The popular Web TV show, DTown TV, hosted by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski is set to return on January 7 after a hiatus of several weeks. The show originally covered only Nikon products, but the new version will be expanded to cover DSLRs in general, including lighting, studio, on location, post-processing and other digital photography topics.
Matt Kloskowski is the Education and Curriculum Developer for NAPP. He has written several books on the Photoshop and Illustrator Adobe® applications, and is a trainer of international reputation.
I watched all 24 of the show’s original episodes and found them entertaining and informative.
The thing I enjoy almost as much as taking pictures of birds is to browse through pictures I have already taken. I have almost 11,000 images on my computer and I’ve started to process some of my favourites as prints to hang around the house.
Printing is a new ballgame, requiring a separate set of acquired skills and a whole new respect for patience. Trying to match what comes out of the printer to what one sees on the screen can be daunting at times. But my motto is, Persevere, so I do, and am slowly getting the hang of it.
I use a Huey to calibrate my computer screens and download paper-specific profiles for my Epson R1800 printer. This has cut down on wasted paper from test images. I now usually do one test, then make final adjustments and print away.
I find it convenient to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for most of my “lab” work, including making prints.
The weather is not cooperating so I had to dig into the archives for today’s image, which is another Barn Owl (Tyto alba).
As with most images on this blog, if you click on it you will be taken to Flickr.com where they are hosted. Once at Flickr, your can select the “ALL SIZES” option above the image to see a full size version of the photograph. Unfortunately, I have to limit maximum dimensions to 600 X 800 to discourage misuse.
Nikon D300 DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens
1/500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 200
Tripods are among the most under-used piece of photographic equipment. Many amateurs don’t bother with them because of the inconvenience of carrying this extra piece of gear around for an uncertain benefit to the quality of their shots. For years I have owned a tripod, but seldom used it. This all changed recently when I bought a 300mm f/2.8 lens which weighs a bit more than six pounds—add my D300 DSLR and I’m handholding 8lbs+.
From a distance, a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 220
So, for me, a tripod has become a necessity, and therefore I need to master its use. To start with, I bought a gimbal-style tripod head (mentioned earlier), and I am now trying to get used to the new setup.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Airborne Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
This means getting as much practice as possible with the tripod, and resisting the temptation to shoot handheld. This is a lot easier, of course, when the birds cooperate and sit still—something not at all guaranteed.
Mallard pair (Anas Platyrhynchos) cooperating nicely 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Mallard drake (Anas Platyrhynchos) looking like he’s about to take off. 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Mallard drake (Anas Platyrhynchos) taking off. 1/1000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200
So, am I happy with the results so far? To a point only. I believe I now have the optimum combination of gear for the sort of bird photography I like. The 1.7x teleconverter gives me a 35mm film equivalent of 750mm in reach—not so bad really. And at 300mm f/2.8 (35mm film equivalent of 450mm), this lens is still very usable handheld.
At times when the light is not bright enough, that f/2.8 is great. And even with a 1.4x teleconverter attached, I am able to work at f/4 with a 35mm film equivalent of 630mm in reach—not too shabby at all.
What I really need to work on is being able to quickly locate bird in flight in the lens and focus before it is out of range. A lot easier said than done.
Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) are not rare in my area (extreme west end of Lake Ontario’s north shore), but neither are these ducks plentiful at this time of year. I always try to get a shot even when—as they often are—they’re out of range for my lens. Sometimes I get lucky and can get a decent image with some heavy cropping.
These were among the first pictures I have taken with my Black Widow Gimbal (BWG) tripod head manufactured by Jobu Design here in Ontario—see earlier post. I doubt I’d have gotten an acceptable shot at that distance if I’d tried to hand-hold the camera—8lbs+ for Nikon D300 DSLR and 300mm f/2.8 lens.
It takes about ten minutes, if that, to get up to speed with this gear—I couldn’t be more pleased with the BWG. Birds in flight (BIF) shots are still a real challenge though; I’ll need plenty of practice.
Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 lens + 1.7x teleconverter = 500mm
1/500 sec at f/4.8. ISO 220
When I bought my Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 prime lens, I realized that I would probably need a gimbal tripod head to use instead of the ball head style I’ve been using for the past few years.
And, after hefting my Nikon D300 DSLR and lens combo around for a bit (8+ lbs), I knew for sure I’d need a gimbal head, which works well for large lenses because of the way it balances the weight of the equipment.
With a gimbal mount, the entire weight of your gear hangs rather than sitting atop a ball head; therefore, it remains stable during operation. You can pan and tilt a 10-15lb camera/lens combination with a single finger. And, because the horizontal and vertical axis are separate, they can be locked independently. This gives a gimbal head a huge advantage when it comes to safety. The lens is not going to tip over the tripod even if you take your hands away without having tightened down the head to secure your gear.
So my research began. As many would, I looked first at the heads made by the popular tripod maker, Manfrotto. Then I researched the acknowledged leader in the field, Wimberley, and the relatively new Canadian-made Black Widow by Jobu Design. And to make sure I’d covered the bases, I looked at Kirk Enterprises and Ries Industries, makers of the King Cobra Action Head and the DPNP Action Head 2000 respectively.
I also took a quick look at a new gimbal head being developed by Chicago-based photographer, Darek Katana.
By all indications, any of these products would have done the trick. However, my objections to most of them were the high prices, and in some cases, a design that lacked a horizontal arm and required the lens to be side mounted. A horizontal arm allows you to top-mount the camera/lens combo making installation easier—one hand remains free to balance the lens, while the other tightens the clamp.
Eventually, I chose the Jobu Design Black Widow Heavy Duty Mark 2 that is pictured above. This is a beautiful piece of gear. It allows smooth, near effortless operation at almost any angle. Set atop a sturdy tripod, it provide the perfect combination of price and performance for photographers using lenses that are 300mm f/2.8 or heavier.
I’ll have more to say after I have had some time in the field with the Black Widow.
It wasn’t a great day for photos—the water was rough and sky was gray—but I got a few “savers” anyway. I have not yet received my new tripod and Gimbal head, so I had to get used to hand-holding the 8+ lbs camera/lens combination.
Lens is a “beast” considering its fairly modest focal length, but it is so well balanced I quickly got the hang of it. Up until now, I’ve been using an 80-400mm zoom and a 300mm f/4, which each weigh half as much as the 300mm f/2.8. A six-pound lens does take getting used to, but the VR really helps.
Unfortunately, I’m so used to f/4 being my fastest setting, I never did try shooting wide open at f/2.8 … have to watch that in the future. On my next outing, I’ll try it with a 1.7x teleconverter.
The Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED-IF VR lens is a real gem. Among the sharpest, fastest lenses Nikon makes, this lens has the potential to elevate my photography to a new level—here’s hoping my technique will live up to it.
Everything about photography is relative. That’s why I can safely say that at 6.3lbs and about $5,400 CAD this is a light-weight, inexpensive lens. I am, of course, comparing it to others in the Nikon professional long-lens lineup, which includes legends like the 200-400mm f/4 (7+lbs, $6,800+ CAD), the 400mm f/2.8 (10+lbs, $9,700+ CAD) and the 500mm (8+lbs, $9,300+ CAD) and 600mm (11+lbs, $11,200+ CAD) f/4s.
For me, the 300mm f/2.8 is the perfect compromise. My other choice of lens to improve my nature and sport photography was the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED. All other Nikon professional long-lenses were out of my reach financially.
At 6.3lbs and with Nikon’s excellent vibration reduction (VR) system, I can hand-hold the 300mm f/2.8, and the superfast f/2.8 maximum aperture allows fast shutter speeds even on dull days—characteristics I rate highly. Don’t underestimate the difference between f/4 and f/2.8: one stop of light increases the aperture by 100 per cent. That’s huge in low-light situations when I’m shooting birds and need high shutter speeds.
The 300mm f/2.8 is well balanced and handles like a dream. When I have enough light, I can add my 1.4x or 1.7x teleconverter to get 420mm and 510mm respectively. With the 1.7x teleconverter, for example, I have a 500mm f/4.8 VR lens weighing about 6.5lbs (750mm with my D300 camera’s crop factor). How sweet is that?
I have ten “test” shots I took in the field yesterday. I’ll start posting these later today so you can see the lens in action.
Nikon’s latest DX-format medium telephoto Micro (macro) lens is ideal for extreme close-up and general photography with continuous autofocus from infinity to life-size (1:1). The official name of the lens is AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR.
This is the latest in a series of DX lenses made specifically for digital SLRs with a 1.5x crop factor, i.e., one and a half times the size of 35mm film. On a DX format camera such as a D300 or D90, this lens is equivalent to 127.5mm in 35mm format.
Here are the highlights:
Closest focusing distance of 0.286 m/0.9 ft.
An optical system featuring an extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass element and optimized for DX-format digital SLRs
Vibration Reduction (VR II) enables sharper pictures while shooting at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than would otherwise be possible
Silent Wave Motor (SWM) ensures fast, quiet auto-focus operation
Internal Focusing (IF) without changing the length of lens barrel
The nine-blade rounded diaphragm opening gives out-of-focus elements a more natural appearance
Back on Oct. 6, I posted the fact that I had purchased a Nikkor AF-S DX 10-24mm F3.5-4.5G ED lens. What I did not do was include a sample photo in my post. The following image was taken at Lowville, Ontario, a village just north of Burlington where I live.
The building is St. George’s Anglican Church near the intersection of Guelph Line and Derry Road. You can see a larger version of the image by clicking on it. That will take you to Flickr.com and you can choose the “All Sizes” option above the image.
St. George’s is a pretty church set in the countryside with a graveyard on its grounds. Grave markers go back decades and are worth a walk through.
As to the Nikkor AF-S DX 10-24mm F3.5-4.5G ED lens, it performed flawlessly. This is my first ultra-wide-angle zoom (15-36mm on a film camera) so I was curious to see how much of a difference it really made. My widest lens had been an 18-200mm (27-300mm on a film camera) and I was delighted to see I could take shots from very close in that were impossible before. This was taken with the zoom set at 15mm (22.5mm equivalent on a film camera).
Nikon D300 DSLR, Nikkor AF-S DX 10-24mm F3.5-4.5G ED 15mm, ISO 200, 1/25 sec. at f/22 Exp. Comp = +1.84 (handheld)
I recently purchased the AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm F3.5-4.5G ED lens, an ultra-wide-angle zoom for DX format DSLRs. This is a mid-range lens that offers a minimum focus distance of 9.6 inches through the entire zoom range, and includes Nikon’s built-in AF-S motor. The specifications say it consists of 14 elements in 9 groups, including 3 aspherical elements and 2 ED glass elements to combat aberrations.
This is a DX lens so it is not intended for Nikon’s FX, full-frame, cameras. I am told, however, that it’ll work fine from 18 to 24mm on an FX. It is one of Nikon’s G-series lenses, meaning that, to lower costs, it has no aperture ring and is intended for use on digital cameras where the aperture is controlled by the camera’s command dial.
The 10-24mm has a nicely finished black plastic exterior and a metal mount. It incorporates a rubber ‘”O” ring around the mount to shield from dust. It is manufactured in China. This is not a “tank” like some of Nikon’s more costly lenses, but it’s well built.
What’s especially appealing about the 10-24mm lens is the 10mm focal length. In 35mm film terms this is a 15mm lens, a terrifically wide angle of view. This wide field of view allows you to capture an entire architectural site in a single image—no more stitching together multiple shots.
Also appealing is its close focusing distance. The 10-24mm focuses to 9.6 inches throughout its range.
Image quality so far seems impressive with the 10-24mm—and imperfections such as they are are easily corrected in postproduction.
Sharpness is excellent in the center of the frame, even wide open. Not quite as good, however, at the corners except at stops between f/8 and f/11. There is obvious barrel distortion at 10mm when you shoot, say, a brick wall. However, this isn’t noticeable in real world shooting. Anyway, lens distortion is correctable in postproduction.
The filter size is 77mm, but an ultra-thin filter works best on this lens—normal thickness filters will cause vignetting. The front of the lens doesn’t rotate when it focuses, which is great for filters such as polarizers. The lens comes with a lens pouch and flower petal lens hood.
The photographer, blogger, author and Photoshop guru, Scott Kelby, and his sidekick, Matt Kloskowski, offer a free podcast featuring Nikon gear. Each week, they bring us tips and tricks, news and accessories for Nikon’s Digital SLR cameras. The show is called DTown TV.
This is a first-rate video podcast series, which unfortunately only ran for 24 episodes. Taken together, however, the series provides a pretty comprehensive training program for new and intermediate Nikon users. Episodes 16 through 20 are a must-see roundup of Nikon lenses that even professionals could benefit from.
I’m a fan of both Kelby and Kloskowski so am a bit biased. Even then, I can virtually guarantee most Nikon users will benefit from the show.
Adobe Systems announced the release of Lightroom 2.5 and Camera Raw 5.5 on Tuesday. These updates to its photography and digital photo decoding software are available for download through Adobe’s Web site or through the update mechanisms in Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 2.
Both releases update support for new digital camera models: Nikon’s D300s and D3000, Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic DMC-GF1 and DMC-FZ35 cameras. Adobe notes that in Europe and Japan, the DMC-FZ35 is sold as the DMC-FZ38, and has metadata differences that won’t be supported until the next revision.
SanDisk Corporation, the flash memory card manufacturer, today released a series of Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards with the super-fast read and write speeds of up to 90MB/sec. This line of high-capacity memory cards is designed for professional photographers and replaces the Extreme IV range. The new cards will start shipping this week in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities at a MSRP ranging from $300 to $800.
SanDisk has also released another line CF and SDHC cards called the Extreme series, replacing the Extreme III series. These offer up to to 60MB/s transfer speed and will be available from 8GB to 32GB with their price ranging from $130 to $375.
I use both SanDisk and Lexar cards and have been happy with both. My current favourite is the 8GB Lexar Professional UDMA CompactFlash. This card has a speed of 300x (45MB/sec), which I consider screamingly fast. The new SanDisk cards are twice that speed—impressive indeed.
For those of us who use several Adobe software programs—in my case Photoshop, Lightroom and Dreamweaver—the Adobe TV Web site has been a useful resource for using these steep-learning-curve programs. This popular Web destination has recently been updated to make it even more useful.
The site has a new look and feel, and many new features, including:
• User-customizable homepage
• Improved navigation and search
• Save your favorite episodes to “My Library”
• Share videos on social networking sites
• Subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite shows
• Pop-out video player to view videos at any size
• Commenting & Rating
• Tags
This terrific resource just got a whole lot better.
There was a time several years ago when technologists foretold the day when the then dominant Web browser, Netscape Navigator, would become a full-fledged computer operating system (OS) going head to head with Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system.
That day never came, of course. In fact, Netscape Navigator has all but disappeared. Yet the idea that a Web browser could become the foundation of an OS is very much alive and is set to become a reality in about 12 months—assuming Web search giant and chief Microsoft rival, Google, has its way.
On July 7, the Silicon Valley-based Internet software giant, Google Inc., announced Google Chrome OS, an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks—small laptop-like computers retailing for less than $500. Google Chrome OS will eventually run on desktop computers, offering a realistic and low-cost alternative to Microsoft Windows.
The new OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. The Google Chrome OS project is separate from Google’s other operating system Android, which was designed to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks.
Few technologies in history have had the impact on as broad a cross-section of populations around the world as has the Internet and its most ubiquitous feature, the World Wide Web (the Web), invented in the early 1990s by Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, an English computer scientist and MIT professor.
By the formative years of the Web, 1991 through 1995, Microsoft had emerged as the leader in computer software technology, having vanquished all serious competitors who challenged its supremacy. All competitors, that is, except Netscape which by 1994 dominated the Web with its Netscape Navigator Web browser. Microsoft had failed to recognize the significance of the Web and its emerging technologies and had largely neglected to participate in the rise of the Internet.
Scrambling to recover from its strategic blunder, in 1995 Microsoft used a licensed version of Mosaic Web browser as the basis of Internet Explorer 1.0, which Microsoft released as part of its Windows 95 Plus! Pack. In that move, Microsoft engaged Netscape in a battle for Internet supremacy—a battle to Netscape’s death as it turned out.
During its struggle with Netscape, Microsoft wielded an almost invincible weapon in that it gave away for free a product that competed with the products that made up the great bulk of Netscape’s income: Navigator and its derivatives.
Google Inc. may now be set to turn the tables on Microsoft with Google Chrome OS, which is an open source product and will be free, while Microsoft’s Windows is a proprietary (closed) technology costing hundreds of dollars for its most robust versions.
Some analysts point out that the Google Chrome OS is just another Linux distribution, and, in the past decade, Linux has failed to gain much traction in the consumer marketplace. Perhaps, but what seems to be different this time is that this Linux distribution has gained the backing of a big outfit, Google Inc., with deep pockets and office floors filled with brilliant computer scientists and engineers, not to mention a level of credibility with consumers that rivals Microsoft’s own.
With the release of Windows 7 set for October 22, Microsoft is sure to be scrambling to adjust its pricing strategies. Currently, a full version of Windows Vista Home Basic retails for US $199.95 and the Ultimate edition costs US $319.95. This profit-rich price structure will not prevail for long if the Google Chrome OS turns out to be a serious product—good news for consumers.
Microsoft already announced that, for a limited time, consumers in the United States, Canada and some other countries will be able to buy an “upgrade” copy of Windows 7 Home Premium for $49 or Windows 7 Professional for $99. The sale began on June 26, and will end on July 11 according to Microsoft. The Ultimate Edition is priced at $219 for the upgrade.
Already we are hearing about a multi-license “family pack” for Windows 7 at US $149.99. At $149.99, the Family Pack would save a buyer US $210 over three separate Home Premium upgrades. Such Windows pricing was unheard of in the pre-Google Chrome OS days when I purchased my retail copy of Windows Vista. Look for more consumer-friendly pricing offers from Microsoft in the next 24 months.
Is Microsoft destined to learn the old adage: live by the sword, die by the sort, i.e., live by the predatory pricing strategy, die by the predatory pricing strategy? I hope so.
Sigma offers a 300mm f/2.8 prime lens, a favourite lens category with sports and wildlife photographers. The really interesting factor is the sub-$3,000 price tag the Sigma version is expected to carry. I like the versatility of this f/2.8 lens which becomes f/4 with a 1.4X teleconverter or f/5.6 with a 2X teleconverter. Add the crop factor of most digital SLRs and you get 630mm and 900mm respectively on, for example, a Nikon DX digital SLR.
SLRGear gives the lens a pretty good review, which should be enough for amateur photographers to, at least, give this latest 300mm f/2.8 a serious look—I know it got my attention.
The lens it is available in Sigma, Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony/Minolta mounts and comes standard with a soft case, tripod collar, caps and a large, round lens hood. The lens is apparently available for a street price of around US $2,700.
The reviewer concludes:
“Our tests show the Sigma 300mm ƒ/2.8 to perform very well: sharpness is very good, CA is optimized for use at ƒ/2.8, there’s virtually no distortion and light falloff is almost non-existent. Optically, the lens stands well on its own.”
I spent about five hours last night reading David Busch’s excellent book, Nikon D300, Guide to Digital Photography. This is without any doubt the best camera user guide I have read going back to my old Agfa and Minolta film SLR days and through my Nikon D50, D70s, D80 and now D300—both manufacturers’ guides that come with the cameras and third-party books that offer a different perspective.
Busch’s book has a full 432 pages with nary a wasted word. It’s laid out in an easy-to-follow format and contains excellent illustrations and advice on menu settings. Busch has an easy-to-read style that takes the reader through camera set-up then builds upon each item shown as the reader works his way through the book.
I highly recommend the book to beginners and advanced amateurs. And at CDN $22.02 it is a great value.
Adobe has announced Creative Suite CS4, which means theres a new version of Photoshop on its way. Its not out yet but Adobe generally starts shipping within a month of their announcement.
As reported on Scott Kelby’s blog, Lightroom 2.1 Release Candidate is available for download from Adobe Labs. This newest release addresses a number of bugs and performance issues some users were experiencing. It also has the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw.
The release candidate label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers. The Lightroom team would like the community to help verify the quality of this update through normal usage as this will ensure that the application is tested on a diversity of hardware and software configurations not available internally at Adobe.
You can download the 2.1 release candidate right here.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. today introduced the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera. Canon has coupled the creative power of a full-frame CMOS sensor in a relatively compact and affordable camera body, together with HD video capture that opens the door to a much wider range of imaging possibilities for photographers.
Along with the ability to capture full HD video clips at 1920 x 1080 resolution, Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera features a 21.1 megapixel full frame 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 imaging processor and significantly lower noise, with an expanded sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600.
For information about the use of this Web site, please read the Terms of Use.
Comments: Opinions expressed in comments are not necessarily mine. Comments are open to all, but are moderated and I will delete racist or offensive material, including use of foul language, hateful words and sexual content.
While I accept anonymous comments, I dislike the practice and seldom respond to them.
External Links: External links are provided for information purposes only. I do not endorse and am not responsible for the content of external sites—use them at your own risk.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
price tag the Sigma version is expected to carry. I like the versatility of this f/2.8 lens which becomes f/4 with a 1.4X teleconverter or f/5.6 with a 2X teleconverter. Add the crop factor of most digital SLRs and you get 630mm and 900mm respectively on, for example, a Nikon DX digital SLR.
