The essence of photography

[ajay124]

I have only been shooting with the 18-35 since Monday, but I absolutely love the lens. It feels great on my D90. It renders colors beautifully and naturally. It captures light in an endearing old world manner, which is a little reminiscent of the pre-digital era. I have got used to the the super sharp 50/85mm primes, and I was dreading that I would find a zoom lens soft and fuzzy in comparison. But the 18-35 is an exception. It is perfect for shooting landscapes and architecture between f/8-f/16. Even better if one uses it with a monopod or tripod. For everything else I will be carrying one of the primes in my bag.

 

[Jaybe]

I have only been shooting with the 18-35 since Monday, but I absolutely love the lens. It feels great on my D90. It renders colors beautifully and naturally. It captures light in an endearing old world manner, which is a little reminiscent of the pre-digital era. I have got used to the the super sharp 50/85mm primes, and I was dreading that I would find a zoom lens soft and fuzzy in comparison. But the 18-35 is an exception. It is perfect for shooting landscapes and architecture between f/8-f/16. Even better if one uses it with a monopod or tripod. For everything else I will be carrying one of the primes in my bag.

Ajay,

That is great ! I look forward to some pictures. The Zooms do offer a greater flexibility to compose. Do you think this is also a reason for its endearment to you ?

Cheers!

Jayant

 

[iaudio]

Hi iaudio,

Both these sadhus were offering blessings sitting by side of a staircase leading to the temple with a divider in between. There was a great deal of rush so it was difficult to compose and take any pictures . Here you can see them both in action.

I erred in selecting the f 4.5 rendering the background rather cluttered and not to my liking. When I saw the picture in the night, I went beck the next day to correct my mistake - the incorrigible Photographer ! Alas they were nowhere to be found. Apparently they made out with the rush of the previous day and were enjoying well earned holiday !

Cheers!

Jayant

Somehow this appeals to me better!

Ajay,have you used the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 or the likes? How does it compare with the 18-35 you are using now?

 

[ajay124]

jaybe

I bought the 18-35 primarily for shooting landscapes. I feel that most of the time I will be using the 18-24mm focal range. If I only shoot at 18mm, I am actually using it like a fixed focal lens. In which case why pay more for lesser f stops and the reduced resolution of a zoom. I had the option of buying a similarly priced 20mm 2.8D, or a substantially cheaper 24mm 2.8D/28mm 2.8D prime. But I am not convinced about the qualities of these lenses, like I am convinced about the 50mm, 85mm primes. I also wanted to explore the option of shooting with a 2x, or at the most, a 3x zoom. I considered both the 18-35 and 17-55. I settled for the former because it was FX, 2x and affordable. I feel that most 5x and 10x zooms will be compromise lenses, meant for shooting snapshots in 'gloriously' soft and fuzzy detail. I have boosted the sharpness to 8, on the picture control option of D90 for the zoom lens. For primes I keep it at 6.

Every lens has a learning curve. After shooting with the 50mm 1.8D for three months, I feel I have learnt a bit about how to get the best out of it. I have been using the 85mm far less frequently. I am convinced about it's possibilities but I have not explored them as yet. It's time will come! Especially when I move on to an FX body.

 

[Shivam]

jaybe

I bought the 18-35 primarily for shooting landscapes. I feel that most of the time I will be using the 18-24mm focal range. If I only shoot at 18mm, I am actually using it like a fixed focal lens. In which case why pay more for lesser f stops and the reduced resolution of a zoom. I had the option of buying a similarly priced 20mm 2.8D, or a substantially cheaper 24mm 2.8D/28mm 2.8D prime. But I am not convinced about the qualities of these lenses, like I am convinced about the 50mm, 85mm primes. I also wanted to explore the option of shooting with a 2x, or at the most, a 3x zoom. I considered both the 18-35 and 17-55. I settled for the former because it was FX, 2x and affordable. I feel that most 5x and 10x zooms will be compromise lenses, meant for shooting snapshots in 'gloriously' soft and fuzzy detail. I have boosted the sharpness to 8, on the picture control option of D90 for the zoom lens. For primes I keep it at 6.

Every lens has a learning curve. After shooting with the 50mm 1.8D for three months, I feel I have learnt a bit about how to get the best out of it. I have been using the 85mm far less frequently. I am convinced about it's possibilities but I have not explored them as yet. It's time will come! Especially when I move on to an FX body.

Almost all the average lens of today have the same quality that top of the line lens had in the glorious days of F5. This is something I have realised after trying out many lens on various camera bodies.

As for the sharpening, I suggest that you do it while processing your raw images. Sometimes excessive sharpening can introduce unwanted artefacts in the photographs or take the charm out. What sharpening does is basically increase the darkness of the dark pixels and brightness of the bright pixels when they are adjoining to each other.

 

[Jaybe]

jaybe

I bought the 18-35 primarily for shooting landscapes. I feel that most of the time I will be using the 18-24mm focal range. If I only shoot at 18mm, I am actually using it like a fixed focal lens. In which case why pay more for lesser f stops and the reduced resolution of a zoom. I had the option of buying a similarly priced 20mm 2.8D, or a substantially cheaper 24mm 2.8D/28mm 2.8D prime. But I am not convinced about the qualities of these lenses, like I am convinced about the 50mm, 85mm primes. I also wanted to explore the option of shooting with a 2x, or at the most, a 3x zoom. I considered both the 18-35 and 17-55. I settled for the former because it was FX, 2x and affordable. I feel that most 5x and 10x zooms will be compromise lenses, meant for shooting snapshots in 'gloriously' soft and fuzzy detail. I have boosted the sharpness to 8, on the picture control option of D90 for the zoom lens. For primes I keep it at 6.

Every lens has a learning curve. After shooting with the 50mm 1.8D for three months, I feel I have learnt a bit about how to get the best out of it. I have been using the 85mm far less frequently. I am convinced about it's possibilities but I have not explored them as yet. It's time will come! Especially when I move on to an FX body.

The zooms of ratio up to 3:1 yield good performance. As a matter of fact for 4/3 series of SLRs, Olympus relied heavily on Zoom lenses with few Primes. The performance of Zooms was close to Primes.

I prefer to shoot in Raw. All the camera settings are neutral. White Balance, Sharpening etc. is carried out usually in Lightroom.This does consume a little time but is also rewarding. How do you process your pictures ?

Cheers!

Jayant

 

[Jaybe]

Almost all the average lens of today have the same quality that top of the line lens had in the glorious days of F5. This is something I have realised after trying out many lens on various camera bodies.

As for the sharpening, I suggest that you do it while processing your raw images. Sometimes excessive sharpening can introduce unwanted artefacts in the photographs or take the charm out. What sharpening does is basically increase the darkness of the dark pixels and brightness of the bright pixels when they are adjoining to each other.

Shivam,

Truly the lenses made today outperform the vintage lenses. This is made possible by the designs assisted by computes, CNC manufacturing and advances in coating technology and availability of better glass. Even the consumer lenses need to perform well given the discriminating Sensors of even entry models.

Shooting in Raw and post processing the images is the recipe for good pictures.

Cheers!

Jayant

 

[arj]

The zooms of ratio up to 3:1 yield good performance. As a matter of fact for 4/3 series of SLRs, Olympus relied heavily on Zoom lenses with few Primes. The performance of Zooms was close to Primes.

I prefer to shoot in Raw. All the camera settings are neutral. White Balance, Sharpening etc. is carried out usually in Lightroom.This does consume a little time but is also rewarding. How do you process your pictures ?

Cheers!

Jayant

Jayant, you would be the best person to help me out !
I have a E510 with the 11-22 and the 40-150 stock lens. its low light performance (despite the 11-22 being a 2.8) is not good but the colours and clarity are brilliant .The Zuiko lenses are really good and the reason I chose olympus a few years back. Have been thinking of downsizing to mirrorless with the new Oly OMD-M5 with the 45 and 75 primes and a converter for the 11-22 (slowly over the next few years) whats your view ?

I am also toying on getting into Nikon..although I am nowhere near expert level..more of a entry level enthusiast

 

[ajay124]

iaudio/arj

"Ajay,have you used the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 or the likes? How does it compare with the 18-35 you are using now?"

I have not used any third party lenses. The three Nikkor lenses I bought work beautifully on my D90. Many third party lenses would suffer from varying degrees of incompatibility with your D300. I would not mind buying a Zeiss or Voigtlander lens, but I am no longer interested in Tokina, Sigma or Tamron. If I was committed to a DX format Nikon for the long run and wanted to keep my budget under strict control, I would buy new or lightly used:

AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF DX (14K)
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 D (5.5K)
Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED - non VR- (6K)
Speedlight SB400 (5.5K)
Manfrotto 679B monopod (3K)
Lowepro Slingshot 102 (3.5K)

With this kit, an amateur photographer would have enough ammunition on hand to take truly great pics. The entire kit (brand new with warranty) would cost around 75K with a D90 and 90K with a D7000. If someone patiently scouted for all this stuff in the used market, then the budget could be bought down to 55-65K.

 

[iaudio]

My kit presently comprises of:
Nikon D200
Nikkor 18-55 3.5-5.6 VR
Nikkor 50mm F1.8D
Sigma 70-300 APO DG macro
Cheapo tripod
Kata DR 466i camera bag

No plans to ever part with the 50mm! But would like to change the Sigma 70-300 and then sometime later get something faster to replace the 18-55, or atleast something that has a bit more reach to use as walkaround lens.

 

[Jaybe]

jayant, you would be the best person to help me out !
i have a E510 with the 11-22 and the 40-150 stock lens. its low light performance (despite the 11-22 being a 2.8) is not good but the colours and clarity are brilliant. the Zuiko lens are really good an the reason i chose olypus a few years back.

have been thinking of downsizing to mirrorless with the new Oly OMD-M5 with the 45 and 75 primes and a converter for the 11-22 (slowely over the next few years) whats your view ?
am also toying on getting into Nikon..although i am nowhere near expert level..more of a entry level enthusiast

arj,

Olympus E550 suffers from the curse that befell the 4/3 sensors - poor high ISO performance. In my opinion anything above 400 ISO is unusable. While 11-22 f2.8 has been a brilliant lens - I own one, it has been surpassed by 9-18 and further by 7-14. 40-150 though a Kit lens has good performance. may be later I can fish out some pictures to show.

My first Olympus SLR (OM2N) with 50 mm f1.8 was bought with savings by frugal living on a Graduate Student's not so generous a stipend. Subsequently I added other lenses. many years later When Olympus projected a ground up DSLR system, I saw the merit and with the belief that Olympus would pull it off, I subscribed to it. Of course there were sparks of brilliance along the way but never sustained. The choice of 4/3 sensor proved to be their undoing. The SLR business was virtually abandoned with introduction of Mirrorless Cameras. In retrospection, I feel that this was what was on the cards all along and DSLR were only a Bridge to m4/3. The last straw was the lack of integrity shown by the management of Olympus by hiding the losses made on Stock market and when exposed, the stock tanked to 1/3 rd the value.

Having said that, I think m4/3 offers a viable alternative to APC Cameras. What Olympus promised while launching 4/3 rd DSLR - particularly smaller size of lenses - can now be seen in m4/3. High ISO performance is respectable and Autofocusing has improved to quite an extent. I would suggest that you consider Panasonic 4/3 Mirrorless instead as I will not be surprised if Olympus Camera division ceases to exist.

I have opted for APC DSLR as I may want to consider a Full Frame DSLR in future. Hope this is of help.

Cheers !

Jayant

 

[ajay124]

For many years I have been feeling that Chandigarh has become a concrete jungle and that nature is slowly disappearing from the city. But the fault lay not with the city, or it's surroundings, but within me. I have been spending far too much time glued to a computer, hiding from nature, isolating myself from it by preferring the synthetic comfort of moving from an air conditioned room into an air conditioned car.

But photography (especially after my recent acquisition of a wide angle lens) has reignited my love and contact with nature. I have always dreamt of (and most of the time lived) an outdoor life. A life sans commitments, obligations or responsibilities! Winning and retaining your freedom as an individual is not easy. Most people can't handle freedom. Free people from their work, family, friends, newspapers and television and most of them would feel completely lost. They would not be able to handle the unbearable lightness of simply being. But I have always preferred to live in my dreams. Solitary dreams, populated by the far more interesting people and sensations, one encounters in fiction, cinema and music. And now photography. A camera allows you to dream. It allows you to focus on the things you really like about the time and space you inhabit. All the banal and boring stuff can be conveniently left outside the viewfinder.

A short cut into the mountains. The new Himalayan expressway which connects Chandigarh with Simla, bypasses the bottlenecks of Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo. Now it's a short drive my house, into a fairy tale world of cloud shrouded mountains, rain, mist with plenty of photo ops

himalayan expressway #1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Rupam]

tHANKS aJAY, nice write up. your photos are very interesting.

 

[Jaybe]

But photography (especially after my recent acquisition of a wide angle lens) has reignited my love and contact with nature.
Most people can't handle freedom. Free people from their work, family, friends, newspapers and television and most of them would feel completely lost. They would not be able to handle the unbearable lightness of simply being.
A camera allows you to dream.

himalayan expressway #1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Ajay,

You have some nice photos in your album. The one with sun breaking through the clouds is particularly captivating. I remember a similar one I shot in Switzerland on an unusually warm winter after noon many years ago.

Photography may just be a way for you to a meditative state !

Jayant

 

[ajay124]

Today afternoon I went to the local Cactus garden (which incidentally is very beautiful) to take my daily quota of 20-30 pics. And in one of the shots, I got the best result of my brief 8 month old romance with photography. Once in a while things fall into place and everything happens just as you want it. This shot is the essence, the sum total, of everything I have learnt in the last few months. Made possible by the glorious 85mm 1.8D.

portrait of a gardener | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Incidentally I have created a small personal website dedicated to photography. It hardly costs anything to buy a domain name and host it for a year. It took me a few hours to create the website on my iMac's iWeb software. Any advise about how to develop the website will be appreciated

artOgraphy ajay bhatia photography

 

[Shivam]

I have uploaded some new photos to my Flickr. Planning to upload more photos tomorrow.

Flickr: Dr Shivam Maini's Photostream

 

[arj]

Nice Shivam ..
some of mine here..have to start shooting its been a long hiatus..
this one has been a favourite of mine..got just before dawn during a walk in amsterdam
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arj/278647866/

 

[arj]

When Olympus projected a ground up DSLR system, I saw the merit and with the belief that Olympus would pull it off, I subscribed to it. Of course there were sparks of brilliance along the way but never sustained. The choice of 4/3 sensor proved to be their undoing. The SLR business was virtually abandoned with introduction of Mirrorless Cameras. In retrospection, I feel that this was what was on the cards all along and DSLR were only a Bridge to m4/3.

thanks Jaybe.. that is the exact same reason i went for the Olympus..its lenses are still great.

Considering my meandering (Expensive) thru audio, i am also wondering if i should just plan for a Full Frame Nikon for the future..but unlike audio my photography interest has been very temperamental, and lugging around my camera/kit a bit painful. hence the mirrorless advantage. When i look back most of my photographs I have enjoyed have been in the 22-120 mm effective.

If only I had the funds to go for a Leica and a couple of their lenses:licklips:.

 

[Shivam]

Nice Shivam ..
some of mine here..have to start shooting its been a long hiatus..
this one has been a favourite of mine..got just before dawn during a walk in amsterdam
canals at dawn | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Good work. Do keep adding more.

 

[thatguy]

It took me a few hours to create the website on my iMac's iWeb software. Any advise about how to develop the website will be appreciated

I am not a web designer but I have run a few websites in the past and have helped friends set up theirs. My interest was more in the technology than design. I can tell you some stuff that I learned on the way:

1. ILife's web design tool sucks. I had used it a few years ago for an NGO's site and have hated it ever since. It might have improved but I am unwilling to give it another chance.

2. Make your first website in plain HTML (and some CSS). It isn't hard and it will teach you how things work.

3. Hiring a cheap web designer is a waste of money. Good web designers are very expensive. As with any software, maintenance is a bigger headache than creation.

4. Once you understand some HTML and can hand code a simple website and are still unhappy with the results, you might want to pick up a decent web design tool (~$50 - $100).