Smartphotography201212

REVIEWED: PANASONIC LUMIX GH3 ● PANASONIC LUMIX FZ200 ● NIKON COOLPIX S800C ● SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-S5000 ISSUE 9 VOLUME 08 DECEMBER 2012

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LEARNINGS

BASICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND PROJECT:TABLE TOP PHOTOGRAPHY IN YOUR OFFICE SILVER EFEX PRO 2 PHOTOSHOP’S HIDDEN GEM - PIXEL BENDER BLACK & WHITE CONVERSION GIVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY A TILT!

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AND

AWARDS

2013 Coming Soon...

In January

EDITOR Hoshang S. Billimoria TECHNICAL EDITOR Rohinton Mehta EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mathew Thottungal SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Sujith Gopinath COPY EDITOR Aswathi Nair Surabhi Rawat PHOTOGRAPHY Mahesh Reddy CREATIVE DIRECTOR Atul D. Bandekar DESIGN Ajit Manjrekar, Sanjay Awad, Ajay Paradkar PRODUCTION Dinesh Bhajnik, Deepak Narkar, Ravi Parmar PRODUCT MANAGER Perseus Master PUBLISHER Girish Mallya CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTION Sanjeev Roy (Asst. Operations Manager) Sachin Kelkar (Subscription Supervisor) HEAD OFFICE - MUMBAI 2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013 Tel: + 91 22 43525252 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: sp@nextgenpublishing.net SUBSCRIPTION Tel: + 91 22 43525220 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: subscriptions@nextgenpublishing.net NEWS STAND DISTRIBUTION India Book House, Mumbai 400 002, Tel: +91 22 2284626 Fax: +91 22 22835099 MARKETING OFFICES Ahmedabad Chandan House, 3rd Floor, Mithakhali Six Roads, Ahmedabad 380006 Tel: + 91 79 40008000 Fax: + 91 79 40008080 Bangalore #903, 9th floor, ‘B’ Wing, Mittal Towers, MG Road, Bangalore -560001 Tel: +91 80 - 66110116 New Delhi Plot No.225, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III, Okhla, New Delhi 110020 Tel: + 91 11 42346600 Fax: + 91 11 42346679 Chennai Unit No:20,Third floor, Modern Towers, 35/23 West Cott Road, Royapettah, Chennai 600 014 Tel +91-44-39149889/90/91 Fax +91-44-39149892.

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Richard G.C. +9199492 17127 Views and opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Next Gen Publishing Ltd. Next Gen Publishing does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without adequate postal stamps for return postage. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in part or full without the prior express written permission of the publisher. Printed by Girish Mallya, Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Published by Girish Mallya on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd, 1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20. Published at Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Copyright 2006 SMART PHOTOGRAPHY All readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. Smart Photography does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. The editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.

Editor – Hoshang S Billimoria

Welcome

A

s 2012 draws to a close, let us look back at the technologies/trends that emerged in the year as these are likely to shape the future.

1. It looks as if the majors are marching back to 35mm i.e. full frame sensors. At least 5 such D-SLRs were launched during the year. They are also making their D-SLRs smaller and lighter.

2. Convergence between phones and cameras is being taken to a new level. More and more cameras feature built-in Wi-Fi and Nikon’s Coolpix S800C even runs Google’s Android operating system.

3. The quality of video available from still cameras is steadily improving to the level where you can shoot 1920 x 1080 p video and send it straight away to YouTube.

4. Smaller and lighter mirrorless cameras are steadily increasing market share. And if you thought smaller sensors were no good, just see the review of the Lumix GH3 in this issue.

5. The cheap compact (under 8 MP, currently) is almost history, unable to face the onslaught from Smartphones. High quality compacts (like Sony’s RX 1) will have no problems.

H. S. Billimoria

HERE’S WHAT MAKES US

#1

WE ARE GLUED TO THE GLOBAL IMAGING INDUSTRY Our team is updated with all the benchmarks and road blocks that the field of photography and imaging across the globe experiences.

This helps us record the changes in the global perspective, thus making us the first to predict which products will be a rage in the Indian markets.

OUR TESTS ARE CONDUCTED BY EXPERTS All equipment go through a series of tests at the hands of our experts. Our reviewers are experts in the field of photography across the country and have many years of experience. That gives us the foresight to distinguish between a passing trend and a big change in the field of photography and imaging. And finally, our reviews are not extended to just fill up the pages!

WE’RE IMPARTIAL Loyalty towards our readers is a given, and their best interests are always on our mind.

Every verdict is honest and not influenced by advertisers or personal favorites. So when we say a product is a ‘BEST BUY’, then, it is just that!

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU There is no debate on why we are here. Our sole goal is to provide you options and better your judgement in product purchase while, sharing tips and tricks to improve your images.

Our biggest joy is in building a bridge between you and your perfect picture!

December 2012 Smart Photography

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Contents DECEMBER 2012

REVIEWED: PANASONIC LUMIX GH3 ● PANASONIC LUMIX FZ200 ● NIKON COOLPIX S800C ● SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-S5000 ISSUE 9 VOLUME 08 DECEMBER 2012

RS.100

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

INDIA’S NUMBER 1 IMAGING MAGAZINE! MASTERCRAFTSMAN

Shibu Arakkal ART & SOUL

REGULARS

LEARNINGS

BASICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKEND PROJECT:TABLE TOP PHOTOGRAPHY IN YOUR OFFICE SILVER EFEX PRO 2 PHOTOSHOP’S HIDDEN GEM - PIXEL BENDER BLACK & WHITE CONVERSION GIVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY A TILT!

10

Mail Bag

12

News Watch

32

Kaleidoscope

36

Picture of the Month

38

Showcase -

42

If I Were You

46

Ask Uncle Ronnie

52

MasterCraftsman - Shibu Arakkal

ALSO REVIEWED

OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60MM F/2.8 MACRO PORTRAIT PROFESSIONAL STUDIO

Cover Photograph : Rajesh Bhattacharjee

Just a moment!

Readers can find the updated Buyer’s Guide, log on http://smartphotography.in/ news/monthly-special Smart Photography thanks the readers who participate in the Picture of the Month contest.

We would like to bring to your attention a few changes in the rules for submission. From now on, you may send in your images with the longer side measuring atleast 17 inches. Please note that the images have to be horizontal. This permits readers to submit panoramic shots, which was not possible with the current size of 17 x 11 inches.

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Smart Photography December 2012

138

Tidbits

Rajesh Bhattacharjee

Contents DECEMBER 2012

LEARNINGS 60

Basics of Photography: Weekend Project:Table top Photography in your Office

64

Silver Efex Pro 2

67

Photoshop’s Hidden Gem - Pixel Bender

72

Black & White Conversion

76

Give your photography a Tilt!

REVIEWS

8

82

Panasonic Lumix GH3

88

Panasonic Lumix FZ200

92

Nikon Coolpix S800C

98

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

104

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro

106

Portrait Professional Studio

Smart Photography December 2012

Mailbag FREE OLYMPUS SUPPLEMENT WITH THIS ISSUE! ISSUE 8 VOLUME 08 NOVEMBER 2012

Smart

Photography SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

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INDIA’S NUMBER 1 IMAGING MAGAZINE!

FREE 16 PAGE OLYMPUS SUPPLEMENT WITH NOVEMBER 2012 ISSUE

MASTERCRAFTSMAN

Mahesh Shantaram Knotty Affair...

LEARNINGS

BASICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SETTING UP A HOME STUDIO DO COMMIT THESE MISTAKES! SNAPSHOTS

NIKON D600

REVIEWS

NIKON D600 OLYMPUS SP-620UZ AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300MM OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75MM PANASONIC LUMIX 12-35MM TAMRON SP24-70MM EPSON L800

Write to us at: Mail Bag Smart Photography, Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.

E-mail: sp@nextgenpublishing.net

Great news to share!

Happy Diwali to all SP readers!

I would like to share this very exciting news with Smart Photography and its readers. I recently secured the ’Highly Honored Winner’ award in the ‘Endangered’ category of the Nature’s Best Photography Competition, USA for the sixth time. My image was that of a Rhino and its young one taken at Kaziranga National Park, Assam. This esteemed competition received more than 20,000 entries from around the world. It feels great to have received this honour.

Thanks and Regards, Jagdeep Rajput

Black and White Melody in Riots ERRATA Our November issue featured a column titled “A DIY (Do It Yourself ) Photo Table” in the “Basics of Photography” section.

The measurement of the back frame was erroneously mentioned as 1 foot x 3 feet (30cm X 90cm). The correct measurement for the frame is: 2 feet x 3 feet (60cm X 90cm)- One piece. We apologise for the error and regret any inconvenience caused.

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We take great pleasure in announcing the mega show titled ‘BLACK & WHITE MELODY IN RIOTS ’ organised by THIRD EYE. The show will display Black & White photographs on canvas. This exhibition is to celebrate our 25th year. It will be conducted at Birla Academy, Kolkata, from 4th to 9th December, 2012 (3:00 to 8:00pm). Also, Black & White slides on various themes will be projected at 7pm daily by eminent photo artist Atanu Paul and the members of THIRD EYE. Hope we will get your warm support as always.

Thanks and Regards, Madhuparna Chatterjee, THIRD EYE

Smart Photography December 2012

News Watch International

SNIPPETS

Nikon develops three new 1 Nikkor lenses Nikon has developed three new 1 Nikkor lenses for its advanced camera with interchangeable lens system.

They are the 35mm mediumtelephoto fixed focal length lens with a fast maximum f/1.2; a 6.7-13mm f/3.5-3.6 ultra wide-angel; and a compact and light-weight 10X zoom lens 10100mm f/4-5.6 portable lens.

Sony plans to strengthen operations Sony is consolidating certain manufacturing operations as a part of its cost-cutting with the closing of one camera lensmaking plant. Sony already owns more than 11% share of lens-maker Tamron.

Panasonic forecasts a loss for the year 2012-13 Panasonic Corp. after eliminating 39,000 workers in 2011, about 11% of total workforce, forecasts a loss of 765 billion Yen in the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2013.

CEA announces its latest Ultra High-Definition The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) of USA announced the next generation of so-called 4K high definition industry technology for homes (giant screen TV with more than 8 million pixels of resolution), which will be called ‘ultra highdefinition’ or ‘ultra HD’. The technology will be displayed at the CES 2013.

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Smart Photography December 2012

Sigma to debut ‘Art Line’ 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Lens Sigma Corp. recently announced its latest SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, the first lens from Art line, which was showcased at Photokina this year. The company will launch this lens first for Sigma cameras at a suggested price of 123,000 Yen. The next release will be for the Canon mount; though the launch date for Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts are yet to be announced.

Casio markets its compact D-cam in Japan Casio Computer Co. has started the marketing of its latest flagship model Exilim EX-ZR1000, which was showcased at Photokina, from 11th November. The company is selling the model at around 50,000 Yen (US$625) in Japan; while the company announced it will carry a price tag of 299 Euro in Europe, as the European market is the most competitive.

Fujifilm launches FinePix F800EXR Fujifilm recently launched FinePix F800EXR, a 16-megapixel sensor compact camera with a 20X (25500mm) zoom lens which is capable of autofocussing in 0.16 seconds. The camera has a retail price of $349.95.

Some of its key features include a wireless transfer to a smartphone or tablet computer, an EXR back-side illumination CMOS sensor, 8fps continuous shooting, raw image capture, full 1080p HD movies, high speed movie capture at 320fps, 3-inch LCD screen, GPS functionality, and function button and a powerful built-in flash to name a few.

News Watch International

Nikon to launch Nikon 1 V2 Nikon Corp. has introduced the second version of its Nikon 1 interchangeable lens system camera in November.

The outer design is more like a conventional SLR camera, unlike the Nikon 1 V1, mounted with electronic viewfinder and strobe. The camera weighs 278g, the lightest in the lens changeable system camera with built-in EVF and strobe category, according to the company. The Nikon 1 V2 features newly-developed 1-inch 14.25-megapixel Super High-speed AF CMOS sensor and EXPEED 3A image processor, and advanced AF system and motion snap shot as the former Nikon 1 V1. High-speed continuous shot function is improved from the previous model to 15 fps in the AF tracking mode or 60 fps in AF fixed mode.

The V2 also has a newly introduced Slow-view mode which allows capturing images when the shutter release is pressed half-way and displays images on EFV or LCD monitor at a speed that is 5 times slower for an easy pick up of the best shot once the shutter release is pressed fully. This function helps the photographer to take a better shot of fast moving subjects.

The Nikon 1 V2 can store both high-resolution still images and movies simultaneously. It can use Nikkor lenses with optional mount adapter FT1, wireless transmission by way of optional mobile adapter ‘WU-1b’ or Eye-Fi card. Nikon also introduced dedicated speed light ‘SB-N7’, and dedicated lenses; the 32mm (86.4mm in terms of 35mm) F1.2, 6.713mm (18-35mm) F3.5-5.6, and 10-100mm (27-270mm in 35mm) F4-5.6. An Indian price is yet to be announced.

Miyamoto Mfg. announces lens mount adapters for Canon EOS M

Kenko Tokina launches macro ring flash

Miyamoto Mfg Co. announced a series of lens mount adapters for the Canon EOS M. The first lot includes the CFD-FE M for Canon FD mount lenses, the LM-FE M for Leica M mount lenses and the NF-EF M for Nikon F mount lenses. These adapters will sell for 19,950 Yen each; they are also available on the company’s online shop at a special price of 14,700 Yen. In the future the company will add the CY-EF M for Contax/Yashica mount lenses, the PK-EF M for Pentax K mount, the OMEF M, M42-EF M, the LR-EF M, and the EXA/TOP-EF M for Olympus M mount. It will also launch models with aperture ring for Nikon F G mount lenses, the NFG-FE M, the PDA-EF M for Pentax DA mount, and the Salpha-EF M for Minolta/Sony alpha mount lenses. Adapters with aperture ring will sell for 25,200 Yen. The launch dates will be announced later.

Kenko Tokina Co. has launched a macro ring flash unit dubbed ‘Soluis KSR-EF10’ for D-SLRs at a suggested price of 19,815 Yen. The ring tube attached in front of the lens enables one to take close-up pictures without unwanted shadows.

The main features of the macro ring flash include a guide number: 10; flashing modes of 5 manually available at 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 1/1; flashing frequency: 300 to 1000; recycling interval: 0.1-2 sec; flash duration: 1/300 sec to 1/5000sec; power source: 4 AA cells. Adapter rings of 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm and 67mm are provided with the product.

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Smart Photography December 2012

News Watch International Canon to release two interchangeable lenses Canon Inc. announced the release of two new interchangeable lenses for its EOS series SLR cameras, starting early December in Japan. Both models are compact and lightweight suitable for everyday use.

The first one is the EF35mm F2 IS USM lens, which has an image stabiliser in four steps with a full-time manual focussing; its closest

Sigma targets photo enthusiasts Sigma is set to target their compact system camera (CSC) lenses at serious photo enthusiasts rather than regular consumers.

Talking about the their future launches Kazuto Yamaki, CEOSigma, said, “We will support the D-SLR and CSC systems.

But our focus is on serious photographers.” He mentioned that Sigma is expected to move away from CSCs, such as the ‘Pentax Q’, towards cameras from the likes of Sony and micro four thirds models. Yamaki stated that the company will launch D-SLRs to keep their loyal customers happy.

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Smart Photography December 2012

shooting distance is 24cm, and max is 0.24X for close-up photography. The suggested price is 87,150 Yen. The second lens is the EF24-70mm F4L IS USM compact standard zoom lens, with hybrid IS hand-shake compensation, closest shooting distance of 38cm for all zooming area, allowing 20cm closest shot with macro mode. Its suggested price is 161,700 Yen.

French photographer Luc Delahaye bags Prix Pictet Awards’12 French photographer Luc Delahaye was selected from a list of 12 photographers including Robert Adams, Daniel Beltrá, Mohamed Bourouissa, Philippe Chancel, Edmund Clark, Car de Keyzer, Rena Effendi, Jacqueline Hassink, An-My Lê, Joel Sternfeld and Guy Tillim for the Prix Pictet awards this year. The theme of this year’s competition was Power, for which Delahaye submitted a series of 10 images shot between 2008 and 2011. According to David King, Jury President, Delahaye’s images were chosen for their narrative power and intensity.

Microsoft launches Windows 8 Microsoft has officially launched Windows 8, the Surface tablet and Windows Phone 8. The new operating system is the software giant’s strongest attempt to break into the tablet market and expand its presence in mobile phones. The new OS is revamped, dropping the familiar desktop with icons for a more touchfriendly appearance. Instead of icons, the desktop is covered in tiles that sweep aside; this allows the OS to be used just as readily on tablets, touchscreen laptops and all in-one PCs. Some of the interesting new devices taking advantage of Windows 8’s ability to run both a high-end PC and a tablet are the hybrid models by companies like Acer, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and Hewlett-Packard.

News Watch Business

Canon’s net profit for third quarter plunges 12.7% Canon Inc. said that it recorded an operating profit of 59,139 billion Yen, down 356% year-on-year, for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 ( July to September), on the total sales of 799.9 billion Yen, down 12.8%. Its operating profit for the 9-month period from January to September was 163.39 billion Yen, down 12.7% from the same period last year on the total sales of 2.528 trillion Yen, down 2.5%. The company cited sluggishness in the global economy, and weaker-than-expected sales of compact digital cameras and inkjet printers for the loss.

The company revised its digital camera sales downward to 8.8 million units of D-SLRs, up 22% year-on-year and compact models to 19 million units, up 2%. The numbers are, however, 400K and 2 million units less than the earlier forecast. The company cited that one fourth will be due to China’s boycott of Japanese products. Canon also

anticipates the world’s digital camera market to shrink to 19.3 million units of interchangeable lens system cameras from earlier outlook of 20 million, and 95 million units of compact D-cams from 105 million units.

At the same time, Canon trimmed earnings for the full fiscal year through December. It expects a net profit of 234 billion Yen, down 5.9% year-on-year, on the total sales of 3.532 trillion Yen, down 0.7% year-on-year. This is the second time it has cut its outlook for the full fiscal year. The company expects a recovery in sales of D-SLR cameras, high value-added compact camera models and inkjet printers but anticipates uncertainty in laser printers and industrial equipment, such as semiconductor and flat panel display exposure machines. The outlook is based on the expected exchange rates of 78 Yen for the dollar and 100 Yen for the Euro.

Sony to revise D-cam shipments

Sony reported the financial results of its second quarter ( July-September) of fiscal 2012 with a gain in revenue at 1.9% to 1.604 trillion Yen (US$20 B) and operational profit turned to black 30.3 billion Yen (US$378.7 M) from the previous loss of 1.6 billion Yen; while it posted a 15.5 billion loss for the quarter. For the first half-year, sales rose 1.6% to 3.119 trillion Yen (US$38.9 B) and operational profit was up 41.2% to 365.3 billion Yen (US$4.5 B), but it posted a net loss of 401.1 billion Yen (US$5.0 B).

The company revealed the revenue of its Imaging Products and Solution business for the 2nd quarter dropped 16.7% to 182.6 billion Yen (US$2.2 B) with an operational profit of 2.6 billion Yen (US$32.5 M) down 83.6% year-on-year.

The company forecasts sales up 1.6% to 6.6 trillion Yen, operational profit 130 billion Yen, and net profit 20 billion Yen for this fiscal year which ends in March 2013.

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Smart Photography December 2012

Sanyo Electric to sell digital camera biz Panasonic Corp unit, Sanyo Co., is in talks of selling its digital camera business to an investment fund. Negotiations proved to be difficult because the company’s operations focus on the shrinking compact digital camera market. Sanyo, which has no camera brand of its own, supplies products to several companies including Olympus. With potential buyers among both domestic and overseas manufacturers, its digital camera production reached 11 million units in March 2011.

News Watch Business

Olympus estimates a loss of 8 billion Yen Olympus Corp., in the first half-fiscal 2012-13 consolidated financial report published in September declared that their sales dropped 2.1% to 405.7 billion Yen, gained 2.9% in operational profit to 18.0 billion Yen, and net profit 8.01 billion Yen turned around from the previous year’s loss of 32.3 billion Yen. The Imaging Products business posted a 21.3% drop in sales to 55.9 billion Yen, with an operational loss of 4.4 billion Yen. The company said that the unit sale of its mirrorless lens changeable system cameras were favourable but compact cameras declined in line with the shrinking trend on the global market. Based on the results, the company anticipates that the digital camera sales will drop by some 10% to 7.3 million units from previous projection of 9.2 million units of which compact D-cams will reduce by 800K units.

Nikon posts 26% gain in Imaging Product sales

Nikon Corp. announced its consolidated first half-year result stating that the operational profit plunged 39.3% year-on-year to 37.1 billion Yen (US$463.7 M) on a total revenue of 497.2 billion Yen (US$6.21 B), up by 2%. The net profit decreased 36.5% to 32 billion Yen (US$400M).

The Imaging Products business posted a record sales for the first-half year at 381 billion Yen (US$4.76 B), a 17.4% gain; with operational profit of 41.8 billion Yen (US$522.5 M), a drop of 11.8%. Lens changeable system camera sales came to 3.45 million units, while interchangeable lenses rose 21.7% to 4.77 million units. Compact D-cams managed a 5% gain in the shrinking market; a total of 8.26 million units being sold. For the full year, Nikon expects the business to post 740 billion Yen in sales, up 26.1% year-on-year; operational profit of 80 billion Yen, up 48.7%, by favourable sales of lens changeable system camera, which Nikon estimates at 7.1 million units, 100K units more than the previous forecast.

Sony to close interchangeable lens manufacturing Minokamo plant Sony Corp. has announced a few steps to accelerate structural reforms of its headquarters and electronics business operations in Japan. The plans include strengthening certain manufacturing operations and taking measures to reduce its headcount. In order to enhance the efficiency of its manufacturing operations, the manufacture of interchangeable lenses and lens blocks being conducted at Sony EMCS Corp.’s Minokamo Site will now be absorbed by EMCS Corp.’s Koda Site. The operations currently being carried out at the Minokamo Site will be partially discontinued and the rest would be transferred to EMCS’s Kisarazu Site. The Minokamo Site is scheduled to close by March 2013. Sony will also reduce the size of its workforce.

Fujifilm to add new X series compact D-cam Fujifilm announced the marketing of Fujifilm XF1, the sixth digital camera in the high-quality X series, in the domestic market from November 3rd at around 55,000 Yen. Fujifilm hopes to sell 300K units during the initial year. The XF1 features a 2/3-inch Type 12-megapixel EXR CMOS sensor, Fujinon manual zoom lens of F1.8-4.6, 25-100mm in terms of 35mm, 3-inch LCD monitor, and slim body of 33mm when the lens is retracted. Fujifilm said the new camera was included in its award-winning models at Japan’s Good Design Award.

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Smart Photography December 2012

News Watch National DX-format based D5200 D-SLR introduced by Nikon Nikon India announced the latest D5200 D-SLR camera, which is a compact and lightweight entry-level model with Nikon’s all-new DX-format CMOS sensor.

The camera has an effective pixel count of approximately 24.1-million, and is fitted with the optimised EXPEED 3 image processing engine.

The D5200 allows photographers and amateurs to capture images with Vari-angle LCD, making self-portraits possible. Some of its advanced

Nikon introduces 70-200mm telephoto zoom

features include 39 focus points, Scene Recognition System, i-TTL balanced fill-flash and Auto White Balance control.

Speaking about the latest introduction, Hiroshi Takashina San, Managing Director, Nikon India said, “The announcement is a testimony of Nikon’s leadership in the D-SLR category. With this launch, the consumers will now be able to capture highly flexible image expression that ensures beautiful pictures.”

Fujifilm unveils the HS30

Nikon Corporation added a new addition to the telephoto zoom lens family-- the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR. Compatible with the Nikon FX format, it covers the 70–200mm range of focal lengths with a fixed maximum aperture of f/4. The AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR joins the ultrawide-angle AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR and normal zoom AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR in f/4 maximum aperture lens series that forms the core of NIKKOR FX-format lenses. In spite of covering the 70-200mm range of focal length, it boasts of the closest focussing distance of approximately one meter. It also has a superior rendering with a focus from infinity to close-up, making it an excellent lens for a wide variety of scenes.

Fujifilm has launched the new FinePix HS30EXR which offers a high zoom and a super macro mode.

The camera has various features like EXR Technology behind its sensor and processor, High Speed Shooting Functions, Film Simulation mode, High Contrast 3.0-inch Large LCD, Advanced Shooting Modes etc. The product has been priced at Rs. 26,999.

The lens adopts a number of exclusive Nikon technologies including Nano Crystal Coat, a built-in Vibration Reduction (VR) system that provides camera shake compensation equivalent to a fivestep increase in shutter speed, and a Silent Wave Motor (SWM) for autofocussing.

“The HS range is enriched with versatile functions and will be desired by photographers who do not want the lens changing capability of a D-SLR, but are still keen on the total control over their images. HS30EXR is one such camera in prosumer/bridge category,” said Rohit Pandit, EVP – Sales & Marketing, Fujifilm India.

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Smart Photography December 2012

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News Watch National

Nikon to strengthen its presence in Western India Nikon India has revealed plans to strengthen its presence in Western India through increased retail outlets. These outlets, named COOLPIX Zones, will give customers access to the entire range of Nikon COOLPIX cameras along with a select range of NIKKOR lenses, Nikon accessories, Nikon 1 series, select D-SLR range, and Nikon Sport Optics range.

The company has adopted the shop-in-shop retail concept and will provide customers an opportunity to experience world-class products before buying one.

The company’s new COOLPIX Zone was inaugurated

by Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India.

During the launch Takashina said, “Western India has always been one of our biggest markets. The launch of this zone is part of our efforts to reach the target of

Nikon announces its international photo contest for this year

Nikon Corporation has announced that it will accept entries for its international photo contest from December 1st, 2012 to February 28th, 2013. This year will see the introduction of a movie category.

The entries can be submitted under four categories: Single photo (Category A), Composite photo (Category B, featuring composites composed of series of two to five photographs), Photographic videos (Category C, featuring videos of 45 seconds in length), and motion snapshot (Category D). In category D, work submitted has to adhere to the new ‘Motion Snapshot’ image format that combines still images and movies and is available with Nikon 1, Advanced Camera with Interchangeable Lens. A total of 54 creations will be selected for the first, second, and third prizes in each category, together with a Grand Prize for the overall best entry.

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Smart Photography December 2012

Saurabh Mehta, MD Central Camera and Hiroshi Takashina, MD Nikon at the Nikon COOLPIX Zone launch in Mumbai on October 23, 2012

110 outlets by 2013 of which 28 are in Western India alone.”

A new addition is the ‘Participants Award for Most Popular Entry’, which will be chosen by the contest entrants.

Entries must be submitted via E-mail to http://www.nikonphotocontest.com/, with the entry form. The winners will be revealed next year, and their work will be displayed in a public exhibition which will be announced later.

DNP printers use new technology to create photo-realistic prints DNP printers now use a new thermal stroke dye sublimation printing technology to create photo-realistic prints. They use a heating process to mix dyes on to matt or gloss finished products which produces a continuous tone print. This offers an excellent image quality and fast speed with little investment. While the Digital Photo Printer DS 80 RX1 will be priced at Rs. 69,990; the Digital Photo Printer DS 80 will be available at Rs.1,59,900.

The best of nature with the best in business

JAN 2013

JAN 2013

NILGIRI

CORBETT JAN 2013

FEB 2013

MAR 2013

KAZIRANGA

BHARATPUR MAR 2013

EAGLENEST

PANGOT

Guided Photography tours by the Masters of Wildlife Photography

News Watch National

26 FIP convention th

held in Rajahmundry, AP

F

ederation of Indian Photography’s (FIP) 26th All India Photography Convention, organised by Greenzone, was held from 6th to 8th November 2012 at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh followed by a photography excursion to Papi hills. Around 180 delegates from across India attended this convention. The convention was inaugurated

by Nyapathi Raghava Rao, senior landscape photographer.

Renowned stalwarts from the field of photography delivered lectures, slide shows and workshops at the convention.

On the inaugural day, Dr. B.K. Sinha (MFIAP, ARPS, President,

FIP) spoke on the past and present of FIP. Ashok Kandimalla enriched the participants in understanding Histograms in Digital Photography. Retired Conservator of Forests M.N. Jayakumar, (MFIAP, FRPS) presented a talk on Indian Biodiversity-Status and Role of Photography in Conservation with Ethics. A slide show on Macro Photography was presented by Baburajan Thekkan.

The second day’s sessions included Dr. S. Harinarayana’s (Hon FIP, ARPS) slide show on Bird Photography; Rohinton Mehta’s (Hon FIP, Hon PSI) talk on Photoshop CS6 for

Dr. B. K. Sinha addressing the august gathering. In the background are the committee members of FIP.

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Smart Photography December 2012

Pictorialist; and Vinay Parelkar (FFIP, ARPS, AFIAP) with Ambika Mehra conducted a workshop on Portrait and Lighting.

The third day started with a talk on Passion in Photography

by Himadari Sekhar Dutta (EFIAP, FFIP); followed by a slide show on Pictorial and Creative Photography by Sushanta Banerjee (Hon FIP, MFIAP, ARPS). Later a lecture on My Journey Towards Forms, Colours and Textures was given by Anil Risal Singh (Hon FIP, MFIAP, ARPS). Aspect of Photojournalism and Present Trends was presented by Debatosh Sengupta (ESFIAP).

Shivji Joshi (Hon FIP, AFIAP) presented a slide show on Dancing Desert. Rajendra Prasad (ARPS) presented a workshop on Lightroom and Raw Conversion. Later, Rohinton Mehta and Ashok Kandimalla answered questions in the session, ‘Digitally Yours’.

The convention ended with distribution of International honours EFIAP and AFIAP along with National honours FFIP, AFIP and Hon. FIP certificates to successful photo artists.

Finally, a platform for all photographers to exhibit their talent and GET NOTICED!

Kaleidoscope

The Beauty of being Different...

All the world’s a stage Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/2.8 Shutter speed: 1/8000 sec.

ISO: 640

32

“I

am from Chennai, but live in California with my cat named Mr. Rat, and I drive around in a black bug named ‘Blackbird’ with a yellow sunflower. I have always enjoyed the in-between moments - the silence, the calmness on a person’s face, especially when they exhale. Don’t they say that music is the silence between

Smart Photography December 2012

Renuka Retnaswamy, California

I see you Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/6.3 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec.

ISO: 640

notes? This is precisely my approach to photography, for I strive to capture the soul when I shoot portraits”, says Renuka Retnaswamy, a student of photography at the renowned Brooks Institute of Photography, in Santa Barbara, California.

Describing her style she says, “In fine art photography, I shoot on a very conceptual level. But Black and White gives me the freedom to express without any distractions.

It gives clarity. I agree with Kim Hunter who said, “Colour is distracting.” It lets me see the world in a way that I can’t see everyday since human vision is in colour.

The beautiful thing about black and white is that it is timeless and offers a strong sense of nostalgia. I enjoy the way the tones play from black with no detail to the midgrays and how its goes to white with no detail. The lines, shapes, forms, shadows and reflections are the best features.”

A space for myself Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/1.4 Shutter speed: 1/640 sec.

ISO: 200

Renuka is inspired by the work of Sally Mann, Sarah Moon, Joyce Tennyson, Joyce Wilson, Richard Avedon, Elliot Erwitt and Irving Penn.

On being asked about her future plans, she says, “After graduating I plan to continue living in America for a few years. I want to create a niche for myself in conceptual celebrity fine art photography. In fact, I want to work in the Indian movie industry too.”

Her equipment includes the Canon 5D Mark II with her favourite lens being the Canon 50mm 1.4. She likes shooting 4 by 5 film with the large format camera too.

Visit www.renukaretnaswamy.tumblr.com to see more of her work December 2012 Smart Photography

33

Demure Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/1.4 Shutter speed: 1/80 sec.

ISO: 1000

The eyes say it all Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/1.4 Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec.

ISO: 250

Blindfold Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : N/A Shutter speed: N/A ISO: N/A

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Smart Photography December 2012

Into the shadows Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : N/A Shutter speed:N/A ISO: N/A

Get featured & win an Epson PictureMate PM245, worth Rs.9999/-!

The wait Camera: Canon 5D Mark II Aperture : f/2.2 Shutter speed: 1/160 sec.

ISO: 800

CALLING ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS! Kaleidoscope is the perfect way to jump-start your career... So simply send us a selection of your images along with full details of your vision and the technical information at sp@nextgenpublishing.net. We accept both film and digital images.

All pictures that are forwarded to Kaleidoscope should be 8x10 inches in size (or larger) and at 300 ppi. However, we will re-size them according to the layout considerations.

December 2012 Smart Photography

35

Photograph by

Arun Palvankar

PARTICIPATE

&

WIN!

MK 393 PD Tripod

Sponsored by:

Picture of the Month We are sure that all of you have a few pictures that you think are prize worthy. It happens very often that you don’t know where to send the image that could put a feather in your cap. If you have such images (we’re sure you have many!), send us ONE such horizontal image. If it qualifies, we shall publish it as a double-spread. a. You have to guarantee that the picture was shot by you b. If there are people in the picture who can be identified, we’ll need a model release

c. The picture should not have been printed elsewhere (magazine newspaper, or offered to any publication) d. Mark the entry as “Picture of the Month” and rename the file using your name e. You may send images via print/e-mail to: Next Gen Publishing Ltd.,2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013 (or) sphoto.india@gmail.com

A note to our readers 1. The picture has to be horizontal.

2. Kindly ensure that the longer side should measure atleast 17 inches, at 300ppi.

3. Low resolution images will not be accepted.

4. We do not check images on online galleries.

5. Kindly ensure complete contact/address details are provided. Winners will have to collect their prize from SP’s Mumbai office or send an authorised representative to do so.

6. Please make sure that your picture does not have your name/logo on it.

Showcase

In Communion with Nature...

Nature’s treasure chest 38

Smart Photography December 2012

Showcase

P

ennsylvania based landscape photographer, Rajesh Bhattacharjee works Rajesh Bhattacharjee, Pittsburgh, as a Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania Pittsburgh. He has always been an avid nature lover and deeply cherishes the days he spent hiking in the lofty heights of the Himalayas. He purchased his first film SLR to capture the magical moments that were waiting to happen during the Himalayan expedition. After moving to USA, he took up landscape photography seriously and is now a regular adventurer who journeys through the wilderness of numerous national and state parks in the United States. Rajesh is the first to rush out to the field when a hiking or photography opportunity arises. He can spend hours waiting for that perfect light, or those changing colours of the rising and setting sun.

Although he primarily shoots colour landscapes, he loves experimenting with B&W landscapes. This is where he tries to emphasise on the texture and graphic qualities of the landscape to the fullest. Rajesh tries to visualise a shot in B&W when he encounters a strong contrast in the scene, or he feels that the presence of texture, shadows and highlights in a scene would work better in B&W. Also the absence of colour helps concentrate more on the subject and make it really stand out. He admires the creative interpretations of renowned B&W masters like Ansel Adams and Philip Hyde, and takes inspiration from their work to create beautiful B&W landscapes.

With regard to equipment, Rajesh uses the Nikon D7000 as his primary camera, with the Nikkor 18-135mm and the Tokina 1224mm lenses for his imagery. In addition, he uses a stable carbon fiber tripod for outdoor shoots at national parks.

Mathew Thottungal December 2012 Smart Photography

39

Showcase

Play of light

A surreal shore

Water like glass

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Smart Photography December 2012

Showcase

The sea and the shore

To move a mountain The artist in Nature

Smooth textures

December 2012 Smart Photography

41

E-mail your images at sp@nextgenpublishing.net

If I Were You Our Imaging Expert

No one can take a picture that everyone likes. But, almost every picture can have a scope of improvement. Many-a-times, we are not our best critic, while others can immediately point out the faults. In If I were you, our expert comments on how your pictures could be taken to another level.

Rusted Lock This picture of a rusted lock is by Jogendra V from Kolkata. Jogendra loves still-life and started photography about a year ago. He wants to know how this picture could be improved.

We often ‘see’ but do not ‘observe’.

Jogendra’s keen eye has composed the picture very well. Observe that the centre of interest (the lock) is not in the exact centre of the picture, which is as it should be. The picture is composed as per the rule of thirds. The picture appears a bit overexposed; the tones are lighter than they should have been. This is caused

Original Image 42

Smart Photography December 2012

by the fact that the camera meter always turns whatever it is pointed at, to a midtone. Hence the original darker tones have been represented as mid-tones (in other words, overexposed). What could have been done was to reduce the camera exposure by about 1-stop. But read further...

If I were you, I would have shot the picture in Raw, but without decreasing the exposure by 1-stop, as suggested above. In Adobe Camera Raw, I would then have adjusted the exposure, (by pushing the data towards the left of the histogram) which would have

Edited Image

Rohinton Mehta, Technical Editor, Smart Photography

eliminated/reduced the chances of noise in the darker tones.

The picture is very easy to edit using ‘Levels’ in Photoshop. I moved the black slider a wee-bit to the right; also adjusted the middle slider (moved it to the right too, making the mid-tones darker).

Next, sharpening was applied using the ‘Unsharp Mask’. Finally, I added a thin black border for aesthetics reasons.

Picture Info

Camera: Ricoh CX5 ISO: 400 Shutter speed: 1/35 sec.

Aperture: f/4.5

If I Were You

The Sculpture This sculpture’s photo comes from SP reader Avinash Shah from Ahmedabad.

He writes, “This is my first attempt at sending an image to any photo magazine.” Obviously, he is a bit nervous about what I might say about his picture. No need to worry though; this is a platform for learning!

When you took the shot, you obviously had to tilt the camera to cover the entire sculpture. This has led to what is known as ‘keystoning’ – the

Original Image

sculpture has become narrow at the top as compared to the lower portion.

Not only that, you may have possibly set your autofocus point to the centre of the frame. This could be a reason as to why the face is a bit less sharp than the mid-section. If you had kept the sensor plane parallel to the subject plane, you could have avoided the perspective distortion.

To improve the picture, I have made the sides of the sculpture parallel to the sides of the frame. This was done using

the ‘Free Transform’ tool in Photoshop.

You may kindly refer to Smart Photography, April 2012 issue which explains one method of doing the correction. Next I adjusted the contrast using ‘Levels’, and finally sharpened the image using ‘Unsharp Mask’.

Picture Info

Camera: Sony RX100 ISO: 800 Shutter speed: 1/125 sec.

Aperture: f/6.3

Edited Image December 2012 Smart Photography

43

If I Were You

Chhatrapati Shivaji S. V. Mazumdar from Mumbai loves to photograph still life. He has tried this angle but unfortunately, has included the electrical/telephone wires in the frame. To get details in the statue, he had to provide more exposure, which has resulted in a washed-out sky. He wants to know how he could improve this picture.

This obviously calls for our friend, Photoshop.

Original Image

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Smart Photography December 2012

Note: If I Were You is meant to encourage and guide readers, and help them improve their photography. Please ensure that the required camera/exposure details are sent to us (or are available in the EXIF data). We shall not accept images for this section if the required data is not available. Readers are requested to send their images at 300ppi for 8 x 10-inch size. If they are too small, it gets difficult to work on them, and hence may be rejected.

1. The first thing to do is to get rid of the wires using either the Clone tool or the Patch tool. Flatten the image (Ctrl+E).

2. Make a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) and select the white sky using the Magic Wand.

3. Click on the foreground colour square in the toolbox and select a suitable blue for the sky. Select the Gradient tool and set the opacity to 100%. Select Foreground to Transparent from the menu on top.

Edited Image

4. Drag the computer mouse vertically down from the top of the frame almost all the way down. Since the sky has been selected, the blue colour will only be applied on the selected area and not on the statue.

5. Retouch any area that demands some further editing and save the file using the Save As command.

Picture Info

Camera: Olympus E-PL 3 ISO: 400 Shutter speed: 1/500 sec Aperture: f/8

Ask Uncle Ronnie

Lenses for Wildlife I am an amateur photographer. I own a Nikon D5000 and a Nikon 70-300mm zoom lens. Since my interest is in wildlife photography, I have decided to buy a Nikon 300mm f/4, but am also confused between Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 and Sigma 120-400mm. Which would be my best option?

Anil Thakre, via E-mail The AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF ED is a good lens. The prime 300mm f/4 is better in terms of image quality (it is also ‘faster’ than the other), but then you will lose the advantage of zoom in terms of convenience of framing.

The 300mm f/4 offers a lens collar, the 70-300mm does not. The lens collar helps to easily convert from horizontal to vertical format without disturbing the balance, when the camera is tripod mounted.

The Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 obviously has a greater ‘reach’ and also has a lens collar. Like most zoom lenses of this nature, it loses a bit of its sharpness at the longer end (the same could be said of the Nikkor 70-300mm!). The Nikon 80-200mm is a good lens but is not adequately ‘long’ for wildlife.

So now we need to choose between the Nikon 70-300mm (which you already possess), the Nikon 300mm f/4 and the Sigma 12-400mm. Considering 46

Smart Photography December 2012

Did you know... Ronnie has over 35 years of experience in photography?

In fact, he has taught several thousand photoenthusiasts in various institutions and through workshops, as well as judged many national and international photo contests, including the prestigious International Photo Contest held at Colombo, Sri Lanka. So, if you have any photo-queries, whether conventional or digital, don’t hesitate. Just go ahead and Ask Uncle Ronnie at sp@nextgenpublishing.net, ‘cause he knows it all!

the crop factor of your camera (1.5x), the maximum effective focal length would be 450mm (with the Nikkors) or 600mm with the Sigma. Now consider what kind of wildlife photography you would like to do – large animals/birds, or smaller animals/birds? Would you (generally) shoot from a ‘hide’? Would you generally shoot hand-held or use a tripod? How close do you expect to be to your subjects?

The AF-S VR

Zoom-Nikkor

.5-5.6G IF ED

70-300mm f/4

Nikon 80-200 f/2.8

The 70-300mm is easier to hand-hold at 725 g; the Sigma 120-400mm (1750 g) will tire you out quite fast. The 300mm f/4 is no lightweight either (1440 g). For large subjects, 450mm equivalent may often be okay but for smaller subjects (like birds), even 600mm equivalent will often fall short. If you can somehow manage with your existing 70-300mm (equivalent to 450mm at the longer end), you’ll save yourself quite a lot of money; if not, try to get someone’s 120-400mm lens and try it out. You will be satisfied with its image quality.

The reason I am being so cautious is because once you purchase a lens, no shopkeeper will take it back or exchange it for another.

Good luck.

Sigma 120-400mm

f/4.5-5.6

Ask Uncle Ronnie

Conflicting Viewpoints I have been pursuing nature photography (particularly birds and insects) for the last eight years using a super zoom (bridge) camera with moderate results, which have received some appreciation. I am now planning to purchase a Nikon D7000. However I am confronted with various conflicting viewpoints which are as follows: 1. Nikon D5100 is a better option since the picture quality is the same as D7000 but is easier to use and is cheaper, which will save cash for lenses. Higher frames per second of the D7000 does not always matter in the practical field and the 9 cross-type AF points are rarely used. Further with the D5100, one does not face back-focus problems as in the case of D7000.

2. Viewpoints contrary to the above suggest D7000 is the best DX format option for birding.

3. For bird photography D7000 is not enough and Nikon D300s is the minimum requirement.

4. Lenses are more important and deserve more investment than bodies and there is no point in spending more on bodies, therefore Nikon D5100 or even a D3200 is good enough.

5. Canon cameras are much better than Nikon for wildlife including birding and EOS 60D would be a good option, though EOS 7D is even better. Further, Canon lenses are better suited for such photography and are cheaper.

Kindly advise me as all this has left me utterly confused.

Dr. Raja Sen, via E-mail I do not know what the source of your information is; maybe some forums on the web. It often happens that someone with no experience or very little experience considers himself to be the ‘guru’ and writes against whatever he cannot fully understand. Please note that some of the ‘conflicting viewpoints’ you have mentioned are debatable.

Since this is not a forum for such discussions, I shall not get involved in the controversy.

1. When it comes to photographing flying birds (and especially smaller birds that need to flap their wings faster), some users feel that the Nikon D7000’s 6 frames per second burst rate is not enough. That does not mean that the D7000 cannot be used to photograph flying birds. If you need a faster burst rate, consider the Canon EOS 7D (8fps). Do note however, that, at higher ISOs, the Canon 7D is on the noisier side as compared to some of Canon’s own D-SLRs. 2. I agree that lenses are more important than bodies (but that does not mean that bodies are not important!).

3. You may go ahead with the purchase of the Nikon D7000 (and don’t worry about the so-called ‘backfocus’ problems). Not that such problems never exist – it could be so with any camera – but most people who claim such ‘problems’ are not competent enough to identify the problem. Anyway, some current camera bodies, including the D7000, have the facility to finetune autofocus.

4. Another suggestion, especially for bird photography, is to get a Canon 60D body (5.3 fps) with the excellent Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. If budget (and weight) is not a problem, you could consider the Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM lens.

For photographing insects and other creepy crawlers, consider the excellent Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens.

December 2012 Smart Photography

47

Ask Uncle Ronnie

Cheap and best?

Nikon D3200 or D5100?

(1) Can the Nikon D3200 shoot better photos than D5100 since it has 24.2 MP sensor? I understand however, that megapixel count alone cannot rate a camera better.

(2) Does 12-bit RAW of D3200 make a great difference compared to 14-bit RAW of D5100?

(3) If the advantage of the fully articulated LCD is sacrificed, is D3200 a better camera than D5100?

(4) Can the D3200 trigger remote flashes?

Kingshuk Mukhopadhyay, Kolkata.

1. Cameras don’t take photos; the person behind the camera does! A knowledgeable photographer will certainly take “better” pictures even with a very basic camera, while a high-end camera in the hands of a less competent photographer does not guarantee good pictures. The advanced photographer would certainly benefit from a higher megapixel camera in terms of image detail that he can capture.

2. Most people cannot differentiate between images captured with 12-bit Raw and 14-bit Raw. The difference is noticeable only if the picture has been shot under very difficult lighting conditions and the processing is done very competently. Due to lower dynamic range and 12 bits only on the D3200, there could be situations where it might have less detail in highlights (especially) compared to the D5100’s 14 bits and better dynamic range.

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Smart Photography December 2012

3. That’s a tricky question. “Better” in what way? If you were to go through the specifications with a magnifying glass, besides the pixel count, yes, you would notice some differences. But let me ask you a question: What is the most important thing that you would look for in an image? I think the answer would be ‘clarity/sharpness’ without losing highlight/shadow details. In that case, I think the D3200 would be the better option. The D5100 would have slightly lesser ‘noise’ at higher ISOs, but then how often do we shoot at higher ISOs? 4. If you are asking about Creative Lighting System, the answer is ‘no’, the built-in flash cannot be used as a ‘Master Flash’. You can always use a wireless ‘slave’ which will trigger a flash when the D3200’s flash is fired. This will not be iTTL.

I am a 2nd year electrical engineering student and photography is my hobby.

Presently I own a Nikon D7000 D-SLR camera (body only).

Kindly suggest a cheap and best prime lens and telephoto zoom lens, preferably a third party lens, for taking razor sharp images.

Vaibhav Sharan, via E-mail “Cheap” and “best” generally don’t go together!

Pay more attention to the lens rather than the body. The body is important but the lens is even more important.

Since you haven’t identified the genre of your photography, it is difficult for me to suggest you a good lens.

Get yourself a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens. On your Nikon D7000 body it will behave like a 75mm lens – a medium telephoto lens for portraits and other nearby subjects, even in low light. The less expensive brother of this lens is the AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. Though good value for money, the f/1.4G version is definitely superior.

For the telephoto zoom (presuming you like to photograph wildlife), I would suggest any one of the following: AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF ED, Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6, Sigma APO 150500mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM. Creating “razor-sharp images” will depend upon your knowledge of the equipment you use, your technical skills, and also your post-processing skills.

S E N I S U B L A N O I T vices r A e S A N TER INDI tal Photo ent:

Pres

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2

™ M U R S FO

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Digi n i g r h-Ma g i H w

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I.B.F. India 2013 - The 2nd (Indian) Edition Industry conference focused on conveying practical perspectives on how modern day consumer and professional photo businesses can enhance their profits.

The presentation topics include Photofinishing as an industry, Role of Print in this Age, Developing New Revenue Streams, Digital Photo Services, Managing Consumer Expectations - Freebies vs.

COD formats, Managing online to brick and mortar stores, Innovations as a driver of value and Increasing Value with Integration.

Who can attend: Print service providers, Photobook retailers, independent photographers,software suppliers, wedding photographers, freelance consultants, OEM Mgrs. & reps. and other trade channel

REGISTRATION Full conference registration (1 day program, breakfast, lunch, 2 coffee breaks and evening closure) Full Conference Registration: Rs. 5,000/ person 2 to 4 Registrations Rs. 4500/- person 5+ Registrations Rs. 4000/- person Photography Association Discount Rs. 3,500/ person (30% off every ticket - Subject to min. 5 bookings) For special corporate group bookings please contact Ashwini on +91 9619789984 Registration Link: http://tinyurl.com/IBF2013-book

CONTACTS For Participation enquiries: +91 22 43525252 Or 512.418.9870 (USA) Or mail to: a.dayal@nextgenpublishing.net (Open to all nationalities)

DATE & VENUE 5th January, 2013 (10am to 5:30pm) Business Lounge B, Pragati Maidan Mathura Road, Delhi - 110001

Photos taken from 1st IBF (Jan. 2012)

READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

ou may be aware that every year, Smart Photography awards the best products for [OLPY JVU[YPI\[PVU PU [OL Ä LSK VM PTHNPUN ,HJO `LHY H[ H NHSH L_[YH]HNHUaH ^L OVUV\Y [OL Ä ULZ[ PTHNPUN WYVK\J[Z MVY [OLPY PUUV]H[P]L MLH[\YLZ Z\WLYPVY I\PSK X\HSP[` HUK L_JLSSLUJL PU WLYMVYTHUJL ;OPZ PZ HU L]LU[ [OH[ L]LY` THU\MHJ[\YLY PZ LJZ[H[PJ [V IL HZZVJPH[LK ^P[O 3PRL L]LY` `LHY ^L ^PSS OVUV\Y V\Y YLHKLYZ I` SL[[PUN [OLT WHY[PJPWH[L PU [OL ZLSLJ[PVU WYVJLZZ >L OH]L [OYLL JH[LNVYPLZ MVY ^OPJO `V\ V\Y KLHY YLHKLYZ ^PSS JHZ[ `V\Y ]V[L

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX55

Award C23

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

We request you to send us your nomination through an SMS. E.g. AWARD to 56161. The nominee’s name will be kept secret. We further request you to be fair with your selection. Kindly ensure that your nominations reaches us before December 31st 2012.

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Shibu Arakkal

Š Shibu Arakkal

Mastercraftsman

Shibu Arakkal, Bengaluru

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Conventionally conceived photography is an art that is outdoor oriented, and its content is culled from the material world around us. However, Bengaluru based creative artist, Shibu Arakkal, outlines that he has turned his camera inward, mounting a sustained meditation on the photograph’s mechanics, such as the tracing of light striking a surface etc. Refusing the coherent world out there, he creates abstractions with spatial ambiguity. He believes that Black & White photography is about bare bones filled with what you wish to say and hopefully is substantial enough to express oneself.

Mastercraftsman

ART & SOUL December 2012 Smart Photography

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Shibu Arakkal

Mastercraftsman Did you have any formal education in photography? How would you describe your photography to someone who has never seen it? Comment

What does surrealism mean to you, and what is your idea about harnessing light to create a desired mood in your brand of imagery?

Photography being a particularly realistic art form has an advantage of being instantly relatable to the layman. But that need

As things have a way of working out, I am happier that I didn’t attend any art institution since I had the freedom to develop my signature. My photography in essence is old fashioned, even though others may think differently. My priority has always been and will always be to keep making sincere efforts in my work and to keep experimenting.

Visually, and at heart, I believe I am an abstractionist and a minimalist. My images are meant to question, and not to provide answers. I usually 54

Smart Photography December 2012

not be its only disposition.

In the hands of an artist who has something meaningful to say, and one who chooses to do so in a manner that is not entirely rational, the artist can only elevate photography to its rightful place as a true art form. Since all art forms are perceptions and therefore interpretations of reality, it is more essential for photography to be practiced while constantly pushing boundaries, creatively and in technique.

Light is the pulse of any photograph, and I say this with conviction, lighting cannot be taught. You have to be able to recognise it. As such, in photography where lighting is noticed as one of the very last appreciative elements simply because one has been so entranced with the mood that light has created, would typically be an example of great lighting. In my case, I have consciously stayed away from being known for a distinctive style, and that Š Shibu Arakkal

Till the time I joined Sudhir Ramchandran and Rafique Sayed to assist them for very short periods of time, I was a self-taught photographer. I strongly wished for years that instead of having graduated with specialisations in Economics, Political Science and Sociology, I should have done a degree in art. But I also realised that had I done that, I would have probably been irreparably influenced and would have been an art-school clone.

like to do bodies of work that I consider to be whole stories rather than odd pieces of work.

Shibu Arakkal

was possible only because I use light in its subtlety and more importantly to support the creative idea rather than being consumed by creating a certain brand of imagery.

What do you enjoy the most about the work you do? How do you avoid going down the path of staging photos, while giving it authentic looks?

Š Shibu Arakkal

My work editorially and commercially speaking

comes with shackles, typically where I am the only one of the creative decision makers and often with a frame of mind where my employers are aiming to put out what they think will appeal to the layman. As such, it is the challenge of creating something unique and special within these constraints that gets me going.

Although, I must say that I now only accept

commercial work that gives me a certain amount of freedom where my clients recognise that they are coming to me mainly because they appreciate what I do.

In that, the commissions in the past few years have given me a level of freedom and satisfaction.

I don’t believe that I am a difficult person to work with, given my strong creative beliefs, but I

also vehemently reject photography that seems or feels contrived. It is rare these days, but in the school of photography that I was raised in, there were many names that did what they did for the sheer love of it, and not for the money. It is generally this breed of photographers that can give you work that does not need to be staged or contrived.

A lesson perhaps for the younger lot.

Looking at your body of work one finds a clear preference for B&W’s. While digital photography is too clinical and lacking in any real sense of the word, what is it that attracts you to B&W photography?

Firstly, I have always maintained that colour is merely incidental in my work. But having said that, I do have a certain colour palette that I call my own and it is every now and then that I tend to flirt with photography created from that palette. However, black and white simply is the language that I am comfortable with and know well. And I look at black and whites as a perfect medium to make a strong, profound statements. One must remember that black December 2012 Smart Photography

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Shibu Arakkal

Mastercraftsman and white photography is particularly challenging to most because it does not have a crutch called colour to lean on.

© Shibu Arakkal

I do agree that digital

photography can be a creative challenge. Bruce Webber famously said that digital photography is too sharp. He echoes my sentiments, although more metaphorically because I feel that I need to exert a great deal of myself into a digital photograph to be able to give it the same amount of soul and emotion that is normally there in film.

I have done has been driven or born out of my philosophic state of mind. ‘Been there’ was a compilation that came about during my years of wanderlust and learnings, photographically and personally. It was really the birth of the photo artist in me and a series where I really worked with a great amount of freedom.

It was also a series that created its own story through a very simple yet strong abstractionist style.

‘Abstract Notions’ was driven by a single question which was, “Why, as human beings, are we so turned on by the curve as opposed to the line?”

Your creativity really stands out especially in your solo exhibition series, and in thematic exhibitions like ‘Been there’, ‘Off the shadows’, ‘Abstract Notions’, ‘Skin’ etc. Could you talk us through these series of images and what inspired you the most?

‘Skin’ was my first attempt at anything figurative and

© Shibu Arakkal

© Shibu Arakkal

Every body of work that

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© Shibu Arakkal

Shibu Arakkal

one that I felt I was ready for. It was an abstractionist’s questions about beauty, race, colour, divinity and religion.

© Shibu Arakkal

I have gone on to do other series which are even closer to my heart. ‘Feeling Absence’ was a series that I realised into print in merely one and a half months.

It was intense, as it was fuelled by an almost crippling absence I felt of my unborn daughter, who I had never met, while my wife was still carrying. Every series that I have worked on has taken me higher creatively, photographically and more importantly as a human being.

While at heart you are an abstractionist, in your imagery you leave many things to people’s interpretations. Firstly, is this a deliberate attempt and secondly, what influences your abstract aesthetics?

But isn’t that what abstractionism is all about?

The essence of abstraction is the interpretation, without which everything is just meaningless jumble. I do not also prescribe to the notion of abstraction being all about manipulating one’s audiences to feel a certain way. In my work, which by the way is created solely for myself and driven purely by my ideas December 2012 Smart Photography

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Shibu Arakkal

Š Shibu Arakkal

Mastercraftsman

Š Shibu Arakkal

Š Shibu Arakkal

and emotions, thereby doing away with any need to have my an audience.

There are constant conflicting emotions and interpretations. This is truly what draws me to abstract.

It is the stage in our lives

In terms of influences, very little of them come from the two dimensional art form, although I very fervently follow photography, painting and graphic art.

It is however music and movies and the ideas that we are at and our frame of mind that dictates and philosophies within how we see and feel things. them that generally tend to have an impact of any That kind of relatability driven by just pure emotion sort, whether they become abstract forms or anything and lingering questions, to me brings my work to a full else in my daily life. circle.

Mathew Thottungal

Learnings 60

Basics of Photography Weekend Project:Table top Photography LQ \RXU 2I¿FH

64 Silver Efex Pro 2

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Photoshop’s Hidden Gem - Pixel Bender

72 Black & White Conversion Bla

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Give your photography a Tilt! ilt!

Learning Basics of Photography Smart Photography has been continually receiving requests to start a basic course for beginners. With this in mind, we have asked a very knowledgeable photographer from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to take over writing these articles. We have also requested him to be as jargon-free as it is possible, so that newcomers to photography feel comfortable to pursue the hobby.

The author, Ashok Kandimalla has been in the photographic field for over three decades and has extensive experience in both film and digital photography. Being an electronics engineer by profession and a photographer, he possesses a unique and deep insight into the technical aspects of digital photography and equipment. He has published several articles on photography and some of his writings have also been published in the well-known international magazine Popular Photography.

An avid collector of photographic books and vintage cameras, Ashok has a keen interest in the history of photography and a passion for sharing his knowledge on photography through teaching and writing. He is presently working as a Management and Engineering consultant. You can see his work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla. He can be reached at kashokk@gmail.com

Weekend Project:

Table top Photography in your Office

L

ast month’s article in this seriesBasics of Photography- gave you directions on how to set up a small home studio. I trust many of you have it in place by now and are raring to go.

So, here is the first project for you to try out - Table top Photography in your Office. You must be wondering, “What photography can I do in my office even if it is permitted?” But don’t panic. The idea here is to take a photograph that looks as if it has been taken in an office environment. What about the subject, you may ask? Believe me, even commonly found items in the office like clips, pens, pencils, erasers, etc. will make interesting subjects for table top photography. Plus, we know that you are a smart photographer and hence capable of making a great photo even of something which is very mundane.

Just follow the steps in this exercise and you will surely make a picture that will be nice to look at. First make sure you have some office supplies in hand.

These days, you get a lot of office items made with colourful plastic. Go for these as they will look attractive in a colour photograph.

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Arrangement of the items and lighting: First, see Picture 1 for the layout. A pure black background (B) was chosen to provide a good contrast and also to make colours stand out. The subject here is office supplies (A) and since such items are normally placed on a table in an office, they will look natural on a wooden surface (C). So, arrange these items on a wooden table or if you are using a light table; you can get the same effect by placing a plywood plank on top of it. Alternatives are a wooden veneer or a wood finished laminate.

In a still life photograph like this, the composition is important. So, let us look at it in detail.

Composition: Arrange the different objects (A) in such a way that they are asymmetrical, as asymmetrical composition gives some dynamism to an otherwise static picture. Since the light is on the left in this setup, keep the tall objects to the right so that no shadows fall on the other objects.

This will also add a certain degree of asymmetry, creating a sort of “L”

composition. Apart from this, I have kept a pencil to form a leading line.

I also added a few wooden shavings from the pencil to give a realistic look. This sort of detail gives the eye something to explore and holds it in the frame for long. As a general rule, composition in still life should be “tight”. That is, there should be no gap between the items. See that this aspect has been taken care of while arranging the various items.

Lighting: Most offices have glass windows and it is common for light streaming through these windows to fall on a table creating nice shadows.

I am simulating a similar light using artificial lighting. Since you will be keeping the items on a wooden table, it will be nice if the texture of the wood is revealed. For that, it is best to use side lighting. A single shoe mount portable flash (D) unit is used as the main light here and is positioned on the left side. The light from the portable flash will be harsh. So, use a diffuser (E) to soften

Basics of Photography

it. It is important that no light from the flash falls on the background. You can do this by keeping a gobo (F) as shown in the lighting diagram. You must try and keep a large distance, around 2 feet or more, between the background and the subject. This will further aid in preventing light from flash falling on the background. Also, the light from this flash will cause deep shadows on the opposite side.

Hence, use a reflector (G) to lighten them. In this case, a crinkled aluminum sheet was used for this purpose.

Alternatively, you can use another flash with reduced output compared to the main flash (D).

You need to trigger this flash remotely as it is not on the camera. It is best you use a flash with an optical trigger for simplicity, though a radio trigger can also be used. In this case, it was simply triggered with the built-in flash of the camera. Also, there is one very important precaution you need to take. While you will not be using the light from the built-in flash for the image itself (it will be used solely for triggering), it will nevertheless throw light on the black background ruining the whole image. This can be rectified by keeping a small black card in front of the built-in flash for blocking it (Picture 2). There is also a device specifically made for this purpose (Picture 3).

Consider acquiring this if you often take images using your camera’s built-in flash as a trigger, as holding a card every time can be inconvenient. The slight spill of light from your camera’s built-in flash, even after this block, will be enough for triggering the remote flash.

Picture 1 Picture 1: Lighting diagram (top view) A) Subject B) Black backdrop C) Plywood plank kept on a photo table D) Portable flash illuminating from side E) Diffuser F) Gobo to prevent spill on the black backdrop G) Reflector to provide fill on the right side H) Camera on a tripod Picture 2

Picture 2: Use a black card to block the light from the built-in flash falling on the black background.

Other points you need to take care of are: 1. The remote flash you are planning to use should have manual flash output control and provision for optical triggering. The former is needed to control the light output and the latter is needed for detecting

Picture 3

Picture 3: A convenient device for blocking the light from built-in flash. (Shown here is Nikon’s SG-3 IR).

the light from the built-in flash and firing the flash. If your flash does not have an optical trigger or if your camera does not have a built-in flash, then you should plug a radio receiver to the flash. You can now trigger the flash with a radio transmitter connected to your camera.

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2. You need to keep the remote flash on a proper stand or any other suitable device.

3. Use a macro or a lens with close focusing ability. The kit lens supplied with your D-SLR will do the job very well.

4. Since you are using a flash, set the shutter speed to X-Sync which is the maximum shutter speed allowed by your camera for synchronisation. This varies from 1/100 sec to 1/250 sec depending on the camera. Check your camera manual for the exact value. If you are not sure, then just use a shutter speed of 1/100 sec.

5. Set your camera’s built-in flash to Manual mode and then minimum power. This is usually 1/64 or 1/128 and is more than sufficient to trigger the remote flash. If your camera’s built-in flash does not support manual flash, then you need to make sure that the remote flash has a mechanism for detecting and ignoring the pre-flashes emitted by your camera.

Otherwise it will fire prematurely before the shutter opens. Though, you will not have this problem if you are using a radio trigger.

6. Set the remote flash to Manual mode and output to around ¼ power.

7. Set your camera to Manual Exposure and Manual Focus modes.

8. Keep the aperture to at F/8 (for adequate depth of field) to start with.

9. Set your camera to the base ISO for the best picture quality.

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10. Switch on the histogram and the highlight warning tools. These options are available in the Playback menu of your camera.

make sure that you have a suitable aperture (around F/8) for the needed depth of field.

Picture 4

11. Mount your camera on a tripod.

You can also handhold it since you are using a flash, but a tripod always improves your composition apart from keeping your camera steady.

The procedure: Arrange the items as explained. Focus your camera.

Adjust the height and angle of the camera such that a sliver of wooden base is visible in the foreground.

First, take a test shot without firing the main flash or your built-in flash.

You should get a totally black image.

This will confirm that there is no ambient light interfering with your lighting.

Next, keep the main flash off but activate the built-in flash. Block the light from the built-in flash (as already explained) and take a test picture. It should be pitch black, once again. This will confirm that no light from the built-in flash is getting into the image.

Now, switch on the main flash and then take another test picture.

Check the histogram of the image.

There should be a peak towards the left (corresponding to the black background). Adjust the flash output so that this peak is just about to touch the left axis (Picture 4). This will give you a rich black background while retaining some texture. You can also shift the histogram to the right or left by changing the aperture but

Picture 4: This is how the histogram will look on the LCD monitor of your camera. Note how the peak on the left does not touch the left axis. This indicates that there are no blocked shadows.

Remember that increasing the exposure, that is the amount of light, will move the histogram to the right.

This can be done either by increasing the flash output and/or widening the aperture. Likewise, decreasing the exposure (by decreasing the flash output and/or narrowing the aperture) will move the histogram to the left.

Also, check the highlight warning display. There should be no or very small areas of blown highlights. In this case I opted for a small area of blown highlight on the knife to make it sparkle against the black background. This is also indicated by the histogram slightly touching the right axis. However, the area with blown highlights should be kept to the absolute minimum.

Once you have adjusted the exposure properly, release the shutter to take the picture! You should get an image similar to Picture 5.

Basics of Photography

Picture 5: The final result for you to enjoy! Tech data: Camera - Nikon P D7000, Lens - Carl Zeiss 50mm Makro Planar, ISO 100, Shutter speed D 1/200, Aperture F/8, Yongnuo 560II with flash power @ Âź of full power.

An alternative setup: You can also try the same subjects placed on a glass top rather than a wooden surface. If you decide on doing this way, then I would suggest that you use a black coloured glass instead of a plain glass sheet. This will look much better.

CO CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONC LUS LU USIO ION N As you can see, even simple everyday items can make a very nice colourful photograph. More importantly, you just need minimum equipment to do this. So try it out and enjoy your work!

All photographs and diagrams Š of the Author

Picture 5

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Learning

Silver Efex Pro 2

A

s indicated earlier in the Black & White Conversion article, Silver Efex Pro 2 from Nik Software is probably the best plugin to create fantastic black & white images. It can work with the following host applications: Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, and Apple’s Aperture. A fully functional free trial version from www.niksoftware.com lasts for 15 days. The paid download version currently costs approximately Rs.13,000 (inclusive of the current discount offered by Nik Software).

Please note that this article is just a brief run-through of what Silver Efex Pro is capable of. The host application that I am using is Photoshop CS6.

Before you start, edit your image as best as you can. This means adjust the contrast, colour, spotting, sharpening etc. Then go to Filter > Nik Software > Silver Efex Pro 2. The program will open with the various presets (‘Style Browser’ in Nik’s terminology) at the left and a larger image in the centre, showing the selected preset applied to your image. The presets are divided into categories: All, Classic, Modern, Vintage and Favourites.

If you do not have an idea of what effect each preset offers, you may select ‘All’ and try out every preset one by one.

An important point to note here is that after choosing a preset, you can fine-tune the effect to your liking using selective 64 64

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adjustments. And you can do all this without having knowledge of making complicated ‘masks’ as used in many other editing software.

In our printscreen on the opposite page, you can see one of the presets applied to the image in question (the second preset from the top has been selected for this particular printscreen). On the right of the screen you’ll see sections allowing for Global Adjustments, Selective Adjustments, Details, Loupe & Histogram. Finally, on the lower right hand, you’ll see a step-wedge, known as the Zone System Map. This is actually a gradient map with 11 distinct zones showing the tonality possible in your image. When you click on a particular ‘zone’ in the Zone System Map, that particular zone will be highlighted in your image. This can be used to fine-tune the tonal relationship in your image.

The technology built into the Selective Adjustments is worth elaborating.

It uses Nik’s ‘U-Point technology’ (opposite page) that allows you to fine-tune any localised area in the image. Using this, you can alter brightness, contrast and structure (fine detail) in the part of the image you are working on. You first add a control point to the image by clicking on the ‘Add Control Point’ radio button and then clicking onto the area that needs

to be edited. The ‘Size’ slider (topmost slider) controls the area to be worked on; the ‘Brightness’, ‘Contrast’ and ‘Structure’ sliders do as their names suggest, within the area selected using the Size slider.

If you wish to experiment further, there’s a set of colour filters that could be applied to the black & white image, just like we often did with film photography. You can even apply the effects of using certain types of B&W films like Kodak Panatomic X, Ilford Pan F Plus, Fuji Neopan ACROS and many others. You can tone an image, apply a vignette, burn edges, or create image borders. You can add grain, change the sensitivity of different colours of the original image (for example, in the monochrome version, you could darken the area originally covered by a blue sky, lighten foliage etc.), and apply Levels and Curves (similar to what you would do in Photoshop).

Silver Efex Pro 2 is very easy to use and a joy too. You can create many variations, save them, and then decide on your favourite one. Those photographers who complain of not being able to get rich blacks and clean whites, those who do not like to fiddle in other editing software, and those who think creating black & white images are difficult, should certainly try this plug-in!

Rohinton Mehta

Style Browser

Learning

Controls size Controls brightness Controls colour

U-Point technology

Please see overleaf, to see the original image and the converted B & W image using Silver Efex Pro 2.

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Learning Original

Using Silver Efex Pro 2

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Learning Photoshop The author, Rajendra Prasad, an Associate of Royal Photographic Society of London, and a banker by profession, has been in the photographic field for over two decades and has extensive experience in both film and digital photography. At present he is the Chairman of Digital Imaging Division, India International Photographic Council, Delhi. Rajendra has a passion for sharing his knowledge on photography through teaching and writing. He has published several articles on photography in photographic magazines and journals of IIPC & FIP. He has also published an e-book An Introduction to Digital Photography which was released at Indore IIPC workshop by Sri Jaipal Reddy, Minister-Information & Broadcasting. He has also given talks on photography at Doordarshan. He has taught several photo-enthusiasts through workshops on photography in several Indian cities. His photographs have also won many accolades in different photographic salons. He has also served as a judge in various contests. His other hobbies are electronics and painting. He maintains a photoblog digicreation.blogspot.com and can be reached at rajdigi25@gmail.com

Photoshop’s Hidden Gem -

A

nyone who works with Photoshop knows that it comes packed with cool filters that can really create awesome effects. All amateur photographers use these filters in Photoshop to enhance their images, because they are easy to execute and no learning is required.

With just a click on any filter, you get a professional looking image. Amateurs and professional photographers also use plug-ins because it saves time. Sometimes professionals use secret plug-ins to give a personal touch to their images. Photoshop already ships with a large number of filters, but photographers are always in search of new filters which can provide unique effects to their images. There are thousands of plug-ins available in the market made by third-party software developers and some of them are unaffordable by amateur photographers. In this tutorial I am going to introduce you to a plug-in called ‘Pixel Bender’ which is free and is provided by Adobe. Many Photoshop users are unaware of this plug-in since it does not comes pre loaded in Photoshop and is not publicised too much.

What is Pixel Bender?

Pixel Bender was known as Hydra when it was earlier in development. The Pixel Bender graph language is an XML-based language for combining individual pixelprocessing operations (kernels) into more complex Pixel Bender filters. You will first have to download and load it to be able to use it. It really is Photoshop’s hidden gem. It is a combination of different filters for Photoshop with each providing a unique effect. But that’s not all – Adobe also provides a simple interface for the Pixel Bender toolkit that lets you create your own filters. As a result, a community is building around Pixel Bender where users can share custom created filters with others. These filters can be executed on the graphics card (GPU) or CPU of a computer. They run faster on the graphic card (GPU). Adobe Pixel Bender technology delivers a common image and video processing infrastructure, so Pixel Bender also runs cross-platform in Photoshop, After Effects and Flash.

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Learning Photoshop

1

Downloading and installing Pixel Bender To install the Pixel Bender plug-in for Photoshop CS4/CS5 in Windows and Mac OS : Download the Pixel Bender plug-in for Photoshop CS5 from the following link http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/ pixelBenderplugin.html Make sure to download the version that matches your operating system and your version of Photoshop CS4, or CS5 (32 or 64 bit). The extension is a .mxp file and you need to install it using the Adobe Extension Manager. Double click the Pixel Bender file; the Extension Manager CS4/CS5 will be launched and the Pixel Bender plug-in will be installed once you accept the licensing terms.

Please note that if you are using Vista or Windows 7 you need to run Extension Manager as Admin. The reason for this is that the extension needs to be placed in a folder that you can only access if you have administrator privileges. You can do that simply by right clicking Extension Manager App in all programs and choosing Run as Administrator. Click the install icon in the Adobe Extension Manager dialog box. When prompted, browse and go where you have saved your downloaded Pixel Bender files. Once you accept Adobe’s licensing agreement the plug-in will be loaded in Photoshop. If your Photoshop is already open, close and restart to make the plug-in available.

2

Working with Pixel Bender filter Open an image. I will be using this image of a flower. First check the size of the image by choosing Image > Image Size, as there is a physical limit to the size of images you can use with Pixel Bender. The limit is 4096 x 4096 pixels, so ensure that your image is smaller than this. I suggest you start with smaller images as they render faster. If your image is bigger than 4096 x 4096 pixels, resize it to a smaller size. To run Pixel Bender choose Filter > Pixel Bender > Pixel Bender Gallery.

When you’re done, click OK to apply the result to the image. Unlike most filters which convert images to look like an oil painting, this one identifies the edges in the image therefore making the painting look more realistic.

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Learning Photoshop

3

Working with filters The Pixel Bender gallery is initially populated with about 13 Pixel Bender filters that are installed with the plug-in, as seen in the screenshot. As with all plug-ins you will love the effect of some filters and use them repeatedly depending on your requirement.

So first apply all these filters one by one on your image, play with their sliders and see what effect they provide. Note that the choice of image is also important. Some filters work on select images only.

Due to limitation of space, I cannot explain all the filters in the gallery here. Therefore, I have selected three filters to elaborate on. Do experiment with the other filters to analyse the results.

Spherize This filter converts the image into a sphere, as you can see in the screenshot. There are only three sliders in this filterRefraction Index, Radius and Center. The Refraction Index controls the amount of spherisation; the Radius controls the radius of the sphere; and in Center you will find two sliders which control the position of the sphere. Adjust the sliders till you get the result you like. If you are unsure about how a slider affects the image, drag it all the way to the left or right and see the result. Adjust accordingly.

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Learning Photoshop Kaleidoscope filter A kaleidoscope is a cylinder with mirrors containing coloured objects such as beads or bits of glass. As the viewer looks through one end, the light entering from the other end creates a colourful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors. By just shaking the instrument you can change the patterns. The Kaleidoscope filter of the Pixel Bender functions in a similar manner. You can take any photograph as a starting point and this filter converts it in to a pattern. The shapes can be controlled by the sliders provided.

This filter has 4 controls: Fade Colour, as the name suggests, fades the colours. In practice, I got no effect from these sliders. Center point has two sliders and these are the main sliders that affect the shape of a pattern. Play with them till you get a pleasing pattern. Size changes the size of the existing patterns. Fade fades out the image, so it is best to keep the setting at 1. Rotation Angle changes the pattern according to the selection. Give this slider more attention and play with it till you get a desired pattern. You can see the effect of this filter on the flower in the final image.

Oil Filter In my opinion, this is the best filter in the Pixel Bender gallery.

There are many plug-ins in the market which imitate the oil painting effect. Some plug-ins are free, some too costly to be purchased by amateurs and some are so complex that you have to study them before you can apply them in an effective manner. This Oil Filter of Pixel Bender is very easy to use and almost instantaneously provides the oil painting effect. It has 5 sliders. The first slider i.e. Stylization changes the style of brush stroke applied; Cleanliness cleans up or makes the brush stroke styles prominent; Colourisation slider works like a saturation slider and saturates/desaturates the image (it also changes the contrast of the image); Brush Scale makes the brush strokes short or long; and the Brush Contrast slider controls the contrast of the brush strokes. You can easily decide how and when to use these sliders because the software provides a live preview while moving the sliders.

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Learning Photoshop

Closing comments Pixel Bender is a very cool plug-in that did not get widespread recognition from developers. So in CS6, Photoshop and After Effects teams have decided to move away from enabling the Pixel Bender language for writing imaging filters. So you can use it only with Photoshop CS4 or CS5.

Download this plug-in and start experimenting on various images.

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Learning

Black & White Conversion

C

olour has its beauty, but so does black & white. Sometimes, black and white images create greater impact than colour. If you haven’t seen amazing black & white images of master craftsmen like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Andreas Feininger and Yousuf Karsh to name a few, then sadly, you haven’t experienced real black & white photography! Those who haven’t worked enough in black & white darkrooms may find creating B&W images in the digital darkroom to be rather difficult than creating colour images. It demands greater knowledge of lighting and the ability on the part of the photographer to visualise the final scene without being unduly influenced by colour.

Most digital cameras offer an option to shoot in black & white. While this method is simpler, it’s not the best way either. You would be better off capturing the scene in colour (in Raw) and then converting the same to black & white using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop. When you record in Raw, your file size will be larger, meaning you’ll record more data. When you record using the in-built B&W feature, the camera still records all the three channels (red, green and blue) but discards most of the data while converting to B&W.

Tip: Once you convert your colour images to black & white, do not have them printed onto conventional colour paper. If you do so, you may not be fully satisfied because you are likely to see a colour tint in the final images. Instead, go for inkjet printing, which can offer you clean blacks and whites.

There are various methods to convert colour images to black & white. Some methods are, to say the least, poor, and some are rather difficult. This article will explain some simple, yet very effective methods to convert your colour images to B&W. I am using Photoshop CS6 but earlier versions can be used too.

Original

Learning

Printscreen_1

Printscreen_2

Method 1 As suggested earlier, shoot your pictures in Raw (the method will work with JPEGs too).

In Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), select HSL / Grayscale (in CS6, it is the fourth tab from the left. See Printscreen_1). Check (tick) Convert to Grayscale (see Printscreen_2). The image will turn black & white and the words ‘Hue/ Saturation/Luminance’ will be replaced by ‘Grayscale Mix’ (see Printscreen_3). (In Printscreen_3 Adobe Bridge, you must check the relevant box for Camera Raw Preferences, as shown in Printscreen_4)

Printscreen_4

The Grayscale Mix box contains eight sliders, each for a different colour. Adjust the sliders (depending on the colour that you want to adjust) till you are satisfied with the result.

Converted to B & W as shown in method 1

Learning

Method 2 a) Open the JPEG image directly in Photoshop.

Make a copy of the image itself by going to Image > Duplicate and clicking OK. (You may work on the original or the copy. The copy is created so that you can easily compare the two images sideby-side). Create an adjustment layer for Black & White (click on the half-black, half-white circle at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Black & White). The image will immediately turn B&W and you will notice that some of the sliders have been automatically moved. b) If you like the effect, then fine (most likely you will not!). You now have a choice. Click on the Auto button if you want Photoshop to guide you. Notice that the slider positions change again. Taking a cue from the sliders, you can fine-tune the final effect to your liking. c) There is yet another way. If you don’t like to use Auto as in the above step (or even if you have used it), you can click on the hand icon just above where it says ‘Reds’. (When you place the mouse cursor over this icon, the readout will say “Click and drag in image to modify a slider”; when you click, a gray square will surround the icon, indicating that it is active). Move the cursor over the area you want to darken or lighten. When you press the mouse button, the eyedropper icon will turn into a hand with arrows pointing left and right. Moving this slider to the left will darken that part of the image; moving to the right will lighten it.

Printscreen_1

Printscreen_2

Black & White using Silver Efex Pro 2 plug-in from Nik Software This plug-in is not free but if you are seriously interested in B&W photography, if you want the highest achievable quality, then this is the plug-in to go for. A plug-in is a small software that works in combination with a host program like Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, Aperture etc. Please read about Silver Efex Pro 2 in next month’s article.

Rohinton Mehta

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Original

Final

December 2012 Smart Photography

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Learning

! t l i T

Give your photography a

C

ontrolling what is in focus and what is not in an image is essential if you want to get the right aesthetics in portrait, landscape and still life photography. This characteristic is controlled by what is called the ‘Depth of Field’ or in short DOF. So, before we go further let us see what DOF stands for. As per optical theory, only one point (and all the points at exactly the same distance from the lens) can be in perfect focus. But, in reality, objects on either side of this point will also be in focus. That is, there is a band of acceptable sharpness which is nothing but the depth of field. Simply put, DOF is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects which are in focus. DOF, beyond any doubt, is one of the most important aspects of photography.

leeway in altering magnification. Thus, DOF control is often limited to just changing the aperture. However, aperture can be changed only within certain limits, as allowed by your lens.

This means that you cannot extend the DOF to an extent you want just by stopping down (narrowing) the aperture beyond a point. Not only that, excessive stopping down of the aperture introduces ‘diffraction’ which reduces the quality of the image. You may also get into situations where you require a high shutter speed but the DOF you need demands a narrow aperture which is not possible even with a high ISO due to the low light.

Conversely, how do you reduce the DOF if it is too much? Is there a solution to these problems?

DOF is mainly influenced by just two parameters - magnification and aperture. Magnification (which is the size of the image that is formed on the sensor), is a combination of focal length and subject distance. Smaller the magnification (due to short focal lengths and/or greater subject distances) and narrower the aperture, greater will be the DOF.

Yes there is, if you know how to exploit the ‘Scheimpflug Effect’. No, it is not a word from the aliens’ language nor is it something new. The concept was patented in as early as 1904. The techniques and hardware that use this principle will give you an extraordinary control over the DOF to produce some very unique and aesthetically pleasing results.

Generally, perspective and composition considerations do not allow much

To understand how this works, it is first necessary to know the concept of a

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‘plane’. A plane, as used in photography, is a flat surface. However, it is imaginary in the sense that it doesn’t physically exist. So, think of it as a transparent sheet of glass! In conventional photography, there are three planes – the focal plane (that is the plane at which the sensor is located), the lens plane and the subject plane. For perfect focus all these need to be perfectly parallel to each other (Picture 1). In the strictest sense only the subject plane is in perfect focus. However, as you have just read, a zone (slightly behind and after the subject plane) will also be in adequate focus due to DOF.

Stripped of its mathematics, the Scheimpflug Effect, states that if the focal plane or lens plane is tilted such that they intersect each other and if the subject plane when extended passes through this intersection point, you will get almost unlimited DOF! But, before you say “Oh my God” and give up, just look at Picture 2. It is not that complicated!

So when is this useful? Think of a landscape which has a flat flower bed in the foreground. This can be made to come into sharp focus just by tilting the lens even without stopping down.

Similar applications exist for still life photography too.

Learning

Picture 1

Picture 1: A schematic of a conventional photographic set up. The focal/sensor plane (blue), the lens plane (red) and the subject plane (green) are all parallel to one another. The DOF (before and after the subject plane) here will QPN[ DG CHHGEVGF D[ VJG CRGTVWTG QPEG VJG OCIPKſECVKQP KU ſZGF

What will happen if your subject is not in one plane? As an example think of the same landscape where there is a tall hill in the background, beyond the flower bed. This principle will not apply to the hill as it is in a different plane (since it is vertical). So, if you need to get that too in sharp focus, you can tilt the lens differently. In Picture 2, the thick magenta line represents a vertical subject. Assume an imaginary plane, shown as “pq” and you can tilt the lens parallel to this, to get the vertical subject in focus. The problem here is that a part of the scene that was earlier in focus will now go out-of-focus.

Hence, in such cases it is easier to stop down the aperture to increase the DOF (the traditional way), since DOF can be extended to distant objects easily.

This way you can maximise the DOF by using the Scheimpflug Effect combined with stopping down of aperture.

Pictures 3 and 4 show how the tilt feature was used to increase the DOF. How much tilt is needed? The lower the camera is from the subject plane and nearer the foreground that you want in sharp focus, the greater the tilt you will need. Usually you will not need more than 8 degrees of tilt though.

Picture 2

Picture 2: This shows a schematic of the 5EJGKORƀWI 'HHGEV 6JG VJKP NKPGU CTG NKPGU GZVGPFGF HTQO VJG TGURGEtive planes. Because of the tilting, all the planes meet at a point ‘X’.

If there is a vertical subject (magenta), it is better to get it in sharp focus by stopping down rather than changing the tilt angle.

You can also use the Scheimpflug Effect to reduce the DOF. By proper titling you can reduce the DOF, thus confining the zone of sharp focus to a thin slice.

This has a very useful application in fashion and product photography.

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Learning

Picture 3

Picture 4

mechanisms to give tilt and shift, these lenses also project an image circle (also called “covering power”), much larger than a regular lens would project. This enables the entire sensor to be evenly illuminated after the tilt/shift operation.

These lenses are available in focal lengths starting from about 17mm (for landscapes) to 85mm (for still life and portrait photography).

Picture 5

Giving the tilt capability to your camera: Using ‘Tilt’ and, its close cousin, ‘Shift’ was once possible only with ‘Technical’ cameras (also called View cameras) though now the same effects can be obtained on D-SLRs and mirrorless cameras (also known Inter-Changeable Lens Cameras or ILCs) too. Let us look at a couple of solutions available to us.

Tilt/Shift Lenses: Leading camera manufacturers and a few third-party ones (Schneider, Samyang, etc.)

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Smart Photography December 2012

2KEVWTG 1DUGTXG JQY VJG &1( JCU DGGP GZVGPFGF when the lens was tilted. The aperture in both cases was the same at f/1.8!

make tilt/shift lenses. These lenses not only offer ‘tilt’, but also allow ‘shift’ operation and are called T/S lenses for short. The shift feature is indispensable for correcting perspective (that is for making vertical lines perpendicular) and hence is very useful for architectural photography.

Since they are purpose-built, these lenses give excellent image quality and integrate very well with cameras.

However, the focussing is always manual. The only problem is that these are very expensive. Apart from having

Picture 5: A T/S lens in normal position

Picture 5

Picture 6: A T/S lens after tilting

Pictures 5 and 6, courtesy Nikon India

Picture 3: A photograph taken in the conventional way (without any lens tilt). See how the DOF is limited here.

Learning

Lens Adapters: The advent of mirrorless cameras saw a number of lens adapters coming into existence.

These are easily available on eBay. Adapters are simply hollow rings with compatible mounts on either side and allow you to mount many present D-SLR full frame and older 35mm film SLR lenses on Micro Four Thirds or Sony NEX series cameras. Also, the sensors used on mirrorless cameras are smaller than the 35mm image circle that these lenses project. Thus, these lenses have enough covering power. These factors allow the design and manufacture of adapters that also support tilt operation apart from functioning as simple adapters. ( Just for information, some adapters also support shift operation. For details, please see Smart Photography, Lens Adapters, April 2012 issue).

If you have a Micro Four Thirds or Sony NEX camera, using a tilt adapter is an excellent and economical way to get the tilt capability. Of course, you will need a lens too. Any of the older Canon, Nikon or Pentax lenses with a focal length of around 50mm will be fine for still life and portrait photography.

Picture 7

Picture 8

Picture 8: This is how the adapter looks after tilting.

The tilt here is 8 degrees. Comparing this image with Picture 2 will give you a better idea of the tilt operation.

The aim of this article is to introduce you to the concepts of the tilt function.

By using this feature and combining it with the traditional control of DOF (by changing aperture), you can gain excellent command over the DOF. Try it out and you will see what I mean!

Picture 7: Here is an Olympus EP-3 Micro Four Thirds camera with a tilt adapter that supports Nikon lenses.

The adapter is shown here in normal position (that is with no tilt).

Ashok Kandimalla All photographs and diagrams Š by Ashok Kandimalla unless otherwise noted.

Reviews 88 82 92 98 104 106

Compact Review Panasonic Lumix FZ200

ILCC Review Panasonic Lumix G)3

Compact Review Nikon Coolpix S800C

Lens Review

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro

Change in Rating System Smart Photography’ s new rating system exercises stricter evaluation in view of improvements in the overall performance of photographic equipment. Marks will be awarded for the following parameters...

Final Rankings Recommended ......................................... 75-80% Best Buy .........................................81% and above

Compact Review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

Software Review Portrait Professional Studio

D-SLR CAMERAS

LENSES

COMPACT CAMERAS

Design & Build Quality .................... (out of 20)

Design & Build Quality .................... (out of 20)

Design & Build Quality .................... (out of 20)

Key Features........................................... (out of 20)

Key Features........................................... (out of 20)

Key Features........................................... (out of 20)

Ergonomics ............................................. (out of 20)

Ergonomics ............................................. (out of 20)

Ergonomics ............................................. (out of 20)

Performance Autofocus ....................................................(out of 5) Metering ......................................................(out of 5) Noise control ...........................................(out of 5) Distortion/Sharpness..........................(out of 5) LCD/Viewfinder.....................................(out of 5) Auto White Balance...........................(out of 5)

Performance Autofocus ....................................................(out of 5) Sharpness.....................................................(out of 5) Distortion control .................................(out of 5) Aberrations ................................................(out of 5) Darkening of corners.........................(out of 5) Extra Features............................................(out of 5)

Performance Autofocus ....................................................(out of 5) Metering ......................................................(out of 5) Noise control ...........................................(out of 5) Distortion/Sharpness..........................(out of 5) LCD/Viewfinder.....................................(out of 5) Auto White Balance...........................(out of 5)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Value for Money ................................. (out of 10)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

Grand Total ......................................... (out of 100)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

ILCC Review Panasonic Lumix GH3

Micro Four Thirds on Steroids

T

82.5%

he GH range of Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds cameras is recognised for being excellent at video and for targetting the premium sector. The GH3, which replaces the GH2, is made in China.

It has a weather-sealed body and features built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, Touch Shutter, Touch AF and more.

The GH3 is an obvious attempt by Panasonic to appeal to the enthusiast and pro sector market.

Rs.1,05,600 Design and Build Quality (converted from current U.K. price)

Inside the Box Camera Battery (DMW-BLF19PP) z Battery charger (DMW-BTC10PP) z AC cable z USB cable z CD-ROM software z CD-ROM (Operating Instructions, Advanced) z Shoulder strap z Body cap z z

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The Panasonic Lumix GH3 body is well built. It is larger and heavier than the GH2 and uses a magnesium alloy chassis for extra sturdiness. Its larger body offers a better grip, especially for people with big hands. The tripod socket is made of metal and is located directly in line with the lens’ central axis. An optional battery grip (DMW-BGGH3) is available. The

body is dust-proof and splash-proof, and measures approximately 133 x 93 x 82mm. At 520 g with card and battery, it is lighter compared to 855 g Canon 60D body or 555 g Nikon’s D5200 body for instance.

Key Features The GH3 is a 16.05 megapixel ILCC (Interchangeable Lens Compact Camera) using a Four Thirds Live MOS (17.3 x 13 mm) imaging sensor.

It offers a Supersonic Wave Filter for dust reduction. Viewing options are an Electronic Viewfinder (OLED) having 1,744K-dot resolution and a 3-inch swivel/tilt touch-screen OLED monitor having a resolution of approximately 610,000 dots. Both the devices offer approximately 100% field of view. The GH3 looks and feels very much like a D-SLR. It offers, just behind the front dial, direct buttons for White Balance, ISO, and Exposure Compensation. On

Rohinton Mehta

ILCC Review Panasonic Lumix GH3 tail

De Sharpness &

13sec. ISO:160

utter Speed: 1/

Aperture: f/8 Sh

ISO:200

racy

ty,

, Standard Quali e Quality, JPEG ) JPEG, Super Fin 0% 10 (4.26 KB ) 100% (8.44 MB

Smart Photography December 2012

ISO:12800

Colour Accu

ression

JPEG Comp

84

the top left is the Drive mode dial. On the extreme top right is the Wi-Fi connection lamp.

Noise

Colour checker shot using Auto White Balance in sunlight. Auto Levels applied.

The GH3 employs ContrastDetect autofocus system (almost all D-SLRs use Phase-Detection AF), while focus modes available are AF-S, AF-C, AF-F (camera decides whether to use AF-S or AF-C, depending on subject’s status), and MF (Manual Focus).

Autofocus/Autoexposure can be locked using the AF/AE Lock button. AF modes are Face Detection, AF Tracking, 23-area Focussing, 1-area Focussing, and Pinpoint Focussing (touch-focus area selection is possible). For easy access to your favourite function, the GH3 offers five Function Buttons. The user can assign his/her favourite function to each of these buttons.

The Mode dial on the top has indents for P, A, S, M, Video, Custom 1, 2 and 3, Scene Guide, Creative Control, Intelligent Auto (which includes Intelligent Auto Plus mode). The Intelligent Auto mode is a boon for those who wish to concentrate more on the subject than on the technicalities.

The GH3 uses a 144-zone multipattern system for exposure control with 3 metering modes: Intelligent Multiple, Centreweighted and Spot. Exposure modes are Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual. Also available are 23 Scene Modes: Clear Portrait, Silky Skin, Backlit Softness, Clear in Backlight, Relaxing Tone,

ILCC Review

Panasonic Lumix GH3

Rohinton Mehta

available: Expressive, High key, Low Key, Sepia, Dynamic Monochrome, Impressive art, High Dynamic, Cross Process, Toy Effect, Miniature Effect and One Point Colour.

The Lumix GH3 offers Wi-Fi functionality. You can remotely fire the camera using a Smartphone, view the images on a Wi-Fi enabled TV, transmit images to a laptop or PC or sync with a web service.

Sweet Child’s Face, Distinct Scenery, Bright Blue Sky, Romantic Sunset Glow, Vivid Sunset Glow, Glistening Water, Clear Nightscape, Cool Night Sky, Warm Glowing Nightscape, Artistic Nightscape, Glittering Illuminations, Clear Night Portrait, Soft Image of a Flower, Appetizing Food, Cute Dessert, Freeze Animal Motion, Clear Sports Shot, and Monochrome. Exposures can be compensated by +/- 5 EV in 1/3 EV steps, while exposures can be bracketed in 3, 5, or 7 frames in 1/3, 2/3 or 1 EV step. Images can be recorded in JPEG, Raw, MPO (in 3D recording) and image quality can be set to Raw, Raw+Fine, Raw+Standard, Fine and Standard.

Shutter speeds (for still images) on the GH3 range from 60 seconds -1/4000 sec, plus ‘B’ (Bulb); those for movies range from 1/30 sec–1/16,000 sec (NTSC) or 1/25 sec-1/16,000 (PAL).

Quick burst at 20 fps at reduced image size (Super high speed), 6 fps

(High speed), 4 fps (Middle speed) or 2 fps (Low speed) is available. The standard ISO sensitivity range on the GH3 is from ISO 200-12,800, plus Auto and Intelligent ISO. The range can be expanded to ISO 125 at the lower end and ISO 25,600 at the higher end.

The Panasonic Lumix GH3 offers full HD video recording (1920 x 1080) in AVCHD, MP4 and MOV formats.

Audio is recorded in stereo using the built-in microphone but you can also add an external mic. Please read your Basic Owner’s Manual for further details. A pop-up flash with a Guide Number of 17m (ISO 200) is built-in, with the usual flash modes. A dedicated accessory shoe for external flashguns is available. Images are recorded on SD, SDHC and SDXC memory card.

Ergonomics White Balance can be set to Auto or one of the 8 Presets, including Colour Temperature setting. WB can also be bracketed. A Level Gauge ensures that your images stay levelled. Images can be shot in 4 aspect ratios: 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1;1. Colour Space can be set to sRGB or Adobe RGB. Seven Photo Styles are available to finetune your images: Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait and Custom. The user can control the amount of contrast, sharpness, saturation and noise reduction while using these Photo Styles. For those wanting even more control over their images, various Creative Controls are

We tested the Panasonic Lumix GH3 using a 12-35mm f/2.8 and a 100300mm f/4.5-5.6 lenses (equivalent to 24-70mm and 200-600mm respectively). The camera was a pleasure to use, but like most modern cameras that have more features than necessary, it can be difficult for those who neglect studying the user manual.

Unfortunately, Panasonic provides only the basic version of the user manual in print. The balance, especially with the 12-35mm lens, was perfect and the user interface was relatively simple.

Performance The overall performance of the GH3 December 2012 Smart Photography

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ILCC Review Panasonic Lumix GH3 +

Excellent Raw image quality

+

Excellent video quality

+

Very good noise control

+

Excellent Intelligent Auto mode

-

Expensive

FINAL SCORE Design and Build Quality

17/20

Key Features

17/20

Ergonomics

17/20

Performance Autofocus

4.5/5

Metering

4/5

Noise Control

4/5

Sharpness

4/5

LCD/EVF

4/5

Auto White Balance

4/5

Sub-Total

24.5/30

Value for Money

7/10

Grand Total

82.5/100

VERDICT Due to the fact that it offers video capability for more than 30 minutes, the GH3 is considered to be a video camera rather than a still camera. This in turn, qualifies it for a much higher excise duty. If Panasonic were to reduce the video clips to under 30 minutes (should be easy with a firmware update), the camera would be affordable to most users. GH3’s video quality is amazing; and so is the still-image quality, especially when you shoot in Raw. As mentioned earlier, JPEG users can control the sharpening in Photoshop or increase the in-camera sharpening to suit their individual needs. In spite of its high cost, but considering its potential, we would rate the camera as a Best Buy! Rohinton Mehta

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was excellent. We primarily used the central-AF point and noticed that autofocus was, surprisingly, very fast (‘surprising’ because it uses ContrastDetect AF as used in compacts, rather than Phase-Detection as used in D-SLRs), even in low light. Panasonic claims an AF speed of 0.07 seconds with certain lenses! The touch-screen autofocus worked like a charm, instantly focussing on the element touched upon on the screen.

mirrorless ILCC. We were unable to test the Wi-Fi functionality.

Value for Money While the Indian price is yet to be announced, the Panasonic Lumix GH3 sells in the U. K. at around Pounds Sterling 1200 without VAT. This is definitely on the expensive side, but the price should fall within 3 months or so.

SPECIFICATIONS

Images shot in JPEG were on the ‘softer’ side, but could be easily sharpened in Photoshop. As it is with all digital cameras, the user has a choice to increase in-camera sharpness to his liking. Colours were punchy and mostly accurate-- reds, which are generally difficult to reproduce well, were much better with the GH3. White Balance performance was good under most lighting conditions. It is possible to give different looks to your JPEG images by customising the camera using the Photo Styles offered. Images shot in Raw were definitely better in every way.

Camera type Effective pixels Sensor Dust reduction Focus

: : : : :

ISO sensitivity Shutter speeds

: :

White Balance

:

Exposure Exp. Compensation Metering mode Monitor

: : : :

Viewfinder

:

The GH3’s native image size is 15.36 x 11.52 inches at 300 ppi ( JPEG, 45.6MB when opened in Photoshop).

Digital noise control was excellent up to ISO 1600. ISO 3200 could be used in an emergency, but anything upwards produced visible noise with loss of fine detail. The Intelligent Auto mode provided us with excellent quality images without worrying about technicalities. We would recommend this mode to everyone (yes, including experts!).

VF Dioptre adjustment Flash Flash sync Recording media Burst speed

:

Video quality was just superb; probably the best we have seen till date on any

: : : :

Mirrorless ILCC 16.05 million Four Thirds Live MOS Supersonic Wave Filter AF/MF. Face Detection/AF Tracking/23-area focussing/1-area focussing/Pinpoint Auto/iISO/200-12800 60-1/4000sec, plus ‘B’ (Max. approx. 120 sec) AWB, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, Flash, White set 1 & 2, Kelvin temperature setting P, A, S, M. Auto +/- 5 EV in 1/3 EV steps Multiple, Centre-weighted, Spot 3-inch OLED monitor, approx.

610,000 dots. Touch screen.

Colour OLED Viewfinder, approx.

1,740,000 dots.

-4 to +4 dioptre

Built-in, G N: 17m at ISO 200 Up to 1/160 sec SD, SDHC, SDXC memory card 20 fps (reduced image size) Super high speed 6 fps (Full image size) High speed 4 fps (Middle speed) 2 fps (Low speed) No. of recordable : Max. 18 (Raw captures) pics.

JPEG: Depends on card capacity Still image format : Raw, JPEG Video format : AVCHD, MP4, MOV Battery : Li-ion DMW-BLF19PP Weight : Approx. 550 g with card and battery Wireless Transmitter Frequency range : 2412 MHz to 2462 MHz (11ch)

Compact Review Panasonic Lumix FZ200

A Superfast Cam!

81

%

Rs.34,990

B

ridge cameras, also known as Prosumer cameras, are very popular with those who do not wish to lug around heavy, cumbersome and often very expensive equipment.

Panasonic, besides some other prominent manufacturers, offers a wide choice of such super zoom models.

One such recent entrant from Panasonic is the Lumix FZ200 that boasts of constant f/2.8 aperture throughout its fantastic 24x zoom range. Not only

Flash Output

that, it can fire bursts at 12 frames per second at full resolution! The FZ200 is a replacement for the FZ150. Let’s see how it scores on our test bench...

Design and Build Quality Look closely and you’ll see something different – the lens barrel is large. This is because the 25-600mm equivalent zoom lens is f/2.8 throughout! The build quality is good, as long as you don’t compare it to that of D-SLRs.

Macro

Inside the Box z z z z z z

z z z

Camera Battery DMW-BLC12PP Battery Charger DE-A79B USB Cable CD-ROM (Owner’s Manual) CD-ROM (PHOTOfunSTUDIO 8.3 PE, Adobe Reader and Silkypix Software) Shoulder strap Lens cap and lens cap string Lens Hood VYQ7878

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Aperture

O:100

0sec. IS

eed: 1/1

tter Sp : f/8 Shu

Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/60sec. ISO:100

Compact Review

Panasonic Lumix FZ200 the zoom range for still images and from f/2.8-f/11 for movies.

An Electronic Colour LCD Viewfinder (EVF) with 1,312,000-dot resolution

offers almost 100% field of view and is provided with a diopter adjustment to suit individual eyesight. The monitor is a 3-inch TFT LCD with approximately 461,000-dot resolution.

Mahesh Reddy

The deep hand grip is perfect; the index finger falls directly on the shutter release button, while a thumb rest prevents chances of the camera slipping from your hand. The camera is well finished and is lightweight (approx. 588 g). It measures 125.2 (W) x 86.6 (H) x 110.2mm (D).

Key Features The Panasonic FZ200 is a D-SLR-like 12.1 megapixel ‘Bridge’ camera offering a Leica DC Vario-Elmarit (24x) 25600mm equivalent zoom lens. It uses a 1/2.3-inch Type (6.13 x 4.6mm) High Sensitivity MOS imaging sensor, backed by a Venus Processing Engine. The lens is made with 14 elements in 11 groups (5 Aspherical elements, 9 Aspherical Surfaces, 3 ED elements, 1 Nano Surface Coated element) and is backed

by Panasonic’s Power Optical Image Stabilizer (Power O.I.S.). The minimum focussing distance for ‘Normal’ shooting is 30cm at the wide-angle end and 200cm at the telephoto end. In AF Macro, Manual focus, Intelligent Auto, and Motion Picture modes, the lens can focus from 1cm-infinity at the wideangle end and 100cm-infinity at the telephoto end. Apertures offered by the FZ200 are from f/2.8-f/8 throughout Noise

ISO:100

ISO:3200

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Compact Review Mahesh Reddy

Panasonic Lumix FZ200 with stereo sound in AVCHD or MP4.

The focal length available for video recording is 28-672 mm. Please check your Owner’s Manual for further details. Images can be stored on SD/ SDHC/SDXC memory card in JPEG or Raw format. Internal memory is about 70MB. Image quality can be set to Raw, Raw+Fine, Raw+Standard, Fine, Standard; in 3D mode, MPO+Fine, MPO+Standard.

The FZ200 offers various focus modes: Normal/AF Macro/MF/Quick AF OnOff (always remains ‘On’ in Intelligent Auto)/Continuous AF (only for motion picture). There’s a Focus Switch with 3 settings on the lens barrel: AF/AF Macro/Manual Focus (MF). If set to MF, you can power zoom the lens using the T/W side lever and by pressing the Focus button, you can also autofocus, thus overriding the manual focus.

The Mode dial on the top can be set to P, A, S, M, Movie, Custom 1 & 2, Scene, and Creative Control. The Scene modes are: Portrait, Soft Skin, Scenery, Panorama Shot, Sports, Panning, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Handheld Night Shot, HDR, Food, Baby 1 & 2, Pet, Sunset, High Sensitivity, Glass Through, and 3D Photo Mode. Creative Control lets you choose between different creative effects: High Key, Low key, Sepia, Dynamic Monochrome, Impressive Art, High Dynamic, Cross Process, Toy Effect, Miniature Effect, Soft Focus, Star Filter, One Point Colour, Expressive and Retro. Exposures can be compensated by +/- 3 EV in 1/3 EV 90

Smart Photography December 2012

step. Metering modes are Intelligent Multiple, Center-weighted and Spot.

The Burst Mode button is between the shutter release and Function 1 button. It offers the following burst rates :12 fps for maximum 12 images at full resolution; with AF-Tracking: 5.5 fps/2 fps; High speed burst: approx.

60 fps (recorded at 2.5 MP); approx.

40 fps (recorded at 5 MP). Thankfully, the Burst Mode can be set to ‘Off ’ (i.e. you can take one frame with every press of the shutter release button!). Shutter speeds on the GH3 range from 60 seconds to 1/4000 sec for still images (Panasonic’s Basic Owner’s Manual says 15 seconds to 1/4000 sec) and from 1/30 sec. to 1/20,000 sec for video. Using Picture Adjustment control, the user can control contrast, sharpness, saturation and noise reduction. White Balance on the FZ200 can be set to Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Flash, Incandescent, White Set 1 & 2, and Kelvin temperature.

High Definition Video can be recorded

A built-in pop-up flash offering the usual flash modes can be used between 0.3-13.5 m at ISO Auto at the wideangle end; between 1-13.5 m at the telephoto end. The camera is powered by a lithium-ion battery (DMWBLC12PP).

Ergonomics The Lumix FZ200, though not pocketable, is small enough to carry in a waist-pouch. It is easy to handle and use. In spite of its very effective Power O. I. S., we would recommend a tripod for telephoto shooting. The fast f/2.8 aperture allows you to use faster shutter speeds (as compared to slower lenses) and hence further aids in sharp images.

Performance We had mixed reactions with the overall performance of the FZ200. JPEG images were somewhat on the ‘softer’ side (though could be easily sharpened in Photoshop) and were low in contrast; Raw files produced better images.

Highlight burnout was at its minimal, and could have possibly been helped by the low-contrast. Colours were, when not shooting into the light, saturated.

Though the Power O. I. S. performed as expected; for greater sharpness towards

Compact Review

Panasonic Lumix FZ200 the longest end we would definitely suggest a good tripod (with stabilisation turned off), failing which a monopod at least. The fast f/2.8 aperture allowed us to shoot in low light, where less modest cameras would have given up.

Flare was clearly visible in against-thelight shots, which required a contrast boost in Photoshop. Chromatic aberration (magenta fringing) was evident. Darkening of corners was very well controlled. There was, for all practical purposes, just a shade of corner darkening at the widest end (25mm equivalent). The lens exhibited some barrel distortion up to 65mm equivalent focal length. The EXIF data showed a maximum focal length of 610mm equivalent, which of course did not surprise us (measured focal length often vary with the stated focal length).

The native image size was 8.907 x 13.333” at 300ppi. At 12.5% screen size, there was no digital noise throughout the ISO range. At 25% screen size, the results were identical – no noise throughout the ISO range. At 50% screen size, some noise was visible at ISO 1600 and 3200. At 100%, noise was visible over a greater range of ISOs. Personally, using the ‘shoot to the right’ theory, I would not hesitate to use the camera up to ISO 1600, even for large prints. Having said that, just for record, for ultimate image quality with any camera one must try to use the lowest ISO sensitivity.

White Balance performance was good.

AWB and Pre-set for Sunlight was perfect; very slight magenta/red cast was seen with AWB/Pre-set for Shade

and Flash, which could be very easily handled in post-processing.

Auto focussing was quick and accurate and the Face Detection worked well.

AF Tracking was better than in some other cameras that we have reviewed in the past. Exposure metering for ambient light was quite accurate with all the three meters – Multiple, Centreweighted and Spot. Exposures with the built-in flash were spot on.

Value for Money The Panasonic Lumix FZ200 is available at an MRP of Rs.34,990. At this price, we would consider it to be a fair value for money.

SPECIFICATIONS Camera type Effective pixel Sensor size Sensor type Aperture range Focal length

: : : : : :

Lens

:

Image stabiliser Shutter speeds

: :

Viewfinder

:

LCD Monitor

:

File format

:

Exposure modes : Exp. Compensation : Metering : ISO sensitivity Image quality

: :

White Balance

:

Photo Style/ Film Mode

:

Bridge 12.1 million 1/2.3-inch Type (6.13 x 4.6mm) High Sensitivity MOS sensor F/2.8-8 (Stills); f/2.8-11 (Movies) 25-600 mm (Stills); 28-672 mm (Movies) Leica DC Vario-Elmarit (Nano Surface Coating) 14 elements in 11 groups Power O. I. S. 60-1/4000sec (Stills) 30-1/20,000 sec (Movies) 0.21-inch Colour EVF, approx.1, 312K dots 3-inch, Free-angle TFT LCD (460K dots) JPEG, Raw, MPO (3D) -Stills AVCHD, MP4 -Video P, A, S, M. +/- 3 EV in 1/3 EV step Intelligent Multiple, Centre-weighted, Spot Auto, iISO, 100-6400 Raw, Raw+Fine, Raw+Standard, Fine, Standard 3D mode: MPO+Fine, MPO+Standard Auto, daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Flash, Incandescent, White set 1 & 2, Kelvin temp.

Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait,

Custom Picture adjustments : Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Noise Reduction Built-in flash : Yes, pop-up Recording media : In-built: 70MB, SD, SDHC, SDXC card Power : Li-ion battery Included software : PHOTOfunSTUDIO 8.3PE, SilkyPix Developer Studio, Adobe Reader

+

24x, 25-600mm equivalent zoom

+

Lightweight

+

F/2.8 throughout the zoom range

+

Fully articulated LCD

-

Flare

-

Low-contrast images

-

Slightly softer JPEGs

FINAL SCORE Design and Build Quality

16/20

Key Features

16/20

Ergonomics

17/20

Performance Autofocus

4/5

Metering

4/5

Noise Control

5/5

Distortion/Sharpness

4/5

LCD/VF

4/5

AWB Sub-Total

4/5 25/30

Value for Money

7/10

Grand Total

81/100

VERDICT A very fast, f/2.8 aperture at 600mm was unheard of until now. If you are the kind of photographer who loves to shoot everything, even in low light, and without the bulk of a D-SLR, then the FZ200 is for you. But for the price you pay, you could opt for a beginner’s D-SLR with a kit lens.

However, a 600mm lens on a D-SLR will send you packing to a gym and could put you in conflict with your bank manager!

Rohinton Mehta December 2012 Smart Photography

91

Compact Review Nikon Coolpix S800C

The ‘Cam-droid’

E

75

%

ver since Google launched its Android operating system, it has taken the mobile phone market by storm with innumerable applications (Apps) made around the platform. The main features of Android are connectivity, rich app base, and relatively simple user interface. Now, after biting a second piece from Apple, the droid has slowly hacked into cameras too with Nikon launching the android-based Coolpix S800C. Could

Flash Output

this trigger a reverse migration from a ‘smartphone with a camera’ to a ‘smart camera with a phone’? Let us explore.

Design and Build Quality The exterior of the Nikon Coolpix S800C is largely made of polycarbonate, save the front portion, which is metal. The device has the power switch and the zoom lever on the top panel, while the LCD panel dominates the back panel, lined with

Macro

Rs.20,950

Inside the Box z z z z z

Camera Strap Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 Charging AC Adapter EH-69P USB Cable UC-E6 User’s Manual :

Aperture

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/60sec.

peed: 1

Aperture: f/4 Shutter Speed: 1/30sec. ISO:200

utter S f/3.2 Sh

ISO:125

Compact Review

Nikon Coolpix S800C Mahesh Reddy

three small Android-style buttons— Home, Menu, and Back. The lens has a three-segment construction and it protrudes quite a bit during zooming.

The tripod receptacle is metal. The LCD has a plastic outer screen which, I think, is a bad idea considering that a camera is mostly kept on its back and the fact that it is touch screen increases the chances of scratches. In fact, the piece supplied to us already had scratches covering every millimetre of the screen.

We would like to see a Gorilla Glass screen in the next upgrade (hope Nikon is listening).

Key Features Let us get this clear—the Nikon S800C does not feature a phone. Though it is based on Android, it is still a camera. So let us start with the camera features. The 16-megapixel S800 uses a 1/2.3-inch Type (approximately 6.16 x 4.62mm) CMOS sensor. It houses a Nikkor 25250mm equivalent lens constructed with 8 elements in 8 groups including an ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass element.

The f-numbers range from f/3.2 to 6.4 at the wide-angle end and f/5.8 to 11.6 at the telephoto end. Aperture mechanism consists of an electronically controlled ND filter. The camera Noise

ISO:125

ISO:3200

December 2012 Smart Photography

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Compact Review Mahesh Reddy

Nikon Coolpix S800C

features dual vibration reduction function, which combines optical (lensshift) VR and electronic (ISO) boost.

AF is achieved through contrast-detect method. In normal mode, lens focusses from approximately 50cm to infinity at the wide-angle end, and approximately 1.0m to infinity at the telephoto end.

In Macro mode, it focusses as close as 10cm (all measured from the front surface of the lens). Focus area selection methods are Face Priority, Auto (9-area automatic selection), Centre, Manual, and Subject Tracking. Exposure control is through programmed auto exposure and the exposure can be compensated up to +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps. Metering modes are 256-segment Matrix, Centre-weighted, and Spot. The S800C features a combination of mechanical and electronic shutter (electronically limiting the readout time of the sensor). Shutter speed ranges from 4 94

Smart Photography December 2012

to 1/4000 sec. Sensitivity of the camera ranges from ISO 125 to 1600, while in Auto mode it can be boosted up to ISO3200.

The S800C records still images in JPEG format with maximum pixel dimensions of 4608 x 3456, while videos are recorded in MOV format with the highest quality of 1920 x 1080 at approximately 30 frames per second.

Self-timer can be set to trigger the camera at either 10 or 2 sec interval.

Shooting modes available are Easy Auto, Auto, Scene, Special Effects, Smart Portrait, and Movie. Scene mode provides options of Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/ Indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/ Dawn, Night Landscape, Close-up, Food, Fireworks Show, Black and White Copy, Backlighting, Easy Panorama, and Pet Portrait. The camera features drive

modes such as Single, Continuous H (8 fps, 60 fps, and 120 fps), Continuous L (1.4 fps), BSS (Best Shot Selector), and Multi-shot 16. The built-in flash has a range of approximately 0.5 to 5.6m at the wide-angle end and approximately 1.0 to 3.1m at the telephoto end when the ISO is set to Auto. Flash control is through TTL method with monitor pre-flashes.

The Nikon S800C works on Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) operating system and features a Cortex-A9 processor.

It has 512MB RAM. It has a GPS receiver with 1575.42 MHz frequency with WGS 84 geodetic system. It also features Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) with approximately 60m range along with Bluetooth version 2.1. You can download all popular apps including games and E-mail with the exception of cellular communication apps. The

Compact Review

Nikon Coolpix S800C colour cast under all lighting conditions except Daylight and Fluorescent. But the colour casts could be removed easily in Photoshop. Native print size was 11.52 x 15.36 inches at 300 ppi.

Observed at 25 percent size, images were noise-free up to ISO 800. At 50 percent screen size, noise was observed at ISO 800 and slight noise could be seen even at ISO 400. When viewed at 100 percent, all images produced slight noise. Overall, the images were usable up to ISO 800.

only feature missing in this is a mobile communication module.

The device uses a 3.5-inch, approximately 819,000-dot widescreen OLED touch panel with anti-reflection coating. The S800C has approximately 1.7GB internal memory for saving images and approximately 680MB for Android apps. It also accepts an SD memory card as external storage. It is powered by an EN-EL12 rechargeable Li-ion battery (included). It weighs approximately 184 g (including battery and memory card) and has dimensions of approximately 111.4 x 60.0 x 27.2 mm (W x H x D).

Ergonomics The Coolpix S800C is comfortable to handle and easy to use. Nikon has rooted the device in such a way that when you switch it on, it will load the camera instead of the Android home screen. This is a wise move since Android takes a long time to load, compared to the camera interface.

There is no playback button, but a thumbnail at the corner of the screen provides access to the playback mode.

From this mode, you can share images

using Dropbox, Facebook, Gmail, Picasa, Twitter, or any such imagesharing service through Wi-Fi. But we felt the touch response was inferior to the new Android cameras available in the market.

Performance The Nikon Coolpix S800C performed reasonably well. The lens controlled darkening of corners very well with only mild darkening observed at extreme corners at wide-open aperture, at the wide-angle end. Distortion was practically zero througout the zoom range. Metering modes performed as expected. Autofocus was reasonable, though it was not very quick to lock on every time. But the device did not have any trouble focussing in low light.

Images out of the box appeared slightly soft. Prominent flare was observed at the wide-angle end with the lens wide open in images shot under strong back lighting, but we did not observe any chromatic aberration.

Auto White Balance was slightly disappointing in out-of-the-box images since the camera produced distinct

The device connected to Wi-Fi networks without any problem, though we felt that the connectivity was slightly poor compared to Android phones.

Value for Money The Nikon Coolpix S800 retails at an MRP of Rs.20,950. This is tad too high than the expected range for a camera without any manual setting or priority modes.

SPECIFICATIONS Effective pixels Image sensor Lens f/number Lens Construction

: : : : :

Vibration reduction : Autofocus Method : Focus range (from : front surface of lens)

Focus-area selection :

Monitor

:

Frame coverage (shooting mode) Storage Media

: :

16.0 million 1/2.3-inch type CMOS NIKKOR 25-250 mm equivalent f/3.2–5.8 8 elements in 8 groups (1 ED lens element) Combination of lens shift and electronic VR Contrast-detect AF Approx. 50 cm to infinity (W) Approx. 1.0m to infinity (T) Macro mode: Approx. 10 cm to infinity Face priority, auto (9-area automatic selection), centre, manual, subject tracking 3.5-inch, approx. 819,000-dot widescreen OLED (touch panel) with anti-reflection coating Approx. 98% horizontal and 98% vertical Internal memory: approx. 1.7 GB for saving images approx. 680 MB for

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95

Compact Review Nikon Coolpix S800C

File formats Max. Image size (pixels) Shooting Modes +

Good features

+

WiFi enabled

+

Power of Android

-

Scratch-prone LCD

-

No capacitive touch screen

-

Performance could have been better

FINAL SCORE Design and Build Quality

16/20

Key Features

17/20

Ergonomics

17/20

Performance Autofocus

3/5 3/5

Noise Control

2/5

Distortion/Sharpness

5/5

LCD/VF

4/5

AWB Sub-Total

2/5 19/30

Value for Money

6/10

Grand Total

75/100

VERDICT Smartphone cameras have taken image sharing to a new level.

However, more pixels packed into small sensors of Smartphone cameras have their limitations, no matter what configuration it has. If you are concerned about this, and do not mind carrying a basic phone in addition to this camera-cum-Android device, then the Nikon Coolpix S800 is a good buy.

But, we feel, there is much room for improvement.

Sujith Gopinath

96

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: Easy auto, Auto, Scene(Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night portrait, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Night landscape, Close up, Food, Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Backlighting, Easy panorama, Pet portrait), Special effects, Smart portrait, Movie Drive modes : Single, Continuous H (8 fps, 60 fps, 120 fps), Continuous L (1.4 fps), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Multi-shot 16 Highest Movie quality: HD 1080p(fine): 1920 x 1080/approx. 30 fps Sensitivity : ISO 125-1600 (ISO 3200 available in auto mode) Metering modes : 256-segment matrix, centre-weighted, spot Exposure control : Programmed auto exposure Exposure comp. : +/-2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV Shutter : Mechanical and CMOS

Shutter Speed Aperture Self-timer Built-in flash Range 3.1 (ISO: Auto) Flash control Interface GPS

electronic shutter : 4 to 1/4000 s : Electronically-controlled ND filter : Can be selected from 10 and 2 second durations : approx. 0.5-5.6 m (W), approx. 1.0-

m (T) : TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes : Hi-Speed USB : Receiver frequency 1575.42 MHz (C/A code), geodetic system WGS 84 Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) : IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WPS 2.0, ARIB STD-T66 Range (line of sight) : Approx. 60 m (varies with location) Operating frequency : 2412-2462 MHz (1-11 channels) Security : WPA/WPA2/WEP Bluetooth : ver.2.1+EDR System Processor : Coretex-A9 RAM : 512 MB Operating system : Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) Power source : One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN EL12 (included) Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 111.4 x 60.0 x 27.2 mm Weight : Approx. 184 g (including battery and SD card)

Mahesh Reddy

Metering

saving applications External storage: SD/SDHC memory card : Still pictures: JPEG Movies: MOV : 4608 x 3456

Compact Review Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

Anyone can Click!

B

73

udget compact cameras are in high demand in the market since these fit well in everyone’s budget and do not require any expertise for using. These cameras are feature-packed and have very short product lives since they are replaced fast by the companies to ward off competition. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000 joins the bandwagon with 14 megapixels and 5x optical zoom.

Flash Output

%

Design and Build Quality The outer body of the Sony S5000 is made of polycarbonate. It uses two AA batteries for power and has a plastic tripod receptacle. The lens has a three-segment construction. The back of the camera houses all the controls except the power and shutter release buttons which are on the top panel.

The LCD is recessed, therefore the chance of it getting scratched when the camera is kept on its back is less. Since

Macro

Rs.5490

Inside the Box Wrist Strap Alkaline Batteries l Multi USB Cable l

98

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O:100

0sec. IS

l

Aperture: f/5.1 Shutter Speed: 1/30sec. ISO:100

Aperture

: f/

ed: 1/4 tter Spe 3.2 Shu

Compact Review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000 Mahesh Reddy

the camera uses AA batteries, the hand grip has a nice protrusion.

Key Features The 14.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000 uses a 1/2.3-inch Type (6.16 x 4.62mm) Super HAD CCD sensor for imaging. This sensor has higher sensitivity compared to normal sensors, enabling low noise in low-light situations. The camera uses a Sony 30-150mm equivalent, f/3.2-6.5 lens.

The lens focusses from approximately 10cm to infinity at the wide-angle end and approximately 100cm to infinity at the telephoto end. Focus modes employed in the camera are Multi-point, Centre-weighted, Flexible Spot, and Flexible Spot (Face Tracking). Metering modes of the camera are Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-2.0 EV in 1/3-EV steps. ISO sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to 3200 and shutter speed ranges from 2 to 1/2000 sec.

F-number ranges from f/3.2 to 9.1 at the wide-angle end and 6.5 to 18.4 at the telephoto end. White Balance Noise

ISO:100

ISO:3200

December 2012 Smart Photography

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Mahesh Reddy

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

options are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and Flash.

But to access these modes, you have to set the flash to ‘Off’. The self-timer can be set to fire the shutter with a delay of 2 or 10 sec. The built-in flash has a range of approximately 0.5 to 3.0m at the wide-angle end, and approximately 0.5 to 1.5m at the telephoto end when ISO is set to Auto. Available flash modes are Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, and Slow Synchro. The camera features Auto Macro and Face Detection features and can detect up to eight faces in a frame.

Still images are recorded in JPEG format with maximum pixel dimensions of 4350 x 3240 while videos are recorded in AVC MP4 format with the highest quality of 640 x 480.

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Shooting modes on the Sony S5000 are Intelligent Auto, Easy Shooting, Program Auto, Movie Mode, Panorama, Scene Selection, and Picture Effect. Scene Selection provides further automated settings of High Sensitivity, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Gourmet, Pet, and Soft Skin. Picture Effects are Toy Camera, Pop Colour, Partial Colour, and Soft High-key. The camera uses a 2.7-inch, 230,400-pixel Clear Photo TFT LCD. The S5000 has an internal memory of approximately 28 MB and accepts a Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo/PRO HG Duo/SD/SDHC card for external storage. It is powered by two AA alkaline batteries. The camera weighs approximately 172g with battery and

memory card (125g body only) and has dimensions of 97.5 x 61.0 x 29.6mm.

Ergonomics The Sony S5000 is comfortable to hold and operate. The thick hand grip allows better handling. All controls on the back panel are within reach of the right thumb. User interface is straightforward and the menus are easy to navigate.

The LCD is not of the best quality, but is certainly good for a budget camera.

We observed slight lag in the display, but this too seems pardonable.

Performance The Sony DSC-S5000 provided mixed results in our tests. Images were sharp out of the box. All metering modes

Compact Review Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S5000

worked as expected. Autofocus was reasonably fast and had no problem locking on to the subject even under low light. We observed a low whirring sound while the AF motor operated.

Darkening of corners was observed at extreme corners at the wide-angle end at f/3.2. Slight barrel distortion was observed from the wide-angle end to about 80mm, but you may not notice this in normal images. Flare and chromatic aberration were evident even at f/9.1 at the wide-angle end.

Ideally, the test should have been conducted at the widest aperture since chances of flare are more then. But since the camera does not allow manual control, we could not adjust this.

Native print size was 10.8 x 14.4 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent of this screen size, images were noise-free up to ISO 400. ISO 1600 and 3200 were quite noisy. Slight noise could be seen at ISO 800. Observed at 50 percent, we observed very slight noise at ISO 400, while at 100 percent, even ISO 400 produced slight noise as expected.

For best results, stick to ISO 400 or lower. The S5000 disappointed us on the White Balance front. Auto White Balance mode produced distinct colour casts under all light sources.

Value for Money The Sony DSC-S5000 retails at an MRP of Rs.5490. This price is only fair for this camera since the real value depends on the price-performance ratio.

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SPECIFICATIONS Image Sensor Size Effective Pixels Lens Focus Range

: : : : :

LCD Screen Size Number Of Dots Name Focus Modes

: : : :

Light Metering : Exposure Comp. : ISO Sensitivity Setting : White Balance : Shutter Speed Self-Timer Flash Modes Synchro Flash Range Auto Macro Face Detection Max. No of Detectable Faces Shooting Modes

Scene Selection

Picture Effects

: : :

: ISO Auto: Approx. 0.5 - 3.0m(W) Approx. 0.5 - 1.5m (T) : Yes : Yes :8 : Intelligent Auto, Easy Shooting, Program Auto, Movie Mode, Panorama, Scene Selection, Picture Effect : High Sensitivity, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Gourmet, Pet, Soft Skin : Toy Camera, Pop Colour, Partial Colour, Soft High-key : Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo/PRO

Compatible HG Recording Media : Max. Recording pixels: Highest Movie : Quality Power Source : Dimensions : (W x H x D) Weight : Weight

Type: Super HAD CCD 1/2.3 type (7.76mm) Approx. 14.1 Million Sony 30 – 150mm equivalent f/3.2-6.5 W: Approx. 10cm to Infinity, T: Approx. 100cm to Infinity 2.7 inches 230,400 Clear Photo TFT LCD Multi-Point, Centre-Weighted, Flexible Spot, Flexible Spot (Face Tracking) Multi Pattern, Centre-Weighted, Spot +/- 2.0EV, 1/3EV Step Auto ISO 100 to 3200 Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Flash 2 – 1/2000 sec 10sec, 2sec, Off, Portrait 1, Portrait 2 Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Slow

Duo/SD/SDHC 4,320 X 3,240 AVC MP4 - VGA / 640 x 480 AA Alkaline Batteries 97.5 X 61.0 X 29.6mm

Approx. 172g (with Battery & Memory Stick) : Approx. 125g (Body Only)

+

Price

+

Works on common AA batteries

-

Performance could have been better

FINAL SCORE Design and Build Quality

16/20

Key Features

16/20

Ergonomics

17/20

Performance Autofocus

4/5

Metering

4/5

Noise Control

3/5

Distortion/Sharpness

3/5

LCD/VF

2/5

AWB Sub-Total

1/5 17/30

Value for Money

7/10

Grand Total

73/100

VERDICT The Sony S5000 is a low-budget camera for beginners. Considering its very low cost, it is a fair bargain.

Sujith Gopinath

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Lens Review Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro

Explore the Teeny World O ne of the biggest advantages of Olympus PEN series ILCC systems, as I have felt, is that they fit nicely in your hand, providing better stability even when used with reasonably low shutter speeds. Keeping their promise made last year, Olympus released a macro lens in midSeptember. The 60mm f/2.8 Macro, like all Olympus M-series lenses, is very compact.

Design and Build Quality

84

%

Rs.35,990

Inside the Box z z z z

Lens Cap (LC-46) Lens Rear Cap (LR-2) Instruction Manual Worldwide Warranty Card

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Smart Photography December 2012

The Olympus 60mm Macro has an engineering plastic exterior, yet it feels sturdy. The lens has a scale that displays magnification ratio and focus distance in both metres and feet. It has a focus limiter dial which can be operated by the left hand thumb. This dial allows you to choose between four settings—1:1, 0.19 to 0.4m, 0.19m to infinity, and 0.4m to infinity. The lens has a metal mount. The filter thread is plastic and hence you have to be very careful while attaching filters. It measures 56mm (dia) x 82mm, weighs just 185g, and has a dust and splash proof design.

Key Features The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 120mm. It can be mounted on all Micro Four Thirds System cameras.

The lens has a 7-bladed circular aperture and the aperture range is f/2.8 to f/22.

The lens provides a maximum image

magnification of 1.0x (35mm-equivalent of 2.0x). It is constructed with 13 elements in 10 groups including one ED (Extra-low Dispersion), two HR (High Refractive index), and one E-HR (ExtraHigh Refractive index) elements. These elements help to eliminate chromatic aberration and increase contrast in the images to a very high level. The lens has a closest focussing distance of 0.19m.

The lens has been designated as MSC (Movie and Still Compatible). This mechanism uses a floating element to focus internally by means of three drive systems. This ensures that there is no change in the overall length of the lens during focussing, which helps in maintaining the grip on the lens. It also makes autofocus quieter than usual, ideal for shooting movies. The lens features Olympus’ ZERO (Zuiko Extralow Reflection Optical) coating, which helps to eliminate ghosts and flare. This coating reduces reflections in the range of 450 to 650 nm wavelength. The lens utilises ring-shaped seals at key locations to prevent dust and water from entering.

The focus limiter dial is very helpful since it prevents the lens from hunting for focus unnecessarily and achieve focus faster.

Ergonomics We tested the Olympus 60mm Macro with an Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5. The lens is very comfortable to use, thanks to the small size and long-enough barrel. Combined with the small PEN

Lens Review Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro Sujith Gopinath

series cameras, it offers excellent stability. Add to it the fact that all Olympus PEN cameras have sensor-shift image stabilisation. The focus limiter dial can be operated with the thumb. To lock the lens at 1:1 reproduction ratio, you need to hold the dial in place with the thumb. Manual focus facilitates very fine adjustment of focus.

Performance The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 performed very well in our tests. AF was fast, quiet, and smooth. Since this is a macro lens, it has a very wide focus range. Hence it would be a good idea to use the focus limiter switch to fix the ideal focussing range for faster AF. The lens controlled darkening of corners very well. We did not observe any significant darkening even at f/2.8, which is very good. The lens did not produce any perceptible distortion. The 60mm Macro reproduced sharp images. Images were tack sharp from the centre to the peripheries. For the sharpest images, it would be better to use the lens from f/4 to 8. Sweet spot for our test piece was found to be f/8. We would advise you stay away from f/16 to 22 since diffraction affects the sharpness much in this aperture range (in fact, this is normal for any lens). We observed prominent flare along with chromatic aberration at wide-open aperture in strong against-the-light shots when the lens was pushed to its limits.

The 60mm Macro proved its worth in everyday shots and Macro images in real-time situations. Shall we say we were impressed?

Value for Money The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro retails at an MRP of Rs.35,990. At this price,

Image taken with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 macro.

Technical data: Aperture f/2.8, Shutter speed 1/800 sec. ISO 400.

the lens is excellent value for money.

SPECIFICATIONS Mount Focal Length Lens Construction

Dust & Splash Proof Angle of View AF System

: Micro Four Thirds System Standard : 60mm (35mm equivalent focal length 120mm) : 13 elements in 10 Groups #(1 ED lens, 2 HR lenses, 1 E-HR Lens) : Yes : 20 Degree : High-speed Imager AF (MSC)

FINAL SCORE

Closest Focusing Distance : 0.19m Max. Image Magnification : 1.0x (35mm equivalent Maximum Image Magnification 2.0x) Minimum Field Size : 17 x 13 mm Number of Blades : 7 (Circular Aperture Diaphragm) Maximum Aperture : f/2.8 Minimum Aperture : f/22 Filter Size : Diameter 46mm Dimensions : Diameter 56 x 82mm Weight : 185g +

Excellent performance

+

Good build quality

Design and Build Quality

18/20

+

Compact and comfortable

Key Features

17/20

+

Focus limiter dial

Ergonomics

17/20

+

Distance/Magnification scale

-

Prominent Flare and CA

-

Plastic filter thread

Performance Autofocus

4/5

Sharpness

4/5

Distortion Control

5/5

Aberrations

2/5

Darkening of Corners

5/5

Extra Features

4/5

Sub-Total

24/30

Value for Money

8/10

Grand Total

84/100

VERDICT The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro is an impressive overall performer.

With a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 120mm, this is ideal for a wide range of subjects from macros to portraits. With an affordable price tag, this is easily one of my favourites.

That makes the Best Buy tag a mere formality to end this review.

Sujith Gopinath December 2012 Smart Photography

105

Software Review Portrait Professional Studio

A Touch-up Artist

A

portrait processing software can make or break a model’s career. Without airbrushing and softening filters, many models endorsing beauty products would have been sitting at home with blemishes and imperfections showing up in photographs. Portrait Professional Studio is a feature-filled and easy-to-use alternative to popular but complicated image editing programs to retouch portraits. We are reviewing version 10.8 of the software here. At the time of printing, a new updated version 11.0 had been released.

86

% Rs.3500 approx.

106

Smart Photography December 2012

Key Features Portrait Professional Studio is a powerful and easy-to-use portrait retouching software that requires absolutely no expertise to use. The Software can be used either as a stand-alone version or as a plug-in to Adobe Photoshop.

The Windows version of the plug-in is compatible with Photoshop 6 up to CS6 and Photoshop Elements from 6

to 10; while the Mac version supports Photoshop CS3 up to CS6 and Elements from 6 to 10. It is also compatible with Lightroom 2 to 4 and Aperture 2 and 3.

For the 32-bit version of the software, the maximum size of images it can handle is 30 megapixels (the maximum size depends on the number of pixels in the image and not on the size of the file when stored on a disk).

The standard edition of Portrait Professional supports JPEG and TIFF format with 8 bits per colour sample (24 bits per pixel). Whereas, Portrait Professional Studio supports JPEG and TIFF files with either 8 or 16 bits per colour sample (48 bits per pixel), along with RAW formats of most popular camera models. It also supports reading most camera RAW file types. It can be saved in JPEGs, or TIFFs with 8 or 16 bits per colour sample. You can select colour profiles from the Preferences or Settings option in the menu.

Software Review

Portrait Professional Studio Getting Familiar Control Panel

Mouth and Nose Controls

Portrait Improving Sliders

Picture Controls

Skin Controls

Hair Controls

Eye Controls

Skin Lighting Controls

Initial Processing Touch-up and Restore Brushes

Face Sculpt Controls

December 2012 Smart Photography

107

Software Review Portrait Professional Studio Performance Portrait Professional guides you through every step, whether you want to correct blemishes or sculpt facial features in one touch. What’s more? Like an expert sculptor, you can also carefully sculpt various features precisely.

Believe me, at the hands of an expert, this software can enhance the looks of a model to a new level.

Step 1: Open Image.

Step 2: Select Gender. Portrait Professional will ask if the portrait is that of a male or female.

Additionally, there is a check-box to indicate if it is a kid.

Step 3: Mark the key points. Portrait professional will now display points, which we have to adjust. Click on the points corresponding to the ones marked in the reference image one by one. There are five key points to be identified. This is very important, since it is these points that lets the software identify facial features such as nose, eyes, eyebrows, lips etc. Every time you indicate the require points, press the space bar on your keyboard to go to the next point.

Step 4: After you have finished marking the points, click ‘Next’. Now the software will do the default corrections.

Step 5: Adjust the sliders corresponding to each control to tweak the adjustments.

Take care not to overdo it. (See the ‘Getting Familiar’ section.)

Step 6: Save the file in either JPEG or Tiff format.

Portrait Professional Studio provides a vast set of options for correction; executing the job is very 108

Smart Photography December 2012

simple and the interface is easy to understand.

Please note, however, the old saying, ‘Rubbish in, rubbish out’. So for best results, use a wellexecuted photograph.

Value For Money The regular price of Portrait Professional is US $62.95 (approx. Rs. 3500). But there is an ongoing discount, which allows you to download the software for US $29.95 (approx.

Rs. 1700). This is a very good price for such a useful software.

Support Portrait Professional as such does not require any support, but the company provides support in the form of video tutorials on their website. Moreover, the software comes with a detailed 74-page PDF instruction manual, which can be downloaded from www. portraitprofessional.com . You can even contact customer support through this website.

System Requirement Processor : 1GHz processor or faster recommended.

Memory : Min. 1GB RAM recommended.

To handle large images (8 megapixel or more) you would require 2GB or more.

Display : 1024 x 600 minimum supported display size OS : Windows - Requires Windows 7, Vista, or XP. Mac - Requires an Intel Mac with OSX 10.5 or later.

For Portrait Professional Studio 64, a 64-bit edition of Windows or Mac

Software Review

Portrait Professional Studio

Original

Final

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FINAL SCORE Key Features

17/20

+

Innumerable controls

Ease of Use

17/20

+

Easy to use

Performance

18/20

+

Excellent pricing

Value for Money

18/20

+

Very good results

Support

16/20

-

None

Overall

86/100

VERDICT Portrait Professional Studio is a very useful tool for photographers, mainly specialists in glamour and fashion photography who require a fast and easy way to touch up portraits.

The software is very easy to use and competitively priced. Like we always insist, download a trial version to get the feel of this software before purchasing it .

Sujith Gopinath December 2012 Smart Photography

109

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DIGITAL CAMERA AND ACCESSORIES

Photographed by : Soham Sarkar Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

8OWUD :LGH 8OWUD 6SHHG

AF11-16mm f/2.8

$7 ; 352 '; ,,

TO FIT CANON ‡ NIKON-D APS-C Sized Sensor Model Only

The New Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX-II is an update to the widely popular and award winning AT-X 116 PRO DX, 11-16 F/2.8 lens.

The main update to this lens is in the Nikon mount, the AT-X 116 PRO DX-II has an internal silent focusing motor to allow the lens to AF on Nikon bodies that do not have an AF drive gear and motor.

There have also been some adjustments made to the coating for slightly improved optical performance.

This compact ultra wide-angle zoom has a bright constant F/2.8 aperture make viewing and auto focus possible in lower light situations but still maintaining a reasonable size and weight.

Two Super-Low Dispersion glass elements and two aspheric glass allow the proprietary optical design to achieve excellent contrast and sharpness as well as controlling chromatic aberration.

Tokina’s exclusive One-touch Focus Clutch Mechanism allows the photographer to switch between AF and MF simply by snapping the focus ring forward for AF and back toward the lens mount for manual focusing. The lens is also designed to stand up to the rigors of daily use by photographers in a wide variety of shooting conditions and environments.

Other than the optical coating change there are no changes to the Canon mount. The AT-X 116 PRO DX-II for Canon uses the same AF motor and AF drive system as the the previous model.

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

13 Elements in 11 Groups Minimum Focus Distance: 0.3m Angle of view: 104°~82° Filter size: ø77mm

The lens is designed for Digital cameras with APS-C sized CMOS and CCD sensors, not designed for cameras with Full Frame sensors.

Be sure to note that the Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II lens itself is not waterproof or water resistant.

Kenko Tokina Co., Ltd.

TOKYO JAPAN

India office : Kenko Tokina Imaging India Pvt. Ltd. IBC, M-38/1, Middle Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 TEL : 011-4157-1155

URL:www.tokinalens.com E-mail:kenkoindia@tokina.co.jp

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Tidbits Smartphones - The New Threat

W

ith 2012 coming to an end, it is appropriate to consider what was the major technological event to hit the industry. Without doubt, it was the advent of Smartphones.

I remember some six or seven years ago meeting a senior manager of Nokia. In an arrogant tone, designed to test my knowledge, he asked, “Who is the biggest manufacturer of cameras in the world?”

Canon, I quickly retorted. Nay, he said, you are so wrong. It is Nokia. The camera phones of 2006, however, were in no position to give competition even to the humblest digital compact. In fact, some of them were guaranteed to put you off photography with their dismal results.

Six years is, however, a long time in the camera phone business and today’s Smartphones are indeed posing a challenge to the compact camera at the lower end.

True, Smartphones are still very expensive but they perform an increasing range of functions and the camera installed in most of them produces some pretty decent results.

Just as an example, let’s look at Samsung’s Galaxy S 3. Launched in India in July 2012, the S 3 is an Android phone featuring a massive 4.8” High Definition Super Amoled screen. It features headphone, Micro USB and Micro SD ports and works on a Micro SIM card from your telecom operator.

Coming to the camera, the S 3 features an 8 MP sensor, has a flash facility, can take self portraits (1.9 MP) and can also shoot in black and white. The camera features a f/2.6

138

Smart Photography Decemb December mb ber e 201 20 2012 2

autofocus lens, manually selectable ISOs from 100-800, image stabilisation, zero shutter lag and a HDR mode. It also features a particularly good video mode. Pictures taken with the S 3 were crisp with good colour accuracy and fair dynamic range. Clearly, they were in the same league as a good 8-10 MP digital compact.

Obviously, the imaging majors are worried.

Smartphones clearly knock the bottom out of the lower end of the digital compact market. Presently the high end compacts are not affected, but who knows what can happen tomorrow. The SLR has little to fear currently as more and more SLRs feature full frame sensors. But the lower end of the market is certainly going, going....gone.

Fortunately, for Samsung it is present in both Smartphones and digital cameras. We dare say though that Smartphones are more important to Samsung and are certainly raking in more money.

H. S. Billimoria

RNI No. MAHENG/2005/14978