Filters in Photography

I will only review some filters that I’ve been use for several years up to now.
In digital world, nearly every filter can be replaced by digital editing, but there are several must have filter that cannot be replaced by digital editing and it is important for us, especially landscaper and travel photographer.

Circular Polariser
This is a must have filter for landscape photographer, it cuts down reflection on water/ glasses, and make the sky more blue with popping clouds which is very nice effect that you cannot get by editing your picture in PS.
There is 2 type of polariser: linear polariser and circular polariser.
Don’t choose the linear type, because it will fool your camera lightmeter and cause faulty reading.
Always buy the best CPL you could afford, because cheap CPL performance is not too good…you might end up with uneven dark sky, harsh transition and less saturated result.
Several recommended CPL manufacturers are



B+W (http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogSubCategoryDisplay.aspx?CID=57)
Tiffen (http://www.tiffen.com/tiffen_filters.html)
Heliopan (http://www.heliopan.de/Heliopan-Filters.pdf)
and camera’s OEM CPL

Personally i use B+W kaesemann MRC filter, which has the kaesemann polarising foil…one of the best polirising filter you could get in the market, coated with nice MRC coating so it’s more resistant to scratch.


There is hoax that spread around photographer is that thick filter will cause vignette...My B+W polariser is normal one (not slim) and I never found vignette because of the filter (even @12mm tokina)...it is true that little bit of filter ring will appear in your picture, but i don't think the slim model will eliminate this.

Be aware that there is also warm polariser available in the market...be sure which one you want to buy...if you're not sure, just try it...and buy which one you like.
For me, i prefer the neutral one...I could add the warm tone later by modifying the white balance.

Here is nice effect produced from using circular polariser filter:

Look at the blue sky, we cannot get the fluffy white cloud without circular polariser filter

shooting through the aquarium glass without reflection would be impossible without CPL

Graduated ND
This filter is useful to minimise contrast difference between bright and dark area.
For example when you shoot sunset/ sunrise, you often end up with underexposed/ over exposed area due to high contrast difference and limitation of camera’s dynamic range.
With this lens you could get nice balance that could be recorded by camera’s dynamic range.
Don’t buy the circular screw in type, since its not flexible when you need to adjust the transition between dark and bright area…as you know, we rarely shoot landscape with horizon in the middle. And with circular type you cannot adjust its position.
Buy the P series type which available from several manufacturer: Hi-Tech, Lee, or Singh Ray
Here’s the example of Gradual ND usage to shoot sunset.

Imagine without Gardual ND, I will never get the bright and sharp stone for attractive foreground shot because the sky will be very bright and overexposed.

I heard Cokin create also Gradual ND filter, but they are not neutral...it cause your picture little bit grey, which i don't like very much.
Just choose how many stop you want to reduce the exposure: 1 stop, 2 stop or 4 stop.

Neutral Density filter
There are several occasion when you want to slow down the shutter speed to get the effect you want, but you cannot push it further because the aperture is already at its maximum. Then you need this ND filter to darken you object. By make your subject darker, you could make the shutter speed slower, and produce nice effect to your photo.
You could choose from 2 stop, 4 stop or even 8 stop reduction. Singh ray produce vari-ND filter so you adjust the stop reduction according your requirement, but the price is quite crazy.
There are many manufacturers which produce this filter:
o Cokin (P series)
o Hi-tech
o Lee
o Singh Ray
o Hoya
o Heliopan
o Tiffen etc.
Some cheap ND will result in unnatural image result with grey/ reddish cast, and I would not recommend it.
Here is one slow effect picture resulted by this nice filter.

So guys...Is there any other filter required? Hmmm…as far as I know, other filter effect now can be simulated in PS which is more easy and therefore you don’t have to bring bags of filter with you during hunting…especially color correction...absolutely no..no:)

So...happy hunting guys

Choosing Tripod

Choosing tripod is mostly personal preference. You must compromise between sturdiness, stability, size, weight and cost.


Perfect tripod would be sturdy, compact, stable, light weight and cheap…and there's no such thing (at least up to now).

Cheap tripod often light weight and compact, but it sacrifices the sturdiness and stability which is the basic reason why you want to use tripod…to minimize vibration.

If you buy these toys…you can forget about using tripod, because you cannot get vibration free image. Minor vibration does exist because of the equipment shutter movement. I have been using cheap tripod before moving to my Manfrotto…and I tell you that the difference is clear.

Expensive tripod usually made of carbon fibers or basalt. It offers sturdiness, stability and medium weight.

For me…I choose to sacrifice the weight, I buy aluminium tripod from Manfrotto (055 ProB). Alumunium tripod have good sturdiness and stability, not too expensive, but quite heavy…at least with this tripod, you could consider photography as sport and you could train you muscleJ

The size is also not compact…around 60-70 cm when folded. I really wish it could be folded to be more compact and put it on my bags, so I don't have to carry it separately all the timeL

Another consideration in buying tripod is the maximum and minimum height…landscaper and macro photographer usually need lowest possible tripod to get their photo subject.

There is also part of tripod that also important, which is the head…when you buy tripod, usually this is not included, so you have to buy it separately.

There are 3 types of head:

• Ball head
  
  
  
  


• Pan and Tilt head
  
• Wimberly head (usually used only for long tele lenses)
  

I prefer ball head type because of its flexibility; you could move the head in all direction easily with only turning one knob.

Pan and Tilt is just too many handles for me.

Some old player which already well known as tripod manufacturer:

• Gitzo http://www.gitzo.com/Jahia/
  
• Manfrotto http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto
  

If you want a quick setting, easy to carry and practical...but sacrifice bit of steadiness. Just try Monopods...

If you want clear, sharp image and optimum image result...use tripod

Image sample, taken using Manfrotto 055 ProB tripod + Nikon D200

Shutter speed: 1.3 second

Buying Camera Bags

When you go for hunting, you need special bags to protect you expensive camera equipment. How to choose the right bags for your requirement?
First of all, let’s see our future planning…what are equipments that you want to buy, how many lenses, tripod, what accessories etc.
Second, you have to consider your requirement when you go hunting, what equipment you want to bring with you…how many lenses, do you want to bring it all? If you often go for a trekking, you want lightweight package with some small prime/ zoom lens and compact tripod.
If you go for wedding photography, you will need to bring many lens to expand your creativity…and many other consideration.
After considering factors above, then you can decide wisely how big is the camera bags you required. It’s funny if you buy big camera bags, and later on you get difficulties in bring it with you or its too heavy for you to carry it.



For brands…there’s many well known brand that you could choose, some of them are:
1. Lowepro http://products.lowepro.com/catalog/Backpacks,2.htm
2. Tamrac http://www.tamrac.com/
3. Crumpler https://www.crumpler.com.au/flash/flash.aspx#/english/products.html
National Geographic also make nice bags, but the price is not reasonable (at least for me)...so i don't reccomend it unless you don't know where you should spend your money...
If not you could save your money for some filter/ lenses rather than buying not reasonable expensive bags.
For me, personally I choose Lowepro minitrekker. It can carry equipment I need and the size is just about perfect for day trip.
The bad things from this bag is that it cannot carry big tripod and our personal stuff
I saw tarmac has develop bags that could carry our personal stuff in their top compartment and camera gear in lower compartment…adventure series if I not mistake. It’s a good bags if it fits your capacity criteria.

When buying bags…ensure that you have easy access to your camera gear, sometime fast access become key point whether you get the shot or not.

Tamron AF 90mm f2.8 Di

D200; Tamron 90mm f2.8 @ f8 iso 400 ; 1/160

This lens is considered as legendary lens in Tamron Lens line up.
First produced as manual focus lens, and being redesign twice but still it maintain its well known optics quality.
Considered by Paul Harcourt Davies (professional macro photographer) as one of the sharpest lens available beside Nikon 60mm f2.8 and …..

Nikon D70s Tamron 90mm f2.8 ISO 200 f/9 1/320 exp +0.33 matrix metering

Look at the beetle...it is very sharp, even the hair in its leg revealed and sharp

It also provides very nice and creamy bokeh for portrait photographer.
In DX format, this lens becomes 135 mm lens which is popular range for portrait photography. It also produces almost no distortion which is ideal for portrait.
So besides being your macro lens, you could also use this lens as good portrait lens.
Compared to more expensive Nikon’s 105 mm f2.8, this lens could maintain only slight or even no difference in terms of image quality. And it outperforms Nikon 105 mm in terms of bokeh.

Nikon D200 Tamron 90mm f2.8 ISO 100 f/3.2 1/60 sec exp -0.6 matrix metering

don't look at the over exposed face...it's my fault, look at the bokeh behind it, very creamy and nice

Sharpness is flawless, like other macro lens performance…sharpness in close focus is excellent. But as you move closer, the maximum aperture change and become lower.
You shouldn’t bother about this since you will never use f2.8 aperture in close focus…it will result in very shallow DOF which is not applicable in taking photograph.

How about the color accuracy, saturation and contrast?
This lens produce superb contrast and saturation, but the color resulted often missed slightly compared to Nikon Lens. Well nothing is perfect…but it can be repaired anyway in post processing.
Now since Nikon 105mm lens have been redesign by adding VR capability, which increase it cost significantly…this lens become a very good option without any significant contender (for this focal length).

NIKON Useful LINKS

Sometime when we want to buy one equipment, we want to see first it reviews...how is the performance, how is the comparison to the similar items etc.


I would like to give you some useful links that I often visit to get more information about equipment i want to buy...



I'll keep this updated everytime i got new interesting links...you could also add, by giving the links to your posted comments.



Thank you




Photography Equipment Review


http://www.bythom.com/

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.shutterbug.com/

http://www.robgalbraith.com/

http://www.momentcorp.com/review/index.html

http://www.donferrario.com/ruether/slemn.html

http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests

http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/index.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/


Where to buy (in Indonesia)

http://www.jpckemang.com/

http://www.tokocamzone.com/

http://shop.seasonsfoto.com/?pages=listdetail&brand=Nikon&cattegory=dslrcameras

http://www.oktagon.co.id/

http://www.focusnusantara.com/

Photography Techniques & Others

http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/

http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/index.htm

http://planetneil.com/tangents/

http://www.lanting.com/

http://www.artwolfe.com/

Nikon AF-D 50mm f1.4

It's been a long time that i haven't got the time to update this blog...sorry:)

Now i would like to review one of my lens which is one of Nikon's big aperture lens: Nikon AF-D 50mm f1.4.

At film camera era...50mm is considered as "Normal Lens" due to it's coverage/ angle which is similar to human eye. It also has low distortion which is good for full body potrait...

But in digital era...50mm is not always a normal lens.
in DX format, 50 mm will become 75mm which only good for half body potrait lens. Only in FX format this lens shines again.

There are several version of this 50 mm classic lens, from AI, AIS, AF (non D), AF-D (subject of this review), and newer AF-S version

Many review said that the best design compared to other 50mm version is the AF-D version...but this is not considering the new AF_S which i havent tried yet:)

Currently Nikon has re-new this 50 mm model...adding AF-S feature for fast focussing and i think they also improve their lens coating and arrangement (which actually already quite good in this version), but i wonder why nikon choose f1.4 not f1.2 which is already obsolete and available only in manual mode??? Hmmppfff i don't understand Nikon's strategy:(

In f1.4 this lens produces acceptable image, but rather soft and lower contrast. Stopped down to f2 this lens start shines... in terms of sharpness, contrast and saturation this lens is nearly flawless...it even become sharpness standard for other Nikon Lenses, but it only the case if you stopped down to f2 and above. It perform very well and shows excellent center to corner sharpness with slight reduction in extreme corner.

If you shoot models, product shoot, or other still image and you need fast aperture for nice bokeh/ low light capability...this might be the lens for you.

But if you're landscape/ travel photographer like me...this lens will often left in the drybox unused because it's better to bring super wide angle/ telephoto rather than fast prime normal (almost telephoto) lens.

If you need further review on this lens, just check:
http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/216-nikkor-af-50mm-f14-d-review--lab-test-report
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5014af.htm
http://www.camerahobby.com/Review-50mm.htm
http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/50mmf14d/50mmf14d.shtml

Decide wisely whether this lens is the one for you or not...if you need a normal lens for DX format, you could check Nikon AF-D 35mm f2, it considered as normal lens for DX.

Nikon AFS 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 G ED DX Zoom Lens

I use this lens since the first time I buy my D70s camera, and I found it very capable.

Don’t get fooled by its reputation as a kit lens, this lens is more than that. It can give you good quality image with quality like the more expensive lenses from Nikon. Its focuses fast (AFS) and the optics already applied with ED.
Though it doesn’t have the big f2.8 aperture like the premium class lens from nikkor, but it does have the image result quality…well landscaper don’t really bother about big aperture as long as we got good tripod with us right?.
Sometime the problem is that 18-70 mm is not wide enough for DX format, and not long enough for tele range…this is why now I bring my Tokina 12-24mm lens and 80-200mm f2.8 for my official lens. I would skip the 24 – 80 range, simply because my photography style (I keep my 50mm f1.4 though…just in case). In landscape photography, i prefer to shoot in wide angle or tele...i avoid normal focal range since it make the landscape flat (without 3D effect).
Normal range is better used on potrait or candid photo. So when you planned to take candid picture with your family or if you want to go lightweight this lens is a good choice to support you.
This lens gives its peak quality on f8 – f16…above that (like other lens in DX format) it will give diffraction in the image result.
Some links that give useful review:
http://www.bythom.com/1870lens.htm
http://www.photographyreview.com/mfr/nikon/35mm-zoom/PRD_298970_3128crx.aspx

Well if you still not confident with this lens, here is some image sample I’ve take with this lens:





example for architecture and landscape photography (in low light)



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human interest potrait also available:)















this is the sample for its nice bokeh on candid photography, nice for walkaround lens

slow shutter

Tokina AF 12-24mm ATX 124 f4: Super Wide Angle

Well what can I say, this lens is definitely the most useable lens for me…this is my favourite lens which I carry all the time.

Mostly because my photograph is about travel and landscape, so I often prefer to shoot wide angle because it can give me the “sense of place” I need.

I love wide angle also because of the 3 dimensional effects that it gives me by including the foreground in the frame.

Many reviews compare this lens with Sigma 10-20mm, Tamron SP AF 11-18mm, Nikon AFS DX 12-24mm f4, or even the new Tokina 11-16mm. I never try all this lenses, but what I know is that my lens has produce lot of nice photograph for me. It has nice contrast, color saturation and sharp…what else should I complain about? O yeah…there’s one thing that might bother you: purple fringing…when you point your lens to an object that have very high contrast difference, you’ll find this purple fringing there. But, I rarely shoot with this condition though, so it’s not a big problem for me.

You cannot expect more on the built quality...this lens is made of metal, very sturdy and rock solid. You can abuse it anyway you like (like what i did with mine hehehe...)

There are some review that may help you further (or even make you more confuse):
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/nikkor-12-24mm/review.html
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-wide-zooms/comparison.htm

This lens is whole lot of fun, and i take many picture with this lens, here is some of them:

Nice color with brilliant saturation and contrast

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Yeah...this picture shows you the purple fringing that happen when you shoot in high contrast















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Shooting in low light, during twilight in Chiang Mai

This lens is surely rock solid, the body is made from metal...making it sturdy but little bit heavy





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.Other sample image is available @: http://hyperfocals.blogspot.com/

Nikon AFD 80-200mm f2.8 TC Medium Tele

When you need a good quality tele at affordable price, this nice lens is your good choice. If you have a cheap tele before (like me...) you will soon know what is the meaning of "good optics" after buying this lens.

This lens used to be the top notch of nikkor medium tele lens, long before the AFS version and 70-200 vr released. So you don't have to worry about image quality:). The optical formula is more or less the same with the more expensive AFS...the difference is more on the autofocus speed.

There are several type of this popular zoom lens (80-200mm f2.8):

- Manual 1st generation
- Push Pull 2nd generation
- With tripod collar 3rd generation
- AF-S (individual motor) 4th generation

Mine is the 3rd generation (with Tripod Collar). I buy it second hand for only 6.5 mio IDR (compare to 8.5 mio IDR new) and I'm very satisfied with the performance, for me it's really value.

I love the bokeh, color saturation, nice contrasty image result, and cut your eyes sharp hehehe... When I need tele range, this lens is my first option...the result of this lens never let me down.

Really, when i look to the image result it's clear that the sharpness limitation is not on the lens, but on the camera...well my camera resolution is only 6mp nikon D70s.

The autofocus speed is depend on camera you use, since this lens doesn't have individual motor (AFS). And this make the beautiful lens cannot work on D40 and D60 which doesn't have servo motor inside the body. I'm using it on my D70s body, and the speed is excellent, not as fast as my 18-70 AFS, but good enough to focus on moving object.

Now he have a big brother: Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR which have AFS and vibration reduction ability; price: ~16 mio IDR, but for budget photographer like me, the additional autofocus speed and VR is just too expensive.

Here's some sample picture I take with this beautiful lens:

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Walahar Dam
...located in East Karawang around 30 minutes from the main road this old architectured dam has lot of nice spot for photography...

Nikon D70s - 80-200 f2.8
f/7.1 - 1/160 sec
exp compensation -1
ISO 400



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Exotic Padaung Lady in Chiang Mai

The famous Pattaya Ladyboy in Alcazar Show - Pattaya, Thailand

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Lotus flower
...I found this flower all around the pond in Mae Sa orchid garden - Thailand...

Nikon D70s - Nikon 80-200mm f2.8
f/5 - 1/1500
exp compensation -0.67
ISO 200

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Fisherman at Walahar Dam

You could find other picture sample on my gallery: http://hyperfocals.blogspot.com/

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