smart photography 201406

ISSUE 3 VOLUME 10JUNE 2014

RS.125

LEARNINGS HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING INTRO TO LAYERS, BLENDING, AND MASK KEY TO PERFECT PANNING

INTERVIEW RAVI DHINGRA

TRAVELOGUE KILA RAIPUR

PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUESHOW TO PHOTOGRAPH FABRICS ● PHOTOGRAPHING WATCHES

PROFILE ATUL CHOUBEY

HEAD -TO-

HEAD CANON EOS 1200D

VS NIKON D3300

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REVIEWS: NIKON COOLPIX P600 ● OLYMPUS STYLUS SP-100 EE ● SONY CYBER-SHOT RX10

INDIA’S NUMBER 1 IMAGING MAGAZINE!

With summer at its peak, for a lot of our

readers it is holiday time. Do not forget

to master your equipment before you

venture out. Also, remember that the best pictures

can often be taken in the most unlikely locations.

So trust your instincts and venture to new

locations with the sole objective of getting some

unique images.

If you are still to purchase equipment, have a look

at our comparison tests of two of the latest budget

D-SLRs in this issue. With the rupee stronger

than before, you will get some tasty discounts.

Also, with a stable government at the centre, the

economy should look up and the imaging industry

should see rosy times again.

H. S. Billimoria

WE ARE GLUED TO THE GLOBAL

IMAGING INDUSTRY

Our team is updated with all the benchmarks

and road blocks that the fi eld of photography

and imaging across the globe experiences.

Th is helps us record the changes in the global

perspective, thus making us the fi rst to predict

which products will be a rage in the Indian

markets.

WE’RE IMPARTIAL

Loyalty towards our readers is a given, and

their best interests are always on our mind.

Every verdict is honest and not infl uenced by

advertisers or personal favorites. So when we say

a product is a ‘BEST BUY’, then, it is just that!

OUR TESTS ARE CONDUCTED BY

EXPERTS

All equipment go through a series of tests at the

hands of our experts. Our reviewers are experts

in the fi eld of photography across the country

and have many years of experience. Th at

gives us the foresight to distinguish between

a passing trend and a big change in the fi eld

of photography and imaging. And fi nally, our

reviews are not extended to just fi ll up the pages!

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU

Th ere is no debate on why we are here. Our sole

goal is to provide you options and better your

judgement in product purchase while, sharing

tips and tricks to improve your images. Our

biggest joy is in building a bridge between you

and your perfect picture!

HERE’S WHAT

MAKES US

Views and opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Next Gen Publishing Ltd. Next Gen Publishing does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without adequate postal stamps for return postage. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in part or full without the prior express writt en permission of the publisher. Printed by Girish Mallya, Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Published by Girish Mallya on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd, 1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20. Published at Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound,

Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Copyright 2006 SMART PHOTOGRAPHYAll readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. Smart Photography does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. Th e editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.

Editor – Hoshang S Billimoria

June 2014 Smart Photography 5www.smartphotography.in

WELCOME

EDITORHoshang S. Billimoria

TECHNICAL EDITORRohinton Mehta

SENIOR CORRESPONDENTSujith Gopinath

COPY EDITORTanika Godbole

PHOTOGRAPHYMahesh Reddy

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Atul D. Bandekar

DESIGNNandkishor Sawant,

ADVERTISE DESIGNSanjay Awad, Shubham Rohatgi

PRODUCTION Dinesh Bhajnik, Deepak Narkar, Ravi Parmar

PUBLISHERGirish Mallya

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HEAD OFFICE - MUMBAI2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013

Tel: + 91 22 43525252 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: [email protected]

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Tel: + 91 22 43525220 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: [email protected]

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6 Smart Photography June 2014 Smartphotography.in

Contents ISSUE 111 / JUNE 2014

ISSUE 3 VOLUME 10JUNE 2014

RS.125

LEARNINGS HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING INTRO TO LAYERS, BLENDING, AND MASK KEY TO PERFECT PANNING

INTERVIEW RAVI DHINGRA

TRAVELOGUE KILA RAIPUR

PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUESHOW TO PHOTOGRAPH FABRICS ● PHOTOGRAPHING WATCHES

PROFILE ATUL CHOUBEY

HEAD -TO-

HEAD CANON EOS 1200D

VS NIKON D3300

REVIEWS: NIKON COOLPIX P600 ● OLYMPUS STYLUS SP-100 EE ● SONY CYBER-SHOT RX10


Cover credits

Photography: Ajay Sood

Just a moment!Readers can fi nd the updated Buyer’s Guide, log on htt p://smartphotography.in/news/monthly-special

Smart Photography thanks the readers who participate in the Picture of the Month contest. We would like to bring to your att ention a few changes in the rules for submission. From now on, you may send in your images with the longer side measuring atleast 17 inches. Please note that the images have to be horizontal. Th is permits readers to submit panoramic shots, which was not possible with the current size of 17 x 11 inches.

REGULARS

08 Mail Bag

10 News Watch

30 Picture of the Month

154 Tidbits

34 KaleidoscopeA platform for budding photographers

to exhibit their talent and get noticed!

40 ShowcaseA photographic profi le of the person

behind the lens

46 If I Were YouOur expert comments on how your

pictures can be taken to another level

49 Ask Uncle RonnieYour photo queries answered by

Uncle Ronnie

34

40

June 2014 Smart Photography 7Smartphotography.in

SUBSCRIPTION OFFERpage29

REVIEWSLEARNINGS

72 Photographing Watches

78 Photographing Fabrics

84 HDRI

(Using Photomatix Pro 5)

90 A Beginner’s Intro to

Layers, Blending Modes and

Masks in Photoshop

101 Panning

104 Canon EOS 1200D Vs.

Nikon D3300

110 Sony Cyber-shot RX10

114 Olympus Stylus SP-100 EE

118 Nikon Coolpix P600

122 AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-

140 f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR

124 Nissin i40

64

78

72

54 Photo feature Ajay Sood captures the Killa Raipur

Rural Olympics

62 Buying Cameras –

Taking The Right Steps

64 MasterCraftsman The masters of the craft share their

insights and photographs

MAILBAG

8 Smart Photography June 2014 www.smartphotography.in

Write to us at:

Mail Bag

Smart Photography,

Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati

Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.

E-mail:

[email protected]


ISSUE 2VOLUME 10

MAY 2014

RS.125

REVIEWS: NIKON D4s ● FUJIFILM X-E2 ● CANON EOS 1200D ● LG G2 ● HP DESKJET INK ADVANTAGE 4515

LEARNINGS STYLING IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY SUNRISE/SUNSET PHOTOGRAPHY AUTOFOCUS OR HOCUS POCUS?

An Acute MobocamLG G2’s 13 MP camera took our breath away when we came to know it performs like a champion in Noise Control, as told in the May 2014 issue. On the one hand, the resolution and IPS panel specialize the phone, whereas on the other hand, its sleekness and size grab one’s attention quickly in the Android market. Audio zooming, Q remote, Guest mode and Eco mode are feathers in its cap. Though this is a high-end model, it is still affordable. The G2 is without doubt, the best of LG in a Smartphone.

Gaurav Mishra

Made for AllSmart Photography has beautiful, attractive, artistic and rare photographs in almost all issues. It is just not for professional photographers but for all those who have some interest in the subject. The May 2014 issue was just fantastic. ‘Buying cameras - brick and mortar or online?’ was very useful. Also ‘Learning-Styling in fashion photography’ was informative.

Photography is like a computer without which no business /profession can flourish well! Everyone needs good photographs of his/her daily activities for personal use—they capture memories, especially events like weddings, trips, birthdays, parties, etc. Relevant photographs on personal or professional websites enhance their utility. SP is for all the people!

Mahesh Kapasi

An Alternative Solution

Th e Q&A section in the May 2014 issue talks about the usefulness of a bean bag where a tripod is impractical, like when one is travelling. I fi nd that a U-shaped neck support that comes fi lled with some sandy material (not the infl atable variety) serves both purposes well. Phiroze B. Javeri

WIN A UNIROSS

1H LCD CHARGER

WORTH Rs.1,095/-

EVERY MONTH FOR THE

LETTER OF THE MONTH LETTER OF THE MONTH



NEWS International


Tamron’s Ultra-Telephoto Zoom lens wins TIPA Award

Leica Camera Japan Co. will launch a new ‘Leica T’ camera combining

pure design and handcraft ed excellence with an entirely new operating system. Th e mirror-less interchangeable lens camera has a 16 MP APS-C sensor and

On April 24, 2014, Tamron has announced the

release of the SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD (Model A011), a 4x ultra-telephoto zoom lens for Nikon mount. This lens has been awarded the TIPA (Technical Image Press Association ) Award for Best Expert D-SLR Lens in 2014. The Nikon mount model will be first launched in the Japanese market, with overseas launches to follow in mid-May. The launch date of the Sony mount model will be announced at a later date. Mounted on APS-C DSLR cameras, it has an equivalent focal length range of 233mm

SNIPPETS

Canon Pixma Printer emerged as number one total inkjet printer brand for 2013 on unit sales according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). Canon dominated the inkjet printer industry in 2013 with a notable 40.9% market-share, well ahead of Hewlett-Packard (37.62%) and Epson (24.56%).

Taiwanese lens kit maker Kinko Optical will invest about US$16.5 million to expand its monthly production capacity for plastic lens pieces from the current 4-5 million to 10 million units.

Taiwan’s ODM camera makers shipped just under 2.4 million digital cameras in the fi rst quarter of 2014, down by 30.4% quarter-on-quarter and down 58.6% year-on-year, according to Digitimes Research. Ability Enterprise led as usual, accounting for 71.7% of the shipments, Altek for 25.3% Asia Optical (AO) for 1.7% and Foxconn for 1.3%. Nikon was the largest client, followed by Fujifi lm.

Leica Japan to launch Leica T plus 2 lenses

smooth surfaces and formal minimalism. Th e camera utilizes a newly developed Leica T mount in range fi nder style.

Th e company also announced two new lenses in T-mount—the Summicron T 23mm(equivalent to 35mm in 35mm format) f/2 ASPH and the Vario-Elmar T 18-56mm (equivalent to 27-84mm) f/3.5-5.6 ASPH lens. Leica M lenses can be used with the new camera, with an optional M lens adapter for Leica T. Th e new products are available in Japan from May 26 at suggested list prices of 237,600 Yen for the body, 243,000 Yen for the Summicron 23mm and 210,600 Yen for Vario Elmar 18-56mm including taxes.

is primarily operated through its 3.7-inch touchscreen interface. It also off ers Wi-Fi connectivity and can be controlled with an iPad or iPhone. Th e camera body is manufactured from a single block of aluminium to present a look with clean lines,

to 930mm. The lens has 20 elements in 13 groups, with three LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements for enhanced optical correction, enabling the lens to compensate for on-axis aberrations at the telephoto end. The lens also adopts eBAND (Extended Bandwidth and Angular-Dependency) Coating and conventional BBAR(Broad-

Band Anti-Reflection) Coating to reduce ghosting and flare. It has a 9 blade circular diaphragm for bokeh effect and offers Vibration Compensation. The lens also features a redesigned tripod mount and comes with SILKYPIX Developer Studio, a RAW image development processing software for Tamron’s SP lenses.


NEWS International


Transcend Releases Upgrade Kits for MacBook computersTranscend announced the launch of its JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits aimed at MacBook computers. The upgrade kits consist of four SSD models, each fully tested for compatibility and reliability, and backed by Transcend’s five-year limited warranty. The JetDrive Upgrade Kits are ideal for professional photographers, videographers, and graphic artists looking to enhance the

performance and capacity of their MacBook system, and even includes an easy-to-use drive enclosure for converting the original SSD or HDD into a new USB 3.0 portable storage device. It employs the SATA III 6Gb/s interface to achieve fast transfer speeds of up to 560MB/s.

The upgrade enables faster system boot-up and application launch times, with

Fujifilm launches new tele-converter lensFujifilm announced the launch of TCL-X100, a tele-converter lens designed specifically for the Fujifilm X100 and X100S cameras. The lens can multiply the fixed focal length by about 1.4x, converting it from 23mm (35mm in 35mm format) to a 33mm fixed focal length (50mm in 35mm format). This is Fujifilm’s second conversion lens for the X100 and X100S cameras, after the WCL-X100 wide-conversion lens. The TCL-X100 retains the original optical characteristics even at an aperture setting of f/2. The lens will be sold at a price of about 30,000 Yen excluding tax.

better responsiveness and stability. The SSDs are available in capacities of up to 960GB. It also comes with a USB 3.0 external storage device made of durable aluminium. The JetDrive Toolbox uses S.M.A.R.T. technology to analyze the health status of the Transcend JetDrive SSD and includes a convenient tool for enabling TRIM, which helps

to maintain optimum write speeds and prevent long-term SSD wear.

Canon announced two new wide-angle lenses, the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM and

the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM. The EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens is the first L-series wide-angle zoom lens equipped with image stabilization and better performance in low light. It is fully compatible with all EOS D-SLR cameras including full-frame models like the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS 6D. The lens offers an Optical Image Stabilizer (IS) for shake reduction. The minimum focusing distance is 0.28m and the maximum magnification is 0.23x at the telephoto end. The lens

incorporates three GMo (Glass-Molded) aspheric lens elements, including a large-diameter aspheric lens, which help improve image quality by correcting aberrations. Two UD lens elements help reduce chromatic aberration and enhanced fluorine lens coatings repel dust particles and minimize ghosting. The EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM wide-angle lens is an affordable option for entry-level users. It is ideal for Canon EOS Movie Servo AF (available on EOS 70D, EOS Rebel T5i and EOS Rebel SL1 cameras). The lens has one UD lens element and enhanced multi-layer lens coatings.

Canon announces two wide-angle lenses


NEWS International


Michiel Munneke steps down as

Director of World Press Photo

World Press Photo Supervisory Board Chairman

Pieter Broertjes and Michiel Munneke announced today that Munneke will leave his position as managing director per 1 November 2014. Munneke started his career at World Press Photo in 1994 as an intern and was hired one year later as a project manager in the exhibitions department. In 1997, he became head of the contest and education departments, where he managed the Joop Swart Masterclass and laid the groundwork for the organization’s current educational programs by

initiating several workshops for local journalists in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was then appointed Deputy Managing Director in 1999 and Managing Director in 2001.

The supervisory board has great respect for the way Munneke developed the organization into a strong international brand that enjoys high esteems with both the photographic community as well as the public. Broertjes said, “Under Munneke’s leadership, the organization has grown: revenue and staff has doubled, the yearly photo contest has been

reformed, a multimedia contest has been added, and the educational programs are now an essential part of the yearly schedule. Munneke is leaving behind a healthy organization that is ready for the future.” Munneke said, “I have spent my whole working life dedicated to this wonderful foundation and the last 12 years as its Director. I feel honoured to have led this great Dutch initiative for more than a decade. Over the past year, we have developed a new strategy and now it’s time for me to pass the torch and make my next step.”

World Press Photo receives

support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.

Sony sells 7 million PlayStation 4Sony Computer Entertainment Co. announced that sales of the PlayStation 4 surpassed the 7 million unit line globally as of April 6 since its debut in November 2013. The company sold the gaming console in 72 countries and regions. The sales pace was faster than the previous model, the PlayStation 3 which came up to 3.55 million units at the end of March 2007 since its debut in November 2006. Sony also announced it sold 20.5 million copies of gaming titles in retail stores and through digital downloads on PlayStation Store as of April 13, citing favourable introduction of software titles as one of the reasons of success. The company expects another 120 titles

to be released during this year. The integrated social capabilities of PS4 continue to be widely popular with gamers. More than 135 million shares have been captured via the ‘Share’ button on the wireless

controller. Broadcasting via video streaming platforms Twitch and Ustream continues to grow with more than 4.9 million gameplay broadcasts and nearly 90 million separate sessions.

Toshiba Corp. announced that it has developed a new micro SD card based on the UHS-II standard, the industry’s fi rst, and will begin sample shipments to hardware suppliers. Th e company will be launching a 64GB and a 32GB model. Th e 64GB model has a very fast reading speed of 145 MB per second and writing speed of 130 MBps maximum. Th e 32GB model off ers 260 MBps and 240 MBps reading and writing speeds respectively. Th e company claims that the speeds are about 8 times faster than currently available models.

Toshiba introduces UHS-II based Micro SD Card


NEWS International


Sony Corp. announced two new full HD projectors for the home theatre

market, the VPL-HW55ES and HW35ES, featuring high quality images utilizing a reflection type liquid-crystal device, the Silicon X-tal Reflection Display, which is used with digital cinema projectors for commercial

cinema theatres. The VPL-HW55ES features dynamic contrast ratio of max 120000:1, while the HW35ES is a more affordable model which carries the basic features of the HW55ES except for the dynamic mode. The HW55ES and HW35ES will be priced at 345,000 Yen and 245,000 Yen respectively, excluding taxes.

Sony announces new

Projectors for Home

Th eatre Market

Schneider introduces 5

lenses for SmartphonesSchneider Optics Inc., a professional lens manufacturer, announced five accessory lenses for Smartphones and Tablets. The line-up includes wide-angle, super wide-angle, fish-eye, macro and 2x telephoto lenses which will enhance the photography experience for Smartphone users. The lenses are available on the company’s online store (www.iprolens.com) at prices ranging from $39 to $99. The company claims that each lens is engineered with precision to ensure the best quality images. The housings are precision machined from aluminium alloy and anodized for durability. The elements are ground and polished from high grade optical glass. They are painted on the edge and have a multi-layer anti-reflection coat. Schneider has used the bayonet mounting system to make changing of lenses quick and easy.

Nikon announces telephoto lens and teleconverter Nikon Inc. announced the new AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens and AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, engineered to give photographers optical excellence and exceptional telephoto capabilities. Both are expected to be available from August 2014.

The 400mm f/2.8 lens is light and durable, meant to capture sports, action and wildlife. The super-telephoto lens offers improved autofocus, exposure accuracy and

speed. The lens contains two fluorite elements, two Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements and Nano Crystal Coat, which reduce chromatic aberration and flare. The internal construction of the lens comprises 16 elements in 12 groups, and features an electromagnetic diaphragm. The lens utilises Vibration Reduction technology. It

weighs 816 g.

The new TC-14 E III Teleconverter is suited for many Nikkor telephoto lenses, offering users a focal length boost while maintaining clarity and sharpness. It comprises of seven elements within four groups. The outer elements

have a fluorine coating for enhanced resistance to dirt and water droplets. For added durability, the lens barrel has been designed for increased moisture and dust resistance.

Samsung introduces Galaxy K

Zoom SmartphoneSamsung Electronics announced the new camera-specialised Smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom. The Smartphone is equipped with a 20.07 MP BSI CMOS image sensor with an optical image stabilizer to reduce blur and a 24-240mm (in 35mm format) f/3.1-6.3 10x optical zoom lens. It also offers a Xenon flash. The phone has a 4.8-inch OLED display and runs on Android 4.4 operating system.


http://www.iprolens.com


NEWS Business

Fujifilm Holdings announced that their net profit for fiscal 2013-14 showed a 49.3% year-on-year gain.

It rose to 81 billion Yen (US $810M) on sales of 2.44 trillion Yen, up by 10.2%. Profits in operation rose by 23.4% to 140.8 billion Yen. Sales in the Imaging Solution unit increased by 8% to 373.6 billion Yen and operational profit turned black to 3.6 billion Yen from the previous loss of 800 million Yen. The favourable performance was due to the new instant camera released in 2013 and instant film, plus increased photo-finishing services on the ‘Year Album’ photobook. Digital camera sales plunged by 46.5% to 4.6 million units, affected by

Smartphones’ widespread usage and compact digicams at affordable prices. In the optical devices segment, sales of camera modules for Smartphones increased by a great extent and sales of lenses for TV cameras also went up. The Document Solution unit’s sales rose by 11.9% to 1.132 trillion Yen and operational profits increased by 26.5% to 96 billion Yen due to the sales of multi-functional colour photocopiers and digital printers for the professional printing industry. In the outlook for fiscal 2014-15, the company expects sales of 2.46 trillion Yen, an operational profit of 160 billion Yen and net profit of 85 billion Yen.

Fujifilm’s Net Profit rises

by 49% for fiscal 2013-14

Canon Inc. is expecting a 50% gain in operating profit to about 80 billion Yen for its first quarter ending in March 2014. Revenue for the period posted a 7% gain to 870 billion Yen. The continued depreciation in the Yen’s value also led to a gain of around 17 billion Yen. In the Imaging division, sales of cameras declined by 2% for interchangeable-lens cameras and by 30% for compact cameras, in unit terms. The company said sales of the EOS 70D were high, and compact models with greater zooming and image quality also performed well.

Chugai Photo Chemical Co. Ltd. Of Japan and C.R. Kennedy and Company Pvt. Ltd. Of Australia have been successful in their bid for the Ilford Trade Marks and Associated Assets. A new company, Ilford Imaging Europe GmbH has been established as a joint venture and will be responsible for all product development, production, logistics, sales and marketing activities. Clement Kennedy and Arnoud Mekenkamp have been appointed as joint Managing Directors.

Canon expects

50% increase in

operating profit

for Jan-March

Chugai Photo

and C R Kennedy

acquire Ilford Sony Corp. announced on May 2 that it now expects to post a group net loss of 130 billion Yen for the year ending on March 31, 2014, 18% greater than it had estimated in February. Including the estimate for last fiscal year, Sony has logged cumulative net losses of 940 billion Yen since fiscal 2008, the year of the global financial crisis. The company, which plans to exit the PC business and take other streamlining steps, attributed the loss to additional restructuring costs in the PC business and impairment losses

related to disc production. This marks the third time that Sony has cut its guidance for fiscal 2013, underscoring its murky business recovery. Sony will book another 30 billion Yen in PC related restructuring expenses. The company will aslo log charges of 25 billion Yen in the disc manufacturing business. The additional restructuring costs for fiscal 2013 will decrease this fiscal year’s expenses. But prospects are unclear for the TV and Smartphone businesses, which are up against intense competition.

Sony to post 18% bigger loss for

Fiscal 2013



NEWS Business

On May 13, Nikon Corp. announced that net profit rose by 10%

year-on-year to 46.8 billion Yen and profit in operation increased by 23% to 62.9 billion Yen on total sales of 980.5 billion Yen, which were down by 3%. Sales of the Imaging business section fell by 8.8% to 685.4 billion Yen as total demand was reduced by the popularity of Smartphones and Tablets.

Sales of interchangeable lens-system cameras dropped by 18% to 5.75 million units while all-in-one compact models plunged by 35% to 11.6 million units. However, profitable D-SLRs performed well. Centering on newly introduced models and cost-cutting measures of advertising expenses for mirrorless models, the division’s operating profit improved by 5.8% to 64.2 billion Yen. The Precision

business unit’s sales rose by 14.8% to 205.4 billion Yen and operating profit by 53.4% to 20.08 billion Yen. Steppers for flat-panel display production systems performed well due to to growth in demand for small to medium size LCD panels for Smartphones and Tablets.

Sales of steppers for semiconductor chip-making machines also increased. The company foresees the

decline in demand for digital cameras to continue, but to a lesser degree.

It estimates sales of interchangeable lens-system cameras will fall by 6% and compact models by 19% for the fiscal year 2014-15. Total group sales are estimated to fall by 4.1% to 940 billion Yen. Operating profit is likely to remain level at 63 billion Yen and net profit would go down by 3.9% to 45 billion Yen.

Nikon posts 10% rise in net profit

Canon’s profit from its mainstay camera business surged during the first three months of 2014, but declining sales volumes created uncertainty over future demand. Its overall net profit grew 16% year-on-year to 47.6 billion Yen (US $476 million) for the January-March quarter. Total sales rose by 6.3%to 868.3 billion Yen and operating profit surged by 50.9% to 82.6 billion Yen. Sales in the Imaging Division fell by 1.8% to 292.8 billion Yen but operating profit rose by 48% to 42 billion Yen because of the sales of D-SLR cameras and high-end compact models. Production cost cuts through personnel reductions and other means

also contributed. In terms of volume, though, camera sales shrank by 22% to 3.16 million units. “Cameras appear to be hitting the bottom, but this start is weaker than our expectations,” said Executive Vice President Toshizo Tanaka at a news conference.

Compact cameras accounted for 1.86 million units, down by 30%. SLR and mirrorless models sales came to 1.3 milliopn, down by 7% year-on-year. The latter got a demand boost in Japan before the consumption tax hike starting on April 1, but their worldwide sales volume shrank due to sluggish demand abroad.

Olympus Corp announced the operating profit for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2014 to be 73.4 billion Yen, which doubled from the previous year. The net profit rose by 69.9% to 13.6 billion Yen on sales of 713.2 billion Yen, down by 4.1%. The company had anticipated some 4 billion Yen net loss but it secured profit, mostly due to recovery in the global economy. The imaging division sales fell by 10.7% to 96.1 billion Yen with a continued operational loss

of 9.1 billion Yen. Sales of interchangeable lens-system cameras increased from the previous year but those of compact cameras dropped.

The mainstay medical business segment sales rose by 24.7% to 492.2 billion Yen with operational profit at 112.7 billion Yen, up by 29.5%. The Life and ndustry business sales gained 15.2% to 98.5 billion Yen with operational profit of 4.9 billion Yen. Other business segment’s sales fell by 36.8% to 26.3 billion Yen.

Canon’s camera shipments

fall despite profit growth

Olympus’ Profitability

Improves for Fiscal 2013

Fujifilm has reportedly slashed the target numbers of digital camera sales for fiscal 2014-15 to 56.5% from the previous fiscal year to 2 million units. The demand for lower priced models shrank drastically, hence the

company will shift emphasis to higher priced models. The company sold 4.6 million units during fiscal 2013-14, a 46.5% slide. The company has halved the number of lower priced models. Fujifilm will further trim the number

of affordable models for the current fiscal year to secure profitability. Industry watchers foresee the downtrend of digital cameras to continue well into the current fiscal year. Compact

camera sales will shrink by 20-30% and interchangeable lens system camera sales will decline slightly. Canon reportedly anticipates a 10% drop over the previous year to 18.1 million units for its 2014 shipments.

Fujifilm to cut Digital Camera Unit sales target



NEWS National

International Digital Photography Salon in Chennai

The Photographic Society of Madras (PSM), India’s oldest

photography club, conducted its first International Digital Photography Salon in Chennai from April 28th to May 4th, 2014. The competition attracted over 1,600 entries, and was dominated by international competitors. The Salon, recognized by The Photographic Society of America, had the following categories: Open, Photo Travel, Nature and Macro. There was also an exclusive Member category for PSM Members.

According to Sanjay Sridhar, President, PSM, “This International Salon with recognition from The Photographic Society of America, has truly imprinted PSM footprints on the global stage. This salon also gave an international platform for our members, who are world class photographers themselves, to compete from home turf. While this year we received entries from 21 countries, we are confident of attracting entries from even more countries the next year”.

Four hundred sixty six award-winning entries were on display at The Lalit Kala Akademi in Chennai. Concurrently conducted were seminars and workshops by some of India’s top photography experts , including Ritwik, Parthiban and B.Ramana Kumar from PSM. The salon entries were judged by an eminent panel of judges: T.N.A. Perumal -FRPS, MFIAP, Hon. FIIP, Hon. FPSG; H. Satish - ARPS,

MFIAP, FICS, Hon.YPS, Hon. ECPA and K.Jayaram - ARPS, EFIAP. Describing the entries at the PSM Salon “among the best”, Satish commented: ‘Both the Indian and foreign entries were very good, unlike in most contests where I see more or less repeated entries”.

InaugurationLaunching Chennai’s Photo Week was famous photographer and world renowned musician, whose name itself is music to the ears of millions: Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja. His message was simple to absorb, apt for the evening and entirely convincing: “Sound and shape are the essence of the universe. Musicians and photographers are therefore comrades in their aesthetic pursuit”.

Sanjay Sridhar, President of PSM and Chairperson of the salon committee, explained the rationale for the International Salon as the urge of PSM, with its rich legacy, to stamp its imprint in the international photography domain. T. Parthiban, committee member, presented a

Ponnadai to the Chief Guest. S. Prabakaran, committee member, garlanded the chief guest.Isaignani honoured PSM by accepting an honorary life membership of PSM, jointly presented by Sanjay Sridhar, President and Sunder Guruswami, Vice President. S. Vivekanand, Director, Salon & Exhibitions and Mr B Ramana Kumar, Salon Treasurer spoke.The chief guest released the salon catalogue, the much awaited collectors’ item with 156 pages of stunning photography from the far corners of the world.

ValedictoryThe First International Digital Photography Salon organized by The Photographic Society of Madras (PSM) concluded on a successful note at a valedictory function held at the Lalit Kala Akademi. H.E Stuart B Campbell, Acting Consul-General,

Consulate of Australia in Chennai, was the chief guest. In his address Stuart Campbell complimented the Photographic Society of Madras for putting up such a magnificent show. He said that the quality of photographs displayed was among the best he has seen and was happy to be here.

Sanjay Sridhar, President, PSM said that, encouraged by the success of the Salon, PSM is determined to make it an annual event. During the function , K O Isaac, Past President, PSM who played a key role in sustaining the organization during the last decade was conferred with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

PSM has signed an MoU with iVolunteer and launched ‘Click-for-a-cause’ that will enable PSM’s member photographers to offer pro bono photographic services to iVolunteer’s member NGOs.

Chief guest Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja (center) discussing a photo with Sanjay Shridhar, President, PSM, while B. Ramana Kumar looks on.



NEWS National

SanDisk introduces 128GB micro

SDXC memory card

SanDisk Corporation is releasing the new 128GB SanDisk Ultra

micro SDXC UHS-I memory card, the world’s largest capacity micro SD card in India. Designed for Android Smartphones and Tablets, the card provides consumers the highest storage capacity available in a removable form factor. It is ideal for shooting full HD video and taking high quality pictures. “SanDisk’s high-performance 128GB SanDisk Ultra micro SDXC memory card will reshape the way users interact with their devices,” said Stuart Robinson, director, Handset Component Technologies, Strategy Analytics. “Until now, consumers had to spread out their content between multiple products because

the memory on those devices was not able to hold enough data in one place. This 128GB micro SD card is going to be popular as the preferred removable storage option, giving users fast, secure and reliable access to their personal data archives.” “The new SanDisk Ultra micro SDXC card again demonstrates how SanDisk continues to expand the possibilities of storage so that consumers can benefit from our latest technology advancements,” said Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager India, SanDisk Corporation. “With 128GB of removable storage, consumers will enjoy the freedom to capture and save whatever they want on a Smartphone or Tablet, without worrying about running out of storage space.”

A new version of the SanDisk Memory Zone app (available on the Google Play Store in beta) lets users view, access, and backup all of their files from the phone memory. As a part of the Memory Zone app, SanDisk is releasing OptiMem, a new feature that allows Android users to enhance their phone’s internal memory by automatically transferring some of their old photos and videos to their micro SD card. OptiMem will continuously monitor the user’s mobile device memory levels, and inform them whenever the internal memory falls below a pre-defined threshold. “The technology used to design the 128GB Ultra micro SDXC card is well in line with what mobile users expect, and demonstrates SanDisk’s commitment to mobility,”

said Christopher Chute, research director, Worldwide Digital Imaging, IDC. “Being able to fit this much capacity into a micro SD card smaller than a fingernail is a game changer, and expands the possibilities of what people can do with their mobile devices. The card frees users from constant concerns around storage limitations.” The SanDisk Ultra micro SDXC UHS-I memory card is available from May 2014 in 128GB capacity at around Rs.9,999.

Fotogears launches Samyang lenses in IndiaFotogears International Ltd, has recently launched 7.5mm, 10mm and 12mm Mirrorless Cinematic Samyang Lenses in India. The offer includes Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS is an optical lens featured with nano crystal coating system. It provides lower reflection, better light transmission, reduce internal reflections. It is ideal for indoor, architecture and landscape photography. It offers a rectilinear image mapping feature. The second lens is Samyang 12 mm f/2.0 NCS CS wide angle lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras. It is ideal for landscape, interior and

architecture shooting. Other lenses on offer include Samyang 7.5mm T3.8 Fish-eye Cine. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.09 metres. Lenses in 8mm, 14mm, 16mm, 24mm, 35mm and 85mm for photo and video shooting are also available.

Sony launches portable Smartphone ChargerBuilding on the popularity of the previous 2,800mAh model, the new Sony CP-V3A USB Portable Charger offers a larger battery capacity. The CP-V3A comes in 6 colours and has an increased capacity of 3,000mAh that can fully charge a Smartphone. Containing a Sony-made Lithium ion battery, the new charger utilises Sony’s Hybrid-Gel Technology, allowing it to retain more than 90 per cent

of its capacity at 1,000 charges. With an output of 1.5A for a speedy boost, the CP-V3A USB Portable Charger is ready-to-use straight out of its packaging. It comes with a USB charger. The charger from Sony will be available in India from May 2014 onwards.


www.smartphotography.in June 2014 Smart Photography 25

For the Good Life

For details contact:

[email protected]

or call +91 22 43525220




NEWS National

Sony launches USM-SA1 USB drive

Sony Electronics has developed the new USM-SA1 USB drive which possesses dual micro USB and USB

ports to offer consumers more options to backup, share and store their favorite photos, videos and music. This device is a convenient way to transfer and share files easily between devices, and is useful for backing up the data on your mobile device to a desktop, or when files such as images and video clips need to be shared quickly amongst several individuals, without Wi-Fi connection or a USB cable.

The the USM-SA1 USB is compatible with PCs and Android Smartphones and Tablets. It can also function as a storage device that can be easily plugged in and detached.

The drive has a durable metal body and a strap hole. The USM-SA1 comes with a smart protective cap that protects the micro USB port from damage and locks

on to the USB drive’s body for easier unplugging from the PC.

Users can also download the dedicated File Manager App for free on Google Play onto their Smartphones and Tablets, to help manage the content across their

different devices with ease. It is available in capacities of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB for Rs.746, Rs.1,399 and Rs.2,633 respectively.



CLICK!

Photo Contest

India Weaved in

Frames

The Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation in New Delhi are organising

the CLICK! Japan Photo Contest this year in June.

The contest is open to Indian residents, who have stayed in Japan for any duration, between April 2013 and June 2014.

The pictures must be original works of the contestant taken in Japan. The contest is meant for aspiring professionals to get their work noticed at an international level. The winners will be given awards and their photos will appear in the publication of the Embassy of Japan in India and the Japan Foundation.

Selected photos will also be displayed in a photo exhibition at the Japan Foundation, New Delhi, Gallery from August 1 to August 30, 2014. The submission of entries will begin from June 1, 2014 , and the deadline is June 30, 2014.

The contest allows only one entry per person but if it is a set, up to three entries are allowed. Each image should be more than 2MB and less than 5MB in size. The winners and photos for the exhibition will be chosen by a committee based on expressivenessh of the picture and on originality. Applicants can send their entries to [email protected]. Log on towww.jfindia.org.in.

India Weaved in Frames is a photo contest organised by Immagine NPO (Non Profit Organisation) that centres around Indian states. This year, the theme is Assam and Manipur.

Photographers of any nationality, age and skill level can join. Participants can submit only one photograph. Only minor editing such as colour, saturation, contrast, and cropping is permitted. The Assam contest will be judged by Dr. Caesar Sengupta and the Manipur contest

by Mr. Phanjoubam Santosh. The Best Photographer of the Series will be awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 10000 (The IWIF Award). The top three images selected by the judges will be featured in Immagine exhibitions.

The winner will be awarded with a certificate of appreciation by Immagine NPO. The winners will receive prizes sponsored by Taj Pearl and Art online shop. To know more and participate, log on to www.immagine.co.in/iwif



http://towww.jfindia.org.in

http://www.immagine.co.in/iwif


NEWS National

Canon India

launches Canon

Business Services

Photographer

Gopal Bodhe

passes away

Canon India has launched Canon Business Services (CBS) to focus on becoming a provider of digital document management service and print room services. CBS will help companies adopt technologies that can improve operational performance, gain a competition advantage and meet growing service demands without compromising on the existing infrastructure, according to Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice President of Canon India.

On May 17, acclaimed aerial photographer Gopal Bodhe passed away following a heart attack while on a shooting assignment at Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. He was 66 years old and is survived by his wife and son. The Mumbai based photographer specialised in aerial and infrared photography. He captured the history, ecology and architecture of India and used his pictures for photographic documentation and education.

Nikon India announces 16 Coolpix camerasNikon India announced the launch of 16 new cameras in its Coolpix Series 2014. The cameras are designed for a wide range of users, from professional photographers to hobbyists. Nikon has added multiple features such as HD

recording, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS and extended zoom, amongst others.

These are all-weather light cameras which offer a stylish appearance and good performance.

Microsoft launches

Lumia 630 in India

On May 12, 2014, Microsoft Devices launched the Lumia

630 with the latest Windows Phone 8.1 system. This is the first ever dual SIM Lumia Smartphone, with a quad-core processing engine and a ClearBlack 4.5-inch LCD screen. Speaking at the launch, P. Balaji, Managing Director, Nokia India (a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobiles) said, “with our Lumia range, we have been successful at showcasing innovation across our flagship devices and then scaling it to more affordable price points. Today, wth the Lumia 630, we are introducing people to the best of Lumia and the best of Microsoft, combined with our Smart Dual SIM innovation. We believe the Lumia 630 Dual SIM is undoubtedly the best Smartphone in its price range. It builds on the success of Lumia 520 and 525 and will consolidate our position in the fast-growing affordable Smartphone segment further.” The phone offers two separate call and messaging tiles in different colours to keep the calls, contacts, messages and calendars of each SIM separate. It is also possible to link both phone/message tiles into one. Integrated features include one swipe

notifications from Action Centre, the new Microsoft Enterprise feature pack, Microsoft Office, OneDrive, HERE Maps and Drive+. It has better entertainment options with Xbox games, the latest version of MixRadio and Storyteller. The phone also offers signature Lumia features such as a 5MP Autofocus camera and advanced imaging applications like Nokia Camera and Cinemagraph. It is available in stores starting May 14, 2014 at a best buy price of Rs.11,500. A single SIM variant will be available at a price of Rs.10,500.


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PICTURE OF THE MONTH

PICTURE OF THE MONTHWe are sure that all of you have a few pictures that you think are prize worthy. It happens very oft en that you don’t know where to send the image that could put a

feather in your cap. If you have such images (we’re sure you have many!), send us ONE such horizontal image. If it qualifi es, we shall publish it as a double-spread.

a. You have to guarantee that the picture was shot by you

b. If there are people in the picture who can be identifi ed, we’ll need a model release

c. Th e picture should not have been printed elsewhere (magazine newspaper, or off ered to any publication)

d. Mark the entry as “Picture of the Month” and rename the fi le using your name

e. You may send images via print/e-mail to: Next Gen Publishing Ltd.,2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower

Parel (W), Mumbai 400013 (or) [email protected]

Photograph by

Amit Sarda


1. Th e picture has to be horizontal.

2. Kindly ensure that the longer side should measure atleast 17 inches, at 300ppi.

3. Low resolution images will not be accepted.

4. We do not check images on online galleries.

5. Kindly ensure complete contact/address details are provided. Winners will have

to collect their prize from SP’s Mumbai offi ce or send an authorised representative

to do so.

6. Please make sure that your picture does not have your name/logo on it.

WIN!MK 393 PD

Tripod

Sponsored by:

A NOTE TO OUR READERS

KALEIDOSCOPE Finally, a platform for budding photographers

to exhibit their talent and GET NOTICED!

www.smartphotography.in34 Smart Photography June 2014

Animal KingdomAnimal Kingdom



End of the Day Camera: Canon EOS 600D Aperture : f/10.0; Shutter speed: 1/1250sec.; ISO: 1600

I’m a musician and I run a music instruments store

called ‘Full Volume’ in Hyderabad Since childhood, I love travelling to different places. I happened to visit Khana Tiger reserve in 2006 and fell in love with the majestic creature and the jungle. I visited several reserves after that, but I never thought of documenting the sights. I simply wanted to enjoy the experience with my eyes. In May 2013, I carried a Nikon point-and-shoot camera on my trip, to enhance the experience. I fell in love with the art of photography and by July 2013, I had already upgraded to a D-SLR. I now use a Canon 7D and 600D with Sigma 50-500 DG OS HSM. I make use of Canon DPP and Photoshop CS6 for post-processing the images.

Connecting with wildlife and nature is the most important thing for me. Through my pictures, I try to capture God’s creations and convey the true beauty of the place at that moment.

As a nature lover and wildlife photographer, preserving the natural environment is a priority. It is important that the photographer doesn’t harm the animals or forest and follows general ethics on his shoots. The most satisfying feeling for me as a photographer is when someone asks me, “Where did you click that image? I would love to go there.” Bringing people closer to nature makes me very happy.

Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad

As told to Tanika Godbole



Other side Camera: Canon EOS 7D; Aperture : f/7.1; Shutter speed: 1/1250sec.; ISO: 250 Slam Dunk Camera: Canon EOS 7D; Aperture : f/7.1; Shutter speed: 1/1000sec.; ISO: 400

Misunderstood Camera: Canon EOS 7D; Aperture : f/7.1; Shutter speed: 1/500sec.; ISO: 800



Gotcha Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/7.1; Shutter speed: 1/50sec.; ISO: 1600

Higher and Higher Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/7.1; Shutter speed: 1/2000sec.; ISO: 400


SHOWCASE


PICTURESQUE JOURNEY

Atul Choubey is a travel, art and commercial photographer based in Mumbai. He has won many awards in competitions and exhibitions around the world for his pictorial photography. He won the Special Mention Award from Photo Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the 2nd

National Photo Awards 2012. His work can be found on www.atulchoubey.com


I am a Mumbai based freelance commercial photographer with over 20 years experience in

different genres of photography like pictorial, travel, industrial, interiors, product, fashion and so on. After working for a few years in the advertising industry, I took up commercial photography. I am from Jabalpur (Madhya

Pradesh) which has lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha and Bandhavgarh wild life sanctuaries. Village life has always inspired me for my pictorial photography. My love of photography stems from an early childhood interest in art. I first picked up a professional camera at the age of eighteen during my graduation in

Lake in Leh



applied arts, where photography was one of my subjects. My first camera was a Pentax K1000. Soon, I started participating in many national and international competitions. Whenever I go for shoots I prepare my camera and equipment in advance and always carry my tripod whether I am going for pictorial, landscape or commercial shoots. I try to go the same places which I found suitable for photography so that I am already aware about what I have to shoot, the direction of the sunlight, background and foreground. For new explorations I do my studying and plan the spot. I visualize the pictures to be taken from that outing or assignment. I spend a great deal of time planning

Lone Photographer

Camel Ride


SHOWCASE


the final image before pressing the shutter release. I believe photo-making is more important than photo-taking. In the age of digital technology post-processing is very important. I think every photographer should learn to edit and bring his vision in the photo by himself. Pictures are moments frozen in time. Moreover it is the individual perception of every lensman that alters reality and contributes to making a photo. Many are of the opinion that an expensive camera is what it takes to create great images. But it is the thought you give before clicking that counts.

Morning Walk

Cart Race



Bhedaghat waterfall at Moonlight


IF I WERE YOUE-mail your images at [email protected]


Rohinton Mehta,Technical Editor, Smart Photography

Our Imaging ExpertNo one can take a picture that everyone likes. But, almost every picture can have scope of improvement. Often, we are not our best critics, while others can immediately point out the

faults. In If I were you, our expert comments on how your pictures could be taken to another level.

Camera: Canon PowerShot A640ISO: N/A; Shutter speed: 1/125 sec; Aperture: F/8

Edited Image

Original Image

Kodaikanal LakeThis picture of Kodaikanal Lake comes to us from Dr. Amudhan, a dentist by profession. He wants to know how this picture could be improved. Here are some general points to consider: 1. Photography is a play between light and shade. The subject one chooses is important of course, but how the light models (moulds, gives form to) that subject is even more important. Side lighting brings out texture and detail; frontal lighting ‘flattens’ the details. 2. Composition (framing) is also very important. First decide as to what is there in the frame that has attracted your attention. Try to emphasise that element by clever selection of lens and the picture taking angle. In your picture, you have created a somewhat clash of interest by dividing the picture into almost two equal and similar halves (the trees with the structure and its strong reflection in the water).

3. Always pay attention to the background. In your picture the sky, being devoid of clouds or strong colour, is distracting away from the main element. There is always an element of luck when taking any picture; sometimes you are rewarded

with a beautiful sky, at other times, you can have a bald ‘lifeless’ sky! In the edited picture, I have adjusted the tones in Photoshop, re-composed the picture, saturated the greens and sharpened the picture.




Edited Image

Original Image Camera: Canon PowerShot G3 ISO: 400; Shutter speed: 1/30sec; Aperture: F/8

Its true that beginners want to photograph “anything and everything”. That’s okay, because the more you use your camera, the more you’ll understand its potential and limitations. In the case of your picture for example, you’ll get to know the effects of using different shutter speeds on the little water fountain. But once you are familiar with your camera, you should concentrate on the content of the picture. The brightness of the water has caused the camera exposure meter to slightly underexpose the background and at the same time, there is some loss of required detail in the water. I also feel the scribbling at the right lower end a bit disturbing. Using Adobe Camera Raw (I always open every picture in ACR, whether it is a Raw file or JPEG or TIFF), I adjusted the highlights (to get detail in the water) and opened up the shadows (to get detail in the background). Then in Photoshop, I got rid of the scribbling using a combination of Healing Brush and Clone Tool. Finally I cropped a wee bit from the top and sharpened the picture.

The Water FountainMohanty M. K. has recently started with photography. He says he photographs anything and everything! And of course wants to know if this picture could be improved, and how?


IF I WERE YOUE-mail your images at [email protected]


Camera: Kodak Easyshare C143

ISO: 80; Shutter speed: 1/1250sec;

Aperture: F/5.5

Edited Image

Original Image

Shooting into

the Light

This photo comes to us from Nikhil Mishra, via email. The photo shows some cars around a water body. Due to the position of the sun in the frame and the water body reflecting the sunlight, the camera’s exposure meter is fooled into underexposing the scene. What remains is detail-less sky and blocked up shadows. When metering for such difficult lighting situations, try to locate an area that you think is mid-tone and take the meter reading from this area. Additionally, you can bracket the exposure for reasons of safety. If I were you, I would have used a Graduated Neutral Density filter. First meter the scene

without the filter and then place the G-ND filter in front of the lens. Adjust the filter so that the graduated part of the filter blocks the light from the bright sky. Using the Shadows/Highlights

Tool in Photoshop, I opened up the shadow details and using the Gradient Tool, created a vignette for the sky. Finally, I cropped the picture as you can see in the edited image. You can now clearly see the cars

Note: If I Were You is meant to encourage and guide readers, and help them improve their

photography. Please ensure that the required camera/exposure details are sent to us (or are

available in the EXIF data). We shall not accept images for this section if the required data is not

available. Readers are requested to send their images at 300ppi for 8 x 10-inch size. If they are

too small, working on them is difficult, and hence they may be rejected.




Polarizing FilterI have a Polarizing filter but I am not sure if it is a Linear or Circular Polariser. Nothing is written on it. Is there a way to find out if it is Linear or Circular?

Arvind L, via email

Yes, there certainly is a way to find out. For the uninitiated, we are not referring to the shape of the filter; both are round in shape. The Linear polariser, due to its design, cannot be used with digital cameras (and a few film-based SLRs that use beam-splitters in its optical path). With digital cameras, it is necessary to use only the Circular Polariser (CPL).

To find out if a Polariser is Linear or Circular, hold the filter with the filter thread away from you, and look through it into a mirror. A CPL’s mirror image will be black, if not, it is a Linear Polariser.

Did you know...

Ronnie has

over 35 years of

experience in

photography?

In fact, he has

taught several

thousand photo-

enthusiasts

in various

institutions

and through

workshops, as well as judged

many national and international

photo contests, including the

prestigious International Photo

Contest held at Colombo, Sri

Lanka. So, if you have any photo-

queries, whether conventional or

digital, don’t hesitate. Just go ahead

and Ask Uncle Ronnie at sp@

nextgenpublishing.net, ‘cause he

knows it all!

What Else?Uncle Ronnie, as an SP reader, I know your love for the tripod. What other gizmos/accessories do you usually carry with you?

A. N. D’Souza, Mumbai

What else I carry depends on the kind of shoot. For local trips in Mumbai, I carry a camera body, at least two lenses, my trusty hand-held exposure meter, extra memory cards, a 18% grey card, and two large plastic bags (but not where plastic bags are not allowed). The plastic bags are for safety of my equipment from odd-season rains. I have seen it rain in every month of the year (not in the same year though).I trust my hand-held light meter (an incident-cum-reflected light meter, offering 1 degree metering in reflected light mode) more than I trust any camera meter.

For out-of-Mumbai trips, along with what is mentioned above, an extra camera body, extra lenses (depending on the kind of shoot), padded knee-caps, a flashgun along with its dedicated TTL Flash Cord, and a torchlight. The padded knee-caps protect my knees when kneeling down to take pictures, especially on hard, rough surfaces. And though I don’t have them, elbow-pads would also make my life more comfortable when crawling on the ground for very low-level shots of ground birds and small animals.

During the rainy season, I carry an umbrella as well as a rain-coat. The rain-coat protects me from the vagaries of the season and the umbrella protects (to some extent) my camera, allowing me to take pictures when its not pouring.

Super Zoom Camera and

D-SLR with Super Zoom

What is the difference between a super zoom camera and a D-SLR with a super zoom lens? Please explain.

V. Varun Kumar, via email

When we photographers refer to a super zoom camera, we are referring to a non-interchangeable lens camera (like a Bridge camera for example) having a long-range zoom lens. A D-SLR with a super zoom lens would be similar except that lenses can be interchanged if necessary. A D-SLR also has a reflex mirror which the other camera doesn’t.

Image quality: Mobile

phone camera Vs dedi-

cated modelI intend to buy a Samsung S5 mo-bile phone which has a 16 megapixel camera. Will its photo quality be as good as that from any other 16MP camera?

Ajit Rao, Chennai

I haven’t had a chance to use a Samsung S5. Even then, as of today, I am sure that a compact camera with 16MP (or even much lesser MP) would produce better image quality than what the S5 can produce.

This is not to run down the S5. I am sure that the S5 would be a great performer, but the very small imaging sensor (1/2.6” Type) cannot match the image quality of a larger sensor (and often better lens) as found in most digital compacts. As long as you view the images on its own screen, you’ll be amazed, but bring them on a computer monitor, and you’ll see the difference, more so with pictures shot in low light.

We regularly get requests to suggest a camera or a lens. While some do their preliminary

homework, most don’t. It is important for you to do some spadework and narrow down

your options before writing in to us. You also need to give us an idea of what genre of

photography you are interested in and how much you are willing to spend. We would then be

in a better position to evaluate your query and suggest suitable gear. We have received one

such ‘homework-done’ request from a reader who has narrowed down his choice but wants

to know if the extra amount that he would spend is justifiable or not. The questions he has

asked are relevant to every reader. Read on...

Q&AAsk Uncle Ronnie




Q&AAsk Uncle Ronnie


Full-frame?I’ve got a Nikon D5200 with 3 lenses - AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G, AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70 - 300 mm f/4-5.6G. I’m interested in Portrait photography. I love taking pictures of my family and friends. I’m planning of upgrading my collection with a full frame body (Nikon D610) and AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. However, my budget is currently limited to only one of these. Kindly advise as to which one I should get first and on my choice of D610 as a portrait camera.

Sudhir Mairembam, via email

Any D-SLR body can be used for portraits. What is important is the lens. Here are my views:1. From your current line-up of lenses, the 70-300mm f/4-5.6G is the weak link. If I were you, I would get rid of it.2. What, according to you, will a full-frame model do better than the D5200?

a) Superior tonalityb) Lower digital noisec) Better dynamic range.d) Ability to throw the background out of focus (using suitable lenses)Right. But how large will your prints be? Will your portraits be generally taken in low light? Will you be able to discern the difference in the dynamic range?

If you use ‘fast’ lenses with the D610, you’ll be able to throw the background out of focus much better than with the D5200. The D5200 and the D610 are both 24 megapixel models. The sensor size of the D610 is almost 2.3 times that of the D5200 (864 verses 372 sq. mm). Hence the D610 can (and does) have larger photosites, resulting in better dynamic range and better noise control. But, if you take the portraits in good light, if your prints are going to be of modest size (8x10”/12x15”), and the post-processing is good, I doubt if you’ll notice substantial difference in the image quality

between the two models. Mind you, I am not saying that there will be no differences; what I am saying is that for the size of the prints that you are likely to have and the fact that you’ll be mostly shooting in good light, you (and others) may not notice those differences.

But what the heck. We only live once! If your heart is on the D610, go ahead. Its a great camera.

Coming to the lenses, replace your existing 70-300mm with the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF ED. It is a much sharper lens. If you need a faster lens, consider the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II. If you want even better control over depth of field, consider the 85mm prime (f/1.4 or f/1.8). The 24-70mm f/2.8 that you mention is also a superb lens and at 70mm, could be used for portraiture. However, for portraiture, the 70-200mm would be better in my opinion.



There are 2 filters that I would recommend for landscape pictures:1. Graduated Neutral Density (1-stop and 2-stops). Please purchase the ones that are rectangular in shape.2. A 3-stop Neutral Density [actually, a variable ND filter (9-stops max) would be ideal but its expensive]. I do not suggest a Polarizing filter for a super-wide-angle lens.

Newer Version?I have a Tamron 90mm macro lens (the earlier model, without image stabilization) and I am happy with

it. Would you suggest that I sell this and go in for the newer version that has the image stabilization feature?

A. S. Tamhane, Mumbai

If you are hand-holding your camera, then the newer version with the Optical Stabilizer may benefit you. If you are using a tripod (at least most of the time), then I don’t see much of a reason to change. In terms of sharpness, both the versions are equally sharp. For the ultimate sharpness that any macro lens can offer, it is advisable to use a firm tripod, put autofocus off (focus manually), switch off the image stabilization, lock up the reflex mirror (if your camera has that feature), and either use the self-timer to activate the shutter release

Which Wide-angle Lens?I pursue photography as a serious hobby and I am very much interested in landscape photography. Please suggest me a good wide-angle lens and one or two filters. My current equipment is Canon EOS 1100D with 18-55mm IS and 55-250mm IS. My budget for the wide-angle lens is Rs.30,000 - 40,000/-

Srinivas M. B., Kochi, Kerala

If you want a Canon lens to go with your 1100D, there is the EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM but it goes over your budget (MRP Rs.59,995). Then there is the new EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (no data available on Canon India website) or go in for a Tokina 11-16mm AT-X Pro II (MRP around Rs.45,000).

or use the delayed firing mode (again if your camera permits that) or use a remote-controlled shutter release. Seems like a lot of hassle, but the trouble will be worth it in terms of image sharpness.

Since it is the recommended practice to switch off the image stabilizer when the camera is tripod mounted, you might question the need for having the stabilizer. Well, for one reason, you may not be using a tripod (because it is inconvenient in a particular situation), or you may be using the lens for general (non-macro) photography where having a image stabilizer is always welcome.

18% Grey CardWhere can I buy a 18% grey card. I have tried at various places but to no avail.For accurate White Balance, is it better to have a white card?

P. Ramachandran, via email

You could try ordering it via www.amazon.in or some other similar website. Between a white card and an 18% grey card, I would prefer the 18% grey card for White Balance. While in theory a white card is also usable, there is every chance that the white card/paper manufacturer may have used a blue dye to make the white card/paper look brilliant white (similar to using a blue dye for white clothes). If that is so, your WB can go wrong; the camera will ‘see’ the blue and compensate with a yellowish result (blue and yellow are opposites). An 18% grey card also has the advantage that it can be used to measure mid-tone exposure.

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http://www.amazon.in

http://www.amazon.in

PHOTO FEATURE Kila Raipur



Ajay Sood (Travelure)Travel Photographer/Photo-educator

Ajay Sood is an

accomplished travel

photographer

and a travelogue

writer. He has

been covered as

Mastercraft sman in

Smart Photography

(May 2012).

He was on the

jury of Canon

Photomarathon 2012. He is also an

assignment photographer for National

Geographic Traveller.

Besides mentoring photography

workshops, he leads photo-tours, and

contributes travelogues and features

to various publications. Ajay has a

passion for capturing the sights, sounds

and stories of places he visits. He has

travelled across India extensively, and

to over 20 countries across the globe.

His 27 years in the communication

industry have been his training ground,

leading to his deep understanding of the

visual medium, refl ected in his unique

compositions.

I was perched precariously with my camera gear on the crowded 4ft x 7ft roof of a guard tower

at the far end of the Kila Raipur Stadium. A videographer, who had earlier too shot at Kila Raipur, had captured lion’s share of the available roof space. Th ere were 8-10 other villagers standing alongside. And the roof had no railing. Needless to say, it was not a very comfortable place to be, but it was a perfect vantage from a photographer’s point of view. I was asking a local a few questions about the bullock cart race, which was yet to begin. He had pointed out the start line, the racetrack and the fi nish line of this race. Th e fi nish line was about 20ft below and about 50ft away from where I was standing. I had incredulously looked at that line and had asked him - “Th ese bullocks must be running at a fairly fast pace, and naturally, they don’t have any brakes.

Hadippa - Energetic bhangra



Turbo-charged bullock cart race

Attempt to reign in speeding bullocks past the finish line


How do they stop after the finish line?” “They don’t stop. They just continue to run out of the stadium, into the fields, and stop when they can,” he replied. I am from Ludhiana, but, during my entire Ludhiana life, I had never attended the globally famous Kila Raipur Rural Olympics, which have been covered by BBC and National Geographic, besides multiple other global channels and publications. This year, I was determined to correct this anomaly. Upon checking the schedule, I realised

that this unique sports meet was to happen on the weekend after Basant Panchami, in end-February. I planned this trip many weeks in advance. Even though I travel extensively, the excitement of visiting Kila Raipur far exceeded the excitement levels I had experienced lately for any of my other recent travels. We had made Hotel Sarovar Portico – a centrally located, comfortable hotel in Ludhiana – our base for 2 days. The entire meet is a 4-day affair, but we had decided to be there on day 3 and 4 as the star events happen on these days. From there, the journey to Kila

Raipur is normally about 35 minutes, traffic-permitting. Once we reached there, the programme sheet handed over to us listed some real strange events. Despite the bullock cart races being the star attraction of the meet, the other events had a rustic charm of their own. Dog races, dancing ponies and camels, dare-devil Nihang riders, motorbike stunt riders, bare-back riders racing their stallions, tractor races, timed loading and unloading of trolleys, were some of the rural attractions, besides the standard hockey, athletics, Kabaddi, tug-of-war, etc.

Applying brakes, rather unsuccessfully



The entire atmosphere was that of a large village fair. The parking lot was large and orderly; the stadium had a semi-finished look, and was surrounded by the lush-green fields that are so typical of Punjab; most of the crowd was the villagers in their ethnic attire – some had come to cheer their village sportsmen, others had just come to watch the action; media persons were there in

full force to cover the event; loud and hilarious Punjabi commentary informing the spectators about the action in the stadium was flowing incessantly from the loud-speakers sprinkled across the entire stadium. But, what contrasted it from a typical village fair was the presence of a large number of camera-wielding foreign tourists thronging the stadium.

To an avid sports fan, this event may seem slightly disorganised, as there is no schedule being followed; the schedule gets determined minute by minute. But, in its’ own way, the event is a hugely organised effort. Some bits of organising that go on behind the scenes, and need to be appreciated are – inviting the participants from far-flung villages across the entire Punjab-Haryana belt where, even

High jump in progress in the background

Tractor race in progress

A happy stunt rider

Riding 2 galloping horses with reign between teeth


in this telecom era, communication is still a challenge (in fact, this year, there were some sportspersons who had come all the way from Lucknow); arranging for funds to get this event going year-after-year (this year was the 78th edition of these games); getting the media to come and cover the event; catering to the media and its special needs from the make-shift media centre; managing the crowds;

organising VIP guests who also provide grants for the meet; are just some of the visible aspects. Lots more must have been happening behind-the-scenes and that’s what makes this entire mammoth effort a marvel. Our two days were hectic since the action was non-stop. For instance, as soon as a race would get over, high jump or some other athletics event

would start. While that was still going on, a Kabaddi match would begin. Show riders would enthrall you, and before you had a chance to share your amazement with your group, the tractors would go flying past as a part of the tractor race. On top of that, the bullock cart races, which punctuate the meet (since there are many heats, quarter finals, semi-finals and final), genuinely take

Villagers arriving for the games

Riding 3 horses simultaneously



Gatka exhibition

Kabaddi match in progress

COVER STORY


Buying Cameras – Taking The Right Steps

purpose of that purchase. If a camera is purchased for casual or candid use, a compact camera or a Smartphone may be the best

answer in terms of choice. On the other hand, if the camera is going to be used seriously for different types of photography, a D-SLR or a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera may be the solution.

Step 2Is the weight of the camera going to be a determining factor? If so, you are better off buying a

H. S. Billimoria

Step 1Before considering a camera purchase, one needs to be very clear as regards the ultimate

Illu

stra

tion

: Aja

y P

arad

kar



mirrorless camera. Mirrorless cameras are generally smaller and lighter than D-SLRs. This is particularly true of cameras which follow the Micro Four Thirds sensor size. Mirrorless cameras remove the need for the mirror and the prism thereby liberating both space and weight. Of course, if you need the camera only occasionally, a lightweight compact camera or Smartphone would suffice.

Step 3Is image quality your main object? An honest answer to this question is very important. 95% of photographers that we know do not see images in sizes bigger than 7x5 inches or A4 size. For the others, who are quality fanatics, sensor resolution becomes an all important factor. For such cases, a camera, whether D-SLR or mirrorless with a full-frame sensor is the answer. A full frame sensor gives much better resolution, far wider dynamic range and better tonal quality. However, this is likely to be noticed only if you are to view or print images to large sizes. A full frame sensor tends to be more expensive. When buying a camera for ultimate image quality, it is desirable to record in RAW mode. RAW records more data and gives greater control over image post capture. Most D-SLRs and mirrorless cameras have RAW.

Step 4Do you need an optical viewfinder? All D-SLRs do come with optical viewfinders which means that you see the scene through the lens. Whilst most cameras also come with LCD screens as viewfinders, it becomes difficult to see the scene clearly in bright light. A number of mirrorless cameras feature electronic viewfinders similar to those found in camcorders. The quality of electronic viewfinders has improved by leaps and bounds in the last couple of

years and today they rival optical viewfinders in quality. It is also extremely useful to have a LCD screen that can be fully articulated. Whilst screens from companies like Canon, Nikon and Panasonic are vari-angle, companies like Sony opt for a tiltable screen. If you are technology friendly, a touch screen may prove to be an important attraction.

Step 5Do you want manual controls? In order to be really creative with your photography, it is best to opt for a camera which gives you full manual control. These controls should also be easily accessible. Fujifilms’ retro-style cameras like the X100s are good examples of manual controls which are easily accessible. If you intend to leave your camera in auto mode, an ‘intelligent auto’ option made available by several brands like Panasonic may be your best bet.

Step 6Will you need to shoot in very low light or in near darkness? If the answer is yes, you need a camera which supports high ISO speeds and will at the same time reproduce pictures without much noise. On the other extreme is the area of action photography where you will need high shutter speeds and an autofocus system that offers quick lock in. For action photography, cross type sensors with face detection pixels and fast shooting speeds may be necessary. Remember that some cameras offer high burst speeds but only at reduced resolution.

Step 7Are you going to be shooting a lot of video? With still-cameras offering sophisticated video, the distinction between still and video cameras has begun to blur. A number of D-SLRs and mirrorless cameras now offer Full High Definition video. Again, video files can be saved in JPEG

or AVCHD format. If you are serious about shooting video, the camera you choose must have a port for external microphone and, if possible, one that offers audio monitoring via a headphone socket. The best video quality available in the market today comes from Panasonic’s GH3 followed by the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

Step 8Will you need additional lenses and other accessories? Every manufacturer’s camera system is supported by a range of accessories. In the main, these consist of lenses and flashguns. Nikon and Canon have the largest system of interchangeable lenses for D-SLRs. On the mirrorless side, Olympus and Panasonic have the largest range of interchangeable Micro Four Thirds lenses. Third party manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron and Tokina also make a range of lenses but mainly for the most popular brands like Canon and Nikon. Along with the range of accessories, one should also review the capability of the manufacturer or its agents to offer quality after-sales-service, should you need it.

Step 9Finally, there are a series of other considerations that you need to answer before you finalize your purchase. A few of them are listed below:

( a ) Do you want a Wi-Fi function?

( b ) Do you want NFC (Near Field Communication)?

( c ) Do you need a camera with weather-proofing? For hot and humid climates, weather- proofing is very important. The Pentax D-LSR range with the exception of the K-500 is weather-proof.

Take the above key considerations into account and you are well on your way to making an educated purchase.


MASTERCRAFTSMAN RAVI DHINGRA



Ravi was born in 1967 in Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir. He is involved with lifestyle photography. He has been associated with leading publications, advertisement agencies and corporate clients and his work has been widely published. Currently based in New Delhi, Ravi is also a visiting faculty for

photography at various institutes. He also co-founded a photography-based organization called ‘Cameraunlimited Foundation’.

Inside

Ou

tsid

e and



Modern Home




What is your life like? Tell us a little

about your background.

Photography for me is a hobby turned into profession. I am a qualified Cost Accountant and was involved in Corporate Finance for almost 13 years before I took a plunge into full time photography. Since the year 2000, I have been earning

my bread and some butter from lifestyle photography which includes food, interiors, people, product and travel photography. I have also been teaching photography at various institutes as visiting faculty and conducting workshops on regular basis for some brands associated with photography. During the last

four years, besides displaying my fine art photography, I have also curated some fine art photography exhibitions which brought established as well as upcoming photographers together on one platform.

How did you initially get interested in

the field of photography?

Being a photographer is a gift. Some people can sing, some people can dance and some people can take pictures. More than having a technical command of the camera, they see things in a certain way. They have a world they wish to evoke using a camera. As a kid, I lived in an era where information was not easily available. There was no 24x7 media or internet to widen the knowledge base. The main sources of news were newspapers and magazines. Two magazines were instrumental in developing my interest in photography. The Illustrated Weekly under editorship of Mr. Khushwant Singh, and India Today when Mr. Raghu Rai was the photo editor, used to carry a full page photo feature in every issue. These were black and white photographs, not necessarily related to current affairs. For food photographs (especially raw food), Reader’s Digest became my inspiration. The detailing, the focus and out of focus areas fascinated me. I started framing mentally and conceptualizing without owning a camera.

You have covered a wide range of gen-

res. What inspires you the most?

In the last 14 years I have been involved in almost all the genres of photography except wild life and hard-hcore photojournalism. When I started photography, I tried my hand at all for the sake of learning, exposure and obviously to earn. For me, photography can be broadly divided into two categories: the ‘guided’ one and the ‘unguided’ one. Most commercial photography comes under the guided category, where the creator of the subject is guiding the look of the photograph. For example, an architecture or interiors photograph is actually created partly by the architect/interior designer and partly by the photographer. What to highlight and

Wooden Look



what to omit is predetermined. It is the ‘unguided’ photography which interests and inspires me the most. The reason I left my successful finance profession and got into photography wash to express my thoughts and feelings through my photographs. Some people do it with words, some with paint brush. I was not good at either, so the camera became a tool for me. I love to travel and capturing people in their habitat is something really close to my heart. It could be tribals in small dwellings in far flung villages or people in the cities in their traditional or contemporary houses.

How important is good equip-

ment to photographers?

“Phew! I have all the gear I will ever need”—said no photographer ever. The

technology is evolving and better equipment is introduced on a regular basis. Though it is said that the single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it (the human eye), yet the choice of equipment is equally important. Especially when it comes to lenses, there is no single lens which can cater to all needs and genres of photography. A good range of quality lenses is an excellent investment for any serious photographer. If maintained well, the lenses will last forever, though camera body can be upgraded every few years. Besides camera body and lenses, a sturdy tripod, reliable lights are some other equipment where quality cannot be compromised.

In this digital age, how often do

you use post-processing tech-

White and Red

Stairway



Twilight




niques and how important are they?

With the introduction of digital cameras, photography has become relatively simpler. Results are instant and corrections can be made immediately unlike the film-based photography age, when it took at least a day to see and analyze the efforts which were put while photographing. Basic post processing like cropping, dodging, burning etc was possible in the film-age too. But now advance software is available which goes way beyond these simple techniques. In the photography production team a “touch-up artist” has become an integral part. For me, the endeavour is to create a good photograph at the stage of clicking. A good photograph can be made better by post processing but a bad photograph cannot be made good. Post-processing for me generally means doing basic adjustments like contrast, colour, brightness, cropping etc and conversion of Raw images to either

TIFF or JPEG depending on the use.

How do you prepare for your shoots? What

are the most important things you keep

in mind?

Before the photo shoot I try to gather maximum information available on the subject. Sharing a list of requirements for the shoot with the client beforehand is very important, because waiting for things to happen is most frustrating at the time of shoot. Also, double-checking the equipment is a practice which happens automatically every time before I shoot. Another very important thing for me is starting the shoot at the committed time. It means reaching the location early and keeping the set up ready well in time.

What do you enjoy the most about

photography?

The interaction with people is the most

fascinating part of photography for me. From clicking celebrities to common people on streets, capturing the right expression which conveys emotion is the most satisfying experience for me.

Any advice for newcomers to this field?

With photography becoming more democratic, it is a challenge for newcomers to create an image which is unique, different and stands out in the crowd. Everyday more pictures are clicked than the number of images which were clicked in the first 100 years of photography. Observation is the key to a good photograph and photography helps to see without a camera. Be sensitive to things around you, identify the unusual among usual, look for good light. Practice is another aspect which needs to be emphasized upon by every photographer.

Fresh Wall


Lea

rnin

gs72Photographing Watches

78Photographing Fabrics

101Panning

LEARNING Understanding Photography

Photographing Watches

sometimes even in low light, you will definitely need a sturdy tripod. I suggest you don’t even start attempting watch (or for that matter any close up / macro) photography without a good tripod. A good ball head or pan head that will hold the camera rock steady is also important.

Light sources and light modifiers: Just forget using your camera’s built-in flash as a light source. It will simply not work. It is too small a light source giving off very hard light and since the subject will be close, the lens itself will cast a shadow.

As you will see, you need highly diffused light sources. However, if you are using a light tent (explained a little later), then you can use the lights without any diffusers since the light tent itself acts as an excellent diffuser. Due to the very highly reflective nature of metal watch-cases and bracelets, the highlight transition may still be sharp. To reduce this you can add soft-boxes to the lights. This is called double diffusing (light tent + soft-box). This results in a very soft light that will give you very smooth transitions at reflections. Remember that every time a diffuser is used, there will be some loss of light and you will need to increase the exposure to compensate for that. Check the exposure using the histogram and highlight warning tools. Do not just rely on the playback screen of the image.

If you don’t have any strobe lights, simply use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) table lamps with a light tent or use a window that

Smart

Photography has

been continually

receiving

requests to start

a basic course for

beginners. With

this in mind, we

have asked a very

knowledgeable

photographer from

Hyderabad to take

over writing these

articles. We have

also requested him to be as jargon-free

as it is possible, so that newcomers to

photography feel comfortable to pursue

the hobby.

The author, Ashok Kandimalla has

been in the photographic field for

over three decades and has extensive

experience in both film and digital

photography. Being an electronics

engineer by profession and a

photographer, he possesses a unique

and deep insight into the technical

aspects of digital photography and

equipment. He has published several

articles on photography and some of

his writings have also been published

in the well-known international

magazine Popular Photography.

An avid collector of photographic

books and vintage cameras, Ashok

has a keen interest in the history of

photography and a passion for sharing

his knowledge on photography through

teaching and writing. He is presently

working as a Management and

Engineering consultant. You can see his

work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla. He can be reached

at [email protected]

is facing North or South as a light source. Stick some tracing paper to the window to further diffuse the light.

Generally, to get some modeling the watch needs to be illuminated with two lights - i.e. one key light and one fill-light. If you are using only one light or a window light then you must use a reflector to provide a fill- in for shadows.

Light tent: A light tent (Picture 1) is a rectangular box with translucent material on all sides. Some of the sides have openings (ports) that can be closed or opened by means of zips or Velcro. These ports allow you to photograph the product inside the tent. Since the sides are made of translucent material, the light from even a simple table lamp will get diffused very nicely and will wrap around the subject giving a very soft shadow. Light tents are normally foldable and hence are portable. They can be set up in minutes. Most light tents also have a provision to keep a continuous sweep inside to give a seamless background.

Light tents are not expensive (they cost a few thousand rupees at the most) and are a worthwhile accessory to have if you are interested in photographing watches or jewelry.

However, buying a light tent is not a must. If you are a DIY (Do It Yourself) type of a person, you can also make one quite easily. If you search the Internet, you will find several designs that can help you make your own light tent.

Principles of lighting

watches:

Before you proceed, just remember what you learnt in your high school physics – the angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. I am sure that you have seen the diagram shown here (Picture 2) previously. However,

this is a much simplified diagram (compared to a real world situation) as it shows just one light ray incident on a flat surface. In practice there will be infinite light rays and the surfaces will be curved. These factors make lighting complicated.

Angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. The reflected ray (red) leaves the surface at the same angle as the incident ray (green) hits the surface. Watches are generally enclosed in highly reflective metal cases. The surfaces are also curved. This means that the watch case will reflect the entire environment around it! Hence, wherever you keep a light source, the curved surface of the watch will possibly show a reflection! A reflection of light source will appear as a “specularity” (also called specular reflection), that is, a bright spot, if the source is small. This is opposed to a diffused reflection which will be more spread-out, with less abrupt transition. A specular reflection will appear as a totally blown-out, over-exposed white patch. Small specular highlights can look nice in an image when appropriate. However, large areas that are blown-out are very ugly to look at. However, don’t think all reflections are bad. If there is no reflection at all from the watch then the resulting photograph will make the watch look dull. This in fact is totally unacceptable, especially if the watch is made of a precious metal like gold.

Ashok Kandimalla

Watches are a sort of jewelry, especially those which are all mechanical (that

is not digital or quartz based) in construction. They are beautifully made precision instruments just as the mechanical cameras (pre-electronic age) are. You will find a lot of people who cherish their old watches and there are legions of watch collectors all over the world. Photographing watches is something many collectors and photography aficionados do. In this article I will explain how to make beautiful pictures of watches with minimal equipment.

Before we go into the techniques, let us see the equipment you will need. Contrary to what many people think, you can create wonderful watch pictures with little equipment.

Here is a list of what you will need.

Camera and lens: This can be a point-and-shoot or a D-SLR or a CSC type camera that can focus close. Usual kit lenses many not focus close enough. If this is all you have, you may have to crop the image a bit but definitely a kit lens is usable. You can use close-up lenses or extension tubes to make your kit lens focus closer. The latter, as you might already know, can be used only if you are using a D-SLR or CSC camera. A macro lens would of course be the best solution.

A tripod: After the camera and the lens this is the most important piece of equipment. Since you will be working at close distances and

Picture 1: A light tent

Picture 2: Angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. The reflected ray (red) leaves the surface at the same angle as the incident ray (green) hits the surface.

LEARNING

Photographing Fabrics

In one of my previous articles, I had shared a few lighting techniques on a

topic considered to be one of specialization – Glass. One should note that shooting glass primarily involves accurate lighting, exposure and control of highlights. This time we are going to deal with an equally challenging topic – Photographing Fabrics.

In this article I am not involving models for the shoot, but only covering the topic of photographing the fabrics as a table-top.

Whether you are shooting category ‘a’ or ‘b’ above, the most important person in the shoot is the person termed as the ‘dress man’. He should have thorough knowledge about ironing different kinds of fabrics and should be equipped with the right types of specialized irons. Care has to be taken that a proper area in the studio has to be given to this person so that he can do his work without any disturbance.

Whenever fancy designer-dresses or party-wear are shot, care has to be taken by the dress-man to check the suitability of the cloth used as the ‘lining’ inside a ‘see thru’ or a netted dress. Any wrong setting of the temperature control on his pressing-iron can, in a jiffy, make the lining stick to the other fabric (or stick to his iron), thus ruining the whole apparel.

If you are photographing in a newly built studio or your apartment, you need to take care that there is adequate power supply. Some professional steam-irons are very wattage-heavy; hence with all the air conditioners and lights on, there are chances of overloading the line

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voltage which could cause the safety switches to trip.

The second most important entity involved in a fabric shoot is a ‘stylist’. Unlike the job of a ‘food-stylist’ who only beautifies a food-shot by selecting the correct dish, and by arranging and garnishing the dish, this stylist has to play a more technical role involving a lot of patience. His job is not just to place the fabric in an artistic manner as per the vision of the art director, but also to present it technically correct. They always carry a styling kit consisting of paper pins, needles, threads, blue tac, double-sided tapes of different thickness, cello-tapes, pair of scissors, cutters, fine fabric cutters, lint removing brushes, thermocol sheets of different thicknesses, cotton, felt sheets, padding materials usually termed as ‘buckram’ etc. The required materials are cleverly placed behind the loose fabric to be photographed, thus giving it the desired shape, contours, falls, waves, and pinches as required.

Kindly remember that this person is not a fashion designer who also does styling but a specialized ‘handler’ of fabric for table-tops. A few dress men who iron the clothes also offer this service or may suggest you the right professional for the same.

If you notice the market trend you may observe that where models are not preferred in a fabric shoot due to budget constraints or because of concept demands, mannequins are made to wear the desired clothes. But when it comes to pack-shots or table-tops of fabrics or ready-made garments, you will find that very few ladies’ products are projected that way, in

comparison to the gents’ wear like shirts, trousers etc.

A) Shooting loose fabric in a studio set-upSince we will be using studio flash, keep the camera’s White Balance to ‘Daylight’ (keeping the WB to ‘Flash’ gives a warmer tone). Even if you wish to have a wavy look to the fabric, the fabric still has to be ironed neatly before creating that look. The shooting area for a fabric shoot has to be such that there is enough space all around the fabric for the purpose of lighting, preferably the center of the room. If you are shooting inside your client’s showroom, take care that no vibrant coloured walls are nearby or they may create a strong colour-cast on the fabric, thus marring the shoot. If this is unavoidable due to space constraints, then stick black paper on that wall to avoid the colour reflection.

Your job as a photographer is to ‘bring out’

the basic characteristics of the fabric – the correct shade, texture, softness or coarseness, the ‘fall’, and the beauty of the printed design. After you are satisfied by the composition, the lighting part has to be completed. Once this is satisfactorily done then place an 18% gray card on the fabric and take a shot. Place the gray card in that area which is well lit with your main source of light. Use this shot with the gray card as your reference for colour correction during post-processing. Apply these corrections to the desired shots. Follow the above steps in the order I have mentioned and you would not go wrong. Keep a practice of executing such shoots using a steady tripod and

do not forget to bracket the shots.

Best shots of fabrics are always a result of the right use of a thumb-rule in photography- Image contrast =

Dilip Yande

In case of shooting fabrics the parameters that take the calls are entirely different; they are:1) Colour of the fabric2) Texture on the fabric (natural or

embossed)3) Defects in weaving4) The characteristics of the weave

of the fabric and the thickness, softness or coarseness of the threads used.

5) ‘Fall’ of the fabric, which is its fluidity to fall when suspended or its characteristic to be very stiff in nature.

6) Material or quality of the fabric (whether it is silk, cotton, Manchester cloth, denim, jute, synthetic material etc.)

7) The shine on the cloth which is very much evident in cloths like satins, synthetics, silks, china silks, taffeta etc.

8) Colour scheme of the print on it.

9) General property of the fabric as to how heavy it is, whether it can be blown in the air while shooting. Or how much ‘net like’ and ‘see through’ it is.

Primarily, photographing fabrics comes under two categories-a) Photographing loose cloth used

for shirting, trousers, dress material etc.

b) Photographing stitched products like shirts, T-shirts, blazers, coats or any other ready-made garments.

Soft Box on floor stand


tt

Light with 32 deg grid

Curved Thermocol

Diag 1

Pic 1

LEARNING

PANNINGSo how do you convey the feeling of speed in a still (non-video) photo?

Keep this in mind:a) You are going to photograph the speeding subject when the subject is almost perpendicular (90 degrees) to you.

b) You will take the photograph using a slow shutter speed (for example 1/30 or 1/15 sec; but that also depends on the subject speed and your distance from the subject).

c) The background behind the subject

Rohinton Mehta

‘Panning’ is a technique to convey the feeling of speed, or suggest

motion in a two-dimensional still photograph.

Let’s say you are photographing a motor-cycle that’s moving very fast. You could use a very fast shutter speed and freeze the action as you can see in the photo below. Yes, the action is frozen but have you captured the feeling of speed? The answer is ‘no’. You could as well have taken the photo of a stationary motor-cycle or one that was moving very slowly.

should not be plain like an open sky or a wall – there should be disturbing elements like a fence, poles, people, trees etc.

The method:1. Stand with your feet comfortably apart and manually focus the lens at a distance (focus on the ground) where you know the subject to pass.

2. Take a camera meter reading from the ground, but with a slow shutter speed as mentioned above.

3. Now, maintaining your position (perpendicular to the movement of the

Using a fast shutter speed has stopped the subject in its tracks but has not given the impression of ‘speed’.

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Aperture: f/3.0 Shutter Speed: 1/800sec . ISO: 100

LEARNING

subject), and twisting your body only above the waist, view the subject through your camera as it moves from your left to right (or right to left) in front of you. The subject will appear out of focus but avoid the temptation to refocus. Remember, you have pre-focussed on the spot where you expect the subject to pass.

4. Maintain the subject in the center of your camera frame as you move (pan) the camera smoothly in an arc of a circle.

5. A fraction of a second before it reaches the pre-focussed point, release the shutter but continue to pan smoothly till the exposure is over. This is very important.6. Take further shots using some other slow shutter speeds.

Why does this work?Remember, you are panning the camera along with the subject, at the same speed of the subject. This means that the relative speed difference between the subject and the panning camera, is practically zero.

Because of this, the subject appears sharp (or reasonably sharp), while the background, which is stationary, appears to show movement blur. You may now realise the importance of having a cluttered background. It is the lateral blurring of the elements in the cluttered background, compared to the sharp (or almost sharp) main subject, that gives an impression of speed.

Further considerationsDifferent shutter speeds will provide different effects of movement. The shutter speed you use will also depend on the speed of the fast-moving subject and the distance between you and the subject. For example, if a subject is moving at say 70kmph and is, say, 25 feet away from you, and you need to use say, 1/15 sec for the pan, then for the same subject moving at the same speed but just 10 feet away from you may require 1/60 or even 1/125 sec.

The lens that you use also has a part to play. I have successfully panned at 1/250

sec with a motor-cycle going at 100kmph just about 7 feet away, using a 24mm lens. (Please avoid trying this; the motor-cyclist may lose control because of loss of concentration as he watches you panning and may ram into you).

Generally, you cannot pan successfully if the subject is far away or is moving very slowly. You also cannot pan a subject that is coming straight towards you or is moving straight away from you. The subject should move perpendicular to you for a good panning effect.

Subjects like galloping horses and speeding cyclists make for good panning effects. Sections of horses’ articulated legs move at a faster speed than their body and this provides a blur to the legs. Similarly, the cyclists’ legs moving in a fast circular motion causes blurring of the legs which add to the feeling of speed.

Do try this technique. You’ll love the effect. And yes, vertical panning is also possible, as when panning along with a diver!

‘Panning’ the camera using slow shutter speed has created the background blur that imparts a feeling of ‘speed’ in a non-video picture. Observe the horse’s legs, which show some amount of blur. This too adds to the impression of ‘speed’. Do take a note of the cluttered background, which in this case, was very necessary to create the impact of panning.

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Photographing Watches

sometimes even in low light, you will definitely need a sturdy tripod. I suggest you don’t even start attempting watch (or for that matter any close up / macro) photography without a good tripod. A good ball head or pan head that will hold the camera rock steady is also important.

Light sources and light modifiers: Just forget using your camera’s built-in flash as a light source. It will simply not work. It is too small a light source giving off very hard light and since the subject will be close, the lens itself will cast a shadow.

As you will see, you need highly diffused light sources. However, if you are using a light tent (explained a little later), then you can use the lights without any diffusers since the light tent itself acts as an excellent diffuser. Due to the very highly reflective nature of metal watch-cases and bracelets, the highlight transition may still be sharp. To reduce this you can add soft-boxes to the lights. This is called double diffusing (light tent + soft-box). This results in a very soft light that will give you very smooth transitions at reflections. Remember that every time a diffuser is used, there will be some loss of light and you will need to increase the exposure to compensate for that. Check the exposure using the histogram and highlight warning tools. Do not just rely on the playback screen of the image.

If you don’t have any strobe lights, simply use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) table lamps with a light tent or use a window that

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Ashok Kandimalla

Watches are a sort of jewelry, especially those which are all mechanical (that

is not digital or quartz based) in construction. They are beautifully made precision instruments just as the mechanical cameras (pre-electronic age) are. You will find a lot of people who cherish their old watches and there are legions of watch collectors all over the world. Photographing watches is something many collectors and photography aficionados do. In this article I will explain how to make beautiful pictures of watches with minimal equipment.

Before we go into the techniques, let us see the equipment you will need. Contrary to what many people think, you can create wonderful watch pictures with little equipment.

Here is a list of what you will need.

Camera and lens: This can be a point-and-shoot or a D-SLR or a CSC type camera that can focus close. Usual kit lenses many not focus close enough. If this is all you have, you may have to crop the image a bit but definitely a kit lens is usable. You can use close-up lenses or extension tubes to make your kit lens focus closer. The latter, as you might already know, can be used only if you are using a D-SLR or CSC camera. A macro lens would of course be the best solution.

A tripod: After the camera and the lens this is the most important piece of equipment. Since you will be working at close distances and



is facing North or South as a light source. Stick some tracing paper to the window to further diffuse the light.

Generally, to get some modeling the watch needs to be illuminated with two lights - i.e. one key light and one fill-light. If you are using only one light or a window light then you must use a reflector to provide a fill- in for shadows.

Light tent: A light tent (Picture 1) is a rectangular box with translucent material on all sides. Some of the sides have openings (ports) that can be closed or opened by means of zips or Velcro. These ports allow you to photograph the product inside the tent. Since the sides are made of translucent material, the light from even a simple table lamp will get diffused very nicely and will wrap around the subject giving a very soft shadow. Light tents are normally foldable and hence are portable. They can be set up in minutes. Most light tents also have a provision to keep a continuous sweep inside to give a seamless background.

Light tents are not expensive (they cost a few thousand rupees at the most) and are a worthwhile accessory to have if you are interested in photographing watches or jewelry.

However, buying a light tent is not a must. If you are a DIY (Do It Yourself) type of a person, you can also make one quite easily. If you search the Internet, you will find several designs that can help you make your own light tent.

Principles of lighting

watches:

Before you proceed, just remember what you learnt in your high school physics – the angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. I am sure that you have seen the diagram shown here (Picture 2) previously. However,

this is a much simplified diagram (compared to a real world situation) as it shows just one light ray incident on a flat surface. In practice there will be infinite light rays and the surfaces will be curved. These factors make lighting complicated.

Angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. The reflected ray (red) leaves the surface at the same angle as the incident ray (green) hits the surface. Watches are generally enclosed in highly reflective metal cases. The surfaces are also curved. This means that the watch case will reflect the entire environment around it! Hence, wherever you keep a light source, the curved surface of the watch will possibly show a reflection! A reflection of light source will appear as a “specularity” (also called specular reflection), that is, a bright spot, if the source is small. This is opposed to a diffused reflection which will be more spread-out, with less abrupt transition. A specular reflection will appear as a totally blown-out, over-exposed white patch. Small specular highlights can look nice in an image when appropriate. However, large areas that are blown-out are very ugly to look at. However, don’t think all reflections are bad. If there is no reflection at all from the watch then the resulting photograph will make the watch look dull. This in fact is totally unacceptable, especially if the watch is made of a precious metal like gold.

Picture 1: A light tent

Picture 2: Angle of incidence of light is equal to the angle of reflection. The reflected ray (red) leaves the surface at the same angle as the incident ray (green) hits the surface.




Certainly, no one wants to look at a dull gold watch! This is the reason you should not use dulling sprays which reduce reflections. Our aim should be to produce a diffused reflection. Careful positioning of lights and using light sources that are highly diffused (double diffused if needed) is the best way to achieve this. One of the neat tricks that you can use to reduce specular reflections is use gobos (also called ‘cutters’). Gobo is a short form for “Go Between” - something that you place between the light source and subject. These are normally black pieces of cardboard and will cause a local blocking of light thus reducing or eliminating reflections. Recall once again that angle of incidence of light is equal to angle of reflection. By blocking the light which is falling (incident) on the surface, you can eliminate the specularity. Here you need to move the gobo as you see through the viewfinder to find the ideal position. Finally, can you use a polarizing filter to eliminate reflections from the watch? The answer is yes and no! Since a polarizing filter can eliminate reflections only if they are from a non-metallic surface, it will simply not work with watch cases which are made of metal, but they can reduce or even eliminate reflections from the watch glass.

Before you begin, make

sure of the following:• Mount your camera on a sturdy

tripod.• Use a lens with a focal length

between 50mm and 100mm (equivalent 35mm focal length). If you are using an APS cropped sensor D-SLR, use a focal length of 55mm at least.

• Set focus to Manual.• Set your camera exposure mode

to Manual. The metering mode (Matrix or Center-weighted, etc.) is not relevant since you will be determining the exposure with the help of the histogram display.

• Set the aperture for adequate depth of field. This will be around f/11 for full frame, f/8 APS-C or f/5.6 MFT formats.

doing the latter, you may have to edit out the thin string later during post-processing. If the watch has a rigid bracelet, you can keep it upright by using a gummy substance called “Tack-It” (made by Faber Castell). This is available in most stationary shops.

A practical example: That being the theory, I am sure you are keen on seeing how it all works. The watch was put on a plastic “C” bracket (the type which is used to display watches in show cases) and stuck with Tack-It to the seamless paper inside a light tent. The camera was adjusted so that it was parallel to the face of the watch. This will ensure that all parts of the watch-face are equally sharp. This is important since the depth of field (DOF) will be minimal at these short subject distances. The camera was mounted on a sturdy tripod and an aperture of f/8 was used for adequate DOF.

Two strobes, both using soft-boxes (Picture 3) were used. The use of soft-boxes plus the light tent resulted in double-diffused super-soft light. This in turn manifests in very soft shadows (Picture 4). The result would be fine as it is with the set up described so far but remember that this is a steel (chrome) cased watch with a steel bracelet being photographed against a white background. Due to this, the

• You can set the shutter speed up to X-Sync. If you are not sure what this is, set the shutter speed to 1/125 sec.

• Set your camera to the lowest base ISO for the best picture quality.

• Use RAW format for best quality. If you do not want to use RAW for whatever reason, use JPEG with highest pixel count (large setting) with least compression (fine setting).

• If you are using JPEG format, set saturation, contrast, sharpness to minimum levels. It is easy to add any of these but difficult to reduce them in a JPEG.

• Set the shutter to release with the self-timer for maximum sharpness.

Procedure: First set the product and the camera at the angle you need. If there are specular highlights, move the light as you look through the viewfinder (another great advantage with a continuous light) and see the position at which these are minimized. At times, a longer focal length lens can also help to reduce reflections. As already explained, also use gobos where needed.

The watch can be kept inside light tent, flat on the surface or on its edge or can be hung from top (light tents have an opening at the top) with a thin string. In case you are

Picture 3: Lighting diagram (schematic), top view.a) Watch; b) and c) Gobos on the left and right of the light tent; d) Light tent; e) and f) Strobes on the left and right of light tent; g) and h) Softboxes; i) Camera on a tripod.



chromed areas will tend to merge with the background. To prevent this, two gobos (black cards) were kept on either side of the watch (Picture 3) inside the light tent. This is what created the black edges which gave the proper separation between the watch and background (Picture 4). Note that there are highlights as you would expect but none of them are blown out.

Here is one more example. The jeweled watch was kept on a black glass plate and lit with two strobes on either side with very large soft-boxes for highly diffused light. Both the strobes were kept level with the watch but pointing 45 degrees down. Once again exposure was carefully chosen so that the gems sparkled without

being overexposed and blown out (Picture 5).

Tell a story: While most of the watch pictures depict a watch and nothing else, you can also develop a theme with some props (supporting elements) around that watch. Here (Picture 6) shows how you can make the photograph tell a story. The map, the binocular, leather strap and a retro-style watch support each-other and give a sense that the watch is on the table of an explorer!

Picture 4: This is the result of the lighting shown in Picture 3. Note the very soft shadow and the very clearly defined edges of the watch. Tech Data: Nikon D600 with Zeiss 50mm Makro Planar lens. Expo-sure: Manual mode, ISO 100, aperture f/8 and shutter speed 1/160 sec. The strobes were equipped with radio receivers and were trigged by a radio transmitter mounted on the camera. Exposure was set using histogram and highlight warning tools.

Capturing the inner beauty: As you have read in the beginning of this article, mechanical watches are precision made and are beautifully put together. The internal mechanisms themselves make excellent photographic subjects. Here, the aim would be to capture the intricate mechanism (Picture 7) and texture of the metal, etc. The latter needs side lighting. In the example shown, only window light was used. Photographs like this need high magnification (greater than 1:1) and hence you may need a macro lens plus extension tubes.

Picture 5

Picture 6: Tell a story!




Skeleton watches, a special case: Despite the scary name there is nothing sinister about these! Skeleton watches have a transparent back and also the dial is absent so that the workmanship of the mechanism is revealed. Lighting (for Picture 8) is as follows. First a flat translucent Perspex sheet was placed on a light table. A CFL lamp was kept underneath this sheet.

Next, an orange gel sheet (also called CTO gel) was placed on the Perspex sheet. Another orange gel sheet was taken and a circular hole (with a diameter a millimeter or two lesser than the watch) was cut in it. This was placed on the first gel sheet.

With this you now have two sheets of gel, one on top of other, but there is only one layer of gel where the hole is. The watch was kept centered above the hole. Since there are two layers of the gel in the surrounding area you will get a deeper color all around while under the watch you will get a lighter color as there is only one layer of gel. Another CFL light source was kept on the top to throw some light on the face of the watch (Picture 8). You can see how this set up shows the mechanism well and brings out the nature of a skeleton watch.

Watches are easy-to-find subjects as everyone will have one. The older mechanical (or analog quartz) watches are more “photogenic” than the later ones with digital displays. You can have endless hours of fun photographing them. As you have seen you need minimal equipment and even window light will do. Try to photograph some watches this week end and send us your results.

CONCLUSION:

General Precautions and Tips:• The watches that you are planning to

photograph must be squeaky clean! You will be surprised how well the camera can capture blemishes, dust specks, finger prints, etc. even if you haven’t observed them during the shoot.

• Do not photograph watches that have scratches on them unless they happen to be something special or vintage type. Scratches will look ugly and spoil an otherwise good photograph.

• The room must be absolutely dark without any stray light. This is very important as stray light causes unwanted ugly reflections.

• The room in which you are photographing must be completely free of reflecting surfaces (window

panes, glass shelves, etc.). In case they are present, make sure that you have covered them so that there are no unnecessary reflections.

• You need to carefully observe the effect of lights (highlight and shadows). You simply cannot do this if your camera position is itself changing. So, a tripod is a must.

• If you are photographing a watch head on, keep the camera sensor parallel to the face of the watch dial. Otherwise due to limited DOF only a part of the watch face will be in sharp focus.

• Keep the watch hands at 10 minutes past 10 O’clock (or 20 minutes past 7 O’clock) so that the hands don’t obstruct the manufacturers name and other inscriptions on the dial. Do this just before you release the shutter so that the image is captured before the hands move!

• Don’t attempt photographing watches without a friend or an assistant to help you. You need some help to adjust lights, hold gobos, etc. This is not a job for one person!

• To check specularities, use the highlight warning tool (in the image playback mode). When you activate this tool, blown highlights will blink thus telling you exactly where the specularities are. A

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Picture 7: Inside of a ladies watch (the watch back cover was removed). This image was taken with a P&S camera with window light. Close up lenses were used to get about 2X magnification (twice life size). You can see the jewels and the texture of the metal.

Picture 8: A skeleton watch. Here the watch was placed on a translucent white sheet and lit from beneath. Two layers of CTO gel were used with one having a circular cutout in the middle to give a lighter shade. One more light was used from the left side to illuminate the watch face and a reflector was used on the right.


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LEARNING


Photographing Fabrics

In one of my previous articles, I had shared a few lighting techniques on a

topic considered to be one of specialization – Glass. One should note that shooting glass primarily involves accurate lighting, exposure and control of highlights. This time we are going to deal with an equally challenging topic – Photographing Fabrics.

In this article I am not involving models for the shoot, but only covering the topic of photographing the fabrics as a table-top.

Whether you are shooting category ‘a’ or ‘b’ above, the most important person in the shoot is the person termed as the ‘dress man’. He should have thorough knowledge about ironing different kinds of fabrics and should be equipped with the right types of specialized irons. Care has to be taken that a proper area in the studio has to be given to this person so that he can do his work without any disturbance.

Whenever fancy designer-dresses or party-wear are shot, care has to be taken by the dress-man to check the suitability of the cloth used as the ‘lining’ inside a ‘see thru’ or a netted dress. Any wrong setting of the temperature control on his pressing-iron can, in a jiffy, make the lining stick to the other fabric (or stick to his iron), thus ruining the whole apparel.

If you are photographing in a newly built studio or your apartment, you need to take care that there is adequate power supply. Some professional steam-irons are very wattage-heavy; hence with all the air conditioners and lights on, there are chances of overloading the line

Having

crossed over

20 active

years in

commercial

photography,

Dilip Yande

says his forte

is Fashion

and Portrait

photography.

He believes

variety is the spice of life, and to

keep himself motivated he does a

lot of tabletop as well. For Dilip,

names like Rembrandt, Renoir,

Gauguin, Picasso, Turner, Monet

are household names because of

his childhood that was spent in a

lineage of fine arts. This ‘fine art’

reflects in his work because he feels

that there is always a little bit of

‘you’ in everything one does. Having

shot for many advertising agencies,

juried a few competitions, mentored

many workshops, and guided many

photographers in their formative

years, for Dilip, photography is just

another way to romance his first

love – art. He may be contacted at

[email protected].

Dilip Yande

In case of shooting fabrics the parameters that take the calls are entirely different; they are:1) Colour of the fabric2) Texture on the fabric (natural or

embossed)3) Defects in weaving4) The characteristics of the weave

of the fabric and the thickness, softness or coarseness of the threads used.

5) ‘Fall’ of the fabric, which is its fluidity to fall when suspended or its characteristic to be very stiff in nature.

6) Material or quality of the fabric (whether it is silk, cotton, Manchester cloth, denim, jute, synthetic material etc.)

7) The shine on the cloth which is very much evident in cloths like satins, synthetics, silks, china silks, taffeta etc.

8) Colour scheme of the print on it.

9) General property of the fabric as to how heavy it is, whether it can be blown in the air while shooting. Or how much ‘net like’ and ‘see through’ it is.

Primarily, photographing fabrics comes under two categories-a) Photographing loose cloth used

for shirting, trousers, dress material etc.

b) Photographing stitched products like shirts, T-shirts, blazers, coats or any other ready-made garments.




voltage which could cause the safety switches to trip.

The second most important entity involved in a fabric shoot is a ‘stylist’. Unlike the job of a ‘food-stylist’ who only beautifies a food-shot by selecting the correct dish, and by arranging and garnishing the dish, this stylist has to play a more technical role involving a lot of patience. His job is not just to place the fabric in an artistic manner as per the vision of the art director, but also to present it technically correct. They always carry a styling kit consisting of paper pins, needles, threads, blue tac, double-sided tapes of different thickness, cello-tapes, pair of scissors, cutters, fine fabric cutters, lint removing brushes, thermocol sheets of different thicknesses, cotton, felt sheets, padding materials usually termed as ‘buckram’ etc. The required materials are cleverly placed behind the loose fabric to be photographed, thus giving it the desired shape, contours, falls, waves, and pinches as required.

Kindly remember that this person is not a fashion designer who also does styling but a specialized ‘handler’ of fabric for table-tops. A few dress men who iron the clothes also offer this service or may suggest you the right professional for the same.

If you notice the market trend you may observe that where models are not preferred in a fabric shoot due to budget constraints or because of concept demands, mannequins are made to wear the desired clothes. But when it comes to pack-shots or table-tops of fabrics or ready-made garments, you will find that very few ladies’ products are projected that way, in

comparison to the gents’ wear like shirts, trousers etc.

A) Shooting loose fabric in a studio set-upSince we will be using studio flash, keep the camera’s White Balance to ‘Daylight’ (keeping the WB to ‘Flash’ gives a warmer tone). Even if you wish to have a wavy look to the fabric, the fabric still has to be ironed neatly before creating that look. The shooting area for a fabric shoot has to be such that there is enough space all around the fabric for the purpose of lighting, preferably the center of the room. If you are shooting inside your client’s showroom, take care that no vibrant coloured walls are nearby or they may create a strong colour-cast on the fabric, thus marring the shoot. If this is unavoidable due to space constraints, then stick black paper on that wall to avoid the colour reflection.

Your job as a photographer is to ‘bring out’

the basic characteristics of the fabric – the correct shade, texture, softness or coarseness, the ‘fall’, and the beauty of the printed design. After you are satisfied by the composition, the lighting part has to be completed. Once this is satisfactorily done then place an 18% gray card on the fabric and take a shot. Place the gray card in that area which is well lit with your main source of light. Use this shot with the gray card as your reference for colour correction during post-processing. Apply these corrections to the desired shots. Follow the above steps in the order I have mentioned and you would not go wrong. Keep a practice of executing such shoots using a steady tripod and

do not forget to bracket the shots.

Best shots of fabrics are always a result of the right use of a thumb-rule in photography- Image contrast =



tt

Light with 32 deg grid

Curved Thermocol

Diag 1

Pic 1


LEARNING


Strip Light

Small soft box

Soft Box medium size

tt

Cutter

Grid

Strip Light

Small soft boxtt

Light throught Grid

Diag 2

Diag 3

Pic 2

Pic 3

Object contrast + Contrast enhancing factors.

Objects which are light in colour, or have hardly any visible textures on the surface to make them noticeable, are defined as those having ‘low object contrast’. This has to be compensated through proper lighting so that the texture is correctly enhanced or should be placed along with contrast coloured cloths or props, to make its ‘identity’ felt. At the same time the props used should have some meaning and should be related to the cloth being shot in some way.

B) Shooting stitched fabrics While shooting ready-made garments, once again colour is the most important and all the precautions and steps mentioned above have to be followed religeously.



a specialised Photo Editor . Please remember that a person specialising in face editing may not necessarily be the right person to handle fabric editing since this involves much more patience and detailing. Every shot has to be colour corrected, cleaned of the dust and specks by

tt

Thermocole

Light throught Grid

Light throught Grid

Bounce umbrella small

1mtr soft box on boom stand

Strip light

slightly at

a height

Soft Box medium size

Shirts

Curved thermocol

Strip light on floor stand

Diag 4

Diag 5

Pic 4

Pic 5

While shooting products like shirts, the collars of the shirt play a major role. Care has to be taken that they are very symmetric in arrangement or have been purposefully kept very asymmetric in order to give a casual look. This all depends on the kind of range you are shooting. The shirts themselves are categorised in different sections like the formals, semi formals, striped ones, checks variety, beach shirts, party wears etc. The props used in the table-top should match the collection that is being shot.

The third most important person involved in completing your job is


LEARNING


enlarging to more than 100 % on the screen. Care has to be taken; that the weave of the fabric is not disturbed while cleaning the dust & the pattern on the print on the fabric should continue without getting disturbed. If an inexperienced editor goes wrong, it may appear like a fabric defect, thus spoiling the shoot. In case of making cutouts the edges have to be softened correctly by the editor.

Here are a few examples of the shots for your reference-

1) Pic 1- Denim wear is always considered rough-and-tough, hence is symbolized that way through the visual. A coffee brown laminate sheet with slight texture was chosen as a background. This laminate had lettering in black printed on it as part of design. A mixture of different shades of denim blues was chosen and the composition was made to give a messy look. The lighting was done as per the diagram. (diag 1)

2) Pic 2- The background of bricks is what is called as a camphor board. It has a matt finish to it. To symbolise that these striped

shirts would be a good thing to gift someone like your friend, this was placed in a cane basket. A matching tie was kept with it, a bunch of orchids with appropriate shade was added to the shot and the lighting was done as per the diagram. (diag 2)

3) Pic 3- This shirt was from the ‘party wear’ collection. Hence props like the cork opener, wine bottles were added to shot to create the evening relaxed feel. The lighting was done as per the diagram. (diag 3)

4) Pic 4- Shirtings with the same shade of colour were chosen for this tabletop. The designs were in stripes; checks etc, but had one shade in common. These pieces of loose fabrics were creatively styled around a pencil sketch of a bearded man, in order to suggest that

this a choice of ‘matured men’ & people of a refined ‘taste’. To exaggerate the folds of the cloths more of hard light was used as shown in the diagram. (diag 4)

5) Pic 5- This was a stripe collection and was once again a ‘dead top’ shot. It had to be shot from a height of almost 7 feet from the ground, where the shirts were arranged on the background. An even lighting was needed hence the lights were placed as per the diagram. (diag 5)

6) Pic 6 is an excellent example of ‘low object contrast’. This has to be compensated in lighting. I would suggest that by carefully studying the lighting diagrams of pic 1 to 5 & after studying

Pic 6

Pic 7a



the molding of the products, you do an imaginative attempt of placing the lights in the right position. This will sharpen your lighting skills.

7) Pic 7 a,b- Taby silks are very soft and make nice compositions in the air when blown by a mild draft of air.

Last but not the least, do not rely on the LCD panel on your camera. Instead, carefully check the images on your computer monitor. Enlarge each image and check corner to corner for ‘moiré patterns’. Fabric table tops are most prone to these problems and can mar your shoot. These occur when the ‘mesh’ of the pixels on your camera sensors contradicts with the mesh of the fibers that go in the weaving of the fabric. This

can be corrected to a large extent with the help of some plug-ins available in post-production. But practice shooting the fabric by zooming in slightly and then zooming out a bit as this can give you a position in which moire can be avoided – these are the tricks of the trade.

All the tips given above are a ‘must’ when it comes to shooting textile-related catalogues or web sites etc. It has to be a true documentation of what is seen by the naked eye and felt by the hand. But when it comes to shooting coffee-table books of say hand woven fabrics then the challenge is even more. The bridal feel in the Kanchipuram and Maheshwari sarees, the softness of Pashmina shawls with its traditional colour schemes, the pastel shades and

weak relief of fabric work in Lucknowi chikan, the weaves of a Jaamdani, distinct thread-work of Karnataki Kashida or kashida embroideries of Kashmir, the richness of Zardosi work and Paithanis and the detailing of a Kalamkari work needs to be distinguished as handicraft and separated from its digital counterfeit parts. Hence you require a much more mastery on lighting. This should give you an idea that shooting glass, diamond, metals are not the only tough chapters of photography, but in fact every subject is deep in itself and needs a lot of dedication.

Credit Lines-

Century Textiles & Industries Ltd, Birla

Century & Maati Collection.

Pic 7b


LEARNING


HDRI(Using Photomatix Pro 5)

be tempted to think that by averaging the exposure for the two extremes (the bright sky and the foreground, or the brightness of the room interior and the outside brightness), you would get ‘the’ exposure, you would be wrong. By doing so, both the areas will suffer.

Enter HDRI.

To create a high dynamic range image, the technique is to take several frames of the same subject, at varying exposures and then merge them in a specialised software to create a picture that has adequate details in the highlights as well as shadows. For the purpose of this article, we shall use Photomatix Pro to create the HDR image.

Note that not every scene that you see is a candidate for HDRI. The digital camera’s sensor is quite capable of providing detail in shadows as well as highlights under ‘normal’ lighting. It is only when the lighting/scene has excessive contrast, is HDRI a candidate. Hence it is important to identify which scene is suitable for HDRI and which is not.

Since HDRI requires multiple frames of the same subject (at varying exposures), it stands to reason that the subject be stationary; a moving subject will cause alignment problems during post-processing and hence is not the right candidate for HDRI.

For and AgainstThere are those who just love HDR images; they swear by them. And then there are those who hate HDR images; they swear at them! The antagonists have a good reason to dislike HDR

Rohinton Mehta

I am not an expert in using Photomatix. For me, it is as much of an experiment as it would be for

most of you. But I assure you that using Photomatix is great fun if you like to experiment.

HDRI stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging. For those who may not have tagged along with us in the past, HDRI is a technique of creating images with good detail in highlights as well as shadows when the picture is shot in harsh contrasty lighting or when the subject contrast is too great for the camera’s imaging sensor.

The human eye has a very wide Dynamic Range (DR) – about 14-15 f/stops equivalent. This means that if the difference between the darkest shadow and the brightest highlight is about 14-15 f/stops, our eyes are still capable of seeing enough detail in both the areas. The very best, top-of-the-line digital camera sensors cover about 10-11 f/stops, and that too only at lower ISOs. As you increase the ISO, DR drops! To give you a rough idea, at ISO 800, DR drops by almost 2-stops! And don’t forget, low/medium-end cameras have still lesser dynamic range (around 6-7 f/stops equivalent).

When you photograph a scenery for example (and assuming that you haven’t made a gross exposure error), and find that the sky looks okay but the foreground appears very dark, you know that the scene DR is very high and/or your camera has a low dynamic range imaging sensor. The same is the case when you photograph an interior and find that if the room is correctly exposed, but the area outside the open window, is overexposed. You might

images. Most HDRIs are over-done and hence don’t look ‘natural’. Many photographers in favour of HDR images bring in so much shadow detail that it just looks wrong. High Dynamic Range Images don’t have to be entirely devoid of shadows. That’s where your judgement comes in. Yes, ensure that there is good shadow detail where required but don’t overdo it. Our eyes can see shadow detail that camera lenses can’t. We need to maintain that as well as a good balance between the two.

How many shots should one take to create a HDRI?

Well, that depends on the lighting/scene contrast, the dynamic range of your camera’s imaging sensor and how many stops difference you allow between each exposure. If the contrast is not too high, you could probably get away with just a 2-shot, +/- 2 EV bracket. Some photographers use a minimum of 3-frames at +/- 2 EV difference between each frame. Note that this also is a very rough estimate and a lot depends on the overall brightness range of the scene, the angle of light hitting the scene, whether there is cloud cover etc. In some extreme cases, you may be required to shoot a bracket of 5 or even 7 frames.

Is it possible that someone may bracket more than

required?It is possible both ways; someone may bracket too much or too little! If you notice that the brightest frame in your sequence is pure white, you are over-bracketing (taking more shots than required); if the darkest frame in the sequence is pure black, you are over-bracketing too.



How do you meter a scene

for HDRI?

We have to bracket our exposures (take many frames of the same subject but with varying exposures). We need to overexpose the shadows in the brightest frame and underexpose the highlights in the darkest frame. This means that there should be no shadow clipping (underexposing) in the lightest frame and there should no highlight clipping (overexposing) in the darkest frame. This may sound a bit complicated at first, but its not really so.

Every modern camera has at least 3 types of exposure meters built into it: Matrix/Evaluative, Centre-weighted, and Spot. For the purpose of creating an HDRI, its best to use the Spot meter, which reads a very narrow area of the scene (typically 3-5% of the screen area). If you can get your hands on a separate, hand-held, 1-degree Spot Meter, it would be even better. A 1-degree spot meter reads 0.05% of the screen area, making the readings much more accurate. (Of course you could go very close to the metering area with your camera’s spot meter but that would not be convenient or even possible at all times).

Here is my recommended method to expose for HDRI: 1. Put the camera in Manual exposure mode. We will shoot in Raw for a better final image quality. We will manually bracket the frames.

Why am I suggesting manual exposure bracketing when cameras offer auto exposure bracketing? Some cameras only allow 3-frame or 5-frame bracketing. Some cameras only allow bracketing at 1-stop interval. Of course if a camera allows, say, 7 frame bracketing with 1-stop difference, and you want to use 2-stop difference, you can always do that by not using the in-between frames. By using manual bracketing, things are simplified (but you run the risk of shaking the camera between shots when changing the shutter speeds manually, even though the camera is tripod-mounted).

2. Tripod the camera. It is best to use a firm tripod when bracketing your

exposures since hand-holding the camera can cause minute misalignments between shots. Some HDR software do take care of such minor misalignments but why take a risk? You should also be careful in spite of using a tripod that you do not inadvertently move it between shots. Using a cable release or infrared / radio controlled remote release would be safer.

3. Decide on your aperture, depending on the depth of field you want. (In our example, I have used f/11). Take a Spot meter reading of the darkest area where its important to show details (note it down if you are forgetful). Take another spot meter reading of the brightest area (note it down).

4. It is very important not to change the aperture between readings. Let’s

assume that our darkest area reading was f/11 at 1/20 second and the brightest area reading was f/11 at 1/320 second (it actually was in the example you’ll see). This means that the brightness difference is 4 stops. Hence we need to bracket between f/11 at 1/20 second up to f/11 at 1/320 second. You could, if you like, take one extra frame at either end (something like an insurance), like I did.

So my bracketed shutter speeds were (at f/11): 1/640, 1/320, 1/160, 1/80, 1/40, 1/20 and 1/10 sec. See images below.

1

1/640 sec.

1/320 sec.

1/160 sec.


LEARNING


Remember, we said we will use Photomatix Pro to create our HDR image. Why not Photoshop? Well, Photoshop also offers HDR function, but in my opinion, Photomatix Pro does a better job of creating an HDR. Trial version can be downloaded free from www.hdrsoft.com. Also please note that there are a number of ways you can use Photomatix and each will give a different result.

a) Open Photomatix Pro. I am using the stand-alone version. Click on ‘Load Bracketed Photos’ (Printscreen 1)

b) A dialog box will open (Prinhtscreen 2). Click on ‘Browse’.

c) Navigate to the folder where you have saved the bracketed photos and select them. Click ‘OK’ (Printscreen 3)

d) ‘Merge to HDR Options’ box will open (Printscreen 4).

Since we have used a tripod, select the radio-button taken on tripod.

‘Show options to reduce ghosts’ has not been selected since we had shot the pictures using a tripod.

Select Reduce noise on: underexposed image(s) only

Select Reduce chromatic aberrations.

Select Daylight for White Balance. Select Adobe RGB for Colour

primaries based on: Finally, click on Align & Merge to

HDR. Photomatix Pro will take some

time to open the next window (how much time will depend on the configuration of your computer); so be patient!

e) A new screen will open (Printscreen 5).

On the right hand side, we have different Presets. Select the one you like (as you click on an individual preset, the main image will change in real time). I have selected Painterly. On the left, there is Tone Mapping and Exposure Fusion. Tone Mapping is what is used generally (it provides good details in the shadows without burning out the highlights). I have selected Tone Mapping. I have also selected Natural in the Lighting Adjustment box. Adjust the

1/80 sec.

1/20 sec.

1/40 sec.

1/10 sec.


http://www.hdrsoft.com


Printscreen 1

Printscreen 2

Printscreen 3

Printscreen 4

Printscreen 5

Printscreen 6

remaining sliders as necessary and click Apply.

f) A final screen (Printscreen 6) will open. Here you can fine-tune the contrast, colour and sharpness to your taste. Click on Done.

You can now save the file using the Save As command in Photomatix 5.0, or take a stand on what you consider a proper HDR. If you feel that the final photo has too much of shadow detail for example, or that some highlights are too bright, you can always open

the file in Photoshop for further fine-tuning.

Remember that different effects can be obtained using Photomatix. Try out a couple of effects; the software is easy to use and great fun. Enjoy.



Ton

emap

ped

FIN

AL

LEARNING


LEARNING


A Beginner’s Intro to Layers, Blending Modes and Masks in Photoshop

paper under the erased area is slightly damaged. Now, if you were to relate this in terms of an image in Photoshop, by editing away what you didn’t like, you would have damaged the underlying pixels (though you wouldn’t be able to see the damage with your naked eyes). This is known as ‘Destructive Editing’.

Now let’s go all over this again, but this time a bit differently. On the original sketch, you place a sheet of thin, transparent plastic and then draw the beard on that plastic sheet (Next page, top). Looking from above, you would be able to see the combination as just one picture. Now place another thin transparent plastic sheet over this and this time, you draw the hair on my head. Again, looking at it from above, you will see my picture with a beard and the hair on the head. If you don’t like one of your edits, simply remove that particular plastic sheet (the Layer). This is ‘non-destructive editing’. To put it another way, Layers allow us to edit one area of our image without disturbing the other areas.

Rohinton Mehta

Let’s play a little game. Open your notebook and using your ball-pen, mark a square. It need not be a perfect square – I am not here to teach you geometry! Now, in the square, draw a rough sketch of me. Come on, do it. You know I don’t sport a beard, but anyway, draw a beard on my handsome face. That’s it. Now, even though I have a receding hairline, draw a good amount of hair on my head. Lovely. But wait a minute, I’ve changed my mind; I don’t like the beard you gave me. Please take it off.

What? You can’t? Oh, I get it. You are thinking that if you had to draw my sketch and create all that work of art using a pencil, you would have been able to erase whatever I didn’t like, without damaging anything in the original image. Correct? Not really! If you were to use a good magnifier, you would see that the

Does Photoshop intimidate you? Are you zapped by such terms as ‘Layers’, ‘Blending Modes’, ‘Masks’ etc? If the answer is ‘yes’, then tag along. This short ‘learning’ is designed to set you on the right track. To understand ‘Layers,

Layer Blending Modes’, and Adjustment Layer Masks, we first need to be clear as to what a Photoshop ‘Layer’ is. Then we need to know what ‘Blending’ is. Finally, we need to know what a ‘Mask’ is. Various books have been writ-

ten about Layers, Layer Blending Modes and Masks but in keeping with our aim to keep things as simple as pos-sible, detailed explanation of certain terms is not included. For example, there are different types of Layers – Image

Layers, Adjustment Layers, Type Layers, and Shape Layers. For this learning, we shall talk of Layers in general.

Layers

With beard plus hair

With beard

Illu

stra

tion

: Aja

y P

arad

kar



Printscreen 1).

2. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, draw a square. Go to Edit > Fill and when the Fill dialog box opens, in the Use box, select Colour. The Colour Picker dialog box will open (See Printscreen 1a). Select the colour of your choice (I have selected

Printscreen 1 Printscreen 1a

Lets now take another example. 1. Create a new blank document in Photoshop (Go to File > New and in the dialog box that opens, type 800 pixels (or any other figure you like) for the Width and Height, Resolution to 72 pixels/inch, Background Contains White and click OK (See

Original Beard on layer

Transparent Plastic Sheet (Layer)

Transparent Plastic Sheet (Layer)

Hair on new layer As seen from top

As seen from top

Original + beard Layer

red) and click OK. Then click the OK button on the Fill dialog box. The square will turn red (See Printscreen 1b overleaf). Now Ctrl + D to deselect the marching ants outline around the square.

3. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool again, make another square,


LEARNING


but overlap the red square as shown here (Printscreen 2). This time, we’ll colour it black. Since black is already your foreground colour (if its not, just press the ‘D’ key on your keyboard), go to Edit > Fill and in the Use box, select Foreground Colour and click OK. Ctrl + D to deselect the marching ants around the black square.

4. Observe that the black square appears to be overlapping the red square (Printscreen 3). I want you to move the squares around and also interchange the positions of the squares – place the red square overlapping the black square. Can’t? That’s because the Background, the red square and the black square are all on the same Layer.

We shall now place the three items –

the Background, red square and the black square – on their individual Layers and then see if we can move them around and interchange their places.

5. As earlier, create a new blank document (read point 1 again if you have forgotten how to). Open the Layers panel (F7 key on the keyboard) if it is not already open. Observe that a Background layer, with the word ‘Background’ in italics and with a padlock, is already formed. This is our base layer and so that beginners don’t mess around with it, it is ‘locked’. (You can get rid of this lock but I am not giving you the key, at least for now!).

6. In the Layers panel, in the bottom right corner, next to the Trash can, is ‘Create a new layer’ icon. Click on it and you’ll see a new layer (called Layer 1). It is automatically placed on top of the Background layer and is marked in blue to indicate that it is the ‘active’ layer. Also observe that it has a chequered pattern in it, indicating that this new layer is blank (Printscreen 4). I suggest that you double click on the words ‘Layer 1’ and rename it as ‘Red Square’. (Renaming Layers with appropriate names is always a good idea).

7. Now, using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, draw a square and as

Printscreen 2

Printscreen 4

‘Add layer mask’ icon

Printscreen 5

Printscreen 3

Printscreen 1b



done earlier, and make it red (read point 2 again if you have forgotten how). Ctrl + D to Deselect.

8. Once again click on ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. A new blank layer will be formed above the Red Square Layer. Since we had earlier re-named Layer 1 as ‘Red Square’ (see point 6), the new layer is now called Layer 1 (if you had not re-named Layer 1, the new layer would have been called Layer 2). Rename this layer as ‘Black Square’ (Printscreen 5) by double clicking on the words Layer 1 and assigning it the new name.

9. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, draw a new square, but overlap it on the red square. Fill this new square with black colour (read point 2 once again if you have forgotten how). Ctrl + D to deselect.

10. Now let’s say you want to move the red square. In the Layers panel, click on the Red Square layer to make it the active layer, and then, using the Move Tool (the letter ‘V’ on the keyboard), you will be able to move the red square. If you want to move the black square, first click on the Black Square layer in the Layers panel to make it the active layer, and then, using the Move Tool, you will be able to move the black square (Printscreen 6).

11. The black square is overlapping the red square. If you want to reverse that – make the red square to overlap the black square – simply drag the Red Square layer (in the Layers panel) and place it above the Black Square layer. Here’s how you can do this:

Select the Hand Tool from the Toolbox and place it on the words ‘Red Square’ in the Layers panel. Now click the mouse and drag the Red Square layer upwards till you see a dark line appear (see Printscreen 7). Release the mouse and the red square will overlap the black one (see Printscreen 8).

By following the method explained above, we are guaranteed that no pixels will be damaged. This again is ‘non-destructive editing’.

To recap

We now have a fair idea as to what a ‘Layer’ is. A Layer can be thought of as a thin, transparent plastic sheet that you place over the image to be edited, and do all the editing on that transparent plastic sheet. If you don’t like the editing or if you change your mind, simply remove the ‘Layer’ and you are back to the original image. If however, you like your editing, simply ‘flatten’ the layers (go to Layer > Flatten Image) – all the layers will merge into the Background layer, and then save the file using the Save As command. This is non-destructive editing.

Printscreen 6

Printscreen 7

Printscreen 8


LEARNING


Blending Modes

To ‘blend’ is to ‘merge’. In this case we are referring to the merging or blending of various Layers in Photoshop. Here is a printscreen showing the available blending modes.

From a photographer’s point of view, not all blending modes are important. Let’s see which of these modes benefit us. To use a blending mode, we first need to make a copy of the Background layer by dragging the layer to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Then we need to set the blending mode. To do that, click in the box named ‘Normal’ and select the required mode.

Multiply (To darken)This is an immensely important blending mode. It is used primarily to darken an overall light picture (see picture 1). The entire picture is overexposed, hence light in tone. By applying the Multiply blending mode, the tone in the entire image has darkened (see Printscreen 1). To darken even further, we can pull down the Background copy once again to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (see Printscreen 2).

If you feel that the image has darkened more than what you desired, you can adjust the tones using the Opacity control in the Layers panel (see printscreen 3

on next page, where I have reduced the Opacity to 35%).

Screen (To lighten)This again is a very useful blending mode. It is used primarily to lighten an overall dark picture (see picture 2 and printscreen 1). The Screen mode does not affect the blacks in the picture. To lighten even further, we can pull down Background copy once again to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. And just like in the Multiply blending mode, you can always adjust the amount of lightening by using the Opacity control in the Layers panel.

Overlay (Increases contrast). Picture 3 next pageThe Overlay blending mode will make shadows darker and

highlights brighter. In other words, it increases contrast. Areas that are 50%

Picture 1

Printscreen 1, Multiply bleending mode applied

Printscreen 2, Multiply bleending mode applied second time

Printscreen showing various blending modes


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LEARNING


grey are not affected by this blending mode.

Soft Light (Increases contrast, but not as much as Overlay does)This works almost the same way as Overlay but the effect is ‘softer’.

Hard Light (Increases contrast, even more than Overlay does)This works almost the same way as Overlay but the effect is ‘stronger’.

Picture 2

Printscreen 3

Printscreen 1, Screen bleending mode applied

Picture 3

Overlay bleending mode applied

Soft Light bleending mode applied

Hard light bleending mode applied

Luminosity The Luminosity blending mode is used after an image is sharpened using Unsharp Mask. After sharpening, go to the blending mode and select Luminosity. This ensures that only the black & white data is sharpened, leaving out the colours. Colours should not be sharpened as it is possible for sharpened colours to bleed beyond the edges.


LEARNING


Layer Masks allow us to hide the contents of a layer. You can hide the contents partially or wholly. When you create an adjustment layer, a layer mask is automatically added next to the layer. In certain cases however, a layer mask is not formed automatically and you have to create the mask if need be.

See the landscape image. While the water is reasonably okay, the trees in the background are quite dark. I would like some more detail in those trees. In the Layers panel, you can see the image as the ‘Background’ layer (Printscreen 1). Drag the layer to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. The new layer, Background copy, has

LAYER MASKS

a blue band, indicating that it is the active layer (Printscreen 2).

Go to the Blending Mode (where it says ‘Normal’), and click. From the drop-down menu, select Screen.

The trees have become lighter (we wanted to make them lighter) but the water has also become lighter (something that we didn’t want). See Printscreen 3, next page.

Also observe that a Layer Mask is not automatically created. Hence we will create the required mask by clicking in the Add layer mask icon (the square with the circle in it) at the bottom of the layers panel. As soon as you do that, a white layer mask is formed. Also observe the chain link between the image icon and the Mask; it tells us that the two are connected (See Printscreen 4, next page).

Note: Once you click on ‘Add layer mask’ icon, it will turn to ‘Add vector mask’ but don’t worry about it at this stage.

Printscreen 1 Printscreen 2

Original image

‘Create a new layer’ icon


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HDR FROM A SINGLE SHOT

FUN WITH INFRARED

PROFESSIONAL

TECHNIQUE

IMPORTANCE OF MAKE-UP


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LEARNING


the ‘D’ key on the keyboard). And since we want the water to be as it was in the original picture, we shall paint at 100% Opacity (Printscreen 5).

See the mask in the printscreen. It

shows (in black) the area that we have worked on (Printscreen 6).

You can now perform any other additional edits if required and then save the file using the Save As command.

We now want to bring back the water to its original tonality. This is where the Layer Mask comes in. Using the Brush Tool (with soft edge), we can paint over the area covered by the water. The mask is white, hence we shall paint using black as the foreground colour (the Toolbox shows two squares at the bottom. The black square should be in the front. If not, hit

Printscreen 3

Printscreen 5

Printscreen 6

Final image

Printscreen 4

‘Add layer mask’ icon



PANNINGSo how do you convey the feeling of speed in a still (non-video) photo?

Keep this in mind:a) You are going to photograph the speeding subject when the subject is almost perpendicular (90 degrees) to you.

b) You will take the photograph using a slow shutter speed (for example 1/30 or 1/15 sec; but that also depends on the subject speed and your distance from the subject).

c) The background behind the subject

Rohinton Mehta

‘Panning’ is a technique to convey the feeling of speed, or suggest

motion in a two-dimensional still photograph.

Let’s say you are photographing a motor-cycle that’s moving very fast. You could use a very fast shutter speed and freeze the action as you can see in the photo below. Yes, the action is frozen but have you captured the feeling of speed? The answer is ‘no’. You could as well have taken the photo of a stationary motor-cycle or one that was moving very slowly.

should not be plain like an open sky or a wall – there should be disturbing elements like a fence, poles, people, trees etc.

The method:1. Stand with your feet comfortably apart and manually focus the lens at a distance (focus on the ground) where you know the subject to pass.

2. Take a camera meter reading from the ground, but with a slow shutter speed as mentioned above.

3. Now, maintaining your position (perpendicular to the movement of the

Using a fast shutter speed has stopped the subject in its tracks but has not given the impression of ‘speed’.

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LEARNING



LEARNING

subject), and twisting your body only above the waist, view the subject through your camera as it moves from your left to right (or right to left) in front of you. The subject will appear out of focus but avoid the temptation to refocus. Remember, you have pre-focussed on the spot where you expect the subject to pass.

4. Maintain the subject in the center of your camera frame as you move (pan) the camera smoothly in an arc of a circle.

5. A fraction of a second before it reaches the pre-focussed point, release the shutter but continue to pan smoothly till the exposure is over. This is very important.6. Take further shots using some other slow shutter speeds.

Why does this work?Remember, you are panning the camera along with the subject, at the same speed of the subject. This means that the relative speed difference between the subject and the panning camera, is practically zero.

Because of this, the subject appears sharp (or reasonably sharp), while the background, which is stationary, appears to show movement blur. You may now realise the importance of having a cluttered background. It is the lateral blurring of the elements in the cluttered background, compared to the sharp (or almost sharp) main subject, that gives an impression of speed.

Further considerationsDifferent shutter speeds will provide different effects of movement. The shutter speed you use will also depend on the speed of the fast-moving subject and the distance between you and the subject. For example, if a subject is moving at say 70kmph and is, say, 25 feet away from you, and you need to use say, 1/15 sec for the pan, then for the same subject moving at the same speed but just 10 feet away from you may require 1/60 or even 1/125 sec.

The lens that you use also has a part to play. I have successfully panned at 1/250

sec with a motor-cycle going at 100kmph just about 7 feet away, using a 24mm lens. (Please avoid trying this; the motor-cyclist may lose control because of loss of concentration as he watches you panning and may ram into you).

Generally, you cannot pan successfully if the subject is far away or is moving very slowly. You also cannot pan a subject that is coming straight towards you or is moving straight away from you. The subject should move perpendicular to you for a good panning effect.

Subjects like galloping horses and speeding cyclists make for good panning effects. Sections of horses’ articulated legs move at a faster speed than their body and this provides a blur to the legs. Similarly, the cyclists’ legs moving in a fast circular motion causes blurring of the legs which add to the feeling of speed.

Do try this technique. You’ll love the effect. And yes, vertical panning is also possible, as when panning along with a diver!

‘Panning’ the camera using slow shutter speed has created the background blur that imparts a feeling of ‘speed’ in a non-video picture. Observe the horse’s legs, which show some amount of blur. This too adds to the impression of ‘speed’. Do take a note of the cluttered background, which in this case, was very necessary to create the impact of panning.

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110Compact ReviewSony Cyber-shot RX10

124First LookNissin i40 122AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140

f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR

Lens Review

Change in Rating SystemSmart Photography’s new rating system exercises stricter evaluation in view of improvements in the overall performance of photographic equipment. Marks will be awarded for the following parameters...

Final RankingsRecommended ......................................... 75-80%Best Buy .........................................81% and above

D-SLR CAMERAS

Design & Build Quality .................... (out of 20)

Key Features ........................................... (out of 20)

Ergonomics ............................................. (out of 20)

PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Metering ...................................................... (out of 5)Noise control ........................................... (out of 5)Distortion/Sharpness .......................... (out of 5)LCD/Viewfi nder..................................... (out of 5)Auto White Balance ........................... (out of 5)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

LENSES




PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Sharpness..................................................... (out of 5)Distortion control ................................. (out of 5)Aberrations ................................................ (out of 5)Darkening of corners ......................... (out of 5)Extra Features............................................ (out of 5)

Value for Money ................................. (out of 10)

Grand Total ......................................... (out of 100)

COMPACT CAMERAS




PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Metering ...................................................... (out of 5)Noise control ........................................... (out of 5)Distortion/Sharpness .......................... (out of 5)LCD/Viewfi nder..................................... (out of 5)Auto White Balance ........................... (out of 5)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

104Head-to-HeadCanon EOS 1200D Vs.

Nikon D3300

114Compact ReviewOlympus Stylus SP-100 EE

118Compact ReviewNikon Coolpix P600

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Canon EOS 1200D Vs. Nikon D3300

Smartphotography.in

(with 18-55mm IS II kit lens)

` 34,995 (with AF-S 18-55mm

VRII kit lens)

` 37,950

Canon and Nikon are evenly matched when it comes to the range of inventory.

Also, the image quality depends on the camera-lens combination, rather than the body or lens taken separately. So a comparison of professional D-SLRs can throw up varying results depending on the lens-body combination. However, entry-level D-SLRs usually come bundled with their standard kit lenses and this is the combination

that most beginners are likely to use. So a head-to-head comparison between two entry-level D-SLRs makes perfect sense. Both Canon and Nikon launched their upgraded entry-level D-SLRs within a month of each other. Here we compare the Canon EOS 1200D and the Nikon D3300, bundled with their respective standard 18-55mm kit lenses.

Design and Build QualityIn terms of design, the first thing to

Sujith Gopinath

The Flyweight Challenge!

say is that the 1200D is designed like a Canon and the D3300 is designed like a Nikon. So we are ignoring the trivial design elements such as the placement of power button, command dials and buttons. The Nikon is lighter and slightly smaller than the Canon. The AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR II lens is shorter and diametrically smaller than the Canon EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS II lens. The Canon lens has a 58mm

104 Smart Photography June 2014

Smartphotography.in June 2014 Smart Photography 105

filter thread, while the Nikon lens has a 52mm thread. The Nikon offers slightly better grip, while the Canon’s rubber lining on the grip feels more durable. Both are evenly matched when it comes to build quality, except for the smaller kit lens and the lighter body of the D3300.

Key FeaturesThe following table will give you an idea of how the key features are matched. The highlights indicates ‘Better’. It is not too difficult to judge who the winner is. While Nikon upgraded the D3200 with their latest EXPEED 4 processor, Canon did not incorporate the DIGIC 5 or the latest DIGIC 5+ processor. The DIGIC 5+, according to Canon, is 17 times faster than the DIGIC 4, and it would have made a huge difference in performance. Even the other key features pale in comparison to the D3300.

On the features front, the Nikon is a clear winner.

ErgonomicsBoth the Canon 1200D and the Nikon D3300 match well when it comes to the placement of dials and buttons on the camera, though the Nikon’s Live View appeared crisper, probably due to the higher resolution of the screen. What could make a real difference while using the camera is the placement of the memory card slot. While the 1200D’s card slot is within the battery compartment, the D3300’s Memory card slot is at the side, on the grip. The Nikon’s design enables faster access and also facilitates changing

of memory card with the camera mounted on a tripod. The 1200D may require unmounting from the tripod to change the memory card especially if the camera plate is large. Another factor that goes in favour of the Nikon is the non-rotating filter thread of the kit lens, which allows the use of polarisers and graduated filters.

Here again, the Nikon edges ahead.

PerformanceAutofocus Both the cameras focussed well and fast when using the optical viewfinder.

Feature Canon EOS 1200D Nikon D3300

Effective pixels 18.0 million 24.2 million

Image sensor 22.3 x 14.9mm CMOS 23.5 x 15.6 mm CMOS

Processor DIGIC 4 EXPEED 4

Dust-reduction System No Yes

Max. Image size 5184 x 3456 pixels 6000 x 4000 pixels

File format Raw (14-bit ), Raw (12 bit), JPEG, Raw+JPEG JPEG, Raw+JPEG

Media SD, SDHC, SDXC SD, SDHC, SDXC

Shutter speed 30 to 1/4000 sec; Bulb 30 to 1/4000s; Bulb; Time

Max. Flash sync speed 1/200s 1/200 s

Frame advance rate Up to 3 fps Up to 5 fps

Exposure compensation ±5 EV in 1/3- ±5 EV in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments stop increments

ISO sensitivity ISO 100 – 6400, ISO 100-12800, Can expandable to ISO 12800 also be set to ISO 25600

Focus Points 9 11

Built-in flash Approx. 9.2m Approx. 12m at Guide Number at ISO 100 ISO 100

Flash compensation ±2 stops in 1/3- or -3 - +1 EV in 1/2-stop increments increments of 1/3 EV

Built-in flash as No Yes ‘Master’ flash?

Best Video quality 1920 x 1080, 1920 x 1080, 60p/ 30p/25p/24p 50p/30p/25p/24p

Video format MOV MOV

Monitor 3 inches 3 inches

Screen Resolution 460,000 dots 921,000 dots

Dimensions Approx. 129.6 x Approx. 124 x 99.7 x 77.9mm 98 x 75.5 mm

Weight Approx. 480g Approx. 460 g

HEAD-TO-HEAD


Smartphotography.in106 Smart Photography June 2014106 Smart Photography June 2014

CANON EOS 1200D Aperture:f/8.0 Shutter Speed: 1.0sec ISO:200

Smartphotography.in June 2014 Smart Photography 107June 2014 Smart Photography 107

NIKON D3300 Aperture:f/8.0 Shutter Speed: 0.6sec ISO:200

HEAD-TO-HEAD


Smartphotography.in108 Smart Photography June 2014108 Smart Photography June 2014

But Live View focussing made the real difference. Most of the times, the Canon 1200D simply kept on hunting for focus, while the Nikon D3300 had no problems with focussing even under low light. To make matters worse, the Canon’s focussing process made lot of noise while the Nikon’s was barely audible.

Continuous ShootingTo check the continuous shooting speeds of the cameras, we used two identical SanDisk 4GB Class 4 SD HC memory cards. Though the specified speeds are true only for Class 10 cards, the Class 4 cards would still be a fair comparison. Both cameras were set to High Speed Continuous mode and we checked the time for JPEG and Raw images separately. Canon shot 12 JPEG Large and Fine images in 4.5 sec before the buffer got full, clocking 2.6 frames per second, and took approximately 15.4 sec to write the images to the card. The Nikon, on the other hand, shot 11 JPEG Large and Fine images in 3.4 sec before filling the buffer, achieving 3.2 frames per second, and took approximately 24.5 sec to write the images to the card. In case of Raw images, The 1200D shot 5 frames in 2.8 seconds before running out of buffer space, providing approximately 1.8 frames per second, while the D3300 shot 5 frames in 1.4 sec, providing approximately 3.6 frames per second. While the Canon took 30 sec to write the images to the card, the Nikon took 26 sec.

While the D3300 had better continuous shooting speed, the 1200D had slightly better writing speed in the case of JPEG images. However, the Canon was slightly slower to write Raw images on to the card, probably because of the higher bit depth of Canon Raw images.

Darkening of CornersThe Canon 1200D offers Peripheral Illumination Correction, whereas the Nikon D3300 does not incorporate any such feature. This feature was kept ‘On’ in our test since it is crucial to evaluate how well the camera-lens combination handles Darkening of Corners at the wide-angle end. Both the lenses were kept at their widest

apertures at the wide-angle end. Here the Canon 1200D controlled the darkening very well, producing almost imperceptible darkening at the extreme corners, while the Nikon D3300 exhibited prominent darkening.

Flare and Chromatic AberrationTo test flare and chromatic aberration, we photographed some tree branches with the sun peeping through them. While we observed strong flare and heavy purple fringing in case of the 1200D, the D3300 controlled flare very well. We did not observe any fringing in the Nikon.

DistortionIn the test for distortion, we kept the Auto Distortion Control feature ‘On’ for the D3300, while the 1200D does not offer any equivalent feature. Both lenses produced some barrel distortion at the wide-angle range up to about 24mm (marked focal length). However, the Nikon produced slightly less distortion than the Canon.

SharpnessThe sweet spot of the Canon lens shifted from f/5.6 to f/8 from 18 to 55mm, while the Nikon’s sweet spot remained consistent at f/11. From 18mm up to about 35mm, the Nikon combination had a clear advantage without a hint of doubt. But towards the telephoto end, the Canon combination showed marked improvement. It was difficult to determine which one was better.

MeteringBoth the cameras fared well in metering. We have no complaints about the metering of either cameras. Since both the cameras have different field-of-view crop factors, we couldn’t make the frame exactly similar. So we give the benefit of doubt though there was 1EV difference between the exposures.

Auto White BalanceWe tested the Auto White Balance performance of both the cameras by photographing a standard Gretag

Smartphotography.in June 2014 Smart Photography 109June 2014 Smart Photography 109

It is surprising to see a head-to-head comparison of two close competitors yielding such a clear result. At most stages, there was no ambiguity about which was better. The images spoke for themselves except in the case of Auto White Balance and Metering. Both the cameras have their advantages as well as flaws. Both are very close to each other in performance. In fact, a better kit lens would have certainly tilted the balance in Canon’s favour, but better lenses are more expensive. Overall, the Nikon D3300 is the champion of the Flyweights along with the kit lens.

VERDICT

75%CANON EOS 1200D

FINAL SCORE

Design and Build Quality 16/20

Key Features 15/20

Ergonomics 16/20

Performance

Autofocus and 2.5/5 Burst Shooting

Darkening 4.5/5 of Corners

Flare and 2.5/5 Chromatic Aberration

Distortion 3.5/5

Sharpness 3/5

Metering 4/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Noise Control 4/5

Sub-Total 28/40

Value for Money 7/10

Total 82/110

82%NIKON D3300

FINAL SCORE


Key Features 18/20

Ergonomics 18/20

Performance

Autofocus and 4/5 Burst Shooting

Darkening 2.5/5 of Corners

Flare and 4/5 Chromatic Aberration

Distortion 4/5

Sharpness 4/5

Metering 4/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Noise Control 2.5/5

Sub-Total 29/40


Total 90/110

Macbeth colour chart in daylight. Other light sources were not used because in the case of artificial light sources, the colour temperature is greatly inconsistent. Both the cameras produced ideal tones.

NoiseThough the 1200D’s specifications mention that the ISO sensitivity can be expanded to 12,800 equivalent, we could set it only up to 6400 manually in our settings. The Nikon D3300 has approximately 6 million photosites more than that of the Canon 1200D, squeezed on to the sensor. Hence each of the 1200D’s photosites covers almost 20 percent more area than that of the D3300. This means that each photo diode in the 1200D captures almost 20 percent more light than the D3300, and more light captured means less noise. This was evident in our noise test. The Canon proved its mettle at all ISOs and its images were perfectly usable up to ISO 3200, while the Nikon’s images were usable only up to ISO 1600.

Value for MoneyThe Canon 1200D retails with the 18-55mm IS II kit lens at an MRP of Rs.34,995, while the Nikon D3300 carries a price tag of Rs.37,950 with AF-S 18-55mm VRII kit lens. The value for money depends on the performance and the other parameters. When we compare the price tags in this way, we feel the Nikon D3300 is better in terms of value for money, though it is more expensive by about Rs.3000.

COMPACT Review Sony Cyber-shot RX10


` 84,990

Heavyduty Compact! Sujith Gopinath

Camera manufacturers are increasingly trying to woo customers by incorporating

premium features in compact cameras. By this, they target the non-D-SLR camera users looking for a super zoom bridge camera that provides image quality close to low-end D-SLRs. Th e Sony RX10 is such a premium bridge camera with quite premium features.

Design and Build QualityTh e Sony RX10 looks and feels like a D-SLR sans the prism bulge at the top. Th e camera has a refi ned look that provides a professional feel. Th e outer body is made of tough polycarbonate material, which hides the beast within. Within this plastic shell is a robust magnesium alloy shell that encloses both the front and top portions of the camera. Th e

camera has a dust and moisture resistant design. Th e lens is rather large, having a 62mm fi lter thread. Th ere are two rings on the lens — one being the focussing ring and the other, an aperture control ring. Th e F-numbers are marked on the Aperture ring. Th e camera features a tilting LCD and a metal tripod receptacle.

Key FeaturesTh e 20.2 megapixel Sony RX10 uses a 1.0-inch Type (13.2 x 8.8mm) back-illuminated ExmorR CMOS sensor. It uses a BIONZ X image processing engine, which is believed to signifi cantly enhance the image quality. It features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-200mm equivalent lens featuring optical SteadyShot image stabilisation system. Th e lens has a constant maximum aperture of f/2.8,

✓ Camera ✓ Rechargeable Battery Pack (NP-FW50) ✓ AC Adaptor ✓ Micro USB cable ✓ Shoulder strap ✓ Lens cap ✓ Shoe Cap ✓ Lens hood ✓ Eyepiece Cup ✓ Instruction Manual

Inside the Box



Aperture: f/4 Shutter Speed: 1/500sec . ISO:400

and is constructed with 14 elements in 11 groups including 7 aspheric elements. The lens focusses from approximately 3cm to infinity at the wide-angle end and approximately 30 cm to infinity at the telephoto end. Focus modes available are Direct Manual, Manual, Single-shot AF, Continuous AF, Wide AF, Centre AF, and Flexible-Spot AF.

The camera provides metering options of Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-3EV in 1/3-EV steps. ISO sensitivity ranges from ISO 125 to 12,800, which is expandable up to ISO 80. White Balance options are Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent (3 types), Daylight, Flash, Colour Temperature, Filter, and Custom. Shutter speed can be set from 30 to 1/3200 sec, with an additional

Bulb option. Self-timer can be set to Off, 10 sec, or 2 sec. Aperture range is from f/2.8 to 16. Shooting modes available are Superior Auto, Intelligent Auto, Program Auto, Movie Mode, Panorama, Scene Selection, and Memory Recall. Scene selection provides options of Night Scene, Night Portrait, Portrait, Landscape, Handheld Twilight, Anti Motion Blur, Sunset, Macro, and Sports/Action. The RX10 provides Picture effects such as HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Toy Camera, Pop Colour, Partial Colour, Soft High-key, Water Colour, Illustration, Posterization, High Contrast Mono, Soft Focus, and Retro Photo.

The RX10 records still images in JPEG and Raw formats with a maximum size of 5472 x 3648 pixels. Movies are recorded in AVCHD

and MP4 formats with the best quality of 1920 x 1080 at frame rates of 60/50/25/24 fps in AVCHD. The built-in flash has a range of approximately 10.2m on Auto ISO. Flash modes available are Off, Auto, Fill-flash, Slow sync, and Rear curtain sync.

The RX10 is overflowing with features and hence it is beyond the scope of this review to list out all of them and try them out. However, there are two that require mention. These are Focus Peaking and Zebra. Focus Peaking is now part of many cameras and is quite useful for precision focussing in Manual focus mode. Focussing manually with the Live View is a challenge. Though most compact cameras feature focus point zooming function, this is hardly perfect. Here Peaking comes to your assistance.


COMPACT Review Sony Cyber-shot RX10


ISO 80

ISO 200

ISO 800

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12800

NOISE

Sensor Type : ExmorR CMOS sensor

Size : 1.0 type (13.2mm x 8.8mm)

Effective Pixels : Approx. 20.2 Megapixels

Lens Type : Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T*

Lens Construction : 14 elements in 11 groups (7 aspheric elements)

Aperture : f/2.8 constant

Focal Length : Approximatey 24-200mm equivalent

Focus Range : Approx. 3cm (1.2’) to infinity (W),

Approx.30cm(0.99’) to infinity (T)

Screen Size : 3.0 inch

Number Of Dots : 1,228,800 dots

Name : Xtra Fine / TFT LCD

Imaging Processor : BIONZ

Image Stabilizer System : Optical SteadyShot

Focus Modes : Direct Manual, Manual, Single-Shot AF, Continuous AF,

Wide AF, Centre AF, and Flexible-Spot AF

Light Metering : Multi Pattern, Centre-Weighted, and Spot

Exposure Comp : +/- 3.0EV in 1/3 EV step

ISO Sensitivity : Auto, 125 to 12800 (Extendable to ISO80)

White Balance : Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent

(3 modes), Daylight, Flash, Colour Temperature,

Filter, Custom

Shutter Speed : Bulb, 30 – 1/3200 sec

Self-Timer : Off, 10sec., 2sec.

Flash Mode : Flash Off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync.

Flash Range : ISO Auto: Approx. 1.0m to 10.2m

Aperture : f/2.8 to f/16

Face Detection : Yes

Max. No of Detectable Faces 8

Shooting modes : Superior Auto, Intelligent Auto, Program Auto, Movie

Mode, Panorama, Scene Selection, Memory Recall

Scene Selection : Night Scene, Night Portrait, Portrait, Landscape,

Handheld Twilight, Anti Motion Blur, Sunset, Macro,

Sports Action

Picture Effect : HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Toy

Camera, Pop Colour, Partial Colour, Soft High-key, Water

Colour, Illustration, Posterization, High Contrast Mono.,

Soft Focus, Retro Photo

Recording Media : Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo/PRO HG Duo/SD/SDHC

SDXC/Memory Stick XC-HG Duo/Micro

Recording format : Still: JPEG, Raw Movie: AVCHD, MP4

Max Still Image Size : 5,472×3,648 pixels

Best Movie Quality : 1,920 x 1,080 (60fps/50fps/25fps/24fps)

Digital Level Gauge : Yes

Peaking : Yes

Zebra : Yes

Wi-Fi : Yes

NFC : Yes

Interface : Micro HDMI

Power Source : Supplied Battery 1080mAh

Dimensions : Approx. 129.0 x 88.1 x 102.2mm (W x H x D)

Weight : Approx. 813g (with Battery & Memory Stick)

KEY SPECIFICATIONS



prominent in normal everyday shots. Th e lens produced prominent fl are in strong against-the-light shots along with purple fringing. Images were sharp out of the box and it retained much of the sharpness even at the telephoto end. Th e sweet spot changed from f/2.8 to f/4 while zooming from 24mm to 200mm.

Auto White Balance performed well under natural light, both in bright and shady conditions. Native image size was 18.24 x 12.16 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent of the screen size, images were practically noise-free up to ISO 1600, but could be used up to ISO 3200. Observed at 50 percent, the images were free of noise up to ISO 200, but could be used up to ISO 800. At 100 percent screen size, we observed slight noise even at ISO 80, but could be safely used up to ISO 200.

Value for MoneyTh e Sony RX10 retails at an MRP of Rs.84,990. Th ough this is certainly high, it should be noted that the camera sports a 24-200mm lens with a constant aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom range.

Th is feature highlights parts of the frame that are in sharp focus. You can set the Peaking colour to Red, Yellow, or White. Even the peaking level can be set to High, Mid, Low, or Off . Another feature is Zebra. Well, Sony does not give a Zebra free with this camera. Th is is just another name for highlight warning ‘blinkies’ that are present in most cameras. Th e only diff erence is that the RX10 displays it in the form of black and white stripes. Th e RX10 can detect up to 8 faces in the frame.

Th e RX10 uses a 3.0-inch, 1,228,800-dot Xtra Fine TFT LCD. It uses a Memory Stick or SD card as removable memory. Th e camera features WiFi and NFC (Near Field Communication), making it easier to pair with your Smartphone. Th e device is powered by a 1080mAh Li-ion battery pack. Th e camera has dimensions of 129.0 x 88.1 x 102.2mm and weighs approximately 813g with battery and Memory Stick.

ErgonomicsTh e Sony RX10 is comfortable to hold and use. Th e camera is slightly heavier than most bridge cameras, but is very well balanced. In fact, most lighter bridge cameras feel ‘hollow’, but this one is certainly diff erent. Th e RX10 has a deep, rubberised grip, which provides a solid hold on the camera. Th e power switch and zoom lever are placed along with the shutter release unit. Th e shutter release button is threaded so that you can use a threaded cable release (though I feel it is not going to be used, since you have Wi-Fi based triggers available through Smartphones).

Th e fl ash unit pops up with a loud and violent thud. When the fl ash is raised, the housing goes absolutely parallel to the camera body, which makes it slightly inconvenient to lower it (you can break the mounting hinges if you put pressure in the wrong direction). But Sony couldn’t have done much since the large lens requires the

fl ash to go all the way up to minimise vignetting. Like all new Sony cameras, the battery is charged in the camera itself using a mini USB cable (provided). But the cable provided is very fl imsy and is likely to break. Th e cable that came with the review unit was faulty and we had to use my Smartphone’s USB cable to charge the battery.

PerformanceTh e Sony RX10 performed reasonably well. Autofocus was fast and precise. It locked on well even in low light. Slight darkening was observed at extreme corners, but this is not a concern. Th e metering modes performed well as expected. Th e EVF and LCD were bright and images appeared crisp. We observed very slight barrel distortion up to 70mm equivalent, but this was barely noticeable and might not be

Th e Sony RX10 is a premium compact camera with a slightly larger sensor than in normal compacts. With a weather-sealed body and a magnesium alloy chassis, it certainly stands tall amongst compact bridge cameras. Best Buy indeed.

VERDICT

SharpnessAperture: f/2.8Shutter Speed: 1/80sec. ISO:100

PLUS• Excellent build quality• Weather sealing• Magnesium alloy chassis• Constant f/2.8 aperture• Great performance

MINUS

• Price could be a turn-off • No separate battery charger

83%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 18/20

Ergonomics 18/20

Performance

Autofocus 4.5/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 3/5

Sharpness 3.5/5

LCD/EVF 4/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Sub-Total 23/30


MINUS


COMPACT Review Olympus Stylus SP-100 EE


` 26,990

✓ Camera ✓ Battery ✓ AC Adapter ✓ Power Cord ✓ USB Cable

Inside the Box

Th e Hunter Rohinton Mehta

matte fi nished exterior. It has a deep rubberised grip, another rubber grip around the lens housing and a prominent thumb rest. Th e SP-100EE has a dot sight, which is hidden amongst the built-in fl ash unit.

Th e dot sight can be activated with a switch near the fl ash pop-up switch. See Key Features section for more about this feature. Th e camera has a fi xed LCD screen and features a zoom lever at the side of the lens housing in addition to the zoom lever near the shutter release button. Th e camera has a plastic tripod receptacle.

Key FeaturesOlympus did not supply a user manual with the camera and the specifi cations provided on Olympus India website is incomplete. Hence it was impossible for us to obtain the complete specifi cations of the camera. So it is likely that we have missed out on some of the not-so-obvious features. Olympus does not specify the type of sensor used in this camera. We guess it is a 1/2.3-inch Type sensor. Th e camera is a 16 megapixel model and houses a 24-1200mm equivalent lens. Th e lens features Optical Image Stabilisation. In the Normal mode,

What makes super zoom bridge cameras more attractive than D-SLRs is

the enormous zoom range and the low price they off er, even though it comes at the expense of image quality. Olympus has launched a super-zoom in the form of the SP-100EE, sporting 50x optical zoom and a new feature called the Eagle’s Eye. Here is SP’s take on this camera.

Design and Build QualityMade of sturdy polycarbonate, the Olympus SP-100EE is designed to resemble a D-SLR, and has a trendy



the lens focusses from 7 cm to infinity at the wide-angle end and from 3.5 m to infinity at the telephoto end. In Super Macro mode, it focusses as close as 1 cm. Autofocus modes available are Face Detect iESP, Spot, and Tracking. The camera features a unique Dot Sight to aid quick framing at the telephoto end, called ‘Eagle’s Eye’ (this feature is responsible for the EE designation for SP-100). This is a technology that has trickled down from firearms. It consists of a red target light reflected off a partially-reflective mirror and a viewfinder-type frame to view the subject. When the sight is raised, it provides a normal view with the red dot placed at the centre. The sight is placed such that the red dot aligns perfectly over the subject when the lens is zoomed to the telephoto end. The utility of this requires some explanation. Suppose you are

photographingh a bird in the forest at the maximum zoom position. If the bird suddenly relocates to another tree, it will be difficult for you to quickly track the bird and re-focus the camera exactly over the bird. Since the Eagle’s Eye provides a wide-angle view of the scene, it is easier to locate the bird through this without zooming out. Now if you align the red dot on the bird through the wide frame, the lens would have automatically aligned to the bird at the centre of the frame, without the need to zoom out and re-locate the bird through the live view. ISO sensitivity ranges from ISO 125 to 6400. Shutter speed ranges from 30 to 1/1500 sec. Aperture can be set from f/2.9 to 8.4 at the wide-angle end and f/6.5 to 19 at the telephoto end. Still images are recorded in JPEG format with a maximum size of 4608 x 3456 pixels

Effective pixels : 16 Million

Removable memory : SD/SDHC/SDXC Card

(UHS-I supported)

Internal memory : 37MB

Max recording image size : 4608x3456

Lens focal length : 24-1200mm equivalent

Focus range : Normal: 7 cm to infinity (Wide),

3.5 m to infinity (Tele)

Super macro: 1 cm to infinity

LCD monitor : 3.0-inch approx. 460,000-dot TFT

ISO sensitivity : ISO 125 to 6400, Auto, High

Art Filters : Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale and Light,

Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama,

Dramatic tone

Panorama : Yes (Smart Panorama)

Image stabilizer : Lens Shift

AF mode : Face Detect iESP/Spot/tracking

AF Tracking : Yes

Face Detection : Yes (up to 8)

Movie Recording format : MOV/H.264

Best movie quality : 1080 60p (1920x1080)

Battery : LI-92B Li-ion battery

HDMI : Yes

Dimensions : 121.2x91.3x133.2 mm (W x H x D)

Weight : 589 g (Including batteries/card)

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

Aperture: f/6.3 Shutter Speed: 1/320sec. ISO: 800


COMPACT Review Olympus Stylus SP-100 EE


while movies are recorded in MOV format with the best quality of 1920 x 1080 (60p). Th e camera can detect up to eight faces. Shooting modes include iAuto, Art (Art Filter), Scene, Panorama, Program (P), Shutter Priority (S), Aperture Priority (A), and Manual (M). In the Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, the camera does not allow you to set the ISO manually. Th e Art Filters incorporated in the camera are Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale and Light, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, and Dramatic tone. Scene modes provide options of Portrait, e-Portrait (Smooth Skin Tone to view on HDTV), Landscape, Interval Shooting, Hand-held Starlight, Night Scene, Night+Portrait,

Sport, Indoor, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Documents, Beach and Snow, Super Macro, and Backlit HDR. White Balance options available are Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, and One Touch (2 options). Th e device features built-in panorama mode called Smart Panorama. Th e SP-100EE uses a 3.0-inch approx. 460,000-dot TFT colour LCD screen. Th e camera has internal memory of 37MB and accepts an SD/SDHC/SDXC Card (UHS-I supported) as external storage. Th e SP-100EE is powered by a supplied LI-92B Li-ion battery. Th e camera has dimensions of 121.2x91.3x133.2 mm (W x H x D) and weighs 589 g including batteries and memory card.

ErgonomicsTh e Olympus SP-100EE off ers good grip and balances well in your hands. Th e menu is intuitive and controls easy to locate. However, we were puzzled by the behaviour of some of the features, complicated by the fact that Olympus did not provide a User Manual with the camera. Both the LCD screen and the electronic viewfi nder requires much improvement. Th e Eagle’s Eye was easy to use and aligned well with the image at high zoom positions.

PerformanceTh e Olympus SP-100EE impressed us with its performance. Autofocus was fast and precise, and the system latched on to the subjects even under low light without any problem. Th e lens did not produce any darkening at the corners even with the lens wide open at the wide-angle end. Th is is quite surprising for a compact camera.Th is could be either due to better optics or a superb processor at work. All metering modes worked well. Distortion was very well controlled, though slight irregular distortion could be spotted. Auto White Balance performance was laudable, and the pre-set modes were also found to provide textbook results, except under a couple of artifi cial light sources.

Native print size of the images was 11.52 x 15.36 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent of the screen size, images were noise-free up to ISO


Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/640sec. ISO: 125



PLUS• 50x optical

zoom

• Useful Eagle’s

Eye

• Good overall

performance

• Competitive

price

MINUS• Over

sharpening at

telephoto end

• Heavy flare

and chromatic

aberration

• No ISO

control in

priority modes

• Only USB

charging

78%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 16/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 4/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 3.5/5

Sharpness 3/5

LCD/EVF 2.5/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Sub-Total 21/30


3200. ISO 6400 showed slight noise, but barely noticeable. Viewed at 50 percent, images remained free of noise up to ISO 800, but were usable up to ISO 3200. Enlarged to 100 percent, the images remained noise-free up to ISO 200. Slight noise obserbed at ISO 400 was barely noticeable. The images could be used up to ISO 800. We would consider this good noise control.

On the negative side, the lens produced prominent flare along with purple fringing. It also produced lateral chromatic aberration while photographing our test charts under certain conditions. Images out of the box appeared sharp. The SP-100 applies aggressive sharpening at high focal lengths and the images at extremely high focal lengths show sharpening artifacts. We observed prominent flicker on the LCD under some lighting conditions. Images appeared a bit hazy in the Electronic Viewfinder.

Value for MoneyThe Olympus SP-100EE retails at an MRPof Rs.26,990. At this price, the camera seems to be a good buy.

Olympus SP-100EE is a great performer when it comes to general image qulaity, but it has some overpowering weaknesses that cannot be ignored. The aggressive sharpening at the telephoto end nullifies the utility of its high zoom range, and so does the fact that ISO sensitivity cannot be controlled in priority modes. If these flaws were plugged, it would certainly have been on our Best Buy list. For the time being, Recommended.

VERDICT

ISO 125

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

NOISE


COMPACT Review Nikon Coolpix P600


` 23,950

Beyond Visual Range Camera? Sujith Gopinath

Nikon has raised the potential of its popular P-series super-zoom bridge camera with

a whopping 60x optical zoom. Th e result is the 16.1-megapixel Nikon Coolpix P600. It is time to put the new camera through our rigorous tests and fi nd out what this camera is capable of.

Design and Build QualityTh e Nikon P600 is built with a polycarbonate exterior and is styled like a smaller version of Nikon D-SLRs. We received a black coloured piece, which had a predominant professional looking matte fi nish, unlike the red version. Th e camera has a fully articulated LCD. Th e lens has a two-segment construction with a zoom lever at the side of the lens housing in addition to the main zoom lever near the shutter

release button. Th e tripod receptacle is metal.

Key FeaturesTh e 16.1-megapixel Nikon P600 uses a 1/2.3-inch Type CMOS sensor, supported by an EXPEED C2 image processing engine. Th e camera houses a Nikkor 24-1440 mm equivalent f/3.3-6.5 lens. Th e lens is constructed with 16 elements in 11 groups including 4 ED and 1 Super ED element. It also features optical Vibration Reduction. Th e lens focusses from approximately 50cm to infi nity at the wide-angle end and approximately 2.0m to infi nity at the telephoto end in Normal mode and from approximately 1 cm to infi nity in Macro mode. Th e camera uses Contrast-detect method for autofocus. Focus area options are Target-Hfi nding AF, Face Priority, Manual (spot), Manual (normal),

✓ Camera

✓ Camera Strap

✓ Lens Cap LC-CP29 (with cord)

✓ Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL23

✓ Charging AC Adapter EH-71P

✓ USB Cable UC-E21

Inside the Box




Manual (wide), Subject Tracking.

The P600 records still images in JPEG format with a maximum size of 4608 x 3456 pixels, while videos are recorded in MOV format (Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, Audio: LPCM stereo) with the best quality of 1920 x 1080 (60p/25p/60i/50i/30p). Shooting Modes available are Auto, Scene, Special Effects, P (Program), S (Shutter Priority), A (Aperture Priority), M (Manual), and User settings. Scene modes available are Night landscape, Night portrait, Landscape, Scene auto selector, Portrait, Sports, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Close-up, Food, Museum, Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Backlighting, Easy panorama, Pet portrait, Moon, and Bird-watching. Drive modes include Single, Continuous H (about 7 fps for about 7 frames), Continuous L (about 1 fps for about 200 frames),

Pre-shooting cache (about 15 fps for 20 images), Continuous H:120 fps (120 fps for 60 frames), Continuous H:60 fps (60 fps for 60 frames), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Multi-shot 16, and Interval timer shooting. In Pre-shooting cache mode, the camera begins to capture images when the shutter release button is pressed half way down. These images are stored in the cache and when the shutter button is pressed fully, the camera saves a few images captured immediately before pressing the button in addition to the images captured after the button is fully pressed down.

The P600 provides sensitivity options from ISO 100 to 6400, expandable to Hi 1 (equivalent to ISO 12,800) in certain modes. It provides the usual metering modes of Matrix, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-2.0 EV in

1/3 EV steps. The camera houses a hybrid mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter, providing shutter speeds of 15 to 1/4000 sec. The lens incorporates an electronically-controlled 6-blade iris diaphragm for aperture control. Self-timer can be set to 10 sec or 2 sec. The built-in flash has a range of approximately 0.5 to 7.5 m at the wide-angle end and 1.5 to 4.0 m at the telephoto end when ISO sensitivity is set to Auto. Flash control is through TTL auto method. Flash exposure can be compensated up to +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps.

The camera has a 0.2-inch, approx. 201,000-dot electronic viewfinder. For main display, it uses a 3-inch, approx. 921,000-dot, wide viewing angle vari-angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating. The camera has an internal memory of approximately 56 MB and accepts an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card for external storage.


COMPACT Review Nikon Coolpix P600


ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 6400

NOISE

Effective pixels : 16.1 million

Image sensor : 1/2.3-inch Type CMOS

Lens : NIKKOR 24-1440 mm equivalent f/3.3-6.5

Lens Construction : 16 elements in 11 groups

(4 ED and 1 super ED lens elements)

Vibration reduction : Lens shift

Motion blur reduction : Motion detection (still pictures)

Autofocus (AF) : Contrast-detect AF

Focus range : Normal: Approx. 50 cm to infinity (W),

Approx. 2.0 m to infinity (T)

Macro mode: Approx. 1 cm to infinity

Focus-area selection : Target finding AF, face priority, manual (spot), manual

(normal), manual (wide), subject tracking

Viewfinder : Electronic viewfinder, 0.5 cm (0.2-in.)

approx. 201k-dot equivalent LCD

Monitor : 3-inch, approx. 921k-dot, wide viewing angle vari-angle

TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating and 6-level

brightness adjustment

Storage Media : Internal memory (approx. 56 MB), SD/SDHC/SDXC

memory card

File formats : Still: JPEG; Sound files: WAV; Movies: MOV

(Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, Audio: LPCM stereo)

Max. Image size : 4608 x 3456

Shooting Modes : Auto, Scene (Night landscape, Night portrait, Landscape,

Scene auto selector, Portrait, Sports, Party/indoor, Beach,

Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Close-up, Food, Museum,

Fireworks show, Black and white copy, Backlighting, Easy

panorama, Pet portrait, Moon, Bird-watching), Special

Effects, P, S, A, M, User settings

Drive modes : Single, Continuous H (about 7 fps for about 7 frames),

Continuous L (about 1 fps for about 200 frames), Pre

shooting cache (about 15 fps for 20 images), Continuous

H:120 fps (120 fps for 60 frames), Continuous H:60 fps

(60 fps for 60 frames), BSS (Best Shot Selector), Multi

shot 16, Intvl timer shooting

Best movie quality : 1920 x 1080 60p/25p/60i/50i/30p

ISO sensitivity : ISO 100-6400, Hi 1 (equivalent to ISO 12800)

Exposure Metering : Matrix, centre-weighted, or spot

mode

Exposure comp. : +/-2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV

Shutter : Mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter

Shutter Speed : 15 to 1/4000s

Aperture : Electronically-controlled 6-blade iris diaphragm

Self-timer : Can be selected from 10 s and 2 s

Built-in flash Range : (approx.) (ISO sensitivity: Auto) [W]: 0.5-7.5 m;

[T]: 1.5-4.0 m (5-13 ft)

Flash control : TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes

Flash exposure comp : +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps

I/O terminal : Micro-USB connector HDMI micro connector

(Type D) (HDMI output)

Wi-Fi : Yes

Power source : One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL23 (included)

Dimensions : Approx. 125.0 x 85.0 x 106.5 mm (W x H x D)

Weight : Approx. 565 g (including battery and SD memory card)

KEY SPECIFICATIONS




Th e Nikon P600 is a super-zoom bridge camera capable of producing reasonably good images under most conditions. However, the slow autofocus and other minor fl aws could spoil the party for this camera. Certainly Recommended.

VERDICT


PLUS

• 60x optical zoom• Good build quality• Excellent grip• Easy to navigate

MINUS• Slow Autofocus• Noise control could have been better• Only 2-stop aperture control at the telephoto end aperture control at the telephoto end

77%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 16/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 2.5/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 3/5

Sharpness 4/5

LCD/EVF 3.5/5

Auto W/B 3/5

Sub-Total 20/30


Th e P600 features built-in Wi-Fi. It is powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL23 (included). Th e camera has dimensions of 125.0 x 85.0 x 106.5 mm (W x H x D) and weighs approximately 565 g including battery and SD memory card.

ErgonomicsTh e P600 is comfortable to hold, aided by a deep rubberised grip and a rubber-lined thumb rest. Th e tilt and swivel LCD allows you to shoot from virtually any angle you would ever require. Th e controls are easily accessible while the menu is intuitive and easy to navigate.

PerformanceTh e Nikon P600 produced mixed results in our test. We did not observe any darkening of corners even at the wide-angle end with the lens wide open. Th e camera did not produce any signifi cant distortion to write about. All metering modes performed as expected. Auto White Balance performed very well under daylight, but struggled under all other light sources. Images were reasonably sharp, and the sweet spot was found to be near the widest aperture.

Native image size was 11.52 x 15.36 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percemnt of the screen size, the images were noise-free up to ISO 1600, and were usable up to

3200. Viewed at 50 percent, slight noise was observed from ISO 400 onwards, and ISO 3200 and 6400 were noisy. At 100 percent magnification, we observed noise throughout the ISO range, but you could use them up to ISO 800.

Th e camera was slow to focus even in reasonably good light, though outdoors, it was slightly faster. Prominent fl are was observed in

strong against-the-light shots, but the lens did not produce any chromatic aberration. Th e Electronic Viewfi nder suff ers from tunnel vision. However, the images appeared sharp on both EVF and LCD.

Value for MoneyTh e Nikon P600 retails at an MRP of Rs. 23,950. At this price, the camera seems good value for money considering the 60x optical zoom.


LENS REVIEW AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140 f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR


An Everyday Lens Rohinton Mehta

Along with quality, consumers demand convenience and the AF-S

DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR covers both. Lightweight and compact, it can be a perfect companion for beginners and advanced users alike who need quality at a reasonable price. This 27-210mm equivalent lens covers the range of focal lengths for most day-to-day use.

Design & Build QualityThe lens is a 3-segment construction that telescopes out as you zoom from 18mm to 140mm. The outer body as well as the filter thread is made with polycarbonate. The lens appears to be well made at this price point. Unlike the 18-55mm kit lens and the 18-105mm, the 18-140mm lens has a metal mount. The zoom ring is quite broad (50mm) while the textured rubber grip is about 38mm. The ring is marked legibly at 18, 24, 35, 50, 70, and 140mm settings. The manual focus ring is 10mm broad and is towards the lens mount. On the left of the lens (as when in use) are the VR (Vibration Reduction) and A-M switches. Th is being a G-type lens, has no aperture ring; apertures are controlled from the camera body. Filter diameter is 67mm.

Key FeaturesThe AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR is designed for APS-C sensor (DX) cameras. The

lens covers an angle of view of 76° - 11°30’, equivalent to that of a 27-210mm lens on a full-frame (35mm) format. It is constructed with 17 elements in 12 groups that include 1x ED lens element and 1x aspherical lens element for superior image quality. The 18-140mm lens has an IF (Internal Focus) design that not only helps to achieve faster focus, but also maintain the lens’ overall length during focussing. The filter ring

does not rotate, making it easy to use PL and Graduated ND filters. During zooming, the lens extends by 52mm. Further, the lens is backed by a Silent Wave Motor (SWM) that ensures silent operation. The 4-stop advantage Vibration Reduction(VR) system adds the icing to the top.The minimum focussing distance is a mere 0.45 m (less than 20”), allowing a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.23x at the 140mm end.

✓ Lens ✓ Front cap ✓ Rear cap

Inside the Box ` 26,200


PLUS

• Sharp images • 4-stop advantage VR • Lightweight

MINUS

• Plastic filter thread • Lens hood is optional

A very good lens. More versatile than the 18-55/18-105mm. Best Buy!

VERDICT 80.5%Design and Build Quality 17/20

Key Features 16/20

Ergonomics 18/20

Performance

Autofocus 4/5

Sharpness 4/5

Distortion Control 4/5

Aberrations 4/5

Darkening 4/5 of Corners

Extra Features 2.5/5

Sub-Total 22.5/30


FINAL SCORE

Focal length : 18-140mm

Equivalent focal length in 35mm : 27-210mm

Aperture range : F/3.5-22 (W);

F/5.6-38 (T)

Angle of view : 76° - 11°30’

Lens construction : 17 elements in 12 groups

(includes 1 ED lens element, 1

aspherical lens element)

Focussing : Internal Focussing (IF) using

Silent Wave Motor : Manual focussing with separate ring

Minimum focus : 0.45 m (1.48 ft)

Diaphragm blades : 7 (rounded)

Max. Reproduction ratio : 0.23x

Filter size : 67mm diameter

Dimensions : 78 (D) x 97 (L) mm

Weight : Approx. 490g

SPECIFICATIONS

The lens has a white plastic index dot that helps to align the lens to the body even in low light. The lens mount has a rubberised ring to prevent dust getting into the body. Its 7-bladed circular diaphragm helps to achieve smooth bokeh. The lens weighs approximately 490g.

PerformanceWe tested the lens using a D7100 body (outdoors) and a D80 body (indoors) and were quite satisfied with its overall performance. Pictures were sharp at all focal lengths. Corner sharpness was almost as good as the center sharpness (an advantage with APS-C sensors). Try not to use very narrow apertures (like f/16, f/22 etc) or else diffraction will take away the sharpness this lens is capable of. Autofocussing was quite fast. Flare and ghosting was well under control. Chromatic aberration too was very well controlled with the D7100 but we noticed it (a bit) on the D80. Distortion was

much less with the D7100 (the camera body has distortion control, so enable it). Darkening of corners was noticed with the lens wide open at 18mm (corresponding to 27mm on the 35mm format). The VR seems to work as specified though we have no means of scientifically checking its performance. The 18-140mm suffers from focus breathing. This happens with few other lenses too. What this means is that as you focus closer (without changing the focal length setting), the focal length changes causing the angle of view and the magnification to get smaller. This is not a big deal in real use. If you step up a bit closer, you’ll get back the same magnification.

Value for MoneyThe AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140 f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR retails at an MRP of Rs.26,200. At this price and performance, we say that the lens is good value for money.

Shutter Speed: 1/640sec; Aperture: f/7.1; ISO:400 VR ‘on’. Picture shot hand-held at 100mm equivalent focal legnth

FIRST LOOK Flash-Gun

124 Smart Photography June 2014

NISSIN i40

Sleek, highly portable, and weighing a mere 203 g (without batteries and soft-box), the

Nissin i40 flash-gun is a winner of the prestigious TIPA Awards 2014 for the “Best Portable Lighting System”. This perfect travelling companion offers a Guide Number of 40m at ISO 100 at 105mm zoom head position and 27m at 35mm zoom head position. The flash covers a focal length of 24 - 105mm (16mm when using the built-in wide panel).

Exposure control is via the various TTL modes for Canon and Nikon

one set of fully charged batteries can provide between 220 - 1700 flashes. The i40 also offers fractional power output ratio (manually) between 1:256 – 1:1. For use in very low light conditions, where autofocus becomes difficult, the Nissin i40 provides an AF-assist beam (0.7 - 5m ) to enable the AF system to latch on. The flash recycling time is 0.1 - 4 seconds, while the flash duration is 1/800 ~ 1/20,000sec. The emitted light has a colour temperature of 5600K.

Video light with 9 steps of output level adjustment is built into the i40. The video light can run for approximately 3.5 hours on a fully charged battery set. The device operates on 4 x AA size batteries. The flash-gun’s dimensions are 85(H) x 61(W) x 85(D)mm.

The Nissin i40 is available at an MRP of Rs.19,500 (inclusive of taxes).Srishti Digilite Pvt. Ltd.47-49, Abdul Azeez Street, T. Nagar,Chennai 600017+91 4424364778

For Marketing / PR related enquiries,

please contact:

Balasubramanian V., on +91 9884080690

E-mail: [email protected]

www.smartphotography.in

Rohinton Mehta

No matter how good a camera you have, there always

comes a time when an external flash-gun is required to

supplement the available light. In this ‘First Look’, we

look at the Nissin i40 flash.

models (Sony, Fujifilm mirrorless and Micro Four Thirds Systems version will be launched later). Wireless TTL slave (only applicable to wireless slave mode), non-TTL Slave (Slave Digital –synchronises to pre-flash system), and Slave Film mode –synchronizes to the traditional single flash system) is also available. Flash exposures can be compensated by +/- 2EV in increments of 0.5EV. The flash-head can be tilted up to 90 degrees and rotated horizontally – left/right – up to 180 degrees. Depending on the subject/distance conditions and the flash mode used,



PHOTOGRAPHY INSTITUTE


PHOTO PRODUCT AND ACCESSORIES


TIDBITS

154 Smart Photography April 2014 Smartphotography.in

KODAK TRI-X: An icon reborn?

We are now well into the digital age and some of our younger photographers may never have

used film. It is, therefore, interesting to know that even today there are diehard professionals like Don McCullin and Sheila Rock who still believe in using the film format for their professional work. For such professionals, panic set in when Kodak started collapsing and then went into bankruptcy. As the leader in the world of films, Kodak had developed some emulsions which have become almost iconic in stature. One such film was the black and white TRI-X.

TRI-X first appeared in 1940 as a sheet-film for large format cameras. In 1954, it became

available in the 35mm format. Since then it has ruled the black and white market inspite of competition from Kodak’s own range and from other companies like Ilford and Fujifilm. The main USP of TRI-X was its flexibility. Although it was nominally rated at ASA 400 (what we now call ISO, was then known as ASA, which stood for American Association of Standards), it was possible to push it during processing to ISO 800 or more. No other black and white film was as flexible or forgiving of mistakes made by photographers. The blacks produced by TRI-X were also unique and its grainy pattern gave it character. Newspapers standardized on this film for their pictures and art photographers also loved the film.

Although digital can now rival the quality of film, a certain section of professionals feel that the moot point is not talking about megapixels. A picture produced by film, according to them, is realistic and authentic and not plasticky as in the case of digital.

A new company by the name Kodak Alaris has taken over the production of Kodak’s film and TRI-X continues to be available to the small section of fans who will not accept anything else. And so, TRI-X lives on.

Are there any equivalent of TRI-X in the color film sphere? We can think of Fuji’s Velvia emulsion but sadly it has been discontinued.

H. S. Billimoria

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