Tag Archives: Photography

Joseph, New York, Photography

You Asked For It – Useful Photo Accessories

One of the most useful items to have is a great tripod and most of you readers probably have one.  If you are still in the market for a tripod I have a couple of suggestions but they don’t come cheap.  You can easily spend almost as much as you paid for your camera for a tripod and head.  Most people do not bother bringing their tripod with them because they complain it is too heavy to lug around.  I agree tripods are heavy but the answer is not to buy a lightweight tripod that sacrifices stability.  Carbon fiber tripods are lightweight but also expensive. Remember “you get what you pay for” and there is no way around that..

The best tripods most of the time will have three section legs. There are exceptions of course and some tripods with four section legs are stable. The problem with four section legs is more joints and locks which are weaker than solid sections. Usually by the time you get down to the fourth section the diameter of the tubing is less than you would want for optimum stability.

A good tripod will also have multi position legs for uneven terrain and also for getting lower to the ground for close up or macro work.

GLTwo

This is an example of a tripod with legs that will spread out to get you closer to the ground.

In addition to legs that will get you down to ground level you should look for a tripod that has some sort of capibility to have the center column convert to the horizontal position which is handy for macro work.

CenterColumn

This is an example of the center column in a vertical position.

Kirk2

This is the same tripod with the column locked in a horizontal position.

The next thing you should consider is a head for your tripod. There are many different styles of heads including pistol grips, ball heads to name a few. My preference is a ball head.

Kirk

This is an example of a Kirk BH-3 ballhead with an Arca-Swiss style quick release (dovetail).

If you do opt for this type of quick release tripod head you will have to purchase a Arca-Swiss compatible quick release plate. Companies like Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Acratech and Markins manufacture these plates. (Any Arca-Swiss style quick release plate should fit other manufacturers Arca-Swiss heads).

KirkPlate

This is an example of an Arca-Swiss plate made by Kirk to fit the Nikon D610

Manfrotto Super Clamp
This clamp is a very sturdy clamp and is equipped with removable plastic jaw inserts to adapt to any shape you can think of. It uses standard size studs for attaching items (sorry Emilio I didn’t mean you).

SuperClamp

This is an example of a Super Clamp and let me tell you these things are strong. The hole to the right is for standard sized studs.

Manfrotto Magic Arm
The Manfrotto magic arm is a great solution for an all purpose articulating arm. I have used this arm for holding my Nikon Speedlights in combination with the Manfrotto Super Clamp. It can be attached practically anywhere, doors, table tops, pipes and any square, round or in between shape. The Magic arm can also be used clamped to your tripod legs if your tripod is not equipped with multi position legs or ground level legs to aid in your macro work.

MagicArm

This is an example of a Magic Arm. the one large knob controls both of the ball type connections and the swivel connector. You loosen the knob articulate the arm to any position then tighten the knob and it is locked.

ArmClamp

This is an example of the Magic Arm connected to the Super Clamp.

CameraBall

This is an example of a camera platform that can be removed from the double ball setup and mounted to the other end of the magic arm.

Frio
This is probably the best invention I have seen in quite some time. Most Speedlights come with stands with a tripod thread or (1/4 x 20) underneath for attaching to a tripod or lightstand. Unfortunately the manufacturers have gotten cheap and figured out they can save two and a half cents if they eliminate the brass threaded inset in these stands and just thread the plastic stands themselves. I don’t have to tell you how long those plastic threads last with regular use. The Frio is a neat little plastic “doohickey” with a brass threaded insert and a foolproof locking system that will fit any flash even the thicker Nikon SB-900 and SB-910 feet.

Frio

This is an example of a Frio (boy do I wish I had thought of inventing this). These threads will not strip like the plastic threads on some flash stands.

Speed Straps
These are Velcro straps with a rubber coating on the inside. Instead of using adhesive Velcro which is usually supplied with accessories you just wrap this around and tighten the strap and you don’t have to use a pneumatic chipping hammer to remove the adhesive residue from your flash.

Speedstrap1

This is an example of a speed strap. Just some Velcro with a rubber coating on the inside.

Speedstrap2

The speed strap is wrapped around your flash unit instead of using Velcro with adhesive.

Speedstrap3

Once the speed strap is on the flash you can attach diffusers such as this Lumi-Quest pocket bounce diffuser or shoots to concentrate light.

Although some of the Manfrotto products pictured are a little expensive they are built to withstand professional use. Some of the other products I mentioned are relatively inexpensive. I could go on and on with these neat gadgets to make a photographers life easier but I will end the article here. I hope I have given you some ideas that might solve some problems or maybe even make really cool Christmas presents :)

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Joseph, New York, Photography

You Asked For It – Compact Cameras

Today I would like to talk about compact cameras for two reasons.  The first reason being I had minor foot surgery on Tuesday and I still find it a little hard to get around with shoes on so I am being a little lazy in not having to go out and take new photos.   The second reason for writing this post is practically everyone who has a big DSLR camera usually also has a compact camera they take with them when they go on vacation or just want to travel light. All of these photos were taken about one month ago, with a Sony RX100 Mk. 1 compact camera on my walk back to Penn Station from 69th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.  I originally went to Manhattan to pick up a Macro lens for my Fuji X-T1 but then I got the idea to ask Patti K. (a fellow contributor on Monochromia) to meet me at an Upper East Side Starbucks for a cup of coffee and to shoot the breeze. Meeting Patti was truly the highlight of my day and my friend and I talked with her for about 1 1/2 hours but thats a story for another post.

Most of you are probably saying why do I need a compact camera when I have my iPhone or smartphone with me all of the time and that is a perfectly legitimate question.  Some people like Louise Whiting or Patti K. are accustomed to taking photos with their iPhones and, I have to admit they are extremely creative with them (for those of you who don’t know these women check out Monochromia our black and white only blog, they are two of our main contributors). As for myself shooting with a phone is sort of a hit and miss situation sometimes I get great shots and sometimes they really suck :)  Maybe this is because I don’t shoot enough with my iPhone or it could also be because I have big sausage like fingers and I am always afraid of dropping it.

For those of you that have success shooting with your phone I tip my hat to you and all I can say is “whatever works for you”.

For those of you that are familiar with my work and what cameras I enjoy using it should come as no surprise that I love Fujifilm cameras.  I previously shot with a Fuji X20 camera but when I purchased my X100s I sold my X20 because I couldn’t see myself using it that much with the X100s.  That was probably a mistake on my part because I really loved that camera and the images it was capable of producing.  Since then I sold my X100s along with my X-Pro 1 and X-E2 and I have settled on using two cameras with the same control layout.  Those cameras are a pair of Fuji X-T1’s and while I love them sometimes I just feel like being able to throw a camera in my pocket to go into Manhattan traveling as light as I can.

Being I am a cheapskate I stumbled across a Sony RX100 Mk. 1 on Craigslist (classifieds) and bought it for around $200 with a handful of accessories.  I usually am not a fan of cameras without any sort of viewfinder because I don’t like holding cameras at an arm length away from me.  It makes for an inherently unstable camera holding position. A camera with a viewfinder will add another point of contact such as your forehead that will help stabilize it.  On the plus side the Sony viewscreen seems to be bright enough in to use in bright sunlight.

Here is an image of the Sony RX100 that I purchased

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I photographed the camera with a ball point pen in front of it to illustrate how small the camera actually is.  Its small but fairly heavy for its size being made from die cast magnesium.

If money was no object I probably would have bought another Fuji, this time the X30.  I might even still do that  in the near future.  I really love the fact that now the Fuji X30 has an electronic viewfinder and very similar controls to the other Fuji’s.  The sensor is smaller on the Fuji than the Sony but I rarely shoot above ISO 1600 so I never had any issues with high ISO problems when I owned the X20

I love using prime lenses on my X-T1’s but when it comes to traveling light I would rather have a zoom lens.  Thats one of the reasons I bought this Sony (besides being a cheapskate) because it has a very sharp Carl Zeiss branded lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 at its widest setting but quickly changes to f/4.9 an the telephoto range.  The Fuji X30 has a maximum aperture if f/2.0 at its widest setting and it only slows to f/2.8 at its longest telephoto setting.

Okay Joe I’m getting tired of hearing about your cameras whats the point of this article ?

The point of this article is this – what exactly is important when purchasing a compact camera to supplement your DSLR.  Image quality would be number one on my list followed by the ability to shoot in RAW as well as jpg.  Usually compact cameras have a lot of items buried in the menus, so controls and function buttons are also important.  It’s no fun searching for a setting in the menus when trying to shoot a rapidly changing subject or scene. Lens speed is also important.  Do you recall me saying I rarely shot above ISO 1600 with my Fuji X20 ?  That was because it had a very fast lens for a compact camera.  Another great feature to have is WiFi built in to your compact camera as well as GPS.  The ability to upload your images instantly to social media is important to most people.  You can purchase SD cards such as “Eye Fi” to instantly transmit photos to your phone or tablet but I personally would rather have this feature built in to the camera.

Built in GPS is also great because if you are on vacation and want to document where you visited with a map view you will need some way to tag each one of your photos with GPS coordinates.  Most programs like Apple Aperture, iPhoto, Lightroom and I believe Photoshop Elements provide a way to compose a photobook within the program and also show a map view of where you took each image.  The Fuji X30 along with the X-T1 and X-E2 have a feature called Geo Tagging and this works in conjunction with a free app you download for your smartphone and the camera will access your smartphones GPS feature to tag your images (pretty cool solution).

Image quality on compact cameras can be quite pleasing especially when equipped with a fast aperture lens so you can achieve shallow depth of field.

Future

A compact camera is excellent for street fairs or taking photos at a farmers market.

Baskets

There are so many vendors with different products for sale at street fairs with a wide variety of colors and textures to photograph.

Hats

Fresh roasted corn is always a favorite at street fairs and my friend Carmela just had to have one.

Rcorn

Compact cameras are also great for street photography because you look more like a tourist rather than a photographer.

SmartLook

The tiny inconspicuous nature of a compact camera makes them less threatening to subjects.  I was able to take a shot of this gentleman watching his girlfriend shop without him even knowing.

Busstop

Having a compact camera to suppliment a big DSLR is handy.  If you are a blogger,  cameras in the 12 to 16 megapixel are ideal especially if the camera is equipped with WiFi to make mobile uploads effortless.  Some people also enjoy compact cameras more than a full size DSLR. There is something to be said for being able to travel very light and be inconspicuous.

Looking for some of the features I mentioned above will most certainly make your experience using a compact camera more enjoyable.  I personally don’t do much social media but the WiFi feature on my cameras comes in really handy for me simply because I immediately get to see my images on a larger screen (my phone) than the cameras LCD screen.  Some of the features might seem like overkill in a camera but when you start to think of your camera as a tool rather than just for snapshots it will start to seem like a Swiss Army Knife with a feature or tool for everything.

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Joseph, Photography

You Asked For It – Electronic Flash

Today I would like to talk a little about electronic flash.  We have all seen photos and the harsh light that is created by using a cameras built in flash.  Sure the people in the photos are exposed fairly good but are those monsters lurking in the background or are they large shadows created by on camera flash ?  The flash units that are built into DSLR’s and mirrorless cameras are at best used for fill flash (outdoor photography supplemented by the onboard flash to fill in harsh shadows bright sunlight causes).

A couple of Friday’s ago I briefly discussed the benefits of the Nikon CLS system (Creative Lighting System) and how easy it was to use. Hmmm, I really can’t go there now because last week I had told you that I traded all of my Nikon gear for Fuji gear but I had withheld a couple of items to sell on my own.  Those couple of items happen to be a Nikon SB-910 Speedlight and two Nikon SB-700 Speedlights.  I also have an older Nikon SB-28DX Speedlight but more about that later.

OK Joe why would you save Nikon Speedlights and switch to Fuji equipment ?  The next thing you are going to tell us is the Nikon Speedlights will work with the Fuji.

Actually the answer is yes and no.

Huh ?

The Nikon CLS system will not work with the Fuji but the flash units will work in manual or automatic mode. Most of you won’t remember automatic modes on flash units but being I am “older than dirt”  I do remember. Most flash units have automatic modes on them. You input what ISO your camera is set to and place your camera to manual mode. You then place your flash to “auto” mode and set your shutter speed to its maximum flash synchronization speed. The LCD on the back of the flash will inform you which aperture to set your camera to and what your working distance will be. You should already know what your cameras maximum flash sync speed is. If you don’t please check your manual. Most focal plane shutters sync from 1/200 of a second and down. There are exceptions of course and some cameras sync at higher speeds and some lower.

So how do we improve the quality of light from flash units ?

One way to get more flattering light using on camera flash is to try to diffuse the light.

Huh ?

Did you ever notice on a bright sunny day the sun produces harsh distinct shadows ? This is because the light is known as “Point source light”. When it is overcast the lighting is a lot more pleasing and even.  This is because the clouds are diffusing the light. The sun is still the same size and brightness but its just being diffused. So we could say that a diffuser tends to convert a small point source light source into a larger looking or diffused light source.

There is a whole aftermarket for these diffuser products that can be purchased and some electronic flash manufacturers include small diffusing domes with their units. Some of the better portable diffusers are sold by a companies like Lumiquest, Stofen and Photoflex. They are an inexpensive way to improve the quality of light when using electronic flash.

The product below is made by Lumiquest and is called the “Pocket Bouncer” and works well if you are on a budget. It simply mounts to the top of your flash unit with Velcro and instead of facing your flash at the subject you pion your flash up and bounce the light off the diffuser. There are a multitude of products that are available to diffuse light from flash units including ones that fit over the built in pop up flash.

Figure1 (1 of 1)

Personally I am a big fan of Soft Boxes, and convertible umbrellas (umbrellas are far less expensive), but in order to utilize these items you have to move your flash off camera. This was easy when I owned the Nikon because I just used the CLS system and raised the pop up flash in the camera as a Commander for the external flash units to control them automatically and wirelessly. There are a number if ways you can trigger your off camera flashes. You can use a cable but I’m not too keen on using cables. Remember to take “Murphy’s Law” into account when thinking about using cables (If anything can go wrong, it will). Most of the time someone will trip on cables or knock your expensive flash units over. So what is the solution ?

Pocket Wizard to the rescue. OK, ok for those with dirty minds its not what you think :)

Below is a photo of basic Pocket Wizard transceivers.

Figure2 (1 of 1)

Pocket Wizards are automatic radio transceivers (auto sensing transmitting and receiving). You mount one on the hot shoe of your camera and you plug the other one into the PC port on your external flash. You then set them to the same channel and it works like magic. You can place your external flash up to 1500 feet from the camera and fire it wirelessly. The units I purchased were the Pocket Wizard Plus X and are fully manual units but Pocket Wizard also makes units called TT5 and Mini which are fully CLS compatible and work with your cameras TTL flash metering.

So why did you only buy two Pocket Wizards when you said you had four flash units ?

Because I only needed a way to trigger my SB-28DX Speedlight wirelessly from my camera. The SB-910 and SB-700 units have what they call optical triggers built into the units. It’s called SU-4 mode and the way it works is when the flash unit in SU-4 mode senses another flash firing, it fires. Being I will be working in full manual mode it really does not matter whether the units are being fired wirelessly or optically.

Please note: Never mount an older flash unit to the hot shoe on your newer digital camera. Older flash units use a much higher trigger voltage than the newer units designed for todays cameras and can wreak havoc on newer electronic systems. This is one of the beautiful things about the Pocket Wizard system. Only the radio gets mounted to your hot shoe and the receiver to your flash. If you are using an older flash unit the Pocket Wizard is designed to work with low and high trigger voltages.

There are many brands of radio systems available to trigger your off camera flash but I find the Pocket Wizard brand to just work every time. They have ten switchable channels so if you are working in the vicinity of other photographers who are also using Pocket Wizards you can set yours to different channels.  They are very reliable triggers and for the price ($179 for the 2 pack) I feel they are with the price.

Below is a photo of a portable softbox made by Lastolite called the EzyBox.  This unit folds flat and sets up in minutes.

Figure3 (1 of 1)

From the rear you can see the opening where you would insert the flash.

Figure4 (1 of 1)

From the front you can see the white diffuser material that helps spread the light out evenly. The interior of this unit is coated with a silver reflective material so it does not reduce the power of your flash unit drastically.

Any way you look at it the quality of flash photos greatly improves by simply removing your flash from the camera. You can shape the light, diffuse the light, concentrate or feather the light or even just use the light to create different effects.

In the photo below I used the Pocket Wizard radios combined with an older Nikon SB-28DX Speedlight mounted high on a lightstand and set to manual mode, 1/64th power. I exposed for a black background then added the flash without changing the exposure. I then had my wife look up towards the flash (she looks thrilled doesn’t she) as if she is seeing some sort of light from a divine source or maybe a spaceship, LOL.

Moonlit (1 of 1)

 

I hope you will consider trying off camera flash if you already own an external flash unit or you are planning to get one, or a few.  There are numerous websites that describe off camera flash techniques.  One of my favorite sites is David Hobby’s – Strobist  There is a wealth of off camera flash information on this site.

Here is a YouTube video of David Hobby taking the Cheap Camera Challenge from Kai Wong of DigitalRev TV   It will show you that it is technique and not equipment that matters.  DigitalRev TV also has videos of Chase Jarvis and Zack Arias taking the cheap camera challenge.  They are both funny and cool videos that will really make you think.

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Joseph, Photography

DSLR Or Mirrorless ?

First I would like to say this post is purely my opinion so please don’t think I am singling out any particular manufacturer or promoting one system over another. I am giving my reasons for switching and my thoughts are probably out of sync with the majority of readers so as I said in last weeks post “to each their own”.

Well I finally took the plunge into the mirrorless camera world wholeheartedly yesterday. I had been building a Fujifilm system along side of my Nikon System for about a year now and I had found myself using the Nikon less and less, sorry about that West :)

I already was using a Fujifilm X-T1 so when the opportunity arose to get another X-T1,  Vertical battery grip, 56mm f/1.2, 23mm f/1.4, Fuji Flash and a handful of Fuji batteries and other goodies I jumped at it. I’m sure you are saying “Oh No Joe” you must have spent a small fortune on that gear. Actually I swapped my Nikon gear for the Fuji gear (except for some items which I will sell separately) so it didn’t cost me a penny. Now I am not the first person to jump ship from a DSLR to the mirrorless world but at least I have had the opportunity to use the Fuji gear side by side with the Nikon gear to sway my final decision.

Why in the world would you do a silly thing like that Joe ?

To me it the glass (lenses) is a very important aspect in deciding which system to go with. It also has a lot to do with the camera controls but more on that later. You see way back when I was an eager young buck I remember deriving great joy from going out for a days worth of shooting with prime lenses on my Canon F-1 film camera. I had a lot of those marvelous Canon FD prime lenses and all of them were fast. I don’t remember having any lens that was slower than f/2.0. I did not own a single zoom lens. My images were really good with those fast lenses and then Canon had to go and upset the whole apple cart by changing the design of their lens mount.

You might be saying to yourself “I don’t remember Canon changing their lens mount Joe” but they did. They had to change the mount design to one that would accommodate the newer cameras that were beginning to appear with electronics.

Those great Canon lenses were called breech-lock lenses and they were machined so well that all you would have to do was face the camera lens mount up and line up the dots and the lenses would practically mount themselves. All you would have to do is twist the breech-lock ring about 1/3 of a turn and your lens was securely mounted. There was no twisting of the lens against the camera body. The only thing that moved was the breech-lock ring so there was no lens mount wear or wobbly lenses. Yes those were the good old days.

So when Canon changed their mount I traded in all my gear for Nikon. One of the great things that Nikon had been able to do is retain their original mount design so not to alienate users who had accumulated years worth of lenses. Every Nikon F mount lens will fit every Nikon SLR camera no matter how old it is. The older lenses might not meter on the newer cameras but they will fit. Why Nikon was able to build upon their original mount design to accommodate electronics and Canon did not is beyond my scope, but to say the very least I was pissed. So for the next 35 years I built a Nikon system.

The time seemed to fly by and every couple of years when Nikon announced a new camera I was at the local camera shop checking it out, and most of the time buying it. Each new generation of Nikon added more and more features, so many in fact that I was sure I never use all of them. I noticed a strange thing that happened along the way though (and I am strictly talking about myself here). The more features that were added to the cameras the less I would enjoy using them. Either you would have to twist a wheel in front of the camera to change the aperture, or hold a button while twisting a wheel to adjust exposure compensation. Some features were only accessible by diving into the menu system.

Thats great, something else I have to remember.  Besides getting the correct exposure and composing my shot I had to remember dials, wheels, buttons and menus. Don’t get me wrong, having a bunch of features is great but I just didn’t feel right to me the way these features were implemented. I fully embrace technology when its enjoyable. I’m not an analog man in a digital world.

OMG look at all those glorious dials :)

XT1 (1 of 1)

I guess I’m just old school, I like aperture rings on the lenses and knobs to twist with numbers on them. This is one of the reasons I started to like the Fuji cameras more and more. Besides having some of the best APS-C sensors in the business they have dials for shutter speeds, ISO, and exposure compensation. They have aperture rings on the lenses where some of us think they should be on every make of camera.  I like the way the Fuji X-Trans sensor reproduces color and B&W, and I do believe it has something to to with the non-traditional layout of the sensor (it is not a Bayer type layout).  I also liked the fact that Fuji has eliminated the AA filters on the sensor (anti-aliasing).  I know other manufacturers have removed these filters also but not at this price point. Across the entire Fuji line these filters are gone so the sharpness of the images is more to my liking.  Originally before jumping ship I was hoping when Nikon announced the df camera I would love it but, to me the Fuji X-T1 has better ergonomics.

The Fuji glass is also impressive. They have a complete lineup of fast prime lenses and the only zoom I have felt a need to buy is the 55-200 Optically Stabilized lens (yes Gale VR or OS lenses do work). Almost all of the lenses are tack sharp also. I enjoy using the fast lenses a lot, it reminds me of my days with my Canon F-1. The fact that the X-T1 has dials instead of wheels (it has wheels but you can choose not to use them) is just icing on the cake for me.

I was also very impressed with the quiet operation of the camera. If you turn the beep off you can hardly hear the shutter. There is no mirror slap as on a DSLR when you press the shutter, so I can use slower shutter speeds with a mirrorless and get sharper slightly images. There is no optical pentaprism to add weight to the camera. There is an electronic viewfinder and it is a superb one. I could look in the viewfinder and adjust the exposure compensation wheel  and see in real time what the image will turn out like without removing my eye from the viewfinder and looking at the rear screen.

When doing time or long exposures with a DSLR you have to cover the eyepiece or it will affect your images. There is no need to cover the eyepiece on a mirrorless.

Over the years I have used and owned a lot of Canon and Nikon glass and I have really never had any complaints with the sharpness of the images.  I do find that most of the Fuji glass has a “bite” to it for lack of a better word (looks a bit sharper).  As far as the Canon and Nikon bodies go I have never had any major issues almost all of them were totally reliable (my Nikon D200 had over 190,000 shutter actuations) on the original shutter and was still going strong.  I want to be very clear that I have nothing against these big manufacturers.  The Fuji system just fits my slower deliberate style of photography better.

Just because the Fuji system fits me does not mean everyone will like it. Some reviews I have read indicate that Fuji’s are not beginners cameras or are “Quirky” but I don’t find that the case at all. For anyone looking into upgrading or buying a DSLR camera I suggest you take a look at mirrorless along with DSLR’s. There are a lot of mirrorless brands such as Sony, Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic Lumix (Olympus and Panasonic are micro 4/3 sensors which are smaller than APS-C sensors) that offer considerable bang for the buck. Mirrorless technology is rapidly maturing and when image quality is compared to DSLR’s it is almost indistinguishable.

I’m sure in time I will find some disadvantages to mirrrorless also but the way I see it the advantages will far outweigh the disadvantages.

Here is a video clip that Patti K. sent me in a comment (Patti is one of our Main Contributors on Monochromia).  This is a pro that decided to go mirrorless and a lot of the reasons I switched were similar.  I hope you enjoy the clip and thank you to Patti for sending it – Why I moved to mirrorless

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