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Gear of the Year Part 8: Wenmei’s choice – Lensbaby Velvet 56mm f/1.6

31 Dec

My photographic style has always favored precision and sharpness with rich tones and vibrant colors. I also have a bit of a control issue – my inner engineer likes predictable behaviors and consistent results. But sometimes I get into a photographic rut and I need something to give me a creative jump-start. Where do I turn? To Lensbaby of course, because how better to feed my need for precision, sharpness, control and predictable results than by using creative lenses that have very few of those qualities?

Predictable behavior. ISO 400, F4, 1/125sec.

My pick for Gear of the Year is the Velvet 56 F1.6 lens from Lensbaby. It’s a portrait lens that is incredibly versatile, going from a soft ethereal glow at F1.6 to satisfyingly sharp details when stopped down.

What I love:

56mm focal length, perfect for portraits
Sharp focus when stopped down, if I need a break from the velvet glow
1:2 magnification means I can get up close and personal with my subjects or shoot near-macro details
Soft focus effect forces me outside of my comfort zone and makes me think more creatively when setting up my shots
Sleek body looks cool, especially the silver version

When I first picked up the Velvet 56, I had a hard time figuring out how to make it work for me. My creative style does not naturally include soft edges or ethereal glow, so getting a feel for the lens and how it works took several days of shooting. (In contrast, colleagues who tend to shoot in a dreamier, more vintage style have tried the lens and fallen in love with it immediately.)

Still shooting stopped down to F4, having trouble embracing the glow. ISO 200, F4, 1/200sec

With the Velvet 56, once you open up above F2.8 it’s impossible to get a sharp edge. Having a direct relationship between the wide apertures I typically use to capture light and the soft focus that is a signature of this lens was very frustrating to me. However, once I gave up on the idea of being able to control both light and focus in the ways I expected, I found creative freedom in allowing myself to shoot for the “feeling” of a moment rather than the precision of it.

Sleeping children helped me step into the world of intentionally soft focus (by taking “dreamy” a bit literally…each of us takes the path that works for us). ISO 800, F2, 1/125sec.

I am still a huge fan of sharp focus and the comfortably predictable results I get from more conventional lenses, but I find that I reach for the Velvet 56 more and more for personal projects and family lifestyle or legacy sessions. The phrase “emotionally in focus” is often used to justify keeping a blurry shot that you like, but I find that it is an accurate description of how I use the Velvet 56. Sometimes, emotionally in focus is the best way to capture the moment.

This ’emotionally in focus’ moment brought to you by an irritated 5 year old. ISO 400, F2, 1/250sec.

And sometimes you just have to appease the engineer inside and stop down to F5.6 or F8 to try for that tack-sharp focus. Luckily, the Velvet 56 can do that too (manual focusing ability of the photographer notwithstanding).

Nesting dolls on the mantel, no emotion required. ISO 800, F5.6, 1/200sec.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Gear of the Year Part 7: Allison’s choice – Olympus Tough TG-4

29 Dec

Over the summer I took part in a great American tradition called ‘tubing’ with some friends. Don’t be fooled by the semi-rugged sounding name of this activity. It’s basically an opportunity to sit outside surrounded by nature and friends, consuming alcoholic beverages (in a responsible manner) while floating lazily down a river. In short, it’s everything summer should be.

In our pre-float preparations my companions were busy stuffing their smartphones into complicated plastic pouches to be hung around their necks, or into ziplock bags, which seemed risky. I left my phone on dry land and headed into the water with the Olympus Tough TG-4, no waterproof pouch required.

A great American tradition. ISO 100, f/8.0 1/400sec @ 25mm equiv. processed to taste in ACR.

What I love:

Waterproof, crushproof, dustproof and freezeproof
Raw shooting for better image fine-tuning
Compact enough to carry in my bag without noticing
Decent wide to moderate zoom

There’s something incredibly liberating, even rebellious-feeling, about dunking a piece of technology underwater. The TG-4 was a great little sidekick on the water. Its operation is simple enough that I could pass it around among my friends, some of whom wanted to take underwater selfies. To each her own. Shooting Raw, I knew I would have some decent flexibility with my images later. It was pure fun, and I got some nice mementos from the trip out of it.

Tough cams can go places that would be too risky for mere smartphones. ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/500sec @ 25mm equiv.

Later in the year, the TG-4 accompanied me on another trip. Florida is a strange place. Like the Pacific Northwest, it seems to rain pretty much every day, but unlike my home of over two years the rain is heavy, sudden, and often happens at the same time as sunshine. It generally stops raining after twenty minutes, at which point the sun comes out and transforms the place back into the wild swamp it once was.

Florida is also, of course, the theme park capital of the world, and that’s what took me there in late November. The point of the trip was to spend time with my boyfriend and his family drinking butter beer (responsibly) at Universal’s ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter.’ Naturally, I’d want photos, but I didn’t want to have to worry about a camera getting wet or smashed in a storage locker.

This dragon breathes fire every so often, but apparently had the day off when this photo was taken. ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000sec @ 25mm equiv.

The TG-4’s modest zoom range was still enough to help achieve framing that I couldn’t quite get with my smartphone. Raw capture came in handy again, with lots of high contrast scenes that could be rescued in post-processing. And what good is it taking a vacation to a fictional English village if you can’t share photos with all of your friends instantly? Wi-Fi was key in making sure I shared important moments with all of my BFFs just moments after I’d captured them.

To be totally honest the TG-4 isn’t that special outside of its rugged properties. Its sensor is small, controls are limited, zoom range is minimal and its metering keeps you guessing. But bringing it on a raft or to a theme park and knowing that I won’t have to coddle it is worth a lot to me. I can take pictures, or throw it in my bag and just enjoy my butter beer and hardly know the difference.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year Part 6: Richard’s choice – Fujinon 56mm F1.2R APD

23 Dec

My Gear of the Year isn’t a product launched in 2015. Nor is it necessarily the absolute best option available. However, it is the product that I’ve grabbed whenever I wasn’t committed to something else we’ve been testing, and it’s a product I’ve really enjoyed.

What I love

Classic portrait focal length 85mm equivalent field-of-view
Bright maximum aperture for shallow depth-of-field or low light work
Apodization filter to ensure smoother bokeh
Well built solid-feeling without being too heavy

I’ve always liked the idea of classic 85-135mm equivalent portrait lenses but they’ve tended to be somewhat thin on the ground for the APS-C cameras I seem to end up testing. So I’m delighted to see Fujifilm go the extra mile and create a fast 85mm equivalent.

Better still, the APD version of the lens is specifically designed to offer pleasant bokeh. None of this ‘X rounded blades to give pleasing bokeh’ nonsense, the APD version actually has a radial gradient neutral density filter to smooth off the bright edges of the out-of-focus rendering. I’ve taken the availability of this very specialized tool as encouragement to practice and improve my portraiture.

A quick re-process in camera and there’s a JPEG ready to send to my patient volunteer.

Fujinon 56mm F1.2R APD
F1.2, 1/35sec, ISO 800

The Fujifilm 56 isn’t the only tool I could have used: the Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8 would give very similar depth of field and, mounted on a Sony a7 series camera, would result in a fairly similarly sized package. However, although both have been present in the DPReview offices, it’s been hard to justify taking them out of the hands of the people reviewing and testing them, just to experiment. So it just happens to have ended up that I’ve spent more time enjoying the Fujinon.

Beyond the lens’s inherent properties, there’s another reason I’ve tended to grab the 56 and it relates to winning my subjects over and helping them feel comfortable with being photographed.

While shooting, I’ve been using Fujifilm’s Wi-Fi system to send my favorite shot along to my subjects’ phones, letting them see the results and ensuring they have an image to walk away with. Lots of modern cameras have Wi-Fi of course, but it’s the combination of in-camera Raw processing and one of my favorite JPEG engines that makes it particularly useful. It’s relatively easy to choose the most appropriate Film Simulation mode, fine-tune the white balance and tone curve and arrive at a file I can comfortably share before I get a home to Lightroom. That ability to put the images quickly into the hands of my subjects has helped maintain their enthusiasm for standing around and being photographed.

The 56mm F1.2 APD is sharp where you want it and pleasantly smooth where you don’t. The X series cameras can place the focus with a good degree of accuracy, too.

Fujinon 56mm F1.2 APD
F1.2, 1/550sec, ISO 400

Furthermore, the relatively small size of an X-T10 with the 56mm mounted to it isn’t quite so intimidating as a full frame DSLR and has the advantage that I can continue to shoot when I’ve taken the camera away from my eye, to talk to my subject.

It’s not all dreamy bokeh and pretending to be David Hemmings*, of course.

The 56mm F1.2 APD is an expensive lens. For a start, it’s a rather specialized lens, meaning fewer buyers to share the development costs across. But equally, it’s likely that Fujifilm understands the mystique conveyed by the idea of a bokeh-smoothing filter and being able to etch the numbers 1:1.2 into the front of the lens, allowing them to charge a substantial premium.

Autofocus is also rather slow. The design appears to have a lot of glass to shift around when focusing, which slows things down, as does the loss of on-sensor phase detection, which would be confused by the lens’s internal filter. However, so long as the subject doesn’t move too fast or unpredictably (which is a reasonable expectation in semi-posed portraits), this isn’t a fatal drawback and is at least partially made up for by the accuracy and consistency of the focus.

It’s not just for close-up head shots, of course.

Fujinon 56mm F1.2 APD
F1.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 200

So why, when I know the 56mm is far from perfect, is it my Gear of the Year? On a technical level, it’s very good: it’s impressively sharp where it’s in focus and pleasantly smooth where it’s not, but the reason it’s my Gear of the Year is because I’ve enjoyed shooting with it and it’s encouraged me to go out and take photos.

I’m certainly not even going to claim the 56mm F1.2 APD has magically made me a great portrait photographer, but it’s certainly increased the number of my friends using my images to represent them on social media. And knowing the lens will take lovely images has left me able to concentrate on developing the soft skills for relaxing and posing the people I’m shooting. Now, where’s my reflector?

*I very seldom pretend to be David Hemmings.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year part 5: Barney’s choice – Sony RX1R II

21 Dec

The Sony Cyber-shot RX1R II is a 42MP full-frame compact camera, with one of the best AF systems of any non-DSLR camera on the market. And I want one.

Photo: Sam Spencer.

I’m a sucker for 35mm. I reckon that 90% of the pictures I like to take could be (or are) taken at this focal length. That’s why I have a Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art almost permanently attached to my DSLR, and why when I’m not shooting with that, I can probably be seen out and about using my old Fujifilm X100S. In fact it was the X100S that I wrote about for my last ‘Gear of the Year’ article, way back in 2013 (no offense, noble cameras of 2014. I guess I was just really busy this time last year. I’ll call you).

It’s because I love 35mm that I really wanted to love the original Sony Cyber-shot RX1 and R. On paper they were perfect: a high-quality 24MP full-frame sensor (without an AA filter, in the case of the RX1R), 35mm F2 lens, with full manual control and the option to add a high resolution external EVF, in a compact body. What’s not to like?

I had a love / hate relationship when shooting with the original RX1R. In low-ish light, the camera’s AF system would routinely fail to accurately acquire focus. Both this image (and the one below) were shot in manual focus mode.

Sony RX1R, ISO 640, F2.5, 1/80sec

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Despite high hopes (and to be fair – after taking some pictures that I quite liked) I just didn’t get on with those cameras at all. The external viewfinder was almost essential, but clunky, and made a compact camera into a not-at-all-compact camera the minute it was attached. Battery life was fairly pitiful, and autofocus – dear God the autofocus… Fussy in bright light, unreliable in moderate light and downright unavailable in low light.

Until I tried to take nighttime shots with the RX1R I didn’t believe it was possible for an inanimate object to shrug, but I swear that’s what the damned thing did whenever I half-pressed the shutter button.

Taken by the light of a campfire, this image shows the strength of the original RX1R’s 24MP sensor, but like the previous image I had to resort to manual focus to get a sharp result (focused on the little girl’s face).

Sony RX1R, ISO 6400, F2, 1/80sec

The original RX1 and RX1R were on the market for a long time, and just when I was beginning to give up hope of ever seeing an improved replacement, along came the RX1R II.

Compared to the original RX1R, the Mark II version is a breath of fresh air. Inheriting the same 42MP BSI-CMOS full frame sensor (but with an all-new switchable anti-aliasing filter) and 399 phase-detection AF system from the Sony a7R II, the RX1R II is a significant step up.

What I love

Excellent resolution
High-resolution built-in EVF
Very accurate, flexible AF system
Compact, relatively lightweight form-factor
Large manual controls

Gone is the clumsy add-on FDA-EVM1K, replaced by a built-in, retractable 2.3 million dot OLED finder. I shoot with my eye to the viewfinder almost exclusively, so when Sony representatives first showed us the camera, I nabbed one of the new lockable rubber viewfinder hoods they brought along. The hood prevents the finder from being retracted, but after resorting – twice – to using needle-nosed pliers to loosen the locking screw* I decided just to leave it permanently attached.

With 42MP and a new BSI design, the sensor in the RX1R II is significantly more advanced than the already very good 24MP sensor in the older RX1R. Like all current Sony full-frame sensors it offers extraordinary dynamic range, allowing me to expose just shy of highlight clipping for this ISO 100 shot, and pull up the shadows very significantly in Photoshop. The final result shows a very wide dynamic range from bright to dark without feeling too ‘HDR’.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 100, F6.3, 1/400sec

Just aesthetically, I really like the RX1R II, and it’s a camera that tends to attract admiring glances when I’m out shooting. Like the Fujifilm X100S, more than a few people have commented to me that it looks like a film camera, but the semi-retro styling doesn’t come at the expense of usability (keep walking, Nikon Df…).

Cosmetics aside, the RX1R II also produces great images, exactly as we’d expect from a camera using such a high-quality sensor. Like recent a7-series cameras, Sony has included an uncompressed Raw option in the RX1R II.This gives maximum quality but at the expense of very large file sizes – roughly 80MB each, to be precise, compared to JPEGs which are typically less than ten. This slows the camera down, and eats through memory cards with frightening rapidity.

While I didn’t much care for the original RX1/R overall but I did enjoy that 35mm F2 Zeiss lens. And although it was designed for a 24MP resolution it successfully keeps up with the much higher pixel density of the new sensor in the RX1R II. Sadly though, neither the sensor nor the lens is stabilized so with 42MP in play, even though sometimes I’ve gotten away with 1/30sec, I’m in the habit of treating 1/125sec as my safe ‘slowest’ shutter speed when hand-holding.

After dark, the RX1R II’s focus system is far superior to that of its predecessor. This shot was hand-held after dark, and shot wide open at F2.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 400, F2, 1/50sec

Alright, so the sensor is great, the AF system is transformed, and the built-in viewfinder is lovely. What about my one remaining major criticism of the original RX1R? – Battery life.

Sadly, the RX1R II’s battery is the same NP-BX1 found in the first generation RX1R and all of Sony’s RX100 series compacts. Even just physically, the BX1 is comically small. Like, lose-it-in-your-pocket small. And while it’s rated for a modest 200 shots, in cold weather I’ve come to expect far less.

In temperatures around freezing, I quickly fell into the habit of holding the battery slipped into a glove, and placing it in the camera only when needed. You know – like we had to do in the 1990s. Fortunately, Sony is shipping the RX1R II with a handy USB-powered charger, which means you don’t need to plug the camera in to charge the battery, as with other RX-series Sony compacts. So that’s one step forward, at least.

Face detection worked well for this shot in one sense – it resulted in a nicely-balanced exposure, in a situation where my subject could easily be backlit. I should have activated Eye-AF though, because focus has fallen slightly short of my subject’s eyes.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 100, F4, 1/125sec

I’ve been using the RX1R II for a while now and I keep on having to remind myself that despite its high price-tag it is still a Cyber-shot camera, with a lot of the same quirks of much cheaper compact cameras in Sony’s lineup. In fact, it’s impossible to ignore. There’s the same lengthy startup time, the same lag – before – you – can – zoom – in to the images you’ve captured, the same confusing, rather passive aggressive error messages when you try to do something before the camera is ready or when it’s in the wrong mode, and the same somewhat confusingly-named array of AF modes.

Exposed to retain the very delicate warmth in the sky just above the horizon, this ISO 320 shot was converted from a Raw file, and the shadows lifted in Adobe Camera Raw. I performed some very slight noise reduction, but could still smooth out the midtones a lot more if I wanted to.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 320, F2, 1/60sec

There are a couple of outright bugs, too. For example, despite not offering any form of SteadyShot image stabilization in still capture, the RX1R II will still blink a reminder at slow shutter speeds that this non-existent feature is turned off.

After shooting thousands of frames with the RX1R II, I’ve learned to live with these minor annoyances but I do with Sony had sprung for a couple of extra components. A more powerful processor would make a huge difference to the overall handling experience (especially in uncompressed Raw mode) and I wish it had a touchscreen. I’ve come to really value touch-sensitive screens over the past couple of years, mostly for AF placement when shooting from low angles.

This grabshot was taken on a tabletop, using live view. The RX1R II’s flip-out screen is very handy for pictures like this, but even handier would be a touch-sensitive screen, which would have allowed me to position the autofocus point precisely, by touch.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 12800, F2, 1/60

All this being said, after a lot of thought, I picked the RX1R II as my personal choice for gear of the year. And I did that because it’s one of those cameras – like my Fujifilm X100S – that is capable of such good results that I am prepared to work around its quirks and largely forgive its faults. I should give an honorary mention to the Leica Q, though. In some ways the Q is a more pleasant camera to use but its sensor isn’t as advanced, I don’t love 28mm as much as 35mm, and my Christmas bonus* wasn’t generous enough to justify its higher cost.

Not that the RX1R II is cheap, of course. But if I have to move into a tent for a couple of months to save up enough to buy one, I’m willing to consider it. Once it’s stopped raining.

* Pliers were resorted to only after I broke a nail trying to do it with my fingers. Yeah, I know. Shut up.
** Ha ha ha ha ha.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year part 4: Barney’s choice – Sony RX1R II

21 Dec

The Sony Cyber-shot RX1R II is a 42MP full-frame compact camera, with one of the best AF systems of any non-DSLR camera on the market. And I want one.

Photo: Sam Spencer.

Sony RX1R, ISO 640, F2.5, 1/80sec

Sony RX1R, ISO 6400, F2, 1/80sec

The original RX1 and RX1R were on the market for a long time, and just when I was beginning to give up hope of ever seeing an improved replacement, along came the RX1R II.

What I love

Excellent resolution
High-resolution built-in EVF
Very accurate, flexible AF system
Compact, relatively lightweight form-factor
Large manual controls

Sony RX1R II, ISO 100, F6.3, 1/400sec

After dark, the RX1R II’s focus system is far superior to that of its predecessor. This shot was hand-held after dark, and shot wide open at F2.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 400, F2, 1/50sec

Alright, so the sensor is great, the AF system is transformed, and the built-in viewfinder is lovely. What about my one remaining major criticism of the original RX1R? – Battery life.

Sony RX1R II, ISO 100, F4, 1/125sec

Sony RX1R II, ISO 320, F2, 1/60sec

Sony RX1R II, ISO 12800, F2, 1/60

Not that the RX1R II is cheap, of course. But if I have to move into a tent for a couple of months to save up enough to buy one, I’m willing to consider it. Once it’s stopped raining.

* Pliers were resorted to only after I broke a nail trying to do it with my fingers. Yeah, I know. Shut up.
** Ha ha ha ha ha.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Gear of the Year Part 4: Dale’s pick – Samsung NX1

18 Dec

Before anything else, let’s address the elephant in the room: for my Gear of the Year I’ve just selected a camera whose future appears a bit dark. As in ‘Luke, I am your father’ kind of dark. The Samsung NX1 was the camera that some photographers saw as A New Hope for the future, but there’s a disturbance in The Force with signs that the Dark Side might prevail when it comes to Samsung’s camera business.

Some might find my lack of faith disturbing, but I have a bad feeling about this…

It wasn’t an easy choice. On the one hand, how could I choose a product that has more clouds hanging over it than the DPReview offices on a December day in Seattle? On the other, there’s a bunch of engineers somewhere who built a serious kick-ass camera that continues to impress us with its features, quality, and performance. So, yeah… I’m going with the Samsung NX1.

What I love:

Best in class image and video quality
Excellent design and handling
My favorite EVF of any still camera
Outstanding AF performance
Continuous improvement through firmware updates

“You must unlearn what you have learned…”

To provide a bit of context, I’m historically an SLR shooter, though I’ve gone through my share of rangefinders, compact cameras, and other random stuff that converts light into images. For the past several years I’ve relied on a system built mostly around one manufacturer’s products that I could trust day-in and day-out to work reliably and predictably when I had to get it right the first time (in my case Canon).

But in recent years I’ve also been using a lot of mirrorless cameras, particularly Panasonic’s GH series, for video work. I love the idea of what mirrorless cameras can do, and in particular I love the flexibility they provide for shooting video. However, mirrorless cameras never provided the level of performance that I needed for some projects.

Cloud City: the Space Needle rises from a foggy Seattle sunset.

Samsung 50-150mm F2.8 S lens, ISO 100, 1/1250 sec. at F5.6

Enter the Samsung NX1. I’ll freely admit that little more than a year ago Samsung was barely on my radar as a camera manufacturer. I knew Samsung made cameras, but like that guy who shows up to every party but never gets noticed, Samsung’s products lurked in the shadows where I conveniently looked past them. Then Barney asked me to review the NX1 as one of my first assignments at DPReview.

I was blown away. The NX1 was the first mirrorless camera that made me forget that I wasn’t shooting a DSLR. And that was using a camera with pre-production firmware.

Don’t misunderstand – I’m not implying that the pre-production NX1 was perfect. The camera had a nasty habit of crashing and re-booting into German, menu items occasionally went walkabout, and a couple of lenses sometimes decided that they would no longer autofocus. But despite its flaws it was fun to use and hinted at great things to come.

Samsung fixed most of those annoyances with a firmware update, and I spent the next month shooting the NX1 almost every day, sleeping with it under my pillow to absorb its goodness, and pushing the video to its limits.

All was good in the world. Several weeks later I was ready to publish my review, but three days before it was scheduled to go live on our site Samsung released another major firmware update. That changed everything.

Samsung 16-50mm F2-2.8 S lens, ISO 4000, 1/125 sec. at F2.8

With the updated firmware the NX1 was practically a new camera. It added numerous video features including additional frame rates, gamma curves, and other custom settings. Autofocus improved significantly for both stills and video, and new customization options gave users an additional level of control over the camera.

My review was toast. A couple months later, after re-testing the entire camera again and writing a new review, we were ready to go to press one more time when… wait for it… Samsung released another firmware update. Fortunately, this update wasn’t as dramatic as the previous one, so we made an editorial decision to go ahead and publish anyway lest we repeat the process in perpetuity, but you get the idea.

I share this backstory because it highlights one of my favorite things about the NX1: Samsung seems (seemed?) intent on not just innovating a great product, but on a program of continued improvement. These weren’t just minor firmware updates, but things that significantly impacted the performance and value of the camera.

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”

But as we all know, a camera is not just about electronics and firmware. It’s also about hardware. It needs to be well designed, solidly built, and most importantly it needs to feel right in your hand.

That last item is a bit nebulous and hard to define, but anyone who’s been shooting for more than a few years knows the feeling of picking up a camera that just feels right. I’m convinced that Samsung did the unthinkable and actually involved photographers in the design of this camera, something I can’t say about every model that comes through the DPReview offices. (And you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, I assure you.)

Not only does the NX1 feel great in your hand, but it’s solid. Maybe not solid in a ‘I can use my Nikon F3 to pound nails into a board’ type of way (and really, what is anymore?), but it’s certainly tough enough to stand up to typical professional use.

At one point I took the NX1 on a winter shoot where the temperature hovered in the range of 0 to 5 degrees F (-18 to -15 C). Based on previous experience with mirrorless cameras I fully expected to run into trouble at some point. I didn’t. Like the Energizer Bunny the NX1 kept going, and going and going… Everything just worked, including the EVF and touch screen, for several hours in sub-freezing temperatures. I gave in before the camera did.

Some like it Hoth: Even after a couple hours outdoors working at 0? F (-18? C) temperatures, the NX1 continued to operate normally. In this case, the camera outlasted me.

Samsung 50-150mm F2.8 S lens, ISO 160, 1/500 sec. at F2.8

Speaking of the EVF, it’s one of the standout things I love about this camera. It’s clear, bright, and has essentially zero lag. You won’t mistake it for a true optical viewfinder, but it works so well that 1) I don’t care, and 2) after a short period of time I simply forget about it and just get on with shooting. I know other cameras have EVFs with similar specs for resolution and lag, but somehow Samsung has managed to make the EVF experience on the NX1 exceed the sum of its parts.

“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.”

The other thing that almost makes me forget I’m using a mirrorless camera when shooting the NX1 is it’s performance. I’ve shot cameras with 10 fps shooting speeds before, but even so the NX1’s 15 fps is scary fast. As in ‘you could easily tell if Greedo shot first’ fast. (Did he? Share your opinion in the comments!) And with 28MP of resolution to play with you would have plenty of detail to examine closeups of those blaster shots. Combine that speed with an AF system that, somewhat incredibly, is able to keep pace and it’s a blast to shoot with.

I say almost because high speed shooting isn’t quite perfected yet. The screen briefly freezes on each exposure, making it a tad difficult to shoot continuously while panning with a subject, and the best part of the AF system – ‘Tracking AF’ – can only be invoked from the touch screen, but overall it’s as good as almost every DSLR I’ve used, and better than most.

Samsung’s 28MP sensor doesn’t really provide any additional detail beyond the standard 24MP found on most APS-C cameras, but in terms of quality it’s right up there with the best of them, including the very impressive Nikon D7200. I also love the fact that I can push exposure in post several stops with almost no penalty to image quality, a feature I’ve leveraged to underexpose in order to preserve highlights.

This photo from Channel Islands National Park in California is actually a single frame of 4K video from the NX1. (Samsung 50-150mm F2.8 lens, exposure unrecorded)

I mentioned above that I do a lot of video work, something that has pushed me into using two parallel camera systems in recent years. In principle, the NX1 could replace both systems. Its video is as good as my go-to workhorse, the Panasonic GH4, but in a package that provides the performance of a high-end DSLR.

In fact, in my perfect world where I can use one system for everything, the NX1 comes remarkably close to meeting almost all my needs.

If we can momentarily ignore that whole ‘Will Samsung even be in the camera business in a few months?’ thing, I’m still not completely convinced that I could make a wholesale switch to the NX system as it stands today. Samsung still doesn’t have as many lens options as competing systems – though some of their lenses are outstanding – and the company hasn’t managed to foster a strong third party ecosystem of tools and adapters similar to what we’ve seen for mirrorless systems from Panasonic and Sony. As much as I like the NX1 these are real limitations.

Laugh it up, fuzzball! Samsung 50-150mm F2.8 S lens, ISO 640, 1/500 sec. at F2.8

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”

There are no shortage of rumors about the future of Samsung’s camera business, and believe it or not we here at DPReview don’t know any more than you. But I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we would be disappointed if Samsung didn’t continue to pursue this market, especially since the company has been one of the most innovative in the business of late. Notably, the NX1 won DPReview’s 2015 Innovation Award amid some very credible competition.

Some people have suggested to that Samsung tried its luck in the camera market but never completely committed to it. I’m not convinced that’s the case, but my advice to Samsung is to be bold and heed the words a great philosopher who said ‘Do or do not. There is no try,’ and stick with it. However, in the event that the NX1’s future is not long for this galaxy, my hope is that it doesn’t go quietly into the starry night, but instead continues to live on in some form or inspires other manufacturers to make products that push the limits of what’s possible.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year Part 3: Sam’s Choice – The Fujifilm Instax SP-1

14 Dec

On the face of it the SP-1 seems costly and pointless; it costs $ 0.75/shot to use, which is a unit of measurement long forgotten by hobbyist digital photographers who already share their images digitally. Plus, the prints are smaller than the venerable square Polaroids that have been nearly beaten to death in the fine art photography world. Even with their higher-quality origin, the digital files end up printing at a similar not-very-sharp quality that an instant camera would produce. And compared to an instant camera, the SP-1 printer requires more steps to produce the final result. It all sounds a bit fussy, expensive, and with little reward.

However, after using the SP-1, I believe it to be a unique little bridge between the digital and analog worlds that can be just as useful as it is nostalgic.

It can be used it to print one’s phone images with the Wi-Fi app, but I don’t believe that’s the real way to get the most from the printer. At that point, a better choice would be skipping the phone and printer and buying a dedicated instant camera, like Fujifilm’s Instax Mini. The real joys of the SP-1 come with a prerequisite; a Wi-Fi enabled Fujifilm X-mount camera. When paired together they become a digital instant camera with interchangeable lenses, which is a big deal, especially when considering the X system takes its lenses seriously. Additionally, the printer takes up very little bag space and weighs a negligible amount. While the process could be improved, printing is relatively quick and easy through a Fujifilm X-T1 or X100T. Plus, the initial cost is the same as a cheap lens but produces results that aren’t limited to the rear LCD out in the field.

Admittedly, there is plenty of room for growth in terms of image quality and consistency. Sharpness is never perfect and leaves a bit to be desired, and sometimes a JPEG will need a quick re-process in the in-camera raw converter to get it looking right in instant format. With that said, I don’t think the Instax Mini format is meant for a photographer to print images with for themselves, and looking at the prints with a pixel-peepers fine-toothed comb is going about it the wrong way. These images are best for what made the square format inspired Instagram popular in the first place: sharing.

When was the last time most people have had an instant image taken of them? Sure, there are ways of doing it if you look. Photo booths, for example, still offer that immediate tangible souvenir. People don’t expect results like that from a photographer using a digital camera these days, as I learned when I brought an XT-1, X100T and the SP-1 to my sister’s wedding in March.

After the ceremony there was a little lull in mandatory precious wedding moments as tables and chairs were re-configured from ceremonial purposes to a more social setup. I took the time to shoot and print a handful of candid images before doing groups. When the images were completely developed, I made a couple duplicates and handed them to their corresponding subjects.

Those exchanges were priceless. At first there would be a perplexed look on their face as they realized I wasn’t showing them an image on the back of a camera. That moment then led to even more confusion as I handed them a credit-card looking sort of thing. Then, after a closer look, eyes widened, smiles grew, hugs were exchanged, and ‘brownie points’ were earned. I had my party piece, and the shoot was in the bag. Plus, people left the wedding with tangible mementos tied to a happy memory. Isn’t that what a photographer’s job is? Also, my thrilled sister had 40 or so prints in her hand to hold her off until I could finish editing, which took a little pressure off me.

This writer is joining the ranks of X fans that are begging for an Instax Wide format instant printer, just for the extra bit of size and quality to possibly match those venerable Polaroid Land Camera square images. Either way, Fujifilm is on the right track with the SP-1 and the Instax printer lineup deserves all the R&D money they can throw at it, if only to make the output slightly sharper. For now, it is doing a great job of freeing photography from the screen and bringing us back to a tangible medium, digitally.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year part 2: Carey’s choice – Fujifilm X-A2

10 Dec

Since joining the team at DPReview a few months ago, I’ve been doing my best to borrow and get my hands on as much gear as I possibly can. Like most working photographers, I am heavily invested in a single system, and beyond obsessive review-reading across far corners of the Internet, I didn’t come to DPReview with too much hands-on experience with other brands and their respective systems. In the process of trying to familiarize myself with all the cameras and systems I could, it’s the Fujifilm X-A2 that has surprised me the most and has become my personal pick for Gear of the Year.

What I love

16MP Bayer APS-C sensor promises great clarity, color and ISO performance
Full X-mount compatibility for those wanting a system to grow into
Twin control dials for rapid changing of settings
Tilting screen with good visibility
Cheap.

Fujifilm’s X-system is filled with fast lenses and quality bodies: the company knows how to make great cameras. But I’ll admit, even with the possibility of putting some gorgeous Fuji glass on the X-A2, I had pretty low expectations because the camera just feels so cheap. My fixed-lens X100 is made of metal, and it feels like it. By contrast, the X-A2 is made almost entirely of plastic, and… it feels like it. The surface is fairly slick and hard to get a good grip on, the controls have nowhere near the satisfyingly dense and damped action as those on higher-end Fuji’s, and while I appreciate a tilting display more than the average Joe, this one hangs somewhat loosely when it should be secure against the back of the camera.

So here comes the surprise: I don’t really care so much that this camera feels so cheap, simply because it is so cheap. It is among the lowest-priced interchangeable lens cameras, and yet, still packs a 16MP APS-C sensor that produces absolutely stellar files.

ISO 500, F5.6, 1/60 at 16mm on the kit lens. If not for the articulating screen, this would have been much more of a ‘spray and pray’ situation. Processed to taste from Raw.

Glance over the spec list and you’ll note that this is the only Fujifilm camera in its current lineup that lacks an X-Trans sensor. Given that Fujifilm has put X-Trans at the heart of almost all of the X-series models, this also served to temper my expectations a bit. But make no mistake, the Bayer sensor in the X-A2 may not have a pixel-level detail advantage over an X-Trans, but I found that it still produces excellent colors and controls noise very well all the way through ISO 3200 (6400 is usable in a pinch). An added bonus: Raw file support is wider, thanks to the near-ubiquity of the Bayer pattern.

The included kit lens also feels very cheap, right down to the plastic mount, but as with the body, its build and appearance bely the ultimate results it’s capable of. It is pleasantly sharp for a kit zoom, offers swift, silent and accurate focusing in good light, and includes effective image stabilization. When you pair the X-A2 with one of Fuji’s compact primes, such as the 18mm F2 R or the 27mm F2.8, the setup is coat-pocketable and remains light enough to be handled with only a wrist-strap.

ISO 6400, F2.8, 1/56 on the Fujifilm 27mm F2.8 lens. Straight-out-of-camera JPEG.

So while the large sensor and sharp kit lens are big selling points for most people looking at a new and affordable ILC, this little camera keeps on going with additional features that only serve to further enrich the shooting experience, even for seasoned DSLR shooters. Integrated Wi-Fi, above-average battery life, twin control dials, a tilting screen and a bounce-capable pop-up flash make for a camera that is both flexible and responsive for a wide variety of shooting scenarios. There’s also incredibly useful one-button 100% magnification feature during playback, something that is annoyingly omitted on many competing entry-level models.

The X-A2 is kind of like that kid that skipped a grade in school. He’s the odd one out, maybe a little immature and doesn’t quite belong, but hey, he keeps up with the bigger kids just fine. So yes, the camera and bundled lens are built more cheaply than I’d like and it lacks the X-Trans sensor, but the Bayer sensor is still a treat.

Shooting with the X-A2 reminded me a lot of shooting with my X100, which is a good thing (yes, I have the latest firmware). As long as you don’t often drop or abuse your cameras too heavily, the X-A2 represents a solid investment in the Fuji X-system, and its image quality can easily hang with its bigger and pricier brethren. With its well-implemented controls, it’s also a great choice for those who are considering taking more manual control over their photography, and is an excellent camera to grow into.

ISO 800, F2, 1/60 on the Fujifilm 18mm F2 R lens. Straight-out-of-camera JPEG.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Gear of the Year 2015: Nikon D750

08 Dec

This is less the story of a DPReview.com editor professing his favorite piece of gear from the year, and more the story of a photographer and system owner holding out several years for the perfect camera. This isn’t about Nikon vs Canon or Sony or mirrorless vs DSLR. It’s about investing in a system, expectations, and the joy of photography.

Nikon D750 – What I love:

24MP Full-frame sensor offers excellent high ISO performance and great dynamic range
1080/60p video capture
Robust build-quality, while remaining fairly light-weight for a Full-frame DSLR
Flip out 3.2″ LCD lets me get those high and low angles I so crave for skateboard photography
51-point AF system performs well, even in very dark or low contrast shooting environments

In the Winter of 2012 I purchased a lightly used Nikon D700 for a trip I was planning in the Spring, to document Egypt’s first-ever freely-held presidential elections. While the camera was technically a current model, it had been on the market, at the time of my purchase, for nearly four years.

I had also strongly considered the D800 at the time, which had been announced a few weeks prior. But after field testing the camera (I was working at Popular Photography at the time), I decided that is was simply not the body for me. I was upgrading from a Nikon D300, and the D800 felt too much like a studio camera: the Raw files were far larger than I needed, or was used to, the burst not fast enough (the D300 with a grip gave me 8 fps), and the price, way more than I could afford to pay. It’s also worth mentioning that the D600 had not been announced yet. So my options were pretty much limited to a camera that appeared to be near the end of its product life.

Fast forward two and half years to the late Summer of 2014. I had been using the D700 aggressively for freelance work, and put more than a half million actuations on it. Despite the rubber skin starting to peel a bit, the camera still functioned like new. Still, I couldn’t help but feel like I was ready for an upgrade, the same upgrade I had been yearning for when I initially settled on the D700, due to lack of options.

ISO 640, 1/1000 sec F5.6 shot with a Nikon 24mm F2.8D lens affixed. The D750 is the only Full-frame camera in Nikon’s line that offers an articulating LCD, which I used to frame this image.

I’ll never forget the day Nikon first unveiled the D750 to us in a press meeting. It was an incredibly muggy August afternoon in New York City. As I walked down Park Avenue with a co-worker, I felt anxious. Rumors had been circulating for months of a new full frame camera, and I was eager to find out if they were true. Moreover, I was eager to find out if the camera I had long dreamed of, since the day I started shooting with my D700, was going to come to fruition.

“At the time, both the Nikon D610 and D810 had been announced. But like so many Nikon shooters upgrading from a D700 or D300, neither camera felt right.”

At the time, both the Nikon D610 and D810 had been announced. But like so many Nikon shooters upgrading from a D700 or D300, neither camera felt right. I already mentioned my misgivings about the D800 (and the same go for the D810), but on the other end of the spectrum, the D610 felt too plasticky and simply not-professional enough for my use. By comparison, both the Nikon D700 and D300 are substantially more ruggedized than the D610 and I was not willing to purchase a new camera that felt less robust than that I was replacing.

Needless to say, Nikon PR unveiled the D750 that afternoon, and it was everything I could have asked for: a robust weather sealed body, with an updated sensor, full video capture (neither my D300 nor my D700 offered any sort of real video mode), an articulating screen and built-in Wi-Fi. Months later, as the reviews rolled in, the verdict seemed clear: the D750 offered great image quality and excellent AF performance, in a feature-packed body that also happened to be smaller and lighter than both the D300 and D700 (without sacrificing build quality or weather sealing).

ISO 1250, 1/400 sec, F4. Shot was a Nikon 85mm F1.8D lens affixed.

It wasn’t until the Spring of 2015 I was able to afford one: a wedding assignment on the East Coast (I had moved from New York to Seattle in the winter of 2014), was ultimately the reason I pulled the trigger on my purchase. The camera arrived a week before my departure, giving me little time to try it out before the big shoot. To further complicate matters, at the time, I was in between finishing a Sony A77 II review and starting a Fujifilm X-T10 review, which is to say, Nikon cameras and the way they function, were not at the forefront of my brain.

It didn’t matter. Picking the D750 up instantly felt familiar. I had been using Nikon cameras since 2006, including a D100 and D2h at my college newspaper, and I was pleased to see that generation, to generation, to generation, Nikon had largely kept menus, functions and button placements fairly uniform throughout the company’s high-end models.

“It was truly a moment of pointing, shooting and hoping. But the D750 did not let me down.”

The wedding proved to be an epic first field test for the D750. The ceremony took place outdoors, in torrential downpours. It was raining so hard during the reciting of the vows, I physically could not see anything through the viewfinder other than the red AF confirmation square lighting up on what I hoped were the bride and grooms faces. It was truly a moment of pointing, shooting and hoping. But the D750 did not let me down. Despite the shooting conditions, I was able to still capture all of the crucial wedding ceremony moments. And thanks to the camera’s image quality, I was able to work with the Raw files, which were substantial washed out due to fogging and moisture, to add back in some contrast and saturation.

ISO 1250, 1/400 sec, F4. Shot was a Nikon 85mm F1.8D lens affixed.

Of course, one of the biggest selling points of Nikon DSLRs are the incredible dynamic range they offer, and the D750 is no exception. I shoot a ton of live music and band portraiture and the amount of detail I can recover from the shadows of Raw files is truly impressive. Simply put, the flexibility of Nikon’s Raw files have, at times, been job saving. The D750 also holds its own in very low light shooting as well as some of the very best cameras I’ve tested. The same goes for AF performance; I rely heavily on a camera’s AF system for shooting in dark venues (I try to avoid using a flash as much as possible), and the D750 provides AF acquisition speeds and performance comparable with the best.

Video capture and Wi-Fi were also two features I had long yearned for in my D700. And while you can find other DSLRs and mirrorless cameras that offer a wider range of video function, and higher-resolution capture, the D750 is still a pleasure to use for multimedia, and the video quality is very good. Wi-Fi connectivity is also painless to use, and quite handy for transmitting images in a pinch. A close friend of mine, who also purchased a D750 around the same time, swears the D750 has revolutionized the way he sends image of breaking news assignments back to his editor. Of course Wi-Fi connectivity in cameras is nothing new, but the D750 was the first full frame Nikon to offer it, and it does so in a reliable fashion.

ISO 6400, 1/160 sec, F2.8. Shot with a Nikon 24mm F2.8D affixed.

At the end of the day, the D750 may not be the greatest camera of all time. And there are plenty of cameras that beat it out in specific shooting scenarios, but as a long time Nikon user, looking for the perfect all-arounder to compliment my system, it is the best camera for me.

Working at a website like DPReview, I constantly think about cameras in terms of the future. Will mirrorless cameras completely surpass DSLRs to become the pros’ tool of choice? Will the D760 do 4K? How about a Nikon full framer with a stabilized sensor, to bring VR to all lenses? The point is, we can dream and dream, and the perfect camera will always be just one rumor away. But at the end of the day, the best camera is the one you have. And I’m happy to call the D750 my own, finally.

ISO 3200, 1/400 sec, F2.2. Shot with a Nikon 85mm F1.8D affixed.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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£10,000 Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015 prize winner announced

20 Oct

A picture of the Dorset coastline on a snowy day has won a UK photographer the £10,000 top prize in the ‘Take A View’ competition. Andy Farrer, a professional photographer from Dorset, England, has become the ninth Landscape Photographer of the Year with his image of ‘Bat’s Head In The Snow’. Read more

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Posts Tagged ‘Year’

Gear of the Year Part 8: Wenmei’s choice – Lensbaby Velvet 56mm f/1.6

What I love:

Gear of the Year Part 7: Allison’s choice – Olympus Tough TG-4

What I love:

DPReview Gear of the Year Part 6: Richard’s choice – Fujinon 56mm F1.2R APD

What I love

DPReview Gear of the Year part 5: Barney’s choice – Sony RX1R II

What I love

DPReview Gear of the Year part 4: Barney’s choice – Sony RX1R II

What I love

Gear of the Year Part 4: Dale’s pick – Samsung NX1

What I love:

“You must unlearn what you have learned…”

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”

“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.”

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”

DPReview Gear of the Year Part 3: Sam’s Choice – The Fujifilm Instax SP-1

DPReview Gear of the Year part 2: Carey’s choice – Fujifilm X-A2

What I love

DPReview Gear of the Year 2015: Nikon D750

Nikon D750 – What I love:

“At the time, both the Nikon D610 and D810 had been announced. But like so many Nikon shooters upgrading from a D700 or D300, neither camera felt right.”

“It was truly a moment of pointing, shooting and hoping. But the D750 did not let me down.”

£10,000 Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015 prize winner announced

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