reframing the world one picture at a time
If you haven’t done so already (and thank you to everybody who has) – today is your last chance to get your entry in for the inaugural Mingthein.com photography contest!
The theme is ‘The Human Element’; $5 gets you a chance to win the pot. Remember, the more people who enter, the bigger the prize pot!
Full details here. Thanks for playing! MT
The original Ricoh GR-Digital was a cult camera that was known for two things: its ability to produce interest B&W JPEGs directly out of camera that heavily resembled Tri-X, and it’s incredibly configurable user interface. A fixed 28/2.5 equivalent was just part of the package. To be honest, I never really got along with this camera; I bought it solely because I loved the way it felt, and hardly used it.
Somehow, I found myself finding the 28mm focal length more and more intuitive as I matured as a photographer, to the point where I would see 28mm frame lines around every scene suspended in midair. The ideal compact was therefore an easy choice – I acquired a Ricoh GR-Digital III in early 2010, and used it heavily – occasionally as a primary camera, too. Although it still produces excellent out of camera B&W JPEGs, its sensor has fantastic tonality in both color and monochrome, and conversions are best done in ACR to make the most of the files.
Suffice to say it’s given me a surprisingly large number of keeper and portfolio-grade images over the years. MT
Self portrait
Construction break
The Number 15 to Trafalgar Square
Inside your watch
After the rain
Untitled
There is a divergence in the force
Untitled
Chinese New Year
Bulbs
Stubbornness
Reflections on people
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I admit upfront that I’m not a big fan of tripods: they’re cumbersome, heavy, and slow to use (compared to shooting handheld). But it’s undeniable that the added support helps hugely when it comes to maximizing your image quality, especially when shooting very high pixel density cameras*.
*It’s not so much absolute resolution as pixel density that affects things – the higher the pixel density, the smaller an angular movement is needed to produce a perceived level of blur greater than one pixel.
It’s also entirely possible that up til this point, I’d never had a really good tripod system. I’ve been using a first-generation carbon fiber thing until now – the Manfrotto 444 Carbon One – and whilst it was much better than the aluminum PRO190B I had beforehand, it still left a bit to be desired in terms of vibration damping and rigidity. The thing with a tripod is that you want to it be rigid enough not to move, but compliant enough to damp any vibrations coming from your camera’s shutter/ mirror mechanism, or the ground – if you say happen to be working next to a piling site, or an active volcano (don’t laugh, I’ve done the former on architectural jobs and know of people who do the latter).
Usually, the former is taken care of by the head and spider (top portion holding the legs) and the latter, the leg tubes themselves. Aluminum or steel is not the ideal material for legs because it’s both heavy and directionally uniform; you can’t machine it so that it damps vibrations in one direction but allows some compliance in another. Wood, on the other hand, is an excellent material for this; it’s one of the reason those old-school Berlebach tripods are so popular (that, and the fact that they can be stained to match the particular hue of your view camera). The modern alternative is carbon fiber – the weave direction can be aligned and laid such that the tubes are stiff longitudinally and laterally, but can still absorb minor vibrations without transmitting them to the camera.
Let’s rule out the head from this review for the moment – I use the same head on the 444 and both Gitzos. I know it seems odd to assess an entire support system this way, but bear with me – I use a Manfrotto 468MG RC0 Hydrostat head, which uses a vacuum chamber and hydraulic lock to keep the teflon-coated ball in position. It’s the only ball head of any size I’ve used that doesn’t ‘droop’ after you lock it down (especially noticeable at high magnifications when I do macro work). It also has a tension/ friction adjustment, and a separate pan lock. Let’s just say it’s an outstanding ball head that I still think has no competitor.
The Gitzo GT1542T Carbon 6X Traveller
I’m going to refer to it as the 1542, instead of its mouthful of a name. The 1542 is a series 1 (second smallest tube diameter, first digit), four section (third digit), second version (fourth digit) tripod that has one neat party trick: the legs fold up instead of down, to surround the rapid column and head and make the overall collapsed length much shorter for transport and storage. That’s how a 42cm (closed) tripod can reach 149cm extended. Maximum load capacity is 8kg. The tripod itself is incredibly light – a skeletonized magnesium spider (with a beautiful gray hammertone finish) and carbon legs contribute to its 1kg weight. It’s the only tripod that I haven’t felt pained to carry, and that includes some pretty light horrible aluminum things with sections about the same thickness as a soda can.
Note skeletonized spider
Unlike earlier versions, the 1542 has G-Lock which is an anti-rotation system applied to the tube ends to allow you to unlock all of the leg collars, extend to the desired height, then lock them back individually. (You used to have to screw and unscrew them in order to prevent infinite rotation).
Interestingly, the little 1542 is much more rigid than my previous Manfrotto 444; this despite also being about half the weight, and with thinner leg sections. I suppose it’s down to the locking system and the weave of the carbon fiber. I’ve used this while traveling on assignment (actually, I specifically acquired it for this purpose) for watch photography – which demands the utmost stability due to the magnifications involved – and it performed flawlessly, even with a much lighter duty head – I replaced the very heavy Hydrostat with a Gitzo GH1780QR head for travel. In fact, I liked it enough to bother carrying it while doing landscapes, which says a lot as this has never happened before…
If there’s one disadvantage, is that the legs only lock at one angle.
The Gitzo GT5562LTS 6x Systematic
Playing Obelix to the 1542’s Asterix, the 5562 is a Series 5 (maximum tube diameter and thickness), 6-section, second generation studio tripod with carbon legs, and a massive 40kg load rating. I have no idea what camera system would weigh that much – a telescope, perhaps – but it’s reassuring to know that I have the support should the fancy ever take me. I’ve even removed the head and used its enormous ~15cm diameter platform as the world’s most expensive stool at particularly tedious shoots.
The supplied platform has a 3/8″ screw for standard ball heads, and a locking screw in the base to keep them in position; it’s also removable to allow attachment of a Systematic ballhead directly into the leg frame itself, or a rapid column, or a geared column. There’s also a rather neat bubble level inset directly into the platform. Ostensibly, it’s serious overkill for my requirements – I put perhaps 4kg on it at most, and that includes the head, positioning rail, camera, lens, and a flash.
This should give you an idea of just how massive the leg sections are.
All the same, I’ve developed an irrational affection for it; it’s nicknamed ‘the Stubby’ because it also happens to fold down to just 50cm in length, but can shoot at ground height thanks to three locking angles for the legs. It reaches 148cm without a column, though; I’ve got a geared column on order for added precision, but it seems that in summer, the whole of Italy goes on holiday and nothing comes out of the factory.
You’ll notice that I haven’t talked at all about the Stubby’s stability: that’s because there’s no question it is the most rigid, solid tripod I’ve ever used. In fact, it’s more rigid than some tables; a rock would probably be of comparable stability. Needless to say, this is easily my favorite tripod; if I had more weight allowance on my international trips, you can bet this is what’d I’d be carrying.
Negative points? Well, the feel of the extension/ retraction of the legs could be better. I had a Benro (pretty much a Chinese Gitzo knockoff) monopod that had a washer inside the leg tubes that gave them a damped feel when extending and retracting; not to mention an extremely cool swooshing sound. But then I noticed that despite having about the same maximum tube diameter as the Series 5 Gitzos, it was far less rigid than even the 1542 – let alone Mr. Stubby. And worse still, the damn thing is no longer straight after using it for birding with large lenses for a couple of years…
Still, I can’t think of a better tripod for people whose studio has to be mobile, or who require absolute solidity for use with long lenses – birders come to mind.
Every photographer needs to have at least one good tripod and head. You’ll be surprised just how much of a difference it makes to both a bad one and not using one at all; the only downside of Gitzo tripods is that they’re not cheap, but I have a strong suspicion that this is the kind of equipment one buys once and owns for life – I certainly can’t see why I’d need to replace the Stubby. MT
The Gitzo Traveller is available here from B&H, as is the 5562.
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Early 2009. I’d never really thought of the importance of the camera you have with you up til this point – I’d always gotten around that by always carrying the best camera I had. There were, however, situations where that wasn’t really suitable, so I went in search of a compact camera. I was taken by the overall stealthiness of the Canon IXUS SD780IS; it was matte black, rounded, and had a load of flush buttons. 33-100 wasn’t an ideal focal length range, but it did start somewhere reasonably acceptable for street photography and covert documentary work. It also produced a reasonably nice file that was easy to work with in photoshop. My mum inherited this camera and refuses any attempts on my part to give her an upgrade. MT
Steampunk
Liquid
Abandoned
Untitled
Truth is found at the bottom of a glass
Paradise found
Sunset
Untitled
Autumn in London
One of my favorite portraits ever
Untitled
All about the eyebrows
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I’ve actually owned two of these lenses. My first experience was in mid 2010, with the D700 and after discovering the joys of Zeiss microcontrast; I found it stonkingly sharp, very contrasty, yet capable of delivering images with a rich saturation and three-dimensional pop. In other words, very much in line with the rest of the Zeiss ZF lineup.
A study of apples, 1. Inspired by the lighting of the old Dutch Masters. Nikon D800E, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
This lens is my second one – now revisited because I feel the need to find lenses capable of making the most of the D800’s incredible resolving power. Between watches and food, I shoot a lot of macro work. This also means that I’ve got some specific requirements that can only be addressed by a mixture of several lenses; a tilt-shift for increasing depth of field in one plane, or moving the camera out of reflections; something short for use with extension tubes to produce high magnification; something longer to produce better separation/ isolation; and finally, something in a normal focal length that can focus a bit nearer if required.
A study of apples, 2. Nikon D800E, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
I’ve had everything in each category so far until the something longer. The Nikon 105/2.8 VR was my previous choice of all-round macro, but it did have some fairly annoying CA issues that wouldn’t be remedied until stopped down by quite a bit; and the working distance at high magnification was actually pretty short because the non-extending internal focus design necessitated shortening the focal length at nearer distances. I replaced it with the 60/2.8 AFS, which I’ve always felt was a little better optically.
Two-tone pears. Nikon D800E, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Enter the Zeiss ZF.2 2/100 Makro-Planar T* (hereafter the 100MP). It’s a full stop faster than the Nikon at f2, which it impressively maintains throughout the focus range; it also doesn’t shorten the focal length as it focuses closer, which maintains working distance, as well as minimizes focus breathing (especially important for videographers). The downside, of course, is that a huge amount of extension is required to deliver only 1:2 magnification (extension for a given magnification is proportional to the focal length). 1:1 would have been nice, but I honestly don’t know where they’d pack that extra helicoid. Near focus limit is 44m at 1:2 magnification, with a clear 20+cm of working distance in front of the lens barrel (less if you choose to use the hood).
This is not a small lens when fully extended at maximum magnification with the hood on.
What does amaze me about the 100MP is its ability to cut an image into very clear planes; at every aperture there’s an abrupt transition between in focus and out of focus; in this regard, it reminds me a lot of the Leica 50/1.4 ASPH-M which has a similar ability. This impression is further reinforced by a complete lack of ghosting or fringing of any sort around the focal point, even at maximum aperture. The lens also produces excellent bokeh; out of focus areas are rendered as walls of blur, with no harsh edges or double imaging. The sole exception to this is the occasional cats’-eye-shaped highlight from very bright off-center sources. The iris is placed in the center of the lens’ optical elements, and made up of 9 blades with rounded edges. (The only perfect circle you get is at f2).
Bokeh. Note odd ellipses from off-center. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
It’s a moderately complex 9/8 optical design, which doesn’t use any aspherical elements (as is traditional for Zeiss) – relying instead on different types of glass and the excellent T* coating to keep optical aberrations at bay.
Flames. Bokeh from the 100MP mostly looks like this. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Once again, the coating does its job admirably – flare is very minor, and in fact, almost nil when you use the supplied deep hood; contrast is always excellent, and the microcontrast rendition is superb – very much three dimensional and ‘like a Zeiss’. Color is warm and fully saturated; the lens’ spectral transmission matches that of its siblings, but will probably require some correction if you’re going to use it with those from another manufacturer. And needless to say, as a macro lens, it delivers an almost completely flat plane of focus.
Golf course dawn – shot into the sun. Note complete lack of flare. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
However, there’s no such thing as a perfect lens – although some manufacturers might claim there is – but the 100MP comes pretty close, in my opinion. Its one sole flaw is longitudinal chromatic aberration caused by uncorrected spherochromatism – in plain text, it’s colored fringes on out of focus highlights (‘bokeh fringing’). It’s especially noticeable front-back on a high contrast subject. The only way to avoid it is by stopping down to f4 or smaller, or some handy Photoshop work with the sponge tool in post processing.
That fruit I can never pronounce. No bokeh fringing because of the relatively low contrast subject. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
I just want to touch on one last optical property before talking about build quality and some general observations/ conclusions – and that’s diffraction. Although the primary driver of exactly when diffraction kicks in is down to the pixel density of the sensor, I can’t help but notice that there is also definitely some effect caused by the lens used – perhaps this is related to focal length shortening and effective apertures at different magnifications; I’m not absolutely sure. All I know is that if I compare this lens at f22 and the Nikon 60/2.8 G at an indicated f22, the Zeiss does seem a fraction softer – I’d continue the comparison at smaller apertures, but there aren’t any more on the Zeiss.
Sinn 756 S UTC. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Moving on to the physical qualities of the lens – like all the ZF/ZE optics, it’s a superb thing to use. The lens is all metal, with a buttery smooth focusing action, and incredibly solid feel. The felt-lined hood locks on to the end of the lens by means of a bayonet mount (in chrome). Let’s just say the lenses feel like instruments, rather than disposable plastic toys. Actually, I do have some criticisms to do with both the cosmetics and the construction, though. Firstly, the red distance markings for feet are too dark and nearly impossible to read unless it’s fairly bright; this holds true for all Zeiss lenses.
Hommage a Monet. Nikon D800E, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
The flocked hood is great at reducing stray light, but it’s also great at picking up lint, and the front edge is easily dentable – if only they would put a small rubber lip on it. I know it’s a macro lens, and the feel is superb, but the focus throw is just much too long – half a turn should be more than enough; the Nikons do this and get to 1:1; there’s no need to have a whole turn of rotation. It makes things slower to use than they have to be. Oh, and despite this huge distance turned…infinity to three meters is probably less than about 10 degrees of rotation.
Mount Yotei Dawn. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Finally, it’s a macro lens: for photographing objects, with the lens in close proximity, which may or may not be reflective. The chrome hood bayonet looks magnificent, but it’s also the cause of a huge hotspot (hot ring?) in many shiny objects. The hood helps to some degree, but you can still see the inside of it a little. And that brings me to the nameplate on the lens: white lettering on the black front rim – guess what, this reflects off your subjects too, and has to be retouched out. Again, it’s not as bad when the hood is used (and much, much worse on the 2/50 Makro Planar because of the even shorter working distance of that lens) – but it should be black, or put somewhere else. Better yet, include with the lens a plain matte black blanking ring that covers both the chrome hood bayonet and the nameplate ring when the lens is used specifically for macro work.
Lips. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
This is perhaps one of the easiest lens reviews I’ve written: the optics are stunningly good, and there are no complaints here. Within it’s optimal working range – it’s fantastic, and longitudinal chromatic aberration aside, can’t be beaten. That said, the LoCA we see here is no worse than any of the other 100/105mm lenses on the market. It’s not only a great macro lens, but it also does very well at longer distances too – I actually like to use it for landscapes, because its tonal rendition really makes scenes pop. You can use it for portraits, but your subjects had better have perfect skin…at least bokeh will be beautiful, though.
Spot the mosquito (hint: click on the image, and look near the ear). Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
If you do any sort of macro work, or are an aficionado of great optics, I can’t recommend this lens enough. It’s one of the few lenses that can keep up with the resolution of the Nikon D800E even at maximum aperture, and versatile enough to serve both as a macro, a portrait lens, and a short telephoto. I’m now off to tape up the front of mine to go shoot some watches. MT
The Zeiss 2/100 Makro-Planar is available here from B&H and Amazon, in Nikon or Canon mounts.
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Visit our Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including Photoshop Workflow DVDs and customized Email School of Photography; or go mobile with the Photography Compendium for iPad. You can also get your gear from B&H and Amazon. Prices are the same as normal, however a small portion of your purchase value is referred back to me. Thanks!
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Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved
Spring. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Home. Nikon D800E, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
The ZF2 2/100 and D800E produces wonderfully natural color….
…but can also be used as a very painterly tool thanks to its drawing style (D800E, ZF2 2/100).
Waiting for the train in rural Japan. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF2 2/100
Part two of the Nikon D200 inspirations. Part one was here. MT
Bluetit
Under the arch
Traffic flow
Hanging
Kinkakuji in summer
Town crier
Suggestions of life
Observing the observatory
Pea soup
Echoes
The underside of a ladybug
Fingers
Distorted reality, II
In a hurry
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The inaugural mingthein.com photography contest closes 31 July 2012 – the more people entering, the larger the cash prize! Enter here
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting the site via Paypal ([email protected]) or via Ming Thein’s Email School of Photography – learn exactly what you want to learn, when you want to learn it. You can also get your gear from Amazon.com via this referral link.
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I’m not going to name names because anonymous allusions can’t be legally construed as libel, but I think it’s important that an open letter goes out to the brands/ distributors/ dealers – in a previous corporate life, we were always taught to treat a customer complainant as a gift: it’s an opportunity for you to interact with the customer, build a relationship and find out what aspects of your business’ operations require improvement. It’s also a way for you to distinguish yourself from the competition – recently, there was a scandal locally with KFC staff attacking customers who got angry after being informed that a particular offer had expired…that attack was videoed and on youtube fairly soon afterwards. Needless to say, that was not a good day for the company’s PR department.
Sadly though, in Asia, the majority of companies tend to treat customers largely with indifference – the attitude seems to be ‘you buy from me good, you don’t buy from me I don’t care’ – not the best way to do business. Especially with complex, expensive product which makes the relationship part of the business increasingly important.
For professionals, it’s even more important to have good backup – if you don’t, and something goes wrong on a job, or before a job, then you’re up the proverbial river of brown without an outboard. I make system selection based just as much on the level of support I’m going to get from the company as the capabilities of the gear. It’s one of the reasons I stuck to Nikon even in the days when Canon had clearly superior sensors.
So, I’m going to tell you a few stories – good and bad.
1. Quality control, part one
Several years ago, I bought a lens that I thought was possibly the best lens I’d ever used. It wasn’t cheap, but then again it really delivered the goods: I could see precisely why you were paying that much. A friend wanted one urgently for an assignment; I sold it to him knowing that the dealer had a second one in stock. Big mistake: the second one was a disaster; it was soft until f8, didn’t focus smoothly, and worst of all, after just two days, one of the aperture blades detached and jammed the entire iris assembly at at f2 (let’s just say I wasn’t paying for an f2 lens).
No problem, these things happen – the dealer didn’t have any more, so he referred me to the distributor, who should be able to do a swap without issue – after all, the lens was effectively brand new. A call to my contact at the distributor – with them knowing full well I was editor of a photo magazine at the time – told me that I’d have to send the lens back to the manufacturer for repair, with them flat out refusing an exchange and actually accusing me of damaging it myself. They were totally unhelpful in resolving the problem at all. Excuse me? I want the lens because I need to make pictures with it, not a broken object so it can give me a headache.
Long story short: in the end, I never resolved the problem. I landed up complaining to the manufacturer about their distributor’s treatment of customers (more than the lens problem); I had to threaten to write a nasty column in the magazine detailing my experiences before I got any hint of an apology. In the end it came personally from the distributor’s international CEO, and I got so fed up that I took a refund from the dealer instead. I have still not found another good copy of that lens, incidentally – it seems that the first one was exceptional, and my friend is a lucky b******. I eventually sold my entire system and dissuaded other interested parties from investing in it.
2. Quality control, part two
Earlier in the year, I took delivery of a new camera from the first batch. It had asymmetric focusing issues. (I’m sure mention of that is enough for you to know exactly who I’m talking about now). The manufacturer’s local professional support arm was both responsive, and concerned: I told to bring it in straight away so they could do some testing, and so I could pick up a replacement. (The latter was especially impressive knowing that the cameras were in extremely short supply worldwide.) Two days later, I did – and the replacement unit, as well as the loan units, and demo units, all displayed the same problem. No problem – I was then given a loaner camera, which was the previous flagship – for as long as I needed. A month later, I was told a new batch arrived – but opted to upgraded to a slightly improved model, instead. This was a bit better, but still not perfect. I was eventually called and informed that a fix had been found, and I should bring the camera in. I was lent a new flagship for all too short a day before collecting my camera the following day, repaired and functioning as expected.
3. Quality control, part three
Very recently, I received a lens whose price was high, and performance not even close to a much cheaper competitor. Worse still, it wasn’t even as good as the previous copy I’d had (and no, it’s not the same lens from story #1) – it was only sharp in the exact center, very soft off-axis, and worse still, asymmetrically so. The concerned distributor apologized and swapped it out, with their division head personally delivering the replacement – now that’s service. Unfortunately, the second one also seemed rather off – it was consistently sharp across the frame, but there was heavy ghosting and double imaging. I landed up going to the warehouse and testing every single copy of the lens they had in stock – it seemed that batch had either one or the other problem (ghosting/ softness/ asymmetry). At this point, the distributor was both mortified and hugely embarrassed, promising to send the entire batch back to the factory and demand an explanation – it’s good to know that he wouldn’t sell them to other customers who might perhaps not be as picky about their optics as me. I was given a much more expensive lens of similar focal length in exchange, no questions asked. And allowed to pick the actual unit, too – let’s just say I’m convinced the one I’ve now got is exceptionally good. Outcome: one very happy customer.
4. Software hiccups
On a previous assignment, one of the cameras I was using developed a software fault of some kind that caused it to lock up – that’s not good, but not so bad because every locked up camera I’ve had has always been rectified by pulling the battery. Most of the time, images aren’t lost, either. No harm, no foul. However, this particular incident resulted in the entire card being getting so corrupted that it would crash any Mac that tried to mount it – needless to say, image recovery software wasn’t an option. Worse still, all the images from one particular job were on that card – I was in the middle of the job. (In the end, I landed up submitting a mix of recovered images through forensic recovery, some reshot images and backup images from the B-roll. The client wasn’t happy because we didn’t have the first and best take; it was a large commission for an important client, whom I landed up losing because of this.) In these situations, a backup camera wouldn’t have helped because you can’t backtrack your steps and shoot everything again. Parallel writing might have helped, but the chances are that mirroring would probably have resulted in both cards being corrupted.
I understand that you can be extremely unlucky and have these things happen. But what I couldn’t deal with afterwards was the extreme arrogance of the manufacturer: whilst their employees were most helpful and apologetic, their MD flat out accused me of user error, and kept trying to change the subject. I offered to work with a software team to determine what the problem was so a firmware fix could solve it, but the offer was rebutted with the effective message of ‘we don’t need you.’
How on earth it is possible to create a card that has physically damaged sectors (but a perfect physical appearance) with a camera is beyond me. If I could fake something like that, I’d be a programmer, not a photographer.
In the end, I managed to get a replacement camera to reshoot the job which did have parallel writing and dual card slots, but that didn’t work properly either – it didn’t seem to be able to parallel write, and if you change the ISO immediately after taking a shot while the camera is writing to the card, then subsequent files wouldn’t save at all. You’d think this would be a fairly common operation, but I guess not.
Needless to say I do not use or recommend this camera brand for professional use, or any use where actually having images is important, period.
5. My bad
Pro DSLRs are mostly weather sealed. Mine was; I shot in monsoon rains without a hiccup. The problem came when I arrived back in my air conditioned apartment, and pulled the battery out to put in a fresh one – uh oh. A popping sound ensued, and some smoke came out. The charge indicator went from full to flat in a second. Turns out that the temperature differential created condensation inside the battery compartment, and that shorted out the camera. Still, after putting a third battery in (letting the camera dry out first, of course) everything seemed to work fine, except it wouldn’t save a file. I thought it might be the card interface.
I took it in to the manufacturer’s service department, where they accepted my credentials and issued me with a loan body. Three days later, they issued me with a quote – it seems they couldn’t find anything physically wrong with it, but the only way they could guarantee its continued future operation would be to replace pretty much everything but the outer shell, mount, prism and mirror assembly. This would of course cost more than a new camera! I elected not to have the work done, and wait for the camera’s successor instead (a matter of months). I was allowed to keep the loan body until that time – not at all expected or obligated, but a very thoughtful touch indeed.
6. I believe they call that dictation, not collaboration
I was asked to do a live watch photography demonstration recently; I would have to use a certain brand of watch, camera etc – which is fine – so long as I have the lighting equipment and diffusers I need. They expected me to produce live images like what you see in my portfolio – except I was told that I had to do it so a) the audience could see, and b) no Photoshop was allowed. I don’t know what they were smoking, but there’s no way you can produce a perfect commercial grade image without retouching; worse still, how would the audience see if all the action happens inside a light tent? I suggested streaming video from a GoPro positioned inside the tent (to minimize reflections) but they insisted it wasn’t possible because it was a competitor’s product. I was told to do it without the light tent, and far away enough from the watch that the audience could also see the watch.
Anybody who’s attempted microphotography of any kind will realize this is impossible: you now have zero lighting control, plenty of unwanted reflections, and worse still, what macro lens gives you 2:1 magnification and 50cm of free working distance in front of the lens?
I told the client it wasn’t technically possible; they threatened to use somebody else. I wished them luck. These are the kinds of clients that I try to avoid, because if you can’t pull it off, you’ll just land up making everybody look bad, including yourself.
7. A complete 180 turn
Many years ago, I reviewed a camera as part of my editorial duties at the magazine. It was a final production prototype, so the company was understandably a bit nervous about us publishing images – in fact, they wanted us to do a review with product images only, and no samples. That would obviously defeat the point of a camera review! I suggested that we would let them approve any images we chose to publish beforehand; they very reluctantly agreed.
Fast forward two weeks – on returning the camera and submitting images for them to okay, not only were they thrilled with what I did with the camera, but they also wanted to use the images for their promotional materials. Happy to do so – let’s talk licensing. Oh, sorry, they said, we’re not paying for images because it’s our camera. Um…does that mean a chef doesn’t get paid because it isn’t his kitchen? They replied that the PR value of being associated with our brand would be compensation enough. Okay, so would I get image credits? No. Could I at least get tear sheets to put in the portfolio? No. Could I list them as a client? No. Then how the hell would I get anything out of this at all?
In the end, I chose the worst images I could find from that set to publish in the magazine; I was told by several dealers that it was never a popular model (despite actually being a pretty good camera). I nearly switched systems to this after using it – but changed my mind completely after dealing with the company’s local management.
8. Take it first, pay me later, if you don’t like it, bring it back.
I have a trusted dealer here that knows I go through equipment faster than an alcoholic through a bottle of gin; I’m given trial periods, loans, agreed buyback amounts, no questions asked replacements for faulty gear, out of warranty service costs absorbed by them, preferential delivery for new stuff, freebies, and above all, excellent prices. This is unheard of in Southeast Asia, where the retailer is king, not the consumer. Needless to say, I’ve spent a small fortune here, and refer everybody who asks me where they should buy equipment. I’d buy from here on the basis of price alone, but my relationship with the owner and most of his staff means that it’s like visiting friends rather than doing business.
Moral of the story: be careful how you treat your customers, because you don’t know if the guy is going to be your next biggest customer, may not buy much but give you huge referrals, or even worse, run a moderately popular blog 🙂 MT
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The inaugural mingthein.com photography contest closes 31 July 2012 – the more people entering, the larger the cash prize! Enter here
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting the site via Paypal ([email protected]) or via Ming Thein’s Email School of Photography – learn exactly what you want to learn, when you want to learn it. You can also get your gear from Amazon.com via this referral link.
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A pair of D200s replaced my D2H as my workhorses – I shot extensively with these cameras from around mid 2006 to early 2008, until I got a D3. They managed to improve on the low light performance of the D2H, while increasing resolution by a considerable amount; popularly thought of as ‘D2x lite’. The only issue was mediocre AF, and at best average battery performance – I’d have to carry five or six to feed the pair of monsters on a heavy day of shooting. MT
The end of all things
Movement
Morning fog
Animals with personality
Fighting, passing on a message, embracing…only they know.
Lange 1815.
Mosaic
A Parisian in London
Alone
Time for a rest
Japan in a lantern
Traffic
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The inaugural mingthein.com photography contest closes 31 July 2012 – the more people entering, the larger the cash prize! Enter here
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting the site via Paypal ([email protected]) or via Ming Thein’s Email School of Photography – learn exactly what you want to learn, when you want to learn it. You can also get your gear from Amazon.com via this referral link.
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…for entry submission into the inaugural (July 2012) Mingthein.com photography contest!
40+ entries so far and some great images. I’m seeing some great stuff in the reader flickr pool that would qualify, but hasn’t been entered! There are no restrictions on date shot, location, geography or equipment – so long as the theme is maintained.
Remember, the prize pool grows in proportion to the number of entries, so the more participants, the better! Share the contest with your friends. And good luck to all the current entrants! MT
Reference polar bear and Noctilux. Nikon D700, AFS 60/2.8 G Micro
Your plane of focus determines more than just what’s sharp and what isn’t: it directs the eye of the viewer to the subject, too. The shallower your depth of field, the more exaggerated this becomes – to the point that with a very shallow DOF lens, a close subject and far background, you really won’t be able to identify what the background actually is.
Jazz time. Leica M8, 35/2 ASPH
All the more important that you choose the right plane of focus, then.
From a compositional point of view, the obvious thing would be to ensure all of your subject in focus – or is it? Not necessarily – sometimes you need just enough of it to be identifiable, and the rest can be merely a suggested impression. Take the eyes in a portrait, for instance. You don’t need to have the ears and hair in perfect focus, too. Less obvious is the need for context: today’s photographers seem to be fixated on achieving ever shallower depth of field, not knowing that in the past, achieving sufficient depth of field was a huge struggle that required the use of camera movements, long exposures, enormous lights and tiny apertures (I don’t know if any readers remember or have heard of Ansel Adams’ f.64 club – so much for ‘f8 and be there’). Part of the problem was the insufficient image quality of smaller media; the other part of the problem was the psychological conditioning of observers and viewers: before photography there was drawing and painting, and neither of those had any such thing as bokeh.
Rain and traffic. Leica M9-P, 50/0.95 ASPH
I used to be one of those chasing ever faster lenses – for the simple reason that earlier digital cameras were frankly pretty crap when it started to get dark – higher ISOs were all but unusable. If you couldn’t use an tripod (reportage work, for instance) then you had no choice but to accept grain (compromising image quality), use a flash (compromising ambience and context) or use a faster lens.
Fortunately, we now have sensors good enough that we don’t always have to shoot at f1.4 the minute it gets dark; we can do so because we like the look, but not because we have to – and that’s important, because it means we can choose just how much context* to include in the shot. Moral of the story: think very carefully about how much of the image needs to be in focus to tell the story effectively: too little, and you lose context because the subject has no stage; too much, and you lose focus and isolation, because the subject may not longer be as separated from it environment.
*By ‘context’, I mean background that isn’t subject. If your entire shot is subject, then there’s no context, of course.
At the crossing. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G
This brings me to the second portion of this article: focus. It might sound obvious, but ensure your subject is in focus. The non-obvious bit is that there’s in focus, and in focus. The difference is obvious at the pixel level: are you seeing single-pixel detail (or near enough, to the resolving limits of your lens/ sensor combination)? If you’re not, go back and try again.
It matters for two reasons: there’s nothing more annoying than looking at a slightly OOF image, and you yourself will probably look at the photo later and think ‘if only…’; and then there’s the ever-increasing pixel density that makes it more and more difficult to achieve critical sharpness at the pixel level. The higher the resolving power of a camera, the more finely geared the focus mechanism has to be in order to achieve critical focus. In the film days, this wasn’t so much of an issue because the ‘sensor’ had some thickness to it – the emulsion was of a fixed depth – however, with digital sensors, this ‘depth’ is all but nonexistent – so an image tends to snap in and out of focus fairly abruptly, with very little acceptable transition zone – a zone that gets increasingly narrow as your depth of field decreases.
Just enough context. Leica M9-P, 35/1.4 ASPH FLE
The reality is that with modern lens and camera designs, camera shake aside, your ability to focus has by far the greatest impact on the resolution and perceived sharpness of an image. It’s actually much more difficult to achieve critical focus with a fast wide lens than a fast long one – reason being that the transition zone between in and out of focus is far more gentle; an increasing reliance on contrast detect AF rather than phase detect AF does’t help, either.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to maximize your chances of getting a positive hit. I’ll go through them for each of the common camera types.
Afternoon cigar. Leica M9-P, 50/0.95 ASPH
Compacts
1. Half press to focus, and gently release. You’d be surprised how many people just jab at the shutter button and wonder a) why their camera is slow and b) why images are blurry. The former is because the camera will take some time to find focus; the latter is because either it didn’t find focus properly (the electronics told it to trip the shutter when focus was acceptable or because of the jerk caused by the finger-jabbing motion and recoil.
2. Pick a high contrast subject. All compacts (except the Nikon 1 and some Ricohs, but those are all hybrid systems anyway) use contrast detection to determine when the image is in focus or not. The lens is racked back and forth until the portion of the image under the selected AF box reaches maximum contrast; this may or may not correspond to what you’ve selected. So, to be safe, select a subject with good contrast.
3. If in doubt, stop down a little – but not too much. Stopping down gives you more depth of field to cover focusing errors; on a compact with very short real focal lengths, you’ll find that f4 (or f5.6 at maximum for larger sensored cameras or longer focal lengths) is probably enough to ensure everything is in focus; any more than that and you’ll be seeing a reduction in sharpness due to diffraction.
4. Turn off that AF assist light. Not only is it hugely annoying and conspicuous at night, I find that it also tends to give a lot of false positives.
5. For moving subjects, continuous AF is nearly useless. The only way to reliably hit a moving subject is either to rely on your extended DOF and hope single AF is quick enough to nail it, or use trap focus by pre focusing on a certain point, and waiting for your subject to arrive.
Crossing. Nikon D3100, AFS 85/1.4 G
DSLRs
1. I repeat again: half press to focus, and gently release. The same applies for DSLRs and compacts.
2. And again: pick a high contrast subject. Phase detect AF sensors also like high contrast subjects – preferably something with either horizontal or vertical lines, depending on the orientation of your AF sensors.
3. Don’t let the camera do the choosing. Pick your AF boxes manually. If you don’t, you have no idea what the camera will focus on – it’s generally the closest thing in the frame, but that might not be what you want it to do. Especially if you’re shooting with a very shallow DOF lens.
4. Use continuous AF mode. Again, especially for shallow DOF lenses, a few millimeters of subject movement or photographer movement to or from the subject can affect sharpness greatly – to avoid this problem, use continuous AF mode and only lock focus if you’re absolutely certain you’ve got what you want. (A popular alternative is to put AF-ON on a separate button. I personally use that button to lock focus, because generally it’s easier to use one finger to activate AF and shoot off the shutter button alone, rather than two) And without saying, you HAVE to use continuous AF on moving subjects; make sure the focus box always tracks the subject.
5. Check your focus calibration. Set up the camera on a tripod, with an angled static target (I recommend the LensAlign) that lets you see if you’re focusing on your intended point or not. Adjust your AF Fine Tune settings if you have them, until you can reliably achieve critical focus. Do this for every lens you’ve got.
6. Get your mirror aligned. If you’re manual focusing a lot, you’ll want to get your mirror aligned so that what you see in the finder is the same as what the sensor sees – what this effectively does is adjust the rest position of the mirror so that the distance from mount to sensor is exactly the same as mount to focusing screen, over the whole frame.
7. Use a split prism or micro prism screen. Remember the half-circles in the middle of manual focus film SLR viewfinders? Those were focusing aids called split prisms, which let you see very quickly if something was in focus or not – all you had to do was turn the focusing ring until the verticals aligned. Why they’re no longer standard equipment on DSLRs these days is beyond me. Why they’re no longer available even as accessories, except for some third party companies, is even more mind boggling. The standard screens have a very narrow scatter angle, which means that there isn’t much difference in brightness between slow and fast lenses – great for kit zooms, but not so great for determining critical focus with very fast lenses; they lack the required snap. If you don’t believe me, try using the DOF preview button at f1.4, f2 and f2.8 – you’ll probably see no difference in the viewfinder.
8. Don’t trust the focus confirmation aids. The dot (Nikon) or beep (Canon) is somewhat misleading because there’s a range to ‘acceptably in focus’ – and the extremes of that range are pretty wide. It’s a guide only, not an absolute.
9. Use magnified live view and a tripod for absolutely critical images.
Untitled. Nikon D700, AFS 28-300/3.5-5.6 VR
Rangefinders
1. The most critical portion of the focusing system is the rangefinder. It is impossible to emphasize how important a perfectly aligned rangefinder is – especially when using fast lenses. Remember also that you have no way to visualize the focus plane. So: make sure your rangefinder is properly calibrated for the lenses you use – each lens will be slightly different because of cam wear, alignment and a whole load of other factors. Do not attempt to do this yourself, because there are four adjustment points – one each for near and far limits, one for travel, and one for vertical alignment. Not knowing which one does what can result in a bit of a disaster. Since there’s a feeler cam that always interacts with the focusing cam on the lens, the calibration can, and does, drift after a while, so check it annually or so if you use the camera frequently.
2. Clean the RF and VF windows! Dirt + smudges + oil = low contrast = difficulty in focusing.
3. Use a magnifier over the viewfinder if you’re using longer lenses. This helps by enlarging the central portion of the frame that contains the RF patch (at the expense of the outer portions) – you’ll find that since the RF patch occupies a large portion of the frame, it’s difficult to see exactly what’s in focus and what isn’t without the magnifier.
Waving to the stars. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G
Finally, remember the higher the resolution camera you’re using, the more critical focusing becomes – don’t go out for an upgrade of either camera or lenses until you’re sure that you’re getting all you can out of your current one. MT
For readers in Kuala Lumpur (and Singapore, when I’m there), I offer a Rangefinder Calibration Service for Leica M cameras.
____________
The inaugural mingthein.com photography contest closes 31 July 2012 – the more people entering, the larger the cash prize! Enter here
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting the site via Paypal ([email protected]) or via Ming Thein’s Email School of Photography – learn exactly what you want to learn, when you want to learn it. You can also get your gear from Amazon.com via this referral link.
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!
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