Frederik Bøving – Page 12

Review: TTArtisan 50mm APS-C f/0.95 lens for the Sony e-mount

Fast!

A lens at f/1.4 or f/1.2 I consider to be extremely fast, but when TTArtisan kindly sent me this lens for review, I learned that even faster lenses exist! An maximum aperture at f/0.95 enables you to isolate your subject from the background to an extreme degree! As an example: if you shoot at the minimum focus distance of 50 centimeters on a Sony a6500, the depth of field is less than 0.4 cm!! You really have to look twice to make sure your subject is in focus!

No-nonsense

The lens is all back-to-basics and no-nonsense: No autofocus, no vibration reduction and no CPU contacts! It is only metal and glass that in total makes your camera 411 grams heavier. But on the other hand it does not make your wallet that much lighter, as it retails for around 220 USD, which is a very budget friendly lens.

It comes with the Sony e-mount that fits Sony’s mirrorless cameras, both full frame and APS-C. You can mount the lens on a full frame camera as I did for this test, and to my surprise I found that it did cover the entire full frame with only little vignetting, but the sharpness in the corners was so bad, that I quickly set-up my A7Rii to crop the image size down to APS-C. In doing so, the crop factor turns the lens into 75mm FF equivalent.

The lens is approximately 6 cm tall and 6 cm in diameter, and hence a few millimeters smaller than the e-mount itself, so I think it will look natural on all e-mount cameras, both full frame and APS-C.

The filter thread size is 58mm and allows you to mount both the metal lens cap that comes with the lens, and whatever filters you may wish. Unfortunately the lens does not have a rubber gasket around the lens mount, and hence you need to be careful to protect your camera from both water and dust.

The markings are engraved into the aluminium — The markings are not painted, but engraved into the aluminium. Built to last.

There are 10 slightly rounded aperture blades, and you can stop the lens down to f/16 as the smallest aperture, and at the other end go wild with f/0.95!! In the image above you can also see the green color in the light reflected in the front glass – that is the coating at work to counter flare.

Manual focus is controlled with a nice wide and well dampened focus throw, that turns roughly 100 degrees. I could have wished for a longer throw, especially when shooting wide open, but you’ll get used to it. The focus peaking highlights on my Sony A7Rii is brilliant aid to focus manually. And when I really want to nail focus: the ability to zoom in, in the viewfinder, comes really handy!

The vertical bars that you see on the focus throw above is not painted on the lens, but recess that has been milled out in the aluminum! This underlines the solid built quality of the lens. The distance is shown both in meters and feet, and I even found a DOF scale closest to the camera – not many use those this day and age, but to me it underlines that this lens is back to basics!

The aperture ring is rather narrow and sits just below the red dot you see in the picture above. It is also nicely dampened, but in addition the aperture ring has very soft clicks. It is also possible to position the blades between two clicks if that is to your liking. With my eye in the viewfinder, I found the aperture ring a bit difficult for my fingers to find, but you get used to it. However, a little wider aperture ring would have been nice.

So all in all a very solid built lens – all metal, all glass, and absolutely no electronics!

Sharpness

I am only too aware that many consider an MTF chart as boring as watching paint dry! But you can learn a lot about a lens studying an MTF chart, and it reveals that when wide open (fmax) the resolution is below what I would normally consider acceptable (from 0.6 to 0.7 and upwards).

Now, had this been the corner sharpness, it would have been less of an issue, as most really only care about the center sharpness in real life, but here the lens is soft in the center wide open. It does get better fast when you stop down, but I did find that going faster than f/1.1 made the center of the frame so soft that I started noticing.

In the image above, I have zoomed in 200% with f/8 to the left and wide open to the right. I think you can see the difference in sharpness immediately.

Sometimes a bit of softness is not all that bad, especially if you shoot portraits, but for my style of shooting (landscapes, nature), the softness is an issue, and I did find that due to the softness, I only really used the lens from around f/1.2 and onwards. But mind you that it still is a very fast lens!

Aberrations

If you like me shoot very often in high contrast situations, then aberrations can be a real pain, as it gives colors of green and purple that can ruin an image or at least give more work in post processing.

In the image above, both both zoomed in at the center of the frame, you can see that wide open to the right, there is a green tint to the black areas to the right of the mouse. To the left, at f/8, all is grey as it should be. So wide open, this lens suffers from significant amounts of aberrations. You can also see the graphics in front of the mouse has both a green and pink tint in the image to the right. And finally also the color rendition suffers from the aberrations – look at the blue color, it is clearly more “mint” to the right than to the left.

In the example above, notice the green line at the top edge of the book to the right. It is significant.

Again, this problem seems to be reduced when stopped down to f/8, but if you plan to use this lens in a high contrast scene, for example sunlight behind a model, you will likely find that high contrast areas has a green tint to it.

Distortion and vignetting

The lens has a bit of distortion, but it is so little that I doubt you will notice unless you have some dominating straight lines in your image.

Wide open the lens does show a bit of vignetting, but it quickly disappears as you stop down.

Just to give you an impression of the distortion and the vignetting, above in Lightroom I have pulled the slides to correct for both, and as you may be able to see, distortion is at +8 and vignetting at +28. Also notice how the sides of the image has white “gaps” as a consequence of the correction. Obviously, this image also needs to be cropped.

It is an easy fix in Lightroom, so I do not normally consider distortion and vignetting a problem in general. Here it is a bit more cumbersome, as the lens has no CPU contacts, and Lightroom does not know which lens it is and cannot help with applying the corrections automatically. But for most scenes and situations, I doubt you will ever notice the vignetting and distortion this lens has.

Flare control

As far as I can tell, this lens as good flare control. In the image above, I have tried to stress the lens with the sharp light from my iPhone, and all the flare I could produce was the small green dots you see towards the bottom right corner.

If I really go to extremes and let the light hit the lens almost vertically, then you get the result above, but it is more to see how the lens reacted. If you use a lens hood, then this angle of light will not hit the lens. So if you use a lens hood, I think that you will find that flare is well controlled in this lens.

Focus breathing

This lens suffers from focus breathing and to a significant degree. Actually so much that I think videographers will stay clear of it. As a photographer, I find this to be less of an issue.

Bokeh and sun stars

Bokeh is perhaps a bit into the personal preference territory. Some see “nervous bokeh” and “onion rings” where others just see out of focus areas. And it is probably mainly amongst photographers that bokeh is “a thing”.

Shooting with this lens for a few weeks now, I can say that I really like the bokeh it produces, both wide open when the blades are not engaged, and stopped down then the 10 slightly rounded aperture blades start to kick in.

Wide open, as you would expect, nice round shapes.

Stopped down a bit, you start to notice the shape of the aperture blades if you look carefully, but with 10 rounded blades, the shape still looks nice to me.

And finally stopped all the way down to f/16, the lens produces sun stars that to me look absolutely ok. It is not as beautiful sun stars as a lens with 100% straight blades can produce, but a very good compromise between quality of the sun stars and the bokeh.

Conclusion

The first thing to notice about this lens is it’s price bracket – 220 USD. And I think the lens performance has to be viewed in that light, and as such I think it is unfair at that price point to expect auto focus or vibration reduction, although I for completeness will list them as cons in the summary below.

I would have loved to see some CPU contract to help me get EXIF information into Lightroom, but it seems to me the TTArtisan philosophy is to stay clear of any electronics, and just produce solid built glass that will last. And when you hold this lens in your hand, you are clearly left with the impression that it will last – a simple construction, all metal, all glass, well built and with no electronics.

There are two areas where I struggle with this lens.

One is the softness and the aberrations wide open. I find that in real life I only use the lens from around f/1.4 and onwards, and the space from f/0.95 to /f1.4 is simply too bad for me to usable. In other words, the super fast lens is for me more on paper and in the specs sheet, than it is in real life. It is a very usable lens stopped down a bit, but not wide open. So if you got attracted to this lens due to its crazy fast aperture, then I caution you to make sure the softness and the aberrations in the wide end is acceptable to you.

The other is the aberrations throughout the aperture range. It is there, and it is noticeable in high contrast scenes. If you don’t shoot much in high contrast, then this may not be an issue for you, but I do, and I find it annoying to spend time in Lightroom, removing purple and green colors where light meets darkness.

If you can live with the above two, then this lens is a steal. A fast “f/1.4 lens” for your APS-C camera that will not break the bank. It is sharp and with good contrast if you stay clear of shooting wide open. So if you can accept that and you don’t mind manual focus, then this lens should definitely be on your short list of nifty-fifty primes for your Sony APS-C camera.

You can find a small sample if images shot with this lens here, if you want to see better resolution samples than what is in this blog.

Pro
– Price / value for money
– Build quality
– Fast lens (f/0.95)
– Bokeh
– Sun stars stopped down
– Sharpness/contrast stopped down
– Vignetting/distortion not too bad
– Flare control

Cons
– Chromatic aberrations
– Lack of CPU contacts (no EXIF info)
– Relatively short focus throw for an all manual lens
– No auto focus (or VR)
– Sharpness and contrast wide open
– Focus breathing
– No weather sealing

Video link

Review: TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 lens for the Nikon APS-C Z-mount

Presentation and specs

The TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 lens was kindly sent to me by TTArtisan for review. It retails for around 100-110 USD here in May 2022, so it is really a budget friendly lens. It is made for the Nikon Z-mount, and can be used on e.g. the Nikon Z50, which is what I used for the testing. With the crop factor, the FF equivalent is 75mm, and hence a lens that many will find attractive for portraiture photography.

The first thing I noticed when unboxing is the weight. The lens is relatively small (6×6 cm) but at 335 grams it feels compact, if not heavy. The reason is simple: it is made of metal and glass altogether. No plastic or lightweight materials here. If feels solid and well built.

The focus throw is well dampened, but relatively short (130 dgs), but I did not find this to be an issue, although I know that some will prefer a longer focus throw to aid the precision in manual focus.

The aperture ring sits in the far end of the lens, and it took me some time to get used to – I am used to the aperture ring sitting close to the camera. The ring comes with only 2 jagged “wings” to aid you finding the aperture ring, and I really would have liked a few more of these, but this is not a major point.

There is no electronics in this lens – just metal and glass. If you were hoping to find autofocus or even vibration reduction, then you will be disappointed, but at this price point I think it is not fair to expect such comfort.

CPU contacts

What I find more hard to live without is the CPU contacts – there are none on this lens. So your camera does not know which lens is mounted, and EXIF information is not available. This also means that automatic profile correction in Lightroom is not possible and I found that I had to do correction of distortion and vignetting in LR by pulling sliders manually. With distortion and vignetting at a well controlled level, this is less of an issue, but I do miss the EXIF information as I use it for indexing and organizing my images.

Sharpness and contrast

I am only too aware that studying MTF charts is not very sexy and that seeing picture examples is much more interesting. I have made a collection of images shot with this lens over at flicker and you can follow the link here to get some images in much better resolution than what this blog allows.

But that said, you can learn a lot about a lens looking and the MTF chart, and what the below tells is very consistent to what my tests shows: stopped down to f/5.6 this is a very sharp lens with good contrast, both center and corners, but wide open it is soft – also in the center. Many don’t mind a lens is soft in the corners wide open, as long as it is tac sharp in the center. Unfortunately this lens is soft wide open, and maybe this is not a problem for you as a portrait photographer, but for me who use the lens for landscape and nature, it is too soft.

Speed

This lens is fast and lets in a lot of light. Normally this is less of an issue, as I enjoy shooting wide open with paper thin depth of field to maximize isolation of the subject. However, my Nikon Z50 “only” shoots at 1/2000th of a second as the fastest shutter speed. Therefore I often had to stop down a bit to avoid over exposing the images. If you plan to use the lens wide open in scenes where there is lots of ambient light, you may need to add a 52mm ND filter to the lens.

Color rendition

I tested this lens and the color rendition compared to the Nikon kit lens (16-50), and as far as I can tell, they render colors very much the same way. When just looking at some colorful images shot with the TTArtisan, my immediate reaction was that red was rendered a bit too saturated, but compared to the Nikon lens, it actually came out a notch more pale. In general I found that the TTArtisan renders colors very close to Nikon, so if you happen to like the way Nikon gets the job done, then you will probably also like the way the TTArtisan renders colors.

Minimum focus distance

The minimum focus distance is 50 cm according to the specs, and that is precisely what I measured it to be as you can see above. Subject to what you shoot, this may not be an issue, but for me it is a lot! I always want to get closer to my subject. That said, due to the crop factor, the lens is 75mm FF equivalent and has an angle of view of 32 degrees, and hence I found it more easy to fill the frame with my subject than what I have experienced with other and wider lenses.

Focus breathing

This lens suffers from focus breathing and to a significant degree. Actually so much that I think videographers will stay clear of it. As a photographer, I find this to be less of an issue.

Aberrations

Aberrations are not well controlled, unfortunately. You can see the tinfoil below has a purple tint.

And when I do my more “brutal” testing using a flash light aimed at a piece of tinfoil, it lights up with green and pink colors that should not be there. And when shooting landscapes in stark contrast, the edges around high contrast areas have a purple line.

If you do not shoot high contrast scenes, this may be less of an issue for you, but for me it is a major issue and strikes right into the heart of my type of photography. This is the biggest drawback I see with using this otherwise fine lens.

Vignetting and distortion

Vignetting and distortion is well controlled with this lens. There is some and you can see it if you shoot a brick wall or the like. But you have to look for it. As there are no CPU contacts, the correction has to be done pulling a few sliders in Lightroom. However, I doubt you will ever notice the distortion if you are a portrait photographer or other “organic” subjects with little straight lines.

Flare

My flare test showed that this lens dampens flare pretty well. You can see a green dot or a green area where the flare would otherwise have been, just like you may know from glasses. But when the light enters from a steep angle, the lens start showing some dramatic flare as the example below shows.

You may think that a lens hood can save you here, but no: I shot this with the lens hood that TTArtisan kindly provided together with the lens.

I am not fan of what you see above, but we are into personal preference territory, and Stanley Kubrick fans may just absolutely love it!

Bokeh

With a lens as fast as f/1.2,you’d expect it to deliver a very shallow depth of field and blurred backgrounds, and this lens certainly does.

I am however puzzled by the design of the aperture blades. It is not straight and not round.

In the image above, you can see the shape of the blades – it is shaped like a wave as far as I can tell. I think this blade design is chosen as it gives some beautiful sun stars when the lens is stopped down.

And of course fully open when the blades are not engaged, the bokeh is absolutely round. So I really like the bokeh fully open and stopped down max, whereas in between the wave design of the blades start so show. However, I think it is only photography nerds that will really notice.

Conclusion

My list of pro’s and cons below. The third group named “neutral” and “personal preference” is things where I think it is not necessarily a pro or a con, but more observations that may be important to some and irrelevant to others, and hence difficult to categorize as either good or bad.

Pro
– Price / value for money
– Build quality
– Fast lens (f/1.2)
– Bokeh IRL
– Sun stars stopped down
– Sharpness/contrast stopped down
– Vignetting/distortion not too bad

Cons
– Chromatic aberrations
– Lack of CPU contacts (no EXIF info)
– No auto focus (or VR)
– Sharpness and contrast wide open
– Focus breathing
– Minimum focus distance (50 cm)
– No weather sealing

Neutral / personal preference:
– ND filters necessary wide open when bright
– Color rendition (close to what Nikon does)
– Flare control
– Lens weight (335 gr)

Video link

Review: Mastering composition – the definitive guide for photographers, by Richard Garvey-Williams

Definitive

The title of this book promises a “definitive” guide to composition. Googling the meaning of definitive, the first definition is “done or reached decisively and with authority” and one of the synonyms listed is “ultimate”. So this is the ultimate guide to composition. This author apparently does nothing to dim his shine!

Comprehensive

This 175 page book is comprehensive, and covers all aspects of composition though 6 chapters. It is jam packed with illustrations – at least one per page and often 3-4 per page. As such the author walks the talk and shows how the theory presented can be applied in practice. The square format of the book works well to allow pictures and text to blend naturally.

The book covers so much more than the rule of thirds, e.g.: visual weight, framing, leading lines, dynamic tension, depth, color, tone, patterns and even a bit of gestalt theory! I find that it is one of the most comprehensive books I have found on the subject of composition. And then I really like that the author underlines that composition is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.

I did not find this book to be an easy read. At times, it felt like reading a dictionary, but I guess it is the flip side of being so comprehensive. So if you are searching for an entertaining book, you may need to look elsewhere – this one is serious about its subject and stays serious throughout.

Conclusion

If I was to recommend a book about composition for the notorious lonely island, it would be this one. It is not an easy read, and after the first read, I use it more and more to look up certain subjects, than reading it from start to finish all over. It works well also as a dictionary.

Some of the images have stuck with me in the back of my head and unconsciously influenced my photography and give inspiration for new aspirations. And as such, I have become a better photographer, processing and digesting the content of the book. And that is probably the highest praise I can give to any book about photography, and as such this book comes highly recommended.

Review: Synco P1L Wireless Microphone

Sounds like an improvement

China based Synco kindly sent me a copy of their product P1L, a wireless microphone to be used with the Apple iPhone. It comes in other variants than this one, but as I have an iPhone 12, this is the version that I asked to have sent for review.

The price on B&H is 89 USD (April 2022), but be aware that taxes and transport costs may apply if you buy online, so make sure to check this before you buy.

If you don’t know why you should be interested in a product like this when you are producing videos, the answer is simple: sound is super important if you want people to watch your videos. It may sound counter intuitive, but the sound is more important than the visuals. If you don’t believe me, try watching an interview on CNN or the like where they are interviewing someone far away with poor sound – I bet that you will have trouble maintaining focus on what is being said. Good sound is vital.

And another point – good sound is often equal to almost no distance between microphone and sound source. The more distance – the more difficult it is to produce great sound. And this is why it makes a lot of sense to have a wireless transmission from your microphone to the receiver, so you can get the microphone as close to your mouth (or the sound source) as possible.

Light and simple

The microphone comes in a small box wrapped in thin plastic, so you know you are the first one to touch the product since it left the factory.

In the box you will find a USB to USB-C cable, a small cable to hook up a headphone to the receiving side and a power bank that both holds and charges the sender and the receiver.

When you open the power bank, you will find the sender (tx) and the receiver (rx) sitting in the drawer.

When you take the transmitter (tx) out of the cradle, it will automatically start up. The receiver (rx, to the left above) switches on as soon as it is inserted into your iPhone. The two combined, i.e. as shown in the picture above, is only 17 grams in total! This must be the lightest sound option out there available!

Above the receiver is inserted to the bottom of the iPhone. It is very important that the connectors on the iPhone a free from dust and dirt, as the receiver obviously needs good connection to the iPhone to work properly. The sender and receiver are paired from the factory side, and will connect super fast and show that they are connected by switching on the LEDs on both tx and rx in a “rolling” manner. If there is no connection, the LEDs will switch on and off at the same time, so you get a blinking bar instead of a rolling one.

All this worked out of the box and I had not problems making this work. There is no need for installing an app on the iPhone or the like.

If it does not work and you need the tx and rx to re-connect, simply put both of them in the cradle, close it and hold the button at the end of the power bank in for 3 seconds and more, and the re-connection is made in a matter of seconds. You can see the button to push for 3 seconds above, along with the USB-C connection to charge the power bank.

Charging the tx and rx? Happens automatically when you put them in position in the power bank.

The microphone comes with a little spring laden clip that allow you to attach it easily to your clothing. In the image above I have attached it to my iPhone just to illustrate how it works. The microphone sits on top of the sender, i.e. to the rightmost above.

Above you see the transmitter with the hole into the microphone closest to the camera. The clip to attach it to clothing is now at the bottom of the image.

Once you have put the receiver into the iPhone and attached the sender to your clothing – you now have an operational wireless microphone! There is no option for adjusting the sound level, so you will have to do so in post processing if you desire, but I found that it does a good job selecting a good sound level, as long as there is around 15-20 centimeters between the microphone and your mouth.

The sound is really good and pleasing. You can hear very clearly what is being said and I like the result. I did however find that when on the beach or other windy places, I missed the option to mount a “dead cat” to reduce wind noise. Also, it would have been good if there had been a connector to allow me to use an alternative microphone, so I just used the sender/receiver setup, but maybe this is not a fair request for a product at this price point.

Synco promises up to 5 hours of operating time with the microphone on – I must admit that I have not tested this part, as it is much more than what I need. This also applies to the reach – Synco promises that the setup will work with 150 meters (!) between microphone and receiver if line of sight, and 50 meters otherwise. I have tested it and found that it delivers to promise. Just like with the battery, this is MUCH more than I will ever need.

There is an option to listen in to your own recording while recording and that is what the small adapter is for. However, it gives a cabled connection to the receiving side, and hence the whole point with the wireless setup is lost. I think this option is only relevant for studio usage.

Finally I have not tested the voice effect. I think it is a bit of a gimmick for a serious product, so I have simply ignored this feature. I prefer to do my post processing of sound in Premiere Pro and the like, and hence have no need for this feature.

Conclusion

Below my list of pros and cons. I really like this product for its ease of use, being super light, producing great sound and not breaking the bank. If you use your iPhone for video recording, this product could lift the quality of your sound to a new level. And for such use case, I can recommend this product.

Pros:

Price / value
Good sound
Light solution (17 grams)
Long reach (150 meters LOS, 50 meters NLOS)
Easy to use – starts and connects easily
Charging case included
USB-C for charging
Monitoring option (although only for studio use)

Cons:

No option for mounting noise reduction / dead cat
No option for using own microphone
Connection to iPhone seems fragile if dropped accidentally
Sound effects a bit unnecessary for my usage

Review: Viltrox AF 33mm f/1.4 APS-C lens for the Nikon Z-mount

Viltrox is a Shenzhen based company in the People’s Republic of China. They have produced lenses since 2019. The company was founded back in 2009 and also does many other photography related products like adapters, lights and monitors.

Despite its young age in the lens line of business, Viltrox produces APS-C lenses for both Sony, Canon and Fujifilm. The lens in review here is the Viltrox 33 mm 1.4 prime for the Nikon Z mount. The Z mount is used by Nikon in their mirrorless series of camera bodies (say Z50 or Z6ii), and hence this lens cannot be used with Nikon DSLRs that use the older F-mount.

Introduction to this lens

You can get a 23mm and a 56mm lens for the Z-mount as well, but I chose to take a closer look at the 33 mm. You can read more about the alternatives here.

Viltrox kindly sent me a copy for review.

The Viltrox lens mounted on the Nikon Z50 camera body

You probably already know that due to the crop factor, a 33mm APS-C lens is a 33×1.5=49.4 mm full frame equivalent. In other words, it is a nifty fifty 50mm, one of the most versatile general purpose focal lengths. Primes are more simple constructions than zooms, and hence often both cheaper, lighter and sharper than zooms, but I will stay clear of the pros and cons of primes vs zooms in this review and just assume that you are in the market for a 50 mm FF equivalent APS-C prime lens for the Nikon Z-mount.

You can use this lens on a full frame body like the Nikon Z6, but as it is intended for APS-C, you will either only use a fraction of the sensor of the FF camera (DX crop) or you will experience heavy vignetting where the corners are very dark. So in this review I have only tested the Viltrox lens on my Nikon Z50 – a little APS-C camera that I use a lot.

First look

The first thing I noticed was the weight of the package with the lens – around 300 grams! That may not sound like much, but relative to other APS-C lenses it is quite some! I like heavy lenses as it signals lots of glass and metal, and this lens is exactly like that – all metal and glass; even the lens hood is made of metal – no plastic here! Wonderful!

The aperture ring is here set to "A" and that means the aperture is controlled from the camera. As soon as you turn the ring, the lens takes over the aperture control. — The aperture ring is here set to “A” and that means the aperture is controlled from the camera. As soon as you turn the ring, the lens takes over the aperture control.

The solid build quality continues with the manual focus ring which is wide and easy to grip, and dampened just enough to give a bit of resistance without making the ring difficult to turn.

You can select the aperture on the lens by turning a click less ring close to the camera. If you turn it all the way to the right, so the mark is aligned with the red A, the lens allows you to select the aperture on the front command dial as you are used to, but as soon as you start turning the ring, the lens takes over control. I find that this works really well, and many Fuji shooters will love this feature. It will take me some time to get used to the lack of clicks on the ring.

The lens has a 52mm filter thread and there are no external parts that move due to the Internal focusing mechanism, making the use of filters easy. For the price point around 280 USD I did not expect to find autofocus (AF), but my expectations were surpassed, and the AF is both fast and silent.

Demanding videographers with microphones close to the camera may pick up a bit of noise from the motor, but the rest of us will be very happy with both the speed and the silence of the AF system in this lens. Perhaps needless to say, the lens comes with no stabilization – not that I would find it necessary in a lens this fast.

You can see the aperture blades at the center of the lens - here closed down. — You can see the aperture blades at the center of the lens – here closed down.

On the rear of the lens I found no rubber gaskets to give weather sealing and instead I found a little USB-C connector for future software updates. It is of course super useful when Viltrox is to push out new versions of the lens software either as improvements or to keep up with whatever changes Nikon may do. But it does certainly not give the impression of a lens that will withstand heavy rain or the elements on a stormy day at the beach. So I will not grab this lens for heavy weather conditions, unless wrapped in a plastic bag or similar to give protection from the elements. In all fairness, the Nikon Z50 is not weather sealed either, but I just think it would have been nice if Viltrox had gone to some length to protect the interface between the lens and camera from dust and moisture.

Use

The lens clicks onto the Nikon Z50 body like any other Nikon Z-mount lens. And from there on it just works. The AF is fast and silent and works in tandem with the Nikon camera body and I cannot tell the difference between a Nikon lens and a Viltrox lens in this regard.

The manual focus ring is big and wide and easy to use – I like the way it is dampened a bit but not too much and the focus peaking highlights makes manual override a pleasure. The only thing to get used to is the lack of clicks on the aperture ring, but I simply put the lens in mode “A” and control the aperture from the camera body.

This is a lens you will get used to in a matter of minutes.

Sharpness

Without bothering you with the more technical testing presented in a MTF chart, I can reveal that the sharpness of this lens is quite impressive, especially center sharpness. As with any lens that opens up as wide as f/1.4, you would expect some softness wide open and the lens to get sharper when stopping down.

But this lens has impressive center sharpness also when fully open, whereas the corner sharpness leaves something to be desired. As soon as you stop down, then also the corners become very sharp.

Bokeh

There are 9 slightly rounded aperture blades. I prefer straight blades as I like sunstars when shooting stopped down into the sun, but on the other hand the rounded blades help produce rounded bokeh, so I guess you can’t have both. Aperture ranges from super fast f/1.4 down to f/16.

Focusing at the lights in the foreground and shooting fully open at f/1.4, the fireplace in the background is rendered out of focus beautifully.

With a lens this fast, I guess that many want to use it for rendering beautiful blurred backgrounds. I find the bokeh absolutely beautiful and the 9 rounded blades certainly deliver according to my expectation. I know that bokeh experts will look for both cat’s eyes and onion rings, but I am not that advanced or demanding, and I simply find that the bokeh this lens produces when wide open is all I need.

Chromatic aberration

We all have different preferences and different things that are important to us. And when it comes to CA, I am one of the more demanding photographers. The reason being that I often shoot into the sun or in high contrast situations, and fixing CA in post processing is simply a nuisance. And on top of that, LR often does not remove the CA and I have to use an eyedropper tool and manual setting to get an acceptable result.

Unfortunately this lens suffers from CA and it is quite significant. The CA shows both as coloring of the letters when doing the classic “book” shot and also as clear lines of coloring when I do my party trick number one: shooting curly tinfoil in stark light. I know it is a brutal test, but my use of lenses when it comes to contrast is also brutal.

Minimum focus distance

The minimum focus distance for this lens is around 40cm according to the spec sheet, although I managed to get down to around 38cm in my own testing, measuring from the position of the sensor to the subject matter.

The little shell on a big stone. Would be nice to move closer to the subject in this case

I managed to focus around 38cms as the closest minimum focus distance.

If you, like me, like to fill the frame with your subject, then a minimum focus distance of 38-40 cm is a lot, and you will find it annoying that you cannot get closer to the subject. In the picture with the little shell on the big black stone, you can see an example where it would have been nice to move closer to the subject. I had hoped for more, but if you shoot landscapes or portraits entirely, then the minimum focus distance may not be important to you at all.

Color rendition

I am very cautious when it comes to an assessment of color rendition, simply because it is super subjective and subject very much to personal preference and what color cast you are used to. If you have ever tried working with post processing of an image where you e.g. change the color temperature a lot, then take a 10 minute break and go for a cup of coffee and then come back to study your own work, only to find that the color rendition has been tweaked so badly that you immediately think “why did I not see this – it looks horrible?”. But the answer is that you slowly got used to it as you worked with the picture.

Beautiful sunset with the silhouette of a boat.

Long story short, then I think you will like the color rendition of this lens. I will give you some links to Flick towards the end of the review, so you can see some landscape images. The good image quality of Flickr can hopefully help you assess what you think of the color rendition.

Distortion

Back in the day when there was film in the camera, distortion was a big thing to avoid, as it would sit on your film after the shot was taken and there was very little you could do about it. With a digital image, lens profiles and smart post processing software, the removal of distortion is but a click away. And that is why I think that lens producers in their work to design the best lenses, simply let go of the ambition to contain or diminish distortion – there are other design criteria to give priority.

In that vein, I have not tested the lens for distortion. And even if I could not remove the problem with a few clicks in LR, I think that you will find that distortion – irrespective of barrel or pincushion – seldom is visible, unless you are a demanding architecture or real estate photographer that needs a straight line to be straight.

Focus breathing

Testing for focus breathing is really easy: Grab the manual focus ring and turn it back and forth and check in the viewfinder if the field of view changes, i.e. if it looks like the lens zooms in and out while you change focus point. If your lens has focus breathing, then you will see the field of view changing – your lens is “breathing” as it focuses near and far.

For videographers the absence of focus breathing is vital, as they often change focus in a scene where they need to shift focus from one actor to another. And exactly in those situations you don’t want the field of view to change. You want it to be rock steady.

I am happy to say that this lens has NO focus breathing, or at least so little that I cannot spot it. In combination with the fast and silent AF, the lack of focus breathing checks an important requirement for videographers.

Conclusion

I like a lens that delivers great value for money, and this lens checks that box in full. The Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 is a breath of fresh air to the Nikon Z-mount cameras, as you now can get a fast lens with great AF for a price well below the Nikon alternatives. And Viltrox did not spend all their focus on the inside of the lens – the build quality of the lens is great and the manual focus ring is a pleasure to use.

At this price point I did not expect to find AF, but it is there and works well, and further at this price point the expectation to find VR would be a bit unreasonable if you ask me – so I have put lack of VR as a point not assessed. I think at this price point it would be unfair to bring it up as a con.

Nobody’s perfect, and this lens has some weak points. One is corner sharpness that is less of an issue for me (and should be if you want to use this lens for say street photography or portraiture). Another is the strong CA in high contrast situations and the minimum focus distance that makes it hard to fill the frame with your subject. These are clear limitations for me that will influence what I will use this lens for.

So can I recommend this lens? Yes, if minimum focus distance and corner sharpness wide open is less of a concern for you, then this is a fast and well built value for money AF lens that can take up the 50mm FF equivalent spot in your APS-C prime lens collection for your Nikon Z-mount.

Pro

Price / value for money
Build quality
AF speed and silence
Maximum aperture at f/1.4
Bokeh
Centre sharpness
No focus breathing

Cons

Corner sharpness wide open
Chromatic aberrations
Minimum focus distance
No weather sealing

Not assessed

Color rendition
Distortion
Lack of VR

Video link

Sample images

Using a grey card and histogram to exposure correctly in Manual mode

Manual exposure

There can be many reasons why you want to control your exposure manually – the scene may contain a lot of bright or dark that confuses the automated metering system, you are shooting with flashes in manual mode or you just want to control the exposure because you like this way of working. Whatever the reason, there is a way to secure correct exposure using a grey card (18%) and the histogram in the camera.

Right in the middle

One of my flashes came with a grey card in credit card size. Actually it came with 3 cards, one white, one black and one grey. You only need the grey one, but just for the fun of it, I will use all 3 in the following.

The grey card to the left, the black card top and the white card right. The fact that the white card appears a bit grey would indicate that this image is slightly underexposed.

The grey card returns light in such a way that if your exposure is correct, then the grey card will produce a peak in the histogram right in the middle of the diagram. The histogram shows the distribution of light in the scene, with completely black areas to the left, completely white to the right and everything in between somewhere in the middle. The height of the graph shows the number of pixels in relation to the entire scene. So if you have a very dark scene, then the histogram is “lefty”, i.e. it looks like a mountain appears in the left side of the histogram whereas the right side is more flatland.

The simple idea is now that you take a test image of the scene, study the histogram and if it is off center, then you adjust the camera settings to make the grey card appear in the middle. If you are in Live View on your DSLR or have a mirrorless camera, you can actually see the histogram update real time as you adjust the camera settings, and hence no need to do a test shot unless you want to.

You adjust the camera settings meaning ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. If shooting in manual mode is new to you, you can follow the link and see how it is done on a Nikon D750. The principles are much the same across different camera brands, and I think you can get the gist of it by reading the post in the link.

In the example above, you can see the 3 cards on a whit table and top right the histogram. Yes, it is a bit small, but you can see that there are 3 peaks – one the the very left originating from the black card, then the peak in the middle from the grey card and then the wider peak to the right, that is a combination of the white card AND the table behind the cards. This table is also white, but not as bright as the card. So the rightmost peak is also wider than the other two, as it is a combination of the table and the white card that span across a wider range.

In this example the grey card peak is not in the middle, but to slightly to the left, which is a sign of underexposure. Had it been to the right – then overexposure. So in this case the camera settings needs to be adjusted to let in more light, say leaving the shutter open for longer time or opening up the aperture. After the adjustment, a new test shot is needed to see if the desired effect has set in. If not, then redo until the grey peak is right in the middle.

So this is really all there is to it. Given that the ambient light does not change or the flash settings remain constant, you can now shoot a series of images without worrying about the exposure settings on your camera. I find this super useful for product shoots and indoor portrait shoots.

Nikon D700: Image file formats explained

All about the data…

The options available for storing files on the Nikon D700 can be a bit overwhelming, so I try here to give a short overview, so you quickly get a “drivers license” to the options available. It is not intended to be a full blown engineer explanation of all the ins and outs of file formats and compression, but a drivers license to help you make some clever decisions without getting too bugged down by technical details.

Resolution and compression

Your Nikon D700 has a 12MP sensor. No matter which format or compression you choose, the source of the data is still the same. And the resolution of the sensor remains the same. What your are changing is the format of the file, how much info is stored about each pixel and how the file is compressed. But not the number of pixels.

Note: You can change the cameras image area between FX and DX format, and within these choose between L, M and S. I will not cover this part here, but always recommend that you go for Large (L) FX format, to give you the most options in post processing. You can always crop the file, if that is to your liking.

RAW format

The D700 stores in RAW format named NEF – Nikon Electronic Format. It is just a format or a way to structure the file. Most software these days like Lightroom or Photoshop can read and work with these files. RAW is the “richest” format you can choose, i.e. all that is recorded by the sensor is also stored in the file. If you don’t like RAW format, then TIFF is an alternative, but if you don’t know what TIFF is or your printer doesn’t insist you send the files in TIFF format, then I would suggest you ignore this option.

You can compress the RAW file to varying degrees. The objective of compression is to save space. Lossless compression is the “lightest” way of compressing that enables your computer to “reverse engineer” the compression back to the amount of information available when the image was taken. In other words, despite the compression, no information is lost. Hence the name. My recommended setting. Uncompressed has the same advantage – no data is lost, but mind you that it takes up a bit more space and that processing time is a bit longer simply because the file is larger.

Compressed RAW saves you around 40-45% of disk space, and you loose very little data. However, you do loose some data, and the original file cannot be recreated. It is in other words a non-reversible algorithm that is applied when the compression is done. If you struggle with card and disk space, i.e. you have too little of it, then this could be a really good option to use for mitigating your space headache. But mind you that the price for memory and disk has only gone one way for many years – down.

Another dimension to the RAW format is the bit depth. Again, it is not related to resolution, but how much information is stored for each pixel. You can choose between 12-bit and 14-bit. It may sound like a small difference, but the number of options explodes exponentially as you add positions for storing information, and hence going from 12 tp 14 bit enables your camera to store MUCH more information. If you in any way shape or form can handle the bigger files that 14 bit generates, then the 14 bit is my recommendation.

JPEG format

JPEG is a very different format from RAW, and the objective is first and foremost to save space and make the file significantly smaller. Not in terms of resolution, but in terms of how much info is stored per pixel. JPEGS were designed to share images via low bandwidth channels and hence compression and small files is the main objective here.

The D700 gives you 3 JPEG options: Fine, Normal and Basic. Basic is where the compression is the biggest and the file is the smallest. Fine is where the compression is the least and the file is the biggest. Normal is the middle of the road alternative sitting somewhere between Fine and Basic. The compression takes data out of the equation. To illustrate: Where a RAW file may store say 100 shades of grey, a JPEG file reduces these to 30 shades of grey in Fine mode and only 10 shades of grey in Basic mode. So the granularity of the shades and the colors will be reduced due to the compression made. JPEG files are rather small also in Fine mode, so if you want to use the JPEG format, I always recommend that you use the format with the least compression: Fine.

Combined formats

You can choose to combine formats, so that the camera records both a RAW and a JPEG file at the same time. I have used this in my post processing so that I load the JPEGs and do a review of the images, mark the ones that I like and then afterwards only import the ones that I like as RAW files. As this is an additional step in the work, I have dropped this way of working and now only shoot and import RAW files. It takes more space both on my camera and my computer, but it saves me for a lot of time, and hence it is to my preference. As they say, time is money.

High dynamic range shooting with a DSLR

Nightclub photography

So I got a question on YouTube related to nightclub photography and how that can be achieved. In order to answer, I will start with the human eye, which has a dynamic range of 21 stops! Even the best cameras ever made can keep up with this performance – for example the acclaimed Nikon D700 “only” has a dynamic range of 13.9 stops according to DXOmark, whereas the very best modern cameras manage to go to 15 stops.

The dynamic range is the ability to distinguish between light intensity in the darkest of the dark and the brightest of the bright at the same time. The fact that it is at the same time is important. You can always underexpose an mage to make sure you preserve the details in the brightest of bright areas. And the other way around, you can always preserve the details in the darkest areas by overexposing the image. But the challenge is to do both at the same time.

A nightclub with both neon lights (super bright), disco light (bright and moving fast) and also dark areas (could be the dancing floor itself or the side of the bar) has an extremely high dynamic range. It is very similar to shooting the moon at night – you both have something very bright and something very dark at the same time. It is like shooting a 100 watts light bulb in a dark room at night.

Metering

Your metering system is likely to very confused if you shoot at a nightclub, especially if you meter with an average method. 95% of the frame is likely to be pitch black, whereas the remaining 5% is super bright. My guess is that your camera, unless you try spot metering or go to manual exposure, will over expose the image to compensate for the dominating dark. Try to experiment with different metering modes or manual exposure to get the exposure as you want it. You can also give exposure compensation a try.

ISO or not

A camera that can go to crazy high ISO values will not help you. Setting ISO high enables you to capture images where there is little light, buy when doing so, the parts where there is light will be over exposed. In other words, you will loose details in the bright areas. Here I ignore the issues related to high ISO such as grain and noise, the point is that even if you can live with these issues, it will not help you much.

Fast lens

A fast lens has the same features as high ISO, but without the grain and the noise. It will take in more light and enable you to shoot at faster shutter speeds all things being equal, but you will have the same issue as with ISO, that it will only push your histogram to the right and you need it to be extended in both sides.

HDR

High Dynamic Range or HDR you probably know from your smartphone. It offers the HDR feature without telling you what it does – it is an integral service that just presents you with the result. But behind the scenes the smartphones takes a series of images, typically some over exposed and others over exposed, and combine them into one picture selecting the correct exposed parts from the different pictures into one. You can do HDR with your DSLR and combine the images in post processing, and this will certainly work. The problem is just that your subject has to stand still while this happens. And disco lights have a tendency not to obey to this wish.

Loosing details

One of my favorite photographers is Sean Tucker. If you study his work, you will see that he often and deliberately looses details in the dark. His motto is to “preserve your highlights”, i.e. preserve the details in the highlights and let the different shades of grey be one big black surface without any detail.

You can loose details in both ends of the spectrum. Which “end” you choose is up to you. I would imagine that loosing details in a neon light would not matter much, suggesting that you should expose for the dark parts, i.e. over exposing to preserve details in the darker parts. But this is of course entirely up to you and what you want to express.

Review: Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson

The art of Seeing

Being a Canadian, Freeman Patterson is perhaps not so well known in Europe or the US as many other leading photographers. But if you look at his resume with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Nature Photography Association and the Miller Brittan Award for Excellence in visual arts, then you start to understand the magnitude and importance of Patterson’s work.

Who is it for?

If you are new to photography and want to learn the basics, then this book is not for you. I would recommend that you instead look towards the books from Bryan F. Peterson or Joel Sartore. The Art of Seeing is much more about the photography process and how you can widen your creativity.

What is it?

The book is organized around 3 main themes:

Learning to observe
Learning to imagine and
Learning to express.

Especially the last part, where Patterson talks about visual design, was a an eye opener for me. I have the same feeling when reading the book The Art of War by Lao Tzu, that even though I do not yet understand every sentence or every paragraph in the book, I have a very distinct feeling that it is a super condensed text that presents the essence of years and years of experience. I have read the book once, but want to read it several times to make sure I get all the points.

Can I recommend it?

Yes is the short answer. I have read many books about photography as this blog documents, and this is probably one of the best. The book has been developed to support a series of workshops that Patterson held way back when, but you can still make use of the exercises described in the book of you want to have the full benefit of the book. Even if you don’t do all the exercises or if you only want to read the theory, I find that this is an excellent book about the photography process and it comes with my highest recommendation.

Shopping link

Freeman Patterson, Photography and the Art of seeing

Video link

Review: XTAR GoPro battery charger on-the-move

Charging out and about

The XTAR GP2 is designed to give you extra power for your GoPro 5/6/7/8/9/10 while you are out and about. It works very much like the cradle for my iPods – it is a storage case and a power bank at the same time.

My iPods next to the XTAR GP2. They solve much the same need: A carry case and a power bank at the same time.

At home

You simply charge the GP2 while at home, and then the extra battery in the GP2 will enable you to charge 2 GoPro batteries when on the move. Notice that when the GP2 is unplugged, i.e. out and about, it only charges one battery at a time, but it automatically starts charging the second battery as soon as it is done charging the first one. When powered via the USB-C connector, it charges both itself and docked batteries at the same time.

The XTAR GP2 itself is charging here. There is a small USB-C connector on the rear to feed the power to the GP2. Notice the little rubberized door that can seal off the connector from dust and moist.

My copy came with a wall charger (rightmost) and a cable to fit into the USB-C socket on the rear of the GP2 dock, but if you already have a USB-C charger, you may not need this.

The indicators are easy to learn: The GoPro batteries show red for charging and green when fully charged. The XTAR GP2 itself has a 4 bar indicator all with white LED’s – 25% for each step. In the example below the GP2 is fully charged, as is the battery to the right, whereas the battery to the left is charging.

Battery to the left is charging (red). The GP2 is fully charged (4 bars). The battery to the right is fully charged.

Older batteries

To work with the older and smaller batteries for the GoPro 5/6/7/8, you have to buy an additional battery holder that makes the smaller batteries fit snugly into the same space as the batteries for the 9 and 10.

Battery for the GoPro 5/6/7/8 mounted in the holder, so the battery gets the same size as the battery for the GoPro 9 and 10.

There is a little hole in the holder, so you can keep the smaller battery and the holder together as one unit, this is especially useful when you pull the battery out of the charger.

The GoPro 7 battery to the right and the battery holder to the left. Notice the hole in the battery holder that fits the handle on the battery, so that you can pull holder and battery out of the charger as one unit.

Memory

Another nice feature is the ability to store 2 memory cards inside the XTAR GP2, so you have a carry case for both power and memory.

The XTAR GP2 charger right, my battery for the GoPro 8/9/10 to the left.

Use

The lid on the case closes using magnetism, and it works really well. In order to fit into my messy camera bag, I close the lid with a rubber band so I am sure the lid stays closed during transport. I would hate to start searching for micro SD-cards in my not-too-orderly camera bag!

Price and place

Here early March 2022 the product has not yet been launched, but it will happen very soon. The retail price is expected to be around US$40, but if you are one of the first to buy, you may find that it comes with a nice discount. XTAR plan to sell the product via Kickstarter first, then on XTARdirect (XTARS homepage where you can make purchases), then Amazon store and finally Aliexpress store is planned.

Conclusion

This product quickly made its way to my camera bag. I can now have one battery in my GoPro 10, and 2 ready in the GP2, and then I can do a round robin to continue to have power in the GoPro. The manual says that the GP2 gives 12 hours running time for the GoPro camera – I have not tested it, but it is also far beyond my needs.

I find the XTART GP2 to be a relatively small and light product that fits into my camera bag with no problem. It solves my worry to run out of both power and memory, and as such I can really recommend this product if you find yourself in the same situation. I also like that the design enables you to use this product with the smaller batteries for the GoPro 5/6/7.

The only improvement I can think of is that it would be nice to be able to lock the lid, but for now a rubber band takes care of that.

All in all I can recommend this product.

Find more information about this product via this link.

Fast!

No-nonsense

Sharpness

Aberrations

Distortion and vignetting

Flare control

Focus breathing

Bokeh and sun stars

Conclusion

Related reading

Video link

Presentation and specs

CPU contacts

Sharpness and contrast

Speed

Color rendition

Minimum focus distance

Focus breathing

Aberrations

Vignetting and distortion

Flare

Bokeh

Conclusion

Video link

Related reading

Definitive

Comprehensive

Conclusion

Related reading

Sounds like an improvement

Light and simple

Conclusion

More reading

Introduction to this lens

First look

Use

Sharpness

Bokeh

Chromatic aberration

Minimum focus distance

Color rendition

Distortion

Focus breathing

Conclusion

Pro

Cons

Not assessed

Video link

Sample images

Related reading

Manual exposure

Right in the middle

Related reading

All about the data…

Resolution and compression

RAW format

JPEG format

Combined formats

Related reading

Nightclub photography

Metering

ISO or not

Fast lens

HDR

Loosing details

The art of Seeing

Who is it for?

What is it?

Can I recommend it?

Shopping link

Video link

Related reading

Charging out and about

At home

Older batteries

Memory

Use

Price and place

Conclusion

Related reading