Tag: Nikon

Sony A7RII versus Nikon D850 – noise

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There’s a lot of noise about the Nikon D850 right now but few direct comparisons. One problem I have with some early reports is that new D850 owners are most likely to be existing D810 or perhaps D750 or D5 owners. Any comparisons are therefore being made with earlier Nikon sensors.

Recently a Nikon ambassador whom I respect greatly placed some .NEF raw files into a Dropbox for fellow professionals to examine. Since this article effectively criticises Nikon, I will not reproduce anything recognisable. I naturally grabbed the files and processed them with my usual care in Adobe Camera Raw. This includes making adjustments to the Sharpness and Noise Reduction settings depending on the ISO used. My standard with Sony, Nikon and most other files is to reduce the radius for sharpening to the minimum (0.5) leaving the basic settings of 25 for sharpness and 25 for detail untouched, with no masking. I also don’t touch the Colour Noise controls at all, and usually only adjust the first Luminance control leaving Luminance Contrast and Luminance Detail at default. This first Luminance control tends to set to zero for ISO 100 (or the minimum for a given camera), 10 to 15 around 400 to 800, 25 at 1000 to 2000, 30 to 35 at 2500 to 4000, 50 at 6400 and never above this level.

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Equipment Reviews, NEX System, Sony Digital Cameras

Nikon 1 system makes a splash

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AW1SplashLogoVisible
How many outlets will use that original headline, I wonder, and what inspiration leads to it…

AHN6000_AW1

Today, Nikon released the world’s first interchangeable lens digital camera – if you ignore the military version of the Nikonos RS underwater SLR produced with Kodak. Unlike that specialised system, the AW1 is intended for the consumer and is extremely affordable. Available in black, white or silver metal finish for £749 with standard 11mm-27.5mm F3.5-5.6 Zoom lens (equivalent, in 35mm terms, to 30mm to 74mm) which is rated for 15m submersion, or £949 with the 10mm F2.8 and the zoom, with the 10mm supporting 20m submersion.

AW1_11_27.5_SL_SLup

Part of NIkon’s 1-series, the AW1 sports the hybrid AF 14Mp sensor, high-speed shooting (now 15fps with continuous AF) and good high ISO abilities that defined the CX-mount family from the start, with some enhancements inherited from newer models and ideal for underwater use. First, though, let’s look at the mount that makes the AW1 so unique.

_DSC7731

It’s very similar, in concept, to the Nikonos RS mount, but reversed. Even the familiar grease to maintain the seals is included. Naturally, changing the lenses underwater is not possible, as the sensor and electronics are exposed – and any foreign body such as hair or sand will stand a chance of compromising that seal, so Nikon is placing a great deal of trust in their consumers’ ability to understand and maintain the camera properly.

As a member of the CX/1 family, the AW1’s physical lens mount and registration is unchanged, but the body includes a greater protrusion for the flange with a rubber gasket. On the new underwater lenses, the mount is recessed, with the extension of the barrel including a silicone liner. Mounting the underwater lenses is satisfyingly difficult, making it clear that this is sealing to back up the claims of 15m submersion.

AW11_27.5_SL_1

Aiding the underwater experience, the 11mm-27.5mm zoom has a grippy metal zoom collar for most of the barrel, and the AW1 uses an innovative ‘press and tilt’ mode selection – simply hold the mode button, and a virtual pendulum hangs on the LCD to indicate the mode. Tilt the camera body clockwise or vice-versa and it indicates one of the automatic modes for video, creative shooting etc. and selects it without any need for additional buttons or hands. This also eradicates the issue with the early Nikon 1, where the mode wheel could be knocked into a new shooting mode when extracting it from a bag or pocket.

AW1_WH_back

An underwater 10mm prime lens has also been introduced, which can be submerged to 20m.

AW10_BK_1

 

The AW1 does not make existing CX mount lenses suitable for use underwater, and the underwater lenses will not mount on existing CX bodies such as the V2. Yet the flexibility of the system does allow F-mount lenses via the adaptor, so opting for the AW1 really gives very little away in overall ability.

Other technical improvements include GPS/GLONASS support with compass, depth and altitude meters, shockproof from 2m capability, and an underwater Speedlight (the SB-N10) will also be introduced, though the camera’s own pop up flash can be used underwater. Several accessories have been announced, including the obligatory bright rubber housing which includes a grippy collar for the lens.

CF_N6000_OR

We had the opportunity to try a pre-production sample for water, drop resistance and handling, though not photography for publication as the firmware is yet to be finalised, with the camera release date set for 10th October. The silver metal body was particularly attractive, and it seems that at this point, this is where the Nikon 1 system and the CX mount come into their own – offering something truly unique, with a form factor and range of abilities that suits the intended user perfectly.

– Richard Kilpatrick

AW1 Specifications:

Type
Digital camera with support for interchangeable lenses
Lens mount
Nikon waterproof 1 mount
Effective angle of view
Approx. 2.7x lens focal length (35mm format equivalent)
Effective pixels
Effective pixels
14.2 million
Image sensor
Image sensor
13.2 mm x 8.8 mm CMOS sensor (Nikon CX format)
Storage
Image size (pixels)

Still images (auto, best moment capture, and all creative modes other than Easy panorama; aspect ratio 3:2)

  • 4608 x 3072
  • 3456 x 2304
  • 2304 x 1536

Still images
(Normal panorama, camera panned horizontally; aspect ratio 120:23)

  • 4800 x 920

Still images
(Normal panorama, camera panned vertically; aspect ratio 8:25)

  • 1536 x 4800

Still images
(Wide panorama, camera panned horizontally; aspect ratio 240:23)

  • 9600 x 920

Still images
(Wide panorama, camera panned vertically; aspect ratio 4:25)

  • 1536 x 9600

Still images
(taken during movie recording, aspect ratio 3:2)

  • 4608 x 3072 (1080/60i, 1080/30p)
  • 1280 x 856 (720/60p, 720/30p)

Still images
(Motion Snapshots; aspect ratio 16:9)

  • 4608 x 2592
File format
  • NEF (RAW): 12-bit, compressed
  • JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1:4), normal (approx. 1:8), or basic (approx. 1:16) compression
  • NEF (RAW) + JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
Picture Control system
Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; selected Picture Control can be modified; storage for custom Picture Controls
Media
SD (Secure Digital), SDHC, and SDXC memory cards
File system
DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) 2.0, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format for Digital Still Cameras) 2.3, PictBridge
Shooting modes
Shooting modes
auto; creative, with a choice of the following options: P, S, A, M, underwater, night landscape, night portrait, backlighting, easy panorama, soft, miniature effect, and selective color; best moment capture (slow view and Smart Photo Selector), advanced movie (HD-P, S, A, M only-and slow motion), Motion Snapshot
Shutter
Type
Electronic shutter
Speed
1/16,000-30 s in steps of 1/3 EV; BulbNote: Bulb ends automatically after approximately 2 minutes
Flash sync speed
Synchronizes with shutter at X=1/60 s or slower
Release
Modes
  • Single frame, continuous
  • Self-timer
Frame advance rate
Approx. 5, 15, 30, or 60 fps
Self-timer
2 s, 5 s, 10 s
Exposure
Metering
TTL metering using image sensor
Metering method
  • Matrix
  • Center-weighted: Meters 4.5 mm circle in center of frame
  • Spot: Meters 2 mm circle centered on selected focus area
Mode
  • P programmed auto with flexible program;
  • S shutter priority auto;
  • A aperture-priority auto;
  • M manual;
  • scene auto selector
Exposure compensation
-3-+3 EV in increments of 1/3 EV
Exposure lock
Luminosity locked at metered value when shutter-release button is pressed halfway
ISO sensitivity
(Recommended Exposure Index)
ISO 160-6400 in steps of 1 EV; auto ISO sensitivity control (ISO 160-6400, 160-3200, 160-800) available (user controlled when P, S, A, M, or underwater is selected in creative mode)
Active D-Lighting
On, off
Focus
Autofocus
Hybrid autofocus (phase-detection/contrast-detect AF); AF-assist illuminator
Lens servo
  • Autofocus (AF): Single AF (AF-S); continuous AF (AF-C); auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); fulltime AF (AF-F)
  • Manual focus (MF)
AF-area mode
Single-point, single-point (center), auto-area, subject tracking
Focus area
  • Single-point AF: 135 focus areas; the center 73 areas support phase-detection AF
  • Auto-area AF: 41 focus areas
Focus lock
Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single AF)
Face priority
On, off
Flash
Built-in flash
Manual pop-up
Guide Number (GN)
Approx. 5/16 (m/ft, ISO 100, 20 °C / 68 °F; at ISO 160, Guide Number is approx. 6.3/20.7)
Control
i-TTL flash control using image sensor
Mode
Fill flash, red-eye reduction, fill flash + slow sync, red-eye reduction + slow sync, rear curtain + slow sync, rear-curtain sync, off
Flash compensation
-3-+1 EV in increments of 1/3 EV
Flash-ready indicator
Lights when built-in flash unit is fully charged
White balance
Auto, underwater, incandescent, fluorescent, direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual, all except preset manual with fine tuning
Movie
Metering
TTL metering using image sensor
Metering method
  • Matrix
  • Center-weighted: Meters 4.5 mm circle in center of frame
  • Spot: Meters 2 mm circle centered on selected focus area
Frame size (pixels)/
recording rate

HD movies (aspect ratio 16:9)

  • 1920 x 1080 / 60 i (59.94 fields/s*)
  • 1920 x 1080 / 30 p (29.97 fps)
  • 1280 x 720 / 60 p (59.94 fps)
  • 1280 x 720 / 30 p (29.97 fps)

Slow-motion movies (aspect ratio 8:3)

  • 640 x 240 / 400 fps (plays at 30 p / 29.97 fps)
  • 320 x 120 / 1200 fps (plays at 30 p / 29.97 fps)

Motion Snapshot (aspect ratio 16:9)

  • 1920 x 1080 / 60 p (59.94 fps) (plays at 24 p / 23.976 fps)
File format
MOV
Video compression
H.264 / MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
Audio recording format
AAC
Audio recording device
Built-in stereo microphone; sensitivity adjustable
Monitor
Monitor
7.5 cm (3-in.), approx. 921k-dot, TFT LCD with brightness adjustment
Playback
Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9, or 72 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie and panorama playback, slide show, histogram display, auto image rotation, and rating option
Interface
USB
Hi-Speed USB
HDMI output
Type C mini-pin HDMI connector
Electronic compass/location data/altimeter/depth gauge
Electronic compass
16 headings (with 3-axis accelerometer attitude correction and automatic offset adjustment)
Location data
  • Receiving frequency: 1575.4200 MHz (GPS)/ 1598.0625-1605.3750 MHz (GLONASS)
  • Geodesics: WGS84
Altimeter
Operating range approximately -500-+4500 m (-1640-+14,760 ft)
Depth gauge
Operating range approximately 0-20 m (0-65.6 ft)
Supported languages
Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Power source
Battery
One rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL20 battery
AC adapter
EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5C power connector (available separately)
Tripod socket
1/4-in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions/Weight
Dimensions (W x H x D)
Approx. 113.3 x 71.5 x 37.5 mm (4.5 x 2.9 x 1.5 in.), excluding projections
Weight
Approx. 356 g (12.6 oz) with battery and memory card but without body cap or O-ring protector; approx. 313 g (11.1 oz), camera body only
Operating environment
Temperature
-10 °C -+40 °C (+14 °F-104 °F) on land, 0 °C- +40 °C (+32 °F-104 °F) in water
Humidity
85% or less (no condensation)
Shockproof, waterproof, and dustproof performance
Shockproof performance 1, 2
Has passed in-house tests 3 to MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5: Shock standard
Waterproof performance 2
In-house tests have demonstrated JIS/IEC Class 8 (IPX8) waterproof performance; can be used at depths of up to 15 m (49 ft) for up to 60 minutes
Operating depth 2
Maximum 15 m (49 ft)
Dustproof performance 2
In-house tests have demonstrated JIS/IEC Class 6 (IP6X) dustproof performance
  • * Sensor output is about 60 fps.
  1. Does not apply when built-in flash is raised.
  2. With special-purpose waterproof lens attached.
  3. Using a test method derived from MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5: Shock, the product is dropped from a height of 200 cm (6.6 ft) onto a plywood surface 5 cm (2 in.) thick. Exterior deformation and surface damage are not tested. These in-house tests do not constitute blanket guarantees of invulnerability to damage or destruction.
  • Unless otherwise stated, all figures are for a camera with a fully-charged battery operating at the temperature specified by the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA): 23 ±3 °C (73.4 ±5.4 °F).
  • Nikon reserves the right to change the specifications of the hardware and software described in this manual at any time and without prior notice. Nikon will not be held liable for damages that may result from any mistakes that this page may contain.

 

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News

Nikon to sell direct to consumer in Europe

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Following the lead of Sony Style – the direct selling mechanism which allows Sony to retail direct to on-line customers – Nikon is to roll out a brand new on-line dealing platform, with a channel for retailers ordering Nikon gear but also a direct shop for consumers.

The company has signed a deal with hybris, a supplier of multichannel vendor software, to install hybris Multichannel Commerce Suite for Nikon Europe (www.europe-nikon.com).

Nikon made the following statements through a press release issued by hybris (www.hybris.com)

Laurent Christen, Head of Direct Sales at Nikon Europe, explained, “This is our first official pan-European-driven direct sales initiative. It’s a strategic tenet of Nikon’s commercial strategy that enables our loyal dealers to purchase Nikon gear online, provides our assortment of imaging products directly to consumers across the Continent, and supports better our nationally based distributors. This is a truly multichannel scheme – not only does it underpin our online B2C and B2B businesses, it also includes sales over the phone and our internal Nikon store which provides merchandising and PoS materials to our multiple European geographies.  For a multichannel program on this scale, hybris was the ideal technology partner for us to help facilitate this.”

‘Nikon DealerNet’ provides dealers across Europe with their own personal B2B purchasing solution fully equipped with critical product and personal pricing information in real-time. In addition to the eCommerce solution, ‘Nikon DealerNet’ also offers dealers a new streamlined ordering process and enables them to see and manage orders, track shipments and invoices. The ‘Nikon Store’ is a series of online stores for consumers enabling them to purchase Nikon’s high quality imaging and sport optics equipment directly from the Company.  Working in fair alignment with Nikon’s commitment to its business partners, these stores offer a response to consumers seeking direct interaction with the Nikon brand.  It provides an additional choice for consumers to order their favorite gear, accessories, software or merchandise products.

Nikon has also confirmed, today, that the company will be at Focus on Imaging and will for the first time concentrate entirely on professional equipment, showcasing the D4 and D800 and new lenses. Focus has previously been seen as a 50/50 consumer and pro show.

 

 

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News

60 millionth Nikon lens made

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Nikon celebrates a significant milestone this month, with the production of its 60 millionth NIKKOR interchangeable lens. The landmark figure is the culmination of over 50 years of Nikon’s commitment to supplying professional and amateur photographers alike with the best possible equipment.

Five million lenses have been produced in the last seven months alone, after total production of NIKKOR lenses reached 55 million in August 2010. Since then Continue reading »

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News, Press Releases, Uncategorized

Nikon's Consumer Range expands – D5100 & ME-1

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Nikon D5100April 5th sees the announcement of the fourth Nikon “thousand” model, the D5100. Following on from the D7000 and D3100 launches last year – both excellent cameras that introduced new sensors to Nikon’s range and left the D5000 mid-ranger looking a bit orphaned, the D5100 takes the logical step of bringing the larger 16.2Mp sensor from the D7000 into a cheaper, more consumer-oriented camera. Nikon have sensibly retained the swivel screen of the 5000, albeit with a more conventional side-hinged layout rather than the quirky (and tripod-unfriendly) base hinge of the original, and introduced a new body design with a slightly aggressive edge to the top plate. All of this is very predictable – with an older 12Mp sensor the D5000 was looking increasingly uncompetitive (despite the fantastic results it’s capable of delivering) whilst the D3100 introduced 1080p video – 14.2Mp and 1080p in the model below the former consumer video star couldn’t last!

So with the D5100, priced at £669, rising to £779 for lens kits, Nikon have given the sensor of the D7000 and the size and flexibility of the D5000. It makes for a comprehensive lineup. What else has Nikon brought along to the party…

Continue reading »

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Uncategorized

Alpha and NEX overtake Nikon UK DSLR sales

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Chris Cheeseman writes in Amateur Photographer, reporting on figures released by photo industry analysts GfK, that Sony interchangeable lens camera sales in the UK have overtaken Nikon, moving the company into second position behind Canon.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/canon_and_nikon_lose_ground_as_camera_wars_hot_up_news_305118.html

In the Japanese home market, Canon remains top, Nikon second and Sony is third with over 15% of the market share. No attempt is made by AP to analyse the importance of Sony having a market share which is roughly half that of Nikon and Cano respectively, in that market.

The figures relate to the year 2010 – a calendar year – and it needs to be considered that Sony’s NEX system effectively went on sale slightly before midway during that term, and the SLT system one quarter later. Some Sony models were only introduced after photokina, in the final three months of the year.

In fact, it’s almost impossible to judge Sony’s impact when 2010 is viewed as a year rather than in terms of monthly or quarterly figures. If a graph was to be drawn with four lines on it – Nikon, Canon, Sony and ‘everything else’ – it looks as if the 11% overall decline in Nikon and Canon would contrast with a steep late year climb from Sony.


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Cameras (DSLR), News, NEX System

New ultra-fast, multi-terabyte memory cards on horizon

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November 30, 2010 — SanDisk Corporation, Sony Corporation and Nikon Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that address the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)*, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.
Professional photography and High Definition (HD) video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Sony and Nikon proposed a new card specification Continue reading »

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Cameras (DSLR), News

Adobe ACR6.2/LR3.2 Lens Profile – Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.4G

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I have been using the new Nikkor AF-s 85mm f/1.4G lens, arrived yesterday. I have produced both raw and JPEG profiles for the lens on the D3X – these can also be used on the D3, D3S and D700 (profiles tend to be fairly portable between bodies, if done on the highest resolution option).

Download link:

http://www.dphotoexpert.com/Resources/NikkorAFS85mmprofiles.zip

Submitted to Adobe. This profile was made at 4m distance, and maps the lens at f/1.4, f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/11.

Very little correction is applied as the lens is already very good, but there is a small adjustment to distortion and vignetting, and some cleaning up of visible CA. It is still a good idea to enable de-fringe as well.

– DK

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software, Uncategorized

Nikon D3S video: dark, rain and wind 400mm f/2.8

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As part of my tests of the Nikon D3S (British Journal, report in December, with additional material by Richard Kilpatrick who is shooting with Nikon on November 25th at a press event) I dragged the £6,000 400mm f/2.8 AF-S IF ED G supertele into the rain as darkness gradually forced the ISO up from a mere 10,000 to the maximum 102,400. The object was make a short video showing rising floodwaters, no threat in our town but still dramatic to watch.

wet400mmcombo-web

Here’s how it came back from the hour in the rain, a quick wipe down with an oily rag and it was all as good as new. Actually, it needed a thorough drying with the towel then a clean up with a lint free microfibre cloth to remove dust and towelly stuff. The very deep lens shade kept the exposed front element totally dry despite the wind and rain; I just made sure it was never aiming into the wind.

During the shoot, wind noise was a major problem. I locked the microphone to level 2 manual gain, not automatic which would have been a disaster. Many clips had to be shortened, some discarded due to violent wind noise I could not mask. The sheer weight of this combo made lugging it with a decent Slik tripod (pan and tilt head for video) difficult; I drove to the evening location with the rig laid flat on the back seat of the car, but still had to walk several hundred yards for some shots. I wore a Tog24 parka and found that by pulling the fur-lined hood over the camera body I could cut out nearly all the wind noise. I must have looked like a view camera operator with a dark cloth, or something out of Monty Python with my jacket pulled up and the hood over the Nikon!

But, this seemed such a good solution to the wind noise I would consider unzipping the hood from the parka and using it as a baffle in finer weather.

My favourite part of the video is the one with the worst noise, where I was not able to keep the wind away from the direction of shooting – the sequence of the road (flooded by the morning) with headlights, tail lights and cars in rain. This consists of three takes blended with long crossfades. During each take, the manual focus of the 400mm used at near wide open f/3.2 aperture was pulled to bring the moving traffic in and out of focus, and create huge bokeh circles from the lights. This would be impossible with a camcorder and not all that easy with a conventional high-end video kit. The combination of full frame 35mm format and the fast 400mm has enabled a highly effective cinematic technique to succeed on the first time of trying. With some markers on the focus ring, some practice and many more takes the result could have been refined further.

But I was getting very wet and so was the camera!

The first part of the video is all on the 400mm with tripod, with High ISO video enabled. The ‘next morning’ stuff is on the 24-70mm, hand held, locked down to ISO 200 at f/8.

I’m not sure when our final review of the camera will appear in the British Journal, it should be early December.

The video is encoded to best quality 720p from iMovie09, and can be best be downloaded and viewed without any YouTube jerkiness at full res if your connection is not good.

– David Kilpatrick

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Techniques, Tests / Reviews, Uncategorized

Nikon seminar dates

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Nikon has teamed up with six of the industry’s most influential technology suppliers to bring cutting-edge, digital workflow solutions to professional photographers across Europe.

Nikon, Adobe Systems, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Nik Software, Wacom and X-Rite have joined forces for a unique, nine-city Creative Alliance Tour. The tour has been set up to provide creative professionals with a comprehensive insight into a complete digital workflow. A full-day seminar will take place at each city stop, hosted by photo professionals and evangelists Keith Thompson, Kevin Dopson, Robin Preston, and Guy Gowan among others. These influential master photographers will demonstrate live shoots, and talk about why colour profile and calibration is key to getting the best end product.

From image capture to printing and marketing, delegates of the Creative Alliance Tour will learn how to achieve optimum results (high resolution in, high resolution out) using the most innovative techniques available to photographic professionals. The seminars will consist of inspirational presentations and in-depth technical workshops, with the opportunity to share questions and experiences with the experts.

“The long-established professional photographic community has seen dramatic changes to photographic technology in the past few years, with the transition from silver halide to digital, and from traditional SLR to digital SLR. Combining the resources and expertise of the seven companies, this tour will provide a unique platform for the photographic community to learn about the latest technological innovations and take advantage of a complete digital workflow within their existing production process,” said photographer and digital artist, Robin Preston.

Photographers should not miss this opportunity to gain valuable insight into the latest workflow tools that could help their business maintain its competitive edge.

Registration and dates

The Creative Alliance Tour has started in Ede on the 24th June 2009, in the Netherlands. The tour will resume the 15th September 2009 in Manchester and 17th September 2009 in London.

Spain, Germany, Italy and France will follow in October and November 2009. For the exact dates and registration information please visit: www.thecreativealliancetour.com


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News, Press Releases, Uncategorized
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