Lola and I are very excited to announce the winner of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G giveaway that we posted a month ago. We had about 350 comments, which kept on pouring in all the way until the last day of the giveaway. In order to make the giveaway fair, I removed duplicate posts and posts by people who were responding to other comments, which dropped the total comment count to 314.

In order to pick the winner, I had to enable comment numbering, which puts a sequential number in front of every comment. I then used a number randomizer to pick a number between 1 and 314.

So, who is the lucky winner today? The number is 109, which makes Giani Jindal the winner of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G lens! Congratulations Giani, I will write a comment on the original giveaway entry, so please get back to me ASAP with your address.

Now if you have not had a chance to read the comments, I highly suggest to check them out! Some of them were very interesting to read and some just made me laugh! Check out this poem written by Mark de Vrij:

I love my trusty Nikon,
It goes wherever I go,
It gives me great results,
In lights both bright and low.

It’s been dropped & knocked & battered,
Shot fireworks in freezing rain,
Every-time that shutter clicks,
It gives me pleasure without pain.

Oh keep your dusty cannon,
Four-Fifth’s isn’t for me.
It’s Nikon mounts for Sigma lens,
I’m sure that you’ll agree.

Oh I love my D200,
This camera I adore,
But Nikon, one quick question,
When can I buy a new D4?

The last part just cracked me up and I knew right away that Mark would get a prize for his effort!

Another very nice poem was submitted on the 31st of August by Aprison Irsyam:

Photography, Nikon and Me

God’s nature, full of unlimited beauty
So naked and so bare, but seldom do we see

To open the curtain of diety
To reveal and disclose the hidden mystery
Is what photography should be
Even to see from the eyes of the bee
For us to admire in envy

And yes, Nikon is here to stand by me
To make all these dreams becoming reality

Capturing such mesmerizing beauty, so deeply
And make those moments become eternity
That the next generation can too see

With its great comprehension and technology
Burning my passion and me
Up to the edgeless of possibility

Thus, the nature will speak perfectly
And for sure,
Nikon will always be with me

These should be sent to Nikon :) Seriously, just awesome! Thank you guys for trying.

While you have not won the grand prize, I will be sending you a photography book. Pick one of the below books and let me know which one you want me to send to you:

1) Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition – the best book for teaching basics of photography.
2) Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 3 – if you use Lightroom, you should absolutely have this book.

Pick either one and it is OK if you both pick the same book.

And last, but not least, I promised a special prize to those who vote for us on Denver’s A-List, so we picked one more person to win a special prize – one of the above books, plus a free one-on-one online photography workshop with us. The winner will have a chance to ask any questions on cameras, lenses, settings, flashes – basically anything related to photography.

So, who is the winner of this prize? The random number generator tells me it is George Gutierrez, who was kind enough to vote for us and leave a comment. Thank you George, I will contact you to get your address and set up a time for your free workshop!

For everyone else who tried but did not win – we will have many more giveaways going forward, so don’t worry, you will have many other chances to win in the future!

Now that our main PC is back up and running with the full amount of memory (yes, it was RAM that was faulty), we are now back on track! While reviewing our 2010 Lightroom catalog today, I realized that I have not posted any images from the 2010 Worldwide Photo Walk, although I did make a promise to share some pictures. I did not encounter anything great or exciting this year, since I was busy enjoying the company of my friends and other Colorado photographers. The Denver group was super fun and everybody had a blast!

Here are some images that Lola and I took that day:

Lola shot with the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G all day and I switched between Nikon 24mm f/1.4G and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G. The above image was taken with the 24mm f/1.4 – love that bokeh!

View of Denver Downtown:

Shapes by the art museum:

One of the photo walkers wandering around:

Entrance to the civic center building:

This is my buddy David, who I love to death and have known for about 12 years, showing me a cool picture on his Canon DSLR:

Building textures – simple B&W filter in Lightroom.

The 16th Street Mall in Denver Downtown has a bunch of these painted pianos scattered across the mall:

It is cool that anybody can use these pianos, so you occasionally get amateur pianists enjoying the instruments:

And this guy with a big sign that says “Little India Restaurant” gladly agreed to be photographed after drawing our attention with his odd, but cool looks:

Lola is very good at approaching people for photographs, so she asked this young gentleman and he posed for a couple of shots:

And my favorite shot of the day taken by Lola at sunset:

During the last several weeks, I have received several requests from our readers about finding the total number of shutter actuations on their DSLRs. I decided to write a short article on how you can find the total shutter actuations on both Nikon and Canon DSLRs, in case you are interested in seeing how much you have been using your camera or how close your shutter speed is to the manufacturers’ rated shutter life of 150,000 (on most entry and mid-level cameras) or 300,000 (professional cameras).

1) EXIF Data

The information on the total shutter actuations on your camera is preserved in file headers, known as “metadata” or “EXIF”. If you do not know what EXIF is and what it is used for, check out my “What is EXIF” article that I wrote a while ago. Basically, your camera writes all exposure-related information such as date, time, shutter speed, aperture, ISO and a bunch of other important information into the header of each file. Some camera manufacturers like Nikon and Canon also add unique shutter actuations data fields that are used for seeing the total number of exposures or “shutter actuations” cameras have.

2) Switch to JPEG format

If you are shooting RAW, it is best to switch to JPEG format just for getting the required information from your camera. While the camera native RAW format preserves all of the EXIF information that is coming out of the camera, third party conversion software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can strip out some of the proprietary EXIF data, including the number of shutter actuations. Therefore, switching to JPEG will allow you to view EXIF data straight, without having to import the image into Lightroom or Photoshop first. It doesn’t matter what size of JPEG files you choose – even JPEG BASIC works fine. Once selected, take a picture of anything you want.

3) Download EXIF viewer

In order to view the proprietary EXIF information from files, you need to use an image EXIF viewer that does not strip out anything from the file. Unfortunately, almost all current image viewers only display generic EXIF data that most people use and ignore the rest. Instead of properly reading EXIF data from files and then parsing the results, they typically just look for generic EXIF tags within the file and display them when they are available. If something is not available, it stays blank. To reduce the number of blank items to the minimum, they only provide generic information that is more or less standardized across most camera manufacturers.

Since these kinds of image EXIF viewers are not going to work to find the total shutter count, we will need to use less popular versions of EXIF data viewers, such as Phil Harvey’s “ExifTool” and Opanda’s IExif.

4) Viewing Shutter Count EXIF Data via ExifTool

Once you download the single ExifTool executable from this website, move it to the root drive of your main drive (typically C:\ on Windows and / on MacOS), then open up the command prompt via Start->All Programs->Acessories->Command Prompt. If you are using a Mac, fire up the shell terminal. Type “cd c:\” in Windows or “cd /” in MacOS to be in the same folder where the ExifTool executable resides. Then type:

1. Nikon DSLR:

   exiftool source_jpeg_file.jpg | find "Shutter Count"

2. Canon DSLR:

   exiftool source_jpeg_file.jpg | find "Image Number"

Obviously, replace “source_jpeg_file.jpg” with the name of your actual JPEG file. The program should return something like this: “Shutter Count: 19889” or “Image Number: 19889” – the number to the right of the string is the total shutter count on the camera.

5) Viewing Shutter Count EXIF Data via Opanda IExif/Simple EXIF Viewer

If you do not want to mess with command prompts, the best alternative is to use either Opanda IExif (for Windows) or Simple EXIF Viewer (for MacOS). Just download the latest versions of the Opanda IExif or Simple Exif Viewer and install using defaults.

Once the program is installed, open it up and then click the “Open” button to browse to your file. Select the JPEG file and you will see something like this:

Opanda IExif

Now scroll down until you see either “Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera” and note the number:

Opanda IExif Shutter Count

Simple EXIF Viewer for MacOS has a different interface, but works similarly.

If you shoot with a Canon camera and your shutter count is not displayed by any of the above images, check out this website.

Have you ever had a situation when you opened Lightroom and all thumbnails and images appeared blank? After discovering that the memory on our main PC was bad, I switched over my Lightroom catalog to my laptop for temporary access to be able to retrieve images to our clients. I opened a backup copy of the Lightroom catalog in Lightroom 3.0 and I was surprised to see that none of the images showed up, although my file path remained the same. Here is how it looked:

Lightroom blank images

I keep all images in a root folder called “Photos”, which makes it easier to open the images on different PCs – all I do is either make sure that the drive letter stays the same, or simply right-click the root folder and then select “Find Missing Folder…” and then point to the Photos folder on a different volume (by the way, if you have a messy Lightroom catalog, I highly recommend checking out my “How to organize images in Lightroom” article. If Lightroom cannot locate a folder, it typically looks like this:

Lightroom missing images

But in this case, the drive letter was the same and all paths were correct. When opening the images, Lightroom did not return any errors and the images stayed gray and would not refresh. I tried everything from deleting all cache folders to reimporting images and nothing worked.

After realizing that something completely different was causing this odd behavior, I decided to reinstall my Spyder 3 calibration software and re-calibrate the monitor. I remembered that my monitor profile was corrupt from before and could not load every time the machine rebooted. As soon as the monitor calibration process was finished, I re-opened Lightroom and voilà – all images showed up perfectly fine! Very strange, I had no idea Lightroom used monitor calibration profiles to load images.

Hope this is helpful for those who came across a similar problem!

I apologize for not being able to post for a while, but our main PC that has all the images is down at the moment and I am still waiting for replacement parts to arrive to get us going again. For some strange reason, the amount of RAM was showing up as 6 GB instead of 12 GB on the PC I recently built, occasionally increasing and decreasing in size. It was certainly bad RAM and I had to send it back to the manufacturer for replacement. As soon as the memory arrives, I will start posting more – I have lots of great new articles coming up and pictures to share. August has been a very busy month for both Lola and I, so we are doing our best to keep everything organized. I keep wishing that there were more than 24 hours in a day!

I am also anxiously waiting for B&H to ship the new lenses and the Nikon D3100 to me for testing.

Omar and Ozzy, captured with Nikon 35mm f/1.8G

The Nikon 35mm f/1.8G is a beautiful lens – even my two sons like it :) More to come!

The last announcement from today is the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX lens, an update to the existing Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR DX lens that was announced back in March of 2007. The lens was announced together with the Nikon D3100, because it is a DX lens and will most likely be a part of the future two lens kit for the D3100.

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX Specifications

Here are the lens specifications:

1. Focal length: 55-300mm
2. Maximum aperture: f/4.5-5.6
3. Minimum aperture: f/22-29
4. Lens construction: 17 elements in 11 groups (with two ED glass elements and one HRI lens element)
5. Angle of view: 28°50’ – 5°20’
6. Minimum focus distance: 1.4 m/4.59 ft.(throughout the entire zoom range)
7. Maximum reproduction ratio: 0.28x
8. No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
9. Filter-attachment size: 58mm
10. Diameter x length (extension from lens mount): Approximately 76.5 x 123 mm/3.0 x 4.8 in.
11. Weight: Approximately 530 g/18.7 oz.
12. Supplied accessories: 58mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap LC-58, Rear Lens Cap LF-4, Bayonet Hood HB-57, Flexible Lens Pouch CL-1020

And additional information from the Nikon press release:
The new AF-S DX 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR fills a variety of roles as the perfect lens for family picture takers and photo enthusiasts alike. This lens is the ideal complement to the 18-55mm VR DX-format camera kit lens, such as the one coupled with the just-released D3100 D-SLR camera, and provides users with an affordable way to achieve super zoom focal lengths from 82.5mm to 450mm (35mm equivalent). The 55-300mm VR lens brings the benefits of longer focal lengths into range for users when capturing distant subjects, such as at athletic events, family gatherings and summer vacations. Additional features include a Tripod Detection Mode, which allows users to keep VR image stabilization activated and automatically compensates for minute vibrations when mounted on a tripod. Additionally, a High Refractive Index (HRI) lens element is implemented to keep the lens compact while offering high contrast even at maximum aperture. The optical construction consists of two Extra-low Dispersion (ED) Elements that effectively minimize chromatic aberration, even at the widest aperture settings.

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G vs Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G

Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX MTF Charts (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

To compare, here are the Nikon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX MTF Charts (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

In terms of performance, both look very similar to me. The Nikon 55-300mm seems to have a slight edge in the corners when shot wide open at the widest zoom of 55mm, but everything else looks the same, even on the telephoto side. From the charts, we can see that the Nikon 55-300mm performs equally well @ 300mm as the 55-200mm @ 200mm, which is certainly good news, because those extra 100mm will certainly be handy for distant subjects.

The Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX will sell for $399.95 and is already available for pre-ordering from B&H.

When I first heard of a possible release of the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens for FX, I did not believe it, simply because it is extremely hard to design a superzoom lens with such range that would perform well on a full-frame sensor. Today, Nikon responded to the popularity of the Nikon 18-200mm lens by announcing the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens for FX sensors.

Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

So, what is so special about the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G and why did Nikon decide to release it for FX? After the Nikon 18-200mm lens was released back in November of 2005, it was praised by many photography websites as the ultimate “all-in-one” lens. The photography community created so much hype about this lens, that it sold like crazy and the demand skyrocketed, resulting in severe lens shortage and price increases for several years. I personally fell into the same trap as everyone else and ended up getting the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens after waiting for several months in the queue. I quickly discovered that having such a long zoom range comes with its own problems and long story short, ended up selling the lens in less than a year. Since then, I have tried at least three different versions of the lens (thinking that mine was defective), only to confirm that my original problems were not related to a defective unit or my photography skills. Don’t get me wrong, the Nikon 18-200mm is a decent lens, but not great or superb as most websites on the Internet claim. Once many photographers saw the same issues, more and more 18-200mm lenses started showing up on Ebay and Nikon finally caught up with the lens production and over-saturated the market, which resulted in price drops everywhere. By introducing the 28-300mm, Nikon wants to create another “hot selling” item for the fast-growing FX market.

Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Specifications

What is new about the Nikon 28-300mm and how does it compare to the 18-200mm lens? Let’s take a look.

1. Focal length: 28-300mm
2. Maximum aperture: f/3.5-5.6
3. Minimum aperture: f/22-38
4. Lens construction: 19 elements in 14 groups (with two ED glass and three aspherical lens elements)
5. Angle of view: 75°- 8°10’ (53°- 5°20’ with Nikon DX format)
6. Minimum focus distance: 0.5 m/1.6 ft. (throughout the entire zoom range)
7. Maximum reproduction ratio: 0.32x
8. No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
9. Filter-attachment size: 77mm
10. Diameter x length: (extension from lens mount): Approximately 83 x 114.5 mm/3.3 x 4.5 in.
11. Weight: Approximately 800 g/28.2 oz.
12. Supplied accessories: 77mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap LC-77, Rear Lens Cap LF-1, Bayonet Hood HB-50, Flexible Lens Pouch CL-1120

From the Nikon press release:
Building on the popularity and versatility of broad focal range lenses, the new AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR is Nikon’s first FX-format lens with a 10.7X zoom range for enthusiasts and professionals. The new 28-300mm is the all-in-one optical solution that is ideal for travel, landscapes, portraits and capturing distant subjects. The 28-300mm VR lens is optimized for edge-to-edge sharpness on both FX and DX-format D-SLR cameras, and has an equivalent focal length of 42-450mm when attached to a DX-format D-SLR. It’s optical formula includes two ED glass elements that effectively minimize chromatic aberration, even at the widest aperture settings, and three Aspherical Lens Elements that virtually eliminates coma and other aberrations at wide aperture settings as well. This high performance lens also incorporates an M/A Focus Mode Switch that enables quick changes between manual and autofocus operation, and Internal Focus (IF) providing fast and quiet autofocus without changing the length of the lens while retaining working distance through the focus range.

Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED vs Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II

The first thing I noticed, was the absence of the gold ring around the lens front, which basically means that we should not expect it to be a top-quality performer (quite understandable, considering the zoom range of the lens). Most features of the Nikon 18-200mm were adapted by the 28-300mm design – the “zoom lock” feature, for example, addresses the annoying zoom creep problem that exists in the original version of the Nikon 18-200mm. The focal length is essentially the same as on the 18-200mm if you multiply the numbers by 1.5 (DX sensor crop ratio). The biggest change is in the number of optical elements, which increased from 16 elements and 12 groups to 19 elements in 14 groups and the diaphragm, which is made of 9 blades versus 7. These additional optical elements increased the weight of the lens by approximately 235 grams totaling 800 grams, which is quite heavy for this type of a lens. The filter size has also been increased to 77mm from 72, which is a nice move by Nikon.

What about the performance of the Nikon 28-300? Let’s take a look at the MTF charts of the 28-300 (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

And Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

It is too early to say anything at this point, but considering that the 28-300mm MTF charts are based on the FX sensor and the 18-200mm on DX, I would say sharpness-wise, both are similar. The center and surrounding area performance is impressive, with the image sharply dropping in quality towards the extreme edges. I would love to test both and compare them against each other in various environments, which I will hopefully be able to do as soon as I receive the lens.

The Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G will retail for $1,049.95 and is already available for pre-order at B&H.

Another lens that has been released today is the Nikon 24-120mm f/4.G ED VR – an update to the Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR lens that has been out since 2003. The lens has been completely redesigned with a constant aperture of f/4, now coming with a gold ring around the front of the lens barrel, which is an indication of Nikon’s professional line of lenses.

Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G ED VR

Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G ED VR Specifications

The Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G ED VR is a heavy upgrade to the previous version of the lens. It is specifically designed for the Nikon FX sensor to deliver sharper results on professional full-frame cameras such as Nikon D700, D3s and D3x. Here are the lens specifications:

1. Focal length: 24-120mm
2. Maximum aperture: f/4
3. Minimum aperture: f/22
4. Lens construction: 17 elements in 13 groups (with two ED glass and three aspherical lens elements, and Nano Crystal Coat)
5. Angle of view: 84°- 20°20’ (61°- 13°20’ with Nikon DX format)
6. Minimum focus distance: 0.45 m/1.5 ft. (throughout the entire zoom range)
7. Maximum reproduction ratio: 0.24x
8. No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
9. Filter-attachment size: 77mm
10. Diameter x length (extension from lens mount): Approximately 84 x 103.5 mm/3.3 x 4.1 in.
11. Weight: Approximately 710 g/25 oz.
12. Supplied accessories: 77mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap LC-77, Rear Lens Cap LF-4, Bayonet Hood HB-53, Flexible Lens Pouch CL-1218

From the Nikon press release:

The new AF-S 24-120mm f/4 G ED VR zoom lens redefines the wide-to-portrait lens category, and provides users with a medium focal range lens with a constant aperture that is ideally suited for a wide variety of photographic disciplines. This high performance lens offers a constant maximum aperture of f/4 to maintain exposure settings throughout the entire zoom range and is perfect for photographing landscapes, portraits, interiors and weddings. The 24-120mm f/4 also features two ED elements, three aspherical lens elements, a useful M/A Focus Mode Switch, Internal Focus and Nano Crystal Coat to reduce ghosting and flare for greater image clarity throughout the entire frame.

Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G vs Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G

So, besides the constant aperture of f/4.0, what else is new with the 24-120mm f/4.0G? The lens design adds 2 more new glasses, one of them being an aspherical element, in addition to Nano Crystal coating. The diaphragm is now 9 rounded blades instead of 7, which should yield better-looking bokeh. The front lens design is similar, except the second lens element has been replaced with ED glass. The filter size has been increased to 77mm, which is a standard for Nikon professional lenses. The new 24-120mm f/4.0G is also about 100 grams heavier than the older counterpart. Everything else is very similar, including focus modes.

The biggest surprise, however, comes in the MTF charts. Take a look at the MTF charts of the older 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

And compare them with the Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G (Left: Wide, Right: Tele):

Wow, the older Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 looks crappy compared to the new 24-120mm f/4.0 @ f/8.0, especially in the center frame zoomed at both 24mm and 120mm – a huge difference in sharpness! The corner performance is a world better on high resolution FX sensors, while being average on lower resolution sensors, which indicates that this lens is specifically engineered for FX sensors. The performance at f/8.0 is very impressive.

When it comes to performance wide open at f/4.0, the Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0 is also much better, showing excellent center performance, but rather poor corner performance wide open, while having better corners towards 120mm. Bokeh on the new 24-120mm should also be pleasing, which is good news for portrait and wedding photographers.

I am very excited about the new 24-120mm f/4.0 lens, because it gives so much zoom range to work with. The optics look very good and it looks like Nikon finally has a lens to compete against Canon’s superb 24-105mm f/4.0 IS lens, which is a hot seller in the world of Canon. This lens could be my next favorite travel lens and we will see how it performs as soon as I get it in my hands, very soon :)

The Nikon 24-120mm f/4.0G VR will retail for $1,299.95 and you can already pre-order it from B&H.

Along with the Nikon D3100 DSLR camera, Nikon also released the long-expected and overdue Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S – an update to the legendary Nikon 85mm f/1.4D that has been our top choice for portraiture and wedding photography. The Nikon 85mm f/1.4D has always been the “king” of bokeh and because of this, has been considered to be one of the best lenses for portraiture and low-light photography.

Nikon 85mm f/1.4G

Nikon 85mm f/1.4G Lens Specifications

The new Nikon 85mm f/1.4G replaces the AF-D version and comes with completely redesigned optics. Check out these lens specifications:

1. Focal length: 85mm
2. Maximum aperture: f/1.4
3. Minimum aperture: f/16
4. Lens construction: 10 elements in 9 groups (with Nano Crystal Coat)
5. Angle of view: 28°30’ (18°50’ with Nikon DX format)
6. Minimum focus distance: 0.85 m/2.79 ft.
7. Maximum reproduction ratio: 0.12x
8. No. of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
9. Filter-attachment size: 77mm
10. Diameter x length (extension from lens mount): Approximately 86.5 x 84 mm/3.4 x 3.3 in.
11. Weight: Approximately 595 g/21.0 oz.
12. Supplied accessories: 7mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap LC-77, Rear Lens Cap LF-1, Bayonet Hood HB-55, Flexible Lens Pouch CL-1118

From the Nikon Press Release:

A highly anticipated lens for professional photographers with no room for compromise, the new AF-S 85mm f/1.4G ED is an ultra-fast classic portrait lens boasting amazing picture quality, high performance and the ability to create dramatic background effects (bokeh). This lens is engineered for professional portrait, studio and wedding photographers wanting to shoot at fast maximum apertures while retaining the highest performance. The 85mm lens is also well suited for portraits and low-light shooting situations because of its ability to create a shallow depth of field with exacting sharpness and detail. The AF-S 85mm f/1.4 is optimized for edge-to-edge sharpness on both FX and DX-format D-SLR cameras, and features two focus modes, M/A (manual-priority autofocus) and M (manual) to further enhance versatility and adapt to a shooters needs. Additional features include Internal Focus (IF) that allows the lens to focus without changing the barrel length, Nano Crystal Coat to reduce instances of ghosting and flare, and a rugged construction build to endure aggressive field use.

Nikon 85mm f/1.4G vs Nikon 85mm f/1.4D

So, what is the difference between the new 85mm f/1.4G and the older 85mm f/1.4D? While basic specifications like maximum/minimum aperture and focus distance stay the same, the biggest changes are lens construction and addition of the Silent Wave Motor (SWM). The new Nikon 85mm f/1.4G sports 10 elements in 9 groups with Nano Crystal Coat, while the older AF-D version had 9 elements in 8 groups and no Nano Crystal Coat. The addition of 1 element adds to the overall weight of the lens, making it 45 grams heavier. The Silent Wave Motor brings quiet AF operation, in addition to AF-S, which means that the lens will work perfectly fine on all current Nikon lenses, including Nikon D3000/3100, D5000 and older Nikon DSLR cameras with no AF motor. Other minor updates include a new M/A switch, which lets you override autofocus by moving the focus ring and a bayonet hood. If you want to switch the lens from autofocus to manual focus on the AF-D version, you have to move the ring to “M” position before touching the focus ring. Now you do not have to do that, which makes it much easier to focus manually. The hood on the 85mm f/1.4DD is also a nuisance – it attaches to the lens filter thread and putting the lens cap is too painful.

What about sharpness? Let’s take a look at the MTF charts of both, side by side (Left: 85mm f/1.4G, Right: 85mm f/1.4D):



The MTF chart on the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G indicates that sharpness-wise, both lenses perform very similarly when stopped down to f/8 in the center. The situation is a little bit different towards the corners – the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G gradually lowers in sharpness, while we can see a sharp drop on the 85mm f/1.4D. So the corner performance on the Nikon 85mm f/1.4G is clearly better at f/8.0.

But why would you want to shoot at f/8.0 with this gem? I really only care about the wide open performance, since I shoot it between f/1.4 and f/4.0 most of the time. Wide open at f/1.4, the new Nikon 85mm f/1.4G clearly takes the lead, especially towards the corners. The MTF line is more straight instead of curved, which means that the image should look sharp in the center and off the center, getting a little softer towards the corners. This is great news, because it means that the new 85mm delivers sharper images both in the center and towards the edges! What about bokeh? See how close the dotted and dashed lines are on the new 85mm – this indicates a little better bokeh!

The MTF charts do not always portray the full picture, obviously, but we will see how this puppy performs in a real environment – I will be receiving it very soon…

The Nikon 85 f/1.4G will retail for $1,699.95 and you can already pre-order it from B&H.


]]> http://mansurovs.com/nikon-85mm-f1-4g-af-s-lens/feed 12 http://mansurovs.com/nikon-85mm-f1-4g-af-s-lens http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mansurovs/~3/ApNbbajhLi8/nikon-d3100-dslr-announcement http://mansurovs.com/nikon-d3100-dslr-announcement#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:05:45 +0000 Nasim Mansurov http://mansurovs.com/?p=11703 read more »]]>

Today Nikon announced the new Nikon D3100 DSLR camera – an update to the existing Nikon D3000 that was released a year ago. The D3100 is not just a cosmetic update, it comes with a brand new sensor and advanced video recording capabilities that are not yet present in any of the current Nikon DSLR bodies. Specifically, there is now an option to shoot 1080p video, the absence of which has certainly been a disadvantage when compared to Canon’s line of beginner cameras.



Nikon D3100 DSLR




Nikon D3100 Specifications

Here is a short list of important specifications:

1. Effective angle of view: Approx. 1.5 x lens focal length (Nikon DX format)
2. Effective pixels: 14.2 million
3. Image sensor: 23.1 x 15.4 mm CMOS sensor
4. Total pixels: 14.8 million
5. Dust-reduction system: Image sensor cleaning, Airflow Control System, Image Dust Off reference data (optional Capture NX 2 software required)
6. Image size (pixels): 4,608 x 3,072 [L], 3,456 x 2,304 [M], 2,304 x 1,536 [S]
7. File format: NEF (RAW), JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1:4), normal (approx. 1:8), or basic (approx. 1:16) compression, NEF (RAW) + JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
8. Media: SD (Secure Digital), SDHC and SDXC memory cards
9. Viewfinder: Eye-level pentamirror single-lens reflex viewfinder
10. Frame coverage: Approx. 95% horizontal and 95% vertical
11. Magnification: Approx. 0.8 x (50 mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0 m-1)
12. Shutter Speed: 1/4000 to 30 s in steps of 1/3 EV, Bulb
13. Flash sync speed: X=1/200 s; synchronizes with shutter at 1/200 s or slower
14. Release mode: single frame, continuous, self timer, quiet shutter release
15. Frame advance rate: up to 3 fps (manual focus, mode M or S, shutter speed 1/250 s or faster, and other settings at default values)
16. Exposure modes: Auto modes (auto, auto [flash off]); scene modes (portrait; landscape; child; sports; close up; night portrait); programmed auto with flexible program (P); shutter-priority auto (S); aperture-priority auto (A); manual (M)
17. Exposure compensation: -5 to +5 EV in increments of 1/3 EV
18. ISO sensitivity: ISO 100 to 3200 in steps of 1 EV; can also be set to approx. 1 EV above ISO 3200 (ISO 6400 equivalent) or to
    approx. 2 EV above ISO 3200 (ISO 12800 equivalent); auto ISO sensitivity control available
19. Active D-Lighting: On, Off
20. Autofocus: Nikon Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, 11 focus points (including one
    cross-type sensor), and AF-assist illuminator (range approx. 0.5 to 3m/1 ft. 8 in. to 9 ft. 10 in.)
21. Focus point: Can be selected from 11 focus points
22. AF-area mode: Single-point AF, dynamic-area AF, auto-area AF, 3D-tracking (11 points)
23. Movie Frame size (pixels) and frame rate: 1,920 x 1,080 (24p): 24 fps (23.976 fps), 1,280 x 720 (30p): 30 fps (29.97 fps), 1,280 x 720 (25p): 25 fps, 1,280 x 720 (24p): 24 fps (23.976 fps), 640 x 424 (24p): 24 fps (23.976 fps)
24. Movie maximum recording time: 10 min.
25. Movie file format: MOV
26. Video compression: H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
27. Audio recording format: Linear PCM
28. Audio recording device: Built-in monaural microphone
29. LCD monitor: 7.5-cm/3-in., approx. 230 k-dot TFT LCD with brightness adjustment

More detailed specifications can be found on the NikonUSA website.

One important feature that is missing from the camera, is integrated GPS without the need to use an external GPS unit. Since it is missing from the new D3100, you can safely assume that this important feature will not make it to other cameras anytime soon.

Is this announcement something to be excited about? Absolutely! Out of all the features on the D3100, the most important ones are:

1. Higher resolution 14.2 Mp sensor – this means that you can expect all future DSLR cameras from Nikon to have at least 14 Megapixels.
2. Better high ISO noise – Nikon would not simply increase the number of megapixels if they could not keep the noise levels down to at least what they were before. This means that the noise levels at high ISOs of the D3100 should be very similar or better than noise levels on the Nikon D3000.
3. Higher ISO levels – I don’t know how good ISO 12,800 looks on the Nikon D3100, since I have not seen any sample images yet, but it is certainly a bold move by Nikon. Again, this also means we will be getting at least the same ISO levels on all future cameras.
4. New EXPEED2 processor – finally, all new Nikon bodies will have a much faster processor that can handle a lot more load.
5. 1080p movie mode – the previous EXPEED processor simply could not handle the large bandwidth that 1080p video requires. I was hoping for more fps than 24 on 1080p, but I guess we will see that on higher-end bodies later.

Everything else is pretty standard. The lens will retail for $699.95 with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR kit lens and it is already available for pre-order at B&H.

Sample images from the Nikon D3100 are available here, but they are all at ISO 100 and 200…

An update to Nikon D90 is supposed to come out later this year and I’m hoping that it will be a major upgrade with more new exciting features. Higher ISO with low noise levels is what photographers always hope for, so I hope Nikon will deliver!

P.S. The new Nikon D3100 is on its way to me, so I will be writing a detailed review on it very soon! Stay tuned! :)


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