Tools of the Trade: Our First Review...

Greetings, volks. Welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place! Another busy week in Hohenfels left us without short on posts, but more will come! I trust all are well and enjoyed some shooting time this weekend!

I went out shooting Saturday to test the Tamron 28-75 1:2.8 lens. This fast shooter was a nice break and allowed for some shallow DOF and creative shots, as seen in the shots below.


ISO 125, f/4, 1/400
Cupcake and icing. This cupcake was about 2 inches across, shot at 70mm with a wide aperture created some nice blur and bokeh.


ISO 125, f/8, 1/100
Fruit bowl. Great colors and even with f/8, at 75mm the DOF is shallow enough to be creative.

The best feature of this lens is the constant aperture throughout the entire zoom range. F/2.8 is nicely fast, and allows a nice low light performance. It also allowed some creative shots that really emphasize DOF effects to highlight part of a scene.

The lens is lightweight, and focuses down to about 13 inches at all zooms. The zoom lock feature makes a nice addition for when you’re moving around with the camera pointing down. The filter size is 67mm, which is large enough to prevent vignetting unless you’re stacking filters and shooting at 28mm.

The lens does not rotate or extend while focusing, which simplifies the use of a CP. Rotating lens barrels often necessitate adjustment of your filter after focusing. The images were sharp through all focal lengths, even wide open. Where you focus will be tack sharp when used properly.

The big downside to this lens is the lack of image stabilization. This saves battery life, but has its own drawback. When you’re shooting handheld, you have to shoot faster than the reciprocal of your focal length. If your focal length is 50mm, than you have to shoot at 1/50 or faster. With an APS-C sized sensor, the focal length has to be multiplied by 1.6 to get the corrected number. For those with APS-C sensors, this means shooting no slower than 1/50 at 28mm. While this little champion performs well in low light, being limited to faster shutter speeds may be a drawback when shooting inside places without adequate illumination. Camera shake becomes very noticeable, even in smaller display sizes, at slow speeds and may lead to some seeming nice shots having to go into the dustbin.

Another drawback to the crop factor of the lens is DOF calculations. You will need to calculate based on the original focal length, not the cropped focal length. This can lead to a DOF you may not desire. This is usually not an issue, but could lead to shallower depth than you find desirable.

With most of today’s cameras capable of giving good performance at 1600 ISO, the lack of IS may not be an issue, but in a church or other extremely low light venue, not being able to handhold is a real setback. Overall, this lens is wonderful, especially in reasonable light. The image quality is spot on. There is no noticeable chromatic aberration, color reproduction is wonderful, sharpness is very fine, and there are no color shifts often seen with lesser lenses. Tamron makes some great stuff, they also make some lower end stuff, but this lens is one to get if you don’t mind the limitation in lower light. I didn’t get the chance to push it too hard, it’s not mine, but the little workout it received proved it a worthy addition.

On other issues, has anyone had the opportunity to get out and make some storm cloud magic? The weather has lifted bits here and there to allow some great photos to be made! Give it a try. Remember to meter for the entire range, and expose for the brightest parts you desire detail at M+2-M+3. You’ll be surprised at your magic!

My thanks to Darris for allowing me to test out this little giant of a lens. Here’s hoping everyone out there has a wonderful week and makes your photo dreams come true!

Is there anything you’d like to see here? Do you have a question? Share your thoughts here or at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too! Don't forget, we're on Google+, too!

Tools of the Trade: Flash Part II

Greetings, volks. Welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place! Today’s post is going to deal with using your flash in manual mode.

For some Volks, manual mode and photography don’t seem to go together. They leave everything on automatic, letting the camera tell them when to click the shutter, which seems a bit too much like serving the camera, not the camera serving us. By now, most of you have been shooting manual for a while. Chances are, though, that your flash is doing the majority of your work when you use it. I hope that this post will change that some!

First, we’re going to learn some terms and concepts. Flashes are rated by something called the GN, or Guide Number. It’s a measure of a flash's output. You have to know this number. The YN-560 that I have is rated by the manufacturer for 58 meters at 105mm, ISO 100. The actual rating is more like 35 meters at 35mm, ISO 100, which should give us about 50-55 meters at 105mm. I haven’t formally tested it in a controlled manner, but that seems about right. What that means is shooting at ISO 100, 105mm, and with the flash at full power, my max range for the flash is about 58 meters. At that distance, the light has fallen drastically in intensity, but spread out in coverage. The next thing we need to understand is aperture, or the size of the opening in our lens. A larger aperture means more light and conversely a smaller aperture means less. Aperture is measured as f/stop, a ratio of your aperture’s diameter to the level of light it allows. That’s oversimplified, but you get the idea. You already know about aperture, but will need to understand it for flash work. The last thing we’re going to bring up is distance between the flash and the subject. These 3 things are how you determine a manual flash’s power and set your exposure correctly. A flashes GN is the rating assigned to it by the manufacturer, so you have to be careful to read the specs before buying one. Some makers will call their flash GN58, but if you look at the tiny print, it’s at ISO 200 or even 400. That makes it more like a GN20 at ISO 100. Also, make sure the units your GN is listed in, feet or meters, or both are consistent throughout your calculations. Also remember that we're dealing with light, so sometimes it doesn't seem to make sense due the inverse square law. That's why we use GN!

The 3 things listed above are what you need to know to expose properly for manual flash. We’re going to start this part by giving you the equations to use, then giving some examples.

The first calculation is to determine your GN. First, set your flash to manual mode, full power, and if it has it, full zoom. Then place your flash a measured distance to your subject, say 5 meters. Then shoot a series of shots at successive f/stops. Note the aperture that gives you a proper exposure. For this we’re going to say f/8. Now multiply the distance by the f/stop. For this we’re going to multiply 5 meters by f/8, which means 5x8=40, or a GN of 40 at ISO 100, full power, max zoom, or about 20 at half power.

The next calculation is to determine your f/stop for that GN. If you have a GN 20 at ISO 100 flash, what f/stop do you use for 4.5 meters? The calculation for that is GN divided by distance. For GN 20, that would be 20/4.5=4.5 or f/4.5. Set up the above flash, GN 40 at half power, 4.5 meters and shoot using f/4.5, you should be almost dead on every time!

Last, we have figuring out your distance for a GN with a desired aperture. That is calculated by dividing GN/f/stop. As above, GN 20 at half power, we’ll say f/8. To get that we divide 20 by 8, or 20/8= 2.5, or 2.5 meters.

Here are the calculations listed:

Your GN=f/stop x distance to subject
F/stop= GN/distance to subject
Distance to subject= GN/f/stop

Here are some things to note. The distance is ALWAYS the distance from the flash head to the subject, not the camera to subject or flash to camera. Light modifiers like a Sto-Fen or umbrella lower your flash power by about 1-2.5 stops. Measure with them in place for more accurate readings. The same applies to bounce flash, count your distance as being from the flash to the reflector + the reflector to the subject, or adjust your exposure to compensate. A few times doing this with your calculator and flash manual will give you a great starting point for your flash shots, then before you know it, you’ll be nailing them every time!

Now that you know all that, use your camera's built in spot metering mode, go to AV or aperture priority, set your required f/stop, and meter for the rest of the scene. That shutter speed will allow you to balance your flash with the ambient light to create a nearly perfect exposure. Tinker with it, and you'll make that magic of having your image match your vision that much easier!

Working with your flash off camera in slave mode can also be a trial. The secret to that is point your optical sensor at the camera and rotate your flash head toward the subject. The sensor detects the flash from your camera and triggers the flash. It also has to be where it can see the flash from on camera. For some flashes, this will trigger it before it should go. The Yongnuo flashes have a mode called S1 that trips the flash at the very first blip of flash, and S2 that only triggers when the actual flash goes for the shot. Use S2 to ignore the red eye and pre-flashes your camera sends out. Also, turn of red eye reduction or pre-flash. Having your flash off camera will help prevent this phenomenon from occurring. Of course, you can also buy a wireless RF trigger and receiver from anywhere online for about $30 and avoid slave mode altogether.

A great resource for all things flash related is Strobist. We have a link to them in our links and they can really up your knowledge levels on flash. They put out some good tutorials and lessons in Lighting 101. Give them a read!

You’re probably bored after all that math and calculating. Get out there and shoot something, it’ll wake you back up! While you’re out shooting, don’t forget the milk, I mean your shots for this week’s theme! Complimentary colors with a contrasting subject. Should be something great in there and I can’t wait to see your work!

Don’t forget to post any of your images you’d like to see here at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!

Tools of the Trade- More on Lenses

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. Here’s hoping today sees you starting on the downhill run of a great week!

Today it’s time to talk a little about lens attributes and traits.

We’ve already talked a little about lenses, so today we’re going to concentrate on some of the quality issues and features of your lenses. It’s a little long, for which I apologize.

One of the first things most folks need to know is that your old film lenses will work on digital cameras. They may have a crop factor, for instance 1.6X for APS-C, but if they can mount on your camera, you can use them. On the other hand, your newer digital lenses are unusable on full frame or film cameras. When you put a film lens on an APS-C sensor, the crop factor comes from the distance from the back of the lens to the sensor. The film lenses cover a larger area than the sensor; this in turn causes an apparent increase in focal length and the crop. Canon’s recent systems, the EOS cameras, use EF lenses, which have a 1.6X crop on your APS-C sensor. Their digital line of lenses for the EOS system is the EF-S line. They require no crop factor and apparent focal length is actual focal length. The reason the digital series of lenses don’t work on full frame or film cameras is due to their smaller projection of the image onto a smaller sensor. They won’t fill the frame or film, and most likely won’t even focus properly even if they could be mounted.

Another concern about your lens on zoom lenses is often the aperture. Less expensive lenses read something like 28-135 f/3.5-5.6. This is because the aperture size doesn’t change during zooming, that is the largest it can go. The area of the aperture remains constant, requiring a change in f-number. If you remember, your f-number is a ratio of focal length and aperture. It represents the focal length divided by that number, that’s why it’s written f/2, f/5.6 etc. The longer a lens is, the less light reaches the sensor. That’s why the f/number changes throughout the range of zooms. If your area doesn’t change, your f-number must. The reason for this is the cost and weight added to vary the aperture size throughout the zoom range. That doesn’t mean a constant aperture means a cheap lens, it doesn’t mean less quality, it just means less light as you zoom in.

A great feature of lenses over the past few years is the addition of IS. The affordability of technology has made it possible to use feature that used to be unavailable to the hobbyist. IS allows slower shutter speeds when enabled. Using it hand held, you can get down to about 3 stops lower that the handheld limits. The systems work by compensating for motion with motion in the opposite direction. When hand holding your shot, using proper shooting styles, with arms tucked in etc, will enable the IS to really slug it out with vibration. The most important thing to remember is turning it on for handheld, and ALWAYS turn it off for tripod shots. When on a tripod, the IS searches for motion in the lens and can cause vibration rather than reducing it. The big drawback to IS is that it uses your camera’s battery for power.

The last thing I’ll bring up for now is a quality issue. The problem is chromatic aberration or CA. This is distortion caused by different colors, or wavelengths, of light focusing at differing areas on your sensor. There are several types and names, but we’re not going into it that deep here. It often causes the purple fringing that you see along borders with bright highlights and dark shadows together. Using a smaller aperture can help mitigate this, as can a longer lens. Low dispersion glass and good coatings can combat this effectively. There seems to be many complexities involved in CA, including the types and calculations. The best practice when purchasing a lens, if possible, is to take a test shot using that lens of a high contrast area, and zoom in looking for fringing. CA can also cause blurriness in Black and White photography, so keep that in mind. You can see examples on Google to get more information and some idea of what to look for. According to the reviews I’ve read, Canon makes the most advanced software correction to mitigate CA and other distortions available. Because Canon’s EF lens system is actually all electronic, and records the information on individual lens models, Digital Photo Pro can compensate for it. Yet another advantage of shooting RAW!

Whenever you look to purchase a lens, make sure you read a variety of reviews, and look at loads of test photos taken with that lens, it could save you some headaches! If you have a lens that you favor and would like to write it up here, let me know, and I’ll get it posted for you!

Now on to other things, remember to get your votes in for next week’s theme. This week our theme is “Morning Moments.” Dazzle me with your work! Get shooting and start posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting here is always welcome, too!

Tech Talking

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. Here’s hoping your week is off to a good start and Tuesday didn’t turn in to Monday part 2.

Today we’re going to introduce the concept of “Dynamic Range.” If you remember our introduction to the Zone System, there are 11 zones, 0-10. Ansel Adams considered this the full range, zones 1-9 were the dynamic range, and 2-8 the textural range. Zone 2 is the lowest value that retains discernable texture, and zone 8 is the highest value retaining usable texture, and in both cases the values where detail is preserved and recorded.

When we speak of dynamic range today, this still in some ways holds true. Metering from a gray card, it’s how many stops of exposure above and below middle gray that are usable. For instance, the EOS 7D has about 8 stops. Its range consists of 5 stops below gray before clipping to black or solid noise, and about 3 stops above middle before blowing to white. This means it runs from about zone 1 to zone 8, maybe a little higher. Each camera’s range is different; so don’t use one camera’s range to guess another’s. "Dynamic Range" determines the amount of contrast an image can have and how sharply that gets applied. It also can effect how you change the sides on your exposure triangle, based on your intention.

When you know your camera’s range, you can adjust your exposures appropriately. If you wish to increase middle gray, zone 5, to zone 6, you have to know your limits before the higher zones blow out. Taking 5 to 6 brings zone 7 to 8, and anything starting at or above 8 will be blown to solid, textureless white.

A camera’s range often times is limited by the size of the photocells or photosites. These are the individual receptors on the camera sensor. A larger frame sensor will usually have larger photocells, allowing more light to be received and detail retained. There are millions per most of today’s sensors.

Another way to expand your “Dynamic Range” is to always shoot RAW, as your camera records more information. You can add up to a stop and a half shooting RAW. Shooting automatically and in JPEG mode can cost you that latitude in your exposure. Keep that in mind when shooting in very bright or low light conditions.

Well, that about wraps up our discussion. Try to keep that in mind when you’re out capturing the beauty of Hohenfels, our area, and your holidays. The results will amaze you.

On to other things, I’d like to remind all of you to get your votes in and get working on your photos for this week’s theme, “Morning Moments.” I can’t wait to see what you amaze me with!

Shoot for the love, of photography, your subjects, and your art, it really will show! Get shooting and start posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting here is always welcome, too!

Tools of the Trade, Powering Up

Welcome to Hohenfels Volks. I hope Monday was good to everyone. I was off and went to Regensburg to buy some gear and a hamster for the princess. Of course, time limits prevented getting the gear, so I’ve ordered some online. The weather was extremely nice today, and made for some great photo ops. Tomorrow should be some great autumn pics coming! I’m hoping to get out and check out some areas between Hohenfels and Regensburg I discovered today.

Speaking of gear, today we’re going to do a paragraph about battery grips and their benefits.

DSLRs use rechargeable batteries, and those batteries are good for somewhere between 300 and 900 shots usually. I’ve gotten 600 in one night, and 300 more the next. It sounds like a lot, eh? Sometimes, though, the extra power comes in handy. If you chimp a lot, then that extra bit helps. It also helps when shooting bursts, as the buffer can clear a little faster.

Another advantage of the battery grip is that using 2 batteries means half the charging. If you have either 2 chargers or a dual charger, you have the same time to charge them, but get twice the shots between charges.

The other big advantage is the addition of controls to portrait mode shooting. You have full access to your camera controls from portrait orientation, allowing for continued shooting without rotating your camera to make changes or view settings.

An unsung plus is the weight. For some volks, the extra weight is too much. The reality is that having the extra weight, adds anywhere from 1/3 stop to a full stop of stability to your handheld shots. It’s a trade off, the choice is yours to make. I like the thought of extra stability. If you’re using a string-pod, it’s even better in low light!

Well, that’s it for today. Thinking about traveling? Check out the battery grip for your camera and keep shooting longer.

Keep shooting, both Hohenfels and beyond. Remember to share your pics and post your questions at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page, and or by commenting here!

Tools of the Trade- Filters

Hello, Volks! Welcome to Hohenfels and to our newest post. In today’s Tools of the Trade, we’re going to talk about filters.

Filters are glass that goes on the end of your lens. There are many types of filters, some for artistic purposes, some are for technical purposes, and some are to protect your lens.

The 2 basic set-ups are the square filter, which uses a holder that fits onto your lens, and the screw-in.

Most people use the screw-in filter. When selecting a screw-in filter, you must ensure that the filter’s diameter matches that of your lens. A 58mm lens requires a 58mm filter. The threads are universal, so moving from lens to another of the same diameter is not a problem. They come in many types, and are usually more widely available.

Square filters use an adapter ring that screws into your lens just like a screw-in filter. The ring remains in place when you switch your filters to another lens. Having one adapter for each lens allows you to move your filters easily from lens to lens, and back. Cokin makes the most common square filters, and they have several types and varieties. The basic and most common ones for our needs are the P series. With square filters, you have the extra advantage of staking several together without vignetting on your image.

The first filter you either did, or should, purchase is a UV. This is a cheap filter to place over the end of your lens. It limits UV radiation, but the main reason for having it is that it will protect the glass in your lens. Breaking a filter costs just a small amount to replace, whereas breaking a lens costs considerably more.

The next in the line of types is the circular polarizer, or CP. You can replace your UV with a CP and prevent vignetting caused by stacking your filters. It increases contrast and darkens blue skies. It can do a lot more than that, including improving the color contrasts. The main feature beyond that is that when properly turned, it can remove reflections from glass, water, plastic, and most sources, except metal and mirrors. This effect is strongest when your light is approximately 90 degrees to your left or right with the lens facing forward. You use this lens by turning the filter’s twist ring until you obtain the desired results. Look for one that has good coating and no impact on your color balance.

Next up is the neutral density filter. These little gems can help reduce the light to your sensor, allowing for slower shutter speeds and nice effects in fog, or when shooting running water. They are great landscape tools, and properly placed in a shot can darken the sky, while allowing the landscape portion to be shot at a decent shutter speed. They come in numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. When numbered this way, the numbers refer to stops of light. 1 being a 1-stop reduction in light, and so on. The other system used to rate them in their density, in .3 increments. Each .3 increments equates to one stop. ND filters do not change the colors, as they pass light of all colors equally. When used on extremely bright objects, they increase contrast and improve image detail. There is also a graduated ND, which is an ND filter with reduction only about halfway down the length of the filter. This allows for darkening a sky while allowing the remaining portion of the image to remain unaffected.

Black and white photographers use colored filters to change to light hitting the film or sensor. Red filters pass red light and darken green and blue. Green filters pass green light and darken red. There are a whole series of color filters for both black and white and color photography. Most are labeled by their Wratten numbers, for instance 81A is a light warming filter. The Wratten system is available online and filters using this designation can be purchased online.

There are filters to soften the contrast, and other special effects, including adding starbursts, grids, and to increase the magnification of a lens. By knowing something about filters, you can get the right kind, and the best one for you and your photography.

There are shops in the local area, including Amberg and Regensburg that carry the different types of filters, and you can any of them online. Try to get a decent one, as low-end filters can add colorcasts and vignetting that will leave you wishing you hadn’t used a filter.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Surrounding the Hohenfels area are towns and sites worth shooting and adding a filter can make your art that much better.

Remember to get out and shoot with your filter and share your pics and questions by posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page, and or by commenting here!

What's on the Menu?

Welcome back, Volks! Autumn in Hohenfels is really starting to pick up, moving us faster and faster to winter. Let’s hope it’s not as rough as last year!

Today we're going to start a multi-part investigation of the camera menu. Since most of us shoot Canon, I’m going to use my camera’s menu for this series. I’ll break it down into the pages of my camera menu, but most cameras either have the same or similar menu settings. Some of what we discuss you may not have, and you may have some I don’t. For the purposes of this article, it’s assumed you have set your basics. I hope you’ll follow along in your manual and with your camera.

Press the menu button, and you should be on the first tab. It has a camera symbol with one dot. Your settings are Quality, Red-Eye on/off, Beep, Release shutter without card, Review time, Peripheral illumination correction, and Flash control.

The Quality selection allows you to choose your resolution. I shoot RAW, but you can select your desired resolution. You should be able to select RAW, RAW+JPEG, or JPEG and select the JPEG resolution. Since I shoot full Resolution RAW, I selected the RAW ICON and saved the setting by pressing the menu button.

The Red eye on/off is just what it says. Since red eye is caused by flash that is too close the lens and along the same axis, selecting this to on causes a series of pre-flashes to be emitted by the pop-up or on camera flash. Since we NEVER use the pop-up flash, and most on camera use of a flash should be from bouncing the light, you can leave this off.

Beep allows you to set the camera so that focus will beep, as will timer functions. It’s your choice!

Releasing shutter without card should be off. Having this turned on can lead to some serious disappointment when you’re out shooting. No card, no photos!

The review time sets how long the LCD displays the image after shooting.

Peripheral illumination control, if available, allows the camera to append data to the image that allows for the lens’s light drop off at the corners. Your lens has to be registered in your camera. If it is, setting this will allow corrections to be made by the camera. A good idea to have on. You can register and check which lenses are registered using your EOS utility.

The last control on this tab is the Flash control setting. This is a power full setting. When selected there are more settings available. Let’s explore them!

First up is Flash firing. If this is set to disable, not even an external flash will fire. Maybe you should enable this one!

Next is built in flash function. Unless you have the EOS 7D and use it to control off camera flash, or you use your pop-up, this should be disabled.

Then we have External flash function settings.

You have your flash mode. ETTL, manual, multi flash, TTL, automatic, and manual external flash settings. If your flash is mounted to your camera’s hot-shoe, E-TTL is a good choice to start.

Next is Shutter Sync. Selecting first will fire the flash when the shutter curtain begins to open. Setting it to second will fire the flash once at the start of the exposure and again right before the end. It only works at speeds slower then 1/30.

Then is FEC, or flash exposure compensation. This allows you to adjust the flash output to either brighten or darken the flash exposed areas.

E-TTL II should generally be set to evaluative

Unless you are using a Canon 580EXII or a 7D, the wireless function should be left alone.

Finally, there is the clear all flash settings function. Do you really want to clear your settings?

We’ll be exploring more settings in another post. I hope this has been of some help to you. Reading your manual will give you all you need in the menu areas and operations of your particular camera, so check it out!

Enjoy your week and enjoy the autumn colors, scenes, and events ahead. Keep shooting, and capture that masterpiece! Don't forget to share your pics and questions by posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page, or by commenting here!