Smart Photography 201407

TUTORIALSHOW TO SHOOT LIGHTNING

MOTION BLUR WITH ND FILTERS

ISSUE 4VOLUME 10

JULY 2014

RS.125

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

INTERVIEW KANE LEW PROFILE VAIBHAV JAGUSTE SP READER SURVEY RESULT

REVIEWS: CANON G1X MARK II ● NIKON COOLPIX P340 ● TAMRON 16-300MM LENS ● SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 SMARTPHONE

INDIA’S NUMBER 1 IMAGING MAGAZINE!

PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUES DEMYSTIFYING COLOUR SPACES

PRO SHOTS WITH MINIMUM LIGHTS

INDIA EXCLUSIVEREVIEWS

FUJIFILM XT1SONY A77 II

• World’s First 4k Video recording • Ultra high speed technology• Versatile AF functions respond precisely to user’s intentions • Dual speed OLED displays – LVF and Monitor • Worldwide broadcast system support

Corporate Office: Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd, Consumer Sales Division, No. 88, 6th Floor, SPIC Building, Annex, Guindy, Mount Road, Chennai - 600032, Ph.: +91-44-22301952/ 22304100, Fax: +91-44-22301951. Marketing Office: Delhi/NCR: First Floor, ABW Tower, IFFCO Chowk, MG Road, Sec.25, Gurgaon - 122001. Ph.: +91-124-4999666. AVAILABLE AT ALL AUTHORISED PANASONIC DEALERS. For more, contact: North: Hardeep Singh Sarna: 09560508352, West 1: Ajitesh Swarup: 07738162200, West 2: Sachin Vyas: 09825362798, East: Sougata Chakarborty: 09831746006, South: G Muralidharna: 08754504068

Service Helpline: 1800 103 1333 www.panasonic.com/[email protected]

www.facebook.com/panasonicindiawww.twitter.com/panasonicindia

INSIST ON A PANASONIC INDIAWARRANTY CARD

Presenting the stunning Lumix GH4 with world’s first 4k video recording. Prepare for images that impress and videos that inspire.

It is not in our DNA to praise ourselves

– on this one occasion, we will make an

exception. The SP reader survey in the April

2014 issue drew a rousing response and the

findings were both heart-warming and useful.

A whopping 54% considered SP to be the best

magazine and a number of readers had actually

switched to SP in the last year. Better content

and impartial views were the reasons why 72%

readers preferred SP over the competition. In

other words, credibility of SP content and views

played a huge part.

We thank all the respondents who participated

in the survey and reiterate the commitment

to producing the best photo magazine in India,

by far.

H. S. Billimoria

WE ARE GLUED TO THE GLOBAL

IMAGING INDUSTRY

Our team is updated with all the benchmarks

and road blocks that the fi eld of photography

and imaging across the globe experiences.

Th is helps us record the changes in the global

perspective, thus making us the fi rst to predict

which products will be a rage in the Indian

markets.

WE’RE IMPARTIAL

Loyalty towards our readers is a given, and

their best interests are always on our mind.

Every verdict is honest and not infl uenced by

advertisers or personal favorites. So when we say

a product is a ‘BEST BUY’, then, it is just that!

OUR TESTS ARE CONDUCTED BY

EXPERTS

All equipment go through a series of tests at the

hands of our experts. Our reviewers are experts

in the fi eld of photography across the country

and have many years of experience. Th at

gives us the foresight to distinguish between

a passing trend and a big change in the fi eld

of photography and imaging. And fi nally, our

reviews are not extended to just fi ll up the pages!

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU

Th ere is no debate on why we are here. Our sole

goal is to provide you options and better your

judgement in product purchase while, sharing

tips and tricks to improve your images. Our

biggest joy is in building a bridge between you

and your perfect picture!

HERE’S WHAT

MAKES US

Views and opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Next Gen Publishing Ltd. Next Gen Publishing does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without adequate postal stamps for return postage. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in part or full without the prior express writt en permission of the publisher. Printed by Girish Mallya, Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Published by Girish Mallya on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd, 1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20. Published at Next Gen Publishing Ltd., Trade World, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Kamala Mills Compound,

Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013. Copyright 2006 SMART PHOTOGRAPHYAll readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. Smart Photography does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. Th e editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.

Editor – Hoshang S Billimoria

July 2014 Smart Photography 5www.smartphotography.in

WELCOME

EDITORHoshang S. Billimoria

TECHNICAL EDITORRohinton Mehta

SENIOR CORRESPONDENTSujith Gopinath

COPY EDITORTanika Godbole

PHOTOGRAPHYMahesh Reddy

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Atul D. Bandekar

DESIGNNandkishor Sawant

ADVERTISE DESIGNSanjay Awad, Shubham Rohatgi

PRODUCTION Dinesh Bhajnik, Deepak Narkar, Ravi Parmar

PUBLISHERGirish Mallya

PRODUCT MANAGERPerseus Master

HEAD OFFICE - MUMBAI2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai 400013

Tel: + 91 22 43525252 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: [email protected]

CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTIONSanjeev Roy (Asst. Operations Manager) Sachin Kelkar (Subscription Supervisor)

Tel: + 91 22 43525220 Fax: + 91 22 24955394 Email: [email protected]

Apple Newsstand & Magzter Queries: [email protected] Subscriptions Queries: htt p://in.zinio.com/help/index.jsp

For Pocket Mags Queries: [email protected]

MARKETING OFFICESAhmedabad

305, 3rd Floor, AEON Complex, Near Angira Society, Vijay Cross Roads, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009

Tel: + 91 79 26405061/2/3Bengaluru

Unit No. 509, 5th Floor ‘B’ Wing, Mitt al Towers, MG Road, Bangalore -560001, Tel: +91 80 66110116/17 Fax: + 91 80 41472574

ChennaiUnit No. 20, 3rd Floor, Modern Towers, No. 35/23 West Cott Road,

Royapett ah, Chennai 600014. Tel: + 91 44 39149889 Fax: + 91 44 39149892New Delhi

26-B, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase-III, New Delhi - 110020. Tel: +91 11 4234 6600 / 6678 Fax: + 91 11 4234 6679

Pune401B, Gandhi Empire, 2, Sareen Estate, Kondhwa Road, Pune 411040.

Tel: + 91 20 32930291 Fax: + 91 20 26830465Hyderabad

Richard G.C., Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation), Mobile no. 09949217127Kolkata

Vidyasagar Gupta Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation), Mobile no. 09804085683

#1

6 Smart Photography July 2014 www.smartphotography.in

Contents ISSUE 112 / JULY 2014



ISSUE 4VOLUME 10

JULY 2014

RS.125

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY








Cover credits: Ketan Kale

Just a moment!Readers can find the updated Buyer’s Guide, log on http://smartphotography.in/news/monthly-special

Smart Photography thanks the readers who participate in the Picture of the Month contest. We would like to bring to your attention a few changes in the rules for submission. From now on, you may send in your images with the longer side measuring atleast 17 inches. Please note that the images have to be horizontal. This permits readers to submit panoramic shots, which was not possible with the current size of 17 x 11 inches.

REGULARS

08 Mail Bag

10 News Watch

30 Picture of the Month

146 Tidbits

34 KaleidoscopeA platform for budding photographers

to exhibit their talent and get noticed!

40 Showcase A photographic profile of the person

behind the lens

46 If I Were YouOur expert comments on how your pic-

tures can be taken to another level

49 Ask Uncle RonnieYour photo queries answered by Uncle

Ronnie

54 MasterCraftsman The masters of the craft share their

insights and photographs

54

34


SUBSCRIPTION OFFERpage23

REVIEWSLEARNINGS

62 Buying Second-Hand

Cameras

68 Colour Spaces are not

Empty Spaces

72 Using Minimum Lights

80 Lightning Photography

84 Motion Blur with ND Filter

88 CANON POWERSHOT G1 X MARK II

94 Sony Alpha 77 II

99 Nikon Coolpix P340

103 Fujifilm XT1

108 Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II

VC PZD Macro Advantage 4515

111 Samsung Galaxy S5

72 80

MAILBAG


Write to us at:

Mail Bag

Smart Photography,

Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati

Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013.

E-mail: [email protected]



ISSUE 4VOLUME 10

JULY 2014

RS.125

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY


112







Learning is funSmart Photography is not only about stunning photographs, it is about ‘edutainment’. ‘Sunrise/Sunset photography’ (Learning, May 2014) was a well-researched piece of writing by Rohinton Mehta. I just loved your efforts to start a basic course in photography for beginners like me. I appreciated Ashok Kandimalla’s article on autofocus, one of the elementary aspects in the art of photography. Keep them coming and there will be a whole lot of budding shutterbugs keenly awaiting every issue.

Srinath H. R.

Accessible Elite

I look forward to the pictures clicked by talented photographers in every issue. I learn by observing how the images of the ‘Master Craftsmen’ are composed. Thank you for making their work so accessible.

Atul Gupta.

Package Deal

I am a regular and eager reader of Smart Photography . I love leafing through the images in this magazine, learning more about places and people as photographers see through their lens. The June 2014 issue particularly was very engrossing for its high quality pictures, choice of topics and editorial content. Mr Rohinton Mehta’s patient guidance on how to make a picture better by making a few small corrections is something I always look forward to. The magazine also enables me to keep myself abreast of news from the Business and International world of photography. Apart from this, I am very happy to see the exposure Smart Photography provides to talented budding photographers on the same platform as where it publishes the work of stalwarts in photography.

I had just a small request. Dilip Yande’s article on photographing fabrics perhaps would make better sense to me if I could see a picture of the fabric taken under normal lighting conditions, so that I could differentiate between the normal one and the one with Dilip Yande’s lighting plans.

Ipsita Sarkar

NEWS International


Sony will be launching a high-end digicam, the RX100 III. This is the

third model in the RX100 series. This camera features a built-in OLED viewfinder and an LCD monitor which tilts upwards by 180 degrees for self-portraits, and downwards by 45 degrees for high-angle shots. It has Full HD video capturing capability on XAVC S format (this is the first Cyber-shot camera to do so). It can capture still images in 4K resolution with the Triluminous Colour support feature when connected to a 4K television. The RX100 III will offer a 1-inch Type 20 MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor, a 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 Vario Sonar T*

SNIPPETS

Canon India will increase the network of its retail store Canon Image Square to 300 by December 2015 to boost the growing D-SLR sales. Currently there are 110 stores in India. Th e company holds around 45% market share in the D-SLR camera business. Canon India is growing at a rate of 10% per year in India, 50% in D-SLR camera segment.

Panasonic has decided to exit the OLED business because it cannot expect to raise profi tability, considering the high production cost. Panasonic will sell the business to Japan Display Inc., the world’s largest LCD maker for Smartphones and Tablets.

According to rumours, Olympus will soon announce a new Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 MFT lens for $1,800.

Sony to launch Cyber-shot RX100 III

NFC compatibility, Lock-on AF etc. The expected street price is 88,000 Yen.

zoom lens and a BIONZ X image processing engine. It will also feature Wi-Fi and

101x60.8x29.4mm and weighs about 230g, including battery and memory card.

Nikon announced that it will launch a new entry-level model in the Nikon 1 Series, the S2, in June. It features a CX-format 1-inch Type 14 MP CMOS sensor. The camera has high-speed AF capability without low-pass filter, an EXPEED 4 image processing engine, a 3-inch TFT LCD monitor and full HD movie recording at 1920x2080/60p. The camera can take continuous shots at 20 fps during AF tracking, just like the V3 and J4. It measures

The expected street price for a camera and zoom lens kit is 60,000 Yen.

Nikon to add S2 model to 1 Series

NEWS International


Sony will be launching its latest full-size sensor D-SLR camera, the Alpha 7S. The camera was first announced at the NAB show as a professional-use 4K HDMI output capable model. The A7S offers a 12 MP full-frame EXMOR CMOS sensor, ISO settings ranging from 100 to 102400 (the expandable ISO range is 50 to 406900). The

company says that the newly developed image sensor provides users with better performance in any kind of light, from severe low light to bright sunlight. It has a BIONZ X image processor and front-end LSI that accelerates processing and creates images with more detail, richer tones and lower noise for capturing stills and movies.

Olympus to release

Stylus TG-3 Olympus Corp. announced that it will debut a flagship model in the Tough series, the Stylus TG-3, starting early June. The compact camera is water-proof till 15 metres, shock-proof from a fall of up to 2.1m and can endure temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius. It features a 1/2.3-inch Type 16 MP CMOS sensor and a 25-100mm f/2.0-4.9 4x zoom lens. The TG-3 has a 3-inch LCD monitor, incorporating GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity. The macro photo

capability is improved to include a microscope mode that boosts images by 6.9x on the telephoto end and

13.6x at the macro end. The camera will become available in early June at an expected street price of 48,000 Yen.

Kenko Tokina introduces Flash Clamp and Rocking ArmKenko Tokina Co. introduced a flash clamp and rocking arm for fixing lighting equipment using a clamp. This auxiliary photo accessory can be fixed on a pole or bar up to 5cm thick, and a strobe or LED light can be fixed on the universal quick shoe. Between the clamp and the universal shoe is a rocking arm with a ball-joint, allowing free adjustment. The company has not announced a price yet.

Sony to launch A7S

NEWS International


Canon and others to expand Interchangeable Lens Line-up

Japan’s major camera brands are changing their marketing

strategies from volume sale to profit gains by expanding their interchangeable lens line-up and maintenance services to avoid price competition. Canon plans to introduce 10 new lens models during 2014. The company will release two new lenses to begin with in June—the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM for professionals

and the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM for general use. Both are ultra-wide zoom lenses. Canon has stationed some 30% more repair staff in the Oita factory in order to shorten the repair lead-time. Claim or complaint information from its customers will be passed on to the product development team for improving products.

Sony will concentrate

on the 35mm format interchangeable lenses and special interest lenses such as macro or ultra-wide. Olympus Imaging will expand free lens-cleaning services. Ricoh Imaging will mobilize its showroom in Tokyo and let out camera models and lenses to increase users and offer more photography classes, which were held over 300 times in the fiscal year 2013.

The Camera Journal Press Club (CJPC) of Japan has selected Nikon Df as the Camera of the Year and the Nikon lens AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G as the Lens of the Year, for 2014. Nikon Df won the Readers Award which was selected by the magazine’s readers via polls. Out of the four Grand Prix prizes, Nikon won three. Editor’s Choice Awards were given to the Olympus OM-D EM-1, Canon EOS 70D and Ricoh Theta.

JJC has launched two new products in India. JJC ES-898 Easy Switch Controller, which allows you to trigger your camera through your Smartphone, has been released. It requires a JJC Shutter Release Cable (separate purchase required) to connect to your camera. It can then be connected to a Smartphone via Bluetooth. Th e Easy Switch Controller has three modes: Manual Shot, Timer Shot and Scheduled Timer Remote.

Th e JJC Electronic Speedlight has seven fl ash power levels to allow brightness adjustment. Th e SF33 comes with a control panel on the back of the unit. Th ere are three diff erent working modes—Manual, Slave A and Slave B. Th e rotating head can be tilted up to 90 degrees and rotated horizontally 180 degrees to the left or 90 degrees to the right. Th e SF33 has a high temperature protection and power save function. Th e recycling time of the battery is about 3 seconds.

Nissin to off er i40

Strobe for Micro

Four-Th irdsNissin has already offered the Speedlite i40 for Nikon and Canon D-SLRs. Now the company is offering the same for cameras in Micro-Four Thirds format from June 12 through its online shop and Koenji Store at the price of 19,800 Yen. Online marketing via amazon.com will follow shortly. To know more, visit www.nissin-japan.com.

Nikon wins three awards at the Camera Grand Prix 2014

JJC releases Easy Switch Controller and Speedlight Flash

NEWS International


Nakatani re-elected JPEAI PresidentJapan Photo-Imaging Enterprises Association International (JPEAI) held its 41st Annual Conference on June 9 at JCII Building in Tokyo and re-elected Koichiro Nakatani as President for another two-year term. All the directors and executive directors were unanimously re-elected as follows: President—Koichiro Nakatani, Velbon Corp; Vice President—Maho Suzuki, Tohkai Sangyo Co; Auditor—Etsuro Koboro, Kobori Mfg Co. The elected Directors are: Tetsuko Aoshima (Ms), Aspen Corp, Takemasa Kambara, Image Trends Japan Inc; Tosh Komamura, Komamura Corp; Norio

Nagai, Nabell Corp; Akirou Mitsui, Nissei Commerce Ltd; Chikara Goto, Nissin Industrial Co; Tatsutoshi Hagiwara, Sankyou Optical Industrial Co; Kazuto Yamaki, Sigma Corp; Morio Ono, Tamron Co; Daijiro Jin, Tapak International Inc; Shigemitsu Otsuki, Universe Optical Industrial Co. The Special Advisors are James Chung, IPC; Yasunori Ichikawa, Japan Camera Museum and the Executive Director is Machiko Ouchi (Ms).

Mr. Nakatani addressed the member audience that JPEAI will continue to serve for the benefit of members by

issuing newsletters in English and Japanese, collecting information centering on imaging industries and imaging related fields. A monthly meeting called the JPEAI Collaboration Forum will be conducted to seek new business relationships, boost ties and existing relationships among members and welcoming new companies.

Mr. Nakatani presented IPC/Yatomi Scholarship award certificate and scholarship of $1,000 to Mr. Shinnosuke Suzuki, Tokai University on behalf of IPC. Mr. Suzuki won the scholarship by his

essay entitled “Volumetric 3D display using rotating screens.” He proposed a more effective way of displaying 3D images from all directions without using special eyeglasses.

The keynote speech was presented by Mr. Akira Naito, ex-Professor from Tokyo Polytechnic University. Mr. Naito recently retired from the University and presented his last spherical lecture,which was shared with the JPEAI members at this conference. The title was “Forty years of history in imaging—from film to filmless phase”.

The European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) is the association

of 50 special interest magazines from 20 European countries.

In June each year, the editors-in-chief from all EISA member magazines meet to decide which of the products analyzed in their publications during the

past year deserve the EISA Award. The six categories are: Audio, Video, Home Theatre, Photography, In-Car Electronics Electronics and

Mobile Devices.

The winners in the Photography category for the year 2013-14 are as follows:

EISA Awards

European Camera : Nikon D7100

European Advanced Camera : Sony Alpha SLT-99

European SLR Camera : Canon EOS 100D

European Advanced SLR Camera : Canon EOS 6D

European Compact System Camera : Samsung NX300

European Advanced Compact System Camera : Olympus PEN E-P5

European Compact Camera : Sony Cybershot DSC-HX50/HX50V

European Advanced Compact Camera : Fujifilm X100S

European Travel Camera : Olympus TOUGH TG-2

European Lens : Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Macro 1:1

European Professional Lens : Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x

European Zoom Lens : Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD

European Compact System Lens : ZEISS Touit 2.8/12

European Compact System Zoom lens : Panasonic LUMIX G Vario 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6

European Photo Innovation : Samsung Galaxy NX

European Photo Software : DxO Optics Pro 8

European Photo-Video Camera : Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3

European Photo-Video Accessory : Manfrotto MVH500AH

European Action Cam : GoPro HERO3 Black Edition


NEWS Business

Panasonic Corp. announced that its consolidated net profi t turned black for the fi rst time in three

years during fi scal 2013-14. Th e profi t came to 120.44 billion Yen (US$1.204 billion) from the previous year’s loss of 754.2 billion Yen. Th is was due to streamlining businesses such as withdrawing from the cellphone business and plasma panel production, and the weakened Yen. Total sales rose by 5.9% to 7.736 trillion Yen. Th e company now anticipates a 16% group net profi t gain to 140 billion Yen for the current fi scal year which ends in March 2015. It expects sales will level to 7.75 trillion Yen and operating profi t will rise by 1.6% to 310 billion Yen. Th e company intends to

ramp up its earnings by shift ing focus to growth fi elds such as automotive equipment and housing business, centering on solar panel and batteries.

However, the company will still rely on cost cuts to raise operating profi t. Reforms of various businesses including its restructured fl at-panel operations are raising profi ts. Th ey will make up for setbacks such as the sale of healthcare operations and the ending of bonus cuts. Th e unprofi table LCD panel and electronic parts operations are among the potential targets for restructuring. It recently said it will sell its telecommunications equipment parts business to an American fi rm in August.

According to the outlook for shipment plans of digital cameras for fi scal 2014 released by Japan’s major suppliers, total shipment will fall by 22.7% year-on-year to 48.14 million units. Rapid and widespread use of Smartphones equipped with cameras eroded the demand

for digital cameras, all-in-one compact models in particular. Camera makers are shift ing their focus from compacts to interchangeable lens-system cameras with specifi c features such as super zoom lenses and continuous shooting capabilities.

Seiko Epson announced that the operating profi t for fi scal 2013-14 quadrupled over the previous year to 84.9 billion Yen. Sales

rose by 18% to 1.08 trillion Yen. Th e net profi t turned black to 83.6 billion Yen from a loss of 10 billion Yen in the previous year. Th e company attributed this performance to improved profi tability due to the weak Yen. Sales of new inkjet printers with a larger ink tank specifi cally developed for emerging economies went well. In the domestic market of Japan, advance purchase of products in March before the consumption tax hike helped increase profi ts further. Th e company expects sales of 1.1 trillion Yen and a recurring profi t of 88 billion Yen in their outlook for fi scal 2014-15. Net profi t may decline by 22% to 65 billion Yen.

OLED televisions, which were once expected to become the mainstream successor to LCD TVs are losing favour among TV manufacturers, as high costs take their toll and models using liquid crystal displays decline in price and improve in quality.

Panasonic, which uses printing technology to make OLED displays, began joint development with Sony in 2012. The partnership was dissolved last year and Panasonic pursued the business on its own for medical and other applications. It originally planned to start mass production in fiscal 2015 but has recently decided to postpone it to fiscal 2016 or later. The difficulty of reducing production costs has turned out to be a major setback.

Sony also does not see the demand for OLED TVs taking off any time soon. The company will freeze OLED development for now and focus on medical and broadcast applications. Sony intends to expand its line-up of 4K TVs using LCD technology. The company currently enjoys a leading share in the global market in this field.

Samsung has scrapped plans to build production lines for OLED panels for TVs. It will not release any new OLED sets.

Worldwide shipments of OLED TVs came to 4,000 units in 2013, just 1.6% of what had been predicted in spring 2012, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Resurgent Panasonic to Head

for Auto-sector, Machinery

Shipment plans from Japan’s

Major D-Cam Makers for

Fiscal 2014

EPSON posts

4x growth in

operating profi t

Manufacturers turning away

from OLED TVs

D-cam Shipment Outlook for FY2014/15Outlook in K units

Firm Total % DSLR %Canon 18100 87 7,600 99Nikon 14400 85 5400Sony 8000 70 - -Fujifi lm 2,000 43 - -Panasonic 2610 80 - -Olympus 1,630 51 63 -Casio 1400 74 -Total 48140 77 -

%=year-on-year change. -: not unveiled.

Fiscal year ends in March except for Canon (which ends in December)


Transcend Information launched the JetDrive Lite series of expansion cards,

meant for MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air

users. With four different models offered in 64GB and 128GB capacities, the cards increase available storage for media.

With their substantial amount of storage space, Transcend’s JetDrive Lite expansion cards provide plenty of space to backup, store, and carry personal documents, photos, movies, and music. The 128GB card, for instance, can store over 60,000 high-resolution photos, 32,000 MP3 songs, 32 hours of Full HD video, or a large number of documents. When inserted into the card slot of a compatible MacBook Pro with Retina display or MacBook Air, the low-profile JetDrive Lite will not stick out like an SD card and can be left in place for on-the-go storage. Manufactured with MLC NAND flash chips, JetDrive Lite expansion cards have read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s

and 60MB/s respectively. The JetDrive Lite expansion cards are equipped with built-in ECC (error correction code), which automatically corrects potential transfer errors, and utilizes a wear-leveling algorithm for consistent operation. The cards are manufactured using a special COB (Chip-on-Board) technique, making them completely resistant to dust and water.

The JetDrive Lite Series of expansion cards are available in 64GB (Rs.2,899) and 128GB (Rs. 5,799) capacities. All Transcend memory cards are fully tested for compatibility and reliability, and carry Transcend’s renowned Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Transcend launches JetDrive expansion cards

Transcend Information launched the JetDrive Lite series of expansion cards,

meant for MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air

users. With four different models offered in 64GB and 128GB capacities, the cards increase available storage for media.

With their substantial amount of storage space, Transcend’s JetDrive Lite expansion cards provide plenty of space to backup, store, and carry personal documents, photos, movies, and music. The 128GB card, for instance, can store over 60,000 high-resolution photos, 32,000 MP3 songs, 32 hours of Full HD video, or a large number of documents. When inserted into the card slot of a compatible MacBook Pro with Retina display or MacBook Air, the low-profile JetDrive Lite will not stick out like an SD card and can be left in place for on-the-go storage. Manufactured with MLC NAND flash chips, JetDrive Lite expansion cards have read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s

and 60MB/s respectively. The JetDrive Lite expansion cards are equipped with built-in ECC (error correction code), which automatically corrects potential transfer errors, and utilizes a wear-leveling algorithm for consistent operation. The cards are manufactured using a special COB (Chip-on-Board) technique, making them completely resistant to dust and water.

The JetDrive Lite Series of expansion cards are available in 64GB (Rs.2,899) and 128GB (Rs. 5,799) capacities. All Transcend memory cards are fully tested for compatibility and reliability, and carry Transcend’s renowned Limited Lifetime Warranty.

www.photokina.com

When the global leading industry fair opens in autumn 2014, the entire photo world will be

casting its eyes on Cologne. photokina is the centre of attraction for experts from the industry

and trade, for manufacturers, service providers, professional users and photo enthusiasts.

For good reason: This is the only show at which the many worlds of imaging are repre-

sented in all their facets – from taking photos to saving them, from processing to printing.

When the worldwide business meets up to network, you shouldn’t be missing: Be there

and discover new trends and technical innovations fi rst-hand !

The must-attend event for professionals.

DISCOVER THE MANY WORLDS OF IMAGING.

COLOGNE | SEPTEMBER 16–21

Buy ticketsonline and save up

to 40 % !photokina.com

Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt. Ltd. · Offi ce # 1102, 11th Floor · DLH Park, Opp. MTNL offi ce · S. V. Road, Goregaon (West)

Mumbai – 400062 · Tel: +91-22-28715206 · Fax: +91-22-28715222 · [email protected]

Transcend launches JetDrive expansion cards


Canon and Toshiba to co-operate

in 3D Memory Development

According to a media report, Canon and Toshiba are co-

operating in the development of 3D flash memory production technology. This is regarded as next-generation technology to deal with huge memory capacity for storing data by stacking thin memory layers vertically. Toshiba plans to begin quantity production of the 3D memory drives

at their Yokkaichi factory in 2016. Production of new high-quality 3D memory to be co-developed with Canon will start in 2017. The companies aim to expand memory capacity up to 1 terabyte by 2019.

Samsung Electronics of Korea has already started producing 3D memories. Canon and Toshiba will try to catch up with and take

over Samsung with their expertise together. The 3D memory technology is a new breed and is not established yet. Toshiba, which is the No. 2 following Samsung in the global flash memory market with a 32% share, intends to take the lead by co-operating with Canon which has acquired technology for enlarging memory capacity through purchase of a US semiconductor company.

Kodak narrows First Quarter lossfor 2014Kodak narrowed the fi rst quarter loss for 2014 at $36 million on a comparable basis to the year 2013. Th is was an improvement from last year’s loss of $54 million for the same period. Sales for the fi rst quarter in 2014 were $284 million. Compared to last year’s sales of $594 million, there was a decline of 19%.

Samsung leadsGlobal Smart-watchmarketSamsung accounted for 71% of the global market for smart-watches in the fi rst quarter of 2014. Th e company shipped 500,000 units of smart-watches over the fi rst three months this year, according to Strategy Analytics. Samsung had 52.4% of the market share in 2013 while Song and Pebble of the US each held 11.4% market share.

Olympus looks for new marketsOlympus is looking for new markets such as camera sensors and used motor vehicles. According to the Chief Executive Offi cer Hiroyuki Sasa, Olympus will spend about 3.5 billion Yen on its quest to develop business and to fi nd markets for its cameras. Mr. Sasa said that the camera unit will return to profi t in fi scal year 2015.

Dentsu ties up with PinterestDentsu, Japan’s largest advertising agency has tied up with the Japanese unit of Pinterest, a photo-sharing social network, to off er a new way to promote sales among members of Pinterest. Dentsu opened a site related to Japanese dishes on Pinterest to attract those who are interested in food and cooking. Dentsu plans to open the same for fashion, sundry goods etc.

NEWS Business

Japan’s 6 Major OA Makers expect profi t for Fiscal 2014

Nikon appoints New President

A media report compiled the performance of Japan’s 6 major office equipment makers’ financial outlook. According to this report, the combined operating profits of the 6 companies in fiscal 2014 (ending March 2015) are expected to be 820 billion Yen. The demand in developed countries is expected to be recovering, while the demand in emerging economies is high due to continued economic growth.

Canon expects an 8% year-on-year gain in the operating profit for the Office Products division

to come to 284.1 billion Yen in North America, Europe and the domestic Japanese market. Sales of multi-functional colour photocopiers are expected to grow by 19%. Ricoh also foresees a good performance as its new models of colour MF are doing well with no ill effects of the sales tax hike in Japan.

Fujifilm HD is expecting a growth in sales of monochrome models in China and South-east Asian countries. Seiko Epson expects a 2% gain in operational profit in

the Information-related Products division to 124 billion Yen. Konica Minolta also expects increased sales and profit for the current fiscal year.

However, the profit level would be 30% lower than the previous peak year 2007, which recorded 1.1 trillion Yen for the 6 companies combined. It would not be feasible to reach this level so soon. The companies are likely to expand revenue by providing services including printing services in both, developed and developing economies.

On May 16, Nikon Corp.appointed Kazuo Ushida, President of Precision Equipment Division, as the Corporate President. Previous

President Makoto Kimura was appointed as the Chairman. Mr. Ushida will further expand the Precision Equipment business and make the

Medical Business Division grow, by way of merger and acquisition. He also intends to lower the dependence on the Imaging division.

ALBUS ATRUM 5th July 2014

To enrol in our courses, call us on +91 22 2173 0868 / +91 98332 10798.Email us on [email protected]. Log on to photography.bharatividyapeeth.edu

Our newest crop is ready to put their stamp on the world.

30 STUDENTS

Albus Atrum is not just a showcase of the best work of our graduating class of the year. It is also the embodiment of the pursuit of excellence that drives every one of us at Bharati Vidyapeeth’s School of Photography and New Media.

So come, join us as we unveil the newest crop of photographers to put their stamp on the world.

Date: July 5th and 6th, 2014 Venue: Tao Art Gallery, Worli, Mumbai.

Image shot by Ajinkya Targe, Nashik, Class of 2014.


NEWS National

Photography Workshop at Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre

Konica Minolta India appoints Yuji Nakata as the new MD

With digital cameras becoming increasingly user-friendly as well as affordable, more and more young people are exploring new avenues with creative uses of cameras. May it be their project work, or just sharing some fun-filled moments with friends, cameras find their place everywhere. That is probably the reason why everyone, from age 10 to 70, participated with equal enthusiasm in photography workshop conducted by Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) in association with the Institute for Photography Excellence (IPE). VASCSC was established in the 1960s by the eminent space scientist, Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai.

“The photography course

at VASCSC uses a unique method of teaching the art of photography with the help of science and technology. It is a unique approach to teaching photography,” said P. Bhargav, course co-ordinator and a member of faculty at the Centre. This approach is also used by many international photography education institutes. In the course, students learnt about the basics of camera, lenses, lights and colours, creativity in composition, and different genres of photography like nature and wildlife photography, candid and street photography, heritage, architectural, portrait and landscape photography.

Participants for the photography workshops at VASCSC

come from all walks of life—professionals, housewives, college and school students and even senior citizens. The Centre

organizes various photography exhibitions, competitions, seminars, workshops and trips on a regular basis.

Yuji Nakata has been appointed as the new Managing Director

of Konica Minolta India. He has been associated with Konica Minolta for over 25 years and previously was serving as company’s Chief Representative in Thailand.

Commenting on the appointment, V. Balakrishnan Executive General Manager Konica Minolta India, said, “Mr. Yuji Nakata has played a significant part through strategic and operational areas of Konica Minolta for many years now and has done an exemplary job as Chief Representative, Minolta Beijing Office (China). His visionary approach, first as the Managing Director, Konica

Minolta Hong Kong, and later as the Managing Director, Konica Minolta Shenzhen, China, helped in consolidating the brand’s dominance in those markets. As we move towards taking Konica Minolta to the next level of growth, we are privileged that a person of his calibre is there to guide us. He is one of the original members of Konica Minolta management team and has been instrumental in driving the fastest growing areas of the company’s business.” Mr. Yuji Nakata has replaced Mr. Tadahiko Sumitani who has been promoted and has assumed a new role as the Global Sales Head in Japan HQ.

Konica Minolta also launched

its most promising production printers, the Bizhub PRESS C1070 and Bizhub PRESS C1060 which will further build on the achievement of the previous models. The new series runs at 71 and 61 ppm respectively for A4 size sheets. It provides enhanced productivity through its new improved Quality mode and better image quality with the fourth generation Simitri HD toner.

“The printer is for the customers who are looking for the ability to scale, perform and deliver On-demand across diverse needs with a faster turnaround time while maintaining superior colour reproduction. The new intuitive and intelligent

Bizhub PRESS C1070 / C1060 offer the perfect solution,” said Mr. Yuji Nakata, Managing Director , Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd .

Speaking at the launch Mr. Kuldeep Malhotra, Executive General Manager, Konica Minolta India said, “We are the market leader in Production Printer segment and the latest series will further strengthen our position in this segment. Konica Minolta has always provided innovative and technologically advanced products and our latest series will not only stand out in the crowd but will take the production printing market a step further.”

Imag

e: P

arti

cip

ants

of

the

Wo

rksh

op

Subscribe on the move sms ‘SUBS SP’ to 56161

Subscribe on email [email protected]

Subscribe onlinehttp://www.nextgenpublishing.in/subs

YOUR DETAILS (ALL DETAILS IN CAPITAL LETTERS)

Name: Mr/Ms

Occupation

Date of birth

Address

City State

Pincode Email

Phone (Off) Phone (Res)

Mobile No.

Please send me latest updates on Special Offers and Events of Smart Photography

Kindly draw the cheque/DD/PO in favor of NEXT GEN PUBLISHING LTD. (Please add

Rs. 20/- extra for outstation cheque)Please Find enclosed

Cheque/DD no. Dated

Bank

Branch

Or please charge my credit card Visa MasterCard

Card No.

Card expiry date

Name (as appears on card)

Date Signature

TO GIFT A SUBSCRIPTION (ALL DETAILS IN CAPITAL LETTERS)Please fi ll out both the recipient’s details, below, and your details above. To gift more than one subscription, please provide address details on a separate sheet.

Name: Mr/Ms

Occupation

Date of birth

Address

City State

Pincode Email

Phone (Off) Phone (Res)

Please complete the order form and mail it to us at Next Gen Publishing Ltd.,

2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, S.B.Marg, Lower Parel (W). Mumbai 400013

You can also fax the order for credit card purchases to +91 22 2495 5394

For clarifi cations, email: [email protected] or call +91 22 4352 5252

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Please allow 4-5 weeks for processing of your subscription. Copies will be sent by

ordinary post only. Next Gen Publishing will not be responsible for postal delay, transit loses or mutilation of cop-

ies. No cancellation of subscriptions will be entertained after commencement of subscription. Please mention

your name and address on the reverse of your DD/Cheque. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction

of courts in Mumbai only. Ju

ly 2

014*

Cash Discount Offer

Pay ` 3000 for 3 Years subscription and save ` 1500 (33% Discount) on the cover price

Pay ` 1200 for 1 Year subscription and save ` 300 (20% Discount) on the cover price

International rate - 1 Year INR Rs. 7500 or USD 125 for by air mail post

SUBSCRIBE NOW & AVAIL SPECIAL DISCOUNTS

CALL +91 22 4352 5252Monday - Friday, 9.00 am to 5.30 pm

[email protected]

Subscribe usingCredit Card over the phone

New

Special Subscription Offer


ISSUE 6VOLUME 09

SEPTEMBER 2013

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

RS.125

● SOFTWARE PREVIEW: PHOTOSHOP CREATIVE CLOUD ● PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUE: SHOOTING ALBUM COVERS

INTERVIEWSURAJ DAS

LEARNING: STAR TRAIL PHOTOGRAPHY

TUTORIAL: EXPOSURE EXPOSED

REVIEWEDPENTAX K30

180 ISSUEPAGE


SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

REVIEWS: CANON EOS 70D ● SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 ZOOM ● PENTAX K-50

WEDDING SPECIALVINAYAK DAS AND SNIGDHA SHEEL

NIKLESH MALKANIANAND RATHI AND ABHINAV SAH

INTERVIEWKIRAN POONACHA

LEGAL MATTERS SENIOR ADVOCATE

ADHIK SHIRODKAR SPEAKS

TUTORIAL HIGHLIGHT WARNING AND HISTOGRAM

ALSO REVIEWEDOLYMPUS 45MM F/1.8 MSC

SIGMA 18-35MM F/1.8 DC HSM

Canon EOS 70D

Pentax K-50

16 page SONY supplement Freewith November 2013 issue.


ISSUE 8VOLUME 09

NOVEMBER 2013

RS.125


ISSUE 7VOLUME 09

OCTOBER 2013 SUBSCRIBER’S COPY

RS.125

THE BIG FIGHT: NORMAL LENSES ● PREMIUM COMPACTS ● TOUGH CAMERAS

BASIC TIPS FOR WONDERFUL

MACROS

ALL ABOUT MIRRORLESS

CAMERAS

TRAVEL FEATURE

VARANASI

EXPERT TECHNIQUESPHOTOGRAPHING PETS

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH BABIES

INTERVIEWSKAUSHIK BHATIA

VINCENT VERSACE

For the very best techniques, advice and images from the world of photography,

look no further than Smart Photography magazine - India’s biggest photography

magazine.

From reviews on SLRs, Compacts and Smartphones to advice and tips on

photography techniques, Smart Photography Magazine promises to provide you

with EVERYTHING you require to capture the best possible shots.

Smart Photography Magazine is the perfect read for anyone wanting to get more

from their camera. It teaches you all the camera skills you need, inspires creativity,

and keeps you informed of the latest photo gear launches.

Smart Photography Magazine is the fi rst choice for photographers looking to take

better pictures and enhance their images. With easy-to-follow projects, tips and

techniques, you can learn new photo and imaging skills the smart way.

Here are 4 really good reasons!Why would you buy a Smart Photography subscription?

1 Save up to 33% on cover prices

2Never miss an issue again

3 Delivered free to your door

4And most important of all, a seriously good

quality magazine...


NEWS National

Nokia 225 launched in India

On June 3, 2014, Microsoft Devices announced the launch

of Nokia 225. Th is phone is available in bright colours and has a classic keymat phone design with a 2.8-inch display. It off ers aff ordable internet access through the cloud-powered Nokia Xpress Browser. Th e Nokia 225 is of value for fi rst-time mobile phone buyers or for those who like to have a secondary phone, and is available at a best buy price of Rs.3329. It has a 2MP camera, preloaded Facebook and Twitter apps and Nokia’s SLAM technology, based on Bluetooth. Gameloft store is also preloaded with fi ve games ready to play.

It also has an FM radio and is MP3 compatible, with a playback time of up to 51 hours and off ers up to 32GB Micro SD card support.

“Offering a rich media experience and simple functionality combined with Nokia trust and quality, the Nokia 225 enables us to bring the affordable mobile phone experience to consumers across the spectrum. It is a true testimony of our commitment to connect people to the internet.” said Sari Harju, Head of Mobile Phones, Nokia India Sales Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile.

BenQ join hands with Bodhi

On 4th June, BenQ, a leader in digital lifestyle devices announced

the launch of the Pro Graphics Series in Colour Management

Monitors. Th e company also announced the beginning of a partnership with Bodhi Professional Solutions Pvt Ltd, an organization that

plays a major role in the standardization of Graphic Arts Segment and Printing fraternity in India. Keeping the most versatile industry like Photography and Printing, BenQ understood the key requirements and designed this product. BenQ launched the PG2401PT for colour management with Bodhi as distributor, and BL2710PT and BL3200PT for CAD/CAM applications. Th e PG240IPT is designed to

meet the expectation of the pre-press and photographers with features like 100% CMYK, 99% Adobe RGB Colour Space, 14 Bit 3D Look Up table, Delta E below 2, Uniform Brighntess Support X Rite’s pallete master etc.

Speaking on the alliance Mr. Rajeev Singh, Country Head, BenQ said “We chose Bodhi because it has a rich market strength and also the ability to customize the solutions and a team of engineers well equipped with instruments and presence across India.”

“Our association with BenQ will facilitate our endeavor to bring the latest trends and technologies from throughout the world to the print scenario of India. Th ese monitors deliver very powerful solutions that tackle the industry’s challenges faced by these professionals,” commented Satish Nayak, MD & Co-founder, Bodhi Professional Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

‘Vintage Photographs Of Raja Deen Dayal’ exhibitionMore than 150 photographs by 19th Century Indian photographer Deen Dayal are going to be put up on exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore. Titled ‘Vintage Photographs Of Raja Deen Dayal,’ this exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). Th e exhibition will be held from June 22 to July 20, from 9:30 am to 6 pm and will travel to Indore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and some other cities in the following months.

Image: L-R Rajeev Singh, Country Head, BenQ, with Satish Nayak, MD, Bodhi Professional Solutions


NEWS National

On June 3, 2014, SanDisk Corporation announced the availability of its new SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD, a drive designed specifically for gamers, PC enthusiasts and media professionals. It offers sequential read speeds of 550 MB/s and write speeds of up to 520 MB/s, and can run graphics-intensive applications and games smothly.

“Building on the success of our award-winning SanDisk Extreme II, the new SanDisk Extreme PRO leverages the latest developments in our innovative NCache Pro Technology to enable 24x7, real-world drive performance and responsiveness,” said Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager India, SanDisk Corporation. He added, “with its ability to deliver consistently fast computing backed by the industry’s first 10-year limited warranty, the Extreme PRO SSD delivers the

performance, trusted reliability and value that enthusiasts and professionals expect from SanDisk.” SanDisk’s NCache Pro technology enables efficiency in multi-tasking, and improves responsiveness from desktops, laptops, and gaming consoles.

The SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD will be available online and through SanDisk’s worldwide network of authorized distributors and resellers for purchase. It is compatible with any PC, laptop or game console that accepts 2.5-inch SATA storage devices, and is offered in capacities of 240GB (Rs.15,499), 480GB (Rs.29,999), and 960GB (Rs.48,999).

SanDisk launches Extreme PRO SSD drive in India

Image: Brave Hearts

Women Empowering Change Contest

Wickedleak Introduces Wammy Neo Smartphone

This image by Archana Vinayak from Thane titled ‘Brave Hearts’ won the first prize in the Best Story category in a contest organised by the US Consulate General. The theme of the competition was ‘Women Empowering Change’. Both the women in the picture work to counsel and care for children who run away from their homes.

On June 6, 2014, Wickedleak introduced Wammy Neo, an affordable OCTA Core Smartphone. It has features like MediaTek Octa Core Processor and Aqua Protect Technology. Wammy Neo has a 5-inch HD display, and a 13 megapixel Full HD camera and a 2200 mAh Battery. It comes with a Dual SIM and Android 4.2OS. It also offers AquaProtect technology which sustains the phone for 30 minutes in water. Wammy Neo also includes 2GB RAM, 8 GB internal Memory (Expandable up to 64GB). The Smartphone costs Rs.11,990. To know more, log on to www.wickedleak.org

Venus Photo Books offers a variety of products

Venus Photo Books believe in creating stories out of images, and are passionate

about revolutionizing the era of photo book, mini book, table calendar and wall calendar. They make use of technology to preserve moments from life.

Venus photo books are available in different variety papers like Medium Super Glossy, Medium Silky, Heavy Super Glossy, Medium Soft Touch, Glass HD Glossy, Glass HD Silky, Glass HD Metallic, Metallic-M, Special Texture, Pearl Coated and Deep Leather.

Medium Silky gives a silky touch and is a classy choice. Soft touch feels like feather and velvet. Glass

HD Glossy looks like real glass and Silky is a non-tearable type of paper. Special Texture is made out of dotted paper. The paper used in Coated Pearl is matt, just like original photo quality printing paper. Deep Leather also has a matt look but a leather-like touch, while Metallic-M offers a silver ground special Japanese paper matt look on print. Glass HD Metallic is non-tearable silver ground in rich gloss lamination on print.

Venus albums is now developing a new type called Flush Mount photo book which opens 180 degree flat and is available in Special Texture, Metallic-M, Coated Pearl and Deep Leather. To know more, log on to www.venusalbum.com


SanDisk USB designed in partnership with Romero Britto now available

SanDisk Corporation announced that its special edition Cruzer

Pop USB flash drive, designed by Brazilian artist Romero Britto is available in India, on Snapdeal.com. “Entering this partnership with SanDisk is very important to me. I am very happy with this USB release and with our collaboration, which I’m certain will be a great success,” said Britto. “I was interested in making a colourful product that truly reflected Brazilian culture, as was SanDisk. It

was important to design a product that would be something consumers would like to look at, and would get inspiration from.”

“Working with an international artist whose ability to bring USB drives to life with his designs is a great way for SanDisk to recognize vibrant cultures and give our customers fun and unique-looking products,” said Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager India, SanDisk Corporation.

Known for his cheerful works of art, Britto developed a unique design using soccer as an inspiration. It will be featured on the 8GB Cruzer Pop USB flash drive. The drive also includes SanDisk SecureAccess Software, which provides secure file encryption and password protection for private file. The USB drive will be available on Snapdeal.com at a suggested retail price of Rs.499.



ISSUE 4

VOLUME 10

JULY 2014

RS.125

SUBSCRIBER’S COPY


ISSUE 4 | VOLUME 10 | JULY 2014

112





INDIA EXCLUSIVE

REVIEWSFUJIFILM XT1

SONY A77 II

Digital Platform Partners

www.zinio.com/smartphotography

http://pocketmags.com/nextgen

Now read your favourite magazine wherever you go...Available on PC... Mac... Tablet... or any other handheld device!

Available on


Studio Specifications

•6 FX 400 Elinchrom with Radio Triggers

•Different Soft Boxes including Octa,

Reflectors, Umbrellas

•Beauty Dish with Honey Comb Grid

•Motorized Background

•Backgrounds: White, Black, Grey, Canary yellow,

Green, Blue (2 shades), Purple,Tulip, Pink, Brown

•Music System

•Make Up Table & Changing Room

•24 Hours Generator Backup

•Body and Hair Fan

•Product Table

•Snow Machine

•Smoke Machine

•Canon 5D Mark III Lens: 24-105 mm, 70-200 mm f/2.8, 100 mm,

50 mm f/1.4

•Nikon D 800 Lens 70-200 mm f/2.8, 10.5 mm Fish Eye,

50 mm f/1.4, 105 mm, 24-70 mm f/2.8

•Light Meter Sekonic L-758DR

STUDIO FOR RENT

Fully Fledged, Air-conditioned, IndoorPhotography Studio Available For Daily Rent in Delhi & Noida

Log on to : www.gorillascreativearts.com

Email : [email protected]

Contact : +91 92666 92666, 0120-4103219

Studio I : B-3, 3rd Floor, Sec-2, Noida-201301

Studio II : 162A/9 First Floor, Kishangarh, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070

Pankaj Sharma’s photo wins contest

The Bio-Diversity Board of Uttarakhand had organised a national level photography contest on the occasion of International Bio Diversity Day. Dr. Pankaj Sharma’s photo titled ‘On Duty’ won the award in the section ‘Landscape and People of Uttarakhand’. The award function was organised in Dehradun on 22 May, 2014 (International Bio-Diversity Day). The Forest Minister of Uttarakhand Government, Mr. Dinesh Agarwal was the Chief Guest on this occasion.

On Duty

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

PICTURE OF THE MONTHWe are sure that all of you have a few pictures that you think are prize worthy. It happens very oft en that you don’t know where to send the image that could put a

feather in your cap. If you have such images (we’re sure you have many!), send us ONE such horizontal image. If it qualifi es, we shall publish it as a double-spread.

a. You have to guarantee that the picture was shot by you

b. If there are people in the picture who can be identifi ed, we’ll need a model release

c. Th e picture should not have been printed elsewhere (magazine newspaper, or off ered to any publication)

d. Mark the entry as “Picture of the Month” and rename the fi le using your name

e. You may send images via print/e-mail to: Next Gen Publishing Ltd.,2nd Floor, C Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower

Parel (W), Mumbai 400013 (or) [email protected]

Photograph by

Sharad Shrivastava

1. Th e picture has to be horizontal.

2. Kindly ensure that the longer side should measure atleast 17 inches, at 300ppi.

3. Low resolution images will not be accepted.

4. We do not check images on online galleries.

5. Kindly ensure complete contact/address details are provided. Winners will have

to collect their prize from SP’s Mumbai offi ce or send an authorised representative

to do so.

6. Please make sure that your picture does not have your name/logo on it.

WIN!MK 393 PD

Tripod

Sponsored by:

A NOTE TO OUR READERS

KALEIDOSCOPE Finally, a platform for budding photographers

to exhibit their talent and GET NOTICED!

www.smartphotography.in

Fine Impressions

34 Smart Photography May 2014


Pembrokeshire Camera: Canon EOS 600D

Aperture : f/13.0; Shutter speed: 1/160sec.; ISO: 100

Biscuit-the cat Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/2.8; Shutter speed: 1/30sec.; ISO: 400

I am a freelance journalist, blogger, and photographer based in London, UK. I write about anything that is

informative or entertaining, preferably both. I also run a digital magazine called ‘Awesome Women’ that brings news and features about women who really matter.

I got into photography three years ago for my job but it soon became a passion and now I’m inseparable from my camera kit. I mostly take pictures of events and portraits for work but what I love the most is the outdoor and food photography. I take my camera to gardens, parks, beaches and forests whenever I can. As it happens, my favourite model is my lazy ginger cat Biscuit. He even has his very own beautiful album on my Facebook page.

My first camera was Canon EOS 600D and it’s still my favourite one. Most

of the pictures are taken with Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens, though I prefer Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II for the portraits. Despite having less and less time for leisure photography, I hope to take advantage of the upcoming summer and take some great beach shots.

I dream of visiting India some day. I would love to take pictures of all those colourful baskets filled with spices and fruits that you can see at the street markets. I also adore Indian food, although I am only able to eat it when it’s spiced down to tourists’ standards. Given that I love food photography, Indian cuisine is an endless source of inspiration.

Marcela Kunova, London

KALEIDOSCOPE Finally, a platform for budding photographers

to exhibit their talent and GET NOTICED!

36 Smart Photography July 2014 www.smartphotography.in River Th ames, the Big Ben and Parliament Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/2.8; Shutter speed: 1/6sec.; ISO: 200

Rush Hour Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/5.6; Shutter speed: 1/4sec.; ISO: 200

Llama at London Zoo Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/2.8; Shutter speed: 1/20sec.; ISO: 100


Old Welsh Pub Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/2.8;

Shutter speed: 1/20sec.; ISO: 1600

Lebanese food Camera: Canon EOS 600D; Aperture : f/2.8;

Shutter speed: 1/50sec.; ISO: 800

SHOWCASE


Vaibhav Jaguste (AFIAP, AIIPC, FFIP, APSI) is a self-taught photographer with an immense passion for pictorial photography. He has been a trekker since his early twenties which motivated him to travel photography. Since then, he is on a mission for exploring India through his lens.

As told to Tanika Godbole

BEAUTIFUL


After completing his post graduation

in science (Mumbai University), Vaibhav Jaguste worked at a multinational company for 16 years. He travelled to many parts of India and trekked intensively in the Himalayas. He has trekked in various scenic places of this mountainous region, like Everest Base camp, Adi Kailas, Om Parvat, Chandrakhani etc. Now, Jaguste has started a firm called Sarita Travels Solutions that arranges photography tourism outings for amateur and professional photographers.

For Vaibhav, photography is the art of light, which soulfully captures the wonders perceived by our eyes. This form of art has become an important part of our life. Photography captures not only beauty, but also the depth of feelings and inspires people to see the world in a different manner. It enables Vaibhav to express his thoughts in a unique way. And it’s always a pleasure for him to see more and more people getting involved with this way of expression, turning it into a greater family without the boundaries of religion, caste, creed and so on.

Photography has been his passion since his father bought him his first ever camera which was the Zenith 12 XP for a mere Rs.600 in the mid-eighties. He used this camera for many trekking expeditions. In the year 1999, he became life member of India’s premier photography club, the Photographic Society of India, and his passion started flourishing with great success in several state and national level photo exhibitions. Due to his achievements, the Photographic Society of India conferred its prestigious honour APSI upon him and the Federation of

In the Hills

Skyline

SHOWCASE


Indian Photography has honoured him with its Fellowship (FFIP) for Pictorial Photography. The International Federation of Photographic Art, Luxembourg has honoured him with the AFIAP, and the India International Photographic Council has honoured him with the prestigious AIIPC. Till date, more than 500 of his images have been exhibited in National and International Exhibitions organized in various countries like Argentina, Serbia, USA, UK, China, Croatia, Macedonia, Hungary, Belgium, Greece, Iran etc. He has won more than 50 Awards at National and International levels.

Smile

Way ahead

Haveli

July 2014 Smart Photography 43www.smartphotography.in Waterscape

IF I WERE YOUE-mail your images at [email protected]


Ladakh LandscapeThis picture from Ladakh comes to us from Vaidyanathan K. V. from Chennai. Vaidyanathan has been into photography for some time now but he somehow doesn’t get the image quality that he sees in other photographers’ images. In fact, at times, he even doubts his camera! He obviously wants to know how his picture could be improved.

Well, Vaidyanathan, there could be various reasons why your pictures are not as punchy as you would have liked. Going through all the reasons would be a lengthy affair, so I’ll just explain how

Rohinton Mehta,Technical Editor,

Smart Photography

Our Imaging ExpertNo one can take a picture that everyone likes. But, almost every picture can have scope of improvement. Often, we are not our best critics, while others can immediately point out the faults. In If I were you, our expert comments on how your pictures could be taken to another level.

Camera: Nikon D700 Aperture: f/11; Shutter speed: 1/500sec; ISO: 200

Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 70mm

Edited Image

Original Image

this picture could be improved by doing some basic edits in Photoshop.

The picture you have sent us is lacking in contrast, colour saturation as well as sharpness (could be probably because you have not set the in-camera parameters correctly). Using

Photoshop, I merely adjusted the contrast, added some saturation to the blue in the sky and sharpened the picture. Finally, I cropped the picture so that details in the foreground and the mountain range can be better seen. And yes, I also added the borders which I think helps to concentrate the viewer’s gaze into the picture.


Camera: Panasonic GF1 Aperture: f/8; Shutter speed: 1/320sec ; ISO: 100

The EgretThis picture of the egret has been sent by Ramesh Patel of Ahmedabad. He shot the

Well, if I were you, I would have waited for the bird in the background to have moved away before taking the shot. As it stands, the egret in the background is a distraction; it is taking away some of the attention on the egret in the front.

The only way to improve the picture now is to clone out the bird in the background, which I have done using a combination of the Healing Brush and the Clone Tool in Photoshop. I have also adjusted the

highlights, though very slightly.

I must say that your exposure was almost perfect.

picture at the zoo at Byculla, Mumbai. He wants to know what I would have done if I were him.

Edited Image

Original Image

IF I WERE YOUE-mail your images at [email protected]


WavesC. S. Menon from Coimbatore loves to photograph water – lakes, rivers, seas, the rains, et al. He has sent us this picture for critique.

Note: If I Were You is meant to encourage and guide readers, and help them improve their

photography. Please ensure that the required camera/exposure details are sent to us (or are

available in the EXIF data). We shall not accept images for this section if the required data is

not available. Readers are requested to send their images at 300ppi for 8 x 10-inch size. If they

are too small, working on them is difficult, and hence they may be rejected.

He says, “Please tell me what is right and what is wrong with my picture”.

Well, I like the picture (love

water myself !) even though the image quality is off. I like the composition, the waves flowing diagonally in the frame. I like the lighting, not too soft, not too hard.

What I don’t like is the lack of contrast.

I opened the image as a Raw file in Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop (the pictire we received was in JPEG). This is something I always do and strongly recommend. After adjusting the Blacks and the Whites, a wee-bit of Contrast, I opened the image in Photoshop and gave it a small dose of Sharpening. That’s it!

Note to readers: Get into the habit of editing each and every image

in your favourite image editing software. Setting the Black Point, White Point and adding a bit of Sharpness often turns an ordinary image into a work of art.

Edited Image

Camera: Nikon D300 Aperture: f/11; Shutter speed: 1/160sec; ISO: 200 Lens: 18-200mm

Original Image


Images not opening on PCI have a Canon EOS 550D. I use a SanDisk SDHC card (4GB). As of late I am experiencing problem of images not getting opened on PC (in Photoshop and also in Windows Photo viewer as well as others). I can see image previews in thumbnails in Adobe Bridge but images do not open up in Photoshop ( or in other programmes).

I usually download images from camera to PC via EOS software. This problem does not occur to all the images but to few ones and happens most of the time. At first I thought it would be problem of memory card and I replaced the same but the problem did not get solved. Please help as what could be the problem.

Surya Chari, Goa

Please check your camera settings; you must have inadvertently set the image option to Raw. Raw files are not image files, they are data files, which need to be converted to viewable images using a special software. With Photoshop, you get what is called ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). ACR is a Raw Converter.

Do note that if you are using a version of Photoshop that came before your

Did you know...

Ronnie has

over 35 years of

experience in

photography?

In fact, he has

taught several

thousand photo-

enthusiasts

in various

institutions

and through

workshops, as well as judged

many national and international

photo contests, including the

prestigious International Photo

Contest held at Colombo, Sri

Lanka. So, if you have any photo-

queries, whether conventional or

digital, don’t hesitate. Just go ahead

and Ask Uncle Ronnie at sp@

nextgenpublishing.net, ‘cause he

knows it all!

EOS 550D was released, you may not be able to open the Raw files, in which case, you may have to download a later version of the Raw Converter. If that too fails, you may download a DNG (Digital Negative) converter from Adobe’s website. The DNG Converter will convert your Raw files to .dng which will then open in ACR.

If you do not want to go through all this, just set your camera to shoot only in JPEG mode.

Note to readers: While I am a staunch advocate of shooting in Raw, please note that if you are shooting in JPEG Large/Fine, and your exposure and White Balance is perfect, and your processing technique is good, you are unlikely to see any discerning difference in the image quality. Shooting in Raw can be considered as an insurance, but that does not mean that shooting in JPEG is bad.

Cross type AF pointsKindly explain in detail what is cross type autofocus point with reference to Nikon D 7000 camera.

Vaibhav Sharan, III year, B. Tech Student,

VIT, Chennai

Generally, most autofocus sensors are either vertical or horizontal. If a sensor is vertical, the system can easily latch on to a horizontal element within the frame, but autofocussing on a vertical element would be difficult. Similarly, if a sensor is horizontal, it can easily latch on to a vertical element but autofocussing on a horizontal element would be difficult. A cross-type AF sensor, by virtue of its design, can easily latch on to any element of a subject, whether vertical or horizontal. In many cameras, the central AF sensor or a group of AF sensors in the middle of the frame are of the cross-type variety, thus offering quicker and more accurate autofocus. The sketch shows the positions of the horizontally laid AF sensors (marked with a - sign) and the 9 cross-type AF sensors in the centre, marked +. Cross-type AF sensors are more efficient and generally more accurate.

We regularly get requests to suggest a camera or a lens. While some do their preliminary

homework, most don’t. It is important for you to do some spadework and narrow down

your options before writing in to us. You also need to give us an idea of what genre of

photography you are interested in and how much you are willing to spend. We would then be

in a better position to evaluate your query and suggest suitable gear. We have received one

such ‘homework-done’ request from a reader who has narrowed down his choice but wants

to know if the extra amount that he would spend is justifiable or not. The questions he has

asked are relevant to every reader. Read on...

Q&AAsk Uncle Ronnie

Q&AAsk Uncle Ronnie


Canon EOS 7D, Mark II?I hear of Canon EOS 7D Mark II being introduced shortly. Do you have any details of its specifications? Can you brief me as to how its going to be?

Pradeep C., via email

Yes, there have been rumours of a 7D Mark II for quite some time now, but there is no official confirmation yet. I believe that if it has to come, it will come just before or during Photokina 2014.

I have no details of its specifications but if it at all comes, I suppose it will have an improved image processor (may be a DIGIC 5 or 5+ or 6), possibly even better burst rate and may be two memory card slots. Let’s wait and watch.

Macro on budgetI want to start with macro photography but am on a strict budget. I am told that I should only buy a dedicated macro lens and not the close-up filters as close-up filters will degrade the image. If I could get away with buying the close-up filters (I have a 50mm f/1.8 lens), I would save a lot. Your opinion please.

Anthony R. S., Goa

There are several ways to get into macro photography and using close-up lenses (same as close-up filters) is just one way. Close-up lenses are much cheaper than buying a dedicated macro lens but you have to understand its pros and cons.1. Once you attach a close-up filter, you cannot focus on far away objects unless you first remove the filter.

2. Generally speaking, a dedicated macro lens provides better image quality.

3. With close-up filters, edge sharpness is not likely to be as good

as that from a dedicated macro lens.

4. A macro lens is easier to use as you can easily change the magnification ratios.

5. You also have the added benefit of using your macro lens (if it is 50/60mm) like a ‘normal’ lens on a full-frame camera.

Having said that, I do not believe that you cannot achieve good image quality with close-up lenses! If your

close-up lenses are of good quality, if your 50mm f/1.8 lens is of good quality, if your shooting techniques are good (that means you are using a steady tripod), and you use the optimum aperture of your lens, I doubt if most people can notice the difference between an image shot with a macro lens and a close-up lens. Please see the two images (which we have reproduced some years ago in one of the issues) and without reading the details, try to say which image is shot with a macro

Lens reversal ring

One of these

images is shot using

a macro lens. Can

you identify it?

Shot using a macro lens

Shot using a close-up filter on a 50mm lens


that respect, a full-frame sensor (36 x 24mm) would be a better choice than, say, a APS-C or Micro Four Thirds model. Also, a higher megapixel camera would provide better detail when used at its base ISO.

When it comes to the lens, things can get more difficult.

If the shooting area is cramped up, you might be forced to use a wide-angle lens, which in turn may distort the car. If the shooting area is large, you could shoot from far with a medium telephoto lens. Do keep in mind that long telephoto lenses create a compression effect and this could make the car look stubby.

You may purposely want to create some distortion by going very close to a part of the car that you want to emphasise. In this case you could use a wide-angle lens. A wide-angle lens may be a better choice when shooting the interior of the car; it can make the inside look more spacious.

So you see, the choice of the lens depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Manual flashgunIn this day and age of advanced electronics, is there any advantage to using a manual flashgun?

S. Manjrekar, via email

Yes there can be.

Most users use their modern flashguns in TTL mode (eTTL, iTTL or whatever). What is often

lens and which image is shot using a close-up lens. Please note that I am not suggesting that you should not buy a macro lens; all I am saying is that you certainly can, if you know how to, get a decent image quality with close-up filters that is virtually undistinguishable from a dedicated macro lens.

There is yet another (least expensive) way to quick-start with macro photography (with limited functionality of course). And that is to use a Lens Reversal Ring. Make sure that the lens reversal ring you buy is safe to be used on your camera because the wrong type of lens reversal ring can damage the AF contacts on your camera. First, mount the lens reversal ring on the camera body and then carefully screw the filter end of the lens on to the ring. When using the combo, be careful that you do not bang into your subject because you’ll be extremely close to it. You will be amazed at the image quality but do note that the depth of field will be almost nil. Hence you need to be very careful about focussing and must use a tripod.

Which camera and lens?Which is the best camera and lens for shooting cars?

Richardson Wilson, via email

There is no one correct answer to your question. I would say that you can use any camera that you feel comfortable with. Do keep in mind that the larger the imaging sensor, the better the image quality (all other things considered equal). Hence in

not realised is that any sufficiently large bright object in the frame can cause underexposure. Similarly, a very dark background for example could cause the main subject in the front to overexpose.

If you use a manual flashgun (or a dedicated flashgun in manual exposure mode), the above mentioned problems cannot arise. With manual flashguns, Guide Number/Distance gives you the aperture to use. With a manual flashgun, the entire energy within the flash capacitor is discharged, unlike in Auto or TTL mode where the energy within the capacitor is quenched depending on the subject brightness and distance. So, whether or not there is any bright object in the frame, or whether the background is black or white, the flash exposure is controlled only by the formula given here. As long as you use the correct Guide Number for the set ISO and the correct Distance between the flashgun and the subject, the exposure cannot go wrong.

The disadvantage (if you could call it that) with manual flashguns is that the number of shots a set of batteries can provide is limited, because every time the flash fires, it empties the entire capacitor and the capacitor has to recharge from zero potential to full.

So while dedicated flashguns are very useful and easy to use, there can be some advantages to using a manual flash.

A wide-angle lens,

used close to the car,

can emphasise certain

elements and/or create

purposeful distortion.

The mirror is

purposely placed

here to make a point.

The TTL flash has

underexposed the

picture because of the

reflection from the

mirror. A manual

flashgun would have

properly exposed the

picture.

MASTERCRAFTSMAN Kane Lew


© Kane Lew


Kane Lew is an avid wildlife photographer who specialises in creating beautiful macro images. You can find his work at www.500px.com/DigitalBromide

As told to Tanika Godbole

TINY DETAILS

Cuckoo Wasp

Tell us a little about yourself. What inculcated the love for photography in you?I’m a graduate from the prestigious art institute, Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Arts. I work with a Mumbai based digital agency as a Creative Group Head. I love nature and I want to share my experiences with people through my photographs.

You have mainly been photographing landscapes, mammals and birds. You also specialize in macro photography. What’s your favourite genre and why?I love all aspects of wildlife photography, but macro photography is my favourite. It gives the viewer a completely different perspective, and makes one notice the little wonders that nature has in store. It enables one to see what the bare human eye cannot. That’s what makes this field number one, in my opinion.

We know you photographed the Cuckoo Wasp in Bandhavgarh during your recent visit. Could you explain how you accomplished that shot?To create this shot, I used a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 lens with a 20mm extension tube on a Nikon D800 body. I used an external flash with a mini softbox, mounted on the hot shoe. And last but

not the least, I had a very co-operative subject. What really makes the shot interesting is the reflection and the riot of colours.

What check-list do you follow while preparing for your shoots?I make sure all my gear is packed the previous day. I double-check it once again before I leave home. What gear I carry totally depends on the genre I’m shooting and the location of the shoot. Shooting during monsoon has its own set of challenges.

Nowadays, digital manipulation has become a part of creating good images. Do you tend to use photo-editing techniques?I do process my images. One can say that photo-editing goes ‘hand-in-glove’ with digital photography. I see photography as an art form. Digital post-processing is a way for me to enhance my art.

Any practical advice or tips that you’d like to give our readers?Never stop learning, and always explore new grounds. Take your gear and get out into the wild. As Yann Arthus-Bertrand said, “The earth is art, the photographer is only a witness.”



© Kane Lew

© Kane Lew

Centipede feeding on a snail

Malshej Ghat


© Kane Lew

Darter



© Kane Lew© Kane Lew

Blyths Reed Warbler

Ashy Prinia

© Kane Lew

© Kane Lew © Kane Lew


Indian Roller



Jackal

Panoramic view from Shey Palace, Leh

© Kane Lew

© Kane Lew

Photopro 23 Augment the joy of indoor photography. Control, spread, defuse the light your way, and make the photos extraordinary stunning. Enrich and enhance the indoor photography experience through Ptotopro 23 Studio Flash light.(A Revolutionary Product)

Once you develop a taste for indoor photography it is only a matter of time before you will want

your own studio setup. A studio setup can be anything from a few table lamps and a spare sheet for the background to an elaborate multi flash system.

Although continuous light can be used, expert would thoroughly recommend that, if you want to get serious about studio photography, you invest in a couple of studio flash heads. These do not need to be expensive, nowadays you can get a couple of lights for about the same price as a halfway decent telephoto lens.

Technical SpecificationInside the box

Flash output (w/s) Max.- 250w, Flash output (w/s) Min.- 125w,

Dimmer-No, Half n Full-Yes, *F.Stop 1meter with 21cm.

55 degree metal ref. with silver reflective- 45 1/3, Recycling Time-0.3

Sec, Modelling Lamp-100w, Flash Duration- 1/2500 Sec., Twin-Tech-Yes,

Body-Metal, Weight- 2

Based in India, Photopro belongs to the family IN PHOTO BUSINESS FROM LAST 80 years. PHOTOPRO Design, manufacture and market a wide range of PHOTOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS professional photographic Market. The experience helps to fulfill the needs and requirements of a professional and give them the best quality products to use. Double sensor, half and full technique in video lights, triple diffusers in soft boxes, few innovations by Photopro. PHOTOPRO philosophy before developing a product is to verify the need of the customer and latter provide them with products that will not only enhance their work but will make the work easier .

Photopro equips to offer good, affordable, easy-to-use and superlative quality products in future as well so as to make your work plea-surable and deliver paramount results. Research and development is going on worldwide to boost the technological advancement in the field of photography whereas Photopro proved itself to be one of the major contributors to the photographic industry with the new “Twin Tech Technology” popularly called ‘3T’ which brought a major change in the way of using studio flash system. The innovation will continue from the house of Photopro as India’s contribution to the world.

About Photopro

ADVERTORIAL

COVER STORY


Buying Second-Hand Cameras

(ii) Th rough a website (iii) Th rough a third party who you may or may not know. Unfortunately, very few camera dealers sell second-hand cameras. In the West, a whole industry survives on the purchase and sale of second-hand cameras. Th ese are bought by dealers, duly serviced, cleaned and resold with a performance guarantee. In India, we are still not able to use this route.

A number of e-commerce websites carry ads off ering cameras for sale. Typically, in such cases, you do not know the identity of the seller or his antecedents. Th ere is, therefore, an element of “buyer beware” in such transactions.

It is therefore obvious that in Indian conditions, if you buy second-hand, it is best to buy from a known person or a friend.

3. Condition of the camera - Cameras are rated worldwide in the second-hand market as being either Mint, Excellent, Good or Fair. A mint camera would essentially mean a body that is good or close to what it was like when new. Th e terms excellent, good or fair are ratings in descending order which describe the condition of the camera. Excellent would imply a camera in perfect working condition.

Th ere is nothing to replace a good solid inspection of the body and the lens. Small scratches on the body may be acceptable but any major dents would indicate that the camera has been through rough handling and may therefore not perform at its

optimum. In high humidity cities, our readers have complained of skins covering the camera body peeling off . In our humid Indian climate, lenses also tend to develop fungus/mould. It is therefore very essential that the lens be thoroughly examined both for fungus and for smooth movement of the lens rings and elements. Th e connectors in the memory card compartment and battery connectors should also be examined for damage or signs of battery leakage. It is now possible to determine the total number of times the shutter has been released since new. If a camera has been heavily used, the life expectancy of the existing shutter will be much less. On an average, a mid-level D-SLR should be good for at least 100,000 shutter releases. Look up website “shuttercounter.com” to determine the actual usage of the shutter.

4. Unless you are absolutely satisfi ed, do not pay the asking price and try and negotiate a short guarantee within which you can return the product and get your money back.

5. In a number of markets, camera manufacturers sell what are called ‘refurbished’ models. Th ese are cameras that may have been returned by customers for a variety of reasons. Th e manufacturer check them to fi x problems, if any. Th e cameras are then resold at less than new prices. Th e term frequently used to describe such cameras is “AS NEW”. A guarantee is also normally off ered with such cameras. Perhaps, manufacturers like Canon and Nikon should take the initiative in the interests of developing a healthy second-hand market for their products.

H. S. Billimoria

The Indian camera market has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade. A properly

organized second-hand market is, however, still to emerge if you want to buy a second-hand camera.

Th e reason for buying a second-hand camera is obvious. Th e saving in the money that you pay makes a substantial diff erence and enables you to buy certain other accessories which would otherwise not be possible. It is safe to assume that a D-SLR camera will depreciate by 20% once it is sold. In the case of a compact camera, the depreciation would be higher at around 35% in the fi rst year itself. Second-hand values also vary between brands. Given Indian consumer preferences, a Nikon or a Canon D-LSR would command a better second-hand price than some other brands. At the end of the day, second-hand prices are determined by traditional factors of demand and supply and therefore can be variable. Th e following factors should be considered before making a decision to buy a second-hand camera.

1. Look at it from the point of view of the seller. As a seller, you would want the best price. Again, as a seller, you would like to conceal minor defects. Yet again as a seller, you would not like to reveal the history of the camera including the fact that it has been repaired or the lens cleaned. It is therefore clear that seller statements must be considered with the traditional pinch of salt.

2. Channels of purchase. You can buy a camera typically in three ways: (i) Th rough a camera specialist

“

”

Th e saving

in the

money that

you pay

makes a

substantial

diff erence

and enables

you to buy

certain other

accessories

which would

otherwise

not be

possible.

AERIAL DRAGONADVERTORIAL

HELI -CAMLATEST SOLUTION IN AERIAL FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Aerial filming photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. Aerial shots put sequences filmed

on the ground into perspective by making sense of the place geographically, and add a new dimension from which to visually appreciate the beautiful and remote places in which photographers work.

Ariel Dragon has emerged as an revolutionary product in this segment.

1) Canon 5D Mark III

2) BlackMagic 4k Camera

3) Sony Nex5

4) GoPro Hero-3

1) Less Expensive Than Manned Aircraft

2) Smaller Size Allows For Better Angles

3) Able To Fly Lower

4) Breath-Taking Shots!

1) Films & More!2) Hotel / Resort Filming3) Corporate Videos4) Residential And Commercial Planning. Site Surveying.5) Real Estate6) Golf Course Birds Eye View7) Environmental Monitoring8) Television Shows9) Corporate Videos10) Construction

Photosystems India has taken an initiative for the equipment and training for aerial filming / photography, please contact:

PHOTOSYSTEMS INDIA PVT. LTD.216-A/13, Gautam Nagar, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi-110049 (India), Mob: 9990630710, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.photosystemsindia.com

A Professional Photographer Undertakes Aerial Filming /Photography Jobs Using :

Benefits Of Aerial Cinematography & Photographs

Application Of Heli-Cam :

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.photosystemsindia.com

BOOK REVIEW


Basics of Photography

Tanika Godbole

Photography is an art, but you need to understand the science behind your camera too. With the ever-

evolving technology, it becomes hard for amateurs as well as professionals to keep track of the developments in this field. This can create a barrier in buying equipment, understanding your camera and using it to its full potential. Ashok Kandimalla has written this e-book with the intention of simplifying basic concepts in photography so that it is more accessible.

The first chapter explains what a camera is. Even though this might be considered as basic knowledge, the chapter forms a basis to understand the further ones better. The second chapter explains in detail what exactly a lens comprises of. It explains the differences between different types of lenses such as wide-angle, telephoto, macro, fish-eye etc. This is a valuable lesson while picking a right lens and will help photographers choose the lens most suited to their individual needs.

Knowledge about pixels and printing becomes essential as you get deeper into photography. The next chapter covers this part of the process of imaging. The book also has a chapter on file formats and the merits and demerits of each one.

Terms such as exposure modes, metering, histogram, white balance etc. may seem daunting to beginners. Kandimalla covers these concepts in

depth and makes use of samples, charts and examples so that readers get a better look into these technicalities in the following chapters. These can prove to be a refresher’s course for those who are already adept with their cameras.

One area where there is a dearth of knowledge is lens defects and how to spot them. The chapter ‘Defects in Lenses’ addresses this. In the last few sections, the author delves into aspects such as depth of field, perspective and the correct use of flash. Once the technical basis is formed, the last two chapters deal with essentials in composing a picture.

The 168 page e-book is precise and addresses all the queries and doubts that a photographer may have in the digital age. The author has simplified terms so that a newcomer will find it comfortable to understand. But the spectrum that it covers is of utility to seasoned professionals as well. With the help of sample photographs, diagrams and charts, the literature becomes more meaningful.

Author: Ashok KandimallaPowered by: Next Gen Publishing Ltd.Price: Rs.300/- (Price may vary)E-book purchase: Available at http://beta.magzter.com/books/Basics-Of-Photography

Magzter for Android download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dci.magzter&hl=en

Magzter for iPad download: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/magzter-magazine-book-store/id412163953?mt=8(This eBook needs an Apple iPad or an Android device (phone or tablet) and a free app “Magzter” to read .)

http://www.smartphotography.in

http://beta.magzter.com/books/Basics-Of-

http://beta.magzter.com/books/Basics-Of-

With an aim to “provide professional photographic equipments to meet the

demands of the growing photographic industry in India.” Mr.Vijay Palsingh,

founded the company JAGDAMBA ENTERPRISES in the year 2010 located at Delhi’s

Heart: Chandani Chowk..

Jagdamba Enterprises offers an unmatched competitive advantage to its customers.

Within a few months of commencing operations, it has developed a loyal customer

base in India, aided by complete honesty and fairness in its dealings.

Vijay Palsingh, the company’s young and dynamic CEO, says that a proper match

between the price of and the choice of a product is the key to helping clients gain

a competitive edge. Dealers bring to the market all the products of the company,

which in turn has made strong efforts to strengthen its dealer network by providing

distinctive products and excellent aftersales service.

Today Jagdamba Enterprises is a well known trusted name which is known for

its excellence in marketing of exclusive photographic accessories in the country.

The company has established a very effective delaerbase throughout the country to

ensure to provide a quality product.

We provide a wide range of photography equipment and accessories through our dealers across India. Our prices are reasonable and we have a solid reputation built over many years of operation - our hundreds of clients are proof of this. We are constantly working on newer, more advanced products and will keep bringing the best offerings to the market for the benefit of our customers.

Vijay Pal Singh, Director: Jagdamba Enterprises

COMPANY PROFILE

POWER SMARTJEALIOTVILTROXK&F CONCEPTSMART PRO

JAGDAMBA ENTERPRISESA Trusted Name in the Photography Industry

“

“

Smart Photography recently conducted a

survey among its readers to fi nd out more

about them and their expectations about

the magazine. Th e survey was conducted

with the help of print and online platforms.

Th e result of the survey can be summarised

as follows.

A whopping 96% of the respondents

were male with 42 percent describing

their association with photography as

hobbyists. Freelance photographers formed

18 percent of the survey group, whereas

Nature/Wildlife and Professional Wedding

photographers came to 12 percent and 10

percent respectively. 57 percent of them

owned a D-SLR, whle Smartphone and

Compact camera owners formed 20 and

16 percent respectively.

When asked to choose between the

three major photography magazines

in India, 54 percent chose Smart Photography over the competition with

36 percent favouring the second and

10 percent opting for the third ranked

magazine. Better content

was cited by 32 percent of

the respondents as the

main reason for choosing

their favourite magazine.

Impartial views and easy-

to-understand English

were also important

factors determining

their choice.

82 percent of the respondents found the

language of Smart Photography easy to

read. When it came to the magazine cover,

majority of them said they would like to see

Wildlife/Birds and Landscape photos as the

cover image. All the sections of articles in

Smart Photography were ranked equally

good by the readers, and there were no

clear favourites amongst these.

We also received plenty of suggestions and

expectations from the readers, and we will

certainly try to incorporate them in our

future issues. We thank all the readers who

participated in the survey.

We had also announced a lucky draw

amongst the respondents of the survey, and

the winners are...

• Abhijit Tokekar

• Ashish

• Claude Veigas

• Dhiraj Anand Khatri

• Joseph Kiny

• N.R. Shenai

• Tusharkumar Bhatt

• Yogesh Sandhansive

Congratulations to the winners. We request

all the winners to send your addresses to us

as early as possible, if you have not already

done so.

TUTORIALS

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH FLOWERS

FUN WITH PHOTOSHOP

CONVERT IMAGES TO EMAIL RESOLUTION

PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUE LIGHTING GLASS


ISSUE 12

VOLUME 09

MARCH 2014

RS.125

REVIEWS: PANASONIC GM1 ● SONY 7 ● OLYMPUS STYLUS 1 ● CANON POWERSHOT S200 ● CANON EF-S 55-250MM F/4-5.6 IS II

ISSUE 12 | VOLUME 09 | M

ARCH 2014

108

INTERVIEW PARAG DAMLE

PROFILE BASEL ALMISSHAL

PANASONIC GM1

INDIA

EXCLUSIVE

REVIEW

Reader Survey Result

Lear

ning

s68Colour Spaces are not Empty Spaces

72Using Minimum Lights

80

84

Lightning Photography

Motion Blur with ND Filter

LEARNING Understanding Photography

68 Smart Photography July 2014 July 2014 Smart Photography 69www.smartphotography.in www.smartphotography.in

Colour Spaces are not Empty Spaces

In the case of a JPEG file each primary colour will have 8 bits assigned to it. This means that each primary colour can assume 28 = 256 different values. Since each pixel is a combination of the three primary colours, this will result in a total of 256 X 256 X 256 or 16.7 Million different possible colours available for each pixel.

Colour Model: If you are using Raw format, then each primary colour has 12 bits (or even 14 bits) associated with it. In a 12 bit Raw file there are 212 = 4096 different shades for each primary colour. This results in a whopping total of 4096 X 4096 X 4096 or 68.7 Billion different colours. This means that any pixel can be rendered in any one of the 68.7 billion colours! You can see that in this discussion so far we have represented all colours as a combination of R, G and B. This way of representing is called the RGB Colour Model. There are other models to represent colours like LAB, CYMK, etc. but for now this is sufficient.

Gamut: Any device has a limitation on the number of colours it can handle. Think of a device, say a camera. Assume that all colours that this camera can handle are contained in a box – just like a kid would have a crayon box. So, any pixel in the image can be coloured by the camera by using a colour from the box. It has no access to colours outside this box. This box is called the “gamut” of the camera. Simple isn’t it – it is just the bounding box of all the colours that a device is capable of. As you can expect, different devices have different gamuts and as far as you as a photographer is concerned, the bigger the gamut the better.

Smart

Photography has

been continually

receiving

requests to start

a basic course for

beginners. With

this in mind, we

have asked a very

knowledgeable

photographer from

Hyderabad to take

over writing these

articles. We have

also requested him to be as jargon-free

as it is possible, so that newcomers to

photography feel comfortable to pursue

the hobby.

The author, Ashok Kandimalla has

been in the photographic field for

over three decades and has extensive

experience in both film and digital

photography. Being an electronics

engineer by profession and a

photographer, he possesses a unique

and deep insight into the technical

aspects of digital photography and

equipment. He has published several

articles on photography and some of

his writings have also been published

in the well-known international

magazine Popular Photography.

An avid collector of photographic

books and vintage cameras, Ashok

has a keen interest in the history of

photography and a passion for sharing

his knowledge on photography through

teaching and writing. He is presently

working as a Management and

Engineering consultant. You can see his

work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla. He can be reached

at [email protected]

Colour Space: There is one more term you should get familiar with. Assume that your camera and your monitor are both using (as it is usually the case) the RGB Colour Model. While that is a good starting point, this still does not allow consistent colours. Let us say you camera assigns a pixel (after you take a photograph) a RGB value of (R=242 G=101 B=34) to that pixel. These values correspond to a shade of orange as recorded in your camera. Your computer when reading the file also sees that this particular pixel has values (R=242 G=101 B=34). However, how does one guarantee that these values represent the same shade of orange when displayed on your monitor? This as you can expect, only when each set of RGB values (remember that there are 16.7 Million of them in JPEG file) are defined and a particular colour and shade is assigned to each set. Such a definition is called a Colour Space. Thus, the Colour Model tells you the way colour is described, the Colour Space goes beyond and defines the actual colour and shade precisely for each RGB combination. With this standardized definition, you can expect at least in principle, a particular set of RGB values will be recorded and shown exactly same across all devices. You can now easily see the importance of the Colour Space.

As you have just seen, without a standardized colour space, it would be practically impossible to have colour consistency across devices. So, there are now such standardized colour spaces defined and available. The commonly heard name sRGB is one such standardized colour space (-in fact the letter “s” means “standard”).This has been defined by computer majors like HP and Microsoft and was developed to describe the colour space for monitors. This is the most widely used colour space today. Most browsers and other software which are not “colour space aware” can be assumed to operate in the sRGB colour space. Not only that, many commercial printers (like Fuji Frontier) use sRGB.

If sRGB is so good, then why bother about anything else? Unfortunately, despite being very popular sRGB has a rather small gamut. Specifically, it

cannot show the highly saturated (deep) colours that your DSLR can capture. Those lovely deep reddish hues in that sunset you have captured may not appear on your monitor. So what is the solution? Fortunately, other colour spaces with wider gamuts have been defined. Two popular ones are AdobeRGB (called aRGB, Picture 1) and ProPhoto RGB. These allow for more saturated colours, with the latter showing even deeper colours than the former. However, there are a few disadvantages too, when you use the ProPhoto RGB so we will not be discussing about it anymore in this article.

Here is one subtle point you need to observe. As you have just read these two colour spaces offer deeper colours. For example, the deepest red in aRGB colour space will be more saturated than the deepest red in sRGB colour space. However, the number of colours is unchanged. This may sound a bit confusing but the explanation is simple. Recall the crayon box analogy. Both the aRGB and sRGB “crayon boxes” have the same number of crayons. However, if you take the deepest red crayon from the sRGB crayon box, it will not be as deeply red as the aRGB’s deepest red crayon! (OK, that might sound a bit confusing so perhaps you should read the last sentence again!)

If the number of colours does not depend on the colour space, what determines this number then? That really depends on the number if bits associated with each pixel. This in turn,

as already explained, depends on the file format and not the colour space. So, if you have chosen JPEG file format, then there will be 256 shades of red (and equal number of blue and green shades) but the red corresponding to level 256 in aRGB will be deeper than the red corresponding to level 256 in sRGB. This is in turn means that the gradation from the palest to the deepest colour in aRGB will be coarser than in sRGB. This aspect is generally not of much practical importance though.

When you are photographing you can tell the camera the colour space you want to use. This is normally a parameter you set (just the way you set, for example, file format or white balance). It is generally in the “Shooting Menu”. Most DSLRs and CSCs offer two colour spaces aRGB and sRGB. So which one do you choose. Well, answer is pretty standard as you might have guessed - it depends ! If your image is going be used for web based applications, that means Flickr, Facebook, etc. it is

Ashok Kandimalla

Every day as a photographer, you deal with several devices like cameras, computers, scanners,

monitors, printers, etc. For all these devices, the underlying guts are based on digital technology, where everything (including the image) is represented as ones and zeroes. However, what you would like to see on a monitor or on a print is not ones and zeroes but an image. Hence, there must be some process for converting those ones and zeroes into an image that you can recognize. This is done by the various circuits and software of these devices but that is not all. There has to be a consistency in these devices so that what you have captured say with your camera as a light shade of pink looks exactly so when you see it on a monitor. Lack of this is the reason why, colours recorded by your camera and what appears on your monitor (or print) differ.

The actual procedure that goes on behind to maintain this consistency is called “Colour Management” and is quite complex, but as a photographer you must know a few fundamentals to at least get started in this direction. Before we get into the details, it is best to get some fundamentals and nomenclature clear.

In your camera, any colour that is captured is a combination of three colours viz., Red, Green and Blue, commonly abbreviated as R, G and B. All other colours are derived from just these three. This is the reason why R, G and B are also called “primary colours”. In any image, each pixel is made up of a combination of R, G and B values.

Picture 1: The coloured area approximately represents the colours that are available. The gamut sRGB col-our space is shown by the smaller triangle (blue) and the aRGB gamut is shown by the larger triangle (red).

LEARNING


Using Minimum Lights

With clever use of minimum equipment, it is possible to get good results.

When you are a beginner in the field, prospective clients often pose questions like “which camera due you have; how many megapixels is it” (even though they may be

maintain that a photographer’s best friend is a sturdy tripod. Don’t worry too much about what material it is made of – aluminum or magnesium or whatever. Good brands of tripods always use good material. What you need to pay attention to are the following:a) The weight that the tripod can

carry without getting unsteady or wobbly. Generally, it should be able to carry the longest / heaviest lens you have.

b) The minimum and maximum height the tripod can attain after fully extending the legs. Short tripods that force you to bend over, should ideally be avoided (unless you love lumbago!)

c) Overall stability of the tripod.

d) Whether the height of the centre column can be varied by rotating a handle on its side and whether the column is geared (this gives more precision) or does one have to push-pull the column to adjust its height?

Coming to lighting, please remember that there is no such thing as ‘standard’ lighting, except for passport photos (even that may vary a bit)! Lighting depends entirely on the shape / surface / material of the product, or the face that one is photographing; it also depends on the mood you wish to create and capture. Now, you may be asking

Having

crossed over

20 active

years in

commercial

photography,

Dilip Yande

says his forte

is Fashion

and Portrait

photography.

He believes variety is the spice of

life, and to keep himself motivated

he does a lot of tabletop as well.

For Dilip, names like Rembrandt,

Renoir, Gauguin, Picasso, Turner,

Monet are household names because

of his childhood that was spent in

a lineage of fine arts. This ‘fine art’

reflects in his work because he feels

that there is always a little bit of

‘you’ in everything one does. Having

shot for many advertising agencies,

juried a few competitions, mentored

many workshops, and guided many

photographers in their formative

years, for Dilip, photography is just

another way to romance his first

love – art. He may be contacted at

[email protected].

yourself about the Butterfly lighting, Rembrandt lighting, Short lighting, Broad lighting etc that you learned when you started with your basics. Well, those are like the ‘Raagas’ of classical music – a ‘base’ that you need to know to understand music. The way a good music director or a composer would apply his base knowledge of ‘Raagas’– ‘Sur’ (tune) and ‘Taal’ (rhythm) – to create good harmony. one has to understand the basics of lighting and apply the same along with the use of ‘cutters’ and ‘reflectors’ to light up the subject. Be open and friendly with lights; don’t be rigid while placing them. Let’s take an example. When you start playing a friendly game of cricket in your compound, do you carry or refer to any manual showing the positions which the fielders need to take? Do you try to locate where the ‘mid- on’ or the ‘mid –off ’ or ‘long on’, ‘third man’ or the ‘silly point’ could be? Or do you position the fielders just using your instincts? When it comes to photography, similarly follow your instincts. Position the lights using your instincts. Do not forget the fundamentals of basic lighting taught to you, but at the same time, don’t stick on forever with them. Remember you need to break the grammar of prose to create a poem.

Lighting is a strange game – a combination of mathematics and aesthetics. But one should not cram the bookish lighting positions taught in books just to apply them later. We should develop a sense of lighting.

How to develop a sense of lighting is what I may tell you in some other article, but this time I shall give you a small exercise, primarily to understand lighting.

Place a tray with a tea-kettle, a cup and saucer, and brown bread slices near your balcony or window from where the morning light is coming in. Observe how the direct light illuminates the objects in the tray. Make a mental note of how the steam from the kettle is well-registered in this light; how the glossy ceramic surfaces reflect the light to cause strange patterns; notice how the texture on the brown bread is enhanced in this slanting light. As the sun goes up, you may find that the reflected light, which is soft, is illuminating the same tray or you may just find a streak of hard sunlight on the wall behind and a soft reflected light on the tray. Use all these observations to your advantage when you light up a similar table-top. Use this principle in defining the positions of your lights, and most important, the

positions of cutters and reflectors.

The parameters that one should consider with artificial lighting are:1) The intensity of the light.

2) The height of the stand it has been mounted on – the lowest and the highest height one can attain.

3) How wide and even the ‘throw’ of the light is, or how confined it could be with a light modifier.

4) The color temperature of the light.

5) Property of the light, in terms of softness and hardness.

Dilip Yande

wanting to use the images only for their web site); “which lenses you have etc”. After you have satisfied their curiosity, they usually ask you as to which big brands you have shot for. Even after you have gained enough experience in the line and have a sufficiently good portfolio to show, you will still meet people who will ask you silly questions as to how many lights you have; whether you have an Octa or a Para etc (the type of soft-boxes) and whether they are ‘digital’ lights? The next question could be “do you have a power pack”? I pity such people. They are the ones who try to see the possible shortcomings in a portfolio, rather than what is good. They try to hunt for the photographer’s weakness rather than observe his talents and use them creatively. But in this line of work (as in any other line), one has to ‘live with it’ without getting upset with what they say. Remember, good results can be obtained by clever use of minimum lights and accessories.

Before moving on to the lighting, let me give you few more tips. A photographer’s kit should have a range of zoom lenses that offer focal lengths from 24 mm to say, 200 or 300 mm in case he is using a full frame format. It is nice to have a set of two lenses like 24-70 mm / 24-105 mm lens and a 70-200 mm / 70-300 mm. Lenses with high zoom ratios – those covering focal lengths from wide-angle to long telephoto may soften the image a bit. I always

Thermocoles

Matts

Matts

Model

Soft Box on boomstand

Background

Camera

Diag 1 Pic 1

LEARNING



about one-third of the way into the scene and then use a narrow aperture to get extended depth of field. In the case of lightning however, we focus close to infinity since its the lighting strikes that we want sharp.

3. Set the base ISO (Check your user manual; it is either ISO 100 or 200 in most cases).

4. Set the aperture (like f/8).

5. Set the shutter speed to about 15 seconds.

6. Shoot in Raw since Raw files capture greater data and it would be easy to fine-tune the White Balance to suit one’s taste. I had read somewhere that preset WB Flourescent should be tried since this can give a purple tinge that could enhance the pictorial value of your lightning shots.

7. Switch ‘off ’ your camera’s Noise Reduction feature. If you don’t, the camera will take another 15 seconds (if that happens to be your shutter speed) to cancel out the noise that would be generated during such a long exposure, and during that time you may miss out on other lightning strikes. You can deal with the noise later on in your

image editing program. And since you will be using your camera’s base ISO, comparatively, noise would be less to start with.

You are going to point the camera in the general direction of the lightning strikes and hope that you’ll have some strikes within the time period that the shutter stays open. But if you are using a D-SLR (where the mirror blocks the view from the viewfinder during exposure), how would you be sure that the lightning strikes are covered by your lens? If your D-SLR has Live View (some earlier models did not), then you should use this feature. You can then turn your camera a bit to the left or the right as the situation demands. If your D-SLR does not have Live View, you may have to rely on your judgement and hope that the lens will cover the lightning strikes.

Remember, if you can compose the shot with an identifiable structure in the foreground, it will certainly

add to the picture.

Take many shots. Experiment with longer exposure times. The longer the shutter stays open, the greater the chances of recording multiple strikes, but at the same time, longer exposures could also mean

overexposing the dark sky (turning the sky grey instead of it staying almost black).

Post ProcessingThere will be a lot of contrast in your picture. The lightning strike will be bright but the other areas

Photographs of lightning always create a ‘wow factor’ in the hearts of

viewers. Taking those shots is even more exciting. It often puts your adrenaline on the increase. But before you even read this further, remember that photographing lightning can be risky. If lightning strikes you, you certainly won’t be able to see your pictures!

Hence, consider safety to be your first priority. If you stay alive, you can always go another time for your lightning shots. Done sensibly, without taking undue risks, you can get wonderful lightning shots. And since we are shortly due for a rainy season, what better time than now to be prepared?

Equipment RequiredCamera, preferably with a wide-angle lensTripodCable release, or better still, a wireless remote release.

Set-up & PrecautionsWhere will you set up your tripod-mounted camera? Obviously, at a location from where you can see

Rohinton Mehta

the lightning strikes! Remember what I said in the beginning of this write-up? “If lightning strikes you, you certainly won’t be able to see your pictures! Hence, consider safety to be your first priority”. It would be unwise to stand out in the open. Find a suitable shelter from where you can view the lightning strikes. If its raining, it may be a good idea to have some sort of water protection for your camera even though you will not be out in the open, as strong breeze will almost always spray your camera with rain water.

Avoid standing under trees, as tall objects ‘pull in’ the lightning and you could end up being the target. Even the pointed metal ferrule (the spike-like projection) of your umbrella could attract lightning.

It would help create a more interesting framing if you can have an identifiable foreground.

Camera Settings1. Select Manual focus. Autofocus generally won’t work.

2. Set the lens close to infinity. Generally, when doing landscapes, we do not set the lens close to/at infinity; instead we set the focus

Original Image

LEARNING


Motion Blur with ND Filters

As photographers, we all create images. But how oft en do we create imaginative

images? Take the example shown here. A beautiful waterfall always looks good but have you ever tried to enhance its beauty? Do we have to merely document what we see or do we have the creative licence to show the viewer what our ‘inner eye’ sees?

Most photographers would have shot the waterfall image using a high shutter speed to freeze the water droplets. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. But what if you wanted to create an impression of movement – fl owing water – in your still (non-video) frame? Th at would call for a long exposure, with your shutter speed going into many seconds.

Th e BasicsSo here begins our dilemma. We need to keep our camera shutter open for many seconds to record the silky fl ow of water. Okay, but to balance that shutter speed, we need to use a very narrow aperture. Let’s take an example: Let us assume that we need to use a 30-second shutter speed at ISO 100 (our Base ISO – as Amit did here with his picture). To balance the exposure, we would need a very narrow aperture. But we have a limitation of apertures on our lenses. Even if you were to use f/22 (assuming that to be the narrowest aperture on

your lens), chances are, you would still overexpose the scene. Th e only way out would be reduce the overall light entering the lens. To do that, we need a Neutral Density (ND) fi lter.

A Neutral Density (ND) fi lter is basically a piece of dark grey coloured glass (something like welder’s glass) that reduces the overall light getting into the lens. ND fi lters are available in various strengths. For example, an ND fi lter may reduce 1-stop of light, another ND fi lter may reduce 2-stops of light; yet another, 3-stops etc. Mind you, it does not reduce the size of the aperture; the aperture stays put at whatever you set. So if you set f/11 for example, a 3-stop ND fi lter does not make the aperture f/32 (3-stops down from f/11). What is does is lengthen the exposure time. If the shutter speed at f/11 (in our example) was say, 1 second, a 3-stop ND fi lter will prolong the shutter speed to 8 seconds.

Aperture: f/10; Shutter speed: 30 sec.; ISO:100 Rohinton Mehta

Pic

ture

Cou

rtes

y: A

mit

Ran

e

B+W ND fi lter

Hoya PRO 1D ND8 fi lter ( 3-stops)

Kenko Variable NDX ND 2.5 - ND 1000 fi lter



http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla.He


















Colour Spaces are not Empty Spaces

In the case of a JPEG file each primary colour will have 8 bits assigned to it. This means that each primary colour can assume 28 = 256 different values. Since each pixel is a combination of the three primary colours, this will result in a total of 256 X 256 X 256 or 16.7 Million different possible colours available for each pixel.

Colour Model: If you are using Raw format, then each primary colour has 12 bits (or even 14 bits) associated with it. In a 12 bit Raw file there are 212 = 4096 different shades for each primary colour. This results in a whopping total of 4096 X 4096 X 4096 or 68.7 Billion different colours. This means that any pixel can be rendered in any one of the 68.7 billion colours! You can see that in this discussion so far we have represented all colours as a combination of R, G and B. This way of representing is called the RGB Colour Model. There are other models to represent colours like LAB, CYMK, etc. but for now this is sufficient.

Gamut: Any device has a limitation on the number of colours it can handle. Think of a device, say a camera. Assume that all colours that this camera can handle are contained in a box – just like a kid would have a crayon box. So, any pixel in the image can be coloured by the camera by using a colour from the box. It has no access to colours outside this box. This box is called the “gamut” of the camera. Simple isn’t it – it is just the bounding box of all the colours that a device is capable of. As you can expect, different devices have different gamuts and as far as you as a photographer is concerned, the bigger the gamut the better.

Smart

Photography has

been continually

receiving

requests to start

a basic course for

beginners. With

this in mind, we

have asked a very

knowledgeable

photographer from

Hyderabad to take

over writing these

articles. We have

also requested him to be as jargon-free

as it is possible, so that newcomers to

photography feel comfortable to pursue

the hobby.

The author, Ashok Kandimalla has

been in the photographic field for

over three decades and has extensive

experience in both film and digital

photography. Being an electronics

engineer by profession and a

photographer, he possesses a unique

and deep insight into the technical

aspects of digital photography and

equipment. He has published several

articles on photography and some of

his writings have also been published

in the well-known international

magazine Popular Photography.

An avid collector of photographic

books and vintage cameras, Ashok

has a keen interest in the history of

photography and a passion for sharing

his knowledge on photography through

teaching and writing. He is presently

working as a Management and

Engineering consultant. You can see his

work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashok_kandimalla. He can be reached

at [email protected]

Ashok Kandimalla

Every day as a photographer, you deal with several devices like cameras, computers, scanners,

monitors, printers, etc. For all these devices, the underlying guts are based on digital technology, where everything (including the image) is represented as ones and zeroes. However, what you would like to see on a monitor or on a print is not ones and zeroes but an image. Hence, there must be some process for converting those ones and zeroes into an image that you can recognize. This is done by the various circuits and software of these devices but that is not all. There has to be a consistency in these devices so that what you have captured say with your camera as a light shade of pink looks exactly so when you see it on a monitor. Lack of this is the reason why, colours recorded by your camera and what appears on your monitor (or print) differ.

The actual procedure that goes on behind to maintain this consistency is called “Colour Management” and is quite complex, but as a photographer you must know a few fundamentals to at least get started in this direction. Before we get into the details, it is best to get some fundamentals and nomenclature clear.

In your camera, any colour that is captured is a combination of three colours viz., Red, Green and Blue, commonly abbreviated as R, G and B. All other colours are derived from just these three. This is the reason why R, G and B are also called “primary colours”. In any image, each pixel is made up of a combination of R, G and B values.



Colour Space: There is one more term you should get familiar with. Assume that your camera and your monitor are both using (as it is usually the case) the RGB Colour Model. While that is a good starting point, this still does not allow consistent colours. Let us say you camera assigns a pixel (after you take a photograph) a RGB value of (R=242 G=101 B=34) to that pixel. These values correspond to a shade of orange as recorded in your camera. Your computer when reading the file also sees that this particular pixel has values (R=242 G=101 B=34). However, how does one guarantee that these values represent the same shade of orange when displayed on your monitor? This as you can expect, only when each set of RGB values (remember that there are 16.7 Million of them in JPEG file) are defined and a particular colour and shade is assigned to each set. Such a definition is called a Colour Space. Thus, the Colour Model tells you the way colour is described, the Colour Space goes beyond and defines the actual colour and shade precisely for each RGB combination. With this standardized definition, you can expect at least in principle, a particular set of RGB values will be recorded and shown exactly same across all devices. You can now easily see the importance of the Colour Space.

As you have just seen, without a standardized colour space, it would be practically impossible to have colour consistency across devices. So, there are now such standardized colour spaces defined and available. The commonly heard name sRGB is one such standardized colour space (-in fact the letter “s” means “standard”).This has been defined by computer majors like HP and Microsoft and was developed to describe the colour space for monitors. This is the most widely used colour space today. Most browsers and other software which are not “colour space aware” can be assumed to operate in the sRGB colour space. Not only that, many commercial printers (like Fuji Frontier) use sRGB.

If sRGB is so good, then why bother about anything else? Unfortunately, despite being very popular sRGB has a rather small gamut. Specifically, it

cannot show the highly saturated (deep) colours that your DSLR can capture. Those lovely deep reddish hues in that sunset you have captured may not appear on your monitor. So what is the solution? Fortunately, other colour spaces with wider gamuts have been defined. Two popular ones are AdobeRGB (called aRGB, Picture 1) and ProPhoto RGB. These allow for more saturated colours, with the latter showing even deeper colours than the former. However, there are a few disadvantages too, when you use the ProPhoto RGB so we will not be discussing about it anymore in this article.

Here is one subtle point you need to observe. As you have just read these two colour spaces offer deeper colours. For example, the deepest red in aRGB colour space will be more saturated than the deepest red in sRGB colour space. However, the number of colours is unchanged. This may sound a bit confusing but the explanation is simple. Recall the crayon box analogy. Both the aRGB and sRGB “crayon boxes” have the same number of crayons. However, if you take the deepest red crayon from the sRGB crayon box, it will not be as deeply red as the aRGB’s deepest red crayon! (OK, that might sound a bit confusing so perhaps you should read the last sentence again!)

If the number of colours does not depend on the colour space, what determines this number then? That really depends on the number if bits associated with each pixel. This in turn,

as already explained, depends on the file format and not the colour space. So, if you have chosen JPEG file format, then there will be 256 shades of red (and equal number of blue and green shades) but the red corresponding to level 256 in aRGB will be deeper than the red corresponding to level 256 in sRGB. This is in turn means that the gradation from the palest to the deepest colour in aRGB will be coarser than in sRGB. This aspect is generally not of much practical importance though.

When you are photographing you can tell the camera the colour space you want to use. This is normally a parameter you set (just the way you set, for example, file format or white balance). It is generally in the “Shooting Menu”. Most DSLRs and CSCs offer two colour spaces aRGB and sRGB. So which one do you choose. Well, answer is pretty standard as you might have guessed - it depends ! If your image is going be used for web based applications, that means Flickr, Facebook, etc. it is

Picture 1: The coloured area approximately represents the colours that are available. The gamut sRGB col-our space is shown by the smaller triangle (blue) and the aRGB gamut is shown by the larger triangle (red).




better you use sRGB. This is also the right colour space if you want prints from a commercial lab. However, if you want to get the final print from an inkjet printer which has a wider gamut, then you should go for aRGB. This is also the right colour space to use if you do lot of post-processing. To reduce confusion, most cameras use a different file naming convention to distinguish between the colour spaces. A file name of type DSC_1234 is used for sRGB where as an image file created in the aRGB space will be named by the camera as _DSC1234.

It is always better to start with aRGB since the gamut is wider here. You can always convert to the sRGB which has a smaller gamut but the reverse will result in loss of deeply saturated colours since they are not present to start with in the sRGB image. If you are photographing in Raw format, then this is not a problem since the data is all there and the colour space is only assigned later when you convert to JPEG. So, with a Raw file you can change the colour space at will without any loss of colours. This is an advantage you get if you use Raw format.

Changing Colour Spaces: If you have used aRGB but you want to publish on a web, then it is a must that you convert the colour space to sRGB. This can be done by any of the more sophisticated colour space aware post-processing packages like Photoshop. This step is a must since if you feed an image file that is in aRGB colour space to an sRGB device (like a commercial photo printer like Fuji Frontier or most browsers) the result will have very pale colours. So, be aware of this.

Let us say you want to play safe and want to use aRGB always. Being careful you have also incorporated in your workflow a step to convert from aRGB to sRGB for those applications that demand the latter. Assume that you have an image in aRGB and that you want to convert the colour space to sRGB. You can do this conversion in Photoshop by going to the “Edit” tab and then selecting “Colour Settings”. While that is fine, what will happen to the colours that are beyond the sRGB gamut? There are two popular ways (there are others too) of handling

bands. The banding effect is also called “posterization”. Since you have seen that a Raw fie has a lot more colours than JPEG, you can easily see why more intense editing is possible with the former before the image is affected by posterization. Score one more point in favor of Raw format and don’t forget that over years Smart Photography has been recommending the use of Raw always!

256 Shades of gray: Ok, that is an exciting subtitle but what you read here is a lot more serious than what you can find in a book with a similar title ! The issue of bits per pixel becomes a lot more important when you want to process your coloured image into a monochrome image. To understand why this is so, recall the fundamental fact that all colours are made up by giving different values to R, G and B. When each of these components is the same (that is equal) for any pixel, the colour will vanish and pixel will become monochromatic. Thus R=G=B=100 is a shade of gray. R=G=B=0 is pure black and R=G=B=255 is pure white. Thus every pixel in a monochrome image must have, without any exception, the same values of R, G and B. You can immediately see that this imposes a severe restriction on the number shades of each pixel as it cannot have any arbitrary values for R, G and B.

So, if you want to create a monochrome image, starting with a JEPG image will restrict you to just 256 shades. If you now do any editing like increasing the contrast, this small number of tones will lead to banding very easily. Hence, if you want to create a monochrome image, always start with Raw, preferably with a 14 bit Raw which most DSLRs now support. This will give you a lot more leeway in editing. This is another reason why you should use Raw format.

Monitor Profiling: Now let us move to the next issue. You must have been to a TV showroom. Here you would find a number of TVs one next to the other. If you look closely you will find that though they are all running the same program, the colours will look slightly different from TV to TV. This could be due to different manufacturers

these “out of gamut colours”, as they are known.

Relative Colourimetric method uses an algorithm that leaves untouched all colours that are present in the aRGB that are also present in sRGB. That is they will look the same after conversion. However, the RGB values will be changed in this conversion (otherwise they colours will look different -they will look paler). All those colours in aRGB that are beyond sRGB will be translated into sRGB colours that are closest. Hence, the conversion will cause squeezing of tones at the boundaries of sRGB colour space. This may cause banding (more of this shortly) sometimes. Generally though, the converted image will look very close to the original one.

Perceptual Intent method uses a different algorithm where the entire colours of aRGB are mapped into sRGB space. This means that the aRGB gamut is sort of compressed uniformly across all colours and will be made to fit in the sRGB space. The result is that tonal gradations will be smoother in this conversion since there is no squeezing of tones at the boundaries like before. The end result may look a bit less saturated than the original image you started with but you can always boost it by increasing saturation in post-processing.

Why do you need so many colours? You have seen that even a JPEG image file (with 8 bits per primary colour or 24 bits per pixel) has 16.7 million colours available for each pixel. A Raw file with 12 bits has 36 bits per pixel and thus can render a pixel in any one of the 68.7 billion colours. More advanced cameras can have 42 bits per pixel or even 48 bits per pixel. Even with 16.7 million colours, the gradation between colours will be so subtle that a human eye will hardly be able to discern. Then, the question is, why so many colours? They are needed when you post-process the images. When you increase the contrast and/or saturation, many colours are lost. The transition between regions will not be smooth if there is insufficient number of colours available. These abrupt transitions lead to ugly looking



using different hardware and/or due to different settings (for colour, contrast, etc.) Even with the same manufacturer there will be piece to piece variation. This is also the reason why image on your friend’s monitor could look different from what it appears on your monitor. So, the question is which monitor is showing the correct colours?

Look at one more case. Let us say your monitor has (whatever may be the reason) a slight blue colour cast. If you are post-processing your image using this monitor you will try to add some red as a colour correction to balance out the blue colour cast. This mean that if you display the same image on a monitor which has no colour casts, then it will display excessive red since this monitor does not have any blue colour cast to start with to get neutralized.

The solution to this problem is through monitor profiling. This is done with the help of a “colourimeter” (Picture 2). Sorry, you need to have this gadget as profiling can’t be done by eye balling (that is just by looking at the screen) accurately.

The following is the procedure. The colourimeter is connected (through a standard USB port) to the computer on which you will be doing the image post processing and to which the monitor to be profiled is connected. The colourimeter is placed (actually attached with the help of suction cups) on the monitor screen (Picture 3). Now, the computer connected to the monitor has to run the profiling software supplied with the colourimeter. This software will put out some specific well defined reference colour patches (Picture 3) on the monitor and the colourimeter will measure these colours and sends this information back to your computer.

The profiling software will make out the difference between the reference colours and colours displayed by the monitor. This difference is used to create a “profile”. You can think of this as sort of a filter that sits on your computer and compensates for any effects of the monitor. Thus, even if your monitor has any colour casts, the profile removes them and hence

you don’t need to make unneeded corrections on your image file. The result is an image that will display correctly on any properly profiled monitor, anywhere. The important point here is that you don’t alter the image. The correction is done outside the image by the profile that sits between your image file and monitor. This of course is bit of an over

Picture 2: A colourim-eter (blue arrow). This

is connected to the com-puter by the USB cable

(red arrow). The suction cups are underneath the colourimeter and hence

are not visible in the photograph.

Picture 3: First the colourimeter is attached

to the face of the monitor and then the profiling

software is run. This is how the monitor screen

will look when profil-ing is in progress. The

software has put out a specific reference colour

patch (red) and the colourimeter (shown by

blue arrow) is measuring that. Several such refer-ence patches are put out

as the procedure goes on. A profile is created at the

end of this process.

simplification but you must have got the concept behind the profiling.

One more point. Laptops screens are generally not suitable for post-processing work. This is because, on most laptops, the tone changes with the angle of view. If you have no other alternative make sure that your eye is at 90º (right angles) to the laptop screen.

All

text

an

d im

ages

© A

shok

Kan

dim

alla

un

less

oth

erw

ise

stat

ed.

You have seen here how colour is represented through the Colour Model and then defined precisely through standardized Colour Spaces. You have also read how the colours available are confined to a gamut which is dependent on the colour space you use. The effect of wrong colour spaces and the method of converting the colour spaces were also discussed. Finally you read about the way your monitor needs to be profiled so that you get consistent colour from capture of the image by your camera to display on any monitor. So, this readers, is a highly simplified version of colour management. It also limits the discussion to displaying the image on a monitor. It does not deal with printing the image which is an altogether a more complex operation. Hopefully we will cover that too later! Till then happy colour management, up to the monitor!

CONCLUSION:


LEARNING


Using Minimum Lights

With clever use of minimum equipment, it is possible to get good results.

When you are a beginner in the field, prospective clients often pose questions like “which camera due you have; how many megapixels is it” (even though they may be

maintain that a photographer’s best friend is a sturdy tripod. Don’t worry too much about what material it is made of – aluminum or magnesium or whatever. Good brands of tripods always use good material. What you need to pay attention to are the following:a) The weight that the tripod can

carry without getting unsteady or wobbly. Generally, it should be able to carry the longest / heaviest lens you have.

b) The minimum and maximum height the tripod can attain after fully extending the legs. Short tripods that force you to bend over, should ideally be avoided (unless you love lumbago!)

c) Overall stability of the tripod.

d) Whether the height of the centre column can be varied by rotating a handle on its side and whether the column is geared (this gives more precision) or does one have to push-pull the column to adjust its height?

Coming to lighting, please remember that there is no such thing as ‘standard’ lighting, except for passport photos (even that may vary a bit)! Lighting depends entirely on the shape / surface / material of the product, or the face that one is photographing; it also depends on the mood you wish to create and capture. Now, you may be asking

Having

crossed over

20 active

years in

commercial

photography,

Dilip Yande

says his forte

is Fashion

and Portrait

photography.

He believes variety is the spice of

life, and to keep himself motivated

he does a lot of tabletop as well.

For Dilip, names like Rembrandt,

Renoir, Gauguin, Picasso, Turner,

Monet are household names because

of his childhood that was spent in

a lineage of fine arts. This ‘fine art’

reflects in his work because he feels

that there is always a little bit of

‘you’ in everything one does. Having

shot for many advertising agencies,

juried a few competitions, mentored

many workshops, and guided many

photographers in their formative

years, for Dilip, photography is just

another way to romance his first

love – art. He may be contacted at

[email protected].

Dilip Yande

wanting to use the images only for their web site); “which lenses you have etc”. After you have satisfied their curiosity, they usually ask you as to which big brands you have shot for. Even after you have gained enough experience in the line and have a sufficiently good portfolio to show, you will still meet people who will ask you silly questions as to how many lights you have; whether you have an Octa or a Para etc (the type of soft-boxes) and whether they are ‘digital’ lights? The next question could be “do you have a power pack”? I pity such people. They are the ones who try to see the possible shortcomings in a portfolio, rather than what is good. They try to hunt for the photographer’s weakness rather than observe his talents and use them creatively. But in this line of work (as in any other line), one has to ‘live with it’ without getting upset with what they say. Remember, good results can be obtained by clever use of minimum lights and accessories.

Before moving on to the lighting, let me give you few more tips. A photographer’s kit should have a range of zoom lenses that offer focal lengths from 24 mm to say, 200 or 300 mm in case he is using a full frame format. It is nice to have a set of two lenses like 24-70 mm / 24-105 mm lens and a 70-200 mm / 70-300 mm. Lenses with high zoom ratios – those covering focal lengths from wide-angle to long telephoto may soften the image a bit. I always




yourself about the Butterfly lighting, Rembrandt lighting, Short lighting, Broad lighting etc that you learned when you started with your basics. Well, those are like the ‘Raagas’ of classical music – a ‘base’ that you need to know to understand music. The way a good music director or a composer would apply his base knowledge of ‘Raagas’– ‘Sur’ (tune) and ‘Taal’ (rhythm) – to create good harmony. one has to understand the basics of lighting and apply the same along with the use of ‘cutters’ and ‘reflectors’ to light up the subject. Be open and friendly with lights; don’t be rigid while placing them. Let’s take an example. When you start playing a friendly game of cricket in your compound, do you carry or refer to any manual showing the positions which the fielders need to take? Do you try to locate where the ‘mid- on’ or the ‘mid –off ’ or ‘long on’, ‘third man’ or the ‘silly point’ could be? Or do you position the fielders just using your instincts? When it comes to photography, similarly follow your instincts. Position the lights using your instincts. Do not forget the fundamentals of basic lighting taught to you, but at the same time, don’t stick on forever with them. Remember you need to break the grammar of prose to create a poem.

Lighting is a strange game – a combination of mathematics and aesthetics. But one should not cram the bookish lighting positions taught in books just to apply them later. We should develop a sense of lighting.

How to develop a sense of lighting is what I may tell you in some other article, but this time I shall give you a small exercise, primarily to understand lighting.

Place a tray with a tea-kettle, a cup and saucer, and brown bread slices near your balcony or window from where the morning light is coming in. Observe how the direct light illuminates the objects in the tray. Make a mental note of how the steam from the kettle is well-registered in this light; how the glossy ceramic surfaces reflect the light to cause strange patterns; notice how the texture on the brown bread is enhanced in this slanting light. As the sun goes up, you may find that the reflected light, which is soft, is illuminating the same tray or you may just find a streak of hard sunlight on the wall behind and a soft reflected light on the tray. Use all these observations to your advantage when you light up a similar table-top. Use this principle in defining the positions of your lights, and most important, the

positions of cutters and reflectors.

The parameters that one should consider with artificial lighting are:1) The intensity of the light.

2) The height of the stand it has been mounted on – the lowest and the highest height one can attain.

3) How wide and even the ‘throw’ of the light is, or how confined it could be with a light modifier.

4) The color temperature of the light.

5) Property of the light, in terms of softness and hardness.

Thermocoles

Matts

Matts

Model

Soft Box on boomstand

Background

Camera

Diag 1 Pic 1


LEARNING


Use every property of the light to your advantage. Do not crib for what you don’t have in lights or light modifiers; it makes no sense to buy high-end power packs in the initial days of your career.

Here are few things that beginners often neglect or overlook while learning lighting or applying their knowledge of lighting. Please remember that when you shift a light source away from an object, you not only reduce the intensity of the light falling on the object but also the quality (hardness/softness) of the light falling on it. As you move the light further away, the light gets ‘harder’. The height of the light stand may also need to be to be changed in order to maintain the same initial shadow-play but in case of digitally controlled lights whose intensity can be varied without changing its position, the stand height need not be changed. But such lights can pose a different challenge, because the light fall-off from the object to the background may increase / decrease proportionately and significantly, specially when the light source is very close to the subject and the background is far away from the subject. This is due to the Inverse Square Law. Remember that shifting light position away from an object and reducing its intensity by digitally controlling it at the same spot can give two different results which very few realize. Learn

Thermocole

Sungun

Model

Palm Leaves

Thin ply pasted

with matt silver sheets

Background

Camera on Tripod

Diag 2

Pic 2

lights or even use mixed sources of light to achieve good results.

Picture 1- This picture is to show you that a nice emotional portrait can be shot with a single source of light and clever use of reflectors to enhance both the face and the props. Refer Diagram 1.

Picture 2- Would you say that this picture was shot with just a single light source and that too a inexpensive sun gun? Diagram 2 will reveal to you how it was done. To capture the warm tone, White Balance was set to Daylight mode in the camera. The palm tree on the left served to control the cut-light, and the back-light on the leaves gave it a realistic look. A silver reflector was

to master the art of lighting through observations.

I am giving a few examples as to how freely one can play with minimum



placed in the front to reflect some light on to the model.

Picture 3- In this picture the set-up is similar to picture 2 except that a studio flash was placed behind the model and directed at the white background. Diagram 3 shows

Thermocole

Sungun

Model

Palm Leaves

Thin ply with matt silver

sheets pasted on it

Same Background as diag 2

Studioflash thrown on

the background

(Mounted on

a floor stand)

Camera on Tripod

Diag 3

Thermocole

Model

Cloth with

a warm tinge

Flag Background

Bare studio flash

without any diffuser Camera on Tripod

Diag 4

Pic 3

you how the lights were positioned.

Picture 4- This is a picture that makes you to think that two sources of different colour temperatures have been used, one to illuminate the model and second one as a soft streak of daylight falling on the flag behind. Diagram 4

will reveal the secret to you. In this picture, the light falling on the model is passing through a cloth having a warm tinge (a curtain), thereby making the model’s skin tone and her dress a bit warmer. Part of the light from the flash is directly hitting the background, thus giving a feel of an additional light source using Daylight colour temperature.

Picture 5- In this picture, two studio lights with appropriate light

Pic 4


LEARNING


modifiers have been used, refer to Diagram 5 to know how it was done and the critical position of the ‘cutters’. Simple sarees have been used as background and in the foreground to create depth.

Picture 6 - This picture uses one studio flash with blue gel and a 32-degree grid illuminating a white background. The modeling lamp of another studio light was used as the main light to illuminate the model with warm light. One may use a table lamp in this place.

Picture 7a and b - Once again shot with a single source of light and use

of reflectors. In picture 7 b, the light position has been slightly shifted and light falling on the model’s face was partially blocked while allowing the light to fall onto the background, giving the feel of natural daylight. Refer Diagram 7a, b to understand the same.

Picture 8a and b - This is a clever use of two lights, one is a 500 watts sun-gun which is positioned at the back of the sarees and the second is low intensity studio flash positioned to illuminate the face of the model. In picture 8a, a fan was used to blow the model’s hair. A slow shutter speed was used, which was determined by

Model

Studio light with 32 degree grid

Cutter 3

Bare studio flash

without any diffuser

Cutter 1

Saree 1 as Background

Saree 2

as Foreground

Pedestal

Fan

Cutter 2

Softbox

Camera

on Tripod

Model holding the light

Blue GelatinWhite Background

Light with modelling light

on and the slave kept off

Studio Flash on

Floor stand with

32 degrees grid

Camera

Pic 5

Pic 6

Diag 5

Diag 6



Model

Cutter

Background

Thermocoles

Striplight

with diffuser

Camera

Model

Cutter

Background

Thermocoles

Striplight

without

diffuser

Diffuser attached on 2 separate

stands and away from the light

Camera

Pic 7a

Pic 7b

Diag 7a

Diag 7b


LEARNING


Model with hair blown in air

500w Sungun

Thermocol

Saree Background

Pedestal

Fan

Softbox

Camera

Thermocole

Model

Bamboo Leaves

Metallic reflector

Fine mesh

controlling the light

Studio Flash

without any

diffuser

Saree Background

Camera

first taking the flash reading (using a flash meter) and then transferring the same reading on to the camera now kept on Aperture Propriety mode.

Picture 9 - This is a shot of a single source of light reflected by a metallic reflector, controlled with a mesh and sheets of thermocole. But in this shot the distance between the model and the background was reduced, thus the reflector could also illuminate the background substantially. Refer to Diagram 9 for the same.

The best way to learn lighting is by experimenting. Mistakes are bound to happen, but mistakes teach us. It is always good to learn this way and master lighting, than letting your future work becoming very rigid or monotonous in its style.

Credit Lines- Models- Anupama Nagi, Twinkle Krishna Pics

7a, b shot by Unmani Y.

Makeup – Anup Das

Diag 8

Diag 9

Pic 8

Pic 9


http://www.futureforward.in

http://www.facebook.com/futureforwardgadget

LEARNING



about one-third of the way into the scene and then use a narrow aperture to get extended depth of field. In the case of lightning however, we focus close to infinity since its the lighting strikes that we want sharp.

3. Set the base ISO (Check your user manual; it is either ISO 100 or 200 in most cases).

4. Set the aperture (like f/8).

5. Set the shutter speed to about 15 seconds.

6. Shoot in Raw since Raw files capture greater data and it would be easy to fine-tune the White Balance to suit one’s taste. I had read somewhere that preset WB Flourescent should be tried since this can give a purple tinge that could enhance the pictorial value of your lightning shots.

7. Switch ‘off ’ your camera’s Noise Reduction feature. If you don’t, the camera will take another 15 seconds (if that happens to be your shutter speed) to cancel out the noise that would be generated during such a long exposure, and during that time you may miss out on other lightning strikes. You can deal with the noise later on in your

Photographs of lightning always create a ‘wow factor’ in the hearts of

viewers. Taking those shots is even more exciting. It often puts your adrenaline on the increase. But before you even read this further, remember that photographing lightning can be risky. If lightning strikes you, you certainly won’t be able to see your pictures!

Hence, consider safety to be your first priority. If you stay alive, you can always go another time for your lightning shots. Done sensibly, without taking undue risks, you can get wonderful lightning shots. And since we are shortly due for a rainy season, what better time than now to be prepared?

Equipment RequiredCamera, preferably with a wide-angle lensTripodCable release, or better still, a wireless remote release.

Set-up & PrecautionsWhere will you set up your tripod-mounted camera? Obviously, at a location from where you can see

Rohinton Mehta

the lightning strikes! Remember what I said in the beginning of this write-up? “If lightning strikes you, you certainly won’t be able to see your pictures! Hence, consider safety to be your first priority”. It would be unwise to stand out in the open. Find a suitable shelter from where you can view the lightning strikes. If its raining, it may be a good idea to have some sort of water protection for your camera even though you will not be out in the open, as strong breeze will almost always spray your camera with rain water.

Avoid standing under trees, as tall objects ‘pull in’ the lightning and you could end up being the target. Even the pointed metal ferrule (the spike-like projection) of your umbrella could attract lightning.

It would help create a more interesting framing if you can have an identifiable foreground.

Camera Settings1. Select Manual focus. Autofocus generally won’t work.

2. Set the lens close to infinity. Generally, when doing landscapes, we do not set the lens close to/at infinity; instead we set the focus



image editing program. And since you will be using your camera’s base ISO, comparatively, noise would be less to start with.

You are going to point the camera in the general direction of the lightning strikes and hope that you’ll have some strikes within the time period that the shutter stays open. But if you are using a D-SLR (where the mirror blocks the view from the viewfinder during exposure), how would you be sure that the lightning strikes are covered by your lens? If your D-SLR has Live View (some earlier models did not), then you should use this feature. You can then turn your camera a bit to the left or the right as the situation demands. If your D-SLR does not have Live View, you may have to rely on your judgement and hope that the lens will cover the lightning strikes.

Remember, if you can compose the shot with an identifiable structure in the foreground, it will certainly

add to the picture.

Take many shots. Experiment with longer exposure times. The longer the shutter stays open, the greater the chances of recording multiple strikes, but at the same time, longer exposures could also mean

overexposing the dark sky (turning the sky grey instead of it staying almost black).

Post ProcessingThere will be a lot of contrast in your picture. The lightning strike will be bright but the other areas

Original Image


LEARNING


(the ground, structures, sides of the frame) will be quite dark and probably detail-less. You may choose to ‘open up’ (lighten) some of the darker areas depending on your personal likes and dislikes. This could then show some digital noise which you may also want to reduce.

1. I am going to use Photoshop CS6, though earlier versions can also be used. Open the image (whether its is a Raw, JPEG or TIFF file) in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). If its a Raw file, it will automatically open in ACR but if it is a JPEG or TIFF file, go to File > Open As (PS 1) and navigate to the folder/image that you want to open. Select the image. The selected image’s name will be seen in the field named File name. In the field Open As, select Camera Raw (PS 2). Click Open.

2. The image will open in ACR. Adjust the White Balance if need be, by using the Temperature slider.

5. Once satisfied, click the Open Image button at the bottom of ACR to open the image in Photoshop.

6. If necessary, fine-tune the image with further edits. If necessary, sharpen the image and save the file using the Save As command.

3. Using the Highlights slider, get rid of blown highlights, if any.

4. The shadow areas are likely to be too dark. In that case, move the Shadows slider to the right to slightly ‘open up’ the shadows (don’t overdo this or it will look wrong).

Edited Image

Printscreen 1

Printscreen 2


We, at Smart Photography, are dedicated to guide you at every stage of your photography career and help you make informed choices. And this dedication is

what makes us stand out from the rest of the pack!

TELL US YOUR STORY! WRITE TO...

IMS BOOKLET with this issue

INTERVIEW YUWARAJ GURJAR

PROFILESUMER VERMA

TUTORIALSUNDERSTANDING LIGHT & LIGHTING

HOW TO CAPTURE STAR TRAILS CREATE STUNNING LANDSCAPES


ISSUE 10VOLUME 09

JANUARY 2014

RS.125

NIKON DF OLYMPUS OM D EM-1 NIKON D610

REVIEWS: NIKON DF ● OLYMPUS OM D EM-1 ● NIKON D610 ● NIKON COOLPIX P7800 ● SONY XPERIA Z1● PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 12

16 page IMS supplement with January 2014 issue.

“I switched to

Smart Photography because it gives

better guidance to hobbyists...”

- Joseph Kiny, Smart Photography reader from Mumbai

e-mail: [email protected]


LEARNING


Motion Blur with ND Filters

Aperture: f/10; Shutter speed: 30 sec.; ISO:100 Rohinton Mehta

Pic

ture

Cou

rtes

y: A

mit

Ran

e



As photographers, we all create images. But how oft en do we create imaginative

images? Take the example shown here. A beautiful waterfall always looks good but have you ever tried to enhance its beauty? Do we have to merely document what we see or do we have the creative licence to show the viewer what our ‘inner eye’ sees?

Most photographers would have shot the waterfall image using a high shutter speed to freeze the water droplets. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. But what if you wanted to create an impression of movement – fl owing water – in your still (non-video) frame? Th at would call for a long exposure, with your shutter speed going into many seconds.

Th e BasicsSo here begins our dilemma. We need to keep our camera shutter open for many seconds to record the silky fl ow of water. Okay, but to balance that shutter speed, we need to use a very narrow aperture. Let’s take an example: Let us assume that we need to use a 30-second shutter speed at ISO 100 (our Base ISO – as Amit did here with his picture). To balance the exposure, we would need a very narrow aperture. But we have a limitation of apertures on our lenses. Even if you were to use f/22 (assuming that to be the narrowest aperture on

your lens), chances are, you would still overexpose the scene. Th e only way out would be reduce the overall light entering the lens. To do that, we need a Neutral Density (ND) fi lter.

A Neutral Density (ND) fi lter is basically a piece of dark grey coloured glass (something like welder’s glass) that reduces the overall light getting into the lens. ND fi lters are available in various strengths. For example, an ND fi lter may reduce 1-stop of light, another ND fi lter may reduce 2-stops of light; yet another, 3-stops etc. Mind you, it does not reduce the size of the aperture; the aperture stays put at whatever you set. So if you set f/11 for example, a 3-stop ND fi lter does not make the aperture f/32 (3-stops down from f/11). What is does is lengthen the exposure time. If the shutter speed at f/11 (in our example) was say, 1 second, a 3-stop ND fi lter will prolong the shutter speed to 8 seconds.

B+W ND fi lter

Hoya PRO 1D ND8 fi lter ( 3-stops)

Kenko Variable NDX ND 2.5 - ND 1000 fi lter


LEARNING


Combine ND filters?For very long exposures, you could always combine 2 or more ND filters to further reduce the light getting into the lens, but I do not recommend this method. Let’s say, to have a total of 9-stop reduction in light, you use 3 numbers of 3-stop each ND filters. You would have 6 extra surfaces to worry about dust and smudges, and probable loss of image quality! Instead, a better solution would be to use a 9-stop variable ND filter. You just turn the external ring on the variable ND filter to adjust the amount of light you want to reduce (from 1-stop to 9-stops).

Here’s a practical way todo it.1. Set up your camera on a sturdy tripod. Set either Aperture Priority or Manual exposure mode.

2. Focus the lens (either AF or MF), without the ND filter in place (once the filter is in place, it will be difficult to focus).

3. Select the aperture of your choice. It is generally not a good idea (for any kind of photography) to use the narrowest aperture that our lens offers. Very narrow apertures (like f/22, f/32) definitely increase depth of field, but cause diffraction of light which causes an overall ‘softness’ in the picture. It is better to use what you’d consider as the ‘optimum aperture’. (Keeping this in mind, Amit had used f/10). However, if your pictures are not going to be large – where the softness produced by using very narrow

5. Take many shots by changing the aperture (Aperture Priority mode) so that the shutter speed varies, giving the picture a different look.

6. Do check your histogram and ensure that highlights are not overexposed.

7. Enjoy!

aperture cannot be noticed – then its your call.

4. Know when to release the shutter. If you are photographing sea-waves coming in for example, trip the shutter as you see the first wave start. It helps if there is some non-moving object (like rocks) within the frame.

Without ND filter

Including rocks in the foreground improves the composition

With ND filter

Cou

rtes

y: H

oya

Cor

pora

tion

Roh

into

n M

ehta

Aperture: f/22.0 Shutter Speed: 2.5sec . ISO:50


99Compact ReviewNikon Coolpix P340 103ILCC Review

Fujifi lm XT1

Revi

ews

94D-SLT ReviewSony Alpha 77 II

108Lens ReviewTamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro

Change in Rating SystemSmart Photography’s new rating system exercises stricter evaluation in view of improvements in the overall performance of photographic equipment. Marks will be awarded for the following parameters...

Final RankingsRecommended ......................................... 75-80%Best Buy .........................................81% and above

D-SLR CAMERAS

Design & Build Quality .................... (out of 20)

Key Features ........................................... (out of 20)

Ergonomics ............................................. (out of 20)

PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Metering ...................................................... (out of 5)Noise control ........................................... (out of 5)Distortion/Sharpness .......................... (out of 5)LCD/Viewfi nder..................................... (out of 5)Auto White Balance ........................... (out of 5)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

LENSES




PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Sharpness..................................................... (out of 5)Distortion control ................................. (out of 5)Aberrations ................................................ (out of 5)Darkening of corners ......................... (out of 5)Extra Features............................................ (out of 5)

Value for Money ................................. (out of 10)

Grand Total ......................................... (out of 100)

COMPACT CAMERAS




PerformanceAutofocus .................................................... (out of 5)Metering ...................................................... (out of 5)Noise control ........................................... (out of 5)Distortion/Sharpness .......................... (out of 5)LCD/Viewfi nder..................................... (out of 5)Auto White Balance ........................... (out of 5)

Value for Money ....................... (out of 10)

Grand Total ............................... (out of 100)

84Compact ReviewCANON POWERSHOT G1 X

MARK II

111Samsung Galaxy S5Smartphone Review

COMPACT Review CANON POWERSHOT G1 X MARK II


` 58,995

An Expensive Upgrade!

Rohinton Mehta

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II, successor to the 2012-introduced Canon

PowerShot G1 X, was announced about three months ago. It improves upon the earlier model, not only in terms of features, but also on performance. Let’s see how the Mark II fares on our test bench...

Design & Build QualityTh e Canon G1 X Mark II is quite large for a compact camera and quite heavy by compacts standard; the chassis is made from magnesium alloy and the build quality appears to be good (but read the ‘Ergonomics’ section). A tiny, jack-in-the-box fl ash resides on the top left . An accessory shoe (hot shoe) is provided. Th e tripod receptacle is made from metal. A fi nger grip and a thumb grip adds to the convenience of holding the camera.

Key FeaturesLet’s fi rst have a brief look at the similarities and diff erences between the new G1 X Mark II and the earlier model: Highlighting denotes advantage.

✓ Camera ✓ Neck Strap ✓ Battery Pack ✓ Battery Charger ✓ Getting Started booklet

Inside the Box

Feature G1 X Mark II G1 X

Eff ective pixels 12.8 million 14.3 million

Image processor DIGIC 6 DIGIC 5

Eff ective focal length 24-120mm equivalent 28-112mm equivalent

Optical zoom 5x 4x

Aperture range F/2.0-16 (W) F/2.8-16 (W) F/3.9-16 (T) F/5.8-16 (T)

Shoot in Raw? Yes (14-bit) Yes (14-bit)

Viewfi nder No Yes

Video Full HD Full HD (1920 x 1080) (1920 x 1080)

Recording media SD/SDHC/SDXC SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-1 compatible -

Battery NB-12L NB-10L

Dimensions (wxhxd) 116.3 x 74 x 66.2mm 116.7 x 80.5 x 64.7mm

Weight



Aperture: f/6.3 Shutter Speed: 1/100sec . ISO:400

Th e Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a 12.8 million (aspect ratio 3:2) / 13.1 million (aspect ratio 4:3) compact camera incorporating a DIGIC 6 image processor along with a High Sensitivity CMOS sensor and 24-120mm equivalent zoom lens that uses an inner focussing system. Th e lens incorporates 14 elements in 11 groups and off ers a lens-shift type Optical Image Stabiliser. Canon does not specify the number of stops advantage using the image stabiliser. Th e HS sensor is able to capture more light and along with the DIGIC 6 image processor, off ers better noise control even at higher ISO sensitivities. Th e camera off ers AF (Continuous, Servo AF) as well as Manual focus modes. Th e lens focusses from 5 cm - infi nity (W) / 40 cm – infi nity (T) in normal shooting; 5 - 50cm (W) in Macro mode and from 1.5 – 20m (W,T) in Quick Focus

SharpnessAperture: f/11.0 Shutter Speed: 1/6sec. ISO:100

mode. Th e Mark II’s 3-inch LCD screen can be tilted up to 45 degrees downward or up to 180 degrees upward. Th is allows us to easily take ground-level / high-level shots. Th e camera off ers Evaluative, Center-weighted average and Spot metering. ISO ranges from 100 – 12,800 plus Auto. Shutter speeds range from 60 seconds to 1/4000 sec (but varies with the shooting mode), while apertures range from f/2.0 - f/16 (W), f/3.9 - f/16 (T). Th e built-in fl ash has a range from 50cm-6.8m (W), 1.4-3.5m (T).

Th e G1 X Mark II has one too many Shooting Modes: P, Tv, Av, M, C1 & C2 (Custom modes), Movie

Mah

esh

Redd

y




touch-panel operation and review. You can easily access the Menu, Quick Control settings as well as the focus point and release the shutter with just a touch of your finger using Touch AF.

The G1 X Mark II has two control rings on the lens barrel. The inner ring (towards the body) can be used to set the aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation. The outer ring can be used for manual focussing and fine-tuning of AF. The camera’s rear-mounted control dial lets you access almost every camera function. The lens uses a 9-blade diaphragm and along with the camera’s large (18.7 x 14mm) imaging sensor and wider apertures, can help to put the background out of focus.

The G1 X Mark II offers a dedicated movie button for Full HD video in MP4 at 30 fps and with stereo sound. The camera can also record video in Apple iFrame® format. This format is computer-friendly and speeds up

(Standard, iFrame), Scene [Portrait, Smart Shutter (which further includes Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Self-timer), Star (which includes Star Portrait, Star Nightscape, Star Trails, Star Time-Lapse Movie), Handheld Night Scene, Underwater, Snow, Fireworks], Creative Shot (Auto, Retro, Monochrome, Special, Natural categories), Auto, Hybrid Auto, Creative Filters (HDR, Nostalgic, Fisheye Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Background defocus, Soft Focus, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect). In ‘P’ mode, the G1 X Mark II can shoot at approximately 5.2 frames per second.

The Mark II has built-in Wi-Fi that permits wireless transfer of images and video to compatible mobile devices, to select social networking sites, to Wi-Fi enabled computer, and also lets you shoot remotely using your Smartphone or Tablet. It also supports NFC (Near Field Communication). Its newly designed 3-inch Capacitive Touch, 1,040,000-dot, Tilt-type Touch Panel LCD offers

ISO 100

ISO 1600

ISO 6400

ISO 400

ISO 3200

ISO 12800

NOISE

importing and editing of videos.

Images are stored on SD/SDHC/SDXC card. The G1 X Mark II is powered by a Lithium-ion battery pack (NB-12L) and weighs approximately 534g with battery and memory card.

ErgonomicsSuccessfully using some features on the G1 X Mark II can be confusing to beginners, especially in the absence of a proper User Manual. Outdoors, in sunlight, it is quite difficult to see the images on the LCD. There is no optical viewfinder. What worries me the most is the exposed, ribbon-type connection between the body and the LCD screen; I hope I am wrong, but I think this design is vulnerable to damage; if the ribbon (or any strand within the ribbon) breaks, you won’t be able to use the LCD, and hence the camera. The screen also cannot be turned inwards towards the camera body for protection against minor scratches. The screen again smudges very easily.



Aperture: f/4.5 Shutter Speed: 1/50sec . ISO: 400

Mah

esh

Redd

y




(Canon does not include a full User Manual in print ; you have to download that from their website! Th ey also don’t supply the interface cable).

As with almost all compact cameras, the memory card is located within the battery compartment at the bottom of the camera. If you are using a tripod, you will have to take the camera off the tripod to change the memory card.

PerformanceWe were satisfi ed with the image quality from the Canon G1 X Mark II, both with Raw as well as JPEGs. Images were sharp right out of the box but those using the Program (P) mode should be aware that the internal programming is such that the camera very oft en uses the widest aperture and the limited depth of fi eld may give you an impression that the images are not as sharp as you would expect. Using the Aperture Value (Aperture Priority) mode can take care of this.

Th e native image size was 14.50 x 9.68 inches at 300 ppi. For the digital noise test, we set the camera’s High ISO Noise Reduction to ‘Standard’ and our fi ndings refl ect this. We were very impressed with the noise control. At 33.3% screen size, some noise could be seen at ISO 6400 but

PLUS• Good build quality, except for the ribbon connection between body and LCD• Reasonably Fast lens• 14-bit Raw• Good image quality

the entire ISO range was usable, though the images at ISO 6400 and 12,800 appeared slightly soft er, may be because more noise reduction is automatically applied. At 50% screen size, the noise performance was almost the same. At 100% screen size, images were almost noise-free up to ISO 1600 but usable throughout the entire range.

Th e G1 X Mark II controlled fl are very well and we did not notice any chromatic aberration, which is good too. Slight barrel distortion was noticeable between 12.5 - 25mm (equivalent to approximately 24-

Exposed, ribbon-type connection between the body and the LCD screen.



MINUS• Highlight clipping• AF struggles in low light• In ‘P’ mode, the G1 X Mark II tends to use the widest apertures• LCD smudges easily• Poor battery life

78%FINAL SCORE

Design and Build Quality 14/20

Key Features 16/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 3.5/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 4.5/5

Sharpness 4/5

LCD/EVF 4/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Sub-Total 24/30

Value for Money 7/10

Though the Mark II is an improvement over the earlier version, it still is not perfect. Images are sharp, White Balance performance is good, but autofocus struggles in low light and highlights often clip. At Rs.58,995, Canon should have definitely included a detailed, printed User Manual, a lens hood, and a USB cable. Setting up the camera isn’t too easy. The reliability of the information-passing ribbon-connection between the body and the LCD remains to be seen. I would hesitate to buy any camera (or a mobile phone or any MP3 player or any other gadget) that is not directly supported by a proper user manual.

VERDICT

Camera type : Digital compact camera

Effective pixels : 12.8 million (3:2) / 13.1 million (4:3)

Sensor/size : High Sensitivity CMOS /1.5” Type (18.7 x 14mm)

Lens (Equivalent) : 24-120mm

Focussing range : Normal / Auto: 5 cm - infinity (W); 40 cm – infinity (T)

Macro: 5 - 50cm (W); Quick: 1.5 – 20m (W,T)

LCD size / Resolution : 3-inch Capacitive Touch / 1,040,000 dots

Viewfinder : Optional EVF (DC1)

Aperture range : F/2-16 (W); F/3.9-16 (T)

Shutter speed range : 60 sec – 1/4000 sec (Varies with the shooting mode)

ISO sensitivity : Auto, 100-12,800 (in ‘P’ mode)

Metering : Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot

Exposure compensation : +/- 3 stops

White Balance : Auto, 8 presets, Custom (2), Multi-area WB

Built-in flash range : 50cm-6.8m (W), 1.4-3.5m (T)

Flash compensation : +/- 2 stops

Shooting modes : C1, C2, M, Av, Tv, P, Auto, Hybrid Auto, Creative Shot,

SCN, Creative Filters, Movie

Photo Effects : My Colours Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White,

Positive Film, Lighter Skin, Darker Skin, Vivid Blue,

Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Colour

Continuous shooting : Normal: Approx. 1.9 shots/sec. (in P mode), Approx. 4.5

shots/sec. (in High-speed Burst HQ mode). Max. of 6

continuous shots per burst

Storage media : SD / SDHC / SDXC Memory Card

Image recording format : Normal, Fine, RAW (14-bit)

Video : 1920 x 1080 (24 fps), 1280 x 720 (30 fps) / 640 x 480 (30 fps)

iFrame Movie: 1280 x 720 (30 fps)

Weight : Approx. 534g (Including battery and memory card)

Dimensions : 116.7 x 80.5 x 64.7mm (4.60 x 3.17 x 2.55”)

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

50mm in 35mm format), but can be easily corrected in post processing. White Balance performance was very good in Sunlight and Flash; with slight blue cast in Shade. We do not place importance with WB in Incandescent light as light bulbs always vary in wattage and colour temperature and under such conditions, getting proper colours can be a nightmare for any camera. Video quality was decent though you can get better video quality from many other compacts. Battery life was limited.

Value for MoneyThe Canon PowerShot G1 X is available at an MRP of Rs.58,995.

At this price we feel the camera is expensive. Unless smaller size is your main requirement, why would you not opt for a D-SLR at this price? And if you really want a smaller size, other options from Sony and Panasonic are available.


D-SLT Review Sony Alpha 77 II


Reaching for the Alpha rank

Sujith Gopinath

When the major players in the market toyed with the idea of mirrorless

interchangeable lens cameras, Sony tried to revive the large-bodied cameras and make it coexist with their mirrorless counterparts by reinventing the mirror. Th e Sony SLT (Single Lens Translucent) cameras have been around for some time, and the company has recently upgraded their APS-C fl agship, the SLT A77 with fast autofocus and standard accessory shoe (instead of their original Minolta shoe), and a weather-sealed body. Here is our review of the A77 II (also known as A77 MII), the fi rst in an Indian photography magazine.

Design and Build QualityTh e Sony SLT A77 II has a professional build with a magnesium alloy chassis and a mix of rugged metal and moulded polycarbonate in the exterior. It has a thick hand grip with textured rubber lining and a prominent thumb rest. Th e camera has a dust and moisture sealed design, which off ers protection from harsh exteriors. Th e LCD screen is mounted on sturdy hinges. We could see the connector wire (which connects the screen to the body) exposed at one place, which makes it easy for anyone to damage it. However, this hinge is the least movable and hence the chances of accidental damage are minimal. Th e camera has a metal tripod receptacle.

` 85,000

✓ Sony A77 MII camera ✓ Battery charger BC-VM10A ✓ Power cord ✓ Rechargeable battery pack NP-

FM500H ✓ Micro USB cable ✓ Shoulder strap ✓ Body cap ✓ Hot-shoe cap ✓ Eyepiece cup ✓ Instruction manual ✓ Wi-Fi/NFC guide ✓ DT 16-50mm f/2.8 lens ✓ Front lens cap ✓ Rear lens cap ✓ Lens hood

Inside the Box

Key FeaturesTh e 24 megapixel Sony SLT A77 II uses an APS-C (23.5 x 15.6mm) Exmor CMOS sensor with primary colour fi lter and gapless on-chip micro lens structure. Sony claim that the sensor provides 20 percent greater sensitivity than its predecessor, the A77. Th e camera uses sensor-shift image stabilisation and since the image stabilisation is built into the camera body, any lens attached to it becomes a stabilised lens. Th e sensor is supported by a superior BIONZ X processor, which is said to be almost three times faster than the previous BIONZ engine. Th e A77 II has a Sony/Minolta Alpha lens mount. Th e camera houses a new Phase Detection autofocus system with 79 autofocus points including 15




cross-type sensors. It also features Contrast Detection AF for Live View focussing. AF area modes available are Tracking, Single, Continuous, Face Detection, and Live View. AF Area can be selected from Multi, Centre, and Selective single-point.

ISO sensitivity on the A77 II ranges from ISO 100 to 51,200. Shutter speed can be set from 30 to 1/8000 sec. Shooting modes available are iAuto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, and Scene. Scene modes include Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight, and Night Portrait. Still images are recorded in JPEG or Raw format with a maximum resolution of 6000 x 4000 pixel, while videos are captured in MPEG-4 or AVCHD format with the best quality option of 1920 x 1080 (60p, 60i, 30p). You also have the option of recording movies at 24p in PAL, which is the standard for Indian cinema. The A77 II features metering modes of Multi, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-5EV at 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps. Auto Exposure Bracketing can be set to +/-3 EV for 3 or 5 frames at 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, or 2 EV steps. White Balance can be bracketed for up to 3 shots. Drive modes include Single-frame, Continuous High/Low,

Mahesh Reddy




ISO 100

ISO 1600

ISO 12800

ISO 400

ISO 6400

ISO 25600

NOISE


JPEG CompressionJPEG, Standard Quality, 100% (7.5 MB)

JPEG, XFine Quality, 100% (20.6 MB)

Continuous advance priority AE, and Self-timer. In continuous mode, the camera can capture up to 60 full resolution JPEG or 26 Raw images at a maximum speed of 12 frames per second. Self-timer can be set to either 2 or 12 seconds.

Th e A77 II sports a built-in fl ash with a range of 12m at ISO 100. Th e fl ash synchronises with the shutter at 1/250 sec or lower speeds. Flash modes available are Auto, Fill, Rear sync, and Slow sync.You can attach an external fl ash with the help of the standard accessory shoe. Th e camera has an Electronic Viewfi nder (EVF) with 100 percent coverage and a resolution of 2,359,000 dots. Th e 3-inch, 1,229,000-dot WhiteMagic TFT LCD is fully articulated, allowing you to shoot from virtually any angle possible.

Th e camera accepts an SD/Memory Stick Pro type memory

module and features USB 2.0, HDMI, and Microphone ports. It has built-in Wi-Fi and NFC for hassle-free communication with compatible mobile device. Th e camera weighs 647g including

batteries, and has dimensions of 143 x 104 x 81 mm.

ErgonomicsTh e Sony A77 II is comfortable to hold and use, though it has a



PerformanceAs mentioned above, we received the Sony A77 II with the Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM lens that is bundled along with it. The combination performed very well under our tests. Autofocus was very fast and precise. Metering was perfect. Flare was well under control, though slight flare was observed. The lens produced purple fringing in strong against-the-light images. Images appeared sharp out of the box. The sweet spot varied between f/4 and f/2.8. For the images to be critically sharp, avoid using f/11 and narrower apertures because of diffraction and the resultant loss of sharpness. The lens produced moustache distortion at 16mm and slight barrel till about 35mm. As mentioned in Ergonomics, the LCD and EVF

broad grip (slightly big for my mid-size hands). The camera takes about 2 seconds to start after the power is switched on. The status LCD illuminates, which is useful for shooting in dimly lit conditions. The body balanced well with the new 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM lens (24-75mm equivalent). The menu is intuitive and the buttons easily accessible. The flash popup action is quite gentle. There is a focus mode selector dial at the base of the camera near the lens mount. The LCD is bright and the images appear crisp. The EVF appeared as good as the Optical Viewfinders in other D-SLRs. In fact, it does not feel like an EVF except for the live exposure simulation.

performed impressively. The lens produced darkening of corners throughout the aperture range at the wide-angle end.

Auto White Balance performed well under most lighting conditions. Slight casts observed under some artificial light sources could be removed during post-processing. Native image size is 20 x 13.33 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent of the screen size, the images were noise-free up to ISO 3200. Slight noise was observed at ISO 6400, though the images were usable up to ISO 12,800. At 50 percent screen size, we observed mild noise from ISO 3200 onwards. The images were usable up to ISO 3200. Observed at 100 percent, the images remained


PLUS• Weather-sealed body• Magnesium alloy chassis• Fast autofocus• Fully Articulated LCD• High quality EVF• Professional quality video• Super Fast burst shooting• New 16-50mm f/2.8 kit lens• Competitive pricing

Mahesh Reddy




noise-free up to ISO 800. Slight noise was observed at ISO 1600. The images were perfectly usable up to ISO 3200.

We used a Class 4 SD HC memory card for the tests. The A77 II captured about 8 images per second in JPEG High quality, and

MINUS• Grip is too broad for small hands• Writing speed could have been faster

86%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 18/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 4.5/5

Metering 4.5/5

Noise Control 4/5

Sharpness 4/5

LCD/EVF 4/5

Auto W/B 3.5/5

Sub-Total 25/30


The Sony A77 II is a great performer at a fantastic price point. The fast autofocus, magnesium alloy chassis, weather-sealed design, and impressive burst rate are just few of the superior features. Inclusion of the 16-50mm f/2.8 kit lens is a well-thought-of move, especially with a price of under Rs.1 Lakh. Sony has also come up with a clear roadmap for expanding the inventory of lenses and dispelling the fears of cusomers. Best Buy indeed.

VERDICT

Body material : Magnesium alloy

Max resolution : 6000 x 4000

Effective pixels : 24 million

Sensor size : APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm)

Sensor type : CMOS

Processor : Bionz X

Colour space : sRGB, AdobeRGB

Colour filter array : Primary colour filter

ISO : Auto (ISO 100-51200), Manual (ISO 100-25600)

Image stabilization : Sensor-shift

File format : JPEG, Raw

JPEG quality levels : Super fine, fine, normal

Autofocus Methods : Contrast Detect (sensor), Phase Detect

AF Areas : Multi-area, Centre, Selective single-point

Drive modes : Tracking, Single, Continuous, Face Detection, Live View

Autofocus assist lamp : Yes

Manual focus : Yes

Number of focus points : 79

Lens mount : Sony/Minolta Alpha

LCD : Fully articulated 3-inch, 1,229,000-dot WhiteMagic TFT

Live view : Yes

Viewfinder type : Electronic

Viewfinder coverage : 100%

Viewfinder resolution :2,359,000 dots

Shutter speed : 30 to 1/8000 sec

Shooting modes : iAuto, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority,

Manual, Scene

Scene modes : Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset,

Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight, Night Portrait

Built-in flash : Yes

Flash range : 12 m (at ISO 100)

External flash : Yes (via hot shoe or flash sync port)

Flash modes : Auto, fill, rear sync, slow sync

Flash X sync speed : 1/250 sec

Drive modes : Single-frame, Continuous high/low,

Continuous advance priority AE, Self-timer

Continuous drive : 12 fps

Self-timer : Yes (2 or 12 sec))

Metering modes : Multi, Centre-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation : ±5 (at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)

AE Bracketing : ±3 (3, 5 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV, 2 EV steps)

WB Bracketing : Yes (3 shots, low/high selectable)

Best Movie quality : 1920 x 1080 (60p, 60i, 30p)

Format : MPEG-4, AVCHD

Microphone : Stereo

Speaker : Mono

Storage types : SD/ SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Pro Duo/ Pro-HG Duo

USB : USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI : Yes (mini HDMI)

Microphone port : Yes

Headphone port : No

Wireless : Built-In

Wireless notes : 802.11b/g/n with NFC

Remote control : Yes (wired, wireless, or smartphone)

Environmentally sealed : Yes

Battery : NP-FM500H lithium-ion battery pack

Weight (inc. batteries) : 647 g

Dimensions : 143 x 104 x 81 mm

Orientation sensor : Yes

GPS : None

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

it captured a burst of 44 images before slowing down. On the downside, it took approximately 3 minutes to write these images. Of course, with a Class 10 card, the burst speed could increase significantly, and if you fire the shutter in short bursts, it could free up the buffer faster.

Value for MoneyGenerally, Sony cameras are believed to be very expensive. But the pricing of the SLT A77 II is a pleasant surprise. The Sony A77 II retails at an MRP of Rs.85000. At this price, the camera is great value for money. With the 16-50mm f/2.8 lens, the kit is available at Rs.115,000 (By comparison, the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens itself costs Rs.85,000, while the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 costs Rs.116,000). You can also opt for the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at a kit price of Rs.105,000.



COMPACT Review Nikon Coolpix P340

` 18,950

Pocket-friendly Sujith Gopinath

Last few years have seen a rise in the number of ultra compact cameras with professional

features such as fast aperture (though most of them are limited to the wide-angle end), Wi-Fi, and Manual modes. Th e 12.2-megapixel Nikon Coolpix P340 joins the bandwagon of aff ordable compacts with manual modes and advanced features.

Design and Build QualityTh e Nikon P340 is designed with compactness in perspective. Unlike some of the ultra compacts, this camera is built for the feature-conscious users who do not have the budget or reason to buy an interchangeable lens camera. Th e outer body is made from a combination of metal and polycarbonate. Th e front portion is metal, while the back and top are engineering plastic. Th e design is simple and straightforward with a small rubber strip to act as hand grip and a thumb rest at the back. Th e camera has a control ring around the

lens housing, which can be used to change vaious parameters according to the shooting mode selected. Nikon has incorporated a tiny fl ashgun on the top panel. Th e P340 has a metal tripod receptacle.

Key FeaturesTh e 12.2 megapixel Nikon P340 uses a 1/1.7-inch Type (9.50 x 7.60 mm) Back-side Illuminated CMOS sensor. It features a Nikkor 24-120mm equivalent, f/1.8-5.6 lens with optical Vibration Reduction. Th e lens is constructed with 7 elements in 6 groups and houses an electronically controlled 7-blade iris diaphragm. Th e total aperture range is from f/1.8-8 at the wide-angle end and f/5.6-8 at the telephoto end. In the normal mode, the lens focusses from approximately 30 cm to infi nity at the wide-angle end

✓ Camera ✓ EN-EL12 battery pack ✓ Battery Charger ✓ Power cord ✓ USB cord

Inside the Box

and from 50 cm to infi nity at the telephoto end, while in Macro mode, it focusses as close as 2 cm at the wide-angle end. Autofocus is through Contrast detection method. Focus area options are are Face Priority, Manual (spot), Manual (normal), Manual (wide), Subject tracking, and Target fi nding AF. Th e P340 uses a combination of mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter. Shutter speeds range from 60 to 1/4000 sec.

Th e camera captures still images in JPEG or Raw (NRW) formats at a maximum resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels. Voice memo fi les are recorded in WAV format while videos are recorded in MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264; Linear PCM) format with the best quality of 1920 x 1080 30p/60i/50i. Th e camera can shoot up to 10 continuous JPEG Large images




at approximately 10 frames per second. Continuous shooting options are Best Shot Selector, Continuous H, Continuous H 60 (60 fps), Continuous H 120 (120 fps), Continuous L, Multi-shot 16, Pre-shooting cache, and Single.

The P340 uses the usual three metering modes — Matrix, Centre-weighted, and Spot. Exposure can be compensated up to +/-2 EV in 1/3-EV steps. ISO sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 to

ISO 400

ISO 1600

ISO 6400

ISO 800

ISO 3200

ISO Hi 1

NOISE

3200, expandable to Hi2 equivalent to ISO 25,600. Shooting modes available are Auto, P (Program), S (Shutter priority), A (Aperture priority), and M (Manual), U (User settings) Scene, and Special Effects. Scene modes include Back light, Beach, Black and White Copy, Close Up, Dusk/Dawn, Easy Panorama, Fireworks Show, Food, Landscape, Museum, Night Landscape, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Pet Portrait, Portrait, Scene Auto Selector, Snow, Sports, and Sunset. White Balance options are Auto 1 (Normal), Auto 2 (Warm), Colour Temperature, Daylight, Cloudy, Flash, Fluorescent (three options), Incandescent, and White Balance Preset. Self-timer can be set to 10 or 2 sec.

The built-in flash has a range of 6.5m at the wide-angle end and 2.5m at the telephoto end when the ISO sensitivity is set to Auto. Flash control is through TTL auto method with monitor preflashes. The



Aperture: f/5 Shutter Speed: 1/100sec . ISO:800


P340 uses a 3.0-inch, 921,000-dot Wide Viewing Angle TFT LCD with anti-refl ection coating. Th e camera features internal memory of approximately 56MB and accepts an SD/SDHC/SDXC card for external storage. Th e device is powered by an EN-EL12 Li-ion battery (supplied). It weighs 194g including battery and memory card, and has dimensions of 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0mm (W x H x D) excluding projections.

ErgonomicsTh e Nikon P340 is quite pocket-friendly. It is lightweight and the lens does not protrude much. Th e grip is perfect, considering the overall size of the device. Th e menu is intuitive and straightforward. Th e buttons are small, but ergonomic. Images on the LCD appeared crisp.

Th e fl ashgun has to be raised and lowered manually, which is good.

PerformanceTh e Nikon P340 produced sharp images out of the box. Images in the LCD also appeared sharp. All the metering modes performed well. Auto White Balance performed fl awlessly. We did not observe any cast under natural light. Slight casts observed under artifi cial light sources could easily be removed during post-processing. Native image size was 10 x 13.33 inches at 300ppi. At 25 percent of this screen size, images were noise-free up to ISO 1600. Slight noise was observed from ISO 3200, and Hi 1(equivalent to ISO 12,800) was very noisy. Images were perfectly usable up to ISO 3200. Enlarged to 50 percent, images remained free of noise up to ISO 400.

Mahesh Reddy




PLUS• Excellent build quality• Sleek and lightweight• Fast aperture at wide-angle end• Manual modes• Competitive pricing

MINUS• Slow Autofocus• Glaring optical flaws• Limited aperture range at telephoto end

79%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 17/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 2.5/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 3/5

Sharpness 3.5/5

LCD/EVF 4/5

Auto W/B 4/5

Sub-Total 21/30


The Nikon Coolpix P340 is a pocket-fitting compact with a useful zoom range. Though the aperture range at the telephoto end is a concern, expecting a wider aperture throughout the zoom range at this price would be asking for the moon. But we sincerely wish the optics was slightly better.

VERDICT

Effective pixels : 12.2 million

Image sensor : CMOS

Sensor size : 1/1.7 inch-Type ()

Max. image size : 4000 x 3000 pixels

Lens : NIKKOR 24-120 mm equivalent lens

Lens f/-number : f/1.8-5.6

Lens Construction : 7 elements in 6 groups

Vibration Reduction : Lens-shift VR

Aperture : Electronically-controlled 7-blade iris diaphragm

Autofocus : Contrast-detect AF

Focus-area selection : Face priority, Manual (spot), Manual (normal),

Manual (wide), Subject tracking, Target Finding AF

Focus Range : Approx. 30 cm to infinity (W)

Approx. 50 cm to infinity (T)

Macro mode: Approx. 2 cm to infinity (W)

Focus Lock : Yes

Monitor : 3.0 inch Wide Viewing Angle TFT-LCD with

Anti-reflection coating

Monitor Resolution : 921,000-dots

Storage Media : SD/ SDHC/ SDXC memory card

Internal Memory : Approx. 56MB

File formats : Still pictures: JPEG, Raw (NRW)

Sound files (Voice Memo): WAV

Movies: MOV (Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,

Audio: LPCM stereo)

Best video : 1920x1080 30p/60i/50i

Sensitivity : ISO 80-3200 (expandable to Hi 2 equivalent to ISO 25,600)

Metering modes : Matrix, Centre-weighted, Spot

Shooting modes : Auto, P, S, A, M, Scene, Special effects

Exposure compensation : +/-2.0 EV in steps of 1/3 EV

Scene Modes : Back light, Beach, Black and White Copy, Close Up,

Dusk/Dawn, Easy Panorama, Fireworks Show,

Food, Landscape, Museum, Night Landscape, Night

Portrait, Party/Indoor, Pet Portrait, Portrait, Scene

Auto Selector, Snow, Sports, Sunset

In-Camera Image Editing : Crop, D-Lighting, Filter Effects, Glamour Retouch,

NRW (Raw) Processing, Quick Retouch, Skin

Softening, Small Picture

Exposure Lock : Yes

Exposure Bracketing : Yes

White Balance : Auto 1 (Normal), Auto 2 (Warm), Choose colour

temp, Cloudy, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (FL1 to

FL3), Incandescent, White Balance Preset

Shutter : Mechanical and CMOS electronic shutter

Shutter Speed : 60 to 1/4000 sec

Continuous shooting speed : Up to 10 shots at approx. 10 frames per second

(JPEG, Large)

Continuous Shooting Options : Best Shot Selector, Continuous H, Continuous

H 60, Continuous H 120, Continuous L, Multi-shot

16, Pre-shooting cache, Single

Self-timer : Can be selected from 10 or 2 seconds duration

Built-in flash Range (approx.) : (ISO sensitivity: Auto) [W]: 0.5 to 6.5m; [T]: 0.5 to 2.5m

Built-in Flash Control : TTL auto flash with monitor preflashes

Interface : Hi-speed USB

Interface Data

transfer protocol : MTP, PTP

Video Output : NTSC, PAL

HDMI Output : Can be selected from: Auto, 480p, 720p, 1080i

I/O terminal : Micro-USB connector, HDMI micro connector

(Type D) (HDMI output)

Wi-Fi Functionality : Yes

Power Source : One Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL12 (supplied)

Dimensions (W x H x D) : 103.0 x 58.3 x 32.0 mm excluding projections

Weight : 194 g including battery and SD memory card

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

We observed mild noise at ISO 800. Viewed at 100 percent of the screen size, we observed noise throughout the ISO range, but images remained usable up to ISO 400.

The P340 was a little slow to focus, presumably due to the slow Contrast-detect AF. At times, it hunted for focus, especially under low light. Prominent darkening was observed at the corners throughout the aperture range at the wide-angle

end. Heavy flare was observed along with chromatic aberration. The lens produced slight barrel distortion throughout the zoom range, but not so much to be of concern.

Value for MoneyThe Nikon Coolpix P340 retails at an MRP of Rs.18,950. At this price, the camera is good value for money considering the manual modes and fast aperture at the wide-angle end.



with an 18-55mm kit lens (presumably f/2.8-4)

For Premium Segment

Sujith Gopinath

Fujifi lm has always been the frontrunners of innovations in technology. Th e X-series

cameras are regarded as great performers. While most others ditched the APS-C sensor for smaller version of imagers, Fujifi lm remained faithful to APS-C in their drive to go mirrorless. Let us see what innovations they have incorporated in the newly announced XT-1.

Design and Build QualityFujifi lm cameras are known for their sturdy construction, and the XT-1 does not disappoint. Designed in

retro style, it has a rugged metal outer shell. It has a protruding grip fi nished with a textured rubber lining. Th e rubber lining on the camera provided for review already showed signs of wear and tear and so we cannot vouch for the longevity of this lining. Fujifi lm lenses are also constructed with metal outer shells and both the camera and the lens have metal mounts. Th e tripod receptacle is also metal. Th e base of the camera features contacts for attaching a battery grip. Th e tilting LCD is connected to the body by means of a cable, which is exposed at two parts. Th is is not recommended.

Key FeaturesTh e 16.3-megapixel Fujifi lm XT-1 uses an APS-C (23.6 x 15.6mm) X-Trans CMOS II sensor with

` Rs.119,990

✓ Camera ✓ Li-ion battery NP-W126 ✓ Battery charger BC-W126 ✓ Shoe-mounted fl ash unit EF-X8 ✓ Shoulder strap ✓ Body cap ✓ Metal strap clip ✓ Protective cover ✓ Clip attaching tool ✓ Hot shoe cover ✓ Tall-orientation battery grip

connector cover ✓ Sync terminal cover ✓ CD-ROM (Viewer soft ware,

RAW File Converter etc) ✓ Owner’s manual

Inside the Box

primary colour fi lter. Th e sensor unit uses Ultrasonic Vibrations to shake off dust from the low-pass fi lter. Th e camera accepts Fujifi lm X-mount lenses. Th e XT-1 uses phase detection and contrast detection autofocus systems. Focus modes are Single AF, Continuous AF, and Manual focus. Th e Manual focus mode uses a split image screen that helps to focus accurately. AF frame options are Area (49 areas in a 7x7 grid) and Multi. Exposure is controlled by TTL 256-zone metering, and the metering modes available are Multi, Spot, and Average. Exposure can be compensated by +/-3.0 EV in 1/3-EV steps. Sensitivity can be set from ISO 200 to 6400 (can be extended from ISO 100 to 51,200). Th e XT-1 uses a focal plane shutter, providing shutter speeds of 30 to 1/4000 sec, Bulb

ILCC Review Fujifi lm XT1


ILCC Review Fujifi lm XT1



(max. 60 min.) and Time (1/2 to 30 sec). Th e shutter synchronises with fl ash at 1/180 sec or lower shutter speeds. White Balance options are Auto, Fine, Shade, Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Fluorescent (Cool White), Incandescent Light, and Underwater. Self-timer can be set at 10 or 2 sec. Th e camera features Interval Timer shooting with options to control the interval, number of shots, and starting time. It also features bracketing options for Exposure, Film Simulation, Dynamic Range, ISO sensitivity, and White Balance.

Shooting modes featured are Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual. As in the case of all Fujifi lm X-mount cameras, the camera does not have a mode dial. Instead, there is a shutter speed dial and ISO dial on the body, and an aperture ring on the lens. All these have an ‘A’ marked in red, which indicates Auto. For Aperture priority, you have to set the shutter dial to


JPEG CompressionJPEG, Normal Quality, 100% (3.4 MB)

JPEG, Fine Quality, 100% (5.5 MB)

A and set the aperture through the aperture ring. Similarly, for Shutter priority, set the aperture dial to A and set the shutter speed from the shutter dial. To activate P (Program) mode,

set both the aperture and shutter dial to A. If you want the camera to control ISO sensitivity automatically, set the ISO dial to A. Both the shutter and ISO dials have a switch

Mah

esh

Redd

y



that has to be pressed to unlock the dial so that you don’t turn the dials accidentally. Both these dials also have secondary functions controlled by rings mounted at their bases. The one on the ISO dial can be used to change the drive modes, which are Bracketing, Continuous High, Continuous Low, Single, Multiple Exposure, Advanced Filter, and Panorama. The ring on the shutter dial can be used to set the metering modes.

Still images can be recorded in Raw or JPEG format (simultaneous Raw and JPEG possible) with a maximum resolution of 4896 x 3264 pixels, while videos are captured in MOV format (H.264, Linear PCM) at the best quality of 1920 x 1080 60p/30p (for a maximum duration of 14 minutes). The camera can shoot continuous JPEG images at approximately 8.0 frames per second and this can be done for a maximum of 47 frames in a burst (The camera focusses only on the first frame). At 3.0 frames per second, JPEG images can be shot continuously for the entire capacity of the memory card. The XT-1 uses an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card for storage.

The XT-1 features a standard TTL accessory shoe (Hot-shoe). An external flash (EF-X8) is bundled along with the camera and has a Guide Number of approximately 8m at ISO 100. The camera uses a 0.5-inch, approximately 2360-dot OLED viewfinder with approximately 100% coverage. The monitor is a 3.0-inch, approximately


Mahesh Reddy


ILCC Review Fujifilm XT1


1,040,000-dot, tilt-type colour LCD, also providing approximately 100% coverage. The camera features Wi-Fi and Geotagging. The camera weighs approximately 440g including battery and memory card, and has dimensions of 129.0 x 89.8 x 46.7mm (W x H x D).

ErgonomicsThe Fujifilm XT-1 is comfortable to hold and operate. The prominent rubber-lined grip and the thumb rest makes handling very easy. Initially, you might find it difficult to adjust to the dials and aperture ring, but once you get used to them, it becomes easy to use. The only drawback is that when you want to use shutter priority or manual mode, changing the shutter speed becomes a little inconvenient since you have to use your gripping hand to release the lock and turn the dial. Images in the LCD as well as the EVF appeared crisp. The LCD/EVF button is very difficult to locate.

Though it is labelled as ‘View Mode’, the tiny button is placed towards the side of the EVF housing.

PerformanceThe Fujifilm XT-1 performed well under Smart Photography’s tests. We received the XT-1 along with a Fujinon Super EBC 23mm f/1.4 prime lens, but we later learnt that the kit lens is an 18-55mm lens. Autofocus was fast and precise with the supplied lens and it did not have any problems locking on to the subjects even in low light. Though the system found it difficult to lock on to low-contrast subjects, we wouldn’t consider this a flaw. The split image focussing screen in Manual mode is a very welcome measure, and it worked flawlessly, though we would have liked a slanting split prism so that it could assist in focussing on both vertical and horizontal lines.

Flare was well controlled, though

slight flare and chromatic abberation were obsrved at f/1.4 (The maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 sec proved inadequate for f/1.4 with the sun peeping through some branches and hence this frame was overexposed). Out-of-the-box images appeared sharp and the sweet spot for the lens was found to be f/4. There was slight drop in sharpness at the corners. All the metering modes worked well. The lens produced slight barrel distortion. Moire patterns were seen under certain conditions.

Auto White Balance performed well under most lighting conditions, and slight cast produced were easy to remove in post-processing. Native image size was 10.88 x 16.32 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent of the screen size, we did not observe any significant noise even at ISO 25,600. Observed at 50 percent, images were noise-free up to ISO 6400. Though ISO 12,800

ISO 800

ISO 3200

ISO 12800

ISO 1600

ISO 6400

ISO 25600

NOISE



and 25,600 produced slight noise, the images were usable up to ISO 12,800. Enlarged to 100 percent, we observed mild noise from ISO 800 onwards. Still the images were usable up to ISO 3200. We would consider this excellent control of noise.

Value for MoneyThe Fujifilm XT-1 was not officially launched in India at the

MINUS• Pricey• Uncon-ventional controls

82%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 17/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 4.5/5

Metering 4/5

Noise Control 4.5/5

Sharpness 4/5

LCD/EVF 3.5/5

Auto W/B 3.5/5

Sub-Total 24/30


The Fujifilm XT-1 is a mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor. The USPs of this camera are the superior build quality and excellent performance. Being a mirrorless camera, it saves much space in your kit bag compared to D-SLRs. Fujifilm also has an impressive line-up of prime lenses. Though the price is high, we believe Fujifilm is aiming the camera at serious photographers who are willing to spend some money for that uncompromising quality and convenience.

VERDICT

Effective pixels : 16.3 million pixels

Image sensor : 23.6mm x 15.6mm (APS-C) X-Trans CMOS II

with primary colour filter

Sensor Cleaning system : Ultra Sonic Vibration

Storage media : SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) memory card

File format : Still image: JPEG, RAW (RAF format), RAW+JPEG

Video: MOV (H.264, Linear PCM Stereo)

Max. recorded pixels : 4896 x 3264

Lens mount : FUJIFILM X mount

Sensitivity : AUTO, ISO 200 - 6400 (Extended up to

ISO 100-51200)

Exposure control : TTL 256-zone metering, Multi / Spot / Average

Exposure mode : P, S, A, M

Exposure compensation : +/-3.0EV, 1/3EV step

Image Stabilizer : Supported with OIS type lenses

Face Detection : Yes

Shutter type : Focal Plane Shutter

Shutter speed : 30 sec. to 1/4000 sec., Bulb (max. 60 min.),

Time 1/2 to 30 sec.

Flash Sync speed : 1/180 sec. or slower

Continuous shooting : Approx. 8.0 fps (JPEG : max. approx. 47 frames)

Approx. 3.0 fps (JPEG : up to the capacity of the card)

Auto bracketing : AE Bracketing (±1/3EV, ±2/3EV, ±1EV)

Film Simulation Bracketing : (Any 3 types of film simulation selectable)

Dynamic Range Bracketing : (100% · 200% · 400%)

ISO sensitivity Bracketing : (±1/3EV, ±2/3EV, ±1EV)

White Balance Bracketing : (±1, ±2, ±3)

Focus mode : Single AF, Continuous AF, MF Distance Indicator

type (Intelligent Hybrid AF (TTL contrast AF /TTL phase

detection AF), AF assist illuminator available)

AF frame selection : Area (EVF / LCD : 49 areas with 7 x 7)/Multi

White balance : Automatic scene recognition

White Balance Presets : Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight),

Fluorescent light (Warm White), Fluorescent light

(Cool White), Incandescent light, Underwater

Self-timer : 10 sec./2 sec. Delay

Interval timer shooting : Yes (Setting : Interval, Number of shots, Startinng time)

Flash : External flash EF-X8 (included) (Super Intelligent Flash)

Guide number : approx. 8m (ISO100)

Hot shoe : Yes (Dedicated TTL Flash compatible)

Viewfinder : 0.5-in., approx. 2.360K-dot OLED color viewfinder

Coverage : approx. 100%

LCD monitor : 3.0-inch, aspect ratio 3:2, approx. 1,040K-dot, Tilt

type colour LCD monitor (approx. 100% coverage)

Movie recording : Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p / 30p, Continuous

recording : up to approx. 14 min.

Dynamic range setting : AUTO (100-400%), 100%, 200%, 400%

Advanced filter : Toy camera, Miniature, Pop colour, High-key,

Low-key, Dynamic tone, Soft focus, Partial colour

(Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple)

Wireless transmitter : Standard IEEE 802.11b / g / n

Access mode : Infrastructure

Digital interface : USB 2.0 High-Speed / micro USB terminal

HDMI output : HDMI mini connector (Type C)

Power supply : NP-W126 Li-ion battery (included)

Dimensions : 129.0mm (W) x 89.8mm (H) x 46.7mm (D)

Weight : Approx. 440g (including battery and memory card)

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

time of the magazine going to press. The camera is slated to be launched with an 18-55mm kit lens (presumably f/2.8-4) at an MRP of Rs.119,990. Though the body is not available separately, an indicative price would be Rs.91,999. The 23mm f/1.4 lens that we used for testing the camera carries a price tag of Rs.66,999. We would consider this a bit high for this camera.

PLUS• Sturdy construction• Superior performance• Compact size• Excellent grip• Good kit lens


LENS REVIEW Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro


An Ambitious Attempt! Rohinton Mehta

The Tamron 18.8x, 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PSD Macro lens was

announced in early February 2014 and we already have it for review! The lens is available in Canon, Nikon and Sony mounts. The Sony mount model does not incorporate VC (Vibration Compensation) as that feature is in-built into Sony camera bodies. The focal length range of 16-300mm is very versatile – can be used for landscapes, portraits, table-tops, wildlife and even close-ups. The question is, with such a wide range, how sharp is the lens? The lens that we received for review had a Canon mount and hence the review, unless otherwise stated, relates to the Canon mount lens. Read on...

Design & Build QualityThe Tamron 16-300mm lens has a 3-segment twist-zoom construction. The outer body is made from engineering plastic and feels sufficiently strong. The lens mount is made from metal. Lens dimensions are 75mm (dia) x 100mm (l) but when fully extended (at 300mm setting), its overall length increases to approximately 181mm. Filter thread (67mm dia) is made of plastic. The lens is made in China.

Key FeaturesThe Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PSD Macro lens is designed for APS-C sensor

cameras. In terms of 35mm format, its equivalent focal length is 25.6 - 480mm. It is legibly marked in white (screen printing) at 15, 35, 50, 70, 100, 200 and 300mm settings. The rectilinear grid pattern on the zoom ring (which is towards the filter end and is approximately 28mm broad) offers a comfortable grip. The manual focus ring is 10mm broad. A plastic window on the lens reveals the distance scale in feet and meters. Autofocus can be manually fine-tuned using the full-time AF/MF switch on the left of the lens. The VC On/Off switch is conveniently placed under the AF/MF switch and can be easily operated by the left thumb. A rubberised ring on the lens mount serves to ward off dust and moisture from getting into the lens or the camera body, thus offering moisture protection. The zoom ring can be locked at the 16mm setting to prevent the possibility of accidental damage during transit.

The lens is constructed with 16 elements in 12 groups, that includes 3 x Molded-Glass Aspherical elements, 2 x LD (Low Dispersion) elements and UXR (Ultra-Extra Refractive Index) glass that help to correct various optical flaws. Multiple coatings on the lens elements further improve image quality by reducing flare and ghosting. Tamron’s Internal Focusing (IF) system provides a much closer minimum focusing

✓ Lens (B016) ✓ Lens hood (HB016) ✓ Front & Rear lens caps ✓ Specifi cation sheet

Inside the Box

` 48,990



Aperture:f/8.0 Shutter Speed: 1/250sec ISO: 200

Rohinton Mehta

distance (MFD) throughout its entire focusing range, offering a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2.9 at the 300mm setting. The front element does not turn during zooming or focussing, making it convenient to use Graduated Neutral Density or Polarizing filters. A slightly raised lens attachment mark (in red) serves to easily align the lens to the camera body.

Tamron claim that the 16-300mm lens autofocuses quietly and noticeably faster due to the PZD (Piezo Drive) that’s used in the lens. Manual override of AF (fine-tuning) is possible without fear of damaging the AF system. The lens incorporates Tamron’s Vibration Correction (VC) but Tamron does not specify the number of stops advantage when using the VC. The lens weighs 540g with its supplied flower-shaped hood.

ErgonomicsThe Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PSD Macro lens was easy to use and balanced quite well on the Canon EOS 550D that we used to test this lens. The zoom ring on our sample piece was initially a bit hard to turn but loosened with use. The manual focus ring was smooth. The 18.8x zoom means that the user may not have the need to change lenses frequently, thus reducing the chances of dust from getting on to the imaging sensor.

PerformanceAs mentioned earlier, the lens was tested using a Canon EOS 550D body. The lens balanced well in spite of the fact that it protrudes quite a bit when set to its maximum focal length.

Autofocus was reasonably fast in good light. Darkening of corners was observed at all apertures at the widest focal length. Barrel distortion was evident at 16mm. Pin-cushion distortion was evident


LENS REVIEW Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro


Value for MoneyThe Tamron 16-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PSD Macro lens is available at an MRP of Rs.48,990. That makes it very competitive if you compare it to a 18-300mm lens from the competition. Tamron offers a 2-year warranty for the lens. We would say its fair value for money.

at all other marked focal lengths, though marginal at 200 and 300mm. Flare was visible in shots that included the light source and so was red fringing.

Here is a table showing central sharpness levels at different apertures and focal lengths. As is expected from almost every lens, corner/side sharpness was slightly less than mentioned, other than at f/11 and f/16 at 200 and 300mm where corner sharpness was almost as good as that in the centre.

Focal length : 16-300mm

Equivalent focal length

for APS-C sensor cameras : Canon: 25.6 - 480mm

Nikon/Sony : 24 – 450mm

Aperture range : F/3.5-22 (W)/ F/6.3-40 (T)

Angle of view : 82 12’ – 5 20’

Lens construction : 16 elements in 12 groups

Min. Focus distance : 0.39m (15.4”)

Max. Magnification ratio : 1:2.9 (at 300mm)

Filter size : 67mm dia.

Weight : 540g inclusive of lens hood

SPECIFICATIONS

78%Design and Build Quality 16/20

Key Features 17/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance

Autofocus 4/5

Sharpness 4/5

Distortion Control 3/5

Aberrations 3/5

Darkening 3/5 of Corners

Extra Features 3.5/5

Sub-Total 20/30

Value for Money 7.5/10

FINAL SCORE

First, Tamron must be lauded for trying to create such an ambitious lens. And have they succeeded? Well, at first glance (seeing the sharpness chart) you might think otherwise. But if you ponder over it, and if you consider that the lens is created for those not born with a silver spoon, and that the lens is sharp / acceptably sharp up to f/16 and at all focal lengths, I say that they have succeeded. This lens may not compete in sharpness with pro lenses, but then this lens is not designed for the professionals and neither does it cost the earth. If you consider that a competitor’s almost similar focal length lens costs about 65% more than this lens, you will consider it favourably.

VERDICTPLUS• Extended zoom range• Close focussing ability• Good sharpness (considering its price and focal range)

MINUS• Screen printing likely to wear off with use• Quite ‘slow’ at the telephoto end

Focal length

16mm f/3.5 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 Sharp Sharp Sharpest Slightly Slightly Soft soft soft

35mm f/4.5 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/29 Slightly Sharp Sharpest Acceptably Acceptably Soft Soft soft sharp sharp

50mm f/5 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 Slightly Slightly Sharpest Acceptably Acceptably Soft Soft soft soft sharp sharp

70mm f/5 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 Sharp Sharp Sharpest Acceptably Acceptably Soft Soft sharp sharp

100mm f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 f/36 Soft Sharp Sharpest Acceptably Soft Soft Soft sharp

200mm f/6.3 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 f/40 Sharp Sharp Sharpest Acceptably Soft Soft Soft sharp

300mm f/6.3 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 f/40 Sharp Sharp Sharpest Acceptably Soft Soft Soft sharp



Quite Ambitious Sujith Gopinath

The most awaited premium Smartphone is fi nally here aft er a long wait, and it packs some

exciting photographic features as the buzz goes. Th e goodies include a spruced up camera with a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, octa-core processor, fi ngerprint recognition, and a weather-sealed body. Let us see what the S5 is capable of.

Design and Build QualityTh e S5 is recognisable from its unmistakable dotted pattern on the back cover that has now become popular due to Samsung’s aggressive advertising campaign. Th e device is sleek and lightweight, thanks to the predominantly plastic construction. Initial reports from the press suggested that the Galaxy S5 sported a metal bezel as with the Sony Xperia Z-series Smartphones, but this is not true. Th e S5 features a scratch-proof screen (this is from our experience, though it is not mentioned in the specifi cations). Th e device has an IP67 ingress protection rating and Samsung claim it is ‘resistant’ to sweat, rain, liquids, sand and dust. IP67 essentially means that the device is completely dust-proof as indicated by ‘6’ and water resistant up to 1m when immersed for up to 30minutes, as indicated by ‘7’, when all fl aps are tightly closed. Th e S5 has a removable battery, but there are rubber linings to seal the back cover against liquid ingress. Th e only drawback we found was the fl imsy back cover, which feels rather cheap for a premium Smartphone.

Key FeaturesTh e Samsung S5 has very impressive features. At the heart of this device is an Adonis Prime 2 (Exynos Octa 5420) + XMM6360 Octa-core processor, which is in reality, two quad-core processors working in sync, one clocked at 1.9 GHz and the other at 1.3 GHz. Th is Android-

` 51,000

✓ Smartphone ✓ In-the-ear headphone ✓ Ear Buds ✓ Battery ✓ Charger ✓ USB Cable

Inside the Box

powered Smartphone has 2GB of RAM and total ROM of 16GB, expanded up to 128 GB through an external MicroSD memory card. In addition to these, it can accept external USB storage via USB On-Th e-Go (OTG) method, though the specifi cations do not mention this capability. Th e currently installed OS is Android 4.4.2 (KitKat). Th e device features Gesture sensor, Fingerprint sensor, Heart Rate sensor, Hall sensor, Accelerometer, Geomagnetic sensor, Gyro sensor, Light sensor, Barometer, and Proximity sensor. Th e phone uses a micro-SIM.

Th e main camera has a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, while the front camera sports a 2.0-megapixel CMOS sensor. Th e device sports an LED fl ash for the main camera. Th e camera features six modes—Auto, Beauty Face, Shot & More, Panorama, Virtual Tour, and Dual Camera. Th e Shot & More mode allows you to preview various eff ects available for burst shots. Th e eff ects include Best Photo, Best Face, Eraser, Drama Shot, and Panning Shot. Th ese can be applied right aft er capturing images or later on a computer. Th e Virtual Tour mode allows you to capture a video by stitching together still images captured such that it provides a 3D tour of the premises. Dual camera allows you to use both the cameras (main and front cameras) simultaneously to insert your own image in a frame within your main image. Th e S5 allows you to download additional modes and eff ects with a single click from within the camera panel.

Th e S5 uses a 5.1-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display providing a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (FHD) and with 16 million dot colour depth. Th e device features NFC and Wi-Fi, which are now an integral part of virtually all mobile devices. Th e S5 weighs 145g and

SMARTPHONE Review Samsung Galaxy S5


SMARTPHONE Review Samsung Galaxy S5



has dimensions of 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm.

The Galaxy S5 can seamlessly pair with various accessories including the Samsung Gear and Gear Fit Smartwatches. We received the Gear Fit along with the S5. This device can be worn atround your wrist like a normal watch. It can be used to receive message and call notifications, disconnect unwanted calls when busy, and even send a ‘busy’ message to the caller. It also features an activity tracker, which includes heart rate monitor, pedometer, sleep tracker, and exercise tracker. When paired with the S5, it synchronises the data with the phone and updates it in the SHealth application.

ErgonomicsThe Samsung S5 is sleek and easy to carry around. It has the familiar Samsung interface, which is quite easy to use. The USB port has a covering flap for weather sealing. The battery compartment too has a rubber lining to keep liquids out. The device warns you when the covers are not tightly closed. The camera interface is intuitive, though the functions are limited. But we cannot complain since it would be too ambitious to expect professional features in a Smartphone camera. The display appeared to oversaturate the colours and hence it can give false assurances in terms of photo quality.

PerformanceThe Samsung Galaxy S5 performed impressively in its general features. The display was quite responsive and playing graphic intensive games was not a problem on the device. Battery life was impressive with the Ultra Power Saver mode enabled.

The S5’s camera performed extremely well. Autofocus was fast and locked on to the subject most of the time. The colour reproduction was good, though on the Smartphone’s screen, the images looked over saturated. The photographs looked sharp out of the box, and impressed us especially in Macro mode. Native image size was 9.96 x 17.7 inches at 300 ppi. At 25 percent image size, the images were noise-free up to ISO 800. At 50 percent enlargement, slight noise appeared from ISO 200 onwards,

Mahesh Reddy



want to check your heart rate during a workout session, it does not track automatically. The Samsung Gear Fit, which was provided along with the phone, had problems detecting pulse when there was slight moisture on the wrist. The remote control app did not have a setting for my set-top box (which is provided by ‘DEN’) even after selecting ‘India’ in the country list. For comparison, the remote control app in the LG G2, which we reviewed in May, could easily be set up for both my TV and set-top box.

The Samsung S5’s build quality did not give us the confidence to immerse it in water, unlike my Sony Xperia Z1, which I wash under running water when the screen gets dirty.

but the images were usable up to ISO 400. At 100 percent enlargement, we observed noise at all ISOs, but the images were perfectly usable up to ISO 200. Auto White Balance performed very well. Th new Selective Focus mode allows you to change the focus in the Editing mode after the image has been captured. This worked well in most cases, but some times it misfired. The videos were of good quality, though we missed the image stabilisation feature. Overall, one of the best cameras available in a Smartphone.

Now let us look at the much advertised ‘advanced features’ of the S5. The fingerprint lock feature was accurate in most conditions, but when we tested the feature with sweaty fingers in humid conditions, it failed most of the times. The Heart Rate Monitor would sound like a very useful device, but the accuracy is very doubtful. There are Heart Rate Monitor apps that are downloadable from Google Play store, and the built-in app behaves exactly like one of those. The Pedometer, though accurate, is also not a new feature. You can easily download a pedometer app such as ‘Accupedo’ from Google Play, providing many more features including sensitivity options (so that it does not count the jerking on a vehicle as a ‘step’) and setting your step distance for accurate distance calculation. The Exercise Tracker tracks only running and walking. So if you

OS : Android

Display Technology : Full HD Super AMOLED

Display Size : 5.1 inches

Display Resolution : 1920 x 1080 (FHD)

Colour Depth : 16M

Processor : Octa-core (Quad 1.9GHz + Quad 1.3GHz)

RAM : 2GB

ROM : 16GB total

Ext. Memory Support : MicroSD (up to 128GB)

Ext. USB Support : OTG Support

Main camera : 16.0 MP CMOS

Front Camera : 2.0 MP CMOS

Video Recording

Resolution : UHD 4K (3840 x 2160), @30fps

Main Camera - Flash : Yes

Main Camera - Auto Focus : Yes

Sensors : Gesture Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, HR Sensor,

Hall Sensor, Accelerometer, Geomagnetic Sensor, Gyro

Sensor, Light Sensor, Barometer, Proximity Sensor

Multi-SIM Support : No

SIM size : Micro-SIM (3FF)

2G GSM : B8 (GSM 850MHz), B10 (E-GSM 900MHz), B13

(DCS 1,800MHz), B14 (PCS 1,900MHz)

3G UMTS : B1 (IMT 2,100MHz), B2 (PCS 1,900MHz),

B5 (US 850MHz Cellular), B8 (GSM 900MHz)

Connectivity : ANT+, USB 3.0, MHL 2.1, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0, NFC

PC Sync. : KIES

Dimension (HxWxD) : 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm

Weight : 145g

Battery : 2,800mAh, removable battery

Talk time (W-CDMA) : Up to 16 hours

Video Playing Format : FLV, M4V, MKV, MP4, WEBM, WMV, 3G2, 3GP, ASF, AVI

Video Playing Resolution : UHD 4K (3840 x 2160), @30fps

Audio Playing Format : 3GA, AWB, FALC, MID, MXMF, OGA, OTA, RTX,

RTTTL, XMF, AAC, AMR, IMY, M4A, MIDI, MP3,

OGG, WAV, WMA

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

PLUS• Octa-core processor• Good camera• Built for performance

MINUS• Plastic body• Imperfect built-in apps• Steep price

79%FINAL SCORE


Key Features 17/20

Ergonomics 17/20

Performance 16/20


The Samsung S5 is a very capable Smartphone with a good quality camera and video capture. But many of the highlighted features are not unique and fail to impress. The S5 could have been a runaway success if they released the more capable international version with a slightly lower price tag and kept the rhetoric to the minimum. As for options, there are more impressive Smartphones to choose from, at lower price tags.

VERDICT

Value for MoneyThe Samsung S5 retails at an MRP of Rs.51,000 as provided on the Samsung India website. But it is available at various online stores at varying prices starting from Rs.36,500 after a major price drop. We presume this is the result of low popularity of the phone because of the underrated Exynos processor in place of Snapdragon processors in the international models. We feel the device’s build quality and over-hyped features don’t justify the official price of half-a-lakh Rupees. With the online price of under Rs.40,000, the S5 would be a wise buy if you really feel the need.


PHOTOGRAPHY INSTITUTE


http://www.photographicsocietyofindia.org



http://www.focusnip.com

http://www.shopovilla.com


http://www.kenko-tokina.co.in



http://www.interfoto.co.in

http://www.amazon.in


http://www.slik.com



http://www.ajbusiness.in

http://www.camarena.in

http://www.facebook/camarena.in

http://www.camarena.in/events


http://www.photopro.in


http://www.photosystemsindia.com



http://www.shariacademy.com

http://www.shariblog.com

DIGITAL CAMERA AND ACCESSORIES

PHOTO PRODUCT AND ACCESSORIES


http://www.kantajibcrane.com

http://www.nikon.co.in

http://www.udaan.org.in


ALBUM


http://www.ssacademy.in

http://www.facebook.com/ssacademy

http://www.tamron.in


https://www.explara.com/e/monsoon-photography-competition

http://www.cityphotobook.in



http://www.bigtrends.in

DIGITAL CAMERA AND ACCESSORIES

MINILAB

http://www.qssminilabspares.com









http://www.facebook.com/SrishtiDigilife.co.in

http://www.srishtidigilife.co.in

http://www.twitter.com/SrishtiDigilife1


http://www.smrittialbums.com

http://www.vigphotos.com


http://www.sigma-global.com

http://www.sigmaphoto.com


http://www.flipkart.com

http://www.snapdeal.com

http://www.zoomin.com

http://www.shetalacamera.com

http://www.sigmaindia.in/

PRINTERS



http://www.omaxphoto.com




http://www.universal-photoaccessories.com




http://www.studiosultania.com



http://www.photovideofair.com

http://www.camerafair.in





http://www.simpex-pro.com


http://www.akpa.in

http://www.ambitions4.com

http://www.imagecraftiphotofair.webs.com


http://www.youtube.com/imagecraftiphotofair

http://www.facebook.com/imagecraftiphotofair

http://mail:[email protected]

http://www.kalabhai.com

TIDBITS


‘SELFIES’

When a word enters the Oxford

Dictionary, it suddenly makes people wake up. The word ‘selfie’ has been defined as a photograph that one has taken oneself, typically with a Smartphone or a webcam, and updated to a social media website. However, selfies taken with digital cameras also qualify under this definition.

Why have selfies suddenly drawn so much attention? Why do they get mentioned so often in the popular press? The answer is that Smartphone companies have incredible marketing budgets and love to create a lot of excitement and anything that can catch a person’s attention is blown up and given unparalleled publicity. A selfie is actually a self portrait and it is possible to take this either on a D-SLR or compact digital camera – the only feature that was a must was a tilt and swivel viewfinder. Smartphone manufacturers quickly caught on to this idea and started incorporating front and rear cameras in their Smartphones. It therefore became possible to take a self-picture using the front camera and through the help of features on the Smartphone, transmit it to the website of your choice.

How good are the selfies taken in this manner?

One must remember that a selfie is taken with your arm extended and therefore the camera is likely to be 2 to 3 feet away from the subject. This requires a high quality lens that can focus at close distances without visible distortion. Not all Smartphones can promise you such a high quality lens; with the result, a lot of selfies are of poor or mediocre quality. On the positive side, a selfie obviates the need of having to ask someone else to click your own picture. Again, camera shake is very common when you click with your arm extended and the best image stabilization systems would struggle to cope with it.

The American Psychiatric Association has officially confirmed that taking selfies is a mental disorder. There are also several claims that selfies cause narcissism, addiction and several other mental illnesses.

H. S. Billimoria

TIDBITS


http://www.tokinalens.com










148

http://www.twiter.com/NikonIndia

http://www.facebook.com/NikonIndia



http://www.nikonschool.in

Smart Photography 201407

Documents

Transcript of Smart Photography 201407