Tom Parkes is a London based corporate and editorial photographer
Monday, 5 March 2012
Client News - Streaming Zip File Delivery
Coming to the main site starting later this month a series of changes will improve the way clients view, select and download images. Many of the changes will be behind the scenes such as a move to solid state drives on the servers used to store and prepare images for download, bringing even greater speed to the service. Among the changes sure to be popular will be the ability to select a number of images in a gallery and download just those images in one go. As part of this process a streaming zip file downloader will be introduced. Previously it has only been possible to batch download an entire gallery or take the images one at a time. Hopefully the new option will not only save your time but will also end the problems a very small number of clients experienced with the present Java based batch downloader.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
First look at the D4 and D800
Earlier this week I was part of a group of professional photographers invited to Nikon UK's Kingston-upon-Thames headquarters for an advance look at the new D4 and D800 series cameras.
As you'd expect, there was a presentation covering the headline features of all three cameras together with an exclusive film shot for Nikon UK with the D800 at the end of which we were asked an interesting question given Nikon's marketing thrust of late: "How many of you are interested in the video features of the new cameras?" Around one third of the audience raised their hands. Bear in mind this was an audience of serious professionals, nevertheless I was slightly surprised. When asked how many people were undecided, the video camp expanded to around half of those present.
The decision to move away from the popular configuration of dual compact flash card slots on the D3 series came under some scrutiny from the audience. With the D4 accepting one CF card and one of the new XQD cards and the D800 one CF and one SDXC card, photographers with mixed bags of both new cameras may find themselves hitting the road with a minimum of three card readers in their laptop cases. The XQD card in the D4 is touted as the high speed future, although at the time of writing the latest 1000X CF cards from Lexar outpace XQD when it comes to card to computer transfer speeds. Furthermore, Sony is currently the monopoly manufacturer of XQD cards with Sandisk and Lexar reportedly having no plans to manufacture cards in that format. Doubtless both companies can quickly reverse that decision if the new card becomes widely adopted but the cutting edge of new formats is not always the best seat to occupy and it's a position familiar to Apple users, with Firewire 800 ports never attracting much attention from manufacturers and Thunderbolt peripherals yet to become popular. Sony has apparently promised a Thunderbolt XQD card reader will be produced, but for the time being photographers equipped with anything other than Apple's 17" MacBook Pro will be left using slower USB 2.0 XQD card readers.
The excellent EN-EL4a battery, introduced with the D2XS and used by the D3, D3S and D3X will continue to be manufactured, although as we know, it will not fit the D4 or its charger. In my view, Nikon should have worked harder to bring at least some degree of compatibility between the old and new batteries, at the very least as far as the charger is concerned. Add a second, or possibly third charger to life on the road.
The WT5 transmitter on the side of the demo D4s caught many people's imagination, in fact it's small enough to make me wonder if room couldn't have been made for it inside the body of the camera?
In the hand, the D4 feels comfortable with only the repositioning of the vertical AF on button feeling strange. The new monitor delivers a crisp and contrasty image reminiscent of the iPad's screen. In other words, superb. The old way of zooming in and out of an image has been replaced by zoom + and - buttons used together with the thumb sticks or joypad. On the subject of which the right rear controls are now becoming cramped with two thumb sticks plus the joypad. It probably would have been better to drop the joypad altogether, the thumb sticks are that good. Otherwise, everything felt fine and familiar. Focusing appeared to be very quick and accurate on static subjects. Shooting my D3S later that afternoon, AF actually felt slow by comparison with the D4
Predictably there was huge interest in the D800, so much so that by the time I had to leave I hadn't managed any hands-on time with the camera. There's very little doubt that the D800 will be a huge success for Nikon. For those of us looking over the D4, many came with the question I've previously asked here: Is the D4 a significant upgrade over the D3S? To a large extent that question remains unanswered, mainly because Nikon still doesn't appear to get photography. To be sure, they understand cameras, but the full size files or prints made from the D4 were nowhere to be seen. In fairness, globally they have made an infinitely better fist of the D800 launch with a feature type film and full size files available from the announcement date. Of the D4 we have so far seen little, at least as far as stills are concerned.
As you'd expect, there was a presentation covering the headline features of all three cameras together with an exclusive film shot for Nikon UK with the D800 at the end of which we were asked an interesting question given Nikon's marketing thrust of late: "How many of you are interested in the video features of the new cameras?" Around one third of the audience raised their hands. Bear in mind this was an audience of serious professionals, nevertheless I was slightly surprised. When asked how many people were undecided, the video camp expanded to around half of those present.
The decision to move away from the popular configuration of dual compact flash card slots on the D3 series came under some scrutiny from the audience. With the D4 accepting one CF card and one of the new XQD cards and the D800 one CF and one SDXC card, photographers with mixed bags of both new cameras may find themselves hitting the road with a minimum of three card readers in their laptop cases. The XQD card in the D4 is touted as the high speed future, although at the time of writing the latest 1000X CF cards from Lexar outpace XQD when it comes to card to computer transfer speeds. Furthermore, Sony is currently the monopoly manufacturer of XQD cards with Sandisk and Lexar reportedly having no plans to manufacture cards in that format. Doubtless both companies can quickly reverse that decision if the new card becomes widely adopted but the cutting edge of new formats is not always the best seat to occupy and it's a position familiar to Apple users, with Firewire 800 ports never attracting much attention from manufacturers and Thunderbolt peripherals yet to become popular. Sony has apparently promised a Thunderbolt XQD card reader will be produced, but for the time being photographers equipped with anything other than Apple's 17" MacBook Pro will be left using slower USB 2.0 XQD card readers.
The excellent EN-EL4a battery, introduced with the D2XS and used by the D3, D3S and D3X will continue to be manufactured, although as we know, it will not fit the D4 or its charger. In my view, Nikon should have worked harder to bring at least some degree of compatibility between the old and new batteries, at the very least as far as the charger is concerned. Add a second, or possibly third charger to life on the road.
The WT5 transmitter on the side of the demo D4s caught many people's imagination, in fact it's small enough to make me wonder if room couldn't have been made for it inside the body of the camera?
In the hand, the D4 feels comfortable with only the repositioning of the vertical AF on button feeling strange. The new monitor delivers a crisp and contrasty image reminiscent of the iPad's screen. In other words, superb. The old way of zooming in and out of an image has been replaced by zoom + and - buttons used together with the thumb sticks or joypad. On the subject of which the right rear controls are now becoming cramped with two thumb sticks plus the joypad. It probably would have been better to drop the joypad altogether, the thumb sticks are that good. Otherwise, everything felt fine and familiar. Focusing appeared to be very quick and accurate on static subjects. Shooting my D3S later that afternoon, AF actually felt slow by comparison with the D4
Predictably there was huge interest in the D800, so much so that by the time I had to leave I hadn't managed any hands-on time with the camera. There's very little doubt that the D800 will be a huge success for Nikon. For those of us looking over the D4, many came with the question I've previously asked here: Is the D4 a significant upgrade over the D3S? To a large extent that question remains unanswered, mainly because Nikon still doesn't appear to get photography. To be sure, they understand cameras, but the full size files or prints made from the D4 were nowhere to be seen. In fairness, globally they have made an infinitely better fist of the D800 launch with a feature type film and full size files available from the announcement date. Of the D4 we have so far seen little, at least as far as stills are concerned.
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Editorial Portraits 3
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| © Tom Parkes |
A thoughtful portrait, intended to be used across two pages with room for a designer to drop copy to the left of the subject. With a picture designed to be used in this way it's important that nothing important sits in the centre or "gutter" of the pages where it would be lost. There's also room for text to be placed to the right or below the subject. To light this picture I placed an SB-700 in a small softbox clamped overhead, manual control at 1/2 power, raking the subject's face with light from above and giving me f8 at ISO 200. As expected, this left the eyes in deep shadow and so I added a second SB-700 fitted with a grid at eye level to provide some fill. This flash was set to TTL and powered right down to -3 stops. Why TTL and not manual? I wanted the tiniest pop of flash and I've found that a setting of TTL -3 can produce a lower output than manual power at the lowest 1/128th setting. The shutter speed was 1/125 sec and this coupled with the aperture of f8 effectively kills the ambient light and gives me control. The only light in this picture now is added by me.
Friday, 6 January 2012
UK price for the D4 set at £4799
If you're a professional photographer, particularly in the target group of news and sports shooters you'll have had something of a moment this morning when Nikon announced the expected street price of its new flagship D4 camera. If you're not a photographer, bear in mind that news photographers will carry at least two camera bodies and sports photographers will routinely bring eight or more to major events such as the forthcoming London Olympics, deploying several as remote cameras.
Not that, on paper at least, the D4 isn't a fine camera, offering a little more resolution over the D3S but falling just short of the 40% increase that marks the point generally accepted to offer any noticeable difference in the real world. This isn't a bad thing by any account. Larger files mean more powerful computers and longer transmission times in a business where every second counts. Even photographers working without urgent deadlines will welcome this restraint on Nikon's part. As an illustration of the computing power required by the files produced by the cameras we already have, last night I converted 450 D3S NEFs into 16 Bit TIFFs for final retouching in Photoshop. That batch process alone took more than six hours.
The excellent ergonomics which characterise Nikon cameras also receive a tweak on the D4 with the addition of twin joystick controls for selecting AF points, bringing the most used controls into the same finger positions when using the vertical release.
For film makers there's also a long overdue means to monitor sound levels together with manual controls for recording level.
And that's it, the usual small changes to the focusing system and assorted minor controls excepted, most of the other changes are on the firmware side. So how do we get to £4799 when not that many years ago the then far more ground-breaking D2H was initially priced at £2500?
The answer lies partly in a move by Nikon to match Canon's asking price for the 1DX, just as the D3X was priced in line with Canon's 1DSIII model. I don't think anyone ever really believed the D3X actually cost Nikon £1500-£2000 more to manufacture than the D3S, especially when compared with Sony cameras using the same sensor. But it lies mainly in a strategic move made by Nikon with the introduction of the original D3. With the arrival of the D3, photographers were assured the old distinction of high speed versus high megapixel models was now a thing of the past, there was to be no D3X and because we were accustomed to the £3500 price of the D2X we didn't question the pricing of the 12 megapixel D3.
A pattern has developed lately of Nikon making point increments to equipment and introducing the new model at a considerably increased price. Nikon has badly misjudged the financial health of their market at a time when newspapers and magazines are closing. For anyone currently equipped with several D3S bodies, the D4 may well be the model many will choose to pass over.
Updated 7 January 2012:
It's never a simple matter to compare UK prices with those in other countries due to relative differences in the strength of the local currency and taxes but checking the website of New York based retailer B&H tonight reveals the D4 to be priced in the US at ($800) £522 more than the D3S. In the UK, the price difference is ($1960) £1280. Similar price disparities are being reported across Europe.
Not that, on paper at least, the D4 isn't a fine camera, offering a little more resolution over the D3S but falling just short of the 40% increase that marks the point generally accepted to offer any noticeable difference in the real world. This isn't a bad thing by any account. Larger files mean more powerful computers and longer transmission times in a business where every second counts. Even photographers working without urgent deadlines will welcome this restraint on Nikon's part. As an illustration of the computing power required by the files produced by the cameras we already have, last night I converted 450 D3S NEFs into 16 Bit TIFFs for final retouching in Photoshop. That batch process alone took more than six hours.
The excellent ergonomics which characterise Nikon cameras also receive a tweak on the D4 with the addition of twin joystick controls for selecting AF points, bringing the most used controls into the same finger positions when using the vertical release.
For film makers there's also a long overdue means to monitor sound levels together with manual controls for recording level.
And that's it, the usual small changes to the focusing system and assorted minor controls excepted, most of the other changes are on the firmware side. So how do we get to £4799 when not that many years ago the then far more ground-breaking D2H was initially priced at £2500?
The answer lies partly in a move by Nikon to match Canon's asking price for the 1DX, just as the D3X was priced in line with Canon's 1DSIII model. I don't think anyone ever really believed the D3X actually cost Nikon £1500-£2000 more to manufacture than the D3S, especially when compared with Sony cameras using the same sensor. But it lies mainly in a strategic move made by Nikon with the introduction of the original D3. With the arrival of the D3, photographers were assured the old distinction of high speed versus high megapixel models was now a thing of the past, there was to be no D3X and because we were accustomed to the £3500 price of the D2X we didn't question the pricing of the 12 megapixel D3.
A pattern has developed lately of Nikon making point increments to equipment and introducing the new model at a considerably increased price. Nikon has badly misjudged the financial health of their market at a time when newspapers and magazines are closing. For anyone currently equipped with several D3S bodies, the D4 may well be the model many will choose to pass over.
Updated 7 January 2012:
It's never a simple matter to compare UK prices with those in other countries due to relative differences in the strength of the local currency and taxes but checking the website of New York based retailer B&H tonight reveals the D4 to be priced in the US at ($800) £522 more than the D3S. In the UK, the price difference is ($1960) £1280. Similar price disparities are being reported across Europe.
Friday, 23 December 2011
Nikon Capture NX2 2.3 Update
NX2 made it to version 2.3 this week and it's a significant update bringing a considerable speed boost and greater responsiveness all round. The Mac version supports 64 bit kernels and if your computer boots into 32 bit mode by default but supports the 64 bit kernel, you can boot into 64 bit mode by holding down 6 and 4 at start up (6 and 4 for 64 bit, geddit?). You'll need a wired keyboard for this and you will revert to 32 bit mode at restart unless you repeat the 64 bit boot procedure.
One note of caution: for the first time at a Capture update I was asked to reenter my product key. No problem, I had a pdf of the key saved on my computer. But, as my key was an upgrade from NX1 I also needed to enter that key. Enter the NX2 key first, then the NX1 key when prompted. A search of the software cupboard yielded the rather dusty six year old NX1 box and disc but now NX2 was refusing to accept the key. After a couple of calls to Nikon technical support I was asked to email across a photograph of the original box, the disc, the key, my receipt and the pdf of my NX2 key together with the front page of that day's Telegraph. OK, I made the last bit up, but still! Message one: Don't update any critical software unless you've time to troubleshoot any problems. Message two: Don't do it if you're in one place and your boxed software is somewhere else. Message three: Download the software in future and keep the receipts and keys on your computer. It'll be much less painful and you'll be greener too.
Update: Several photographers are reporting having to enter their key four times before it would be accepted. This would be in line with my own experience. I made several attempts, contacted technical support and waited for a new key to be issued. That evening I made a fourth attempt and found my original keys were accepted. I'd assumed that Nikon had reactivated my key but it now looks as if it may be an odd bug. So, if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.
One note of caution: for the first time at a Capture update I was asked to reenter my product key. No problem, I had a pdf of the key saved on my computer. But, as my key was an upgrade from NX1 I also needed to enter that key. Enter the NX2 key first, then the NX1 key when prompted. A search of the software cupboard yielded the rather dusty six year old NX1 box and disc but now NX2 was refusing to accept the key. After a couple of calls to Nikon technical support I was asked to email across a photograph of the original box, the disc, the key, my receipt and the pdf of my NX2 key together with the front page of that day's Telegraph. OK, I made the last bit up, but still! Message one: Don't update any critical software unless you've time to troubleshoot any problems. Message two: Don't do it if you're in one place and your boxed software is somewhere else. Message three: Download the software in future and keep the receipts and keys on your computer. It'll be much less painful and you'll be greener too.
Update: Several photographers are reporting having to enter their key four times before it would be accepted. This would be in line with my own experience. I made several attempts, contacted technical support and waited for a new key to be issued. That evening I made a fourth attempt and found my original keys were accepted. I'd assumed that Nikon had reactivated my key but it now looks as if it may be an odd bug. So, if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Nikon Speedlight SB-700
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| © Tom Parkes |
In the past week I’ve added a Nikon SB-700 Speedlight to my existing set of SB-800s. This new flash refines some of the most useful features of the SB-800, drops quite a few of the least used ones and doesn’t suffer the overheating which reduces the usability of the physically larger and slightly more powerful SB-900. At the time of writing, Nikon has just announced the replacement of the SB-900 with the SB-910 which attempts to address the overheating by slowing the recycling time as the flash begins to heat.
Comparing the SB-700 with the SB-800, missing are many of the legacy flash modes, a modeling flash button and ports for wired syncing and external battery packs. The latter is not an issue for me as I no longer use external power sources with small flash and the SB-700 recycles in under two seconds with NI-MH batteries onboard. It also accomplishes this in a silence I find disconcerting, so accustomed am I to hearing the whine of a shoe mount flash and taking the ending of it as a sign that the flash is ready to go. I wonder if Nikon will consider extending the optional ready beep available in the remote modes to the shoe mounted function? It seems to me this would be possible, at least in theory, as like the SB-900, the SB-700’s firmware is updatable via a suitable camera body. On the subject of batteries, using four AA cells to achieve better performance than was previously managed with five makes the use of NI-MH cells more practical as I’ve yet to find a charger which accommodates units of five.
The SB-700’s head also (finally) rotates 180 degrees in either direction, greatly helping with both bounce flash with the speedlight in the hotshoe, orientation of the remote sensor with the master and aiming a camera mounted master at remotes. In that respect, the SB-700 makes a fine master flash, albeit of only two remote groups instead of the regular three controlled by the SB-800, SB-900 and the SU-800 remote controller. Where the SB-700 scores is in its ability to point directly at at least one remote, enhancing performance in open spaces. But more importantly it’s now possible to control remote units in manual mode in increments of 1/3 stop instead of the previous full stops.
Also new with the SB-700 are two clip-on hard plastic filters which appear to be a full CTO and a full Plus Green. With the camera in auto white balance, the filters are detected via switches on the flash which are depressed upon fitting one of the filters with the camera setting the appropriate white balance automatically. In tests, I found the setting chosen by the camera to correspond with the orange filter to be too warm for my taste, with the built in tungsten preset being more accurate and dialing in a kelvin value in the region of 2700-2800K closer still. Interestingly, the green filter sets a white balance on the camera which does match the filter well and importantly, it doesn’t seem to be one which can be simply dialed in from the preset fluorescent WB menu. How useful this will be in the field remains to be seen as fluorescent light sources have changed considerably since colour scientists in Rochester chiseled the 40CC Magenta filtration on camera maxim into the surface of the first 18 percent grey card. Given today’s real world mystery-vapour lamps it’s often worth trying the CTO first. But the new filter/WB combo means we now have an extra option open to us in the war against discontinuous spectra.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Sea project continued...
Four more images from the sea project. The first is the beach huts at Ferring. Huts like these are currently on the market for £12,000. The second two images are seascapes, one immediately before and one after a squall and the final image is of a type 26 pillbox, one of the last remaining on the south coast. The pillbox was actually my intended target but it will take some thought to extract an interesting image from a concrete cube. This is a preliminary sketch though. By the time I'd variously sheltered from the worst of the weather, given advice on photography to dog walkers and waited for an interesting sky the light had passed. More to come on this one.
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| © Tom Parkes |
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| © Tom Parkes |
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| © Tom Parkes |
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| © Tom Parkes |
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