Photography News

.photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

This article is Bob’s fault.

Bob posts Film Friday pictures, which makes him a good bloke in my book. But he’s bought a camera to do it with – an Olympus 35RC. (Actually, Bob’s bought a couple of cameras, but only one of them overlaps my own experience). Anyway, I have a 35RC, and I also owned one in the distant past. It was one of several stumbling attempts on my part to own a rangefinder camera. I didn’t really feel I was successful until I acquired a Leica M6 around 20 years ago. That definitely cured my desire for a rangefinder camera that did exactly what it said on the box.

But please don’t try this at home, because it could be costly: if you don’t already own a Leica and you are not thoroughly devoted to the cult of Leitz film cameras, it’s really not worth it. If you own an M6, you know all about it, and you can stop reading now. If you own an M4 or M5, it’s cool. And if you own an M3 or M2, you will possibly have an indefinable sense of superiority as you read.

But let’s go back to the Olympus, and why this might be a camera that you want to consider picking up on eBay, or extracting from an elderly relative’s chest of drawers. Because it’s not a bad little device, at all. If you are going to buy a camera from the Golden Age, when engineering plastics were a lot less popular (and good) than they are now, and before autofocus had become the one and only way to get pictures sharp, this could be a good ‘un. Why? Read on…

First, it’s really small: if you remember cigarettes, a 35RC takes up as much space as a pack of king size, with a lighter stuffed down in front of it. That’s really not very big. It’s all metal and glass, though, with only a few bits of plastic trim, so it’s got a bit of heft. Sadly, though, it’s not a wonderfully balanced camera – dangle it on a neckstrap, and it doesn’t sit at all straight and level, so it may annoy you by digging the top edge into your ribs. The strap lugs are at the front of the body, and most of the weight is behind them.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }  

Second, although the specification looks quite modest with a fixed 42mm f/2.8 lens and shutter speeds from 1/15 to 1/500 second, that will cope with a lot. It’s much more elaborate than the fabled Olympus Trip – not only because it has a far wider range of shutter speeds and a rangefinder built in, but because it offers full manual control as well as automatic operation with Shutter priority. That means, incidentally, that it will continue to function if the battery is dead (as the battery in mine was when I got it out for this article. Just follow the ‘Sunny f/16 Rule’ – which used to be printed on the inside of every film box, or on the instruction leaflet that came inside them before manufacturers realised that the reverse of the card box could be printed with instructions. These days, the inside of film boxes contains data about processing times in the recommended developers, but the Rule still works, and it’s easily found on the internet. But since you’re here, if you use a shutter speed of 1/ISO, then you’ll need f/16 in bright sun, f/11 if there are only faint shadows, and f/8 if it’s ‘cloudy bright’. Use f/5.6 in open shade, or on duller days, and let the film’s latitude soak up minor errors.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

And the results are really rather good. If you want to read a hymn of praise, have a look at Ken Rockwell’s writer-up on his website: he goes into detail about the excellent quality of the lens, and raises the concept that it’s actually the ideal focal length for 35mm, because the focal length is close to the diagonal of the frame. There’s a rule of thumb that says that a lens that gives a ‘natural’ human-eye view of a scene meets this: doing the maths, this works out at fractionally over 43mm for a frame of 24mm x 36mm.

And it’s a good general-purpose focal length, working decently for portraits and landscapes without going to extremes, so that for one way of thinking it’s a comfortable and straightforward way of working that doesn’t give the distortion that’s typical of mobile phone portraits, and avoids the ‘can’t get it in’ feeling that many people suffer if they use my favoured short telephoto walkabout lens. In other words, it offers many people a good compromise in a world of extremes. 

And my own results bore this out: the pictures I took with my 35RC while I was writing this article scanned right at the top end of my experience for sharpness and pleasant tonality – although the tactile experience of shooting with it falls short of making it a favourite (see further down), the results run way ahead of expectations for such a simple and basic camera. Many modern kit zooms fall significantly behind it.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

This article has taught me a couple of things – OK, I already knew that it’s a good idea to take the batteries out of cameras and flashguns when you’re not using them for a while (they discharge, and start corroding – and then even good brands leak unpleasant, corrosive chemicals into the battery compartment. At best, a little cleaning is required: at worst, you fight to remove the battery and find that the corrosion has spread, and has damaged contacts or even circuits inside the camera). On loading a film to take some shots for this article, I discovered that the meter didn’t work – dead battery. A spare from my battery box, dated 2020, didn’t do the job: a new battery restored normal service.

And there was more. I have never used front lens caps very much. I tend to lose them and forget about them. Mostly, this doesn’t matter, because I always use the lens hood, and this protects the lens just about as well as a cap, or a filter.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

But the 35RC didn’t have a hood. Carrying it around, I have, I discovered, managed to scratch the front element: the scratches are small, but right in the middle, so stopping down won’t reduce any effect they have. I deliberately took some shots with the sun falling on the lens to see how bad the problem is… And the results really surprised me: even the very visible scratches you can see here don’t lead to flare above the levels you might reasonably expect from the most modern and multicoated of lenses.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

The upshot is that a bout of insomnia saw me going onto eBay and buying a hood for my 35RC: and also getting hoods for two other lenses I’ve recently acquired without hoods – a 55mm f/1.7 Rokkor, and a 50 mm Nikkor f/1.4. I don’t plan to repeat my errors. With these optics, it won’t matter that the lens size goes up quite a bit, and as the Olympus is so small, and I mostly carry it on a shoulder strap these days (rather than in the pocket of a leather jacket), it’ll be fine, too.

You might reasonably ask what’s wrong with using the lens cap: lots, I’d say! The big issue is the missed pictures. There’s nothing that reminds you to take the cap off when you shoot in manual mode, and in Auto mode, you find out because you can’t take a picture (the meter window is next to the lens, and the lens cap covers it: if the lens can’t open up far enough to give correct exposure, the shutter release won’t work). The first wastes a frame (maybe several), and the latter allows the world to move on, taking your decisive moment with it.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

And the 35RC is excellent for street work, as this casual shot shows: with zone focus and such an underwhelming shutter sound, it won’t matter if you put it to your eye. I find that there’s a comfortable sort of ‘undergrip’ that gives me good results, paired with the gently wide angle of view and fast film (my standard has been Ilford HP5+ for many years: it’s reliable, utterly consistent, and gives nice, straightforward negatives).

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

Going back to the man who inspired this article, I asked Bob if he was happy to be mentioned in this article: he responded very positively, and wrote about his experience of the camera. His words are in italics, and the images in this section are all his.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

I bought my Olympus 35RC as I wanted a compact film camera to take on my urban wanderings and I often go out with this and my digital E-M10 Mk. IV for a day out in London for some urban photography. I have a lovely Olympus OM-2n, but it is a tad on the heavy side when carried with the E-M10 all day.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

I love the 35RC - it is very compact (It really does fit in my coat pocket), lightweight, and very quiet and discreet. The shutter is essentially silent against the background of the city and security guards don’t give it a second glance! The 42mm f2.8 lens is plenty sharp enough and fast enough for my needs and the camera has full manual control in addition to a shutter priority auto exposure mode. The viewfinder has scales showing you the shutter speed and aperture. The maximum shutter speed is 1/500th of a second - this is common for cameras of the era (1970) and might be limiting for some applications but for capturing life in the city, it is fine. You are not going to be covering the Olympics with a camera like this, after all.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

Rangefinder focussing takes a little adjusting to if you are used to an SLR but once you are there it is very fast in the field. The focus throw is short and it is easy to get to where you need to be. Zone focussing seems to work OK with the 42mm lens. I very rarely miss focus with this camera.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

One thing to note is that it required the now rightly banned mercury batteries. There are several workarounds that you will find online but I went for a voltage reducing MR-9 adaptor from The Small Battery Company, so I can use the very long lasting SR43 batteries. As far as I am aware, they are the only place that sells these in the UK - note that Amazon/eBay are awash with cheap MR-9 adapters that don’t reduce the voltage, only adapting the battery to fit in the battery bay.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

These cameras are readily available on eBay at reasonable prices but many are sold with the light meter not working. Mine was one of these but the fix is often fairly easy - 10 mins with YouTube and a soldering iron brought my meter back to life. The meter does not give you a reading, it just drives the auto mode - full manual needs no battery, but you will need an external light meter (I have a collection of apps on my phone). Or you can trust your instincts and the exposure latitude of the film…

The other thing to check if purchasing is the rangefinder patch - these can get very dim over the years. they can be cleaned professionally but this is not something that I would feel confident in doing - having taken the bottom off to fix the battery issue I am in awe of how well engineered these cameras are - the innards are very tightly packed! Again, there are a couple of workarounds online.

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

I would always want a 35RC in my camera collection - I keep checking eBay as I am thinking of getting a second one against the day that mine eventually packs up.

Bob is clearly in love with his 35RC. But do I love my little Olympus? A hard question: I certainly respect it, and its ability to do the job competently. Winding on always sounds as if the sprockets are about to slip (they never have), and the shutter release has a long and rather unsatisfactory feel to it, leading to an underwhelming click. These aren’t things that matter to the picture, but they are aesthetically less pleasing than the sensations that a Leica gives. Are they worth the difference in price between the two cameras? As I suggested in the second paragraph, probably not, for the vast majority of users.

But I’m not planning on parting with mine just yet!

  .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; } John Duder

John continues to keep hold of his old cameras, including the Contax RTS that he bought in 1976, selling two Pentax bodies and taking a year's HP agreement out to do it. These days, it’s usually loaded with very fast film to give strong grain.

Occasional lighting workshops divert him, and with a bit of luck interest other photographers enough for them to go along and pay. He particularly likes spectacular, angular low key setups, with deep shadows retaining a few secrets.

As well as still shooting a bit of film, John particularly loves using some of the more characterful film-era lenses on his digital cameras. Almost without exception, they are lenses that their manufacturers are probably rather ashamed of.

.photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; } .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; } .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; } .photo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 15px; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 20px; } .photo small { display: block; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 15px; }

Canon now sells two compact full frame video cameras built around the same 32.5-megapixel 7K sensor, and $1,200 to $1,400 separates them, depending on whether the C50 is on sale. When the image coming off that sensor is nearly identical, your decision rests on heat, audio, stabilization, and how each camera behaves on an actual job.

 

[Read More]

Tamron has announced a Nikon Z mount version of its 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD, a compact fast-aperture standard zoom for full frame mirrorless cameras that weighs 13.4 oz (380 g) and goes on sale October 22 for $729.

 

[Read More]

 

Here are 7 things you can still photograph when you're stuck at home sheltering from the bad weather.
 

1. Photograph Cutlery

The kitchen holds a world of photo opportunities and all you need is some imagination to exploit it. Forks, colanders, wooden spoons etc. can make interesting photographs when shot right. For more tips, have a look at these articles:

• Tips On Shooting Cutlery
• How To Photograph Kitchen Utensils And Cutlery

 

2. Explore The House With A Macro Lens

Take a different look at your home through a macro lens. You'll find patterns, textures and shapes you didn't know existed until you looked down a macro lens. Cushions, glasses and salt & pepper pots can all make interesting subjects. 

If you do not own a macro lens, just try using the lens's minimum focusing distance. Or consider investing in a close-up lens.

It's important when shooting close-up and macro photographs to use a tripod and a remote release - so as to maximise depth-of-field, avoid camera-shake, and ensure accurate focusing. Anchor your camera firmly, though, and your shutter speeds can be as long as you like.

Maximising depth-of-field, by setting an aperture of f/16 or smaller, is important because the closer you get to your subject the more limited depth-of-field becomes. At a larger aperture, such as f/5.6, parts of the subject will almost certainly be out-of-focus.

Using a tripod also makes it easier to ensure accurate focusing. Even at a small aperture you may only have a few millimetres of depth-of-field in front of and behind the point on which you focus - and the natural sway of the body when hand-holding can easily take you outside that, and leave you with an unsharp image. You'll also find it easier, if you have an autofocus camera, to switch to manual focusing.

 

 

3. Coloured Liquid In Glasses

Get a selection of glasses, add water and your choice of food colouring to them. Place them on a clear, reflective surface (glass on white paper works well) and place a large piece of white card behind them. If you want to light the background use your flash off-camera to do this. You want an even light that will bounce off the background back onto the scene you're photographing without causing flare. 

 

4. Water Droplets On A Window

There are plenty of opportunities to get great pictures of rain on patio doors or windows and you don't even have to get wet! When rain hits the pane it leaves tiny water droplets and when these droplets are combined they create fascinating patterns. With a close-up lens you can fill the frame with interesting shapes or use a macro lens to give your piece even more impact. 

If a white sky is behind the droplets they will all appear white with just a thin black outline. If you move around so a wall or greenery is in the background instead, the droplets will take on those colours and patterns making more interesting shapes.

 

5. Frozen Items

This technique is brilliant with a macro lens but will work with the lens at minimum focus. 

Freeze water in a suitable clear container. Once frozen place the container or either a white or even coloured surface so it shows through the container. If you have a lightbox, place the container onto it so light shines through from the bottom. If you don't have a lightbox, just be creative your whatever furniture you have. Ideally, being able to get a lamp or flash under the ice container is what you want.

A 50mm macro lens with the camera on the tripod will let you get closer to capture the patterns that form in the water and cracking ice as it melts. Use a kettle of hot water and gently pour it onto the ice to cause cracks and to start the melting process. Look through the viewfinder for interesting patterns and snap away. 

A twist on this is freezing objects - leaves, flowerheads, shells, pebbles - in the container and then shooting them.

Obviously, this idea needs a little bit of planning, so get the container in the freezer early on and try shooting some of our other ideas while you wait for the thing to freeze. 

 

 

6. Cross Polarisation

Cross polarising effect is where you use a pair of polarising filters - one on the camera and one on the light source (behind the subject) to show stress in plastic which appears as wonderful multicoloured pattern. 

You can use an LCD computer monitor as a light source, plus they have a polariser built-in. You'll need to use a camera with a polarising filter either attached or positioned in front of the lens. Of course, you'll need a monitor and a steady support will also be useful.

Some clear hard plastic items will also be needed as well as something to hold the plastic item steady in front of the computer monitor.

For step-by-step tips on how this technique works, have a read of this: Easy Cross Polarisation

 

7. Capturing Oil On Water

With a few items you'll find around your house you can create interesting abstract shots of oil on water. You'll need a camera with a close focus facility, tripod, a light source, a clear dish, water, oil and something to add colour to your shot (card, paper, t-shirt....etc.). You'll find a guide on what to do next in our article full of tips on how to photograph oil on water with just a basic set up.

Some of the most important photographic archives ever assembled are gone, and a small number of historians have spent their careers trying to get them back. One of those hunts had a storybook ending. In December 2007, three weathered cardboard boxes reached New York's International Center of Photography, carrying roughly 4,500 Spanish Civil War negatives that had been missing since 1939.

[Read More]

Today, let’s have a look at the pint-sized Sirui VP-1 Vision Prime 15mm T1.6. 

[Read More]

The usual advice for dreamy photos is to use shallow depth of field and a pricey diffusion filter, and both tend to leave you with images that look soft without feeling like anything. The look that reads as a memory comes from light, motion, framing, and focus working together, and most of it costs nothing.

 

[Read More]

 

Following on from the recently reviewed Panasonic Lumix S 20mm f/2.5 lens, which gained the accolade of Highly Recommended, we have a virtually identical looking 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 zoom. These virtually identical siblings, both intended for full frame L mount cameras, offer a choice between prime and zoom: fast aperture with fixed focal length or restricted apertures with the added versatility of the zoom. Size, weight and cost are all very similar, so the choice is without penalty in that respect. This leaves us with choices that depend very much on the sort of photography/videography to be undertaken, the photographer's style of shooting and how the quality of results does or does not become an issue. Let's take up the 24MP Panasonic Lumix S9 once more and see how it all works out, both in the field and in the studio for the technical tests.

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Handling and Features

A quick glance at the previous review will show that the 18-40mm measures up almost exactly the same as the 20mm f/2.5 did. The zoom lens weighs in at just 154g (measured) and 67.9mm x 40.9mm with lens retracted. However, once rotated past the click stop that marks the point the lens retracts, it is extended for use. There is virtually no change in the balance of the lens when extended. There is no lens hood provided, but to be fair, the lens is very resistant to flare anyway.

 

 

There is no lens hood provided, a shame especially with a wide angle lens. One can be purchased and will need to use the 62mm standard filter thread. The front element is quite small, but not particularly vulnerable. It has a Fluorine coating to repel dust, moisture and grease and this makes it easier to keep clean. The lens is also dust, splash and freeze resistant. The operational range is from -10C to +40C. 

Moving backwards along the lens barrel, our tour of the lens arrives first at the slim but well knurled focusing/control ring. The feel of this is quite firm, but not excessively so. Behind this is the zoom ring. This does extend the lens barrel, the most compact position being marked by a white dot and representing the retracted position. If we switch the camera on whilst set to the dot, we are reminded to extend the lens for use. The zoom ring physically extends the lens and has clear and accurate settings marked at 18mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and 40mm. This focal lens range is considered to be from ultra-wide to wide standard, offering a very versatile span of focal lengths. This is ideal for travel.

 

 

Closest focus is 0.15m (0.49') and enables some powerful close range image making. The aperture range alters with focal length in the usual way, from f/4.5 at 18mm to f/6.3 at 40mm. This is perfectly usable in a world where high ISO values can yield consistently excellent results, plus of course the huge benefit of image stabilisation. There is no stabilisation in the lens itself, so we rely upon the camera IBIS where available. 

Optical construction is 8 elements in 7 groups, including 3 aspheric, 2 ED (Extra Low Dispersion) and 1 UHR (Ultra High Refractive Index). The lens is also designed to reduce focus breathing, a feature that will be appreciated by videographers. A fairly modest number of elements does help to ensure reduced flare and increased contrast, so this bodes well for performance. The diaphragm comprises 7 rounded blades, helping to ensure smooth bokeh, although with limited maximum apertures there may well be limits on what we can expect.

The well finished L mount is firm but does enable the lens to be locked positively into place. Handling is fine, perhaps a tad less smooth than the 20mm lens, but certainly still a great optic to use. Much of the joy in use comes with viewing the results on a computer monitor, so let's get straight down to seeing exactly how that performance works out.

 

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Performance

At 18mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/4.5 to f/16 and very good at f/22. The edges are very good from f/4.5 to f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22.

At 24mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/5 to f/16 and very good at f/22 and f/25. The edges are very good from f/5 to f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22 and f/25.

At 40mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/6.3 to f/16, very good at f/22 and good at f/32. The edges are excellent from f/6.3 to f/11, very good at f/16, good at f/22 and fair at f/32.

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 MTF Charts Previous Next

How to read our MTF charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Panasonic Lumix S9 camera body using Imatest software (www.imatest.com). Want to know more about how we review lenses?

 

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is highly unlikely to be a problem. There is virtually no sign of colour fringing in most image making, even in the most challenging circumstances.

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Chromatic Aberration Charts Previous Next

How to read our CA charts

Chromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence, they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Panasonic Lumix S9 camera body using Imatest software (www.imatest.com).

 

Some barrel distortion can be measured, giving values of -1.0% at 18mm, -0.20% at 24mm and -0.47% at 40mm. 

With the maximum apertures available being quite restricted, the potential for super-smooth bokeh is reduced. Even so, results are very respectable and do not descend into becoming ragged.

Flare is not a problem in normal use. Artefacts can be generated under extreme lighting conditions, but the intrusion into the image is minimal.

Vignetting is extremely low and is very impressive for any zoom lens, especially one that extends into ultra-wide territory.

 

Aperture 18mm 24mm 40mm f/4.5 -1     f/5   -0.4   f/5.6 -1 -0.4   f/6.3     -0.6 f/8 -0.6 -0.3 -0.6 f/11 -0.5 -0.3 -0.7 f/16 -0.5 -0.3 -0.7 f/22   -0.3 -0.7 f/25   -0.3   f/32     -0.7

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Sample Photos Previous Next

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Aperture range Previous Next

You can view additional images in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own reviews, photos and product ratings.

 

[HOOK]position_1[/HOOK]

Value For Money

The [AMUK]Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3|Panasonic+Lumix+S+18-40mm+f/4.5-6.3[/AMUK] is priced at £499.00

Perhaps the following could be considered alternatives:

• [AMUK]Lumix S 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6|Lumix+S+20-60mm+f/3.5-5.6[/AMUK], £469
• [AMUK]Lumix S 14-28mm f/4-5.6|Lumix+S+14-28mm+f/4-5.6[/AMUK], £668
• [AMUK]Sigma 20-60mm f/2.8-4|Sigma+20-60mm+f/2.8-4[/AMUK], £749
• [AMUK]Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8|Sigma+24-60mm+f/2.8[/AMUK], £869

The review lens looks perfectly good value and certainly is punching above its weight regarding quality of results.

 

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Verdict

The Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 lens offers the usual zoom advantages, but without some of the usual disadvantages that go with that. The zoom is, of course, always ready for a number of shooting scenarios. A prime lens can be equally useful up to a point, but has the main advantages of speed and size. With ultra high ISO values being available, do we need that fast maximum aperture? Maybe, but perhaps for reasons of bokeh for portraiture as much as anything else. It's a matter of the individual's requirements and their shooting style.

In any event, what is absolutely clear is that to call this lens a kit lens would be to do it a great disservice, as it is punching far above that level. A satisfactory price level, superior image quality and great handling all combine to delivery a Highly Recommended lens.

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Pros

• Excellent sharpness, especially centrally
• Very low distortion
• Smooth bokeh
• Low CA
• Low flare
• Fast, accurate and virtually silent AF
• Dust, splash and freeze resistant
• Quality maintained throughout zoom range
• Fair price

 

Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 Cons

• No built-in IS
• No hood provided
• Modest maximum aperture

 

 

[REVIEW_FOOTER]R_features=4|R_handling=4.5|R_performance=5|R_value=4.5|R_overall=4.5|A_level=4.5|A_text=Highly Recommended – A lovely high-quality ultra-wide to wide-standard zoom lens.|E_id=8027[/REVIEW_FOOTER]

.borders { border: 1px solid #ccc !important; border-collapse: collapse; } .borders td,.borders tr { border: 1px solid #ccc !important; } .borders { border: 1px solid #ccc !important; border-collapse: collapse; } .borders td,.borders tr { border: 1px solid #ccc !important; }

Sigma now makes 10 lenses for APS-C mirrorless cameras, priced from $344 to $919, and the primes and zooms overlap more than the spec sheets suggest. If you shoot on a crop sensor, this lineup is one of the few places you can build a complete kit of small, sharp glass without paying full frame prices.

 

[Read More]

The Canon EOS R8 Mark II, Sony a7C II, Nikon Z5IIC, and Panasonic Lumix S9 are each the smallest and cheapest full frame body their maker sells right now, and they don't all solve the same problem. If you want a full frame sensor in something you'll carry every day, the differences between them show up in places a spec sheet won't make obvious, like the grip, the shutter design, and which lenses are small enough to match.

 

[Read More]

The Leica Q3 43 puts a 60-megapixel sensor behind a single fixed 43mm lens, so you commit to one focal length and lean on the sensor to cover everything else. If you shoot paid work, the harder question is whether a camera like that can serve as a backup or second body next to an interchangeable-lens system you already trust.

 

[Read More]

 

Reflections are something you can shoot all year round but as bright colours and bold shapes make the most interesting reflections, autumn's the perfect season to try this technique.

 

1. Where should I go?

You can head to a picturesque area of landscape where you have reservoirs and lakes by the dozen to pick from. You can also stay a little closer to home and take a walk through your local park after it's rained and use the puddles that have formed as your reflective surface. If you have a pond in your garden and a tree or two that's decorated with autumn colours, you don't even have to walk to the park as you can set your gear up in your own back garden to shoot these abstract style shots.

 

2. Photograph The Wide Landscape

If you head to a national park area you can capture a few wide shots where you include the body of water in the photo with the tree line and rolling hills sitting alongside it. For this, you want an almost mirror-like reflection and this means shooting on a very still day. Better still, do your research and find a lake or reservoir that's sheltered by hills or find one where at least part of it's out of the way of the wind. It helps if you're an early riser too as the air tends to be stiller first thing in the morning than later on in the day. Ripples still a problem? Try using a slightly slower shutter speed to blur them.

You'll need a tripod to stop shake creeping in and a remote / cable release can be handy but it's not essential. You could even start your exposures via a Smart Phone if the camera you're using has wireless capabilities. 

When working with slower shutter speeds by lakes, have a look at the distant trees and other objects that can move in the breeze to see if they've blurred slightly. If you do have a problem with blurry trees, try taking two exposures then combined them when you're back in front of your computer. The first exposure needs to be shot with a slower shutter speed and the second with a quicker shutter speed that won't allow movement to be introduced into your background. 

It's also a good idea to pack an ND Grad Filter as you'll find that the reflection will look darker than the 'real' scene that's creating it. If you line up the darker part of the filter so it sits over the sky and finishes at the shoreline, you'll produce a shot that balances the exposure of the bright sky/surroundings with the reflection.

  3. More Abstract?

Shooting reflections on their own, particularly if the water's slightly choppy, will result in interesting abstract images. You just need strong colours and / or shapes to create shots with real impact and Autumn's oranges and reds are just the shades you need to produce abstract shots that really pack some punch. You can shoot a wider shot of the landscape, as above, then crop in when you're back in front of your computer but it's much easier to just frame up so the water's surface is your main point of focus. Some lenses struggle to focus on moving water so you may need to switch to manual focus so you get a sharp shot.

Just remember to shoot plenty of photos at quite quick intervals as the patterns created by the moving ripples will change quickly.

If you prefer to shoot water flowing and falling over rocks, use a slower shutter speed to blur its motion. As a result, you'll have smooth waves of water that have the autumn shades/colours of the trees dotted along the banking flowing through it.

In a darkened room at Imperial College in London in the late 1920s, ten people looked at a small split circle of light, about the width of a thumbnail held at arm's length. Half the circle carried a single wavelength; the other half carried a mixture of red, green, and blue lamps the subject could turn up and down until the two halves fused into one uniform patch. Seven more people did the same job at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, and the numbers those 17 people generated are still sitting inside every ICC profile on your computer.

 

[Read More]

Peak Design built the Everyday Backpack around fast access, real organization, and protection for whatever you're carrying. The Everyday Backpack line is already award-winning, and the newly revamped V3 improves on that solid foundation. Style, security, and day-to-day usability all show up here alongside gear protection and room to expand. 

[Read More]

Every edit you make in Photoshop lives on a layer, and the way you stack, mask, and merge those layers decides whether you can change your mind an hour later. If you've ever flattened a file to run a filter and then wished you could go back and fix the retouching underneath, you already know what a shaky grasp of the Layers panel costs.

 

[Read More]

Cutting your rate to win a listing feels like a smart move when your calendar is empty, and it's also one of the fastest ways to get stuck in real estate photography. The choices you make in your first year about pricing, gear, and which clients you chase tend to set the ceiling on what your business can earn five years later.

 

[Read More]

The Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2 R came out in 2012, which makes it one of the oldest lenses still in Fujifilm's lineup and an easy one to dismiss next to newer glass. If you shoot street or family life on an X-series body, knowing whether a 14-year-old design can keep up with a 40-megapixel sensor decides whether you save money or spend a lot more on a newer wide prime.

 

[Read More]

Most cameras sold a decade ago still take perfectly good pictures, yet it's easy to assume the gear you own now is the main reason your recent photos look the way they do. A budget Micro Four Thirds setup is one of the cheapest ways to test that assumption, since older bodies and kit zooms sell used for a fraction of what current pro gear costs.

 

[Read More]

Thanks to its warm, golden colours and varying weather, Autumn is a very photogenic season. However, the different locations you can shoot in coupled with weather and light changes can occasionally make setting the correct exposure tricky. With this in mind, here's a quick check list of ways you can ensure your exposure's correct every time. 

Photo by David Clapp

 

1. Use An ND Filter

Placing an ND Filter over your lens will balance the brightness levels of the ground and sky so that sky detail can still be seen without the ground appearing underexposed.

 

2. Check Your Histogram

Even though digital cameras do have good built-in meters you still need to keep an eye out for burnt-out highlights as you'll lose detail in these areas. A good way to check if your image is correctly exposed is with the histogram.

A 'good' histogram that shows an even exposure will peak more towards the middle and get lower to either end. If the graph is occupying mostly the left-hand side it means your image has more dark tones than light (underexposed) and if it’s shifted to the right, there are more lighter tones (overexposed) which means you could have really bright areas that look blown out.

Also, as a side note, when you playback your images there’s an option you can set that makes the highlighted areas 'blink' so you can pinpoint their exact location. Check your camera's manual for the instructions on how to do this. 

 

Photo by David Pritchard. 

 

3. Work On Overcast Days

Overcast days give you the perfect conditions for capturing autumn shots in woods and forests. Why? Well, on sunny days it can be hard to keep contrast to a minimum and you can end up with large areas of dark shadow and patches of bright, dappled sunlight that's broken through the forest's canopy.

 

4. Meter From The Right Spot

Positioning yourself so the yellow and orange coloured leaves can be backlit will add extra punch to your shots, but again, your camera can get confused by the variety of light sources around. As a starting point, you can meter for the mid-tones but it's best to take a meter reading from the leaves to ensure they are correctly exposed. Also, by doing so the background, which you'll want to be thrown nicely out of focus, should appear darker, allowing your subject to 'pop' from the frame.

 

5. Use Exposure Compensation

Mist and fog are common conditions to be shooting in at this time of year but you may find you have exposure problems once out in the field. This is because camera meters are often fooled into underexposing misty scenes so they come out looking very grey, rather than light and airy. You can fix this by using the + compensation option. How many stops you need to move up by will depend on the scene and how many EV steps you can go up by will depend on the camera you are using. 
 

   

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Photo Month Forum Competition  

Aperty, the portrait editor from Skylum, will be discontinued November 4th. We reviewed Aperty in 2024 and found it a capable editor for portrait photographers. Using a mix of the usual develop sliders and some AI, I had heard positive reviews from people who purchased it.

 

In a note to users, a Skylum spokesman said:

[Read More]