 25 sheets £49.99 – £2 a sheet

Price A4 25 sheets £28.99 – £1.16 a sheet A3 25 sheets £57.99 – £2.32 a sheet

Price A4 25 sheets £21.99 – £0.88 a sheet A3 25 sheets £43.99 – £1.76 a sheet

Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in, 36in and 44in rolls, panoramic 210x594mm

Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in, 36in and 44in rolls

Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 17in, 24in, 36in, 44in and 50in rolls, panoramic 210x594mm

Availability A4, A3, A3+, A2, 24in, 36in and 44in rolls, panoramic 210x594mm

Weight 300gsm

Weight 285gsm

Weight 300gsm

Weight 315gsm

Verdict

A truly excellent paper that performs really well, giving very punchy results for a matt finish product. Feels great too. A lovely paper suited to fine art use.

Natural Soft Textured Bright White suits a more gentle approach so if you prefer a relatively understated colour performance this material will suit you well.

There is much to like about Baryta 300 and it performs very well indeed. Make your portfolio images on this lovely paper and you will not be disappointed.

Etching offers good value for money and if you want a lightly textured material that gives a more than capable colour performance this could be the one.

Pros Smooth finish, delivers excellent colours with punch, good blacks for a matt paper Cons Nothing

Pros Good for monochrome, subtle colour rendition Cons Not for those who like vibrant colours

Pros Deals with saturated and fully toned mono images very capably Cons The sheen might be too much for some

Pros Good price, vibrant colours Cons Surface texture might not suit all tastes or image types

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Accessories test Buyers’ guide

TAMRON all-in-one zoom lens

Your ultimate travel kit Tamron all-in-one zoom lens from £399

Sure, the beauty of owning a DSLR or CSC is that you can change lenses depending on the subject or style you’re shooting. But when you’re travelling you might not feel like you want to take all that extra glass with you, or you might not feel comfortable changing lenses. That’s where all-in-one zoom lenses come in, offering you a wealth of focal lengths. For full-frame DSLRs, look for a 28-300mm, which will cover landscapes to wildlife with just a few twists of the zoom ring. Try the Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD at £499, which comes in Canon, Nikon and Sony fits and features Piezo Drive (PZD) for a faster, quieter AF and Vibration Compensation (VC) for sharper handheld shots at slower shutter speeds. What’s more, it weighs 540g and is under 10cm long, so won’t fill up your bag and has a moistureresistant construction for greater protection from the elements. Offering even more scope, and designed for APS-C DSLRs, is Tamron’s 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro at £399. Still highly portable at 540g and available in Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts, the lens boasts the same PZD and VC features as the 28-300mm and gives an amazing 18.8x zoom – a full-frame equivalent of 25-465mm. Thanks to its close focusing distance of just 39cm, the lens also offers brilliant macro-style close-ups, so you can enjoy recording exotic details on your travels, too. tamron.eu/uk

Sigma fast wide-angle from £549

On our travels, most of us shoot a range of landscapes and architectural images, including interiors. In all these cases, and particularly the last, light levels can be unpredictable, which makes a fast lens a good option, especially if you want to avoid shooting at higherthan-usual ISO settings or don’t have the time/freedom to set up a tripod. For £549, the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM will give you plenty of

wide-angle scope on APS-C DSLRs, and has a maximum aperture of f/1.8 throughout the entire zoom range. This gives you the option of shooting handheld in low light and also filling the background with beautiful bokeh when shooting wide open. The lens’s nine-bladed aperture design helps with the latter, and image quality is kept high with a wide glass moulded aspherical lens. It’s available to fit Nikon DX and Canon EF-S DSLRs. If you’re looking for a wide-angle fast lens for full-frame DSLRs, try the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM A at £629. Available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma fits, this prime has an f/1.4 maximum aperture and its wide-angle view makes it perfect for urban landscapes and architecture. You might think a prime is restrictive when travelling, but shooting with one lens is an opportunity to refine your skills and this approach provides a consistent look and a coherent set of images. With very high image quality and low distortion, shooting at or near its widest setting, this lens is especially useful for shooting starry skies if you’re travelling to dark-sky locations, and for low-light scenes. sigma-imaging-uk.com

Nest Explorer EX100S £60

Sometimes all you need for a day’s shooting is a decent shoulder bag, especially if you have a small DSLR or CSC and don’t plan on needing too many lenses. Despite some clever tricks employed in backpack design in recent years, shoulder bags are also still the best way to keep your camera safe while getting to it fast. Offering excellent storage capacity and a comfortable carry thanks to its thickly padded strap and low 580g weight, the Nest Explorer is also a rather stylish number available in a vibrant blue, orange or green as well as the traditional black. The bag will swallow up a medium-sized DSLR or large CSC body with a lens attached and up to three more lenses, plus a flashgun. Via removable, velvet padded dividers, the main compartment can be customised, so you could carry larger kit, up to

£549

From

£399

Special trips require special gear to make the most of them, so seek out travelspecific photo equipment and other accessories that’ll bring back the photo goods wherever you’re headed 1

From

SIGMA fast wideangle

NEST Explorer EX100S

FUJIFILM X70

£60

270mm long, albeit less of it. The bag has several other small pockets internally for filters and cards, along with space for a ten-inch tablet. The main flap closes with Velcro so access to your camera is fast and although the bag’s outer is water-resistant 210D rip-stop nylon, it also has a rain cover included for any deluge you might encounter. nest-style.com

Fujifilm X70 £540

Whether it’s as your main camera or a backup to your CSC or DSLR kit, there’s a lot to be said for travelling with a high-quality compact. If it’s your only camera, it’ll cut down the size and weight of what you’re carrying, and if it’s a backup, it can provide alternative focal lengths or a shooting option in places where a DSLR would attract too much attention. If you’re after such an option, check out the Fujifilm X70, a beautifully designed, lightweight (340g) and feature-packed compact that uses Fujifilm’s excellent 16.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor and EXR Processor II as found in its X-Series CSCs. The X70 has a fixed focal length 28mm equivalent lens, so it’s a great fit for subjects that need

£540 the wide-angle treatment, but if you need to crop tighter, there’s a digital teleconverter, that effectively gives you three lenses in one; 35mm and 50mm can be set via a control ring on the lens barrel. The array of manual inputs, such as the shutter speed and exposure compensation dials and the aperture and focus rings, will please creative photographers, and being made from milled aluminium, they have a classic and prestigious feel, but the X70’s tilting LCD touchscreen is right up to date. fujifilm.co.uk

Lowepro Photo Hatchback BP 250 AW II £99

Like any other purchase, when you’re choosing a bag for travel, you should take into account what you’re using it for, and where. On some occasions you’ll be packing a lot of kit; others less so. Sometimes you’ll be heading to inhospitable climes; on others you might face the hazards of a city. For the latter, the Lowepro Photo Hatchback BP 250 AW II is an excellent partner. Made from lightweight but strong 210D nylon and 600D polyester, the bag weighs only 930g and is of the daypack design, letting you safely store photo kit in the lower section

while using the top for regular items. Gear is accessed from a body-side opening so it’s not only more secure, but also lets you lay the bag down on its front, so any moisture will stay there and not get on your clothes once it’s donned. Capacity stretches to a DSLR with a typical 18-105mm zoom attached, plus a couple of extra lenses and accessories, and kit is safely gripped by modular dividers. In addition to the main all weather cover, the camera compartment has its own storm flap for added protection. By removing the padding the bag becomes a regular rucksack, and there’s also room for a ten-inch tablet or notebook, which sits suspended in an elasticated ‘CradleFit’ pocket. Stretchy mesh side pockets allow extra items to be fitted in and at 29x23.5x50.5cm it’s within most carry-on luggage restrictions. lowepro.co.uk

Hähnel HL-EL15 £39

So you’re on a once-in-alifetime trip and obviously taking a lot of pictures. That’s going to take its toll on your camera’s battery, especially if you’re using power-hungry features like live view or image stabilisation all day.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Accessories test

LOWEPRO Photo Hatchback BP 250 AW II 5

£99

HÄHNEL HL-EL15 battery

£250

AADUKI camera insurance

£99

4V DESIGN Lusso camera strap

£39

VANGUARD Veo 265CB

8 10

£96 per year Long exposures, in low light or for landscape effects, and working in cold conditions will also suck the power. That’s where it’s good practice to carry a spare. You can take both out with you, or leave one charging. Hell, get three! Anything is better than running out when things are getting good. You don’t need to stick to your camera brand’s replacement batteries either, as more affordable options are available from many third-party manufacturers like Hähnel. For instance, the Hähnel HL-E15 fits plenty of Nikon DSLRs, including the D7200, D800, D810, D610 and D750, and the Nikon 1 V1 CSC, and costs £39, while Nikon’s own EN-EL15 will set you back £59 at most retailers. Some camera manuals might warn you off third-party versions, but there’s no evidence to suggest reputable companies’ versions are any less efficient. hahnel.ie

Aaduki camera insurance from £96 per year

Got your passport? Bag packed? Holiday insurance? Good. How about camera insurance? Oh… Well, you might want to check what your existing travel insurance actually

BENRO Mach3 MMA38C carbon-fibre monopod

£79

From

includes, because chances are it won’t cover your EOS 5D Mark III much past its ankles. The problem isn’t only the location, but the maximum value of single items. Then there’s the unknowns of travel, the conditions, and how safe your gear is going to be. The solution is simple: get some dedicated photo insurance. There are several good providers of camera specific cover out there, but the specialist photographic cover provided by Aaduki is second to none. Annual premiums begin at £96 (which covers up to £3000 worth of kit), so you can be covered against all sorts and enjoy peace of mind on multiple trips. There’s more extensive cover available and packages include up to £2 million in public liability cover. aaduki.com

4V Design Lusso camera strap £79

Sure, unless you bought it from a car boot sale, your camera most likely came with a strap. Is it the best strap you can get? Probably not. And if you’re using your camera for long periods, as you will be when documenting a trip to a once-ina-lifetime location, the higher the quality of the strap you use, the less

likely you’ll be to notice the weight of the camera hanging from your neck. What’s more, a third-party strap is a good way to get away from advertising what camera you’re carrying, when you want to avoid attention. Enter the 4V Design Lusso. Made of very nice supple leather, subtly embossed with the company’s logo, the 4V Design Lusso features 4V’s Ultra-Grip Technology on its underside to keep the pad perfectly in place. The pad is also filled with memory foam so it has an excellent cushioning effect with the weight nicely spread. The strap itself is a generous 20mm wide and has a pleasingly soft cotton feel, while it can be extended from 100 to 132cm. The strap ends in 100% polyamide attachment bands, which are designed to be durable and resistant to cutting, and just like a regular strap, it comes with small leather protectors to prevent it scratching the camera body. 4vdesign.it/en

Vanguard Veo 265CB £250

You might have a tripod already. You might have two. But it’s always worth considering a model specifically designed for travel. These tend to be smaller and lighter,

so they’re easy to pack along with your luggage, and to carry around all day. Picking the right travel tripod can be the difference between taking it with you and leaving it behind, and missing out on important shots. In terms of weight, it’s always good to pick a carbon-fibre model compared to a regular aluminium type, which will cost more, but weigh a lot less. The Veo 265CB, at 1.50kg, is 10% lighter than the aluminium model but has the same load bearing capacity of 8kg. Like the rest of the Veo range, the 265CB features rapid centre column rotation to keep it compact and speed up set-up, and five-section legs which allow a maximum height of 150cm, but a folded length of only 39cm. The 26mm-width legs can be set at three different angles which makes low-angle shooting easier and aids striking on uneven ground, and there’s a low-angle adapter for macro or ground-level shooting. The 265CB also comes with a removable Arca Swiss compatible TBH-50 ball head, so you can take it off for packing and one leg has a soft rubber handle for an improved hold. If you’re shooting on snow or sand, the rubber feet can be swapped for spikes and there’s even a carry case included. vanguard.co.uk

Benro Mach3 MMA38C 10 carbon-fibre monopod £99

The only thing more certain than needing a tripod is that someone will tell you ‘you can’t take that in there’. Enter the monopod. Look, basically you can secretly slip one leg into places where three would be noticed. Sure, a monopod won’t help you shoot long exposures and time-lapses, but it will give you extra stability. The Benro Mach3 MMA38C is a four-section carbon-fibre monopod that will support up to 18kg loads, while each rubberised dustresistant twist-lock is strengthened by highly durable magnesium castings. It weighs 580g, extends to an impressive 158.5cm and packs down to 54.5cm, so should fit into an airline-friendly case with ease. There’s no head included, but that’s not unusual for a high-spec camera support and you can either attach your own head or screw it directly to the tripod mount on the camera. A pivoting rubber foot prevents unwanted slipping and allows you to angle the monopod to follow moving subjects. A foam pad aids grip as you shoot/carry/swish it about to disperse other tourists. benroeu.com

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Photography News Issue 32 absolutephoto.com

Technique Photo school

Camera class

Everyone has to start somewhere, even pros, so every issue we’re looking at the core skills every beginner needs. This month, how live view autofocus modes can help you and how to fix problem portraits in Photoshop

Words by Kingsley Singleton When you’re learning to shoot creatively, it’s natural to want to move away from on-screen, automated functions and take full control – and this applies to focusing, too. Getting to grips with different AF points, AF Areas and Modes is often done via the viewfinder and not the camera’s screen, one reason being that the contrast-detect AF used when in live view tends to be slower than the phase-detect method used via a traditional viewfinder. However, for certain types of subject and situation, there are lots of benefits to shooting using live view AF, and some of the speedy, automated features it offers can mean the difference between getting the shot and not. Here are a few of them… 1. Face-detection AF Most DSLRs, CSCs and compacts’ live view AF mode features Face Detection AF (also called Face Priority AF). This smart function seeks out the characteristics of human faces and automatically focuses on those. And while it’s still better practice to shoot formal portraits using a single AF point – especially if you want to focus on the eye, rather than the whole face – face detection comes into its own when you need to work fast. For spur of the moment shots, you can rely on face detection to pick out a face straight away, and with the focus point usually linked to autoexposure, it’ll also be metered to make the best of the subject in the frame.

For creative photographers, facedetection AF really comes into its own when shooting candid pics and when twinned with a camera that uses a flip-out screen like the Nikon D5500 DSLR. By using the screen you can compose with the camera away from your eye, thereby escaping some attention, while the camera takes care of singling out the subject. Most face-detect modes will also track the subject if they move or if you recompose the scene, but you may need to be in the continuous AF mode to do it. When there are two or more people in the frame, most face-detection modes will focus on the closest subject. Face-detection AF should automatically be selected when the exposure mode is set to the Portrait scene mode and you’re in live view, but if you’re shooting in one of the other modes, like program (P), manual (M) or aperture-priority (A or Av), it’s selectable from the AF Area menu alongside the usual options like wide area or spot. 2. Smile and blink detection Because of the way that it analyses the human face, a camera’s facedetection functions can do a lot more than just focus. Many cameras, like those in Nikon’s Coolpix range, feature further refinements, and while these aren’t meant to compete with the immediacy of composing and shooting manually, there’s no doubt of their usefulness when it comes to capturing fleeting moments and avoiding duff shots like ‘blinkies’. For example, the Nikon P900 compact has a Smile

Mode that, when activated, will automatically fire the shutter when the subject breaks into a grin. When in live view, this mode is found via the self-timer options and it will wait to fire the shutter until a smile is detected. This, of course, makes it especially useful for group shots when you need to get from the camera into the frame. In its Smile Mode, the P900 and cameras like it can even tell if the subject is blinking, taking two shots of a subject in quick succession, and only saving the version where the eyes are open. 3. Edge focusing One of their limitations of using phase-detect AF is that its target areas are physically locked to the location of the actual AF sensors. This means that if the position of the camera is restricted, for example when you’ve framed up and placed it on a tripod, you might find that subject falls between the AF points or more commonly, that it sits outside the group. In live view AF, the AF target area can be positioned anywhere across the entire frame and with great precision, right up to the edge, so if the place you want to focus is there, you just need to move it. To do this you’ll need to be in the selectable area mode and then move the target either using the camera’s four-way controller, or touchscreen if it has one. The area can also be enlarged and shrunk to make focusing easier. Next month: Get creative with multiple exposure modes

In association with

Above Face detection is useful when you need to work fast and not draw attention to yourself, such as street portraits, while smile-detect can help group pictures. Above Live view AF uses the contrast in the picture to focus so it’s not limited to a physical position as phase-detect sensors are. That means any point in the frame can be used to focus, right up to the edge.

Software skills Fixing group shots Camera tech has come a long way, but it still can’t do anything about Murphy’s Law. That means, you’ll occasionally be faced with the apocalyptic situation of group shots ruined by blinking or gurning subjects. You can’t blame them for this, and the larger the group the more likely it is to happen, but fortunately there’s a method of dealing with it, and all it takes is a little bit of planning during shooting, and a quick bit of editing in Photoshop. The safety net is provided by capturing a burst of images, so you have several versions of the same shot. Within these you should be covered against blinks and unflattering expressions, the law of averages being that everyone should look fine at some point. With this set of pics, you can then bring out the best in everyone, simply by stacking them up in Photoshop, and then using Masks to hide the bits you don’t want and keep those you do. If you don’t want to use Masks, it works with the Eraser tool, but you do lose some editing freedom and it’s more difficult to correct mistakes. Next month: Make multiple exposures in Photoshop.

Shot 1 with blinks

Shot 2 with blinks

Shot 1 and 2 combined

1. Open and stack the layers

2. Mask away the blinkies

3. Crop and Save

Open the pictures that you want to combine, and on one of them go to Select>All then Edit>Copy. Back on the other picture, go to Edit>Paste. Open the Layers palette and you’ll now see two Layers called Background and Layer 1. If you’re using more than two shots, you can keep stacking them up in the same way. Shot fractions of a second apart, the pics should line up nicely, but if not, hold Shift and click the layer below to highlight both, then go to Edit>Auto Align Layers… choose Auto and hit OK.

Now click on Layer 1, so that it alone is highlighted, then go to Layer>Layer Mask>Hide All. A mask will appear on the Layer, and because it’s black the whole of Layer 1 is now hidden. To paint back in the parts you want, pick the Brush tool (B) and press D to set its colour to white. Set the Size and Hardness of the brush low so that you can work accurately, and with a soft edge. Now paint back the parts of the top layer that you want to use. Here it’s the gentleman on the right who has his eyes closed.

If you have more layers to use, they can be masked in exactly the same way. Finally, if the pictures were out of alignment you’ll need to crop the edges. Pick the Crop tool (C) and set its Ratio to Original Ratio. Now drag the corner handles to remove the white edges and click the tick when you’re done. Finally go to Layer>Flatten Image and then File>Save As… Save the picture using a new name, so that you don’t record over the original and have it on file for future reference.

Photography News | Issue 32 | absolutephoto.com

Competition

Editor’s letter

Creative kit

WIN!

A Samsung memory card! Capture life’s special moments across all devices with the ultra-reliable Samsung SD memory cards. Samsung’s latest SD cards can write data at an impressive 50MB/s and read data at an even higher 90MB/s. The cards are also amazingly reliable being water, temperature-, X-ray-, magnet- and shockproof, so shooting in the most challenging conditions isn’t an issue. We have one massive 64GB Samsung PRO SD card to award to an eagle-eyed winner. Just complete the wordsearch below, and you’ll find one word in the list that’s not in the grid. Email us on puzzle@photography-news.co.uk with that word in the subject box by 5 June 2016. samsung.com and search for memorycards A few years ago, many photographers sold their creative filter sets when they realised that similar effects could be emulated in Photoshop – and without juggling pieces of glass and resin out there in the landscape. To be honest, it wouldn’t have been the greatest shock if at the time names like Cokin and Lee Filters had dipped out of the camera filter market. But the thing is, software has not killed off the market for filters. In fact, it is a sector that seems in rude health. Two reasons I can think of explain this. One, some filter effects simply can’t be emulated in software so if you want that effect, you still have no option other than to apply the filter at the taking stage. The glare reducing, sky enhancing, reflection killing polariser is one such filter. Of course, the other filter that can’t be emulated in software is the extreme neutral density or long exposure filter – probably the best known is the Lee Big Stopper but they’re also available from B+W, Cokin and Hoya. The second reason is simply that using filters makes taking pictures feel like a craft again. Recognising that a filter is needed, picking the right one, positioning it correctly in the case of grads and then thinking about metering and the exposure to get the best result are all stages that make the capture experience all the more enjoyable, involving and, ultimately, rewarding. Personally, I have always used filters. And as I have been doing a lot more landscape shooting (specifically piers) recently my pack of Lee filters has been a constant companion. My selection of grads, extreme NDs and the polariser has seen quite a lot of action and that extra thinking time when using them has benefitted my compositions I am sure. In case you missed them, there are reviews of new Lee and Cokin filters in this issue.

My photography over the past few weeks has centred on DSLRs that most of us don’t need, but they are hugely significant, representing the pinnacles of technical achievement. Every four years, coinciding with the Olympics, Canon and Nikon introduce new flagships so this year we have seen the EOS1D X Mark II and the D5. Both cost £5199 body only, which means they are beyond the pockets of most people, but that doesn’t mean no one wants to read about them. On the contrary, there is great interest in them. I guess it’s akin to me reading about the very latest carbon-fibre road bike with go-extra-fast wheels that’s 10g lighter than the one I currently use and costs the earth. I’d never buy one, but I like to see what’s going on in the hope that some features will cascade down to products at my price level. Perhaps a relevant example here is the Nikon D5 and the D500, which share the same AF systems despite the huge gulf in price. I loved reviewing (who wouldn’t?) these two incredible DSLRs and their performance was something to behold, especially in the AF department. One thing that it did reaffirm is just how massively superior DSLRs are compared with CSCs when it comes to autofocusing. Now before you Olympus, Fujifilm and Sony users get all uppity and start to organise a lynch mob, that’s easily proved. CSC autofocus is undoubtedly improving with every firmware update and camera but it’s not DSLR like yet and why should it be? It’s newer technology so it’s playing catch up. Anyway, until next month, cheers for now.

Register on absolutephoto.com and you can read Photography News online on your smartphone, tablet or computer as soon as it’s published.

news

ISSN 2059-7584 When you have finished with this newspaper, please recycle it

Battery Camera Children Course

Club Filter Grad Insurance

Advertising Team

Design Team

Editorial director Roger Payne

Sales director Matt Snow 01223 499453 mattsnow@bright-publishing.com

Design director Andy Jennings Senior designers Mark George & Laura Bryant Designer Katy Bowman Junior designer Lucy Woolcomb

Contributing editor Kingsley Singleton kingsleysingleton@bright-publishing.com

Senior sales executive Krishan Parmar 01223 499462 krishanparmar@bright-publishing.com

Features writer Jemma Dodd jemmadodd@bright-publishing.com

Key accounts Mike Elliott mikeelliott@bright-publishing.com

Senior sub editor Lisa Clatworthy Sub editor Catherine Brodie

Manual Noise Reduction Scanner

Sensor Tethered Travel Wide

If you do not want to receive any marketing information from Bright Publishing or our partners, in your email entry please type NO INFO.

Editorial Team Editor Will Cheung FRPS 01223 499469 willcheung@bright-publishing.com

Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire, CB22 3HJ www.bright-publishing.com

Adapter Angle Autofocus Backpack

Read Photography News online

Photography

Publishing Team Managing directors Andy Brogden & Matt Pluck Head of circulation Chris Haslum As well as your local camera club, you can pick up Photography News in-store from: Calumet, Cameraworld, Castle Cameras, Jessops, London Camera Exchange, Park Cameras, Wilkinson Cameras

Photography News is published 13 times a year by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ. No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Photography News is a registered trademark of Bright Publishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Photography News that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. While Bright Publishing makes every effort to ensure accuracy, it can’t be guaranteed. Street pricing at the time of writing is quoted for products.