I just thought I would post some test images that I shot the other night at a junior BMX race course. All images are ISO 6400 shot on a D3 with a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 G AF-S VR lens. I am fairly happy with the noise performance. All images were run through Lightroom 2.0 and given minimal luminance and color noise reduction.
Congratulations to Kim and Eddie Alcala! They were married on New Years Eve in Woodland, CA. A truely extravagant and elegant wedding. They really know how to throw a party! Best to you both!
I just purchased a new lens today and after spending a few hours with it, I was rather disappointed with the performance. It seemed softer than a $1000+ lens ought to be. (My sub $500 18-35mm “just for fun lens” was giving sharper results. Now frantic, I set out on the web (as I usually do when panicked) to look for answers.
After doing some googl’ing, I ran across accounts from people with my exact lens, that were experiencing softness and I was pleased to learn that there was an easy fix. Now, there is one caveat, this fix is only possible on Nikon’s upper-tier consumer and pro bodies (D300, D700, D3, D3x, D90 maybe?) so if you have anything else, I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of answers for you right now.
Onwards..
I’ve often noticed an option buried in the setup (wrench) menu of my D3 called “AF fine tune”. I never really paid much attention or really cared to take a look. I figured that the AF should work just fine. Why would I need to fine tune something that I just paid 5 golden bars for? After doing a little research, that question now has an answer. Apparently, due to inherent variabilities in lens and camera body manufacturing, some lenses and some bodies and some combinations of some lenses and bodies (ya dig?) need to be adjusted using this menu option to correct for slight front or back focusing. Makes sense I guess, I mean do you ever stop to think about how a camera lens is made? How much precision is required to resolve a sharp image on a plane using transparent discs made from melted sand and then ground to perfection with rocks? (That’s obviously an oversimplification, but I think you get the idea). OK, so Nikon isn’t perfect. I can’t really comment with certainty on the others, as I have not shot anything else. But at least they gave some of us this fabulous fix, although it is a little disturbing that Nikon has downplayed this feature (and need of this feature) in the instruction manual.
After running my own tests, I found that 2 of my main 3 lenses needed major adjustment. The process was simple and I invite anyone else with a better method to chime in, because this was pretty straight forward. Just grab your tripod and setup a a relatively flat object with fine detail (or a focus chart if you have one) and have it as close to perpendicular to your camera as possible, so you are not battling depth of field. Then format your memory card so you can keep track of your images more easily. Set your camera for JPEG and turn your Picture Control (under shooting options in the main menu) to “Standard”. I did this so there was no unnecessary sharpening going on that could mask the results. I would suggest shooting in M so you have the exact same exposure every time. If you are using a speedlight, set it to M as well. Lastly, set your camera to Single-Servo auto focus with the single AF point dial selected. It’s always a good idea when running tests like this to eliminate as many variables as possible yes?
Now, go into the Setup (wrench) menu on your camera, and find “AF fine tune”. First, turn it on (obvious I hope), then go into “Saved Value”. You will notice that the camera detects and displays the focal length of the lens you have attached at that moment. Any changes you make here will be associated with that lens and will be set automatically every time you attach it to your camera. Now let’s start tweaking things…
Set your fine tune value to -20 and shoot. Then go back into your menu and select -15 and shoot, then -10… Wash, rinse, repeat until you get up to +20. Be sure your tripod is staying in the same place and that your camera is not moving around because we’re dealing with some super fine adjustments, and your camera moving during this process will negate your results (well, not really, since we are using AF, but you will feel more confident about yourself and your results if things aren’t sliding around). I chose to move up the slider in increments of 5, but if you have the time or curiosity, you can adjust in whatever increments you want, but I think 5 is a good starting point.
When you’re done with that tedium, bring all of your test images into Photoshop or whatever you use for study. You will need to be able to get the images fairly close to each other for a side by side comparison in order to make a good judgment of focus. Also, remember to view your images at 100% magnification.
I have provided my results so you can see how I basically setup the test after I shot the images. I just shot a piece of mail sitting on my desk. These are also low resolution, so unfortunately, these can’t be as closely inspected as the original files.
My results and required adjustments were as follows: Remember that “0″ is the default, non-correct focus tuning.
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AF D - Fine Tune Adjustment = +20
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AF D Results
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR – Fine Tune Adjustment = 0
Nikkor 70-200 mm F2.8 VR Results
Nikkor 28-70mm f2.8 AF-S – Fine Tune Adjustment = -15
Nikkor 28-70mm f2.8 AF-S Results
This is basically just a long-winded way of saying adjust the fine tune setting until you get the sharpest results.
So…………….. the results are pretty frightening! I was/am shocked especially at the 50mm. The difference between what I have been shooting at (0) and the correct adjustment (+20) is substantial, equally with the 28-70mm. Interestingly, the 70-200mm is spot on.
After reading posts made by people running similar tests, I found my findings to be fairly consistent with theirs. Ken Rockwell (ughhh..) needed -15 on his D3 with a 28-70mm, and my results mirrored his findings. I also read results from other people needing +20 on their 50mm f1.8 on a D3.. exactly the same as mine. So it would appear, at least on the surface, that the adjustments are fairly universal. It should be kept in mind that this is not necessarily the case and you should test for yourself because every camera and every lens, although supposedly identical, are not. Plus this is a good exercise in training your eye to identify true sharpness in an image. Keep in mind also that the adjustments are more than likely unique to each lens/body combination so, if you are shooting a 50mm f1.8 on a D300, don’t expect your adjustment to be the same as a 50mm f1.8 on a D3 or any other body.
It’s a little painful to think about how long I’ve been shooting without doing this. I thought the 50mm f1.8 was razor sharp before, now that I have done this, I have had to redefine my definition (or at least perception) of what sharp is.
If I get time, I’ll try to post some before and after real world images, just for kicks. Check back or subscribe.
Help yourself to a complimentary Wintery desktop wallpaper!
1680x1050 px
Just thought I’d share this. My girlfriend and I were out doing a quick shoot for our Christmas cards and I thought I’d try out some of the lighting that is frequently featured on the popular Strobist website. Please disregard the less than engaging pose, we were just playing around and I didn’t expect to actually post this.
The setup was like this:
Equipment:
Nikon D3
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 AF VR
SB-800 CLS Master and Fill
3x SB-600 with cheap DIY cardboard snoots set on TTL
This really isn’t a very complicated shot so I won’t bore you with the details, but I’ll throw out some super preschool-ish diagrams for you.
As you can see, speedlight A is lighting Michelle’s face and torso, light B is lighting the ground, and light C is providing a rim light for some separation from the background. Man I am a terrible artist!
The exposure was pretty straight forward. I metered in M (manual) and got the standard exposure that I probably would have gotten in P or A, and then i stopped the aperture down about 1 stop to underexpose the ambient light. Then I jacked up the TTL on the SB-600s (each one was a little different) until I got a look that I liked and voila!
Happy shooting!
Up for sale:
Nikkor 18-200 f3.5-NIKON NIKKOR 18-200 F3.5-5.6 ED DX - $500
SOLD
Mint Condition. Rarely used before I upgraded to FX sensor.
ALSO
Sigma 15mm f2.8 Fish-Eye Lens (Nikon AF-D Mount) – $400
If you are seeing this, it means they are still for sale!
Free Desktop Wallpaper (1680x1050 px)
Free desktop wallpaper today!
I havn’t been able to post much lately. I’ve been really busy with proposals and other tasks. One notable project has been for my former college professor and friend Nigel Poor. She has been working on an audio diary for a long time and decided that she wanted to put it in a form that was accessible on the internet. It’s been a lot of fun, and I am really facinated by the whole “Podcast” process and culture.
I encourage you to check it out! You can find the audio experiment, and other interesting things at her website.
OR
If you have or use iTunes, you can find the project here:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294316731
Nigel Poor’s audio experiment is a collection of unedited, short clips and sounds that consider everyday experience. It is an archive of the seemingly unimportant that uses direct observation, uncensored reaction and random conversation to eavesdrop on the world around us and the smaller moments in life.
Halloween has always been a big deal for as long as I can remember. I have lots of fond memories of decorating the front yard with silly ghosts and other “spooky” stuff. I am glad to be living in an actual house and not an apartment this year, because that means I can actually relive some old childhood memories by decorating my own yard. This year I really wanted to cater to the darker side of Halloween rather than the fun loving and humorous Halloween. This has really always been my taste and I’m glad I finally get to make a real attempt at having an exciting holiday. I decided on scarecrows. For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by scarecrows. I suppose it could have something to do with growing up in rural Northern California. I grew up with corn fields almost literally in my back yard and I have fond memories of climbing haystacks and other farm paraphernalia. Now that I think about it, we really didn’t have a lot of scarecrows (in fact, I’ve never actually seen one in real life existing for the purpose of scaring off birds) but the imagery of these beings is just intriguing and inspiring. They remind me of the changing seasons, fall colors, and cooler weather (all things that I really like). I really find such things quite comforting.
Well enough about me, so I was finishing up working on this guy for the night and I realized that the moon was insanely bright and completely full. It was just rising up over the scarecrow’s shoulder and I thought about how cliche the scene was. I couldn’t help myself and I grabbed my camera and took a few quick shots. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph a work in progress in such a “Halloween-ish” setting.
Talk to you soon
Getting ready for Halloween!
Full Moon on 10/14/2008 - Nikon D3 with 300mm IF-ED Nikkor Lens
If you’ve ever battled with setting up your own VPN or are sick of burning CD/DVDs just to transfer files between two remote computers, you’re in luck!
Microsoft has recenely released the beta version of a free file synchronization application for Windows XP/Vista and MacOS called FolderShare
It allows you to almost mindlessly setup folder shares on your computers across the Internet, much like a VPN, but without all of the complicated setup and dialing. You can also invite coworkers and friends to access your shared folders and you can assign specific permissions for each user. I have found it to be a very easy to use and intuitive application and best of all, it’s FREE!
Microsoft states that it uses a safe and secure SSL and AES encrypted transfer method, so as long as you remember to setup a very strong password, you shouldn’t need to worry TOO much about how safe your files are from hackers but knowing Windows, there’s always someone out there that’s a step ahead of Microsoft, so I would have to say, use this with caution.
Check it out at http://www.foldershare.com
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