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Nikon’s Retro Df Lens Choices For Photographing Landscapes
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Photogenic Places Benalla’s Hidden Gems
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Nikon D610 · Pentax K-50 · The Classic Nikkormats
Have A Black And White Weekend
Shooting for black and white is as popular as ever, but if you haven’t yet tried it with your digital camera then there’s a whole exciting set of subjects for you to tackle. Andrew James explains how to think and shoot in mono this weekend.
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hen I first began to get seriously interested in photography, I wanted to create black and white images that I’d developed myself. I bought all the equipment I needed, blacked out a spare room and there, under the orange glow of a darkroom safelight, I actually made my first print. The moment I saw the image beginning to appear on the paper as it sloshed about in the
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developing tray I felt like a true alchemist. To be honest, the print wasn’t up to much and I had a lot to learn. I dread to think of the money I spent on paper and chemicals as I dabbled in the dark arts. These days, shooting and creating black and white is a lot simpler (and cheaper) than it was back then. You really don’t need any specialist equipment – just a digital camera and the right mindset and you are off on the road to black and white. So why, when the world is full of such amazing colour, do we even bother to take
images that are black and white? There’s no simple answer to this question. Some images suit black and white best, just as some suit colour. What we have are different creative options. But black and white requires a different approach to colour. You have to think carefully about what you shoot if you are going to be consistently successful in identifying good black and white subjects. If you are heading out to shoot for black and white then I’d recommend you work in RAW for the reasons I’ve outlined in the shooting options panel, but of course, the choice is yours and a JPEG setting is a perfectly valid way to approach it. However you choose to shoot, there’s no doubt that capturing creative black and white images adds another dimension to your portfolio. Go on, give it a go this weekend…
Setting Your Camera For JPEG Monochrome
If you want to do this to cut out any post-processing hassles and get a black and white image straight out of the camera, then you need to look in your camera’s menu settings. Each camera manufacturer calls their JPEG picture settings something different. I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and so on my camera they’re called ‘Picture Styles’, but Nikon refers to its mode as ‘Picture Controls’. Other manufacturers have their own names too, such as ‘Creative Style’ (Sony), ‘Custom Image’ (Pentax), ‘Picture Mode’ (Olympus), and ‘Film Simulation’ (Fujifilm). Essentially they are all the same thing, allowing you to switch from capturing a JPEG image in colour to capturing it in black and white. Depending on the sophistication of your camera, the menu will allow you to tweak the monochrome setting further still by adding a B&W contrast filter. For example, I can go into the Monochrome setting on my Canon and add a
filter – either yellow, orange, red or green. Each filter will give a slightly different look to the final image. On the occasions I shoot this way, I often use the orange filter just to darken blue skies a little or, if I’m feeling particularly dramatic, then I’ll use the red filter as this effect has even more impact in the right conditions. So, if your camera allows you to customise the monochrome setting like this, I’d suggest you experiment to see what appeals to your eye.
Working In RAW If you prefer to shoot in RAW, this is probably because you want to control the whole creative process from the moment you press the shutter to the point you print the image on your home inkjet printer. It adds extra time at the computer as you tweak and perfect your black and white image, but I think this is all part of the fun. It’s simply the modern equivalent of sloshing a print around in developer! When you work in RAW there is a little trick you can do to help you see in black and white. With the camera set to RAW, go into the picture modes and simply set JPEG shooting to monochrome. When you take a photo you’ll review it in the LCD screen as a black and white. This gives you an instant and very useful reference to how the colour scene in front of you translates to monochrome. When you get home and save your RAW files, they will instantly revert to being an untouched full colour digital negative – giving you the maximum amount of data and tonal range to play with.
Identifying A Good Black And White Scene Once your camera is set-up to shoot black and white how you want it, the pressing question is, what do we shoot? How do we know what works well in monochrome? You can shoot absolutely any subject you want as a black and white but, as I’ve already said, some images just work better in mono than they do in colour and vise versa.
Everyone has a different eye, and their own unique way of viewing the world. When I shoot for black and white, I am looking at contrast, shape, and texture above all things. It’s difficult to explain, but black and white feels ‘stripped back’ so that the basic building blocks of an image become more visually important. When you work in colour – the very nature of that colour can be the dominant and over-riding force of the image. Maybe it’s easier to show you what I mean. Take a look at this image taken in central Havana, Cuba. It’s a panned photograph as I was trying to capture the sense of energy and movement of the location, but it was the colour contrast of the two old American classic cars that caught my eye as they chugged passed me. At this point I was seeing in colour because Havana is such a vibrant city. View the same image in black and white and it doesn’t work. The tonal difference between the two cars in so close that there’s no real impact. If I’d never seen it in colour I’d think it was okay, but it doesn’t wow me. The whole point of that picture was the impact of the strong colours that seemed to reflect the craziness of Central Havana itself. But the reverse is true of the next image – taken in the middle of the day at Che Guevara’s Mausoleum in Santa Clara in Cuba. I don’t know what the revolutionary himself would have thought of me standing there with my product of consumerism pointing up at his statue, but I was thinking, ‘This will work better in black and white’. The deep blue of the sky overpowers the colour shot, but I knew that when I converted the picture to black and white, and fractionally
lightened the clouds to create even greater contrast, it would result in a far more pleasing shot. The tones seem to work harmoniously in mono and the patterns of the clouds become more interesting. Also, the black and white seems to fit the subject better. Okay, so you can’t just jump on a flight to Cuba for your black and white weekend. But the good news is that there will be plenty of subjects which work better in black and white than in colour right around the corner.
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photogenic places
Hidden Gems
An easy detour when driving between Melbourne and Sydney, the historic town of Benalla and its surroundings provides a huge variety of subject matter. Ian Rolfe describes some of many visual highlights to be found in a region that’s often overlooked by photographers.
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enalla is situated about mid-way between the towns of Euroa and Wangaratta on the Hume Freeway in central north-eastern Victoria. The Broken River – which meanders its way through the town – was dammed in 1974, creating an attractive and wide waterway known as Lake Benalla. Swimming and boating activities are popular on the lake which is surrounded by parkland and walking tracks. On the western bank of the river lies the town’s beautiful botanical gardens which feature an art gallery, the Sir Weary Dunlop memorial statue, and Benalla’s famous rose gardens which
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is home to a large variety of colourful roses. The eastern bank of Lake Benalla is lined with a recreational park adjacent to the council offices and a network of bicycle and walking tracks which traverse the several islands that exist in the lake. Benalla’s busy commercial centre begins at the eastern bank of Lake Benalla, mainly centred along the thoroughfare of Bridge Street and neighbouring Nunn Street. Historic buildings in the town centre include the Commercial Hotel (built in 1860), the Town Hall (1882) and the National Bank. North east of Benalla is the Winton Motor Raceway which hosts car,
motorcycle and super kart racing. Near the raceway is Lake Mokoan. This artificial lake was created in 1971 by flooding an extensive wetland system resulting in a large body of water of almost 8000 hectares in size, which was used for irrigation and recreation purposes. Due to water quality issues, the lake has been decommissioned and extensive works carried out so it is well on its way to being returned to its natural wetland state. This large wetland is providing a habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna which includes a multitude of birdlife. The beautiful and productive rural landscapes of Benalla Rural City surround the township itself
photogenic places
A Photographer’s Guide To benalla
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photogenic places
and the communities of Baddaginnie, Devenish, Goorambat, Swanpool, Tatong, Thoona and Winton. The Rural City comprises 41 localities and has a population of 14,000 with 9000 people living in the Benalla urban area. Major features of the region include Lake Benalla, Mount Samaria State Park and Reef Hills State Park. The Rural City is ideally located close to the Victorian snowfields and is surrounded by excellent wineries, fishing and other water activities. Melbourne is easily reached in around two hours along the Hume Freeway. The
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Melbourne to Wodonga railway line also runs through the city.
Seasonal Delights For a photographer visiting this area there is much to explore and using Benalla as a base, you could quite easily spend a few days driving in every direction to take advantage of what the surrounding countryside has to offer. The cooler months of autumn, winter and early spring are the ideal times to visit, especially for colour and for the rural farming activities
that take place in these seasons. The lake itself and the banks of the Broken River are very picturesque. Early morning will often see mist that has formed overnight, depending on the season, rise as the sun warms the water and creates a lovely visual display. Spring is when the botanical gardens are at their best with, in particular, roses blooming in vibrant profusion. Those who would like to photograph historical buildings are well catered for as the town and the surrounding districts have many examples of fine colonial architecture still
photogenic places
“For a photographer visiting this area there is much to explore and, using Benalla as a base, you could quite easily spend a few days driving in every direction to take advantage of what the surrounding countryside has to offer.�
in good repair. Lake Mokoan just northwest of the town at Goorambat is well worth visiting. It is nestled between Benalla and Wangaratta in close proximity to the Warby Ranges, Reef Hills and Mount Samaria State Parks. The area is the gateway to a setting of stunning mountains and waterways. The region provides a rich heritage and inspiring atmosphere for enjoying the outdoors. A number of walking tracks can be found within the wetlands and also the nearby Warby Ranges with breathtaking viewing points, birdlife and wildflowers.
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ON TRIAL
nikon
Report by
Paul Burrows
df
Classical Training The first retro-styled D-SLR is thoroughly classical on the outside, reprising Nikon’s popular FM Series 35mm models, but it has a full suite of digital goodies on the inside. 22
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ow quickly we forget. Dials have been making a bit of a comeback for a while now, but when did you last see one for changing the ISO? Most likely back in the days when it was called the film speed dial… so, on the first outing with Nikon’s Df, quite some time was spent searching for the ISO button before sheepishly noticing the ISO dial located beneath a smaller one for setting exposure compensation. Funny thing is though, something that had been very much second nature for all those years using 35mm SLRs, suddenly felt very alien with a D-SLR. Has Nikon taken the Df’s retro-ness a dial too far? Although Fujifilm kicked off the whole retro styling thing back in late 2010, the Df is the first D-SLR to be given the classical treatment and, perhaps more significantly, there is a comparable
‘contemporary’ camera in Nikon’s line-up in the shape of the D610. While the Df has the same sensor and processor as the D4, the rest of it is essentially borrowed from the D610 so – unlike with the Fujifilm X-Mount cameras or Olympus’s OM-D models – Nikon presents buyers a choice which is particularly brave. Perhaps for this reason, then, Nikon has gone ‘all the way’ with the Df’s classical styling, leaving no ambiguity… if you want it, you’ll really want it, but if you’re a bit doubtful then the D610 is the one for you. Consequently too, the Df isn’t classically styled by default (which is what happens when you chuck in a few dials)… it’s this way because Nikon had done it deliberately and unashamedly. In the light of this, it could be argued that Nikon really hasn’t gone far enough in terms of recreating something that’s designed for “pure photography”, but as we
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found out with the ISO dial experience, the reality in this day and age, is that romantic feelings about the past don’t necessarily mean we really want to go back to gas lights, horse-drawn carriages and bathing once a week. When you think about it this way, making the Df work would have been quite a challenge and there must have been some pretty interesting product planning meetings along the way. Getting the balance of nostalgia and practicality just right can’t have been easy, especially as because, unlike any other retro-design digital camera we’ve seen so far, the former needed to take precedence over the latter. Yet the latter was still critical in achieving the objective of photographic purity which dictated the use of the D4’s ‘big pixel’ sensor and, controversially, the omission of video recording capabilities. It’s undoubtedly a sign of how things have changed if we’re commenting about video not being included on a high-end D-SLR when, not so long ago, its inclusion caused consternation.
“The Df’s top plate is dial central, and they’re employed to set the exposure mode, shutter speeds, exposure compensation and the ISO.”
Looking The Part Viewed from directly above, then, the Df could well be a film camera;
Sized Up First up, the Df is a bit of an eyeful because it’s substantially bigger than the camera that essentially inspired its styling… the legendary FM. This was a 35mm SLR tough enough that you could hammer nails in with it, but by D-SLR standards it’s pretty compact. So, looking like an FM on steroids, the Df has a fairly commanding presence… and that’s before you get to grips with all its ‘dialness’. It’s not as big as a Pentax 67… more like a Pentacon Six for those of you who can remember that East German beast. For the record though, it’s actually the smallest of Nikon’s ‘FX’ format D-SLRs. The pentaprism housing carries the same leatherette inserts as the FM – actually, this was a cosmetic feature Nikon introduced on the original F – and the faceplate and logo are similar in shape and typography. Nikon has located the Df’s PC flash terminal and lens release button in pretty much the same positions as they are on the FM, plus the shutter speed dial and the shutter release which has the same concentric on/off switch
arrangement (although on the FM it’s a shutter lock)… it even retains a cable release socket. But as the Df does so much more than the mechanical FM, it needs more controls; the top plate is dial central and they’re employed to set the exposure mode, shutter speeds, exposure compensation and the aforementioned ISO. The last three all have locking buttons while the mode selector employs the old lift-and-turn routine to change the settings which are subsequently locked in. A selector switch below the shutter speed dial sets the ‘drive’ modes (including mirror lock-up) while the front input wheel also takes the form of stand-alone dial located on the front panel adjacent to the ‘Df’ logo. In keeping with 35mm SLR design from slightly after the FM, there’s a small LCD read-out panel on the top deck, just astern of the shutter release.
Inserts on the pentaprism housing date back to Nikon’s original F, launched in 1959.
nikon df
the only clue that it isn’t being that the ISO dial is marked up to 12,800 which was a sensitivity speed never attained with conventional photographic emulsions. From the front-on too, the Df does an equally convincing impersonation of a 35mm SLR (size aside, of course). At the back, though, it’s pure Nikon D-SLR with a fixed 8.1 cm LCD monitor screen, navigator pad – the “Multi-Selector” in Nikon parlance – and the various buttons relating to displays, playback and menus. Given just about everything to do with capture is tied to a dial or selector somewhere else, all that’s left to do on the back panel is selection of the image quality, white balance settings and metering modes. Incidentally, although the Df doesn’t have video, it still retains live view which is activated by pressing the ‘Lv’ button. It also retains an HDMI connector. The monitor screen has a toughened, tempered glass faceplate so there’s no need for the clip-on
‘Special Edition’ 50mm f1.8 is designed to mimic the look of a classic Nikkor, but it’s still a modern G-type lens with no manual aperture collar.
All the dials are milled metal components with engraved markings… real old school.
Shutter release button has cable release socket.
Bodyshell is a combination of magnesium alloy and GRP with sealing against dust and moisture.
Small LCD read-out panel shows apertures, auto-set shutter speeds, battery level and shot counter.
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nikon df
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Not surprisingly given it uses the same sensor as the D4, the Df delivers exceptional imaging performance especially in terms of the dynamic range, definition and low noise at high ISOs. Saturation and sharpness both remain excellent even up to ISO 12,800.
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protector which Nikon supplies with some of its higher-end D-SLRs. There are a couple of neat touches in the control layout, most notably the ‘1/3 STEP’ setting on the shutter speed dial which switches the adjustment to onethird stop increments. Speed setting is now performed via the rear input wheel (and displayed in the small LCD panel). The shutter speed dial also has ‘B’, ‘T’ and ‘X’ positions which is really old school. ‘B’ you all know about, and ‘T’ does the same thing except the shutter doesn’t need to be locked open (of course, much simpler to do with the common-or-garden cable release) – one press of the shutter button starts the exposure and a second press concludes it. The ‘X’ setting engages the maximum flash sync speed of 1/200 second. In keeping with its design philosophy, the Df doesn’t have a built-in flash, but it retains full compatibility with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS), including on-camera control of accessory flash units. Nikon has restyled its current 50mm f1.8 AFS-Nikkor prime to look like a period lens, but being a G-type lens it doesn’t have a manual aperture collar so it doesn’t quite look the part. Never mind, if you do have genuine vintage Nikkors, the good news is that the Df can accept the older nonAi types via a clever arrangement whereby the Ai coupling lever can be folded up so it can’t be damaged. While Nikon still uses the same F-mount bayonet fitting it introduced in 1959 with the original F, there have been quite a few changes over the decades to the way camera and lens communicate. The most significant came in 1977 when Nikon introduced the Ai (short for Automatic [Maximum Aperture] Indexing) mount which eliminated the need to manually ‘index’ the metering to the attached lens’s maximum aperture… a procedure Nikon SLR users had had to perform every time they put a lens on a camera body. The last of classically mechanical Nikkormats, the FT3, was the first Nikon 35mm SLR with the Ai mount, but essentially
“Viewed from directly above, then, the Df could well be a film camera; the only clue that it isn’t being that the ISO dial is marked up to 12,800 which was a speed never attained with conventional photographic emulsions.” the change was made to herald in a new generation of cameras starting, appropriately, with the FM. With the introduction of autofocusing, Nikon used CPUs in its lens to communicate electronically with the camera body, although the Ai (and subsequent Ai-S spec) meter coupling ‘ridge’ is still on any current Nikkor lens which retains a manual aperture collar (i.e. any model with a ‘D’ suffix after the maximum aperture designation). However, as a general rule, nonAi lenses can’t be fitted to later bodies – including all the digital models – unless the mount is converted which is exactly what’s ‘built into’ the Df. Incidentally, while this is a first on a Nikon D-SLR, it was also available on the FM, FE, F3 and F4 plus the last of the Nikkormats. Back then, of course, a lot more photographers still had camera bags full of non-Ai lenses. With the meter coupling lever folded up, a non-Ai lens
can be fitted and then, in the Set Up Menu, the focal length and maximum aperture is entered into the ‘Non CPU Len Data’ listing. Additionally, within the same submenu, the exposure metering coupling needs to be set to Non-Ai Lens. However, because there is no actual physical coupling, it’s necessary to manually transfer the aperture setting from the lens to the Df (dialled in via the rear input wheel), but this really isn’t such a big deal considering you’re using a lens that could be up to 55 years old and still getting TTL multizone metering with the choice of aperture-priority auto or manual exposure control plus an electronic rangefinder. However, if you do find this arrangement a bit clumsy, there’s always stop-down metering which is made easier to execute thanks to the Df having live view with an exposure preview function (manual mode only though). Just for the record too, the Df retains a body-integrated autofocusing motor so it will work with any AF Nikkor lens since Nikon launched the F-501 back in late 1986. Given the lengths that lens makers – Nikon included – go to these days to optimise the performance of optics on digital sensors, will you really want to put ancient glass on the Df? Maybe not, but it’s enough that you can… and there are some pretty good classic Nikkors. With the older CPU-equipped lenses, there’s a custom setting which enables straight aperture adjustment in live view via the aperture collar.
Sweet Sixteen Of course, under the skin, the Df is still a D-SLR and, as noted earlier, based around the same sensor and processor as the D4, supported by the feature set and control systems mostly from the D610. The thinking here is not so much that this 16.6 megapixels full-35mm CMOS is from Nikon’s D-SLR flagship – as opposed to the 36.8 MP device in the D800 – with the associated kudos, but that ‘less is more’ in terms of the performance benefits of bigger pixels… for the record, 7.3 microns in size. Consequently, the Df has the same massive sensitivity range which spans ISO 100 to 12,800, but then has four stops
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INTERVIEW
ken duncan He built his reputation in Australia, but now landscape photographer Ken Duncan is exploring the rest of the world and enjoying the creative freedoms of compact system cameras.
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ne of Australia’s leading landscape photographers, Ken Duncan has recently returned from three amazing photographic expeditions around the globe. An ambassador for Panasonic’s Lumix range of digital cameras, Ken also shoots with a Phase One digital medium format system and he professes to be obsessed with chasing optimum image quality. He’s had a life-long passion for photography and has built a very successful business with his panoramic landscapes. More recently, he’s ventured into wildlife photography and continues to explore the ways strong images can be used to draw attention to humanitarian issues. Camera: You’re one of Australia’s best-known professional photographers these days. How did you get started and what drew you to photography? Ken Duncan: I was drawn to photography when I realised that it could tell a story. I didn’t pay a lot of attention at school – art and photography always seemed more important! Your landscape panoramas have been purchased by thousands of people around the world either as prints or in one of your many books. What are the most important elements to capturing an inspiring photograph? The key to a great photograph is that it comes out of a relationship with either the land or the
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people. A lot of people treat photography like it’s something you can do quickly, but if you want to take an image that makes people feel something, you have to invest time in it. When I was shooting in the Dolomites [in Italy] with the Lumix GX7, I went back to the same location four times until the magic really happened. I was able to get the full moon and really felt that I’d got a shot that made me go “Wow!” As a brand ambassador for Lumix, which of these Micro Four Thirds cameras are you currently using? My new favourite is, of course, the GX7… it’s just a game changer. That being said, it’s tough with the Lumix range because I think these cameras just keep getting better and better so it’s hard to choose! I also really like the GH3 for its unbelievable movie footage and I still love my LX7 because it’s so small and portable. And now there’s the new GM1 which is Panasonic’s smallest ever compact system camera. I can’t wait to try it. We’ve tested the GX7 here at Camera and there’s no question it’s a fine camera, but what do you particularly like about it? For me, the image quality delivered by the GX7 has to be at the top of the list. Nowadays, you see people shooting with iPhones and iPads instead of a camera. I just think this is so ridiculous – almost embarrassing really. Sure,
✚ Wilpeena Pound homestead, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
these photos may be fine for social media, but imagine what you could do with bigger, more beautiful photos that really tell a story! You never know how important the story you capture will end up being, and you can only do this with a camera that will allow you to make beautiful, high quality prints. The GX7 is very compact, but it still delivers a big result so I’m happy to use it in situations where it’s just not practical to carry my Phase One kit. And shooting video with the GX7 is amazing too… especially being able to increase the sensitivity to ISO 3200. When I was filming with the GX7 in the Dolomites I could actually see better through my camera than I could without it! How does the compact system camera technology of the GX7 compare to other cameras you’ve experienced? Well, I could photograph for any magazine in the world with that camera because the image quality is just sensational. This is really all that matters to me, but it also shows just what’s possible with the Micro Four Thirds format. I feel like I can do anything with the GX7 and I love the f2.8 12-35mm and 35-100mm lenses. You used the Lumix GX7 on Fraser Island. What was the highlight of that trip?
interview
Grass Tree, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
“The hardest part about photography used to be getting out of bed, but now the hardest part is actually getting to bed!” Fraser Island really is such a beautiful place. It’s so uniquely Australian and we were able to get some really beautiful and true-to-life images. The camera certainly doesn’t take the shot for you, but it’s an amazing tool that allows you to develop your own eye and just be creative. It’s a technology you can really embrace.
ABOVE: Bunyaroo Valley, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. BELOW: Burra homestead, South Australia.
You’ve been in this industry for over 30 years. What have been some of the biggest technology advancements in that time and how have they affected your shooting style? The fact that you can have such small cameras producing such good results is just astounding. Of course, one of the biggest changes was when we began shooting with digital cameras. That was probably one of the biggest changes in my era… seeing that evolution from film to digital. The problem with big cameras and carrying their lenses and accessories is that it makes you far less likely to actually go and take a photo. With
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