Category: Photography

Nikon started well with their Z series mirrorless lens. The high quality S line trinity of professional zooms. A selection of stunning f/1.8 that out perform the best of the old F mount f/1.4 pro lens. We have had the 50mm f/1.2 for a while and I am a proud owner.

For low light and to eliminate and control the background, fast lens are idea, though can prove difficult to use.

At the moment I am not sure if I will buy it, I want to see what they offer in 105mm and 135mm fast glass. I may go for a fast 105mm or get the 85mm and the 135mm. At the moment the 105mm and 135mm are unannounced so we may be waiting a few years, and the old F mount 105mm was incredibly good.

The 26mm is an odd one.

The 28mm, 35mm and 50mm focal lengths are liked for street photographers, but Nikon do not have a many small lens. The 35mm and 50mm f/1.8 are still large but stunning. We have the smaller 28mm and 40mm which many people are calling muffing lens but no real pancakes.

This new 26mm looks to be the first real pancake lens of the Z system and I think will prove popular with street photographers.

I know of a number of portrait photographers that also occasionally reach for a wider lens, and with this being so small, could be a handy lens to have tucked into ones bag when sometimes your 35mm prime is not quite wide enough.

As Nikon build out there small lens and the f/1.2 primes I hope we will see a few more wide angles in both these formats. Many would love a fast 24mm, 28mm or 35mm as would many like a 17mm or 20mm small lens.

Its looking like a rosey future for the Nikon Z system.

What lens would you like to see?

Looking through my archive for 2022, I can see some good work.

From snaps around the village, visiting local churches and parks, plus some of work for clients and models.

February I did my first model shoot of the year. A walk through a cold and very windy Lincoln, but one that produced a good selection of images of Casey.

March had me testing out a new location.

Shay was my volunteer to test out the old smoke house in Branston. With the location tested I then booked Lydia for some fashion shots, plus a few for mine and her portfolios.

The two rooms gave us lots of options.

April was a busy month, a holiday in Wales with lots of photography, but also two model shoots, one on location and one in a studio.

May was quiet, so just some personal work, but I also took a few snaps of the village duck race.

June was the Lincolnshire show. Always a great visit with lots of photographic opportunities.

I still did some studio work and of course it was our late queens Jubilee.

July saw the country heating up, every month this year except December had above average temperatures, and with hot air driving down cold polar air masses the winter in some countries was going to get bad. Global warming is a terrible name. We are adding energy into the weather system, for some thats going to be more heat, others more winter snow storms.

With the heat and the browning grass, we had treats for the chickens and lots of shade and extra water available for them.

August and a trip to my favourite location and to work with Joceline a great art nude model who I have wanted to work with for a number of years.

Here in England car boot season was well underway.

September we had more studio work, plus trips into Lincoln.

It was also the month our Queen died.

October had location and studio shoots.

November saw the weather start to turn, so I visited a number of locations to capture the colours.

November was the end of my booked shoots, though next January is looking good.

Now December was a quiet month. A few snaps of the local area, I did miss a few wonderful sunrises but not every dawn dog walk sees me carrying my camera.

As you can see, I am not the only dog walker around visiting the local churches.

So a good photographic year. January 2023 is now also booked up so preparing for February.

We have had steady releases from a number of brands; and once more claims that Nikon are missing in action with no real new camera since the Z9 a year a go. The Z30 just being a re-bodied Z50.

In the last month we have major announcements from most camera companies, but we are still in a world where it is difficult and challenging to get parts. Lots of models have not appeared on the shelves till nearly a year since they have been announced.

So do companies announce a produce then have people unable to buy, or like Nikon stay quiet and not release anything. A little more communication would help matters, and its not as if Nikon have been doing nothing, as their fleshed out lens range shows.

Next year we should see a refreshed Z6/7; will there be a Z8, hopefully so; there is a need for a smaller body of full pro spec.

On the lens front, we have had a big year of telephotos, I think we will see some quality f/1.2 primes this next year.

Portraits; its easy, studio setting, an 85mm lens, not too sharp, wide open at f/1.2 to give that dreamy look.

The view of what is a portrait lens has changed over the years, in fact the view of what is a portrait has changed.

This first shot at the top is a more environmental portrait, taken with a 35mm lens (well a 24-70mm zoom at 34mm). Not a focal length people generally think of for a portrait but I like 35mm for enclosed places and street / environmental use. I look forward to seeing what Nikon’s new Z35mm f/1.2 is going to be like, that is currently on their roadmap. I often use a 35mm f/2 Leica lens or a 35mm f/1.8 Nikon Z lens for portraits and street photography.

The look of a shot does change over the years. With the advent of mobile phones and selfies, a more wide angle look has become more common and people are getting more used to that look. Most phones are around 28mm equivalent; also head shots in the movies are often wider than is traditional in still photography.

I have seen some stunning portraits taken with 24mm an 28mm lens.

This second head shot is more often a classic 85mm, in this case I used a 50mm. I often use a 35mm or 50mm for full length shots, but often get quite close with a 50mm like in this example which is a Nikon Z50mm f/1.2.

Here below we have the classic studio shot, I was shooting some very tight head shots with a 105mm lens, but here I stepped back to get a little more in the shot.

If you are going to go much tighter you are looking at 135mm / 200mm as the classic lens to use. I have an old 180mm f/2.8 but am looking forward to the new Z135mm f/1.8.

So here we have practical examples using 35mm, 50mm and 105mm.

Used carefully a wide angle lens does not distort too much and can be essential in a tight situation. I have shot portraits from 24mm up to 200mm, I don’t think there is a right or wrong, its what works and what is needed to fulfil your needs.

I suppose I am somewhat spoilt as I have Nikon F and Z glass from 12mm to 300mm, Leica glass from 24mm to 50mm, but if you wanted to go for just two high end primes, 35mm and a 85/105mm would cope with most portrait requirements.

I had a studio shoot this last weekend with the lovely Katey. I took the time to test some of my white balance tools.

Sunlight, age and general use, dirt, oil from our hands all slowly impact on the accuracy of white balance tools.

I have three of various ages.

An X-Rite Colour checker is my oldest and I use it for creating profiles as well for colour critical work.

My little WhiteBal card, and a pop-up grey/white balance card.

My pop up colour confidence grey/white balance card I tend to use the most, it also gets used on location so gets dirty, and has been rained on.

So I decided to, in a single shot capture all three cards. Then cloned it three times and used the white balance picker in Lightroom to compare.

As you can see the white balance card and colour checker despite there age are still close together. The pop up card is showing much warmer.

I really need to repeat the experiment under more controlled lighting conditions but it was interesting.