UPCOMING REVIEWS

Leica Monochrom and Nikon D800 with Zeiss 35 1.4

Hello everyone and Happy Friday to you all! This weekend I will be a busy man as I have a Nikon D800 and Zeiss 35 1.4 in hand to test out for the next week or so. THIS THING IS A BEAST! After shooting with all of these small mirrorless cameras and a Leica M9 for so long this D800 feels like a monstrosity and my wrist starts to hurt after 20 minutes of use BUT that is just because I am used to the small guys. Take a look at the image above with the D800 parked next to the OM-D and 12mm. The D800 makes the little Olympus look tiny and this is one reason why I appreciate those great Olympus lenses. Small size AND great quality.

But as you may well be aware, this Nikon D800 is a 36 Megapixel machine capable of beautiful rich quality. I have not yet taken it out for serious shooting (hope to get out this weekend with it) but did snap a few “snapshots” in my yard and around my house. The RAW files bring my aging iMac to its knees but other than that there is nothing to complain about. The files seem to be gorgeous. Rich full frame color quality, depth and some of that Zeiss magic from the $1800 35 1.4.

The very 1st snap I shot with the D800 to see how the image quality looked with the Zeiss wide open. 

This would be an amazing combo for serious pro work. Probably a live convert shooters dream. Then again, I am still happy with my Leica but you can not ignore the fact that the D800 and Zeiss 35 is still $2k less than a new M9. body. It appears that for all out image quality the D800 may be THE ticket for those searching for high res full frame magic. Maybe the M10 will share a similar sensor? Hmmmm. Look for a D800 review soon

Again, wide open to test DOF and Bokeh/Sharpness – click it for larger

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The Leica Monochrom

To date I have only had an hour with this camera, and I really liked it. I liked it enough that I put my name down on Ken Hansen’s pre-order list. (you can get on his list by e-mailing him at khpny19@aol.com). I have been trying to get a review sample and just found out today that I will have a Monochrom next week and I will have ONE WEEK with it to review it. I was hoping for 3 (for a 3 week road trip to test the camera) but one week will do for a review. I will NOT be getting the new 50 to try so I will be testing it out with other glass.

So look for  this one in about 2-3 weeks from today. I will do as much as I can while I have it and I am excited to put it through its paces and see how it differs from the M9 when it comes to B&W performance.

So check back here often for Monochrom and D800 updates! 

Monochrom Pre-Orders – B&H Photo, PopFlash, Dale Photo

I thought I would dare to provide a little daily inspiration. I have to say that your site has been an absolute joy to read and has really re ignited the fire that has been in me for making images for many years. I stumbled upon it while researching the NEX system and credit you and your fellow snappers with the fairly recent purchase of an NEX 5n and shortly thereafter the purchase of the Voigtlander 35 1.4.

I am a small business owner who is fortunate to have a fair amount of business and also am the proud father of a 3 year old. Those top priorities don’t allow much time for photo shoots outside of my house. That fact discouraged me for a long while until I realized that if you keep your eyes open there really is a picture around every corner. Case in point; Last weekend I had about two hours to find something to shoot. The weather was dreadful with overcast skies but I was determined to find something. I drove around and took pictures of some things I had seen before and then I happened to turn down a street I had never been down before and there was this old rusted out Chrysler ripe for the picking. I had probably been past that street 100 times in my life time as it is just off a main drag in my town. To further reinforce my new philosophy about there being a picture around every corner I kept noticing (while framing the car) this pile of tires which was in the same lot. They kept nagging at me so I put the Voightlander back on and fired a couple. I simply love that shot. I would encourage anyone who is uninspired to open their eyes and minds just a little further and look at what is right around them. Everyone takes pictures of the Eiffel Tower but I’ll bet no one has ever shot those tires (perhaps with good reason – lol).

One of the things I love about the Nex is the tilt out screen. The overhead shot of the hood was done with the 18-55 kit and probably wouldn’t have been possible with most cameras without the help of a ladder. The Voigtlander. There really is something about that lens. I never had a clue about character until I read about it on your site Steve but that lens really has something. I was frustrated with it at first but every time I would go through my shots it seemed the ones I shot with the Voigtlander always caught my eye. All the shots I have sent are via the Voigtlander with the exception of the overhead of the car. Everything was converted to B&W with Silver Efex Pro 2. The portraits are of my hot wife Jenni and part of her daily inspiration, Max and Sadie.

Keep up the good work on your site. Your probably already know this but you are providing a bunch of motivation to a lot of people out there and we appreciate it!

Cordially,

Kendrick M. Howard

From Steve: Thanks Kendrick!!!

To celebrate the release of the new Olympus OM-D I thought I’d take everyone for a trip down memory lane with a selection of snaps from my precious Olympus OM2n with the Zuiko MC 50mm f1.8 lens For those who haven’t had the pleasure of handling the OM2n, it’s a gem of a camera.

The OM philosophy was (and now is again) (in my own words) to create a high quality, beautifully engineered, precision photographic instrument with sharp quality optics in a compact size. The OM2n is certainly that.

The OM2n runs on a small watch type battery which lasts for years – this powers the (fairly accurate) meter and enables Aperture Priority operation, It’s widely available and isn’t one of the more sought out versions of the single digit OM series,That honour lies with the OM3Ti which is a fully mechanical camera and as rare as hens teeth!

The most advanced version is the OM4 and OM4Ti, these feature a revolutionary multi spot metering system which was and is highly regarded.

What I love about this camera is the fact that it looks superb and feels superb, strolling around the streets of London with it in my hand and around my neck, winding the film crank, and hearing the satisfying trip of the shutter, it attracts a lot of attention, it oozes class and sophistication, something Leicaman thinks is exclusive to him, but us Olympians know better!

The optics are also readily available, check out http://www.ffordes.co.uk who are brilliant when it comes to used camera equipment at bargain prices. I just love the Zuiko lenses, they’re small, compact, beautifully made and are a joy to use and focus smoothly, and most importantly produce crisp, contrasty pin sharp results (if you have decent eye sight as they’re all manual focus).

Well, if you’re used to Auto focussed fast DSLR’s with tunnel like viewfinders, or Micro 4/3rds compacts, or even Range Finders with quirky focussing – you’ll be surprised and pleased with using and playing with the OM series, with the HUGE bright View Finder (the only 35mm sized camera I’ve ever seen or used with a larger brighter Finder than this huge one on the OM is the peerless VF on the Contax Aria) the SLR design, and i’m going to get a LOT of flak for this, is better than a Range Finder design for making photographs and visualising – as you see what the lens see’s! (my personal opinions, so feel free to disagree).

For those purchasing the OM-D who have never used a classic OM – they’re affordable and worth investing in! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the beauty and bright view finder, and for those complaining that Micro 4/3 cannot get you the shallow depth of field an APS-C or full Frame gives you, well, the 35mm Film is larger than either, so you’ll get as much shallow depth as you like!

Anyway, is the OM series worth getting in this day and age? Yes it is, as for the price of a cheap digital compact you can possess a beautifully made SLR with tack sharp lenses, which will serve you for many decades to come.

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Coffee Break. Fuji Neopan 400 50mm Zuiko f1.8

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Kids At the Beach, 50mm f1.8 Agfa Precisa 100

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Three is Company. Sheep under the full moon at dusk, Brecon Beacons. Kodak tri X 400, hand held. 50mm Zuiko f1.8 (cropped)

Sony’s New α NEX-F3 Camera Packs DSLR-Size Sensor and Advanced Feature Set into Small, Stylish Body

The new NEX-F3 camera features the same space-saving mirrorless design as other models in Sony’s E-mount family as well as an advanced, 16.1 effective megapixel Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor, identical in size to sensors found in traditional DSLR cameras. The large sensor takes in more light during image capture, resulting in flawless, low-noise photographs and crisply detailed Full HD videos (60i/24p). Photographers can also easily create images with beautiful defocus effects, where the subject is focused sharply against a smoothly blurred background.

“Sony continues to redefine digital photography with our E-mount series, packing a large APS-C size sensor into a small, lightweight camera body to produce professional-quality images with ease,” said Mike Kahn, director of the Alpha business at Sony. “Featuring a diverse set of imaging technologies and offered at a great price, the new NEX-F3 model reinforces our commitment to this rapidly growing compact system camera market.”

The NEX-F3 camera adds a whole new perspective to self-portraits with a 180° Tiltable LCD screen, a first for Sony’s E-mount camera line. By simply holding the camera at arm’s length and flipping the LCD screen vertically, users can adjust the on-screen preview image and properly frame photos.

Additionally, the new model features a useful built-in flash to broaden shooting options indoors or in low light situations. Already introduced on Sony’s acclaimed NEX-7 camera, this pop-up flash handily brightens portraits and other shots without the need to carry an additional flash accessory.

The new NEX-F3 camera also includes the new Auto Portrait Framing feature for creating top-quality portraits quickly and easily. This innovative feature identifies a subject’s position in a composed image, and follows the “rule of thirds” to trim the scene appropriately around the subject’s face, creating a beautifully composed portrait. The cropped portrait is then boosted to full resolution using Sony’s unique By Pixel Super Resolution technology, which uses pattern matching to maintain superb image detail, tones and textures in the photo. Both the original and cropped image files are saved for review.

By Pixel Super Resolution Technology is also used for the “Clear Image Zoom” feature, which digitally doubles the effective magnification of any lens attached to the camera. Ideal for travel and everyday shooting, it’s a great way to boost maximum focal length without carrying extra hardware.

Other convenient essentials added to the new NEX-F3 camera include the Superior Auto mode, which intelligently recognizes a wide range of scenes and subjects and adjusts settings automatically. Battery stamina has been boosted to an industry-leading 470 shots (approx.) on a single charge – an approximate 18% improvement over its predecessor, the NEX-C3 model.

The camera is compatible with the FDA-EV1S viewfinder accessory (sold separately), which offers a high-contrast, high-resolution OLED viewfinder display and a wide viewing angle. The NEX-F3 model also features a high-quality, premium-feel grip for more comfortable handling and can be charged via either USB or a standard AC outlet.

New Lightweight 18-200mm Telephoto Zoom Lens for Sony α NEX

An ideal travel partner for the NEX-F3 camera, the new SEL18200LE E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS LE telezoom lens offers a powerful 11x zoom range and superb resolution in an easy-to-carry package. Smaller and 12% lighter than the SEL18200 lens, the new E-mount model features Optical SteadyShot to compensate for the effects of hand-shake. It also features Direct Manual Focus to give users precise control over focus settings, resulting in crisp, beautiful images.

Pricing and Availability

The new NEX-F3 compact digital camera will be available this June in silver, black and white with an 18-55mm kit zoom lens (model SEL1855) for about $600. The new SEL18200LE telezoom lens will be available this July in black for about $850.

The camera kit, new lens and a variety of compatible accessories including the LCS-EJC3 carrying case, STP-XSG1 shoulder strap and STP-WS2 wrist strap will be available at Sony retail stores (www.store.sony.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide.

Grab this card now, or a bunch of them as this deal JUST popped up at B&H Photo. $6.99 for a Lexar 8GB Platinum II SDHC card. I need to grab about 10 of these so act quick if you have been needing some good SD cards! YOU CAN BUY THEM HERE.

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Also, for the Leica people…the wonderful Zeiss Sonnar 50 1.5 ZM lens is IN STOCK in Black and Silver right now as well. Enjoy!

The Nikon V1. The perfect street camera? By Gary Perlmutter

I have been doing street photography for around 12 years. During that time I have used various film and more recently digital cameras, in fact too many to list or even remember! One of my favourites some years ago was the Nikon Coolpix 990 with its unique twisting swivel body which was brilliant for getting those candid photos. More recently I owned the Fuji X100 but like Steve found the auto focus too slow and hit and miss for street photography. ( although I am led to believe that more recent firmware updates have improved the X 100 in this area) A shame as the image quality is superb. I realised that for me my priority was a camera with super fast AF and a built-in viewfinder ( I am old school and prefer to hold the camera to my eye not at arm’s length). It was Steve in his Nikon V1 review that brought this camera to my attention and more importantly his comments on the AF. So I sold my X100 and invested in the Nikon V1 system, that is the camera body and the 10mm, 10-30mm and the 30-110mm lenses. I went for the black matt finish, which coupled with its small size doesn’t draw attention when out on the street.

In the four months since I’ve owned the camera it has lived up to my expectations, in fact the AF has surpassed them. It really is lightning quick to lock on to a subject and I have not had one out of focus picture. In fact it focuses as fast as I press the shutter with no lag, as can be witnessed in the photo of the kid walking towards me holding the bag on his wrists or the one of the men with the ‘i think he’s gay’ t-shirt. In both images I literally just clicked as they walked into frame, no pre or zone focussing here. I like shooting with prime lenses and always thought that 35mm was my favourite focal length. However at present the only prime lens is the 10mm f2.8 which is equivalent to 27mm. To my surprise I have fallen in love with this focal length and the 10mm has become my lens of choice. It is also a very compact pancake lens, making a great combo for the street. In use I have taped down the mode dial as it can be moved too easily. I set the camera to shutter priority and Auto ISO, mainly because this got round the problem that many have reported of the camera selecting too slow a shutter speed in aperture priority mode. With such a wide depth of field due to the small sensor, I don’t have to worry about what aperture is being set. One final thing… I have fitted the Ricahrd Franiec grip which is brilliant together with a Gordy black leather wrist strap. P.S the Nikon V1 also makes a great travel camera, take a look at Colin Steel’s articles on this website.

You can follow me on Twitter @gazonthestreet or see more of my work at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gp_photography/

I hope you like the above article and accompanying photos.

Kind regards

Gary Perlmutter

**CAMERA NOT INCLUDED IN CONTEST

Hey guys! It has been a while since I had a contest here and decided it was time to put one up again. I have had this bag sitting here in my house for a couple of months and not being used so decided it should go to someone. I could sell it but I could also give it away and with all of the news of the Leica Monochrom camera coming in August, why not have a Black & White photo contest? Should be fun! So I am giving away this lovely Wotancraft City Explorer Paratrooper bag.

SUBMIT YOUR BEST B&W photo starting NOW!

This one is easy and simple. You can submit one and only one photo to me for this contest. The rules are below:

• Photo must be Black & White and no larger than 1800 pixels wide horizontal or 680 pixels wide vertical.
• Photo can be digital or shot on film. No extensive PP is allowed (changing the photo) but light PP is (levels, contrast, sharpen, conversions)
• Photo can be of anything, just make it your favorite B&W shot that you have taken!
• This contest is open to everyone, worldwide
• You can send image starting NOW through June 15th and I will post a top 10 on the site on June 20th.
• When submitting include your name and address in the e-mail so if you win, I know where to ship the bag.
• Send ONE image only and make sure to follow the size rules.

That is it! I decided that I will choose the top 10 and I will use polling again to choose the winner. These are the rules so if you do not agree with them, do not enter  

So if you want to win this bag, you can send in your submission starting NOW to me at steve@stevehuffphoto.com. Good luck!

My name is Khunya Lamat Pan, I currently reside in Austin, Texas. A link to my work can be found here. I also do a weekly mailing list called Khunya’s Photograph A Week. I basically send out an email each week with a link to a new photo of mine for people to see and send feedback on. It’s a great way for me as a photographer to keep myself in check and make sure I am always taking photographs. If one of these makes it on the site, I’d like to have the mailing list mentioned if at all possible. You’re more than welcome to include my email address as well so people may contact me if they want to be added. Let me know if that would work or if not.

Photo details:

Drag – Pentax K1000. Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4. Tri-X 400 film.

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Glitter – Leica M9. Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4. ISO 80.

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Skate – FED-2. Industar 26M 50mm f/2.8. Ilford HP5+ 400 film.

Thanks for the cool opportunity! I also enjoy your website very much, especially the recent reviews of the SLR Magic Hyperprime lens and such. Keep up the good work!

Yours friendly,

-Khunya

Many of you requested full size out of camera samples from the Leica Monochrome so here you go! These were shot during that one hour walk and they are RAW conversions without ANY adjustments whatsoever, so these are out of camera from RAW – what you see if what you get and this is about all I have This is NOT a review, just giving you guys the images you requested in full size, without editing. EXIF is embedded in the images. As stated in the previous article all images were shot with the Leica Monochrom and the SLR Magic 50 Hyperprime T0.95.

It appears I should be getting a Monochrom and X2 for review REALLY soon and if so I plan a long road trip for 2-3 weeks to review them both – The M for B&W and X2 for color. Stay tuned!

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR FULL SIZE FILES

DOG  - T0.95

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BUS LADY – T/1.4

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RAIN – T/2

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T/0.95