The title of this book sparks an allergic reaction in me, just like if the book was titled something like “how to get filthy rich in a matter of minutes”. It’s clickbait – it is impossible for anyone to live up to the expectations created by the title.
Read this if you want to take great photographs by Henry Carroll – front page.
But I do stand corrected. This is a great book about the basics of photography. And if you pay attention to what is being written by Henry Carroll and truly apply that to your photography, I am sure you will be a better photographer. Maybe your images will not be “great” as the title promises, but for sure they will be better. Much better!
Theory and practice
Henrys concept for the book is simple and yet powerful: each subject is presented using only 2 pages: one page elaborating on the subject and another page showing an image that illustrates how the subject presented has been applied by another photographer. So it is full of illustrations of how the principles and advice presented in the book has been used or applied by other photographers.
Read this if you want to take great photographs by Henry Carroll. Theory to the left. Real world example to the right. This is how I like to be educated!
This book is part of a series – Henry has written books more focused on say portrait photography or pictures of places. But this one is the basic one – the 101 so to speak. Yet it managers to cover both the very basics photography like exposure and the more artistic dimension to photography. And he does it in a way where the subjects are wove into each other in a very elegant way so you really don’t notice how much ground this little 140 pages book covers.
You will find books that are dedicated to say exposure, which this book deals with in a matter of a few pages. So of course you will not get all the details and all the angles. But you will get a very good grid or overview of what you need to know about photography, and then you can branch out from this book to other sources with more details.
Boom!
One of the sentences in this book actually hit me like a hammer – a big fat sledgehammer if you’d like. It said: “Average photographers imitate beauty. Great photographers create their own”. Maybe the reaction from my side is more a reflection of where I am in my photography life, but those two sentences surely put something straight that I had been struggling to understand for some time: why some of my images seemed to work while others were just meh.
I cannot guarantee that you will have a similar eureka! moment when reading this book, but I am certain that if you are new to photography and want to get a really fast run down and overview of the basics coupled with a few high flyers on creativity and art, this is one of the best books I have come across to meet that objective. Highly recommended!
I recently upgraded from iPhone 14 Pro to iPhone 15 Pro, despite the fact that I previously have jumped at least two generations to make sure I would notice the difference. Somehow the new features of the iPhone 15 Pro got me convinced – let me elaborate!
Same same but different
First of all, the similarities between the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro are many more than the differences: the screen is the same, battery life is the same, water resistance rating is the same, the size is roughly the same with the 15 Pro being a little shorter and a little more slim, etc.
The first thing I noticed was that the iPhone 15 Pro is somewhat lighter than the 14 Pro, as Apple switched from steel to a combo of titanium and aluminium. It dropped from 206 to 187 grams, and although you may think this is a small change, the relative difference is around 9% and I was surprised to learn how noticeable those 19 grams are!
Further, the 15 Pro comes with a newer chipset (A17) that boosts performance both CPU and GPU wise, but unless you are using some very demanding (game?) applications, I doubt you will notice the performance difference. Maybe some more demanding future applications will highlight the difference between the chipsets, but for now I really doubt you will notice at all.
The button top left on the iPhone 15 Pro is new (you may recall the old slide button previously).
The little slide button top left on the iPhone 14 has been replaced by a push button in the same position. This button is configurable, but out of the box it does the same as the old one – switch between ring and silent. I like this change for sure, but a revolution it is hardly.
Industry standard (in EU at least)
One of the big changes from 14 Pro to 15 Pro is the switch from the lightening port to USB-C. I was hoping and waiting for for Apple to make this change already in the iPhone 14 generation, but I was disappointed. Not this time around, though!
The iPhone 15 Pro has a USB-C connector that allows you to connect both chargers and external storage to the iPhone.
If you like USB-C or not is of course personal preference, but owning an iPad for several years where USB-C is the norm, I really welcome the USB-C connector. I have lots of chargers and cables that use USB-C and being able to reduce the number of cables an chargers I use is a very welcome change.
I use a lot of different cameras where the more modern ones have made the switch to USB-C for both charging and data transfer. But not the older ones. If you knew how many different chargers I have owned over the years for proprietary charging systems and batteries, you would also welcome the simplicity and standardisation of USB-C!
Serious video camera!
The iPhone 15 Pro is indeed a very serious video camera: ProRes LOG in 4K at up to 60 frames per second (fps)! Wow! Not all newer dedicated video cameras can keep up with this! The ProRes LOG format gives you lots of headroom and options for editing in post to color grade and edit your footage. If you just want the video to be ready out of the camera, then ProRes LOG is not for you, but if you want to do serious editing and have as many post processing options available for you, this is the format you want to use!
Now, here is where the iPhone 15 Pro really stands out: if you want to shoot ProRes LOG in 4K at 60 fps, then you need to make use of an external drive or storage facility to transfer the required amounts of data fast enough! If you drop to say 24 frames per second, you can make do with the internal memory. But for 60 fps, the internal memory transfer speeds can’t keep up! And this is where the upgrade to USB-C comes in handy: it offers transfer speeds to support this demanding flow of data!
The iPhone 15 Pro give you 4K in ProRes LOG at 60 frames per second IF you attach an external data storage facility via the USB-C connector.
With an external drive, the iPhone 15 Pro turns into a professional level video camera and if you consider buying a dedicated video camera or a capable hybrid camera, then the capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro may save you this investment! Of course, if you are planning to use long lenses on a video camera, then the iPhone can’t keep up, but for most other applications the iPhone 15 Pro with an external drive may well be all you need!
Conclusion
I am currently evaluating the video performance of the iPhone 15 Pro, but so far – a few weeks in – I really like what I seen and I am seriously considering switching from system hybrid cameras to the iPhone 15 Pro for video recording. And as such, I find that the iPhone 15 Pro is a really interesting offer and alternative to a dedicated video or hybrid camera. And that is what drove me into the arms of upgrading to iPhone 15 Pro. The USB-C is a nice bonus, other than being a precondition for the high data transfer speeds required for recording in ProRes LOG at 60 fps.
If you have no ambitions for shooting video and the proprietary flash connector does not bother or annoy you, I doubt that the move from iPhone 14 Pro to 15 Pro is worthwhile.
Admitted, when you see this book for the first time, you will not think much of it: it is very small relative to other photo books, measuring only 18 cm across and 13 cm down. But I think you will find that the images will grown on you once you take a closer look.
Still lifes, California by Rudy VanderLans
The book is approx 250 pages presenting around 125 images from the California region. It is purely landscape or outdoor images and you will find no people portrayed, other than images of people on a few billboards. The title “still lifes” is rather precise!
Dismal
Rudy introduces the book by noting that the Californian environment is at times beautiful, incongruous and dismal. I must admit that I had to look up “incongruous” to undestand that it is “not in harmony” or something along those lines. Rudy’s ambition has been to capture pictures that are beautiful, incongruous and dismal at the same time, but he notes that he is happy when succeeding with 2 our of 3 in the same image. Using Rudy’s own success criteria, I think he has been successful with most of the images in this little interesting book.
Film look
When I looked at the images my first thought was that they were shot with a film camera. However, as far as I have been able to google, Rudy shoots mainly digital. But the images are clearly color graded in a way that makes you think of a film camera. Not to start a long discussion about shooting film versus digital, but I do find it interesting that you can get something that looks so film-ish out of a digital camera!
Still Lifes, California by Rudy VanderLans
Graphical
If you look up Rudy VanderLans, you will find that he is a graphical designer by education and it also seems to be in the graphics design area he has had the most successes and is the most famous. I think you will notice this when you study his images, and I mention this in a positive spirit.
Still Lifes, California by Rudy VanderLans
I find find most of the images absolutely stellar and worth a closer study every time I open the book. I guess that is one vital quality of an image or a series of images: that they make you take a closer look and want to see more. In in this regard, I find Rudy’s work in this little book to be of very high quality.
I have the Nikkor 16-35mm zoom lens for the F-mount and I have so far been a happy camper as this lens allows me to do both landscape, architecture and street photography. But recently I took some photography training and the coach was rather insisting that I gave a 35mm prime a try. The training was otherwise very much about the process of photography and very little about camera gear and technique as such, but having seen my style of shooting, he was very insisting!
So approximately 2/3rds into the training (a 10 week course) I got this lens and fell in love with it immediately! And my assessment of the lens was confirmed by my fellow students, who noticed the difference in quality of the images I presented as part of the training! It was quite convincing as they noticed the lift in image quality without me mentioning the change of lens.
Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S mounted on my Nikon Z6ii
The lens as such
Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S is surprisingly long measuring 8-9 centimeters.
If you were hoping of a small and flat pancake like lens, then I have to disappoint you! This lens is surprisingly large given that it is only 35mm and I measured it to be around 8-9 centimeters (3.5 inch) long without the lens hood. Adding the lens hood, you are looking at a lens around 13-14 centimeters (5.5 inch) in length. Not exactly a lens where it is easy to hide what you are doing if shooting street photography where discretion can be a blessing!
It is not particular light either – around 370 grams. Not that it feels heavy in any way sitting on my Nikon Z6ii, but I was surprised that it was this heavy. I am not a lens engineer, but my guess is that Nikon prioritised performance and let the lens take the size and weight required to reach that goal.
The lens comes with a large and easy to find focus ring. The ring takes up half the length of the lens (approx 4 cm) and is obviously very easy to find when you have your eye in the viewfinder. Other than the A/M switch for moving between auto focus and manual focus, this is the only movable item you will find on the lens.
The design is very tight – some will say boring, but you will not be confused by a lot of buttons and dials as this lens is basically only a black “tube” with a focus ring and an A/M switch. Actually, I should not say focus ring, because the function of the lens control ring is configurable in the customs control menu f2. Here you can configure the lens control ring to control aperture, exposure compensation, ISO or focus (obviously). You can also select to give the lens control ring no function at all.
The auto focus motor is super silent. I have a lot of Nikkor lenses (both for the Z and the F-mount) and this is probably the most silent I have tried. It is not super fast – but with a 35mm I doubt you will be dependent on a speedy AF motor as you would when shooting birds in flight with a 500mm. I just enjoy that when half pressing the shutter the viewfinder moves from blurred to tac sharp with hardly any sound. I find it to be a bit fascinating (you may be thinking “nerd alert!” and you are absolutely right!).
Aperture and blades
The aperture ranges from f/1.8 to f/16. There are faster alternatives, but I do have a 50mm f/1.2 and although I enjoy all the fun you can have with a super slim depth of field, I have also come to realise how seldom I use the lens wide open. So for me it is not an issue that the lens is not able to open up to say f/1.4, but we are in personal preference territory here.
In the other end of the scale I was surprised that the ability to close down stopped at f/16. I know that some will start talking about diffraction going beyond f/16 but with other lenses I actually enjoy closing down to more than f/16 especially when shooting into the sun and working with the sunbursts produced.
Sample sunstar produced by the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S at f/16
I love straight blades as I do a lot of work shooting into the sun to produce sun bursts. Rounded blades do not work well here, as they give a less well defined sunstar. However, I think Nikon in this case has found a good compromise between rounded blades (and nice bokeh) and straight blades producing nice sunstars: closed down to f/16 it appears to me that the blades are almost straight or as straight as they can get when still being part of a more rounded structure when the lens is not fully closed down. In the image above the sunburst is well defined IMHO, but not as well defined as in the case of straight blades. But as as compromise between sunstars and bokeh, this works well for me.
An example of the blurred background produced by the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S. Here at f/1.8, 1/1000th of a second, ISO 200. Nikon Z6ii.
In terms of the out of focus elements or bokeh, I have no complaints in this department with this 35mm lens, but I do know that there are other reviewers who care more about the bokeh that I do. Above and below are examples of how the lens renders out of focus elements so you can see what you think of it.
Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S – sample image with out of focus elements both in the distance and close up.
Price
The Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 S set me back around 700 EUR in November 2023. With the cost of living crisis and inflation sky rocketing, quoting a specific price is perhaps not all that useful, but it is clearly an expensive lens! I have gotten used to all the great AI/AIS/AF/AFS glass that Nikon has produced and the associated bargain prices, so paying that amount of money for a lens is clearly new territory for me! But I was not disappointed! However, if you do not need the last few percentages of performance relative to say an AF-S lens, then paying that amount of money for a short prime seems eye watering expensive. But for me it made sense as I could use all the detail the lens provides. And I expect to use the 35mm for a very large part of my shooting. But if you find it expensive, I agreed, and F-mount alternatives certainly can and do produce a more meaningful price performance ratio.
Technical performance
As mentioned, I find the image quality to be absolutely astonishing, and the MTF chart below seems to confirm my observations. As you probably know, high and straight is better and especially the contrast shows an exceptionally high level, and be mindful that this is at f/1.8. Stopped down a bit the lens will show an even more impressive MTF chart, but unfortunately Nikon has only provided the MTF chart wide open for a prime.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 S MTF chart – source: Nikon home page.
Some will miss vibration reduction in the lens, but with a short lens and knowing that the image stabilisation in the Z-bodies will do a great job stand alone, I have never missed image stabilisation in this lens.
Control of chromatic abberation (purple fringing) is some of the best I have tried. I usually have a little test where I shoot a ball of curled up tinfoil with a flash throwing hard light at it, but there was noting to see with this lens and for all practical purposes as far as my shooting goes, there is no CA at all, period.
The minimum focus distance is 24 centimeters. This is close (!) but it is not unusual for a wide lens. You can really make some fun and creative shots with a lens that is able to go this close to the subject, especially when you consider that the focus distance is measured from the where the sensor sits and not from the tip of the lens!
Image quality
The image quality of this lens is simply amazing. I did not only notice this myself, but my fellow students in my training course did as well as I reported earlier. Be mindful that the quality of this lens is to some extend lost on my Nikon Z6ii as you would need a high resolution sensor with way more resolution than 24mp. But even on my Z6ii it has impressed me.
An example of the details and contrast the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 provides.Low light image of a laundromat. The image is exposed for the highlights. Notice all the details on the silhouettes of the bikes.Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 SNikkor 35mm f/1.8 SNikkor 35mm f/1.8 SNikon 35mm f/1.8 S
Conclusion
I know that this has not been a technically focused review, but I think you can find such in other reviews – there is an excellent one by DxO Mark where they also look at alternatives to the Nikon 35mm lens. Here I just want to share that I am very happy with this lens that I mainly use for street photography and landscapes. And, as those of you who follow my youtube channel knows, I repeat the point that the Z-lenses from Nikon are next level. Yes, they are expensive, yes, not everyone needs this level of performance and yes AF-S glass price / performance wise is often superior. But when you have tried this lens and seen what it will do to your images, you don’t want to go back. Sorry, that was a generalisation: I don’t want to go back. Thank you for reading this far!
Sample images
I have a Flickr album where I have collected some of the shots I have done with the . You can find the link clicking here. The Flickr page gives you some options for viewing the image quality in greater detail and see for yourself what you think of the lens performance.
