Scout Images

I have just come back from a weekend up in the Blue Mountains. This trip was not primarily a photographic one, but a trip away with some friends. As a result I did not lug a lot of gear but instead opted to bring my treasured Nikon FM2n and my new Sony Cyber-Shot TX5. This means that despite the many, many photos of Mt Solitary taken whilst hiking along the Prince Henry Cliff Walk from Lyrebird Dell to Gordon Falls to Leura Cascades then onto Echo Point, I dont have anything to share just yet as I have to send off my precious rolls of Fujifilm Velvia  (I shot one roll of traditional, old style Velvia, and a roll of Velvia 100F) to be processed and scanned.

Keep your eyes posted as I will be adding photos as soon as I get this film back.

Firstly I have to apologise for the lack of activity lately. I present the excuses of a higher than normal workload followed by some pretty nasty sickness. However, I did put together the beginnings of a comparison between Sony’s Exmor R (circa 2010) sensor and Fujifilm’s 8th Generation SuperCCD HR (circa 2008).

Fuji’s SuperCCD technology has long been the benchmark setting sensor in the compact camera market, producing the amazing F30/F31 (2006) compacts that have ISO performance that the compact cameras of 2010 are only starting to match. The technology has evolved quite greatly over the years culminating in the major redesign in 2008/9 to produce the current generation SuperCCD EXR, but the oversized octagonal photosites aligned at 45 deg remain.

Sony’s Exmor R sensor takes traditional CMOS and puts it on its head, literally. Traditional CMOS sensors have layers of circuitry overlaying the photosites, as you can imagine this is rather inefficient in capturing light. The Exmor R sensor has this reversed, it is the first backlit CMOS (ie. the circuitry in under the photosites) that has been mass produced.

These two technologies promise better light gathering abilities. As a long time Fuji user and the owner of a Fujifilm Finepix F100fd which utilises an 8th generation SuperCCD HR, I was keen to test the abilities of Sony’s Exmor R sensor, as a result I found myself the owner of a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX5. Unfortunately I have yet been able to source a SuperCCD EXR sensor for comparison, but lets see how 2yr old SuperCCD technology stacks up against Exmor R…..more

I just thought I would share some new products that Phottix has been cooking up.

First of all is the Duo TTL cord, a flash sync cable that allows you to mount a flash on both ends of the cable…which comes in 1m, 1.5m and 2m (all coiled) these cables are all universal, being compatible with Nikon/Fuji iTTL (I have tested), Canon eTTL (I have tested), Olympus and Pentax/Samsung. However, the name of this product is slightly misleading, although TTL is retained perfectly when one flash is used, when the second flash is added (or turned on) you have to switch BOTH flashes to manual. This is CLEARLY stated on the packaging so as far as I am concerned Phottix is not being misleading. The usual caveats of using compatible camera and flashes is necessary. I have tested these cables with Nikon D3000, Fuji S5 Pro, Canon EOS 1000D, SB-400, SB-600, SB-800, Nissin Di622, 430 EX II.

Second up are the new Phottix AF Extension Tube sets – available for both Nikon and Canon (I have tested both). The good news is that they work, although they are still very basic extension tubes, the AF (AF-S, AF-D, USM) and image stabilisation (VR and IS) are retained. However I did find that you have to be pretty careful when mounting them on camera. I have not had any experience with extension tubes, but I can say that stacking all three tubes together appears to hamper the AF ability of lenses on a Canon EOS 1000D (18-55 IS, 50mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.8 macro). I have only briefly used them on a Nikon D90 + 18-105VR and 50mm f/1.8 but will hope to play with the Nikon ones more soon.

I have personally purchased one of the Duo TTL cords (1.5m as we only bought these) for myself and have purchased a set of the AF extension tubes (Nikon mount) for a friend. I would like to have a close look at the Kenko set of extension tubes to compare the two products as the Canon mount Phottix set appear to be very primitive with simple rods passing on the electronic signals to the lenses. The Nikon mount version appear to be more complex as they also pass through the screwdriver signal for AF-D lenses (and you cant see the guts of the extension tubes).

The Phottix Duo TTL cord

Unfortunately I have not been able to locate a link for the Phottix AF Extension Tube Sets

I do not work for Phottix, but I do use a lot of Phottix gear and do have a working relationship with Phottix. I buy all my Phottix gear (if this changes I will make sure I will clearly state this) and all my thoughts on the gear is as free from bias as possible.

As mentioned before (here, here and here) I have finally gotten around to taking a few pictures of my new toys, the AI Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 and the Tokina AT-X DX 107 AF 10-17mm Fisheye. Since my Nikon D300 is away (yet again…refer here) so the Fuji S5 Pro has been pressed into service. The gear used?

• 75cm x 75cm x 75cm light tent (sorry I have to iron the backgrounds but couldnt be bothered this morning)
• SB-800 and SB-600 (at 45 deg to light the light tent, controlled using CLS)
• Sigma 180mm macro, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, Tamron SP 17-50mm f/2.8

I got carried away and did some more images of my other lenses as well.

Yesterday I was out and about with this Phottix gear, this time with my Nikon D300 and I just thought I would give you all an update on how they are performing. I will get some pictures up soon…hopefully before I scratch the units (although my ball head has already lost some paint as it was a demo unit).

Firstly, the Geo One on the D300 works well. As on the S5 Pro, the Geo one rapidly and reliably locks up the GPS satellites and inserts your position into the EXIF. The bonus of using the Geo One with the D300 is the D300′s ability to turn off its meter (and the Geo One) when the camera goes into standby, you may recall that I mentioned that the S5 Pro went through its battery very quickly as the meter and the Geo One did not turn off.

As for the Ball head….well since I last mentioned it I have moved the head to my trusty Manfrotto 055 PROB from its home on my Manfrotto 714B. It was rather annoying that I dont have more ArcaSwiss style quick release plate, but other than this, the ball head did a good job. My only gripes with this ball head was the amount of tightening that was required to prevent slippage of my camera (D300 + MB-D10 + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 or Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR), this means the ball head will get moved back to my 714B to to save it from being regulated to being purely a light stand.  Otherwise the ball head was both easy to use and dealt with the load adequately. It will work nicely when smaller lenses are and lighter loads are in use.

Yesterday’s project was mainly panoramic and my experiences indicate that a ballhead is definitely better than a pistol grip head for this work, although a levelling base or a self centreing column is really needed to get the best out of any tripod.

Looks like I will be getting some more ArcaSwiss style quick release plates and the Phottix ball head and Geo One will remain in my arsenal. I will have to consider a levelling base and a larger ball head in the future…maybe a Markins M20.

Just been using the Phottix Geo One for a little while now and thought I would just let you all know how it is going.

I picked up this unit a little while ago and have been using it with my Fuji S5 Pro as my D300 has been away for repairs. Since then I have taken the unit around with me for most of my roaming and even on a day trip into the Blue Mountains.

My initial thoughts are that it works nicely. The time to initaially establish a connection varies but is mostly under a minute, however there have been occaisons when it has refused to connect (when indoors or when there is excessive cloud cover). Unfortunately the S5 Pro does not turn off its meters when the Geo One is connected so I cannot comment on warm start up times, this will have to be done when the D300 returns. There are no problems with integration, the Geo One does what it says it does, it writes straight to the EXIF in the S5 Pro and from what I have heard the D300 as well.

The bad news…it drains batteries! On the Fuji S5 Pro the meters dont turn off when the Geo One is connected, so both the camera meter and the Geo One remains on the whole time the camera is on, and if your like me and are used to keeping the camera on all day your batteries drain mighty quick. This is a problem for me as the S5 Pro has an annoying propriortry battery (thanks Nikon for not sharing the battery) and I only have two of these NP-150s. I do not own a MB-D200 so I cannot use AAs either. I had to stop using the Geo One during the Blue Moutains trip as I was worried of running out of battery. There should be no issue with the D300 as I have more batteries, the MB-D10 and the D300 will turn off the its light meter (and the Geo One) if left at idle.

So far I am very impressed with this unit and would have no problems continuing to use it.

The SB-400 is the baby of Nikon’s speedlight line up, designed to be cheap, compact, light and easy to use. Lacking CLS (Creative Lighting System) compatibility, restricted manual controls, zoom and only tilting in one direction, a lot of people overlook this diminutive flash in preference for the large and more versatile SB-600, SB-800 and SB-900, and this is not an entirely bad move to make. BUT the SB-400 should not be written off as a flash that was designed to hit a price point, as it caters for a very important target market, who would really benefit from this flash if they considered it for what is does….more

Many Nikon and Canon users have been troubled by the cost of the Nikkor and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lenses. There is no doubt that both these lenses are very nice lenses, but the price tag is steep, and many photographers planning to make the jump to FX (or full frame) in the coming years it seems rather silly to buy a DX or EF-S lens. ENTER the TAMRON SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II (Model A16)…more

Lowepro describes this bag as “a premium backpack for the serious adventure bound photographer or sports journalist” being “made for the outdoors”. This is my main bag and having used it for over a year does it deliver…more

I just thought I would follow up on my experiences with the Lowepro Inverse 200 AW after mentioning this purchase here, and here.

As we do, I was and still am looking for a bag to fit a very tough spec, mine being:

• very comfortable to wear for long periods of time
• quick access to gear and for lens changes
• carry, one large SLR + grip + lens, one large telephoto lens and a flash (in my case either a D300 + MB-D10 + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 or a Fuji S5 Pro + Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8, either the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR or the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 macro)

In order to do this the only logical way is to store the long lens vertically. ENTER the INVERSE, being a beltpack with a shoulder strap, comfort and accessibility are no problem. According to Lowepro fitting a 70-200VR attached to camera is an option, and with an internal height of 21.5cm, things are looking promising…..more