Richard & Caroline's Blog

TF, used to be called TFP now often TFCD.

It means Time For Print or Time For CD.

Basically the photographer and the model both work for free unpaid, each covering their own costs. Both work hard to get some great images that would benefit both their portfolios.

At the end both get copies of the final edited images for their own use.

I don’t often do TFCD but I have some testing I want to do, so in return for an hour of your time modelling for me while I test some equipment and lens, i’ll then shoot you for an hour producing the shots you want, a full studio shoot, two hours in total with the shots then going through professional post production.  A selection of at least twelve shots, sent to you via cd or available by download at a resolution suitable for printing.

See my website rbphotographic.co.uk for my contact details or reply to this post.

Its always fun testing a new camera. It seems to inspire you. 99.9% of the time we less need a new camera and more often then not need inspiration or training to get better results from what we have.

Most of us do not get anywhere near the capabilities of our current cameras, buying a new camera is generally an excuse, but sometimes it can help ones photography.

Testing a new camera general involves three things for me. How it feels in the hand, its user controls and ergonomics and of course lastly but often most important image quality.

Now if image quality was all important then we would all be using large format 10 x 8 cameras, capable of shooting about 1 fame every 15 seconds but taking about 20 minutes to set up on a big heavy tripod.

Often the image will not wait that long, so we sacrifice image quality for speed, ease of use and portability. The invention of the 35mm camera back in the thirties by Leica showed that the majority of us were perfectly willing to trade off image quality against portabilty and weight. Then in the sixties the West discovered the Nikon F SLR, and we have never looked back, until now.

How many photographers in the last couple of years have given up carrying a big heavy SLR and now carry a Sony NEX-5, NEX-7 or Panasonic/Olympus micro four-thirds camera.

I am unusual that I have all of the common formats: Small format covered by my tiny Nikon V1, moving up in size to my Leica and my big Nikon Digital SLR’s. All of which can be carried over ones shoulder and wielded without the need of a heavy tripod. Moving up I have my Medium format equipment, my Hasselblad, while it can be used handheld, its much easy to use on a tripod. Finally there is my Large Format camera, my Ebony 4 x 5 camera. Impossible to use handheld, needing a big heavy tripod and slow to use, but the ultimate in image quality.

I take with me the camera best suited to the occasion. If carrying the Medium or Large format camera then I generally have the V1 with me as a light companion.

Still, despite all of these cameras, I have once again bought another. I have been really enjoying my film Leica M4 and getting some great pictures from it.

But the cost of 35mm film, developing and scanning means that it does not take long before you could have purchased a high end digital camera.

Yesterday I visited the Lincoln Photography Show, I had no intention of buying a camera unlike last year where I wanted a new compact and came away with my Nikon Series 1 V1 system, but this time was just intending to have a good look around.

It was a good show, I got to try the new Nikon V2, a great improvement but not significant enough to want to replace my V1, and I got to try out lots of the latest new Nikon and Canon telephoto glass; 200-400mm zoom at f/2.8 anyone?

The Sony R1 was also there, it felt great in the hand and it was fitted with the optional EVF which really made it a great usable camera.

The big suprise for me was the second hand stalls, lots of equipment, Large Format, Medium Format and even the odd Leica S2 and M8 on the stall belonging to  www.stephenspremier.com.  The S2 was stunning; if I ever gave up the day job and became a full time professional photographer unlike the part time photographer I am now, then it would be the camera for me; one of the best, no the best studio camera I have ever used. Though at £15,000 for a second hand body with no lens its hard to justify the cost.

The M8 was a great surprise, in mint condition and a good price.  I opened up the box and had a good look, interestingly the shutter dial only went up to 1/4000 second,  a standard M8 goes to 1/8000, and the shutter was very quiet, a few questions asked and it came to light that this was an M8 but upgraded to full M8.2 spec with the new M9 shutter, but in many ways better then a M8.2 as it did not have the stupid snapshot mode.  This made it a bit of a bargain.

Well I had to have it, and www.stephenspremier.com, were even kind enough to post me out two new IR filters free of charge which arrived today. Great service.

Now I only have the problem of trying out the camera and doing it some justice. With Winter on its way and the low dull light we have, I may have to arrange a studio test shoot to really give it a try, until then I just have these few test shots taken today.

There just quick snapshots really and not really processed well yet, I still have a lot to learn about getting the most out of the files using Adobe Lightroom V4. What ever camera you have light is key and can make or break a picture.

Still I am having a lot of fun getting used to its Feel, Ergonomics and Image Quality.

The purpose of the view finder is of course to enable you to compose the image; many feel that the new EVF or electronic viewfinders are the ultimate viewfinder and what we should all be using them and get rid of our big heavy DSLR’s.

Currently even the best EVF’s do not come close to an optical viewfinder.  The best of the current breed of EVF’s now are 60 frames a second refresh, that means you can have a lag of up to 200ms, this is no where near as good as a modern DSLR, you need a frame rate of about 240 fps to match the black out period of a SLR.

So for a least the next two to three years we are still going to have optical viewfinders out perform evf’s.

The SLR is great in that you have a view that accurately depicts what the end picture will be like, but because of the large mirror you are never going to have a small light quite camera.

If your going to get rid of the mirror then for now an optical viewfinder is still the best, but then you have focus issues and parallax issues.

Camera’s like the Leica M range and the Fuji X range try to over come these issues but neither actually shows the image you are going to get.

Many though say that the range finder view finder which does not accurately represent the photograph is an advantage.  For a start it shows more then 100% of the image, what can see around the frame, everything is in focus and you can see what is about to enter into your image.  The ‘decisive moment’ is easier to judge.

In many ways the Fuji X100 and X-Pro1 with their hybrid viewfinders that can be optical or an EVF depending on which you want, the best of both worlds.

I have been seriously tempted by the Fuji’s but have concerns over the image quality, but the idea of a hybrid viewfinder, being able to switch from an optical to an evf when needed is very tempting.

http://chromasoft.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/demosaicing-fuji-x-pro1-and-its-x-trans.html

They say the equipment is not important but how you use it, and to be honest there is a degree of truth to that.

Most of us would be better of using our current equipment more and dreaming of the latest, newest equipment less.

Still new equipment is exciting and can help inspire us to take better photographs. While a artist should not blame his equipment it is true some equipment is easier to use then others.

So what inspired me to write this blog post today, well I made the mistake of visiting my local camera store today and managed to get my hands on the new Sony NEX-6.

Like the NEX-7 it has a build in electronic viewfinder (EVF) and decent handling. It many respects the handling is better then the NEX-7: the biggest problem I have with most none DSLRs can be summarised by three things.

• No Viewfinder
• Tiny sensor
• Poor Ergonomics

Over the last five years we have gone from having no decent small cameras to a large number that our very close.

The one camera I currently own that ticks all of my boxes is my 40 year old Leica M4, stunning large optical viewfinder, perfect ergonomics and class leading lens available. The down side for most people is that it takes film, and running a film camera now a days is not cheap, unless you develop and scan your own results, and then it’s the time factor to do all of this.

So it was with a great deal of interest that I tried out the NEX-6. I don’t know if the viewfinder is the same as the one in its big brother or not but it certainly seemed better to me. The menu system of the NEX is still one of the worst going. My Nikon V1 has a very simple menu system that’s quick and easy to use, then it has to be as the external controls are poor in comparison to the NEX-6 & 7. Sony should really think about porting the menu from the Alpha Range to the NEX.

It was a very brief play but I have to say I was even more impressed with the NEX-6 then I was with the NEX-7, currently the two cameras are very similarly priced so the NEX-7 is the better value but it certainly made me think.

There was a Landscape Photography Competition recently that has produced a lot of controversy on the Internet photography forums.

The main controversy was the winner. The photograph was a blatant copy of a picture from another photographer. What made it obvious was he had a link to the other photographer who he admired.

The other entires generally were commented on because of the excessive Photoshop work and composites.

The extend of the use of Photoshop should be defined in the rules of the competition, general touch up and editing is one thing but the heavy combining of elements from different images is less photography and more computer skills. Unlike many, I do not have a problem with heavy use of Photoshop, many of the techniques can be and were replicated in the darkroom by the greats. It was Ansel Adams who said the negative was the score and the final print the symphony. Many think similarly of the RAW file.

It’s the blatant copying I have a problem with. It’s one thing to try and replicate a well known photography in order to learn, but another thing to present it as your own work.

After the comments that have appeared on the internet the winner has now been disqualified.

Wildlife photography is tricky.  To get good results does cost money, expensive professional DSLR’s, and pro fast glass costing thousands of pounds.  But good knowledge can help you get closer and get good images with cheaper equipment.

Modern cheap cameras such as the Nikon D3100 have reasonable performance and when combined with a good quality 70-300mm lens can produce good results, if you can get close in good light and when the subject is not moving too much.

TV Programs like the BBC Autumn Watch provide excellent inspiration and enable you to increase your knowledge of the natural world.

Whether you have all the gear or just a basic compact, knowledge of your subject and enthusiasm can take you far.