Tag: Nikon

Why pack more than one camera? Thoughts on vanity, bag space, and lens mounts

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How many cameras do you pack when you go on a road-trip/holiday/vacation/adventure? If you’re not a photographer, you might pack one camera. Or maybe you just pocket your smartphone and use that for all photos?

In my previous post, I was thinking aloud about what camera gear to pack for our impending road trip. In the comment section, another blogger, Disperser Tracks, asked me why I’d pack as much as I’m planning to if the goal is to pack light? It’s a great question and one that has often crossed my mind.

Bags everywhere – Nikon D5100 and Tamron 17-50

If my ultimate goal is to pack lightly, why not just pack the smallest and lightest camera I have and be done with it? Why bother packing anything else? Why cram gear into bags that are bursting at the seams?

  • Is it about ego and vanity? Am I trying to look impressive in the field? I don’t think so. I rarely meet other photographers on my travels. I’ve used all kinds of cameras, crappy lenses, and pieces of plastic when standing near photographers with expensive lenses and cameras. I’m interested in what they’re using and what they’re doing, but I don’t think about how I look next to them. Feeling insecure was an issue when I first started with a DSLR, but not now. I’m comfortable with my photographic approach. I make vast efforts to be aware of my inner world, my motivations, my reason for doing something, my intent, and my beliefs.
  • What about being prepared? Photo opportunities on the road are often last-minute stops. There isn’t much time to swap lenses and fiddle about. Having two camera bodies with different lenses mounted allows me to choose the best option quickly. Do I need a fast prime lens? Got that on my Nikon Z5. Do I need a telephoto? Got that mounted on the Nikon D3400 today.
  • It’s about the game of mounts. I actually don’t have a telephoto lens for my Nikon Z5 in the native Z mount but I do have one in F mount for my older Nikons. It makes sense to use the right lens for the right body. Likewise, I have a wide 20mm Z mount lens for my Nikon Z5 but not one for my older F mount Nikon cameras.
  • Yes, I’m a bit of a novelty seeker. I love cameras and I love photography. I enjoy all of my cameras and like to have options when on the road. Sometimes a Nikon Z5 will serve the moment and other times a Nikon D40X will bring me joy. If something makes a photo, I’m interested. I’ll also pack the Campsnap for some lo-fi fun.
  • Unfortunately, cameras have failed on me. Last year, I had my amazing Sigma Foveon camera fail me in the field as the shutter mechanism malfunctioned. Several years ago, my Olympus EM5 Mark 1 failed me on a day-trip. Call it bad luck, I guess. I pack other cameras just in case something breaks. Call it paranoia!
Surrounded by stuff – Nikon D7100 and Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens

Two black and whites and the joy of packing light

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Our road-trip is just around the corner and my thoughts have turned to packing camera gear – if I’m not charging batteries, I’m agonising over lenses or bag capacity!  Last year, I packed too much for the road. One evening on the aforementioned trip, I ended up clambering over red dirt-hills with two shoulder bags crammed with gear ~ each bag worn cross-bodied. I was fumbling with cameras, switching lenses at dusk in dusty conditions, jogging to catch the vanishing light, and dropping lens caps. At the time, I made a promise to pack more rationally for big trips like that. So, here I am again, with my camera stuff covering the table.

I see you in the dark corner – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm f2 lens

One thing I’ve always liked about the Nikon Corporation is that the engineers have never skimped on putting good quality digital sensors in their cameras at all pricing levels. Even in the 3xxx beginner DSLR line, the image making capacity has always been top-notch. This is why I’ve no qualms about packing a Nikon D3400 in my bag for the road ~ a 24.2 megapixel DSLR announced in 2016 that only weighs 395g without the battery or a lens. And the sensor in the D3400 is no slouch – it bests the Toshiba-made CMOS sensor in my beloved D7100. It has greater dynamic range, more colour depth, and excellent ISO range. It will sit right next to my Nikon Z5 very easily.

More importantly, the D3400 is so light! All of that photo-making capacity in such a light plastic body. For this road adventure, I think it will get a lot more use than my significantly heavier and bulkier D7100 did on the trip last year. It doesn’t have the speed of the high-end Nikon bodies and it lacks lots of external controls but none of that matters because my photography needs don’t cross into the high-speed fanaticism of sports or wildlife photography – apart, perhaps, from the odd photo of a sitting duck or two.

Empty chairs & night reflections – Nikon Z5

Since my needs are simple, a simple body will suffice. It’s a light camera that offers great image quality. The right tool for the right job, according to need. Nikon may brand it a beginner’s DSLR, but it offers more than enough control and photo-mojo for my needs: It enables me to make photos, it has a button I can program to change ISO, and it offers me plenty of control over light. Calling it a beginner DSLR is mostly about Nikon rationalising their camera lines and appealing to different kinds of photographers – you’re into fast sports? Get our super fast full–frame camera! You’re into photos of birthday parties? Get this beginner DSLR instead!

I’ve yet to really use the D3400 seriously, but it strikes me as an interesting camera. Released by Nikon at a time when small and sexy mirrorless cameras were fast taking market-share from the DSLR duopoly of Canon and Nikon, the D3400 seems like the last gasp of an old company that hadn’t quite realised the grim future of the bulky DSLR and they were desperately trying to downsize their cameras to appeal to consumers who were already buying into smaller and lighter mirrorless models.

More Nikon Z5 night photos ~ pushing ISO

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It’s challenging to attain sharp photos when hand-holding a camera in low light, but I’m comfortable pushing the ISO on the Nikon Z5 to 6400 to force a faster shutter speed to avoid blur. Furthermore, the in-body stabilisation of the Z5 helps to ward off the worst of the shakes and vibration.

As I’ve admitted previously, I’m still guilty of using shutter speeds that are too slow at times! Maybe I’ve become too accustomed to large sensors and vibration reduction technology? It’s a good thing the Nikkor 40mm lens I had with me opens up to f2 ~ not super fast, but fast enough to allow more light to hit the Z5’s 35mm sensor in low light situations.

Sacred Heart Church – Nikon Z5

Between the black bars of the heavy gates, I positioned the camera, opened the aperture wide to f2, set to ISO 6400, and glanced at the exposure readout in the electronic viewfinder to see a measly shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. Knowing that a blurry photo was one tiny movement away, I braced myself with my arms tucked into my sides, held my breath, leaned against the fence, and left the rest to the in-body stabilisation of the Nikon Z5.

Apart from the softness at F2, the photo is acceptably sharp. I’ll always say that you can make great photos with all kinds of cameras, even film in tin boxes, but tools like sensor-based stabilisation do make some situations easier.

Red light/secure door – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens

When framing up this photo, I noticed that lights from passing traffic illuminated parts of the door and wall. With my back to the road and my eye pressed against the viewfinder glass, I waited until I heard the diesel-stutter of a loud engine that likely signalled a truck. I half-pressed the shutter button to focus. A few seconds later, the vehicle’s lights created red shadows and streaks. I timed the shutter click just right.

A night-walk with the Nikon Z5 ~ some thoughts on the quality of light

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A few nights ago, I was parked on a busy main road near the city, scoffing a greasy burger and fries and washing it all down with a lukewarm decaf. I needed to fill several hours while I waited for the Katy Perry concert to finish so I could ferry home a car full of tired and content family members. I’d packed my Nikon Z5 so I could take a walk in the cold and make some photos. Opportunities to wander unfamiliar neighbourhoods don’t present themselves too often, so it was a great opportunity to challenge my eye.

Rainbow rotunda – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens at 5000 ISO

When I use my older Nikon DSLRs, I temporarily forget how technically capable the Nikon Z5 is. Nikon were slow to enter the mirrorless market after a false start with the petite CX system, but their Z cameras are high quality devices that are a joy to use. I’m often amazed at how clean the Nikon Z5’s photos can be. The Z lenses have a reputation for being very sharp, with the Nikkor 40mm F2 being a good example.

Behind the shops

Photos made at night are often challenging to edit because the quality of light is so different to photos made during daylight hours. Where we might raise shadows to reveal more detail during the editing process for a day-time photo, it usually makes more sense to obscure the details in dark areas of a night-time photo where the absence of light defines the image.

In the photo above, the inky shadows obscuring the ground and part of the fence define areas of the image that are illuminated. Brightening the shadows not only weakens the impact of the photo but also makes little sense when part of the goal is to communicate the quality and feel of the night hours – the difference between light and shadow, the quality of artificial light running across metal and brick, and the darkness of the hour. If the versimilitude of the photo is important, as it is in this case, it’s as important to communicate the quality of absent light as it is to communicate how and where light falls.

Through the clouded shop-window

Where home used to be ~ rushing to photograph a sunset and bearing the weight of expectation

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Rushing into the evening with a friend, the sun quickly setting and the rain threatening, I didn’t expect much. Perhaps that was part of the problem: bearing the burden of noisy expectation rather than cultivating a mind in synchrony with the quiet moments.

Defying prediction, the heavy clouds produced some amazing sunset colours. Having located the ruins of a house on a dirt road rarely used, we both scurried over and around twisted tin, old pipes, dark trees, sharp wood, and cracked wall sheeting.

The old chimney left standing – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens

I dug around in my camera bag, fumbled with settings, attempted different angles, and yet I felt frustrated and rudderless. It was as though I felt both the heaviness of the fading light and the possibility of being confronted by an angry local. My movements felt too rehearsed and tired, my eye seemed jaded and stale – following the same movements and tracing the same lines it had done ten thousand times before. Perhaps there was nothing new in this scene? Nothing fresh enough?

The Old Hills Hoist – Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 40mm F2 lens

Having extra time to contemplate the scene and determine the best framing isn’t always possible when you take a last-minute opportunity to dash into the eventide glow. Sometimes, you’re not in the mood for making photos. Sometimes, you’re in the mood to watch the sun move quietly and the light turn to blue shadows without the camera at all.

Despite the weight of my expectations, or perhaps because of it, there’s an apocalyptic feel to the photos. As the world teeters on the brink of another war, it seems that the right scene found me at just the right moment with my camera, in synchrony with the world.

Soft light, plastic lenses, and bokeh ~ back to the Sima Soft Focus lens and others

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In my haste to post examples from the all-plastic Sima lens, I forgot to post one of the nicest examples of how the single plastic lens bends the light. Adam, over at Driftwood Imagery, has also been inspired to mess around with his own recently acquired copy of this lens.

Nikon D7100 and Sima lens into the sunlight

I’m not sure if I was paid in cash or gratitude (probably in gratitude, knowing my eagerness to experiment with old glass at the time), but it was nice to use the Sima lens at sunset. In the photo above, you can see how the plastic element creates blue, green, and purple chromatically aberrant auras around strong light sources. Everything blooms wonderfully. And while I’m in the mood to post portraits – a rare genre for me – here’s another from the same session. I swear to you that even though the pose and angle looks the same, I did actually take time to switch lenses!

Nikon D7100 and Pentacon AV 80mm 2.8 Diaplan projector lens

Note the bokeh bubbles in the photo above ~ a good example that’s sure to inspire interest from people who love characterful out of focus areas. The Meyer-Optik Trioplan range of lenses is known to produce such pleasant hard-edged background bubbles. A recent obsession with such bubbly bokeh has pushed second-hand prices up dramatically, though I’ve not checked recent figures.

I was lucky to snag the Pentacon AV 80mm 2.8 Diaplan some years ago ~ a projector lens made by Pentacon (Meyer-Optik was part of the company merger that formed Pentacon). It has the same optical triplet formula as the famous early Trioplans. The only downside: being a projector lens, you need to mount it and focus it, somehow. I used some PVC tubing and glued it to a cheap mount adapter to form a simple push-pull focus mechanism.

Bokeh is just another tool in the kit-bag of the photographer. Sometimes you want everything in-focus and sharp, and sometimes you want great seperation between the subject and a super smooth background formed by a 16-bladed vintage lens iris. There are people who find Trioplan bubbles distracting and others who appreciate those gentle geometries. If we have the right tools to suit our photographic vision, and we understand their qualities and how to use them, we are a long way down the road to making the photos we imagine. Rather than favour a single tool, better to continue adding tools to our bag and treat them as equals on our journey.

And the model in question? Well, after I made some initial safety photos with what many people would call a normal modern lens and then experimenting with the Diaplan and the Sima, she ended up choosing the safe photo! I guess the bubbles don’t always appeal to the eye.

The excitement of a road-trip and escaping into the world

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In the weeks leading up to our annual road-trip holidays, there’s a slow build of excitement that obliterates any pretence of work productivity during the final few days, for me at least. Questions around camera gear take root in my mind many months before setting off – what and how many cameras to bring? What lenses? Will I really need a tripod? How many bags and what kind?

In some sense, it feels as though this holiday in particular is partly about escaping the world’s current problems by escaping into and losing myself in the world. Photography can be therapeutic self-help in this way – reframing the world to suit our own narratives. As photographers, we look at things differently, composing and considering scenes and subjects before us. It’s a distraction from the pressing issues. We’re out there in the world, breathing in all that it offers, yet we’re one shutter-click away from reframing it to suit a story we want to tell so we can help ourselves.

The Panda’s exhausted – Nikon D7100 and 55-200mm Nikkor lens

Packing camera gear

Having recently purchased a Tenba Skyline V2 Shoulder Bag, I’ve been trying out different combinations of camera stuff for daytrips. I won’t have access to all the gear whilst we’re on the road, but a well-stocked easy-to-carry shoulder bag that sits with me in the passenger seat is going to be handy for quick stops along the way. Right now, I’m trying out this combination:

  • Nikon Z5 camera with the Nikkor 40mm F2 attached: This is going to be my workhorse camera. The 40mm Nikkor is about as sharp a lens as I need. I know there are sharper lenses, but this Nikkor is inexpensive, small, light, fast, and sharp. Ok, it’s an all plastic build, but it uses Nikon’s tough polycarbonate material, which seems to be quite durable. It may not be a classic but the results are excellent.
  • Viltrox 28mm 4.5 AF Pancake: It’s a third-party full-frame lens for Nikon’s Z system, nicknamed Chip, and it’s inexpensive. It’s also a strange lens – a true pancake lens (80g in weight), with a fixed aperture of 4.5, a 28mm focal length, a metal mount, part plastic and part metal body, 2 Aspherical and 2 Extra Dispersion lens elements, a USB-C port for firmware upgrades, and a mask that creates 8-pointed starbursts. I’m intrigued by this lens as it’s so odd. Auto-focus in a lens this small and this cheap is unusual. I think it will be much sought after in years to come, but what concerns me is that once the AF motor burns out, there’s no manual focus to fall back on.
  • Olympus OMD EM5 Mark 2 camera: Having gone back to using the Olympus lately, I’ve rediscovered the joys of a lightweight system with high quality. I use a metal grip to add a bit of heft and for better ergonomics. I’m testing out the Yongnuo 25mm 1.7 lens right now, so it’s attached to the camera. I could also pack the Sigma 30mm 2.8 DN Art lens, which is sharp and reminds me of a teeny-tiny Dalek when the hood is also attached.
  • Olympus Zuiko 4-5.6 40-150mm lens: This lightweight and rather small lens gives me an equivalent focal length of 80-300mm on the Micro Four Thirds system. If I want to be as lightweight as possible and give myself flexibility on the road, this lens is essential. Image quality is a bit on the soft side at 150mm, but that’s to be expected in a non-pro Zuiko lens.
  • Sony RX100: I generally take this with my in a day-bag whenever we go out. It’s so light and small and silent that I can use it indoors when I don’t want to bother with a larger camera and lens combination. This one fits easily in the front pocket of my Tenba bag.
  • Other stuff: Spare battery for the Z5, a micro-fibre lens cloth, a small wallet for 3 x 52mm filters (B+W Circular Polariser, B+W 10 Stop ND filter, and K&F Black Mist Diffusion filter), and an SD card holder for spares. I like the K&F Concept Diffusion filter at 1/4 strength.
  • Undecided: I’d really like to squeeze the Nikkor 24-70mm F4S lens in the bag but it’s pretty big and heavy. Finding a home for it in this bag with everything else is going to be difficult, but I think it may be a better option than carrying the Nikkor 40mm and the Viltrox 28mm. It will mean that the Zuiko 40-150mm lens has to live on the Olympus camera. Alternatively, I ditch the Olympus completely and carry the 70-300mm Nikkor ED lens attached to the FTZ adapter so I can use it on the Z5 – but this is a heavy and tall lens.
Behind the red door – Olympus OMD EM5 Mark 2 and Zuiko 40-150mm R lens – as you can see, even at 150mm, there’s acceptable sharpness available after some editing (contrast, clarity, and additional sharpening)

Revisiting a ruin at sunset and dealing with angry people

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I was a little way up the dusty side-road with my Nikon Z5 and Nikon D40 when a big white 4-wheel drive roared past me and stopped next to our car, dust kicking up from the wheels. I knew it was a bad sign. I’d been here before. A few moments later, the car belted away down the dirt and turned onto the bitumen. Everything was quiet again and I gazed in the direction of the setting sun, hoping we’d be left alone long enough to make some more photos in the best light of the day.

Covered in old vines – Nikon Z5

I went back to work with the Z5, dialling back the exposure to preserve the highlights and waiting eagerly for the golden light to bathe the dusty corner we’d chosen for some evening photos. The quiet didn’t last very long…

Another big vehicle pulled up next to the ruined building we’d been training our lenses upon. I packed up my gear and started to walk back up the road to my buddy, suspecting he’d have to deal with a mouthful of abuse from the locals. I wasn’t wrong.

“What the FUCK do you think you’re doing???!”

I get it. There we are on a normally quiet road and we’re loitering outside his property. I made it there just in time for the tirade. My mate was very calm in the face of it, de-escalaing the situation and rightly pointing out we weren’t trespassing on his property and had no intention of entering or wrecking anything. Some minutes of back and forth and the property owner was still gruff but calm enough to take some mouthfuls of beer from the bottle he was swinging about.

Collapsing shed – Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm 1.8 lens

I contributed the odd word or two, reinforcing the argument that we were innocently making photos in great light and staying outside the fence-line.

“Yeah…I s’pose that’s OK if you’re into photography…”

Clearly his own mate was just there for moral support, as he’d said not a word the whole time. The golden light was fast fading and we were still locked in heated discussion about kids stealing copper from the old house and cutting the barbed wire fencing. The anger’s understandable, of course.

“Next time, ask me for permission! I’m just up the road, there.”

The problem with so many of these ruined places is that you just don’t know where the landowners are. Properties beyond urban areas can be big and it’s not always obvious who owns what. So, we stick to the public areas – the pathways and the roads, usually. Legally, you can make a photo of just about anything if you’re in a public space and you can see the subject from that public space. Permission isn’t required unless you’re planning to enter the property. I’ve never needed to say any of this to an angry onlooker or property owner, mostly because it doesn’t result in calm conversations.

A sea of cactus – Nikon D40

Finally, we made our peace and drove off. We’d missed the best light of the day. It would have been amazing too – pink clouds and soft golden highlights bathing all the dusty old corners and abandoned places.

Finding inspiration in black and white with the Nikon D200

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I’ve been trying to get out for shorter photo sessions in recent weeks because it’s not always possible to find a free day for an organised day-trip. At the very least, it gives me a chance to find some new locations and subjects. I can also pack a few older camera bodies and lenses without placing much pressure on myself to come back with plenty of photo winners. So, what do you do when the clouds are heavy, time is limited, the light is failing, and interesting subjects are lacking? Well, I happened to spot an interesting looking tree by the side of the road:

Twisting against the failing light – Nikon D200 and Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens

I don’t usually convert colour photos to black and white but sometimes it’s a good way to explore other qualities of an image. Black and white emphasises tonality, texture, and geometry. Just look at all of the twisting branches in the photo above. Even at ISO 800 in dull light, the Nikon D200 produces little noticeable noise. I didn’t bother to apply any noise reduction at all since the digital noise pattern is quite fine.

Here’s another version with more contrast, blue shadows, and warm highlights:

Uluru up close ~ a story of hiking, geology, erosion, and deep time

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We looked up at the huge rocky dome, in awe of the ancient geological processes that had created it. Over 500 million years ago, before dinosaurs wandered the lands around the ancient sea that would one day become a national park and tourist attraction, Uluru and Kata Tjuta started to form. At such times, you realize the scale of the world around you and feel very small indeed.

Looking back in time: Uluru – Nikon Z5 with Nikkor 40mm F2 lens and Circular Polariser

Doing the 10km base walk is the best way to appreciate the vastness of Uluru. We were already exhausted from our 8km hike through Kata Tjuta the day before – those rocky slopes and winding pathways can be unforgiving on cheap hiking shoes! I once climbed Uluru in about 45 minutes, back when it was commonly known as Ayers Rock. No-one is permitted to climb it now, but you can still see the old climber’s entrance and the worn path that millions of tourists braved over the years.

From a distance, Uluru looks like it has quite a uniform surface, but up close is where you get to see the details – weathered sections of grey stone, streaks of white, dark caves that seem to make recognisable patterns, and the iconic red rock that signals high iron content. Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta were formed over millions of years as the soft parts of the Petermann Ranges were eroded, leaving only the boulders and rocks.

Uluru up close – Nikon Z5

Uluru takes on different colours, depending on the time of day and season. It can be bright orange at sunset one moment and then pink with purple and blue shadows the next. I posted a sunset picture in another post, though it was a rushed pull-over to the side of the road and the local police weren’t too happy we’d parked in a no-park area as they beeped us on a drive-by! You take your chances when you have a camera in-hand. There are some designated photo spots in the area for tourists, but they can be quite busy, and I’m not always best pleased to make photos that everyone else does.

The red bones of ancient Australia – Nikon Z5

I was more prudent in my use of the circular polariser on this trip. Hiking around the base of Uluru, I was mindful of the location of the sun. The polarising effect is strongest when the sun is at a 90-degree angle to where you’re pointing the camera – so either on your left or your right. I dial it up so that the effect is strongest, and then dial it back a bit to add more natural stray light reflections back into the scene.

A polariser is fantastic for cutting out stray reflections on foliage and rocks and for deepening colours, but it can also make a scene look flat and darken clear Australian skies to the point of ultra-violet. It’s important not only to be mindful of where the sun is but also whether a polarised photo is what you want. Great for foliage and cutting out reflections on water, but not so useful when you want to preserve all the golden colours of a sunset. It’s also not useful in shady areas, so there was a whole section of the base-walk where I put it away.

Uluru detail: weathering and streaks – Nikon Z5

I’ve often thought of Uluru as the rocky heart of Australia, located not too far from Alice Springs. Amazingly, this monolith extends up to 6 km underground, so it’s much like a rocky iceberg. Absolutely worth visiting if you’re ever in a position to do so.