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August 26, 2011

Got a Point-and-Shoot? You Should.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been writing about taking more control over your camera in order to have more control over your photography and the final appearance of your images. Today, we’re going to do a 180-degree turn, and I’m going to tell you to throw all of that out the window from time to time.

It may sound as though I have something against shooting in automatic, or against compact cameras. I don’t. What I do disagree with is not using those controls when you have them, turning an SLR into an oversized Brownie, or having a point-and-shoot mentality toward photography. I also think that, from a control standpoint, having a degree of control over your settings, knowing what they do, and how/when best to use them can be essential building blocks in becoming a better photographer.

My first cameras – an Imperial Savoy and a Kodak V1253 that I still have (and have used for a handful of images that have appeared on this site) – weren’t the best out there by any stretch of the imagination. Neither granted much control, but at the time, I got them because they were what I could afford. Perhaps more importantly, I simply wanted to photograph things.

With all of that being said, the knobs, dials, and buttons are only one (small) part of an equation with lots of variables. Not least of these variables is composition. Let’s face it, the more variables you remove, the more you can concentrate on what’s left. If photography, stripped to its barest essentials, is all about light and geometry, and you’ve already surrendered most of your control over light, about all you’re left with (with the exception of exposure compensation, which nearly every camera allows you to manipulate) is the geometry, and paying attention to how the available light interacts with that. It encourages paying attention to texture, line, and form, and also gets you used to some of the quirks of exposure (sometimes frustratingly so).

Another variable is just taking photos in the first place. You should always have your camera. An SLR, because of its size, weight, and tendency to call attention to itself, isn’t always a camera you’re going to want to have with you. Many compacts will easily slip into a shirt or jacket pocket, out of sight ’til they’re needed. With the exception of pancake lenses and small primes, you won’t be able to “pocket” much of anything on or about an SLR, and trying to put it in your jacket will just make you look like you should be in the nether reaches of some cathedral or other, ringing the bells.

Another issue, as we discussed earlier in the week, is control – not just controlling the camera, but the control issues we can sometimes have as photographers. The average compact is a control freak’s nightmare; many don’t have manual controls, and they have other limitations as well when it comes to high ISO performance, camera shake at longer focal lengths, inadequate flash… the list goes on and on. I grew frustrated sometimes with those limitations; over time, however, you come to realize that limitations can be something you either obsess over, or use as a learning tool. I chose to do the latter, and to try to get the most out of what I had. Instead of worrying about ISO or flash (neither of which the Kodak does very well), I was free to concentrate more on composition. If you can’t zoom to 300mm (to say nothing of the ridiculously long 600-800mm equivalent range on some current superzoom models), you can either whine, or learn new ways of seeing things closer to you, also paying closer attention to how you frame the shot when you can’t rely on the zoom to do all of the work.

If you’re wondering what your first camera should be, or if you’ve already long since made the jump to a system camera of some sort (SLR, micro 4/3, or anything else with interchangeable lenses), don’t neglect an automatic compact. I’m not about to give up my SLR, but neither would I give up my compact. It’s a fantastic learning tool, and its simplicity allows you to forget for a while about the technical stuff, and get back to focusing on what makes a good photo.

August 24, 2011

News Brief: Nikon, Sony Gear Announcements

1984288_com_joseph_fer — Public domain, courtesy suite101.com

As expected, Nikon announced four additions to its Coolpix lineup:

Nikon Coolpix S1200pj will hopefully improve on the projector feature first introduced with the S1000. It allows easier sharing to YouTube, and allows you to shoot tethered to an iPhone or iPad.
Nikon Coolpix S8200 will have 16MP and 14x wide-angle zoom, plus the ability to do JPG capture during video recording.
Nikon Coolpix AW100is designed to be waterproof (up to 33′), survive low temperatures (to 14 degrees Farenheit), and even falls (up to 5′). The buttons are chunky — just in case you’re wearing gloves or have pudgy fingers. GPS is included for geotagging, and the video will record slow motion at 720p.
Nikon Coolpix P7100 replaces the P7000 barely a year after the latter’s introduction, but introduces a handful of improvements, including quicker AF speed and lowered shooting time lag. Hopefully it will also avoid the problems with the lens protector that dogged its predecessor. In an interesting development, Nikon have stuck with a 10mp sensor, which is actually a good thing given the 2.0 crop factor. Will also include a tilt screen (missing from Nikon’s SLRs, save for the D5100), HDR, a built-in ND filter, and an expanded series of “art filters” like those found on iPhones. Nikon users will still complain that it’s not the G12.

Press releases, photos, and other goodies available on Nikon Rumors.

Not to be left out, Sony likewise announced several products, many of which have been circulating in the rumor mill for weeks:

A77 SLR 24mp
A65 SLR 24mp
Battery grip for A77
16-50mm f/2.8 lens
NEX-7 (24mp)
NEX-5N (16mp)
VG-20 (16mp)
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 (E mount)
Sony 50mm f/1.8 (E mount)
Sony 55-210 (E mount)

Sony Alpha Rumors also shows the full text of a USA Today article regarding the new Sony releases, and is likely to have full press releases and info as it comes out.

August 23, 2011

News Brief: Canon Gear Announcement

Late last week, I promised updates as product announcements started to come out. Canon is first out of the gate with:

Three compacts, the PowerShot SX150 IS, the PowerShot ELPH 510 HS, and the PowerShot ELPH 310 HS.
Two printers, PIXMA MG8220 and MG6220 All-in-Ones.

The compacts, according to the Canon press release, have improved image stabilization, flash, and optics; the 510 HS, they say, has an improved form factor. You can read more about the cameras here, and more about the printers here.

August 20, 2011

Photo News Roundup, 8/20/11

Chinese Grunge — Just had to keep digging, didn’t you.

We may be posting more news around midweek next week, with product announcements due any day from Nikon and Sony. In the meantime, here’s this week’s gleanings from around the web, with links going to the original articles.

Quiet week on the Olympus front, but quite a bit of Panasonic news, including a new series of Micro 4/3 pro lenses to be called the X series, a GF2 underwater housing from Nauticam, and rumors of a GF7 announcement in late ’11/early ’12. (4/3 Rumors)

Canon is very tight-lipped of late. Might they be announcing something on August 23? 1DS Mark IV TBA in a couple of weeks? At least one thing seems certain: you probably shouldn’t be putting much stock in the 1D Mark V specs floating around lately. (Canon Rumors)

Interesting test of the current generation of rugged/waterproof cameras at dpreview.com

EISA announces their 2011-12 Photo Awards Winners. Scan the list and it looks like a soccer league for six-year-olds; nearly every company took home honors for something. (EISA)

“Inexpensive” and “Leica” are two words not usually seen in the same ZIP code, much less the same sentence, but Phottix apparently has a viewfinder magnifier that’s about a quarter the price of the OEM piece from Leica. Oh, and the memory card issues with Leica cameras have now been joined by battery issues. (Leica Rumors)

With new Sony mirrorless stuff in the offing, the Micro 4/3 Users Group has an interesting size comparison among Sony and Micro 4/3 lenses (personally, I’d like to see a chunkier body on the upcoming NEX, ’cause the current designs look rather like a Labrador mounting a Schnauzer. Just sayin’.)

If you’re a Nikon fan, I hope you weren’t getting your hopes up over their upcoming mirrorless camera. Not only will it not have an APS-C sensor, its design and feature set make this look like a strictly consumer camera. We’re likely to find out more in the days ahead. On a different note, Nikon may be looking to revive the Nikonos waterproof camera (or something like it) and aim it at the market that’s currently gaga over GoPro. (Nikon Rumors)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when it was said Kodak might be trying to unload some of its patents and other intellectual property as a poison pill to ward off takeover? While the company’s valued at about $600 million, those IP assets might be worth in the ballpark of three billion dollars. (Photo Rumors)

More specs trickling out about upcoming Sony cameras, plus the coolest binoculars you’ll see all year. (Sony Alpha Rumors)

August 19, 2011

Photo Contests: Know Your Rights

Ever try Googling “photo contest”? You’ll come across nearly sixteen million search results. With that many options, there’s got to be pretty good odds of winning somewhere, right? And it’s so tempting… There’s the allure of your name in lights (or at least in 18 point Tahoma), the possibility of having your work judged by the best in the industry, being shown next to the best work of your peers, and maybe even appearing between covers…

The companies and organizations that run photography contests are all too happy to tell you what you could win by entering their contests, from cash to merchandise to the ever-nebulous “exposure.” What they’re not nearly as eager to publicize (it’s usually buried in fine print and legalese) is what they’ll be taking from you in return. That’s because some entities run contests primarily for the purpose of data mining and “rights grabbing,” a practice wherein you sign over your intellectual property rights in exchange for whatever scraps they’re willing to throw you in return.

Which rights? Well, pretty much all of them, at least when it comes to your photos. It’s extremely important to read the fine print. Take, for example, The Great American Photo Contest, and others of its ilk. These are similar to “contests” targeted at writers (and in some cases, even run by the same people), where everyone’s a “winner,” provided you send money, sometimes for a book that may or may not come, or for “fees”; in other cases, you’re essentially being asked to transfer the copyright, and all the rights it would otherwise have conferred to you (whether in the form of recognition, or money, or just the ability to use the image as you see fit) to a third party.

The practice also extends to some bigger, and – you’d think – more reputable names. Tripod manufacturer Manfrotto recently ran a contest called “Imagine More,” the terms and conditions of which initially included the following:

“By uploading the Submission the Participant grants and agrees, for no payment, to grant to SPONSOR all intellectual property rights in the Submission and each of its constituent parts, which rights include, without limitation, the SPONSOR’s right to publish, make available to the public whether directly or indirectly, and/or reproduce on any material now existing or later created the Submission through any media now existing or available at any time during, or after, the Promotion Period notably on any related websites, in any promotional materials, whether related or un-related to the Promotion, and at any other location throughout the world, whether physical or online, that SPONSOR, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate or necessary for the operation of this Promotion and any related publicity and/or promotional purposes and for the duration of protection of the rights. Participant agrees to enter into any further documentation reasonably necessary in order to give effects to these rights.
“In addition, to the extent permitted by the Law, Participant warrants that to the extent permitted by law any so called “moral rights” in the Submission have been waived and shall not be asserted and Participant acknowledges and agrees that SPONSOR may use any ideas from any Submission or other submitted materials, whether or not Participant has been awarded a prize in connection with any such Submission or other materials.”

After a joint email sent by the Association of Photographers and Pro-Imaging expressed concern over the perceived rights grab, the company reworded the rules ever so slightly, but kept the waiver of “moral rights” intact. In case you were wondering what those “moral rights” constituted, they’re traditionally such things as receiving credit for one’s own work, and the right not to have your work used for a denigrating purpose. It should be noted that the Manfrotto example isn’t somehow an aberration; this is a common practice.

Your best, and perhaps only, defense is your due diligence, including the following: Find out who’s judging; the contest may be judged by photographers who bring years of experience to the table, or its “judges” may be little more than a handful of people with no more experience or publishing credits than you’ve got. Also be sure to read the terms and conditions of the contest in full before entering. Google the name of the contest and its sponsor(s) and see what complaints exist against them. Most of all, don’t submit anything if the organization asks for your money or makes unreasonable demands on your rights.*

In case you’re tempted to enter a photo thinking that it’s not representative of your best work, so it’d be no great loss if you “won” and gave up your rights to that particular photo: I’d still advise against it, for the simple fact that you’re giving your tacit agreement to a practice, and an organization, that’s all too happy to profit off others’ hard work while giving back very little in proportion to what they’re willing to take. Your participation is, in effect, the oxygen that allows this kind of thing to thrive. You and I may not be able to stop the practice as individuals, but if enough of us put a foot down and cut off that oxygen supply, someone’s bound to notice.

*To clarify: in order to run a contest, you need to ask for some rights; these will generally involve some kind of first-publication or serial rights, and are reasonable requests. What you have to watch out for is the kind of permission you’re granting (what, exactly, are they asking for?), as well as the duration for which you’re granting those rights. The aforementioned Manfrotto contest, for instance, included the following in its rules: in any media, worldwide, without limit in time. Pay attention to phrases like these, as you’re assigning your rights to that photo to someone else in perpetuum. There’s a lot more to be said on the subject of photographers’ legal rights and responsibilities, and I will no doubt do that in the days and months ahead. In the meantime, if you’re concerned with your intellectual property rights (and you should be), there are a number of excellent books on the subject, not to mention that the services of a lawyer can be invaluable for the big stuff.

Postscript: Not surprisingly, an organization has evolved to document some of the more egregious examples of rights grabbing, and also to encourage companies and others that run contests to voluntarily adopt standards that honor and protect photographers’ rights. You can visit the Artists’ Bill of Rights here, and find the Manfrotto example cited above here.

August 13, 2011

Photo News Roundup, 8/13/11

Dale 3 — It’s awfully hard reaching a mannequin for comment.

The weekly pile o’ news. Links go to full articles.

Budget lensmaker Samyang coming out with Micro 4/3 fisheye; Olympus sending mixed messages about its 4/3 line, on one hand indicating it may have run its course, and on the other hinting that an E50 may be in the pipeline (4/3 Rumors)

Two new Fuji compacts announced, Sony introduces sunlight-friendly LCD, Polaroid announces filter-mount lens line, photographers attacked and robbed in UK riots (Adorama)

Rumors of varying degrees of plausibility, with varied timelines to match, trickling in to Canon Rumors, but a slow news week otherwise.

Samyang announces 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC lens (dpreview.com)

Richard Swan of Leica UK drops hints on new Leica mirrorless system (Leica Rumors)

NEX-5 images and specs leaked, Samsung NX200 likely to be announced on September 5 (Mirrorless Rumors)

As if nose grease on your LCD wasn’t bad enough, you may soon have to worry about your schnozz changing your aperture; a company called AppCam wants to put your settings on an LCD touchscreen, a la the iPad. In other news, Jonathan Worth of Coventry University (UK) will be running free online photography courses (PetaPixel)

Tired of Hipstamatic? Yeah, so are we. But it isn’t going anywhere; if anything, it’s mushroomed. Recently released photo of President Obama at Dover AFB raises questions about balancing rights of the press and the public’s right to know against the rights and wishes of the families of men and women killed in action (PopPhoto)

Slow news week on the Sony and Nikon fronts, but their announcements are less than two weeks away. Nothing to add to previous Sony leaks, and Nikon has kept up Apple-like secrecy on their announcement, so not much to report there.

August 12, 2011

Tripods Vs. Monopods: A Guide

A little support can be a good thing. You may have a steady hand, a firm grip, and phenomenal handholding technique, but at 1/10 of a second, even a neurosurgeon would start to notice a bit of camera shake in their photos. Given the myriad uses of long shutter speeds (low light, motion capture, fireworks, and the like), and given also that the image stabilization built into many cameras and lenses is only useful up to a certain point, a decent tripod or monopod is an essential in every photographer’s kit. Which is right for you? Or should you just spring for both? Let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages of each so you can make an informed decision.*

Since most people think “tripod” when they think about camera support, let’s talk about those first. For something so simple – three legs and a spot at the top for your camera – there are oodles (metric) of options out there, including aluminum, wood, and carbon fiber, and scads of options for the head of the tripod. Pricing is similarly varied, with a basic tripod costing about twenty bucks at one end of the spectrum, and a carbon fiber model with a really good ball head going for several hundred. Things to look for:

• Construction: Regardless of cost, does it feel solid? Be aware of the amount of weight you’ll be putting on the tripod (the weight of your body and your heaviest lens), and be sure it can handle it. Pay attention also to the quality of the leg locks (the parts that keep the legs in place when they’re extended), the center column lock, and the quality/type of feet (rubber feet are a must for indoor shooting, but spiked feet are generally more useful outdoors).

• Height: Make sure that the tripod’s center column extends to a height that’s correct for your line of sight. Stooping gets uncomfortable very quickly. Likewise, if you often shoot lower to the ground (especially useful with wildlife, though there are other reasons to do this as well), you’re going to want to make sure the legs will splay far enough apart, and the center column will get low enough, to allow you to shoot from that angle but remain stable.

• Weight: You want something that’s lightweight, since your kit gets heavy after you’ve been schlepping it for a few hours, but not so light that it’s unstable. For example, if you’re shooting in a high wind (or if, like me, you’re a bit clumsy), will the tripod stay upright when it takes a knock, or might it topple over? Don’t forget that some lenses (the average 70-300, to say nothing of a fast 70-200) are not only a bit heavy, they’re also just long enough to be a bit of a pain in the ass, and they don’t always come with tripod collars, so the weight distribution/center of gravity can be a bit askew. Sometimes, a heavier tripod is a necessary evil.

• Load Capacity: This isn’t the weight of the tripod; rather, it’s how much weight you can pile on it without something breaking. Your tripod (and head, if applicable) should be rated for more weight than you’re going to be putting on it.

• Quick release plate: most tripods have these; it’s a plate that attaches to the tripod thread on your camera that can be popped easily on or off the tripod head. Check to see how easily it releases; too easy and your camera may well come off when it’s not supposed to, but if it doesn’t come off easily enough, you could find yourself cursing a blue streak if you need to get it off quickly.

• Range of motion: Can you easily reorient the camera, whether to change from portrait to landscape orientation, to tilt/pan, or to shoot at different angles (especially if you’re looking to shoot downward from a high angle)? This is where the tripod’s head comes into play. Some tripods come with the head permanently attached to the body, while on others the legs can accommodate different heads. There are several different head options, and if you think the available options may not work for you, try something different.

Monopods don’t provide the same degree of stability as tripods, but they’re still very useful. Like their larger cousins, they come in a number of shapes and sizes, and over a pretty wide price range. They come in handy because of their lighter weight, greater portability, and the fact that they can double as a walking stick if you’re on a hike (or a defensive weapon if you’re in a dodgy area). They’re also allowed in places where tripods aren’t; many museums, for instance, frown upon tripods, but will allow the use of monopods. Here, as with tripods, check for the height, load-bearing ability and overall construction. Also pay attention to how you’re holding your camera. A common misconception about monopods is that you should stand as though you and the monopod make up three legs of a tripod. In actuality, you’re better off keeping the monopod close to your body, and using a good handholding technique, as this will be more stable.

So, what to buy? Find a middle ground you can live with. On one hand, putting a heavy and expensive SLR on a ten dollar tripod meant for a point-and-shoot probably isn’t a good idea (all that’s standing between your SLR and the concrete is ten bucks’ worth of spindly aluminum). On the other, however, I don’t necessarily agree with people who insist that the only way to go is spending $500 on a carbon fiber tripod and another $500 on a ball head, with the reasoning that “you’re going to need it sooner or later anyway.”** Get as much tripod (or monopod, or both) as you need, spend wisely, and don’t worry if the guy next to you in the photographer’s vest with two SLR’s around his neck looks at you funny (and nobody wearing a photographer’s vest has the right to look at anyone funny, incidentally). You can get a serviceable monopod for as little as $15, and a good tripod for between $100 and $200. If you find yourself needing something more expensive later, you can always unload the older gear on Craigslist or eBay.

One last thought in closing: There are hundreds of tripods, monopods, and heads available for sale online. Besides the fact that I’d urge you to support your local shop just on general principle, tripods are one thing you really need to get your hands on in order to make an intelligent decision. Getting your hands, and your gear, on a tripod is the best, if not only, way to make an informed choice. No matter how many five star reviews something has, what works for one person may not be right for you; besides, you can’t kick the tires over broadband.

*Other, more specialized, types of photography may call for specialized supports; macro photographers find focusing rails a godsend, while many dedicated videographers who use DSLR’s wouldn’t be caught dead without a steadicam rig. Those systems, and others, are worth considering depending on your niche, but I’m limiting myself to general purpose solutions here.

**Having said that, I owe it to you to offer a differing point of view, courtesy of Thom Hogan. His argument’s sound; the issue, in my opinion, is how much and how often you’re going to need that tripod, not to mention the cost. Bottom line: put at least as much thought into support –what you want, what you’re willing to spend, and what that’s going to mean for you over the long run – as you would into buying a body or lens. It has the potential to have as much impact on your photography as either of those things, not to mention the fact that the right tripod will be with you at least as long as your lenses.

August 6, 2011

Photo News Roundup, 8/6/11

Again?!? But I read you “The Poky Little Puppy” LAST night!

The weekly fishwrap. As usual, links go to the full articles.

Fond remembrances of the late photographer and documentarian Jerome Liebling by the New York Times’ James Estrin and the Boston Globe’s Mark Feeney.

Panasonic’s upcoming GH3 to support new AVHCD 2.0 codec? Old and new versions of Micro 4/3 14-42mm lenses tested head to head (4/3 Rumors)

Canon expected to make a series of new product announcements soon after the upcoming Nikon announcement. Canon generally announces early in the week, so if the August 23-24 timeline is correct for Nikon, a Canon announcement around the 29th would not be out of the question. Same article speculates that the 1Ds Mark IV will have a 36 megapixel sensor. (Canon Rumors)

Kodak attempts “poison pill” to fend off potential hostile takeover. (Democrat and Chronicle; hat tip to PetaPixel)

Ricoh’s GXR camera system gets a Leica M-mount module (dpreview)

Thom Hogan alternates between perceptive writing on the craft of photography, and reviews of gear that are actually useful (not something to take for granted). He’s in gear mode this week, having not only written reviews for a series of compact cameras (Fuji’s X100, the Samsung TL500, Sony’s HX9V) but also thrown fuel on the Nikon Mirrorless fire. As there are several articles of interest, the backlink goes to his homepage; from there, browse to your heart’s content.

Leica starts shipping Summilux-C cinema lenses; a set of eight will set you back a mere $178,000. Leica Camera AG issues a statement in the wake of a rash of customer issues with SD cards in the M9, saying that “a very limited number” of customers have come forward with issues. Call me a silly bastard, but if your camera can’t save the images it captures, $7,000 is a bit much to spend for a paperweight. (Leica Rumors)

Early test images from the new Samsung 60mm 2.8 Macro lens are coming out at a slow drip. What’s out so far looks pretty impressive. (Mirrorless Rumors)

With the Nikon D700 out of stock at all the larger online retailers, speculation is growing that the August 24 Nikon announcement will include D700 and D3s replacements. Furthermore, cryptic tweets have come from big shots Andy Rouse, Chase Jarvis and Joe McNally that hint that there are other Nikon-related things afoot… My take: I’m sure that each of them have signed ironclad NDA’s, so anything that comes out in advance of an official announcement probably ain’t coming from them. (Nikon Rumors)

Japanese electronics manufacturer Pioneer to manufacture cameras in Brazil for the Chinese market. Confused yet? (PetaPixel)

New York photographer Phil Datz arrested for videotaping the police — legally. (Poynter.org)

Might Sony be trying to steal some of Nikon’s thunder? On August 24 (the same date as Nikon’s upcoming announcement), they’re said to be announcing new bodies, A (SLR) and E (NEX) mount lenses, and accessories. As the date gets closer, not only are specs beginning to firm up, but also photos of the gear in question… speaking of which, I have to take back what I said about the earlier NEX-7 pictures looking ‘shopped. Looks like they were, in fact, the real deal. Several posts this week, so the link to the right will go to the Sony Alpha Rumors homepage; browse from there. (Sony Alpha Rumors)

August 5, 2011

ISO Explained

Stripped to its basics, photography’s all about light: how much, how long, and at what intensity. The aperture, which we covered earlier in the week, controls “how much.” The shutter, which we’ll be taking up next Tuesday, controls “how long.” That leaves the intensity of, or more accurately,
your camera’s sensitivity to, light, which is controlled by its ISO settings.

Let’s get the jargon out of the way first, shall we? ISO simply stands for International Organization for Standardization, a body that sets standards for film speed and sensor sensitivity. ISO actually carries over from the film days (and the numbers correspond to ASA numbers, from the system that ISO replaced). Time was, if you were shooting outdoors, you’d buy ISO 100 or 200, use 400 for indoors, and use 800 or 1600 for low light or situations when you wanted to shoot at a much higher shutter speed in broad daylight.

Just the same as low-ISO film had a very fine grain, the “grain” in digital (more often referred to as “noise”) is much less noticeable at a low ISO than it is when you “push” the ISO, using the upper reaches of your camera’s ISO capability. The reason for this is that you’re increasing the sensor’s sensitivity to input in general; not only does light get picked up, but the sensor is also “reading” stray electrical impulses and incorporating those into your image.

Of course, as with any other feature or setting on your camera, a little experimentation is in order. You always want to know what a setting will do not only for, but also to, your photos. Higher ISO settings, as previously mentioned, introduce varying levels of noise, and loss of detail, into your photos. Whether you’re using specialized software, or just your camera’s native noise reduction, you can keep a lid on the noise to some degree, but you can’t recover lost detail. It’s up to you, therefore, to see how your camera behaves at about 1,000 and above, and to decide whether these are tradeoffs you’re willing to make.

Let me give you an example. Noise is generally going to show in darker areas of the photo, though if the ISO’s set high enough, it’ll be noticeable throughout the photo. Figure 1 was shot in Aperture priority at ISO 400, since I wanted an f/16 aperture to make sure the church’s steeple would be as sharp as the rose window and other parts closer to me. The shot’s reasonably clear of noise. As you’ll see if you peek at the EXIF data, the camera chose a shutter speed of 13 seconds. I happened to have the camera on a tripod at the time, so for me, that was an acceptable shutter speed. But suppose you don’t own a tripod, or don’t have it with you? A higher shutter speed is going to be necessary to reduce motion blur, but if I try a higher shutter speed at f/16, my photo’s going to be terribly underexposed. The compromise lies in our ISO settings. There’s a dizzying array of ISO numbers on your camera, with some cameras starting as low as 50, and going as high as 25,600. Here’s all you need to remember: with each doubling of your ISO number, you’re also doubling your sensor’s sensitivity to light. So going from ISO 800 to ISO 1600, for instance, is one full stop of light; in other words, I’ve got twice the light sensitivity I had before.

So. I’m not willing to compromise on aperture because I don’t want to sacrifice my depth of field. I probably can’t squeeze more than a third of a stop out of my shutter speed without the photo being underexposed. The solution, therefore, is to boost the ISO. We’ll try going up two stops, to ISO 1600 (figure 2). Notice that the aperture stays the same, but the shutter speed has been “sped up” to 8/10ths of a second. If I want to go faster still (maybe it’s cold out and my hands are shaky; it’s not like I have to worry about the church scuttling off), I can push to ISO 3200 (Figure 3, ½ second). Or maybe my subject isn’t quite as well-lit as this church, and I have no tripod (I know I already said I had one… play along for a minute). I can push my ISO all the way up to 25,600, and, hey presto, my subject is there in the frame, plain as day (Figure 4)… but I’ve sacrificed image quality for not much of a gain shutter speed.

Speaking of degradation, let’s take a closer look at the noise, shall we? Figure 5 shows a 100% crop (300×300 pixels) from a section of the shot in figure 4. Not a great look, is it?

Noise isn’t your friend. I’m also going to end on the assumption that if you’re making a photo of something, you want the end result to be reasonably close to what you’re seeing in front of you. Besides the noise and lost detail that higher ISO introduces, it also affects the look of the light in the scene, making the night look brighter, overall, than it actually is. Your best bet, therefore, is a support (a tripod, or, barring that, a monopod) with a nice, long shutter speed and the lowest-possible ISO. Being the realist that I am, I know you won’t always have a tripod. The next best thing is to push the ISO only as far as it needs to go, and shoot with as slow a shutter speed as your handholding technique will allow.

A note on sensor size and ISO: because a larger sensor can accommodate larger pixels, it’s possible to get higher, cleaner ISO performance out of a full-frame sensor than out of an APS-C sensor, while both of those will outperform a compact, and all three will beat the pants off your iPhone. It’s not uncommon for current cameras, like Nikon’s D7000 and Canon’s 60D, to be capable of up to a staggering 25,600 ISO, although the level of noise present in the photo (and the amount of detail that’s lost) makes it impractical. Realistically, newer cameras can be expected to give acceptable results up to about ISO 3200, with the caveat that your mileage may vary.

July 30, 2011

Photo News Roundup, 7/30/11

Another week, another heaping scoop of photography-related news from around the web. Click on site links for the full articles referenced.

Nikon’s scheduled August 24 product announcement may include a mirrorless camera. Yasuhara’s interesting Nanoha macro lens is due to ship any day now, though the company anticipates product shortages in the early going. Panasonic “GF Pro” announcement expected toward end of 2011. (4/3 Rumors)

54th World Press Photo Contest winners announced. (Boston Globe)

Canon EF 8-15 f/4L fisheye now available; Windows releases codec for native RAW support in Windows. (Canon Rumors)

50mm f/2.0 Summicron-M may be announced this fall; unlike the model it replaces, it will include an aspherical element. Also, a firmware update has been released for the S2. (Leica Rumors)

Photojournalist João Silva, who lost both legs and suffered severe internal injuries after stepping on a land mine in Afghanistan, returned to active duty; a photo he took at Wednesday’s closing ceremonies at Walter Reed Army Hospital, where he’s receiving treatment, appeared on the front page of the next day’s Times. (New York Times’ Lens blog, which has been chronicling Silva’s recovery)

Leica UK hints that their mirrorless system, if it comes, will be priced between the X1 and the M9, which is rather like saying it will be somewhere between terribly and horribly overpriced. Meanwhile, the Pentax Q, the company’s foray into mirrorless, should begin shipping at the end of August. (Mirrorless Rumors)

Not long after the P7000 (supposedly Nikon’s answer to Canon’s G12), Nikon is rumored to be announcing a P7100 with tilt LCD and improved HDR and panoramic capabilities. Meanwhile, the upcoming ruggedized Nikon Coolpix marks the return of GPS to their compacts (no word on whether this will mean anything for their SLRs going forward). (Nikon Rumors)

The sad state of photographers’ rights in the UK (PetaPixel)

A few weeks ago in this space, I linked an article that lays out reasons photographers should think twice before using Google+ (Google Plus). This week, Scott Kelby weighs in with “I’m Kind of Digging Google+”, a different point of view.

Looks like someone may have gotten their hands on some upcoming Sony equipment, including the A77, NEX7, and new 16-50 lens. (Sony Alpha Rumors)

Remember the monkeys who got hold of a professional photographer’s kit and started taking photos? Somewhat belatedly, here’s an interesting take on the copyright issues surrounding that, along with the best self-portrait of a monkey you will ever see. (TechDirt)

Bonus bit (Not Necessarily the News): Steve Coleman asks “What Makes a Photograph Great?” then proceeds to give an answer that’s both thoughtful and worth reading.