The Nikon 16-35mm VR lens is a professional-grade constant aperture lens for enthusiasts and professional photographers that need an ultra-wide angle zoom lens with the latest generation of VR II (vibration reduction) technology for both FX and DX cameras (equivalent of 24-52mm on DX). Being the world's first ultra-wide angle zoom lens with vibration reduction, the lens is ultra-fast with AF-S silent-wave focus motor, has Nano crystal coating against flare and is sealed against tough weather conditions. Unlike the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens, the new 16-35mm f/4.0 VR has a 77mm filter thread, which is great news for landscape photographers.

AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f4.0G ED VR

While the Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 VR is a new generation lens in its own class, I will be reviewing it as a lens that is in a way replacing the older 17-35mm f/2.8D AF-S lens that was due for an update. In this review, I will be making direct comparisons between these two lenses, in addition to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G and will do my best to provide a thorough analysis of this lens, along with image samples and comparisons against other Nikon lenses.

1) Lens Specifications

Main Features:

1. Ultra wide-angle zoom lens that covers focal lengths from 16mm to 35mm
2. Vibration Reduction (VR II) enables sharper pictures while shooting at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than would otherwise be possible
3. The adoption of Nano Crystal Coat effectively reduces ghost and flare
4. An ultra wide-angle zoom lens that, while offering a wide angle view of 107°, is compatible with 77mm screw-on filters
5. Fixed maximum aperture of f/4
6. ED glass and aspherical lens elements are utilized for a new optical design that achieves high resolution
7. Quiet focusing with built-in Silent Wave Motor (SWM)
8. Two focus modes selectable - M/A and M

Technical Specifications:

1. Focal length: 16-35mm
2. Maximum aperture: f/4
3. Minimum aperture: f/22
4. Lens construction: 17 elements in 12 groups (with two ED glass and three aspherical lens elements, and Nano Crystal Coat)
5. Angle of view: 107° - 63° (83° - 44° with Nikon DX format)
6. Closest focusing distance: 0.29 m (1.0 ft.) at a focal length of 16mm or 35mm, 0.28 m (0.9 ft.) at a focal length between 20mm and 28mm
7. Maximum reproduction ratio: 0.25x
8. No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
9. Filter/attachment size: 77mm
10. Diameter x length (extension from the camera’s lens-mount flange): Approximately 82.5 x 125 mm
11. Weight: Approximately 680 g/24.0 oz.
12. Supplied accessories: 77mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap LC-77, Rear Lens Cap LF-1, Bayonet Hood HB-23, Flexible Lens Pouch CL-1120

2) Lens handling

Just like all Nikon professional lenses, the new Nikon 16-35mm VR lens is built to last a lifetime. While some parts of the lens are made of plastic, it feels just like the expensive Nikon lenses made of solid metal. It is designed to withstand tough weather and is well-protected on the outside against dust and moisture. It has a total of 17 optical elements within the lens and weighs a total of 680 grams, making it very easy to carry and handle. Compared to the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D lens, it is a little longer in size (see the comparison below) and 65 grams lighter in weight. The lens feels very solid in hands and the zoom ring is easy to rotate from 16 to 35mm and vice versa (it goes from 16 to 35mm in a half turn). Just like on the Nikon 17-35mm, the focus ring is conveniently located on the front of the lens, making it easy to reach it with fingers for manual focus. Just like the 17-35mm, the lens does not extend in/out when zooming. The lens comes with the same "HB-23" lens hood as in 17-35mm.

Nikon 24-70mm, Nikon 16-35mm, Nikon 17-35mm

Nikon 24-70mm, Nikon 16-35mm, Nikon 17-35mm - No Hood

3) Focus acquisition speed and accuracy

I have been testing this lens for two weeks now and I found the autofocus performance to be instant and accurate, even in low-light conditions. The lens autofocus system with SWM (Silent Wave Motor) is quite and very close to the performance of the superb Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G. My real tests were done in very dim environments and focus was acquired correctly 100% of the time on an FX body. Here is a good example of how the lens focuses in an extremely dark environment:

Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 VR, 1/10 @ f/4.0, ISO 3200

Click here to see the full JPEG version of the shot (80% Quality @ 3,8 MB).

As can be seen from the picture, the lighting conditions were extremely poor - I had to shoot at 1/10th of a second at ISO 3200 to get the right exposure. The lens focused fast and dead-on, wide open at f/4.0.

4) Lens sharpness and contrast

I won't talk much about lens sharpness - you can see the image samples in the next several pages. One thing I will say, however, is that this lens is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever held in my hands - I was stunned by its performance. This lens performs so well at f/4.0, that you wouldn't want to shoot it at higher apertures, unless you need to increase the depth of field. The lens performs extremely well throughout the range, but just a little worse towards the longer end. Color and contrast are truly amazing and top of the class.

Inside the Restaurant - 16mm, 1/25 @ f/4.0, ISO 3200

5) Vibration Reduction - VR II

As I have pointed out before, the Nikon 16-35mm VR is Nikon's (and World's) first ultra-wide angle lens with a vibration reduction (VR) technology. Back in the old days, it did not make much sense to put VR into ultra-wide lenses, because vibration is not as big of an issue on short focal lengths compared to long/telephoto focal lengths. Plus, it was expensive to add VR on professional lenses, due to the already complex lens optics and design. By adding VR to an ultra-wide angle lens, Nikon is setting a new standard in lens technology and we will be soon seeing many other manufacturers add this very useful feature to their line of lenses as well. VR proved itself effective on consumer "wide to tele" lenses such as Nikon 18-200mm VR and it was just a matter of time until Nikon started adding VR to its professional line.

The new vibration reduction system (VR II) on the Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 VR is truly amazing. I have never been able to produce a sharp hand-held shot at 1/2 of a second on a wide-angle lens and I was able to get quite a few good shots even at a shutter speed of 1 second @ 16mm! Zooming in to 35mm makes it a little difficult, but even then I was able to get good results at 1/4 - 1/8th of a second. Take a look at this shot:

Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 VR, 1/3 @ f/4.0, ISO 3200

Unbelievable! Tack sharp at 1/3th of a second hand-held! Good luck trying the same on the Nikon 17-35mm!

Click here to get the full JPEG (80% Quality @ 1 MB). The new vibration reduction system really works and you can get some magical shots with this lens. Yes, wedding and event photographers will absolutely love this lens!

6) Bokeh

Just like many other ultra-wide angle lenses, this lens is not designed to yield beautiful bokeh, due to its small maximum aperture and large depth of field. I saw no point in testing this lens for bokeh on the short end, but I will still perform some tests at 35mm later.

7) Vignetting

There is a moderate amount of vignetting present when shooting wide open (f/4.0) at 16mm, as seen below. Stopping down the lens to f/8.0 almost completely gets rid of it:

Much less vignetting visible at 24mm:

And at 35mm, it is almost gone:

The vignetting issues can be quickly corrected in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, so it is not a big problem.

8) Ghosting and Flare

Ghosting and flare are almost non-existent. I shot against light sources on multiple occasions and never saw any ghosting or flares. I will be performing some real tests this weekend and will post some results as soon as I get back. Although both lenses share the same hood, one thing for sure - the "N" (Nano-Coating) glass inside the lens will definitely show less flare than the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D, making it ideal to shoot against the sun.

9) Distortion

One of the things I noticed immediately, was the amount of distortion on the wide end of the lens. This is not unexpected, because we are dealing with a very short focal length that is prone to distortion, but it is definitely a lot more noticeable than on the Nikon 17-35mm at 17mm. Barrel distortion at 16mm goes away at 24mm and slightly comes back as pincushion distortion towards 35mm. When you use this lens for architectural work and for photographing textures and patterns, you can fix the distortion in Photoshop very easily by using the Lens Correction filter. At 16mm, values between +5 and +8 seemed to work pretty well for me.

Let's now move on to the good stuff - Sharpness tests. Select the next page from the drop-down below.

Corporate Portrait

1) Indoors Corporate Portrait Photography

Indoors corporate portraiture can be a challenging experience, especially when the task is to photograph people in their work environments. When presented with a glassy room with white walls and dim light, many photographers get lost, because they do not know how to deal with light spills, reflections and outside light. It can also be challenging to photograph a simple business portrait for a company profile or for a magazine/newspaper article. How many light sources do you need? How do you position the light? What kind of background do you use? What type of flash should you be using? What is the ultimate portrait setup? We will answer these questions by looking at two case scenarios - one in a regular office environment and one in a studio-like environment.

But before I jump to the photography side, let me go over the business side first. I won't talk about how much you should be charging your clients, since there are too many factors to consider just like with any other type of photography, but I would like to concentrate on what you should be doing before the photo shoot. Here is a quick compilation of general tips for corporate photography:

1. Create a relationship - your first objective is to establish a good relationship with the client and convince them that you are the right person/company to work with. Meet with the client face-to-face and start building a relationship by showing your interest in their company, showcasing your work and asking the right questions. Think of it as an interview process - you will only get hired if the company likes you and finds you competent for the job. You must present yourself as a reliable businessman and partner, who is looking for a long-term relationship with the company. Keep in mind that if you get hired once and prove yourself worthy, the company will most likely come back for your services in the future.
2. Find out exactly what the client needs - most of the time, companies know what they need when they call a photographer, whether it is a simple business portrait for their website or pictures for their marketing material. In some cases, however, you might get people who are clueless and just want some pictures of their employees. No matter what the situation is, you should find out exactly what the company is looking for. During your first meeting with the client, find out what they are looking for and show samples of your work to see if they might be interested in other opportunities. Do not forget to ask if the photo shoot will be indoors or outdoors (or perhaps both). When you leave the meeting, you should have a clearly defined list of objectives for your upcoming photo shoot.
3. Scout the location - if the client does not mind, scout the location and take some sample shots to see what challenges you might have later. Pay close attention to windows and glassy surfaces, in addition to walls and ceilings. Also note the size of the facility and find out how much space you will be given at the time of the photo shoot. For office environments, ask if the outside scenery should be included in the photograph.
4. Provide a quote based on the needs - once you know exactly what needs to be done, you can evaluate your time/labor/equipment and provide an accurate quote for your upcoming work.
5. No contract, no work - if you do not already have a contract, work on creating one. If you do not know where to start, there are plenty of contract samples on the Internet that you can download and modify for your needs. If you can afford hiring good legal advice, look into that option first, preferably with someone who has already worked on contracts for photographers. Contracts are needed for a reason - they are there to protect you and your work from potential lawsuits.
6. Guarantee satisfaction - companies love when you guarantee satisfaction. Why should they pay you if you suck and cannot get the work done? Guaranteeing your work and having a 100% money back policy would give an additional boost of confidence to your client.
7. Schedule early photo sessions - always try to plan for early morning photo shoots, about one hour after start of the business day. Late afternoon sessions are never fun, because people look too tired and you might not get much cooperation from them.

1.1) Office Environment - Ambient Light

As I have pointed out above, when you go through the location with your client, you need to pay very close attention to the environment and how it is illuminated. If there are large windows on the sides and you can see plenty of light entering the room, you might be able to use that available light for your photographs without the need to use flash. You will have to turn off the indoor lights and fully rely on the light coming from the window, so you need to make sure that there is enough of it reaching your subject. If you are shooting in ambient light without flash, you need to make sure that your camera can deal with noise in case you increase camera ISO. For corporate photography, high level of noise in images is unacceptable and you need to make sure that your images are crisp and beautiful, without any color casts and heavily overexposed/underexposed areas.

The diagram for shooting with window light is very simple - you just need to make sure that the light source is coming from the side or front of your subject:

Window Light Diagram

Obviously, you need to make sure that your subject does not get hit with direct sunlight, or you will end up having nasty shadows all over the place.

1.2) Office Environment - Flash

If the windows are directly behind your subject, using ambient light with no flash will result in a completely over-exposed background, due to the fact that it is brighter outside. If you want to retain the outside scenery, you will have to use flash. When it comes to flash, there are many different ways to light up the environment. You can either use expensive professional lighting gear with high-powered lights or a simple strobe with a light diffuser such as softbox. I personally use the latter and the setup works quite well in almost all cases. Here is my off-camera lighting kit that I use for corporate photography:

1. I use the Westcott 28x28" Apollo Mono Softbox with Recessed Front for most of my corporate portrait photography and I'm in love with this softbox. It is very compact and I carry it with me all the time. If you want a bigger light source, you can also get the 50x50" version here.
2. A set of trusty PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers. You will need two of these babies - one will go on your camera hotshoe and the second will be used as a "slave" in your off-camera flash.
3. A good camera flash that accepts PC sync cords. I am currently using the Nikon SB-900, but you could also use the older SB-800 if you can find one at a bargain price. If you shoot Canon, I recommend the Canon 580 EX II flash units (if you are shooting with PocketWizard transceivers, the brand actually does not matter).
4. Manfrotto 5001B Light Stand - I have a couple of these and they are very compact and sturdy light stands. There is also a much cheaper alternative by "Impact" that I have used in the past and they also work very well.
5. Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella Adapter to connect the Apollo softbox.
6. Stroboframe Shoe to connect the umbrella adapter with an external flash.

The nice thing about the above setup is how compact it is. I can fit the whole kit into one bag and assembling/disassembling literally takes minutes. I do not have to worry about plugging my lights into a wall outlet, because everything is battery-operated (which also means that I can easily move the setup around the room). Once you get everything assembled and ready to go, put one of the pocket wizards on your camera and connect the second one with the flash inside the softbox via a PC cord. Set both pocket wizards to the same channel and fire a test shot on your camera to see if the flash is getting triggered.

So, what is the best way to photograph a person in an office without over-exposing the background window?

1. To decrease the amount of reflections on the surrounding objects and windows, use a minimum number of flashes (preferably just one).
2. Using a softbox instead of an umbrella is better, because you can easily direct the light and control it without much spill.
3. Angle the softbox so that the light just reaches your subject and does not spill around the room (especially on windows).
4. Position the softbox on the side, so that it does not stand directly across the windows and make sure that it is not visible in the window reflection. Another thing you can do is position the light higher, pointing it down at a 45-60 degree angle and shoot with your camera down on the subject. That way, the flash won't show up on the window.
5. Place it several feet away from your subject - the closer, the better.
6. Set your camera to Manual mode.
7. Meter for the window light and take a sample picture. Make sure that the outside scene is correctly exposed.
8. Start with 1/4th of power on your flash inside the softbox and see what you get. Are you getting your subject correctly exposed? Is the room properly illuminated? If your subject is properly exposed but the room is too dark, decrease the shutter speed to a lower value to let more ambient light in and either decrease the flash power on your flash or move the lightbox a little further away from your subject.
9. Experiment with an assistant and see how well the subject and backgrounds are lit.

Here are a couple of lighting diagram examples for different setups:

1.3) Studio Environment

Photographing portraits in a studio environment with a background requires more lighting equipment for best results. There is really no magic formula for setting up the lights and everybody does it differently. Let me show you a couple of common examples and what works for me. I encourage you to experiment and try out different things to get a real feel on what works and what doesn't. This part will be easy for you if you already have experience in a studio environment, except you will have to work with a small number of lightweight portable equipment. Let's first start with the equipment:

1. You need a good portable studio. I have been using the Savage "Port-a-stand" support system for both corporate and home studio photography and I absolutely love it! It is very cheap (around $100) and yet super flexible and compact - I carry it in one bag.
2. Savage 107" x 12yds Black Background Paper to be used as a black background.
3. Savage 107" x 12yds White Background Paper to be used as a white background.
4. Pony Spring "A" Clamp to hold your paper. Get at least two of these.
5. Either the Westcott 28x28" Apollo Mono Softbox or the Westcott 50x50" Apollo to be used as your main light.
6. At least three PocketWizard Plus II Transceivers. One will go on your camera, one on a softbox and one on a lightstand behind the subject.
7. At least two flash units like Nikon SB-900 that accept sync cords, but you could also use the older SB-800s (for Canon, use Canon 580 EX II flash units).
8. At least two light stands such as Manfrotto 5001B or Impact.
9. At least two Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella Adapters - one to connect the Apollo softbox and one to mount an external flash/softbox.
10. At least two Stroboframe Shoes to connect the umbrella adapter with an external flash.
11. Optional: a set of umbrellas and reflectors. Other useful items are color gels, bounce cards and snoots for controlling and modifying the light.

Some quick definitions:

1. Key Light - your main light with the most power that you place to the side of the subject.
2. Fill Light - typically placed on the other side of the subject at lower power to lighten up the dark shadows on the opposite side of the subject.
3. Rim Light/Back Light - placed behind the subject to separate the subject from the background.

And here are just some of the ways you can set up the studio with just two lights:

Two Lights

Three Lights

The first setup only uses two lights - key light (softbox) on the front of the subject with a back light that stands high above the background, pointing down on the hair and shoulders of the subject. Since there is no fill light to the left side, you have to place the softbox just a little to the side or you will end up with shadows on the other side of the face. If you do not have another flash and you are getting nasty shadows, simply use a white reflector to bounce some of the light coming from the softbox to the other side of the face.

The second setup on the right is what I use the majority of the time. The key light illuminates one side of the face, while a less powerful fill light removes the shadows on the other side and the backlight separates the head from the background and adds a touch of light on the shoulders.

Two Lights - Umbrellas

Four Lights

You can also use umbrellas to get some nice results when using a white background. If you try this with a black background, some of the light from the umbrellas might spill on the background and lighten it up. If you see that your background is not completely back, move your subject away from the background, which should help with reducing light spill and keeping the background black. If you need to make the white background whiter, set up an additional light right behind your subject and point it at the background. In this setup, one of the lights should have more power (key light) than the other (fill light).

The example on the right is with four flashes. You can get some nice images with this kind of setup, but it is an overkill, in my opinion.

Again, the best thing is to experiment and see what you and your client like the most.

Key softbox, right fill light and one high backlight

2) Outdoors Corporate Portrait Photography

Outdoors corporate portrait photography is no different than regular portrait photography in terms of lighting and composition. While you can always utilize the available light without flash and perhaps add some light reflectors to eliminate the shadows, using off-camera flash as fill-light during the day can actually add a nice punch to your images and highlight your subject(s).

Start off in a shady area and set up your main light just like you would in a studio. Because of abundance of ambient light, you should not worry about setting up side lights or rim lights in most cases, so a single light should work great. Leave your camera in manual mode and meter your exposure off the background rather than the subject. Your subject is going to be lit up with flash, so you only need to worry about underexposing/overexposing the background area instead. In some cases, the amount of ambient light might be intense and you might need to add much more flash power to even see the effect of your flash on the subject. You should also move your light source as close to the subject as possible.

3) Camera Body and Lenses

If you are shooting strictly with flashes, any DSLR should do the job. If you are shooting in available/low light, you might need a camera that can handle noise fairly well, since you will most likely be shooting at higher than normal ISO values. I have used the Nikon D90/D300/D700/D3 cameras for corporate portrait photography in the past and they all work extremely well.

When it comes to lenses, my personal favorites are:

1. Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR - one of Nikon's best for portraiture/headshots.
2. Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G - when wider angles and full body shots are needed.
3. Nikon 50mm f/1.4G - if you cannot afford the above.

Canon has a similar selection of lenses:

1. Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
2. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
3. Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM

If you are shooting in available light, the Nikon 70-200mm VR II and Nikon 50mm f/1.4G will produce beautiful, creamy bokeh.

4) Camera/Flash Settings

What camera settings should you use and why? Here are some generic settings that I suggest you set on your camera:

1. Image Quality: RAW. Read why you should use RAW.
2. White Balance: Auto. I do not mess with White Balance and deal with it during post-processing.
3. Auto ISO: Off. Set it to camera's base ISO (200 on Nikon and 100 on Canon).
4. Focus Mode: AF-S "Single" mode.
5. Camera Mode: Manual, for consistency reasons when using flash. Start at 1/100-1/200 shutter speed and f/4.0 and go from there.
6. Metering: Doesn't matter, since you are shooting in Manual mode.
7. Active D-Lighting: Off (Nikon only). If you are shooting RAW, there is no need to have it turned on.
8. Key Light Flash Power: 1/4 Power. Turn other flashes off, start at a quarter of power and adjust as needed.
9. Fill Light Flash Power: 1/32 Power. After key light is set and configured, add fill light and set between 1/32-1/64 and see how you like the results.
10. Back Light Flash Power: 1/16 Power. Adjust to your liking.

Watch your flashes and let them recycle and cool off before firing again. If you are shooting at full power for whatever reason, make sure that you are giving enough time for your flashes, as recommended in the manual. Many photographers end up burning their flashes, because they do not pay attention to this. I highly recommend not to shoot your flashes at full power and decrease aperture or increase the camera ISO instead.

5) Group Shots

Group shots are tougher to photograph, since you need more/bigger lights. If you have a small group of three to four people, you might be able to get a good exposure with just a single softbox or umbrella (you will just need to make sure that they stand close to each other and you might need a bigger background). If you have a large group, plan on adding more lights or using much larger and more powerful light sources. The best thing to do is to shoot groups outside in a shady area, because you will not have to worry about setting up the light and making sure that it is distributed evenly. If you are taking a picture of a group outside, then your biggest issue is going to be putting the group together and making them all look good for your pictures. Talk to your group, come up with a nice joke or two to make the group laugh naturally. Do not just ask for a "cheese" moment, since you will end up with fake smiles and stupid faces. Take lots of pictures and shoot in bursts. That way, if some of the group members blink, you will still have something to work with.

If you are shooting a group in an office environment, the best thing to do might be to bounce the light off the dropped ceilings. If you have a small or medium-sized group with 8-10 people standing close to each other, you might get away with a single flash, as long as you can bounce it off a white ceiling. Try to keep the group as tight as possible, which means asking the group to stand in multiple rows and close to each other.

If you have a relatively large group of people in three rows, you could set up two or three light stands with external flashes, put them in manual mode to quarter or half power and point them at a 30-45 degree angle towards the group. The flash power will obviously depend on the amount of ambient light in the room, so you will have to play with that beforehand and make sure that you are providing sufficient amount of light to bounce off the ceiling onto your subjects. If you are not getting enough power from your flashes, try increasing the camera ISO. Make sure that the light bounces off and hits the center of the group (middle row), not the front or the rear row. That way, the light will spread evenly across the group and illuminate everyone. If the room is lit with florescent light, you might need to use some gels with your flashes to match the light.

Here is a simple lighting diagram that you can use for group shots:

The above diagram is for rooms with dropped ceilings. The flashes are pointed up at a 30-45 degree angle to land on the center row.

In terms of lenses, this is when you need to switch to your wide-angle lens, because you need to fit the group into the frame and need the most depth of field. I personally use the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for these kinds of shots and I really like the results.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

Dan is into social work. Andrea works for a non-profit Pediatric AIDS Foundation. I am sure I do not have to write more for you to understand that this couple is all about giving.

I will spare the beginning of their love story until they get married on March 21st. Nothing short of a miracle. Nasim and I are honored to be chosen as their wedding photographers and are looking forward for the perfect day! 21st of March is special. It is the day when day and night are equal in length. According to the Zoroastrian Calendar, it is the first day of Spring and the beginning of a New Year. Coincidence? Let's say Andrea and Dan are a match made in heaven. Let 21st of March, the first day of spring be a symbolic meaning of their new life as a husband and wife.

We met for the engagement session at a park right next to their new home. While it was a little chilly, both Andrea and Dan were filled with energy. Oh, and Francois was über-cooperative. Isn't he adorable?

Love is in the air!

I really want to sing a nice romantic song looking at these images :)

So much tenderness in their eyes. A couple can only wish for such love.

Why, yes! Hello there Francois!

Andrea you are BEAUTIFUL!

One of my favorite images from the day. Dan looks so content, so in peace.

We had a little fun by on old mansion turned into a game lounge.

I will end with this photo of the two sweethearts and their dog. See you both in a couple of weeks :)

Click on the images for a larger view.

Take a look at this shot at 1/10th of a second that I shot hand-held in a very dark restaurant:

Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 VR - 17mm, 1/10 @ f/4.0, ISO 3200

I shot 5-6 frames at the same shutter speed and every single one of them came out tack sharp:

Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 VR - 100% Crop

The real test awaited outside. As we walked out of the restaurant, I shot this scene in Denver downtown at 1/3rd of a second hand-held! Those clouds were barely visible to the eye.

Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 VR - 20mm, 1/3 @ f/4.0, ISO 3200

And here is the 100% crop:

Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 VR - 100% Crop

Wow, I want all of my wide lenses to have VR now! Nikon, seriously, please give us the Nikon 14-24mm VR and Nikon 24-70mm VR soon! :)

1. What is the best lens for child photography?
   Our readers with families love our family photographs (thank you!) and occasionally ask me what lenses work best for photographing children, especially indoors. Most of the family pictures that we have are taken with the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens and we use it more than any other lens both indoors and outdoors. Photographing kids is a challenging task (even with fast lenses) because children often move way too fast. Having a fast aperture lens helps to focus a little better in dim environments and also does a great job in isolating children from the background. Another lens that we have been raving a lot about lately, is the Nikon 35mm f/1.8. While it is not as superb as the 50mm f/1.4, it is still a pretty darn good lens on a DX body and super sharp at only $200 brand new. One more thing - if you are planning to photograph your children indoors a lot, I highly recommend purchasing an external flash unit like the Nikon SB-600 or SB-900. You can get great results by simply bouncing the flash off the walls and ceilings of your house and freeze motion.
2. Should I buy Nikon D3000 or Nikon D5000?
   Despite the fact that there is a $200 difference between the two cameras, I always suggest our readers to get the Nikon D5000 over D3000. Why? Because the sensor on the Nikon D5000 is superior and much more capable compared to the sensor on the Nikon D3000. The most important thing in a camera is the sensor and the sensor on the Nikon D5000 is identical to the sensor on the Nikon D90 semi-professional camera. So, the image quality on the Nikon D5000 matches the image quality of the Nikon D90 - the difference is only in features and body design.
3. What is the difference between the older Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR and the newer Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II?
   Optically, both lenses are identical. Because the older Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR had a problem with lens creep (pointing the lens down would start extending the barrel and zooming in), Nikon introduced a lock switch that locks the barrel in place on the newer Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II. Everything else is the same, including Vibration Reduction technology.
4. Can I use Nikon SB-600 as a commander?
   Unfortunately, you cannot. You will need a Nikon SB-800 (no longer manufactured) or Nikon SB-900 to be able to command other flashes. Nikon SB-600 works perfectly as a slave though. By the way, if you own a Nikon D70/D70s/D80/D90/D300/D300s/D700 camera, you can use the built-in flash as a commander! Just go to your flash menu settings and set your camera flash as a commander and set your SB-600 as a slave and give it a shot - it works like a charm!
5. How big is the difference between a 200mm and 300mm lens?
   Check out the focal length comparison article I wrote a long time ago that shows the difference between 200mm and 300mm. You can also see the difference between wide-angle and telephoto lenses there.
6. Is the new Nikon 70-200mm VR II good for sports photography?
   Absolutely, as long as you are shooting from a close distance. If your subjects are more than 10 feet away, I recommend getting a longer lens instead. Keep in mind that due to a change in optics, the new Nikon 70-200mm at 200mm is more like a 135mm lens at close-focus distance. The problem goes away as you increase the distance between yourself and the subject, but it is still quite noticeable compared to the original 70-200mm lens.
7. How does the Nikon 70-300mm VR compare to the Nikon 70-200mm VR?
   Well, the biggest difference, first of all, is the price - the Nikon 70-200mm is around $2K more expensive than the 70-300mm. Second, the 70-200mm lens is a professional-grade lens for sports and news photographers, while the 70-300mm is a consumer lens. Third, 70-200mm is a constant f/2.8 aperture lens, while the 70-300mm lens is a variable aperture lens (at 70mm it is f/4.5, while at 300mm it is f/5.6). Fourth, if you do a comparison between 70 and 200mm, the 70-200mm lens will obviously beat the 70-300mm in both sharpness and contrast. Fifth, due to a completely different optical and lens design, there is a huge difference in weight and size between the lenses. Lastly, the 70-300mm gives far more reach than the 70-200mm VR II at the long end. Overall, it is unfair to compare these two lenses - it is like comparing a Ferrari with a Toyota.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a good day!

Read on if you want to be able to take an image like this (original, as came out of the camera):

and transform it to an image like this:

1) Shoot RAW, post-process RAW

If you are still shooting JPEG and you are not sure why you should be shooting RAW, check out my "RAW vs JPEG" article. This tutorial will only work on RAW images, so make sure that you are picking a RAW file before attempting to follow the steps. Lightroom will not let you change white balance or color profiles on JPEG images and although you can tweak some things like color temperature and tint, I still do not recommend messing with those. If you want the best image quality and the most options for post-processing, you should be shooting RAW.

2) Fix White Balance

Although I trust my camera's "Auto White Balance" most of the time, the camera in some cases does not correctly choose the right white balance for me (which is normal in tough lighting conditions). In the above example, the white balance was way off, because the scene looked more yellow compared to what my camera captured during the sunset. Let's try changing the white balance to "Daylight" and see what happens:

Here is the change:

Much better! Let's play with camera calibration now.

3) Adjust Camera Calibration

If you are getting frustrated with Lightroom, because the image you load from your camera looks different than the image you saw on your camera's LCD, then you should definitely check out the "Camera Calibration" menu option in the Develop module of Lightroom. Camera calibration profiles were introduced to both Lightroom and Photoshop by Adobe in order to be able to produce more realistic colors while reading and displaying RAW images. These profiles also try to mimic your camera's profiles such as "Standard" or "Vivid" and generally do a pretty good job in matching the colors, shadows, and RGB saturation levels. When you originally import RAW images into Lightroom, they get converted to the standard "Adobe Standard" camera profile, which looks rather pale, especially on Nikon RAW images. For landscape photography, I find that the best color profiles are either "Camera Standard" or "Camera Vivid", depending on vivid I want the image to be (if you have a Canon DSLR, you might not have a "Vivid" color profile).

Here is how you can change the camera calibration:

And here is how my image looks like after I changed the color profile to "Camera Vivid":

Wow, what a difference! Everything looks so much more colorful and truly vivid!

4) Make that sky bluer!

Although changing camera profile to vivid already added some blue to the sky, in some cases it is still not enough to make it look truly blue. Let's add some blue to the sky by saturating the blue color:

You have to keep in mind that if you have other blue objects in your scene, you might saturate them too, so be careful. Let's take a look at how our image now looks:

Nice - more blue in the sky against some yellow sand are mixing well together in one picture!

5) Play with Tone and Presence

The final touch is to play with Tone and Presence settings under "Basic" tab. Changing the color profile to "Vivid" can sometimes blacken the darker parts of the image. Adding some fill light (around 10-15) can help to bring out some details from those areas. You can also try reducing "Blacks" to brighten up the shadow areas. I typically leave "Brightness" and "Constrast" the same, but in some cases I might increase the contrast to 35-40. "Clarity" is a cool setting that I typically leave at around 50 and I try to not go higher than 10 in "Saturation". But each picture is different and you will have to adjust the settings on each picture individually and see what looks the best. Here is what I ended up with for this particular image:

Let's see how the final image looks now:

Final Image

Let's compare that to the original image:

Original Image

The difference is night and day... If you feel like the image is over-saturated, simply decrease the saturation level under "Basic" to a lower number and you should be good to go :)

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

Yum. The best-tasting kebab ribs! Seriously, if you happen to be near DC, you must check out the "The Afghan Restaurant" (yeah, that's the name). The restaurant address is 2700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria, VA and their phone number is (703) 548-0022. If you do not know what to order, try their "Chopan Kabob" (translated as "Shepherd's Kebab", pictured above) - you won't regret it.

The weather during the last two days in Washington DC was really bad - it first started raining, then started to snow on the day of my departure. Obviously, my camera stayed in the bag during those two days, so I did not take any pictures. The good news, however, is that the days were very productive and almost everything we planned for worked out as expected.

I was fortunate to meet with three of my cousins and their lovely families (whom I have not seen for about 8 years) and spent some quality time talking to them about everything from family to what's going on back home. As I was getting ready to leave, I called my bro Bahtiyor and he joined us with his wife Dilya for dinner at Levante's - a great Turkish restaurant on 19th street. Believe it or not, they had both Lahmacun and Pide on their menu!

After the nice dinner with friends and family, I headed back to the airport. It was snowing, but I got there on time. The airport was almost empty and the airplane was not even half full. I grabbed my camera bag and went all the way to the end of the plane and occupied three rear seats, which was nice! As the plane was starting to move, I took out the camera and snapped a quick picture of the window. I manually focused the lens to create some interesting bokeh:

It was very dark and it was surprising to see that the D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8G acquired focus instantly, despite the window having water drops all over the place:

I have never taken a picture from a plane at night and it was interesting to try it out. I first bumped up my ISO to 1600, but it was way too slow and I was getting a lot of blur. I pushed the ISO to 3200 and tried another shot at 1/13th of a second while using the seat as support, which worked great.

As the plane took off, it got even more challenging to photograph the night lights - the plane was shaking too much and anything below 1/25-1/30th of a second was not cutting it anymore. I took a few shots at ISO 6400 and eventually moved to ISO 12600. There was a lot of noise in these pictures, which I partially removed through post-production noise reduction (Nik Software Dfine).

Landing at the Denver International Airport is boring at night, because there is nothing interesting around it.

Either way, glad to be home! :)

It was a cold and windy day and the crappy images coming out of my camera were making the day look even worse. I took a few pictures here and there, after which we took off to a nearby Afghan restaurant (more on that later).

Anyway, here is the main view of the house:

This was inside the entrance building:

Building in the gardens:

One of George Washington's slaves:

Food storage:

A view of the east side of the house:

A large tree behind the house facing the Potomac river:

The tour inside the house was great, but I could not photograph anything - digital photography is strictly prohibited for whatever reason (I know, it sucks!). Oh well, I didn't have a super wide-angle lens with me anyway...

Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

These rebates are good until March 27th, 2010, so if you want to buy a Nikon DSLR with a lens, hurry up and do it now.

Nikon D5000 Body

1. Nikon D5000 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $30 off
2. Nikon D5000 with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $30 off
3. Nikon D5000 with 18-55mm & 55-200mm & Bag & DVD - $150 off
4. Nikon D5000 with 18-55mm & 70-300mm VR & Bag & DVD - $250 off
5. Nikon D5000 with 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $230 off
6. Nikon D5000 with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR - $230 off
7. Nikon D5000 with 18-200mm VR II Lens - $280 off
8. Nikon D5000 with 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens - $330 off
9. Nikon D5000 with 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II - $430 off

Nikon D90 Body

1. Nikon D90 with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $50 off
2. Nikon D90 with 18-105mm VR & 70-300mm VR - $250 off
3. Nikon D90 with 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $250 off
4. Nikon D90 with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR - $250 off
5. Nikon D90 with 18-200mm VR II Lens - $300 off
6. Nikon D90 with 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens - $350 off
7. Nikon D90 with 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II - $450 off

Nikon D300s Body

1. Nikon D300s with 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $200 off
2. Nikon D300s with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR - $200 off
3. Nikon D300s with 18-200mm VR II Lens - $250 off
4. Nikon D300s with 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens - $300 off
5. Nikon D300s with 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II - $400 off

Nikon D700 Body

1. Nikon D700 with 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR - $200 off
2. Nikon D700 with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR - $200 off
3. Nikon D700 with 18-200mm VR II Lens - $250 off
4. Nikon D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens - $300 off
5. Nikon D700 with 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II - $400 off

You can also get the above lenses with the top of the line Nikon D3s and Nikon D3x DSLR cameras. Simply click on the links, then click the "View Rebates" button on the page.

P.S. Please help us maintain this website by buying from the above links.