Variations on a theme

I set out to capture a black and white version of a scene I had done before of the Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge.  I ended up taking several variations of the same situation as the light changed from sunset to evening.

The night scene photographed with the Nikon 80-400mm lens at 380mm on a D800.

The same scene but photographed earlier and in color with a longer 550mm focal length.

Mixing color temperatures

One of my favorite color palettes to work with is achieved by mixing color temperatures. I had just finished reading the book pictured below when I decided to give it a new life in a series of abstract photos of just the edges of the pages as they flipped by. The pages of the book were pure white. The cool blue and warm yellow colors were created by mixing daylight and tungsten.

The color temperature of normal daylight is around 5000-5500 degrees Kelvin, while that of a studio tungsten lamp is 3200. In a shadowed area of daylight, which is where the book was when I photographed it, the daylight temperature can go even higher and cooler than 7000 degrees. The discrepancy between the two extremes is what cause the color differences.

As color temperature increases, it tends towards blue and is considered cool. As it decreases, it tends towards a yellow-orange and is warm.  In the photos below the shadows of the book were in shadowed daylight and a tungsten lamp was placed behind it.  This caused the shadows to go a cool blue and the highlights to go a warm yellow-orange. To enhance the color differences I moved the images into the LAB color space in Photoshop. Because LAB has a broader color space than RGB it brought out the intensity of the colors even further.

I kept the lens aperture wide open at f/2.8 to achieve the shallow depth of field that accentuates the abstraction. All photos were taken with a Nikon D5200 and 40mm macro lens.

This composite image began with a photo of the model in the studio. He was lit from the front with soft daylight, and from behind with a single tungsten lamp to create the flare. Next in Photoshop the map layer way put in behind him. Finally, the keypad was created with white squares and a star filter inserted over the key he was pressing.

Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens
Hands on review

Nikon considers the 24-120mm zoom to be a consumer lens, but I know many pros, me included, who use it for its convenience. It covers a focal range that make it a popular choice when you want to carry around only one lens. This lens cannot compare with the optical quality and build of the professional 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, but the added range up to 120mm make it an attractive alternative.

The Nikon 24-120mm f/4 zoom lens shown here on a Nikon D800.

This version of the lens is a vast improvement over the older f/3.5-5.6 lens of the same focal length. In fact, I found the distortions of that lens to be bad enough to make it unusable. The current version has been vastly improved optically, and with its fixed f/4 aperture it is a full stop more open than the older lens at full 120mm length. The VR (vibration reduction) of the new lens is purported to be good for 4 stops making the f/4 maximum aperture less of a problem in low light.

This is a great focal range to have when you do not know what photographic situation you will face.

 The resolution is very good in the center but sharpness drops off noticeably in the corners. It takes an aperture of around f/8 or more to bring the corners back to an acceptable level. How important this is to you depends upon how you plan to use the lens, and how objectionable you find the softness.  For instance, I use the shorter range of this focal length -- 24mm to about 35mm -- when shooting landscapes, particularly up close where the foreground needs to be in sharp focus. So for me this lens is not acceptable for that particular use. I tend to use it more as a general carry around lens for travel photography when I need to cover a broad focal range mostly in the middle zoom range where the performance of this lens is at its best and the corners do not matter so much.

This is typical of how I take many landscape photographs with a wide angle lens and close focus on the foreground. The focal length here is 28mm, but even at an aperture of f/16 you can see that the bottom corners of sand are noticeably soft. Click here to download a high res version of this image.

The four images below demonstrate the optical performance of this lens from f/4 to f/11 at 32mm. You can download the full res images using the links below the images. The corners show softness that doesn't fully go away until the lens hits f/11. In addition there is chromatic aberration present in the corners.  This was easily cleared up entirely with Photoshop but I left it in for purposes of this demonstration.

f/4 click here to download a high res version.

f/5.6 click here to download a high res version.

f/8 click here to download a high res version.

f/11 click here to download a high res version.

 The lens zooms by moving in and out and it does tend to drift out by itself when I carry the camera slung over my shoulder.

Filter size is 77mm, which fits in nicely with the standard for most Nikon pro lenses. Internal focus makes for quick autofocus with manual override.

This is the 24-120mm f/4 (lens on the left) compared in size to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. In the right photo the 24-120mm is at full extension. the 24-120mm weighs less at 1.47lb (670g) versus almost 2lb for the 24-70mm. Both take 77mm filters. Although longer in focal length, the 24-120mm is more compact and lighter to carry.

Because this it is considered an up-scale consumer lens by Nikon it is not built to the same rugged standard as their pro lenses. Nonetheless, it does seem to have a very solid build to it and I don't envision having any problem with it not being able to stand up hard use over time. It price of around $1300 puts it toward the higher end between a consumer and pro lens.

At 38mm and f/8 this lens is close to the best performance range for this lens. This image has been corrected in Photoshop to show what the real usage results would be.  Click here to download a high res version of this image.

 Close focus is a handy feature in an all-around lens. This lens focuses as close as 1.5' for a magnification of .24x (1:4.1 reproduction ratio).

Racked out to 120mm focal length, at 1.5" this is the closet this lens can go, which is very good for an all-around zoom.

 Conclusion:

At first I was skeptical about using a lens like this for professional work, but the convenience of its focal length tempted me to give it a try. Now I find myself using it quite a bit, particularly when I want to walk around with only one lens. It does have limitations -- corner softness, chromatic aberration -- but they do not become much of a problem for general shooting, and the fringing is easy to fix in post-processing. I don't even mention vignetting or linear distortion because they, too, are routinely corrected in post-processing.

This lens is intended for FX cameras, but its performance would be much better on DX cameras, where it would have a focal length equivalent to 36-180mm, and many of the problems I mentioned above would disappear because you would be working in the sweet spot of the lens. 

Image quality from this lens is not up there with the exceptional abilities of Nikon's top pro lenses, but it is good enough -- particularly in the center area of the frame -- for professional shooting where you know the occasional limitations of the corners and can work around them. I have been using this lens since it first came out in 2010. It is my most used focal length for general outdoor shooting and travel.  I guess you can say it is an all around workhorse, which explains both why I like it and how I use it.

If you are planning on purchasing this lens, you can help support this site at no extra cost to you by purchasing from one of our affiliate sellers listed below -- and thanks for your support.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR Lens can be ordered from:  BH-Photo  Amazon

Spring arrives in the city

The trees and plants are beginning to show their buds in the park. The new Leica M arrived just in time to record the event with a 60mm R-macro lens mounted on it. I used the lens wide open at f/2.8 to achieve the maximum selective focus.

 

Just before sunset the sun was glinting off the Empire State Building and the Manhattan Bridge was in shadow. Taken with the same camera setup as the image below but cropped square.

The Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge, taken just after sunset with a Nikon D800 and the new 80-400mm lens extended to 400mm. The camera was on a tripod but I was taking the photo from the Brooklyn Bridge where heavy traffic was vibrating the platform.  I thought it might cause a blur with a 1/3 second exposure. Fortunately, the VR system did kick in to steady the shot, otherwise, at such a long focal length, this shot might have been impossible with the shutter speed I was using.

This dusk silhouette of the Brooklyn Bridge was taken from the vantage point of where I was standing to take the top photo of the Empire State Building. Taken with a 180mm focal length on the 80-400mm lens and Nikon D800 set to ISO 400.

Leica M (240): The Legend continues
a hands on review

The new Leica M with accessory EVF finder and 35mm Summilux lens. With an adapter the M can also use the R-70-200mm lens pictured upper right. Below right is the first commercially available Leica I of 1930. Backdrop is a black Domke Leica collectible jacket from 1989. There is a lot of tradition built into Leica cameras.

A Leica rangefinder is a special camera. I still remember (and occasionally still use) my first professional M2. It feels good in your hands. It makes you want to create good pictures. With the new M, Leica remains responsible to its long and distinguished line of rangefinder cameras, while pushing the envelope of the latest digital technology.  When reviewing a Leica camera it is always important to remember that Leica is a system camera. As good as the camera might be, it gets even better when coupled with lenses that are second to none in the world of photographic optics. It is almost impossible to evaluate the camera in isolation.

I have to admit feeling a bit like an expectant father when the Leica package arrived and I opened it. Not that it matters much in the end, the camera comes in a box fit for the crown jewels. It's an expensive legend and it comes encased to fit the part.

 DxOMark has given the M sensor a very high rating, with the camera coming in 11th overall. When you add on top of that the superb optical quality of Leica lenses, you have a winning combination that is very hard to beat.

Since the biggest change made to in the new M is the sensor, let's discuss that first and circle back to the physical features later.

With the M Leica changed from a CCD to CMOS sensor type and increased the resolution to 24mp. This makes a huge difference, particularly in the low noise performance characteristics, where CMOS excels. I loved my M9 camera and found the resolution excellent, but I would rarely take it beyond and ISO range of 640. I have tested the new M up to ISO 6400 and can say that this camera has one of the best low noise characteristics of any camera I have ever used. And keep in mind that I use professionally all the current top Nikon camera bodies (D800, D600, D4), which are the high ISO/low noise champs. At ISO 1600 I do not even see noise with the new M, and feel quite comfortable taking it to 2500 without worry. At ISO 3200 it show a noise easily handled in post-processing, and can be taken to 6400 so long as you realize you will have to work the image a bit in post.

I did my high ISO testing in New York's Grand Central Station. I have always viewed this as one of the most difficult situations for hand held, photography. The place is cavernous with light and dark areas, is a mix of several lighting sources including daylight tungsten, and some others I have never figured out. You usually need an ISO of at least 1600 to obtain an overall decent exposure, and the light balance with all the varied light sources is a nightmare.

Below are the test images I did with the Leica M at various ISO ratings. You can download the high res samples to see the actual noise performance for yourself. Right off the bat, I can say that the Leica M color balanced the scene better than any other camera I have ever tested in this situation. I did not alter the color balance in the image tests below.

Th

A shot like this is a real challenge for any camera. The clock is severely backlit with a bright sunlit window, while the interior scene is very dark. The clock itself has an interior tungsten light source. The dynamic range of this scene is intense. I managed to use an ISO of 800, but the exposure was dark so I had to open the shadows and still bring down the highlights. Click here to download a full high res version of this image.

The images below show the same scene shot from ISO 1600 to 6400. I didn't bother to go below 1600 because I didn't notice any appreciable noise at lower levels.

ISO 1600: Click here to download high res version.

ISO2000: Click here to download high res version.

ISO 2500: Click here to download high res version.

ISO3200: Click here to download high res version.

ISO 6400: Click here to download high res version.

I have photographed the scene above many times and know how difficult the color balance can be. I was intrigued by how well the M seemed to do with this scene so I made a point later of photographing some colorful subjects.

For me what was most interesting is not so much the color balance of the flowers, but the accurate color rendering of the basket. This scene is absolutely right on.

Click here to download high res version of this image.

Click here to download high res version of this image.

Click here to download high res version of this image.

New features:

The addition of live view and an EVF (electronic view finder) is a game-changer for the M series. I personally use M cameras for shooting travel and landscape photography where I often need longer telephoto or macro lenses, both of which are not suitable for a rangefinder camera. So I usually end up carrying two camera systems, both a DSLR and a Leica M rangefinder. With the EVF and an ability to adapt the Leica R-lenses, a Leica M can now do it all.

I took the close up photo below by adding a close-up filter to a 50mm Summilux lens. The EVF coupled with the new focus peaking feature of the M made this possible. By pressing a button on the front of the body the image can be enlarged in the EVF finder by 5 or 10x. As you focus the lens, bright red lines appear around the areas that are in focus. A simple tap of the shutter or front focusing button returns the finder to normal view. I found this feature to be extremely accurate, even in a situation like that below where the camera is in close with a shallow depth of field.

This close up was taken with the Leica 60mm Macro-Elmarit-R lens stopped all the way down for maximum depth of field. The scene was lit from a soft window light from behind with no fill in the foreground shadows. This shows exceptional dynamic range as even the deepest shadows have detail. Click here to download the hi res file.

The M (240) has been more robustly weather sealed against dust and water.

The motor shoots at 3fps, and I found I was able to take approximately 12 photos in DNG mode before filling the buffer. The buffer did empty quickly so that continuous shooting could continue very soon. In fact, if you pace your shooting with a bit of stop-start, you may be able to shoot fairly continuously.

An auto ISO feature allows you to select the maximum setting and also set the maximum exposure time as either a manual input or a formula based on 1/focal length. I found this feature quite handy for times when I was continually moving in and out of varied lighting situations. 

The camera does have GPS capability but you will need a hand grip accessory to take advantage of it, since the antenna is built into it.

There are two metering modes, classic and advanced. Classic is the typical 60/40 system that was popular in all cameras years ago. I still like it. It means that 60% of the light reading comes from a central area where the main subject is presumed to be placed, and 40% of the reading comes from the surrounding areas of the frame. In advanced metering there are three options: spot metering, center-weighted as in classic, and what Leica calls "multifield medewinaring", which I presume is similar to the metering algorithms used in most cameras today. The Leica manual does mention that the classic mode might increase speed slightly in image capture so I just left my meter set that way. It's the metering system I grew up with so I'm used to it.

If you shoot in jpg, you have a choice of three film style settings: Vivid color, Smooth color, and black & white. Furthermore, within the black & white you can choose a filter type to use, and a warm, cold, or neutral tone. Of course the feature does not actually work in DNG mode because it is a RAW capture. Nonetheless, you can see a monochrome image on your display if you select it as a film option. When I want to use a feature such as this, I set my camera to capture both RAW and jpg so the jpg file has the film style and the RAW has everything. That way I have a choice later.

The battery capacity has been increased and the battery is much larger.  Its charger has an 80% indicator light. It that takes approximately 2 hours to reach this level. While longer battery life is a big improvement over the M9, keep in mind that continual use of live view or the EVF will tend to use up the extra capacity rather quickly.

The menus have been given a facelift as you can see from the photo below.

A wheel on the upper right aids in menu and image preview navigation,  and also works in conjunction with the focus adjust button to magnify the live view images. This wheel has been nicely protected with the addition of a thumb rest on the left to project it from being hit accidentally.

The M (240) now comes with a video mode. This is not a feature I use very much, especially on a Leica so I will not comment on it too much other than to say that the on/off record button is placed on the top near the shutter release where it is easy to hit it accidentally. I have already taken a number of inadvertent video clips.

The button marked "M" is a start/stop for recording for video. It's placement near the shutter where you already have a finger placed makes it very easy to hit by accident. This view also shows the thumb rest/protector built around the setting dial.

The white framing lines in the rangefinder window can now be changed from white to red. I tried it out and found the red to be more distracting for general use, but very helpful in dimly lit situations.

Photo of the Chrysler Building in New York taken with the Leica M (240) and 50mm Summilux lens at f/5.6 and ISO 200. Click here to download a full res version of this photo.

Taken with 21mm Elmarit at f/5.6 and ISO 200. Click here for high res download.

Photographed with a Summilux 50mm lens at f/8 and ISO 200. Click here to download the full res version.

With the convenience of the EVF finder I find myself using the 135mm APO-Telyt lens more than I did. Below are two shots of the same scene, one with the 135mm lens and the other with the 50mm Summilux. Aligning the sun in the photos below would have been extremely difficult if not impossible using the standard rangefinder viewfinder.

Taken with 50mm Summilux at f/4 and ISO 200. Click here for high res download.

Taken with 135mm APO-Telyt at f/8 ISO 200. Click here for high res download.

Conclusion:

As mentioned, I primarily use the Leica for travel and landscape photography. I realize that it also has a very large following for taking candid street photography. For the latter, using the traditional rangefinder viewfinder is going to be the way to go. EVF finders on mirrorless cameras have an inherent drag to them that slows down shooting. As this camera type becomes more popular, I expect this to improve. For now, however, expect the M to behave very differently in live view mode. It will definitely lack much of its characteristic spontaneity. Nonetheless, the convenience this feature adds of precise compositional alignment for photographers like me is well worth the extra delay it might take in capturing the photo.

In terms of resolution, dynamic range, capability in low light, and expanded features, the M (240) has reached a pinnacle of digital perfection that is exceptional in the tests I have done so far. Keep in mind this is a system camera and gains in strength when coupled with its superb optical support. That support has now been expanded to include R-lenses -- something that adds to the convenience of the M as a full system camera. It will be interesting to see if Leica will now expand and improve upon its R lens series

Addendum:

Since writing this post, I have noticed a few anomalies with the M 240.  Occasionally, the auto color will jump off track for a frame or two and return colors that are way off target.

I have also noticed that the EVF view finder will suddenly pop into its magnified mode even though the magnification switch has not been pressed.

I will be reporting these anomalies to Leica.

I am including this photo to demonstrate the portrait capabilities of the M. This was shot with the 90mm Elmarit-M lens in available light with daylight illumination and one uncorrected tungsten lamp off to the left acting as a hair light. The camera was set to auto white balance. I did readjust the color a bit afterwards by lowering the yellows towards blue based on the inclusion of a color correction card. I often mix daylight and tungsten like this to achieve a warm, sunny-like look with the hair light, and I find this amount of correction to be normal under these circumstances. Click here to download the high res version.

I

35mm Summilux, ISO 2500.

Grand Central Station:  135mm APO-Telyt, ISO 2500.

35mm Summilux at f/16, ISO 1000, 1/15 second to create the blur. The truck was standing still. I panned the camera.

This image and the three above it demonstrate the dynamic range of the M (240). This photo was taken at sunset with the Chrysler Building in the background strongly lit from the right while the building in the foreground right is in total shadow. You can also see clear detail inside the building where the lights are on.

Taken with the 135mm APO-Telyt f/3.4 and ISO 1600. The EVF finder now makes precise compositional alignments possible with long telephoto lenses.