The beauty of old and derelict industrial sites

One of the workshops that's becoming a favourite of our guests – and still is one of ours, too – is the Industrial Heritage workshop. And there's good reason for that, even though it came into being almost by accident.

A couple of years ago, we visited the German Ruhrgebiet. This used to be a vast area with heavy industry, until the 1980's/1990's. After that, most of the chemical plants, factories, steel mills, coking facilities and mines were gradually closed down. We went to see if any of these were suitable to photograph.

What we were looking for mostly was not so much one of the perfectly groomed museums that the Germans have turned some of the sites into. No, we were looking for an unpolished site that had been left after it's closing much as it had been – as if time had stood still, as it were.

We were lucky. When we turned up at a rather small site carrying our photo gear, the lady at the reception reacted enthusiastically, asking if we were there for the photo tour? Since we aren't big fans of guided tours, we told her no. But with a little smile she announced that the “tour” would take us places the public wasn't allowed to enter: unpolished and rough. We were sold.

It turned out to be amazing. Wandering through near-dark machine rooms, flooded cellars, and climbing dusty conveyor belts, we had far too little time to take it all in. Our guide Klaus Peter turned out to be invaluable. Not only had he been working for years at this plant, so he knew every corner – he was an avid photographer himself, and very sympathetic to the fact that we really needed half an hour in a dimly lit battery to set up the perfect shot.

That's exactly what still makes this trip unique. Not only can we get to places the public can't, ensuring unique shots – the tour is a little bit different every time. This is partly caused by nature taking over the site. The railway tracks have gotten covered in weeds over the years, dragonflies have colonised the water basin, ferns have started growing in the batteries; it all gives the place a unique, very “sleeping beauty” atmosphere. One early cold morning we even spotted a herd of roe deer between the batteries. But also, each time we do the tour, another area of the site has been cleared, making it possible for us to explore new areas and buildings. So each tour in itself we do here is unique!

If you would like to join us on this unique tour, better hurry – there are just a few places left in our April workshop. If you like low light and atmospheric, “rough” images, or would like to practice High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, this is just the trip for you. You'll need sturdy shoes and need to be ready to get down and dirty, but we can pretty much promise you great and unique shots!

Why use a lens hood?

When out photographing, I see a lot of people who do not use one of the basic lens accessories: the lens hood. Worse, some people keep it “reversed” on their lens while photographing, making handling the lens more difficult as well…

My advise is to always use a lens hood when photographing. Most lenses come with a lens hood, but if yours doesn't (I know some of the cheaper Canon lenses don't come with a hood), buy one. They are usually not too expensive and they will certainly improve your photography.

Here are three good reasons for using a lens hood on your lens:

1. Contrast improvement – The lens hood will keep out stray light from entering the lens. Stray light that isn't part of the scene, but which does remove some of the contrast. You can visualise this easily yourself: look at a scene without your eyes shielded and than look at the same scene and shield your eyes by holding your flat hand above your eyes. You’ll notice the difference in contrast immediately. The brighter and the more “into the light,” the more dramatic the increase of contrast.
   Note that while e.g., inside or in a studio there is probably less “stray light,” my advise is to also always use a hood there too, just in case.
2. Less chance of lens flare – By keeping out the stray light, you will also lower the chances of flare. This is also easily visible.
3. Lens protection – A lens hood also offers very good lens protection, way better even than any protective filter will (for even more protection, you can also mount the lens cap, of course).

Happy photographing!

New Nikon D3200 camera and 28mm f/1.8 lens

Nikon today announced their new entry level D3200 DSLR camera. The D3200 is the successor to the popular D3100 camera and now includes a super high resolution 24.2-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor. Full HD (1080p) video recording with full time autofocus (AF) is supported, and for capturing action, a 4 frames per second high-speed continuous shooting mode is available.

Like the new D4, Nikon is also taking the D3200 “wireless.” With the new optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter, you can wirelessly send images to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, preview an image before shooting and control the camera remotely.

The Nikon D3200 will be available in both black and red and will be available April/May depending on your country. Price will be around $699.95 for a kit with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens. The optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter will be available at a price of around $59.95.

Together with the announcement of the new D3200, Nikon also announced a new wide-angle fixed focal length lens with a large maximum aperture. The AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G is a 28mm wide-angle full frame lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8. It uses Nikon's exclusive Nano Crystal Coat to prevent ghosting and flare. With it's ability to resolve high resolution images with amazing sharpness and clarity, the 28 f/1.8G is an ideal companion for the company's new 36MP Nikon D800 and D800E DSLRs.

The AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G lens will be available at the end of May for the suggested retail price of $699.95.

Zeiss introduces 70-200mm T2.9 and three T1.5 primes for cinematography

For all you quality conscious cinematographers filming with a DSLR, it is great to know you now have a couple of nice new options from Zeiss. Together with the introduction of their first zoom lens for this segment, they further extended their range of lenses specially catered for DSLR video shooters with three more fixed focal lenses.

The CZ.2 70-200mm T2.9 zoom is a manual focus lens with a diaphragm of 18 (!) blades, guarantee for very smooth out of focus rendering. Quality doesn't come cheap though: with an estimated price of €14,900 it is on the expensive side. Availability: end of this year.

Apart from the 70-200 zoom, Zeiss also introduces new 35mm (±€3,700), 50mm (±€3,300), and 85mm (±€3,300) T1.5 CP.2 Super Speed lenses. Availability: August this year.

To compensate a bit for the hefty price of these lenses, all four lenses have a replaceable mount, allowing for mounting on PL (Cinematography), EF (Canon), F (Nikon), or MFT (Micro Four Thirds) cameras.

Note: As is common for cinematography lenses, apertures for these lenses are given in T-stops instead of F-stops (T-stops take into account the loss of light inside the optics of the lens).

Canon delays shipment of EOS-1D X and new 24-70 lens

With all the exciting new product announcements by Canon, it is quite disappointing to learn that there will (again) be delays in delivery of these new goodies. Shipping delays are more prevalent these days and it looks like the recent disasters in Japan and Thailand still have not been overcome completely. But while all companies seem to have problems with timely delivery, Canon seems to suffer more, perhaps also because they announce their products quite early on.

This time it is the delivery of the new EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM lens, which was announced in February, that is delayed by a month (delivery date now in July instead of June). The new flagship camera EOS-1D X will be delayed even more and instead of hitting the shelves this month, is now planned for mid June.

Canon announces EOS-1D C and C500 with 4K video capabilities

Today Canon announced two new cameras designed for filming in (the new standard?) 4K resolution.

The Canon EOS-1D C will be built using the same housing and specs of the EOS-1D X, but now supports filming in 4K (4096x2160) resolution. For 4K filming, a pixel-for-pixel APS-H crop will be used with 4:2:2 colour sampling and output in 8-bit MPEG compressed 24p. Full HD (1920x1080) filming is supported up to 60p (!). The Canon EOS-1D C can be used with all current Canon EF mount lenses.

The also newly announced Canon EOS C500 is an upgrade to Canon's current top of the line C300 video camera. The EOS C500 supports 4K video and will be available both with a PL and an EF mount, allowing you to choose which type of lenses to uses on it.

On top of these two new 4K video cameras, Canon also announced they will be developing some new lenses designed specifically with filming in mind: The CN-E 15.5-47mm T2.8 L S(P) (EF/PL-mount), and the CN-E 30-105mm T2.8 L S(P) (EF/PL-mount).

Prices for these cameras will be pretty high; the EOS-1D C is announced to be around $15,000 when it becomes available (planned: October of this year).

New Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 lens

Carl Zeiss, know for its very high quality lenses, has announced a new super-wide-angle lens, the Distagon T* 2,8/15.

The Distagon T* 2,8/15 is a 15mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Mounted on a “full frame” body it will give you an angle of view of 110°, large enough to capture huge vistas, even when in tight places. The lens is available in two mounts, ZE (for Canon cameras) and ZF.2 (for Nikon cameras).

It will be very interesting to see how this lens behaves compared to other similarly wide lenses (e.g., the Canon or Nikon 14/2.8, or the Nikon 14-24/2.8 zoom). Price wise it already is a clear “winner” with an estimated retail price around $2950 it is far more expensive than any of its alternatives…

Delivery of the first Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 lenses is to be expected in May.

Focal length	15 mm
Aperture range	f/2.8 – f/22
Focusing range	0.25m – infinity
# elements/groups	15/12
Angle of view diag./horiz./vert.	110° / 100° / 76°
Coverage at close range	340 x 221 mm
Filter thread	M95 x 1.0
Dimensions (with caps)	ø 103 mm, length 132mm (ZF.2) / 135mm (ZE)
Weight	730g (ZF.2) / 820g (ZE)
Camera mounts	Nikon F Mount (ZF.2) / Canon EF Mount (ZE)

Getting the most out of your camera (part 2)

This is the second part of simple tips on how to get the most out of your camera equipment, using the right techniques.

While quality gear may help in getting good pictures, it certainly is no guarantee. The right technique (and a good eye for composition) gets you much further. Even with “mediocre” equipment, a point well proven by Chase Jarvis in his book “The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis.” While all photos in this book were taken with a meagre 2 MegaPixel iPhone camera, they still look great…

Here are some more tips:

• (Always) use a lens hood. Lens hoods are designed to keep out stray light from entering the lens and influencing your picture (e.g., lowering contrast, producing flare, etc.). If you're looking towards the sun, you use your hand to shield your eyes too, don't you? Well, the lens hood does the same for your camera. And while the effects of stray light are most obvious outside on a sunny day, stray light can be everywhere. So, better to always use your lens hood to prevent possible problems. Besides, a lens hood provides great protection for when you accidentally bump your lens into something.
  Note: Sometimes the lens hood alone isn't even enough to keep out the stray light. In this case use something else to shield the light (e.g., your hand, a piece of (black) board, etc.)
• Use the best possible lens for the shot. Know where your lenses perform at their best (e.g., focal length and aperture). Especially if you have multiple lenses with overlapping focal ranges, knowing where each of these performs best, helps in choosing the right lens for the shot. Note that the best lens needn't always be the most expensive one. For instance, on a full frame body, the relatively cheap 70-300 Nikkor lens has better corner sharpness than the first version of the much more expensive 70-200/2.8 (note: the new VRII version of this lens has solved this issue). The quality and feel of the unfocussed parts of your image (bokeh) is different for each lens too, again something to take into account when choosing lenses.
• Be aware of diffraction. Diffraction is the phenomena where light waves hitting a small object can actually bend around the object, instead of going straight., This can result in lost image sharpness. The effect gets stronger, the smaller the aperture you use. So instead of closing down the aperture to its maximum (e.g., f/22) to get the biggest depth of field and sharpness, you may actually reduce overall image sharpness. Diffraction kicks in at different apertures depending on the lens and body (sensor pixel size) used and sometimes sacrificing a bit of overall sharpness in favour of depth of field, may be better too. But as a general rule of thumb, you shouldn't go beyond f/11 on a crop body and f/16 on a full frame body (f/11 on a D800 and similarly high resolution cameras).
• Don't use filters, unless you have to. Every filter on top of your lens potentially degrades image quality and increases the chances of lens flare and unwanted reflections. With digital this problem is even bigger than with film as the sensor unit is much more reflective than film. Lens designers take great care to prevent (internal) reflection and lens flare problems, so don't throw away their efforts by adding a filter!
  Luckily in the digital era there isn't much use for most filters as their effects can be (better) accomplished in post processing anyway. Noticeable exceptions here are the Polarising filter and Neutral Density filters. Note though that Gradual Neutral Density filters are mostly obsolete now as there are better alternatives in post processing (e.g., HDR or manually merging two exposures).
  When you buy filters, get good quality (coated) filters; these considerably reduce chances of flare/reflections when compared to the cheaper, uncoated, ones.
  Personally, I don't believe in using a “UV” filter for protection either (I use the lens hood and lens cap for this). Unless I'm shooting in really adverse conditions (e.g., on the beach with lots of sand blowing around), that is; then I would certainly think of adding a protective filter. Talking about filters for protection, by the way. Modern cameras already block UV light, so adding another UV blocker really has no added function. Therefore, instead of buying a UV filter for protection, you may be better (cheaper) off to buy a simple, but high quality, clear filter (e.g., a Nikon NC filter).
  
• Instead of taking a single shot with wide angle lens, consider taking multiple shots with a longer lens and stitching them together. This will leave you with more, and better quality, pixels to play with. (Note though that the depth of field changes too when you use a different lens)
• Use the right camera settings. This means exposure (expose to the right, part 1), aperture (depth of field), shutter speed (motion blur), ISO (as low as possible, part 1), and, (especially) if you're shooting JPG, White Balance, and Picture Control (Nikon)/Picture Style (Canon) settings. Getting these settings wrong at time of shooting either means having lost the shot, or having to perform quality degrading post processing to correct the mistakes.
• Block the viewfinder when not looking through it. On most modern cameras, light hitting the viewfinder eyepiece, influences the light meter. So if you've determined the correct exposure (compensation) while looking through the viewfinder and then, when taking the actual shot(s), you do not look through the viewfinder any longer (e,g, when using the self timer, cable release, etc.), the camera may in fact be using a different exposure than you set up for (unless you were using manual exposure of course). To prevent this, simply cover the eyepiece before taking the shot.
• Keep your equipment clean. It's simple: clean equipment works better and more reliable. Dirty lenses or a dirty sensor can ruin your pictures, dirty contacts can prevent your gear from working at all (for instance, most complaints about non functioning lenses are in fact caused by dirty contacts, not by a broken lenses), etc. So at the end of every shoot, simply check and clean your equipment.

Previous episode: Getting the most out of your camera (part 1)

Canon EOS-1D X to be released in April

Canon has set a release date for their latest flagship, the Canon EOS-1D X, which was announced in October 2011. This fine piece of equipment is now expected to be available at the end of April, about a month after the new Nikon D4 (which is going to be its main competitor) will become available.

Some interesting specs of the Canon EOS-1D X compared to the Nikon D4:

• Sensor: 18.1 MP sensor, 17.9 MP effective (D4: 16.6 and 16.2 MP respectively)
• Framerate: 12/14 fps (D4: 10/11 fps)
• Buffer: 35 raw files (D4: 69 – 98 raw files, depending on bit depth and compression)
  Note: with the ultra fast XQD cards, Nikon's effective buffer capacity is probably even higher.
• ISO: 50–204800 (D4: Same)
  Note: I have not yet seen a comparisons of their respective low light performance, so it remains to be seen whether or not Nikon still remains the low light champion, like in the last couple of years.
• AF: 61 points (D4: 51)
  Note: D4's AF works in one stop lower light and with up to f/8 lenses, Canon only goes to f/5.6 lenses.
• Exposure Bracketing: up to ±3 (D4: up to ±5)
  
• Video: 1920x1080@30/25/24fps, 1280x720@60/50fps, 640x480@30/25fps (D4: 1920x1080@30p/25p/24p, 1280x720@60p/50p/ 30p/25p, 640x424@30p/25p, So very similar if not the same)
  Note: While Nikon has uncompressed video out capabilities, Canon does not.

All in all both cameras look great with both having some (smaller) advantages over the other. The higher framerate of the 1D X may be great, but what if they aren't in focus all the time? On paper (and from experience with previous models of both makers), Nikon (clearly) has the better AF system. If that translates in more and better keepers, the Nikon may actually be the better choice for sports/action/wildlife photographers. However, in the end, which camera is best (and under which circumstances), is something that will have to show itself in practice, when we can compare image quality and shooting experience.

28 Feb 2012 update: new buffer size info for the Canon added (previously unknown).

Getting the most out of your camera (part 1)

With the introduction of the new super high resolution D800 and D800E it is perhaps a good idea to reiterate some of the tips on how to get the most out of your camera. Please note that these tips are equally valid for existing cameras so if you're not already doing so, you should take these tips to heart!

• Hold your camera steady, use a tripod whenever you can.
  
  • Hand holding – Shoot your camera like a gun. Stand steady, brace yourself against something if possible. Breath normally and shoot on the exhale. With long lenses, support the lens.
  • Tripod – Don't extend the centre column; this makes a monopod of your tripod, greatly reducing stability. Lock everything down and push down on the top of your camera or the lens (with longer lenses when the lens is mounted on tripod head instead of the camera).
• Focus right.
  • People and animals – Get the eyes in focus.
  • Landscapes – Focus on the subject of interest (in the foreground). As our brain uses the detail (focus) to help determine whether or not something is close or far away, it is a good idea to have your images gradually blur in the distance. The much advised hyperfocal distance will produce “flat” looking images so may not be a good idea after all…
• Don't “hammer” the shutter, this will introduce camera movement, potentially ruining your picture. A gentle depress of the shutter gets you there.
• Improvement – Use the self timer on a short delay to remove any movement introduced by pressing the shutter.
• Good – Use a remote/cable release. This prevents all movement caused by depressing the shutter.
• Best – Use Mirror Lock Up mode (alternative on Nikon cameras: Exposure Delay) in combination with using a cable release to also get rid of the movement caused by the mirror moving. This “mirror slap” is especially noticeable on semi-long (e.g., between 1/20” and 1” exposures). The longer the lens the more noticeable it gets.
• Use as low an ISO as possible. The lower the ISO the lower the noise (in general).
• Shoot raw. Look at the raw file as your digital negative and a JPG as the print from a cheap laboratory. While the latter may look ok to you, there's probably a lot more potential in the raw file with a bit of careful processing (which, with modern tools can be a highly automated process). Remember that an Ansel Adams was only an Ansel Adams when he developed and printed it himself; much of his signature quality came from the “post processing” he performed in the darkroom.
• Check the histogram. Change the exposure to improve it. Because digital cameras capture the most information in the brightest parts of the histogram, it is best to “expose to the right.” This means taking an as-bright-as-possible exposure where the (important) highlights aren't blown. This way you have the camera capture the most possible information. Even if the resulting image is too bright, this is still the best approach. You can always darken the image in post processing; this will not degrade image quality.

More tips in Getting the most out of your camera (part 2) 

Canon's new 500 and 600mm teles to ship in May?

After an almost two year long wait (these lenses where first announced in August 2010), Canon has finally set a shipment date for their new, and much anticipated, EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM and EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM supertelephoto lenses. A shipment date for the, in February 2011 announced, EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with built in 1.4x Extender has not yet been specified.

Expect hefty prices for these super lenses: the estimated retail prices are $10,499.00 and $12,999.00 respectively!

One of the reasons for the shipment delay certainly has been the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011. Apart from Canon most other manufacturers suffered production delays because of this too.

Is your image metadata safe on social media websites?

As an artist/photographer you want to make sure people respect your copyright. To this end, it helps if you apply copyright information to the metadata of your published work. While this of course does not stop unauthorised use of your work, it at least makes it traceable.

As it turns out, however, many popular social media websites we use to publish our work, strip the (copyright) metadata from the uploaded images. This is quite bad as this basically renders your work into an "orphan work".

The preliminary results from the on-line survey by Controlled Vocabulary seem to indicate many popular social media websites strip your metadata completely (e.g., Facebook, Wordpress) or at least make it hard to retain the information (e.g., Twitter and related services). And even when websites preserve your metadata, their Terms of Use may actually give them full rights on your images (e.g., Photobucket), which may actually be worse than just stripping the copyright from the photo…

So all in all, if you are an artist/photographer you should pay attention to where (and how) you publish your work to social media websites.

Welcome to Hayo Baan's Photography Blog!

There's a new blog in town!

Hayo Baan's Photography blog will be dedicated to bringing you the latest photography news and reviews as well as tips and tricks on hardware, software, post processing, digital workflow and colour management.

Look on the blog for information on:

• Important photography news
• Camera, lens, and accessory news & reviews
• Computer hardware and software news & reviews
• Post processing tips & tricks for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Nikon Capture NX2
• Digital Workflow and Colour Management tips & tricks