Month: September 2023

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Busy two weeks for Nikon – Zf and now Plena

A new named lens from Nikon, the Z mount 135mm f/1.8 Plena. We are promised no vignette and beautiful rendition and transition to the the out of focus areas.

From what I have seen from the preproduction models, that is what we have gotten. A stunning lens, not to big, about the same as the 85mm f/1.2 and yes if your asking, f/1.8 at 135mm is more then fast enough to blow away the background and get impressive subject separation.

That now leaves me with a dilemma; the 85mm or the 135mm first?

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The Nikon Zf is here

So its arrived, the retro full frame Zf. Was it a Z5 or Z6 in a different shell as many were expecting? Certainly not.

This is an all new camera, it has a sensor from a Z6 but reworked, more auto focus points and it has the power from the Z8 and Z9 new Expeed 7 processor. So video and focus that can only be bettered by the Z8/Z9, better stabilisation at a claimed eight stops.

This is a real powerhouse.

I love the quick black and white selector, and the ability to use face and eye detect with manual focus lens is brilliant really making this a great camera with manual lens.

The question to ask is this what the Z6III will be or will that add anything else.

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Building the light

When shooting film it took a lot of experience and skill with a light meter, to understand what the reading meant and how it would look in the in the final image.

Now with digital we get instant feed back. We can get it close with a light meter and then tweak by eye.

Slowly building the image light by light and seeing the results instantly.

Here we have me building the scene starting with the separation lights, first the stage left, then right and then both together. Finally bringing it all together to create the stunning image at the top.

With all modern cameras now being so good, having instant feed back, we can hone are skills quickly and easily and produce lovely photographs so much easier then in the past.