review: Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

Summary: Right off the bat, let me say it – this speedlite, the Canon 600EX-RT (B&H), is going to change the industry. Nothing is going to be the same again.

A speedlite that has radio transmitters built in, has been anticipated for quite some time now. It just makes sense.  So it was just a matter of time before one of the big camera manufacturers did this … and Canon is the first. And they didn’t drop the ball on the rest of the speedlite’s features, or with the functionality of this piece of gear. It’s easy to use, with an obvious menu – even for a complex flashgun like this.

Before the Canon 600EX-RT, we had various options how we could trigger our Canon Speedlites, but right now our option is clear – it’s the the Canon 600EX-RT  (B&H)

About the photo at the top …

I attended another of the shoot-outs arranged by the Hudson Valley Click group. (I’ve used images from their past shoot-outs in various articles here.) This weekend the theme was a Retro-Futuristic CyberPunk, and I had the pleasure of photographing Karyn. And as you can see, her outfit was in fact full-body paint, courtesy by Kelly Torres of NY Body Art.

We were shooting at a disused foundry, which turned out to be a great setting for the theme. I chose to isolate Karyn with a longer focal length, in the one open factory area. There was enough distance to have the background completely melt away.

camera settings:  1/40 @ f/3.5 @ 1600 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)

The majority of the light on Karyn was from the late afternoon light streaming through the windows. I purposely posed her into the light … and then used a  Canon 600EX-RT (B&H) for that rim-light around her and to create a subtle hot-spot behind her. This really helped etch her outline against the out-of-focus background. With the dust in the area, it gave that slight halo effect around her body.

Here’s the pull-back shot where you can see the windows, and where the speedlite was positioned on a breeze-block.

The speedlite was controlled by an on-camera 600EX-RT as the Master.  I had the Master flash’s output disabled so it doesn’t add any light. I just wanted to fire the flash in the distance behind her.

This is the kind of set-up where just using the built-in optical wireless system of a flash like the Canon 580EX II, would’ve been a limitation. It might be just out sight there. Which meant, I would’ve had to use radio transmitters of some kind. This always implies more cables, connectors, cradles, batteries, settings. It’s complicated. With just two Canon 600EX-RT speedlites (B&H), I have the same kind of control … but it is much easier to set up and control.

I didn’t have an ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter (B&H) yet to try out, so I used the on-camera speedlite as Master. I’m a little ambivalent about the separate Speedlite controllers like the Canon ST-E2 or Nikon SU-800. It just seems like you’re half-way to buying a speedlite anyway. Besides, you could always use another back-up speedlite.

I used the speedlites in a basic way here, just so I could enhance the available light.

Related articles on using flash and ambient light:  flash photography concepts

an overview of Nikon and Canon speedlites

When I moved from the Nikon system to the Canon system several years ago – Nikon D2x to Canon 1D Mark IIN – the one thing that truly revolutionized my photography, was that the Canon 580EX Speedlite could rotate 180 degrees to either side. The Nikon SB-800 was limited to 90 degrees in the one direction. That extra90 degrees had a huge impact. I could now be specific about the direction of my light when I used on-camera bounce flash. As I said .. this was huge!

Then Nikon updated the SB-800 to the phenomenal Nikon SB-900 which brought in a lot of extra features, but most importantly, allowed the flash-head to rotate 180 degrees to either side.

Then Canon updated their flash to the Canon 580EX II, and honestly, it felt like a step backwards. The 580EX was so easy to switch from Master to Slave, and back to normal. With the 580EX II though, it felt like I had to relearn how to do this if I didn’t use the flash like this for a few weeks. It was obscure.

Equally obscure was the menu system of the 580EX II. Well, the 580EX was also obscure with the various custom functions which you needed the manual or a cheat sheet to know what they affected. The SB-900 on the other hand, was dead easy to set up with beautifully clear and obvious menu system.

So with the Nikon SB-900 and Nikon SB-910 Speedlight (B&H), it really felt like Nikon was steps ahead of Canon in terms of the ease of use of their speedlights. Definitely in how Nikon allows you to control the individual Slave flashes in discrete levels, made more sense.

But the one area where both systems were hampered, is that their built-in optical wireless systems were limited by line-of-sight constraints. Bright sunlight also affected how well they worked. So you had to resort to various wireless radio triggers to get past these constraints.  Until this bold step by Canon!

Better yet, the Canon 600EX-RT speedlites (B&H) has an obvious menu system with obvious controls. This is important!

Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT features

1. Ease of use.
As mentioned earlier, the previous Canon speedlites where a pain when you had to change custom settings, and had to refer to the manual or cheat sheets. The Canon 600EX-RT changes all that with a clear menu systems, and clearly marked controls. Surprisingly, for such a complex machine, the speedlight is easy to understand if you have some knowledge of the previous Canon speedlights.  I was able to set the two speedlites to Master / Slave modes, and be sure that they were linked, without reading the manual. I like that. Basic functions need to be obvious.

2. backwards compatibility
Another wonderful thing about the way the Canon 600EX-RT works, is that you can use it with cameras prior to the Canon 5D Mark III.  It works just as well with the Canon 5D Mark II, and the other Canon SLRs.<

Also good is that the Canon 600EX-RT works with the older optical wireless controlled speedlites like the 580EX / 580EX II. However, you can’t have it work with both the radio and optical modes simultaneously.

3. High-Speed Sync
On p.51 of the manual it states that for cameras prior to 2011 then the max flash sync speed is one increment lower.  I assume this means that for cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II , the max flash sync speed with the 600EX-RT is now 1/100. In fact, a (!) warning signal appears on the speedlite’s display at any shutter speed higher than that. The manual also states that HSS isn’t possible.

Well, I can confirm that HSS is indeed possible. And from a few tests I have done, it seems like the output takes a small knock at 1/200 and HSS .. perhaps 1/3rd of a stop by the looks of it. At 1/250th, there is a distinct drop in flash output. This is consistent with how speedlites work in HSS mode. So I’m not sure if I am missing something here, but I would have to disagree with the manual on this. HSS is indeed possible with the 5D Mark II, and quite possibly then with other previous models as well.

4. Group mode (Gr)
With this mode, you can control up to 5 groups of flashes, and each group can be set independently to E-TTL or manual. This is only possible with newer cameras, such as the 5D Mark III and 1D-X.  I haven’t tested this mode yet, but will try it out and update via future posts.

5. color filter / gel holder
Similar to the Nikon SB-900 / Nikon SB-910 the Canon 600EX-RT offers a holder for a filter that corrects for Tungsten light. These are keyed to the camera’s AWB settings to adjust the WB of the camera if it detects a gel on the speedlight.

6. flash firing restriction due to over-heating
When shooting in bursts, the flash may overheat. The 600EX-RT limits the tempo with which the flash can be fired, is slowed down to help prevent the flash head from damage from over-heating.

As I mentioned earlier, I used the speedlites in quite a simplistic way here just to enhance the available light. But as an indication of how well the speedlites work and how easy they are to set up, I am quite impressed already. The options and capabilities are endless. This is going to be an interesting piece of gear to explore, and I’ll continue to add more articles relating to it.

My final verdict might be quite a bold statement, but for me, this is an automatic upgrade from the Canon 580EX II. There are so many improvements in the handling of the flash, that it is much easier to use and set up. And then, the cherry on top of it all is the radio control of the slaved units.

You can order the Canon 600EX-RT speedlite from this B&H affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
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Nikon D4 / Nikon D800 time-lapse photography – review

The highly anticipated Nikon D4 (B&H) and Nikon D800 (B&H) are loaded with features, and both cameras offer exceptional image quality. Hidden in the list of camera specs, is an item which is of specialized interest – Time-Lapse Photography. So if a photographer doesn’t have a specific interest in this, they are most likely just going to gloss over this – but this is quite a powerful feature.

With Time-Lapse photography, as with video, it just looks much more interesting if the camera moves as well. With movies too, the cinematography and how the camera moves, make all the difference. Last year some time, I stumbled on the Time-Lapse photography by MindRelic. The movement of the camera as the city scenes unfolded, blew my mind. This was done via a motorized dolly – specifically, the Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dolly. So of course, with no prior interest in Time-Lapse photography, I immediately bought a Stage Zero dolly. It all just looked that cool.

But then the winter approached and it was just too cold to venture outside at night to try out Time-Lapse photography. So the dolly lay dormant, still boxed, in my office. Until my Nikon D4 cameras arrived a few days ago!

time-lapse photography with the Nikon D4 / D800

If there is any motion with time-lapse photography, the photographer previously had to figure out the number of frames, and exposure intervals, to calculate the duration of the final clip. The Nikon D4 and D800 does this for you.

Even better – previously, with time-lapse photography, the photographer had to try and visualize how the movement of the camera, from the starting point to end point, would finally appear when the images are compiled as a movie clip. I can just imagine how frustrating it must have been to spend time setting something up, only to realize later on when compiling the clip, that the duration is too fast or too slow, or there was some kind of hiccup.

This is where the Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 shine – they compile the time-lapse sequences into a .mov file for you, in camera!

You shoot the sequence of images from start to end, and then hit playback on the camera, and the movie plays back for you. Right there!  So if there are any changes you’d like to make in the sequence, and how the camera moves during the time-lapse sequence, you can adjust it right there and then. Beautifully elegant. This has to be very attractive to any photographer interested in time-lapse photography.

Setting it up is very easy. So easy that I was able to shoot the time-lapse sequences without referring to the manual.

The time-lapse movie file is generated at the settings that you have for the camera’s video settings. In retrospect, I should’ve shot this at 24fps. Perhaps a minor difference.

For quick access, I have this enabled in My Menu of the camera:

And in turn, to quickly access My Menu, I have the DoF preview button set to be the quick access to My Menu instead.

about the New York time-lapse sequence

Erik Colonese and I went in to New York late last night to shoot time-lapse sequences to compile into a longer movie clip. A first attempt at this! In fact, a first attempt at time-lapse photography, aside from a test sequence in my garden to see how the Dynamic Perception dolly works.

We rained out at some point, and the traffic in Manhattan on a Saturday night is dreadfully slow. So between the rain and traffic hold-ups, we managed to shoot 7 sequences which looked good. The opening sequence there was our 2nd try on that 1st set-up. And then the rain came down and we scrambled for cover. When we played it back … wow! High-fives! I was stunned at how cinematic it looked.

I can see a few things I’d do differently now – two of the sequences need to be slower, for example. But as it is, I am very proud of this first attempt.

Here is Erik setting up the MX2 Motion Controller on the dolly. This sets the duration and speed with which the dolly would travel. We usually had the dolly up on two tripods. A few times we had the dolly at an angle with one tripod, and the one end of the dolly resting on the ground.  For two of the sequences, we wanted the camera at this low an angle, and took the dolly off the tripods.
The mysterious girl in the 2nd sequence, is Elmira, who I have used as a model a few times recently.  She was lit by an iPhone, which I purposely moved around a bit during the time the time-lapse intervals. This helped to give it that shimmering look.

Since the Nikon D4 (and Nikon D800) produce the .mov files in-camera already, compiling the video clip is a very simple matter, using iMovie.

Equipment used to shoot the timelapse clip shown above:
Nikon D4  (B&H);  Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 AF-S  (B&H)
Manfrotto tripods & quick releases  (B&H)
Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dolly

Soundtrack courtesy of TripleScoopMusic

everything you want to know about time-lapse photography:

TimeScapes forum – the ultimate FAQ on time-lapse photography 

Time Lapse Tutorial – Timothy Allen 

You can order the Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 and other goodies from B&H, via these affiliate links:

Nikon D4

Nikon D800

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

review: Canon PowerShot G1 X

A good all-around walk-about camera is something I’ve been looking for, for a while now. The Fuji X100 is arguably the most desirable of the compact cameras on the market right now, but only has a fixed lens … and some auto-focus issues in low light. But there are a number of other serious compact cameras on the market now.

As I mentioned in my recent review of the Fuji X10, this year is going to be an exciting year with all the major D-SLR releases from Canon and Nikon, as well as some high-spec mirror-less cameras. The  Canon G1 X (B&H) and the Fuji X-Pro-1 (B&H) and Sony’s two cameras, the Sony NEX-5N (B&H) and Sony NEX-7 (B&H), all looks really good options for photographers who are serious about their  photography, but want more compact options.

I’ve had a loaner Canon G1 X (B&H) for the past few weeks, to see how I like it. What interested me most about the G1X is that the sensor size is just smaller than the Canon’s APS-C sensor. The larger sensor promises better image quality. But a camera is quite often more than the sum of the parts – it should have a feel that appeals to the photographer.

Features and Spec of the Canon G1 X

They key features and specs are:

• 14.3 megapixel CMOS Sensor
• 3.0″ LCD Screen that flips out
• high quality zoom lens,  (35mm equivalent: 28-112mm)
• lens aperture: f/2.8 (wide) – 5.8 (tele)
• Hybrid Image Stabilizer
• Optical Viewfinder
• 1080p 24 fps Full HD Video
• High Dynamic Range Scene Mode
• native aspect ratio is 4:3

… and a bunch of exposure modes, metering modes and white balance modes. And such.

Some of these specs are standard for any camera these days, such as 1080p video. I don’t think we’ll ever see a camera (or smart phone) on the market that doesn’t offer 1080p HD video.

The optical viewfinder is entirely under-whelming if you’re used to something as “oh wow!” as the optical viewfinder of the Fuji X100. There is a diopter adjustment, but as much as I am a photographer used to looking through a viewfinder, with the G1 X it was more convenient to just look at the back of the camera.  The optical viewfinder only shows 80% of the frame, and the lens barrel obscures part of the frame. Really not wonderful.

The lens has a sweet range. Very useful, but the widest aperture at the longer focal lengths become f5.6 and this drops the shutter speed much lower … exactly when you need the faster shutter speed to compensate for the camera shake inherent in using longer focal lengths. The Fuji X10 (B&H), has an f/2.0 – f/2.8 aperture, but with a much smaller sensor.

In using the camera, I found the Image Stabilization to be quite effective.

Oh, and there is a minutely small pop-up flash too. But we won’t mention this.

Handling of the Canon G1 X

If you’re used to the Canon G12, then you’re going to feel right at home with the G1 X. The top plate will immediately be familiar, and also feel familiar. The G1 X isn’t much larger than the G12, except that the G12 lens retracts more.

The LCD screen flips out, making it easy to get images with the camera held high, or from low angles.

The button layout is fairly logical, and easily understood.  The one button that was oddly placed for me, is the “Play” button which is recessed from your fingertip’s touch unless the LCD screen is flipped out.

The camera is comfortably chunky in your hands, and it is as compact a camera as you could make a camera be with this size sensor and lens. The lens retracts so that the camera is only 2,6″ long on the lens’ axis.

The ‘S’ button there on the left-hand side, is a customizable button with which you can access and change any one of 16 settings, including White balance, Drive Mode, Self Timer, ND filter, Aspect Ratio, RAW / JPE, AF Lock.

There is a knurled knob in the front to change the shutter speed when in Tv mode. In Av model, this affects the aperture.  However, when you’re shooting in manual exposure mode, the front knob controls the shutter speed (still), and the aperture value is changed via the rotating dial on the back. Typical of Canon D-SLRs as well. Simplicity.

Simplicity.  Yet, this is a camera where you would need to delve into the manual to figure out all the settings. For example, the focusing modes.

Focusing modes

AF Frame Mode
- FlexiZone – where you can change the position and size of the AF area, and then lock focus.
- Face AiAF – the camera detects faces, and then focuses.
- Tracking AF – for action photos where your subject is moving.

The AF-point zoom feature is interesting. If you hold the shutter button down (without tripping the shutter), an enlarged view of the focused area appears. Nice enough to see if your subject is in focus. However, this feature also interferes with your composition, since part of your subject is now obscured by the enlarged portion. You need to enable / disable this in the menu.  Easy enough to access, but it’s one of those things – this feature is handy, until it isn’t. Then it’s just in the way … but you need to go into the menu to disable it.

Setting the AF Frame Mode, is one of those things where you’d have to go through the manual.

Which brings us to the Auto-Focus performance of the Canon G1 X 

For me, it felt like the camera took a bit too long to grab focus. Since Canon appears to be aiming this camera at the serious photographer market, it just felt to me that the AF wasn’t up to par compared to the build quality of the camera.

Also the maximum shooting rate is a mere 1.6 frames. Very slow for a mirror-less camera.

There is an AF assist beam which helps in low light. However, this is the kind of thing I immediately disable on any camera. And the beeping. Ugh!

While the G1 X does take the Canon speedlites, you only have TTL control in one of the Auto exposure modes.  With manual exposure mode on the camera, you lose TTL flash. That just doesn’t make sense.

Be aware that the G1 X doesn’t focus particularly close, unless if you flip into the Macro Mode … where the AF performance goes down even further.

From the spec sheet:
Wide angle : 1.3′ (0.40 m) – Infinity
Tele setting: 4.3′ (1.31 m) – Infinity

Video:

In playing around with the Video recording mode, it was frustrating that you couldn’t set aperture / shutter speed or ISO to change your exposure. Not even the Exposure Compensation dial on the top of the camera applied. To change your exposure, you have to hit the Exposure Lock Button ( * ) and then dial your exposure compensation via a new menu on the screen. Not entirely intuitive. Once again, it is one of those things you have to delve in the manual for.

The Video quality looked good though.

Image Quality of the Canon G1 X

Now, the sensor is the most attractive thing about the Canon G1 X. The sensor, as mentioned, is slightly smaller (20%) than the APS-C sensors on the Canon D-SLRs. But the pixel count of the G1 X is slightly lower. So this would imply that the image quality from the G1 X should rival the crop-sensor D-SLRs from Canon.  As an aside, the G1 X sensor is 4 times later than the sensor of the Fuji X10.

Elmira is the same model that I used for my initial review of the Canon 5D Mark III high-ISO performance. Using a camera like the Canon G1 X for this type of portrait photography on location, felt clumsy though because I am much more used to working with an SLR. The image quality is great though. This was shot at 800 ISO. The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here. (I did use the healing brush on a few skin blemishes.)

The aperture I used was (according to the EXIF data), f5.8
Now, with a smaller sensor, the apparent depth-of-field is affected. So this would be equivalent to about f11 on a full-frame SLR. Which means, that if you like shallow depth-of-field, you need to look elsewhere than a compact camera.

A camera like the Canon G1 X is much more suited to general photography. A camera to walk around with and explore places with. I strolled along the Highline in Manhattan, grabbing a few frames of people and my surroundings there.

I was able to hold the camera up high over my head, using the flip-out LCD screen to get the composition I wanted. (Shot in manual exposure mode.)

Playing around with how the sun fell on the front of the lens, so I could get flare. The lens seems to be quite resistant against flaring. Even here, it kept the contrast. Impressive.

Again, shot in manual exposure mode to get the exact exposure I want. One quirk of the camera, it remembers your specific ISO for manual metering mode … which could be different than your chosen ISO for the Auto exposure modes.

So it might even make sense to have your camera set to Auto ISO with the camera to P mode … but have a specific ISO setting for Manual exposure mode when you flip into full manual control of your exposure.

The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here.

Moving further afield than the Highline …

The Jessy Carolina Hot Mess, busking in Washington Square Park. (Jessy Carolina is out of frame here.)

The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here.  (100 ISO)

I was quite happy with the results from this camera – the images looked good.

The G1 X also offers in-camera processing of images via Image Effects … something I didn’t play with, but these are options if you enjoy messing with the images in-camera.

There’s a range of effects you can apply to images:
- HDR (where the camera takes 3 images, and combine them for greater tonal range)
- Toy Camera Effect
- Fish-Eye Effect
- Poster Effect
- Nostalgic
- Monochrome
and more.

Canon G1 X – the final verdict

The Canon G1 X was a camera that I was quite keen to try out. The promise of superb image quality from a compact camera is very appealing.

The image quality certainly is there. 800 ISO looked very good, and even 1600 ISO looked good. The lens delivers, and I couldn’t see any softness or anything that bothered me.

The controls and user interface is for the most part quite intuitive, but you will have to go through the manual to get the most out of this camera.

For $800 this camera is positioned at an interesting intersection – low enough in price and with great image quality, to appeal to the serious photographer who wants a camera to carry around. But for a little bit more money, an entry-level SLR with kit lens could be had. A tough decision to make.

You can order the Canon G1 X from B&H via this affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

initial impressions: Canon EOS 5D Mark III – high-ISO noise performance

I have to confess something first – whenever an important camera is announced, I have just a cursory interest in the specification sheet. The difference between 40 AF sensors and 70 AF sensors … you know, that’s just a number on the paper. It never really tells you how the camera performs. And with the announcement of the details of the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H), there were a number of websites eager to list the detailed specs. Yay! Well, not really.

There might be some interest in the nomenclature, but what does it really mean that the 5D Mark II has the DIGIC 4 proce­ssor, but there’s a new DIGIC 5+ on the 5D Mark III. Those are just names to me. I can’t get excited about it, or even feign interest in the actual name. I’m much more interested in how the camera will actually perform. You can name it anything you want … but does the camera deliver?

Details for the photo at the top:
camera settings:  1/160 @ f2.8 @ 6400 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 170mm

There is real excitement about the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H), since everyone is curious if it is that much of an improvement over the 5D Mark II. I have to say, I really think it is. It’s a massive improvement. The AF is more responsive. The camera *feels* better in my hands. The controls are better laid out … although the right forefinger still does too much work, stretching here and there, all over the top plate.

The first thing that I was curious about, was the high-ISO performance. As a wedding photographer here in the New Jersey / New York area, I often deal with low-light situations. In using cameras that allow for superb high-ISO performance, you can really get results that look far more natural than just 5 or 6 years ago. You can shoot with just the ambient light, or blend a touch of flash with the available light, and still have it look natural. The technique is now really much more flexible … all due to the improvements in camera and sensor design.

I met up with a model, Elmira, in Times Square last night to see how the Canon EOS 5D Mark III fares in low light / high-ISO settings.  In short, beautifully.

Times Square has an incredible mix of light sources. It can be surprisingly bright there, depending on the billboards that are flashing. But this also means the lighting is erratic. So, with that, keep in mind that this is not a studio test, nor a controlled test. This is just a real indication of how the camera performs in mixed lighting that isn’t all that bright.

We rained out a little bit and had to take shelter under an awning.  There were Incandescent style lights, and I adjusted the WB as well as I could via the Kelvin setting.

The image at the top was shot shot there … at 6,400 ISO. The White Balance of the RAW file was slightly adjusted in DPP. The lighting was pretty funky though.
Camera settings:  1/160 @ f2.8 @ 6400 ISO
I used the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 170mm

When the rain eased up, we went back to the open areas of Times Square, and I took this photo of Elmira, with the rain spattered street in the background. But this time, just for fun, I cranked the ISO up to 12800 ISO.  I used the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 85mm

I was shooting at 1/400 @ f/4 at this point because of the bright lights there. So I didn’t actually need that shutter speed, and could’ve used a lower ISO if this was a real photo session. But I was curious about that insanely high ISO:

camera settings:  1/400 @ f/4 @ 12800 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 85mm

I think it looks quite good!

But this is how the image looks as it was resized for web use … and this easily masks the lack of detail that is a side-effect of noise reduction.

Instead of showing 100% crops of various parts of the images, I decided to make the high-resolution JPG files available as a download from this link.  Right-click and save-as will get you the file.

Keep in mind:
- these are the JPGS from the RAW files as processed with Canon’s DPP software. Both images had the WB tweaked a bit. Since DPP follows the camera picture settings, this as close to an in-camera JPG as you’ll get, while still having the flexibility of the RAW file.
- these images had noise reduction applied to it at the default settings in DPP. (See screen-capture below.)
- the images had sharpening applied at the default settings in DPP. (See screen-capture below.)
- I used the Healing Brush in Photoshop to remove a few skin blemishes. (I don’t think it would be fair to anyone to have 22 megapixels show every slight flaw.)

These two high-resoluton files should make it quite apparent – Canon has a winner on their hands with the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H). We have a camera that gives surprisingly good results at ISO settings that would’ve been regarded as insanely high, just a few years ago.

You can order a Canon 5D Mark III via this B&H affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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exciting new cameras for photographers

This photo was taken at a recent workshop where I was one of the instructors. I used the new Fuji X10 camera (B&H) and when I zoomed in to check the image sharpness on the camera’s display, I was a little surprised at just how good it looked. Crisp! There wasn’t anything immediately obvious there that would reveal the photo wasn’t taken with A Big Camera.

This article was originally going to be a review of the Fuji X10 camera (B&H).  However, with my workload, compiling material for a comparative review between the Fuji X10 and several other Point & Shoot cameras, took longer than I intended.  And now we’re at a point where there’s a range of other truly impressive cameras to about to hit the market. With such a fast-paced release of new tantalizing cameras, it felt to me like a single review might’ve become a little redundant a few month later.

Of course, various cameras are aimed at different sectors of the market, so they are not all equal. But if we have a look at the results from this small-sensor Point & Shoot camera, then it’s a real surprise how good the image quality is … and then we have to wonder what the cameras coming up in the next year or so, will deliver.

2012 is looking to be like a Big Year for camera enthusiasts photographers:

Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras look like they might become all the rage in the next year or so, with the Canon G1 X (B&H) and the Fuji X-Pro-1 (B&H) about to become available.  Sony already has two great cameras in the Sony NEX-5N (B&H) and Sony NEX-7 (B&H), and there’s a bunch of other cameras on the market. The Fuji X-Pro 1 looks especially good, if we can go by the image quality of the Fuji X100.

Nikon is releasing two cameras with incredible spec – the Nikon D800 (B&H) and the Nikon D4 (B&H)  - and we’re just waiting for them to hit the streets properly and be readily available. Canon announced the Canon EOS-1D X towards the end of 2011, and the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H) will be available later on in the year.

With all that, it feels like the possibilities in photography have expanded even further. (And it’s not like our current cameras are suddenly not capable anymore.)  With image quality so good that a point and shoot camera can make you sit up and take notice, the limitation really is our imagination. Even more so now than ever before.

Fuji Finepix X10 review

I had the following four cameras available for review, and I got to play with them a bit:
Fuji X10 (B&H) – $600
Canon Powershot G12 (B&H) – $380
Nikon Coolpix P-7100 (B&H) – $420
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 (B&H) – $340

My intention was to do a comparative review, with images taken out on the street in Manhattan, of a variety of subjects.
In the end, it wasn’t just the image quality that counted for me, but also:
- handling and controls
- each camera had a different personality … a different feel.

They vary greatly in price and features, and ultimately, image quality.

They all have 10 megapixel sensors, except the Fuji X10 at 12 megapixels.

The image quality of each camera was distinctly different. For me, the Fuji X10 had the best image quality of the four cameras. The way the noise-reduction was handled in-camera, gave the images less of that “artificial” look that you get from digital point and shoots.

The Panasonic LX-5 and Canon G12 would be the runners-up in my opinion. But the Nikon P-7100 sadly fell behind. Disappointing.

Handling – the Canon G12 had the best laid out controls. No need to dive into the menu or press multiple buttons to change settings. They were all on hand. The Nikon P-7100 was nearly as good – a sexy looking camera with all the controls intuitively available.  The Panasonic LX5 had much more sparse controls, and for me, this was limiting. I need the buttons and controls.

The Fuji X10 here was an odd camera.  There were some things I really liked .. but then this was off-set by having to dive into the menu for some settings. On the G12, the ISO can be changed on the top deck. With the Fuji X10, you have to assign the function button for that, and then change the ISO in the menu. Like the Fuji X100, there is some quirky design philosophy behind all this.

Where the Fuji X10 stood out – you had to manually zoom the lens! It felt like you were holding an actual camera and controlling the focal length by manually rotating the lens. Beautiful.  So much easier than a rocker switch you have to look for, and then having to zoom back when you accidentally zoom too much.  I really liked this.

The Canon G12 and Nikon P-7100 have a zoom lens each that has an f2.8 to f5.6 aperture range.  Compare that to the Fuji X10′s f2 to f2.8 and you have a camera that you can shoot in lower light with … nevermind that the Fuji X10 gave the least amount of high-ISO noise.

All four cameras have image stabilization via optical means.

They all offer video at 720p resolution, except the Fuji X10 that offers a full 1080p video capability.

A 100% crop of the in-camera JPG … 400 ISO

In reducing the noise, the image became slightly softer.
Inevitably we deal with that trade-off every time.

A street performer late at night in Times Square

1/100 @ f2.5 @ 800 ISO

The 100% crop of the image, showing the surprising lack of noise in the shadow areas.

None of the other three cameras could match this.

Finally, in considering all this, I just liked the Fuji X10 so much, that this isn’t so much a comparative review between four point and shoots, but a kind-of review of the Fuji X10. It’s more spendy than the other three cameras, but the image quality is better, and it just has more … and don’t hate me for bringing in a description so vague … but it just has more personality. It’s a likable solid little camera.

- equipment reviews 

- Fuji X100 camera review – photo shoot with a model
- Fuji X100 review – photographing a wedding

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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LensSkins

Wildlife photographers have had camouflage for their equipment for years now, but now photographers have the option of prettying up their photo gear as well. Lens Skins (B&H) are vinyl cut-outs that fit the shape and contours of a wide variety of lenses, and come in a huge variety of designs. The Lens Skins easily attach, and are easy to peel off again.

I was curious about getting one for my one lens – wondering whether people would react differently to a pretty camera rather than the menacing bulk of a big camera and lens. The Lens Skins are spendy, but my curiosity was piqued enough to get one.

Sometimes I feel like the photo-geek version of The Terminator when I arrive at a client’s home with two Nikon D3 bodies slung over my shoulders, each with an f2.8 zoom lens and flash. Maybe this psychedelic flowery pattern would be an ice breaker. And true enough, this lens is a conversation starter – kids to older folks ask me about it and strike up conversations. So perhaps it makes me look less intimidating. Really, who can be afraid of this big bad wolf if his camera looks pretty …

This was snapped by my friend Josh Lynn earlier this year when I shot a wedding with him. I couldn’t resist hamming it up a bit. The rain came down hard, hence the tiny umbrella. Well, I wish the umbrella had been larger, but it is what I had.

If you’re interested in seeing the variety of Lens Skins available, check out the B&H affiliate link to see what is available for your lenses.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Canon wireless e-TTL flash triggers / radio transmitters

A bridal portrait (taken during one of the photo sessions arranged by the Hudson Valley Click), where it is easy to see the advantage of using off-camera lighting.

The strong back-lighting is used as a way to highlight the background and have the rim-lighting etch our model against the background. Of course, having her turn her back to the sun also helps with not having our model squinting in the bright light. We immediately avoid unflattering hard light on her face. But we then do need to add off-camera lighting of some kind to cross-light her.

I used TTL flash here, since I often find this is the fastest and easiest way to get good flash exposure. The flash was diffused with a white shoot-through umbrella, and I used wireless TTL triggers to control my flash.

Let’s have a look at our current options that we have to trigger the off-camera TTL flash …

1. the simple option – no additional extra equipment

To get to an off-camera flash setup, we need not immediately buy wireless triggers. As a basic entry to the world of off-camera TTL flash, we can use just our Canon gear – another Canon speedlight as master flash to control our slave. Most of the images in my book on off-camera flash, was taken with a setup as simple as that: a master speedlight on my camera (with its own output disabled), controlling the slave speedlight. I’d say this is the most simple way to dip your toes into the water if you’re new to off-camera flash.

There are further options here, such in the case of the Canon 7D, where we can use built-in flash as the master controller. This will surely be included in future Canon DSLRs. We can also use the Canon ST-E2 as the wireless controller.

The main restriction with these simple setups, is that we need line-of-sight between the master and the slave. We have a distance limitation as well. For most photo sessions though, the distance isn’t usually a concern. It’s the line-of-sight thing which can often be a problem. The moment you move ‘forward’ of your flash setup, you risk the master and slave not seeing each other and your flash not triggering.

This is where I do like the Lastolite Ezybox softboxes – you can turn the Slave flash by adjusting the hotshoe of the softbox, and swivel it so that the Slave’s sensor is aimed towards where you are. Then you just need to rotate your Master flash’s head to point towards the Slave flash. But it can be troublesome to continually change the Slave flash’s position on the softbox, and change the orientation of your Master flash in your camera’s hotshoe.

2. the less simple, but more flexible option – more cool toys!

To overcome this, we need to look at the Wireless TTL triggers. There are a number of options. There are two main choices – PocketWizard and RadioPopper. There are also other triggers such as the Pixel triggers. And I’m sure there will be other players on the market in the future. There might even be some available now that I’m not aware of.  But right now, the two main choices are  PocketWizard and RadioPopper … and they happen to be the two TTL-capable radio triggers that I am knowledgeable with.

The challenge that PocketWizard and RadioPoppers had, was to convert the flash system’s control signals as radio-frequency signals. The main difference between PocketWizard and RadioPoppers then is how they decided to approach that challenge. RadioPoppers piggy-back onto the flash system, and just carries the control signals between the master and slave units. PocketWizards insert themselves into the communication between the camera and flash, and takes control of that.

A. RadioPopper Px wireless flash system

The RadioPopper PX transmitter unit attaches with velcro strips (or gaffer tape or rubber bands) onto the Master speedlite or Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter. Via the menu setting, you set up the controls for it. The default is for Canon. Setting up is really simple. Actually, simpler than the RadioPopper instructions would make it appear.

The RadioPopper PX transmitter reads the control signals as emitted by the Master flash, and converts them into radio-frequency signals. The slave radiopopper then receives and converts the radio-freequency signals back into light pulses for the Slave speedlite … which works just as if it had directly received the light pulses from the Master speedlite.

The RadioPopper receiver unit is mounted via this bracket to the Slave speedlite. You can velcro it down if you want, but the bracket helps for the sensors to align properly. There are notches in the bracket to allow for other units than the Canon 580EX II flash.

Again, setting up is really simple.

The beauty of the RadioPopper units is that they only transmit the signal. They don’t interject themselves into the system. They just carry the signal between the Master and Slave speedlites.

This means that if you have a problem with the Slave not firing, your first recourse would be to make sure that the Canon wireless system itself is firing properly. Then you re-attach the RadioPoppers again.

In my experience so far, this second generation of the RadioPoppers is a robust technology. Meaning, they just work.

While the beauty of the RadioPopper PX units are that they only transmit the signal, their limitation is that of the Canon wireless system. It just isn’t as flexible as the Nikon CLS system. This is where the PocketWizards step up.

B. PocketWizard FlexTT5 / MiniTT1 wireless flash trigger

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 (which I’ve featured regularly on this site), is based on a different design philosophy than the RadioPoppers. The PocketWizards are inserted into the system, and they take control of the electronic signals. It’s quite a brave move, and through the various iterations of software updates, have come to work very well, with two strong caveats:

1. I’ve had so many hiccups in using the PocketWizard TT5 units in workshop format with multiple shooters, that I have now moved to the RadioPoppers for my flash photography workshops. More about this later on in this article.

2. The other main problem in using the PocketWizard TT1 and TT5 units, relate to the Canon speedlites themselves. The Canon 580EX and 580EX II and the Canon 430EX (1st version) all generate so much radio-frequency noise, that they interfere with the reception of the signal from the Master FlexTT5 / MiniTT1.

PocketWizard and LPA design have gone out of their way to try and overcome this, and offer a number of solutions to reduce the RF interference generated by these Canon speedlites.
- range-extending solutions, by PocketWizard
- extending the range of the PocketWizard FlexTT5 and Canon 580EX II, by Rob Galbraith

Since Canon did a silent fix of this problem with the release of the Canon 430EX II, we can hope that future Canon speedlites will be rid of this problem. In the meantime, there are various fixes, including having the Canon speedlites modified.
- modifying the Canon 580EX II to reduce RF noise emission, by PocketWizard

related article:
- Flickr discussion on Canon 580EX II failures due to misalignment of the flashtube.

Okay, so there are various solutions to this problem. (Check the linked articles by PocketWizard and Rob Galbraith for thorough explanations.)

The best solution, for the least expense and the minimum of fuss, is the PocketWizard AC-7 RF shield (B&H). According to PockeWizard, it completely solves the problem of RF interference, and it even includes a clamp for an umbrella.

I settled on another option which allows me to use a softbox more easily if I wanted to. This option apparently isn’t quite the 100% effective solution compared to what is offered, but does seem to substantially reduce the RF interference problem.

1. The Flex TT5 and Canon 580EX II need to be separated by a large enough distance. PocketWizard recommends 18″ at least. For this, I use the Canon OC-E3 off-camera TTL flash cord (B&H).

Here is how my off-camera flash setup looked for the image at the top. (As an aside, I used the Canon 5D mark II, and the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L lens for this photo session.)

To stop the radio-frequency noise being propagated via the OC-E3 cable, and the battery pack cable, an RF choke is attached around the cables near the 580EX II. (Details about where the RF choke can be ordered, is mentioned in the linked article by PocketWizard.)

Here is the detail shot showing the RF chokes and how the flashgun is attached to the umbrella bracket.

Here is how I mounted the FlexTT5 to the light-stand with a clamp.

Clearer shots of how I connected up the Canon PocketWizard TT5 to separate it from the Canon 580EX II speedlite. The clamp is the Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamp (B&H) and the stud is the Manfrotto 037 Reversible Stud (B&H).

With this setup, I have been able to effortlessly get images like the one at the top of the bridal portrait. With the OC-E3 cord and other attachments, it does take more effort to set up though than using the RadioPoppers.

So why would one choose the PocketWizards over the RadioPoppers then? For me, the main reason would be that with the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller (B&H), the Canon speedlites can be made to behave like the Nikon flash system.

With the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller (B&H), you can set the three groups of flashes, and from the camera, turn any of them to TTL mode, or manual mode, or turn them off. You can also set specific levels for the TTL output and manual output. The Canon wireless flash system works with A:B ratios. It does work, but for me it is easier to work with specific levels. With the AC3 unit, I can now change the B group to, (for example), 1 stop less than the A group. I can change one group to TTL, and another group to manual.

This review of the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller for Nikon, will explain in more detail exactly how this works. Anyone familiar with how the wireless flash system usually works for Canon, will easily see the differences. For multiple flash setups, this has a clear advantage over the simpler Canon wireless flash setup.

The downside in setting all this up for Canon speedlite to work properly, there is additional equipment expense – the Canon OC-E3 cord; the clamps and so on. Also, it takes a few minutes longer to set up. But it does work very well … for the individual shooter.

For my photography work, I rely on Nikon, and I’m quite happy with the PocketWizard FlexTT5 units for Nikon. For the multiple photographer environment of a workshop, the PocketWizard units (whether for Nikon or Canon) haven’t performed as expected. Apparently with the way that the PW units work, interjecting themselves within the communication train, means that the Slaved unit becomes confused with multiple Master units trying to access it.

For the workshops, I have now migrated to the RadioPoppers with great success. Since the Slaved speedlite just “listens”, waiting for the light pulses, it reacts immediately to any Master flash. The Slaved flash then reacts as well as if the Master flash had direct line-of-sight communication with the Slave flash … regardless of there being multiple photographers.

Final summary:
Both systems work really well, although for the PocketWizard units there is the caveat with the Canon speedlights and RF interference. As mentioned before, the PocketWizard team (and LPA Design) have gone out of their way to surmount this problem. With great success.

The RadioPoppers is the simpler system, and is easy to set up. I have to express admiration for Kevin King’s genius in figuring out how to intercept the pulses from the Master flash, and convert that into radio-frequency signals.

And finally, having spoken to the teams at RadioPoppers and PocketWizards, I have to say I am impressed with their dedication to their work and products.

RadioPoppers can be ordered directly from their site.

The PocketWizard FlexTT5 and AC3 for Canon can be ordered from this B&H affiliate link:

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Lea – moving portrait – Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II

Canon just released the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H), an update to an already highly-regarded lens, and I was able to get a review copy courtesy of B&H. I tried this lens out during a photo session with a model, Lea. Instead of just photographs, I decided to shoot video and create a “moving portrait” of her.

The video footage was shot in Times Square a few evenings ago, just using the flood of light from the billboards.

The initial portion of the clip is just a series of glimpses of Lea through the crowd in Times Square. It was a bit of a battle to get a decent sequence, since people would often stop in their tracks right in front of the camera. Which is okay; I’m just one more person there. An amusing moment was when someone came up to Lea while I was photographing her at a distance, to ask her where she bought her clothes. “Hey lady, we’re working here!” I did actually say that, but just under my breath.

This video clip was edited with iMovie ’11. I slowed the video footage down to 50% speed to make it more dream-like.

The music track is a royalty-free track provided via Triple Scoop Music.
The artists is Sarah J Hyland, and the track is called Mmmhot.

This first section of the video clip is just with the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)
With the second section (where you can see the cars), I added the Canon 1.4x III extender (B&H) to turn this into an impressive 420mm f4 lens. This placed Lea so far from me that she couldn’t quite see my hand gestures as I was directing her … so she had to wear her glasses. (You can’t politely shout over that distance.)

Even though this short video clip has even less of a story than your average music video, it will show you the compression that this focal length creates for portraits, and how dreamily out-of-focus the background is at f2.8 All sections were shot with the lens wide open. And yes, it’s a “holy macaroni!” impressive kind of a lens. The video footage was shot with a tripod, but I also took some photos hand-held … and the aggressive Image Stabilisation is just as impressive. The images were sharp, even hand-held at 1/100 shutter speed.

Regarding my camera settings for shooting the video footage:

I stayed around 1600 ISO for the most part, but for some sections (not shown here), I dropped it by a 1/3rd and even 2/3rds of a stop. For the section at the end of this clip where Lea is standing at the cars, my ISO was at 2000. But there is more to this …

• With Canon DSLRs, multiples of 160 ISO give the best noise performance. However, I didn’t keep to that guide because:

• I needed to shoot at f2.8 and didn’t want to vary my aperture to get the appropriate multiple-of-160-ISO setting. I wanted to show the look the lens gives wide open. So I kept to f2.8 through-out.

• I wanted to keep the camera at 1/50th off a second shutter speed through-out.There are many articles online which will describe why 24fps gives a film-like appearance. And for specific reasons, it means we need to shoot at 1/50th shutter speed to maintain the 180 degree shutter rule, if we are shooting video at 24fps. So I kept my shutter to 1/50th shooting the video footage.

• Therefore, since I wanted to keep to a 1/50th shutter speed, and wanted to shoot at f2.8 it meant that I had to change my ISO to suit, even though my specific ISO setting might not match the ideal.

equipment used during this shoot:
Canon 5D mk II (B&H)
Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)
Canon 1.4x III extender (B&H)

Manfrotto 458B tripod with NeoTec Pro Photo tripod legs (B&H)
Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head (B&H)

More about this tripod:
It features a unique quick-release and lock system for the legs which makes it incredibly easy to set up and collapse again. You simply pull on the legs to extend them, and they automatically lock in position. It is heavier than a carbon-fiber tripod, but the ease of setup made it an easy choice for me as my video tripod.

other articles featuring Lea:
- using direct, bare (un-modified) off-camera flash
- off-camera flash – adding dimension with back-lighting
- NYC photo-shootout redux

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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lens review: Nikon 50mm f/1.4G vs Nikon 50mm f/1.8G

The 50mm lens in general is an interesting optic. Not necessarily for what it does, but how it seems to have fallen out and back in favor over the years. For example, in the 1970′s pretty much all 35mm film cameras shipped with a 50mm lens. Zooms weren’t something that just came with the camera as a kit lens. It was the 50mm lens that was the “kit lens”.  So the first thing the serious amateur would do, is dump the 50mm lens and get a zoom lens to get some variety in their photographs.

Then over the years, more compact and slower aperture zooms became the norm. Even more so during the digital era.

Now, as more of the newer photographers are realizing that a 50mm lens is an inexpensive way of getting super-shallow depth-of-field, the 50mm lens is seeing something of a resurgence in popularity.  That super-shallow DoF is a look that your f5.6 kit zoom lenses just can’t give you.

With that, a 50mm lens deserves a place in your camera bag. It takes up little space, and is (usually) inexpensive. (Well, until you step up to something like the Canon 50mm f1.2L … but that’s another story.)

Nikon just released the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G (B&H) as an update to the popular Nikon 50mm f1.8D (B&H), and as a more affordable option than the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G (B&H) … so let’s look at how it performs.

A quick summary, comparing the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G to the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G

• sharpness wide open at f1.8 is very close the f1.4G optic. Stopped down to f5.6 both lenses are razor sharp. As you’d expect from a lens with a fairly simple optical design like a 50mm lens. (Until you get to the Canon 50mm f1.2L which shifts focus as you stop down. But, that’s another story.)
• the bokeh of both lenses look the same to my eye
• focusing of the f1.8G is noticeably faster than the f/1.4G which is kind of a slouch. This might be due to the longer focusing “throw” of the f/1,4G optic. But the f1.4G just seemed slow and has received sharp criticism for that. The newer f1.8G is a huge improvement.
• the f1.8G is more than $200 cheaper than the f1.4G
• the f1.4G has a 2/3rd stop faster maximum aperture than the f1.8G

And that sums it up whether the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G (B&H) or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G (B&H) is more attractive.

(As an aside – I have tried three copies of the Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens at various times .. of which two exhibited back-focusing straight out of the box. That’s less endearing.)

Back to the image at the top:

1/500 @ f1.8 @ 200 ISO

This is typical of the look one can achieve with a 50mm lens, and using shallow depth-of-field.

In this case, the background is melting away not only because of the shallow depth of field, but also because of the way I shot against bright light, and allowed the background to over-expose. Just for interest sake, the background here above Jessica is an art display of pieces of linen blowing in the wind. (It was also seen here in this review of the Canon 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom lens.)

observations on the optical sharpness of the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G

With fast primes, I do think we don’t often use the lens for how sharp they are to the very edges. We photograph 3-dimensional subjects. Not flat scenes. (Besides, if you wanted sharp images from edge-to-edge for a scene that is “flat”, you’d just use an appropriately smaller aperture.)

Fast primes tend to show distinct vignetting when used wide open. But this isn’t a negative in my opinion. It can in fact lend a specific “look” to the images. (The Canon 85mm f1.2L is great for this … lending a noticeable vignette when used wide open with the 5D body.)  So the usual way of testing lenses would tell you about their optical quality .. but it would most likely not have much bearing on how the lenses are used – bringing attention to your subject via the shallow depth of field.

With these two images (click through to larger versions), you can see the difference in depth of field between f1.8 and f5.6 … but this shallow depth-of-field comes at a (slight) expenses of optical sharpness when used wide open.

Here are 100% crops (unsharpened) of her right eye of those two photos. The image at the left is for an f1.8 aperture, and the second image is for the lens used at f5.6 aperture.

The lens shows that typical slight haze (even though it looks sharp-ish) that you get with these lenses. So for me, this lens is sharp wide open, in that I would happily use it at wide apertures if I needed the shallow depth of field. If you want super-sharp though, then stop down. Those are your options.

bokeh – Nikon 50mm f/1.8G compared to a few other Nikon 50mm lenses

Before we look at the bokeh of this lens, keep in mind that shallow depth of field is not the same thing as bokeh. Bokeh is the evaluation of how pleasing the out-of-focus areas (usually) in the background appears. Also, we’re going to look at a single scene here. To really get an idea of the bokeh of a lens, we’d have to use it in a variety of situations at different focus distances and different apertures.

But this single example will already give us a good idea of whether the lens has pleasant bokeh or not.

Using a tripod, I took a series of photographs of Jessica at a specific distance. The crop images are from the top-right-hand corner.

The 50mm f/1.8G and f/1.4G show pretty much the same bokeh when used at f1.8 Note the way the out of focus areas are oval and have a soft edge to them. The f/1.4G lens appears to have slightly more round shaped out of focus highlights than the f/1.8G …. but this is such a small difference, that it wouldn’t factor in buying the one lens rather than the other.

Stopped down a little bit to f2.8 it still looks quite similar.

Comparing the newer f/1.8G lens to the f/1.8D we see that the bokeh of the G lens is more pleasing than the D optic. The out of focus highlights of the D lens has a harder edge to it, and would make the background less smooth than for the G optic. So this means to me that the f/1.8G lens has better bokeh than the f/1.8D

Stopped down to f2.8 it would appear the same and we even see that the D lens starts to exhibit a kind of hexagonal edge to the circles. (Both lenses have 7 blades to the diaphragm though.)

Just as a comparison to how the bokeh would look when it is less pleasing, here is how the older manual focus Nikon 50mm AIS lens appears at f2.8 …. the hexagonal shapes are quite distinct.

In summary … the bokeh of the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G is an improvement over the f/1.8D

The f/1.4G improved in a similar way over the older f1.4D lens in terms of its bokeh. Notice here how intrusive the bokeh of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D can be when used wide open.

Conclusion:
If you’re in the market for a 50mm lens, then the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G (B&H) would make a nice first lens. It is sharp, focuses fast .. and if it is important to you, it has nice bokeh. If you’re able to spring for a bit more money, then the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G  would be a good choice … if you can handle the slower focusing of the f/1.4 optic. We have options.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
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shooting in bright sunlight with flash

One of the most challenging lighting scenarios we’ll most likely encounter, is bright harsh sunlight. There are a couple of steps we can take to make things a lot easier for ourselves …

If we can move our subject so their back is to the sun, we can get away without using flash. We make sure our subject is not unevenly lit with sun, and then we just let the highlights blow out as a rim light.

further discussion with examples:
- taking photos under the mid-day sun
- photographing in hard sunlight, with or without flash
- shooting in bright sunlight (wedding)

If we can use flash (whether off-camera or only on-camera), we’d still ideally move our subject so that their back is to the sun, and make sure they aren’t half-lit by sun and half in shade. But even if we can’t move our subject, this easy algorithm is the best approach:

When using flash with bright daylight:

1.)  use your lowest ISO 
We don’t need 1600 ISO in bright sunlight, so take your ISO immediately down to 100 ISO or 200 ISO. If you really need the extreme depth-of-field of f22, then you can raise your ISO. You would risk image softness due to diffraction though. But that is the option.

2.)  go to your camera’s max flash sync speed
There is a reason why we’d go to the maximum flash sync speed,
a.) and not lower (for then our aperture becomes smaller and our flash needs to give more output),
b.) and not (immediately) higher than max sync speed (for our flash loses power and range in high speed flash sync.)

3.)  find the aperture
Ideally you’d use an aperture where you don’t lose important detail in your subject. But we don’t want to get too caught up in controlling all our highlights, for rim-light helps separate our subject from the background. So that controlled loss of detail where the highlights blow out, is a good thing. And also, sometimes we have to compromise and accept that some detail will be lost.

4.) now, for that ISO and aperture combination, dump as much flash as is required (or your flash is capable of).

The recipe is as simple as that. And it is an easy enough approach to keep things on track when battling under pressure in hard sunlight.

A couple of further notes:

If you find you have the flash range / energy / power to spare at max sync speed, and you’d like the shallower depth-of-field that high-speed flash sync (HSS) affords us, then by all means go to HSS mode. But it is a good idea to start at max flash sync speed if you’re unsure, because at max flash sync speed you have the most likely chance of success in adding flash to bright sunlight. If you can’t do it at max sync speed, you can’t do it at any other shutter speed.

Most often, when we’re working in the f11 region of apertures, and using a softbox or some light diffuser, then we’ll be at our flash’s maximum output. So then we’ll move our flash closer or further to give us correct exposure.

Using a light meter is the easiest and most sure way of getting right exposure of your flash. But, this isn’t an absolute. With the image at the top, I checked the back of the camera’s preview and estimated how close I need to move my softbox to my subject to get the correct exposure. I know, it’s strobist heresy.

Back to the image at the top:

My camera settings here: 1/200 @ f11 @ 100 ISO
Canon 5D mk II (B&H);  Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS (B&H)

I wanted a dramatic wide-angle pose against the sky, including the sun. But I wanted to retain some detail in the sky, so I needed to add a lot of flash.

Now, I could’ve used direct off-camera flash to give dramatic light here in the sun.  But I like the look that a softbox gives. But this means having flash with lots of power.

My usual kit when I need to shoot in this kind of situation, is the 600 Ws Profoto AcuteB 600R lighting kit (B&H) with 2×3 Profoto softbox such as with this photo session with Sarah and Mark. Using a speedlight with a softbox (and using only one baffle) is also an option in overpowering the sun with flash … but you have to work close-up to your subject. So the extra power of a larger unit does help.

This time though, I had an interesting lighting kit on hand that B&H had sent to me for review.

review: Impact LiteTrek 4.0 DC Monolight & Battery Pack Kit

The Impact LiteTrek 4.0 DC Monolight & Battery Pack Kit (B&H), is a 400Ws monolight kit. So it has more than twice the amount of power of a speedlight. (There isn’t an easy way to translate Ws to the Guide Number.) In comparison the Quantum T flashes have a rating of 150 Ws. The Impact Lite Trek kit is priced attractively for a monolight kit. It comes with the head, the battery and the aluminum case. You’d still need to add a light-stand and a softbox.

The softbox I used was the Impact 24×32 softbox (B&H). It’s a softbox. It is fairly easy to set up … as easy as it is to set up a softbox with the 4 rods and a speeding. Ultimately, a softbox is just a softbox. (Unless it is something as unusual as the Lastolite softboxes.) It works.

Interestingly, I also got to use the Impact Powersync 16 transmitter and receiver set (B&H). I really liked them in that they were compact, super-easy to use … and the price is attractive. (Currently, $95 for the receiver, and $65 for the transmitter. The combined set is $150)

The Impact Lite Trek kit doesn’t allow high-speed sync. It is at this point where the decision swivels around the need to balance the need for power that a monolight offers, with the possibility of buying a number of speedlights instead to give the additional power to match a monolight … but then have the capability of high-speed flash sync.

The Impact Lite Trek does offer a fast flash burst, giving a very short flash duration, just like a speedlight used at low power settings. But the Impact Lite Trek obviously gives off much more power than the speedlight. This mode isn’t useful outdoors or anywhere one shoots in bright light … but it would be useful if you’d shoot high-speed images in the studio. Droplets falling and apples exploding. That kind of thing.

The battery is rated to give 650 pops at maximum power. So this unit would work well on location, giving you enough juice to shoot for quite some time. Of course, a spare battery always makes sense.

The mount for the head is Bowens bayonet-mount compatible, so it is possible to expand this as a system.

Ease of use – it couldn’t be simpler. The controls and display just make sense.

Build quality isn’t of the standard of equipment like Profoto, but it is priced more attractively than such gear. It’s all in the balance.

And there it is – an affordably-priced medium-high power monolight unit for on-location shoots.

related articles:

- overpowering hard sunlight with flash
- overpowering the sun with flash (models: Sarah & Mark)
- photographing in hard sunlight, with or without flash
- using direct off-camera flash
- shooting in bright sunlight (wedding)
- taking photos under the mid-day sun
- max flash sync speed
- tutorial: high-speed flash sync
- off-camera fill-flash in bright sunlight

index of articles on flash photography techniques

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