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Yearly Archives: 2014

World’s Top 10 Most Expensive Camera Lenses

Photography as a hobby is fun, exciting, sporting and adventurous, however it can get pretty expensive and difficult to sustain with your dream for expensive and best glasses. It’s this one factor which most newcomers without analyzing their primary needs and not knowing what to buy, die out on their passion rather too quick. Before you browse further and jump to conclusions, please remember lenses or for that matter additional camera gears are important and awesome update to your photography journey, but it’s a still a small part of the equation in taking good picture – ultimately its you as a photographer’s skill which adds to the most important factor. Don’t let the lust for expensive gears (the list are exhaustive both from native and third party manufacturers) get the best of you, unless you are ready to sell your organ or blow your fortune.

Try to become one of the best photographer and work in one of those company who would pay you huge salary as well as lent out those expensive gears on field.

Below are the Top 10 World’s most expensive lenses –

1. Leica 1600mm f/5.6 Telephoto Lens

lieca-1600-mm
Leica 1600mm f/5.6 Telephoto lens

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the world’s priciest lens is a Leica with their impressive red dot logo on it. Leica made this APO-Telyt-R 1600mm/f 5.6  custom lens for Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani of Qatar at a price just topping US $2 million. This lens has never been sent out for review, nor has any picture published taken this lens. With a weight of 60 kg (132 pounds), it’s no wonder the owner also bought a custom Mercedes for lugging it around. (more…)

Nikon D810 Announced

Nikon-D810Nikon has officially unveiled its latest Digital Camera “Nikon D810”.  Nikon earlier shocked the DSLR world when it released the D800 and D800E both a 36 Megapixel Full-frame camera two years back. The latest D810 is an improved update over the earlier 800-series model.

In a first for a D-SLR, the D810’s ultra-wide native ISO range starts at ISO 64 for cleaner, better-defined images when shooting in bright light, and you can shoot at up to ISO 12800, or extend the range from 32 to 51200 ISO equivalent. Equipped with the same EXPEED 4 image processing engine as used in the flagship D4S, the D810’s overall performance gets a significant boost: image rendering and ISO capability is vastly improved in both stills and video, with sophisticated new algorithms enabling remarkable clarity and enhanced gradation with a tangible sense of depth across the entire sensitivity range.

Augmenting the D810’s spectacular imaging potential is the full power of Nikon’s total imaging system. The highest calibre optics are vital for such a high-megapixel camera and Nikon’s wide range of NIKKOR lenses will draw out the full potential of the D810’s 36.3-megapixel sensor with ease. With their exceptionally high resolving power, NIKKOR lenses meet the demands of photographers in every field. Also fully compatible with Nikon’s industry-leading Creative Lighting System, the D810 works with a range of versatile Nikon Speedlights for creative flash photography on- or off-camera.

Nikon D810: Key Specifications

  • 36.3MP Full-frame CMOS sensor (no AA filter)
  • ISO 64-12,800 (expands to ISO 32-51,200)
  • Electronic first-curtain shutter and redesigned mirror mechanism
  • New ‘RAW Size S’ 9MP Raw mode
  • Expeed 4 engine
  • Max 5fps shooting in FX mode, 7fps in DX (with battery grip + EN-EL18 / AA batteries)
  • 3.2in 1,229k-dot RGBW LCD screen with customizable color
  • OLED viewfinder information display
  • Improved Scene Recognition System allows face detection in OVF mode
  • ‘Split screen zoom’ display in live view allows horizons/lines to be leveled precisely
  • 51-point AF system with new ‘Group Area AF’ mode (inherited from D4S)
  • New ‘flat’ Picture Control mode (intended to appeal to videographers)
  • Auto ISO available in manual exposure mode
  • Zebra strips for focus checking in video mode
  • Uncompressed HDMI output with simultaneous recording to memory card
  • Built-in stereo microphone

Price and Release Date

If you are excited about the new Nikon D810, it is available on pre-order via AmazonB&H Photo Video and Adorama., priced at $3296.5 for body only, with a release date set for 17 July 2014.

Michiel Munneke Steps Down As Director Of World Press Photo

michiel_munnekeWorld Press Photo Supervisory Board Chairman Pieter Broertjes and Michiel Munneke announced that Munneke will leave his position as Managing Director per 1 November 2014.

Munneke holds a master’s degree in Communications from the University of Amsterdam, he started his career at World Press Photo in 1994 as an intern and was hired one year later as a project manager in the exhibitions department. In 1997, he became head of the contest and education departments, where he managed the Joop Swart Masterclass and laid the groundwork for the organization’s current educational programs by initiating several workshops for local journalists in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was then appointed deputy managing director in 1999 and managing director in 2001. The supervisory board has great respect for the way Munneke developed the organization into a strong international brand that enjoys high esteems with both the photographic community as well as the public.

Broertjes: “Under Munneke’s leadership, the organization has grown: revenue and staff has doubled, the yearly photo contest has been reformed, a multimedia contest has been added, and the educational programs are now an essential part of the yearly schedule. Munneke is leaving behind a healthy organization that is ready for the future.”

Munneke: “I have spent my whole working life dedicated to this wonderful foundation and the last 12 years as its director. I feel honored to have led this great Dutch initiative for more than a decade. Over the past year, we have developed a new strategy and now it’s time for me to pass the torch and make my next step.”

About World Press Photo

World Press Photo organizes the leading international contest in visual journalism. The foundation is committed to supporting and advancing high standards in photojournalism and documentary storytelling worldwide. Its aim is to generate wide public interest in and appreciation for the work of photographers and other visual journalists, and for the free exchange of information. The activities include organizing annual photojournalism and multimedia contests and global exhibition tours. The Academy programs strive to stimulate high-quality visual journalism through educational programs, grants and by creating greater visibility through a variety of publications. World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization with its office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where it was founded in 1955.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.

Sigma DP Quattro series announced

sigma_dp2Sigma DP Quattro has been officially announced recently, it’s the next generation of its DP series of APS-C sensor, fixed focal length cameras after the revolutionized Sigma DP2 Merrill. The Sigma dp Quattro has turned many heads with its radical design that incorporates the new Foveon X3 direct image sensor paired with the newly developed TRUE III (Three-layer Responsive Ultimate Engine) image processing engine to deliver high-definition, 3D-like photographs with outstanding rich color details.

Sigma  DP (dp1, dp2 & dp3) Quattro series comprises three fixed focal length cameras, each of which features a different basic focal length for a different fundamental photographic approach: the wide-angle dp1 Quattro at 19mm, the standard dp2 Quattro at 30mm, and the medium telephoto dp3 Quattro at 50mm (respectively equivalent to 28mm, 45mm, and 75mm on a 35mm lens). Moreover, the three models share an exciting new camera body that brings out the best performance from the lens and image sensor.

The dp2 Quattro (featured here) with a solid and lightweight magnesium body has 29 million high resolution effective pixels (The Quattro sensor uses three layers to detect color information, top layer captures 19.6 million pixel resolution, with lower two layers capturing 4.9 million pixel resolution each) with a fixed 30 mm f/2.8 lens, improved optics with auto-focus performance and better high  ISO capabilities than its Merrill predecessors.

The Camera has already acclaimed the Best Design award in the Technical & Design category at the TIPA Awards 2014.

Sigma dp2 Quattro Camera images

The price and availability date are yet to be announced, sure AAB world shall have it here in Kuwait on it’s release.

Check the official announcement [here]

Goan 1st Lady Photographer Palmira Coutinho passes away

palmira_coutinhoMs Palmira Coutinho, Goa’s first professional lady photographer passed away at the age of 89 due to ill health. She was recipient of the Goa State Cultural Award in Photography.  She had the proudest moment when she appeared on the cover of the internationally acclaimed British Photographer, David Bailey’s book “Locations: The 1970s Archive”.

An interesting spotlight of her exciting career was when she went clicking during the 1974 Exposition of St. Francis Xavier in Goa, which she photographed. It was then she was spotted by renowned British Photographer David Bailey. Consequently, he visited the Hollywood Studio and shot her picture, perhaps just for curiosity sake, as he had met the only professional woman photographer in Goa, who after her husband untimely death in an accident single-handedly raised her seven children while simultaneously photographing and managing the studio. Years later, he remembered Palmira and traced her through the internet after BBC had done a documentary on him, and decided to interview her for a special series. Palmira was in for surprise, when she received an autographed book brought out by Bailey, containing photographs taken at her studio, with her picture on the book’s cover.

In her career, Palmira has photographed Mother Teresa, former Portuguese President Mario Soares, Pope John Paul II and former President of India Zail Singh, amongst other personalities.

May her soul rest in peace.

Dynamic Range in Photography

In principle Dynamic Range describes the brightness range of the scene we are photographing. It also means Dynamic Range is the amount of visible detail that can be seen or recovered between the lightest part of a photograph and the darkest.  A scene with high dynamic range will have large difference in brightness between the darkest zones and the brightest.  Photographer’s mentions dynamic range related to scene’s contrast or tonal range, which means the same.

Zone System
Zone System (Full Tonal Gradation)

Camera manufactures also talk about Dynamic Range with regards to the camera sensor.  In this case, it’s the ability of the sensor to record these very high brightness ranges. This means that cameras with a larger dynamic range are able to capture both highlight and shadow detail simultaneously. DSLR’s have a larger dynamic range than point and shoot cameras because their sensors have larger pixels. Also generally, a full frame sensor can provide a broader dynamic range and better low light/high ISO performance yielding a higher quality image than a crop sensor.

Dynamic range is measured as EV values or stops. The dynamic range of the scene and the dynamic range of your camera are two different things.

Histogram_Sx

 

Let’s look at the illustration (above) and understand how to read the histogram in relation to dynamic range:

1. The histogram is a graphical representation of the tones in your picture, showing the number of pixels at different brightness level from pure black on the left to pure white on the right.

2. The ‘Shadows‘ in your picture are roughly the left quarter of the overall brightness range.

3. The histogram peaks in the Midtones with an average amount of shadow and highlights. The histogram shapes will vary depending on exposure.

4. The ‘Highlights’ are in the right quarter of the brightness range.

5. The dynamic range of the scene you are photographing is shown by the width of the histogram known as contrast range or the tonal range

6. The dynamic range of your camera can record, is shown but the width of the histogram scale. If the histogram won’t fit, it’s a warning sign.

Professionals always advice to shoot in RAW format, for a very simple reason a raw digital image shall have a wider dynamic range or color gamut than the eventual final image format, and it preserves most of the information of the captured image.

While we understand the importance and advantage of Dynamic range, we also need to understand few issues when using dynamic range and the likely solution to the same.

Issue 01 – Landscape

In landscape, the sky is often much brighter than the landscape itself and no single exposure can capture both.

Solution: Landscape photographers use graduated filters to block some light and bring the bright sky back into camera’s dynamic range.

Issue 02 – Sun & Shade High Contrast
Bright sun under clear sky can produce a difference between light and shade that’s just too large for the camera to cope with.

Solution: Shoot RAW, RAW files contains extra highlight and shadow detail that you can recover later in post processing

Issue 03 – Portraits faces in shadow
Backlighting will either leave your subject’s face in shadow or if you increase the exposure will make the background blown out.

Solution: Fill-flash to lighten your subject’s face and bring the scene back into camera’s dynamic range.

Issue 04 – Dawn and Dusk and in Extreme Contrast
At sunset and twilight the sky is often so much brighter than the rest of the scene that you can’t capture the full brightness range even with camera. Also in extreme contrast situation where you have a wide extraordinary range of contrast in a scene, a range far greater than any camera’s sensor can capture. A type of situation where you have enough shadow and highlight, the camera is going to have trouble capturing the ends of that drastic range. If you choose to meter for the highlights (the bright areas), you’ll lose pretty much all the detail in the shadow areas of the scene. Try it the other way—meter for the shadows—and it’s likely you’ll end up with what are commonly called “blown out” highlights.

Solution: Use HDR, shoot the scene in a series of different exposure commonly called Bracket to capture both shadows and highlight details and then use HDR software to merge them into one image

Two Hasselblad Lunar Camera Fetches $54,500

Hasselblad-Lunar-Drawing-680x446Two photo enthusiasts at the world-famous three day-long annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance exotic car festival began bidding against each other for the chance to own an ‘Ultimate luxury’ olive wood-handled Lunar camera, crafted by the iconic camera brand. When the bid reached $28,000 neither party wanted to lose out on a Lunar, so a deal was struck for an extra camera to be auctioned – for a joint record-busting price that raised a total of $54,500 for a spina bifida charity.

The deal also included a unique set of Classic Motorsport photographs shot over decades with a Hasselblad camera by Concours Show founder and chairman, Bill Warner. Warner said: “Hasselblad is simply the ultimate camera. It’s the Mercedes-Benz, the Porsche and the Ferrari of cameras, all in one.

Michael Hejtmanek, President of Hasselblad Bron Inc. said: “We knew our new, retro-look Lunar range was compelling – especially the rich-veined olive wood edition with its advanced technology and supreme ergonomics – but for a pair of them to raise $54,500 for Spina Bifida Jacksonville at this auction is just outstanding.”

The Lunar Limited Edition is available to only 200 pieces worldwide featuring a bold red Italian leather grip with yellow gold top plate, the Lunar Limited Edition from Hasselblad is the ultimate good fortune indulgence.

However I personally feel it was still an extravagantly ridiculous shopping, not much information regarding to the Photo enthusiasts has been published yet.

Formula One Show Run on the Streets of Kuwait

F1_KuwaitInfiniti Red Bull Racing F1 car will perform in long urban track on the streets of Kuwait.  For the 1st time Infiniti Red Bull Racing Formula One Show Run Team visits Kuwait on Friday March 28th . The Quadruple Constructors’ Championship winning machine will be driven by Red Bull Junior Driver Carlos Sainz Jr. who will perform a full repertoire of donuts, burnouts and speed stretches in front of an expected 25,000 racing fans that will line the streets next to the Kuwait Towers.

Fans will welcome the Infiniti Red Bull Racing World Champion Car on an 800-meter long urban track stretching from Bneid El Gar signal light to the Kuwait Towers. The car which accelerates from 0-100km/h in 2.4 seconds will reach speeds of 250km/h and above.

In addition to the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Formula One Show Run, Kuwait will get a glimpse of Chris Pfeiffer, a four-time World Stunt Riding Champion and one of the best stunt riders in the world who will be pushing the limits with his new tricks.

This event is sponsored by Infiniti, Pirelli and is held with the cooperation of KMRC

Venue: Close to Kuwait Towers, check attached Map [Here]

Date: 28th March, 2014  Time: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

KRC International Show Jumping Championship, 2014

KRCThe Kuwait Riding Center is holding the International Show Jumping Championship for the year 2014 from March 20th to March 22nd, which will comprise two different competitions involving 180 participants running concurrently; a local competition made up of a hundred local riders will enable the local youth and beginner riders to participate. The international competition will have more than 80 more advanced riders drawn from 11 different countries across the globe, Arabs and Europeans alike, competing.

The total prize money for the whole competition amounts to Ten thousand Kuwaiti Dinars (KD10,000), the highest ever prize money to be allocated for various winners of the Show Jumping competition in Kuwait.

Dates: Thursday March 20th to Saturday March 22nd 2014

Time: 3PM to 10PM

Schedule: Download [Here]

Location: Kuwait Riding Center [Map]; Arena Layout [PDF]

How far you can take the Nokia Lumia 1020

Lumis_1020_Wedding_Shot_2Celebrity and destination wedding photographer Joe Marie Smallwood captured a real wedding in Cabo, Mexico, for the first time using only the Nokia Lumia 1020, ditching her professional equipment. The photos were released in partnership with Nokia, which is hoping to show off the power of the Lumia 1020’s camera with the gallery. The camera is the Lumia 1020’s main selling point, and if these photos have used no software other than what’s available on the smartphone, they are pretty stunning.

The Lumia 1020 features a 41-megapixel sensor, along with Pro Cam and Creative Studio applications. In both apps you can adjust White Balance, ISO, retouch certain aspects of a photo, and add other creative options.

“The quality of the photos we took at the Cabo wedding using the Lumia 1020 were crisp with a great depth of colour and totally exceeded our expectations,” said Smallwood. “The 41-megapixel sensor is pretty outstanding for a camera phone.”

You can check out the wedding Photography on her blog [here]

I’m generally asked in my workshops which is the best camera or the best lens. Well the answer is simple, don’t worry much, you as a Photographer need to be in total control, understand exposures and composition. The rest will follow suit.

Check out the Nokia Lumia 1020 Commercial