Mois : juillet 2024

(Warning – Canon info follows…)

Canon have just announced two new camera bodies, both full-frame, the R1 and the R5ll

For once I have to agree with Jared Polin in his analysis of the R1 – this is announced as a ‘Flagship’ camera body – a bit like the NIKON Z9 but it’s anything but.

I have no particular axe to grind with Canon – I don’t own a Canon, and having grown up with NIKON it seemed perfectly reasonable to continue using them (particularly as they DID NOT change their lens mount when AF (auto focus) and then digital became the rage…unlike Canon…

Anyway, the camera body costs MORE than the Z9, has a less dense sensor (25mp instead of 45mp) and aside from (according to Polin) a stunning new auto focus, has not got anything else that makes it that interesting…

Polins attitude is to call it an R3ll – sadly, I’m not really up to date on any Canon models, so I have no idea what he’s talking about – suffice it to say both models are more expensive, and less interesting in terms of innovation, than their NIKON equivalents.

It also seems that Canon lenses are considerably more expensive than their NIKON equivalents – are they better? I simply can’t say – but frankly, NIKON lenses are A: pretty good, and B: expensive enough for me !

An example – the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM costs 3199€ on the Canon site with the equivalent the NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S costing 2399€ on the NIKON site.

I can’t help reading between the lines with regard to Canons (lack of ) development on the consumer/pro camera bodies – they seem to be spending more time and money developing their video base – this could be very useful to the videastes amongst us, however less useful for the interchangeable lens camera body crowd…

This article is about why photographers have so many lenses, bodies etc.

I mean, women can have 37 handbags and no-one bats an eye, but a photographer with three cameras? How does he hold them all at the same time?

A case in point – I use four camera bags – each has a different camera body inside, fitted with an ‘appropriate’ lens for whatever it is I’ve decided the camera generally will be used for.

I simply can’t get my head around ‘DX’ or half-frame (24 x 16mm) film / sensor format – sure the quality is there, but I have to make such a lot of calculations regarding angles, depth of field etc. I prefer to stick with one format – ‘FX’ or 24 x 36mm where I know instinctively what I will obtain with regard to focal length and / or depth of field.

1st bag – NIKON Z6-ll – 24mp sensor, extremely sensitive in low light, small and very portable, generally using the f/4 group of lenses – 14-30, 24-70 and more recently, the 24-200. Very well adapted to travelling as I can fit all that, and more, into one carry-on bag.

2nd Bag – NIKON Zf – 24mp sensor, very compact ‘retro’ style – perfect for street photography. This bag is really quite small but I still manage the 28mm SE and the 40mm SE and a few batteries etc.

3rd bag – NIKON Z8 – 45,7mp sensor – general do-anything camera fitted with one of the f/2.8 triplet (14-24, 24-70, 70-200) Physically a little larger than the Z6-ll but as with all my camera bodies, all the buttons are in the right (same) places so changing cameras doesn’t phase me. Often used for ‘work’ as the low light capacity (despite what the people on the Nikon Rumors site say) is excellent, and when treated in Lightroom there’s nothing else needed. I’ve also been known to bolt-on the 100-400 which makes a very well balanced piece of kit. As with the Z9, this camera body does not have a mechanical shutter which makes it very discrete – I’ve had artists ask why I haven’t used my camera at all during a performance !!

4th bag – NIKON Z9 – 45,7mp sensor like the Z8 – this I use principally for circus/concert work as the battery lasts forever, and with a 512Gb memory card (actually 2 !) I can shoot practically all day without stopping. Same comments regarding the low-light/noise etc. as the Z8 – with a little tweaking (I have created a pre-set in LR) the files are perfectly useable up to huge enlargement sizes. The ‘standard’ lens for my circus work is the 24-120 f/4 S which is lightyears ahead of it’s old AF-S brother, thankfully.

I have large hands and the Z9 fits perfectly – for me it’s all a question of ergonomics – if you can’t hold the camera comfortably, or your fingers don’t fall easily on the buttons you regularly need, than it’s time for a rethink.

I’ve held Canon cameras a few times, and to me the position of the controls is not as intuitive as with the recent NIKONS – this is not to say that I couldn’t eventually get used to a change, but given that I’ve been using modern DSLR and more recently mirrorless cameras since the early part of the century, I see no reason to change now – and to what advantage?

Yesterday the new Canon R1 was announced – this is supposed to be the Canon equivalent of the Z9 – it isn’t – far from it. Yes, some Canon lenses are very good indeed – much as their pricing seems to be pretty exotic too.

No, I think I’ll stay where I am – better the devil you know… after all !

Acting on A: a hunch, and B: info from the mairie, I decided to plonk myself on ‘my’ hill in an attempt to photograph the RAFALE jet or jets overflying the Cathedrale in Auch.

This has become an almost regular occurence as the jets, based at Mont de Marsan, make their way up to Paris for the 14th July celebrations and Auch is on their way so they make a low pass over the city.

It was warm last Sunday, and I was prepared…

Camera on monpod, hat on head – what could go wrong?

For the technically minded, this was the camera setup

The flypast was scheduled for 11h30 – in the past the timing has been anything but vague – true military precision. However, by 11h45 I was beginning to get a little concerned. My camera was sending me messages about a ‘hot card’ (relating to the temperature of the memory card) which wasn’t too surprising considering I had no shade and the camera body is black…

I had set the ‘rafale’ mode at 15 frames per second so as not to worry about missing the airplane – these things move so damn fast – and interestingly the ‘hot card’ (I later discovered) was more a warning that the fps setting wouldn’t be maintained as the card didn’t have a sufficiently high write speed…

In any event, the jets did not manifest themselves, and all I managed was a light plane (a Robin DR-400) towing a glider (a Schleicher ASH-25)

Interesting but not what I was there for.

When I arrived home we prepared lunch, and at 12h45 a single RAFALE roared over Auch on it’s way north… glad I didn’t wait!

Thom Hogan has recently published a very thought provoking article on his site entitled « Do You Know What’s Automated and How? »

Sadly I have to say that this is the first time I’ve found myself in total disagreement with what he has written.

The bulk of the article is interesting and brings to light what photographers often think, but rarely comment on, all the ‘automated’ bits added to seemingly simple setup parameters. These are done by the camera companies (for whatever reason) and the frustrating thing is that most people either have no idea that they exist, or knowing they exist, don’t know how to get around the problems that they pose. I think it’s important to point this out, and kudos to Thom for doing so, and so clearly.

However, the thing that I don’t agree with is this comment:

« ….but I think I’ve made my point: you need to know what all the automation is doing and whether its going to impact other things you need the camera to do. So:

1. Figure out all the settings you use that do automatic things in the background.
2. Figure out whether you need that automation or not.
3. Figure out what side-impacts the automation may have on your results. »

I’m sorry Thom, while the first phrase is completely correct (to me) it’s also pretty much impossible to achieve without knowing EXACTLY what automatism has been applied/used to each menu item.

Item 1 – How am I supposed to « Figure out all the settings you use that do automatic things in the background. »

If we were to have a list of default values for EVERY menu setting, this would go some way to allowing us to choose…but I can’t see any manufacturer taking the time to produce a manual for it.