Nikon AF-S VR Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G review

The Nikon 70-200m F2.8 VR is built to withstand the rigours of daily professional use, and the quality of construction is impeccable. From the super-smooth zoom and focus rings to the finely designed and engineered tripod mounting foot, everything about this lens exudes quality. Construction appears to be primarily of metal, and the lens is environmentally sealed, including a rubber gasket around the mount to prevent dust and water ingress into the camera. As is standard for this class of lens, both zooming and focusing are internal, which leads to a distinct impression of solidity to the 'one-piece' construction, and maintains the balance of the lens on the camera regardless of focal length.

In comparison to other 70-200mm F2.8 zooms, the Nikon is unusually long and slim in design, indeed unexpectedly so for a full-frame lens (especially given the fact that Nikon's engineers have had to squeeze in an optical stabilization unit). Overall it rather gives the impression that the glass is concentrated towards the front of the barrel, indeed the narrow tubular section immediately adjacent to the lens mount is purely air space (and we'll see the likely consequences of this on its optical performance in due course). Aside from that, it's quite similar in size to other lenses of this type, and potential upgraders should be aware that it is significantly larger and heavier than consumer telezooms such as the 70-300mm F4-5.6 VR. It's a serious photographic tool, but quite possibly not one you'll want to carry around all day on vacation.

Nikon AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G specifications

Street price	• US: $1700 • UK: £1150
Date introduced	April 2003
Maximum format size	35mm full frame
Focal length	70-200mm
35mm equivalent focal length (APS-C)	105-300mm
Diagonal Angle of view (FF)	34º - 12º
Diagonal Angle of view (APS-C)	23º - 8º
Maximum aperture	F2.8
Minimum aperture	F22
Lens Construction	• 21 elements/15 groups • 5 ED elements
Number of diaphragm blades	9, rounded
Minimum focus	1.5m
Maximum magnification	0.16x at 200mm
AF motor type	• Ring-type ultrasonic • Full-time manual focus
Focus method	Internal
Zoom method	Internal
Image stabilization	• 3 stops • Auto panning detection • Active mode
Filter thread	• 77mm • Does not rotate on focus
Supplied accessories	• Front and rear caps • HB-29 Hood • CL-L2 Soft Case
Optional accessories
Weight	1470g (51.8 oz)
Dimensions	87mm diameter x 215mm length (3.4 x 8.5 in)
Lens Mount	Nikon F only
Other	• Dust and moisture sealing • Reports focus distance information to camera body • Three AF stop buttons

from Dpreview

Nikon’s new SB-900 Speedlight

Nikon Europe introduced a brand-new flagship Speedlight - the Nikon SB-900 – that offers exceptional high-speed, high-power operation combined with an extended zoom range. The SB-900 incorporates a moving diffuser and light source that can zoom from 17mm to 200mm in just 1.2 seconds while maintaining an even light distribution. The versatile new flash provides a choice of three illumination patterns (centre-weighted/standard/even) that can be selected to suit a particular subject.

“Nikon Speedlights are widely regarded to be the best in the business” said Robert Cristina, Manager Professional Products and NPS, Nikon Europe. “The new SB-900 propels flash lighting into the future with really exciting creative opportunities available at the touch of a button” he added.

The SB-900 is perfectly adapted to both DX and FX formats, and will automatically select the appropriate light distribution pattern according to the sensor format of the camera to which it is attached. The SB-900 also automatically detects the fitting of fluorescent or incandescent colour filters, instructing the camera to switch to the appropriate white balance setting. Designed for today’s high speed digital image capture, the SB-900 handles repeated firing at high power with an improved booster circuit for high-speed recycling and includes a built-in thermal sensing system that protects the unit against overheating.

It is fully compatible with the other Speedlights and accessories of the acclaimed Nikon Creative Lighting System and can be easily incorporated into multiple-flash lighting set-ups. Bounce flash capability is provided through a head that can be tilted up by 90º and down by 11º and rotated horizontally through 180º, making the SB-900 an essential accessory that opens up many creative opportunities to the photographer.

The SB-900 will be available as of 25th July 2008.

Nikon Speedlight SB-900 Major Features

• Multi-step auto zoom covers wide 17-200mm zoom range (24-105mm：SB-800)
• Three illumination patterns (standard, center-weighted and even) are available to match each shooting environment
• Automatically detects Nikon FX and Nikon DX formats and selects suitable light distribution
• Improved booster circuit for high-speed recycle time: Recycle time using four AA-size batteries is almost equal to the SB-800 with five AA-size batteries
• New AF-Assist illumination covers a wide 20-105 mm focal range compatible with the new Multi-CAM3500 FX/DX AF sensor
• Firmware update via Nikon D3 and D700 is possible (world’s first*)
• Thermal Cut-out function limits the number of flashes to avoid deterioration of light emitting parts caused by continuous flash firing
• Automatically detects color filters (fluorescent or incandescent), enabling camera to control color temperature according to filter information from SB-900
• Improved switch panel for enhanced usability
• Improved GUI using a large-size LCD dot panel
• Bounce capability: tilts up to 90º, down to -7º, rotates horizontally 180º to right and left
• Advanced Wireless Lighting and versatile functions for up to three remote groups of SB-900s or other compatible Speedlight controlled through the master SB-900

dpreview

Close-up portraits

Close-up portraits usually have the subject's shoulders and head or less. They are basically framed around the face. These are the best to capture expressions and glamour shots. It is very important to have the light coming from a good angle for these. If you want to accent wrinkles or small details you should have the light coming from the side or from the top. If you want flattering pictures you should take these on a day that's cloudy so there is a lot of diffused light and therefore no shadows.

You will get the best results if the subject is brighter than the background so there is not much distraction. For these you should use a wide aperture (low f/stop) to make the background out of focus and less of a distraction. Professionals usually use a fixed telephoto lens that's 90 mm or a little higher for portraits for the reason that it de-emphasizes the subjects nose or any other unflattering feature because a

t that far away the nose or any other significant feature doesn't seem closer to the camera than the rest of the face.

Royal Cremation Ceremony, in Ubud, Bali on July 15th, 2008

A series of ceremonies will be held in Ubud, Bali, this coming month, culminating in a unique Royal Cremation (pelebon) procession and Celebration of Life, which will take place on July 15th, 2008. This Royal Cremation Ceremony promises to be an unforgettable event for spectators.

The Ubud Royal Family will hold this ceremony for the bodies of two prominent elders of the family:

• TJOKORDA GDE AGUNG SUYASA, who was head of the Ubud Royal Family and the leader of the traditional community in Ubud since 1976, and
• TJOKORDA GEDE RAKA, who was a senior office in the police force in Denpasar until his retirement in 1992

The effigy of GUNG NIANG RAKA, whose body was cremated in a smaller ceremony in December soon after she died, will also now be given a full cremation ceremony.

The cremation procession and associated ceremonies are important rituals in the Hindu rites of passage. The bodies of the deceased will be carried through the streets of Ubud by thousands of local people on top of a nine-tiered tower called ‘bade’. The procession will be accompanied by an elaborately decorated and venerated bull effigy (Lembu) and a mythical dragon-like creature (Naga Banda), with a five meter-long tail. The naga is reserved for only the elders of the Royal family and is thus seldom seen in cremation ceremonies.

Ngaben is the principle funeral rite in Bali's Hindu society which aims to return the remains of the deceased to the elements from which all living things are created and to release the soul from all ties to this life.

Ngaben is comprised of many rituals, culminating in the burning of the corpse in an animal-shaped sarcophagus, as well as the burning of the cremation tower (bade) whose sole purpose is to transport the corpse from home to the cremation grounds.

The Ngaben is not a sad event, it can even be happy, it is a way to make the spirit of the dead happy, and to avoid disturbing him by crying. However it requires an enormous amount of time, energy, and money! All of the relatives and friends share the cost but often months, or even years, will be required to gather enough money and to make the mountains of offerings involved. One solution is for ordinary community members to join the funerals of wealthier individuals of high caste, or to organize ngaben massal (mass cremation) among the villagers, to reduce the costs.

In Ubud, such ‘mass’ cremations are held only every 3-5 years. On 15 July, 2oo8 three members of the Royal Family of Ubud will be cremated along with approximately 70 other deceased from the local community.

This ceremony is very much a public one and visitors are welcome but everyone is reminded to dress appropriately, with legs and arms covered, and to abide by any instructions and announcements.

Framing on your photo

Framing is the tactic of using natural surroundings to add more meaning to your subject. It could be anything such as bushes, trees, a window, or even a doorway like in the picture at the top of this page. In the process of doing this you need to be careful that you don't only focus on what's framing your subject. Make sure you focus on the main subject, and also it is a good idea to use a narrow aperture (high f/stop) to achieve a high depth-of-field. It also wouldn't hurt if the part of the picture framing the subject was darker so make sure you take your light reading on the main subject.















F/5.6
1/160
iso 100

Foreground Elements in your photo

In order to show the depth of a landscape it is very important to include some type of foreground element. Without something in the foreground, the viewer has no way to distinguish distances or sizes; everything looks more flat and closer to the camera. A foreground element adds a substantial amount of improvement to what would be a drab amateur photo. But when using foreground elements in landscape photos make sure you use a very narrow aperture (high f/stop) so the whole scene will be in focus.














exposure time : 1/15
F stop : F11
ISO : 100
taken with : Nikon D80

KAF-50100 The 51 MP CCD Sensor from Kodak

The KODAK KAF-50100 is a four output, high performance CCD (charge coupled device) image sensor with 8176(H) x 6132(V) photoactive pixels designed for a wide range of color image sensing applications. Each pixel contains anti-blooming protection by means of a lateral overflow drain (LOD) thereby preventing image corruption during high light level conditions. A Pulse Flush Gate (PFG) is available to remove charge from every pixel. A Fast Dump Gate (FDG) is available to selectively remove a line of charge during readout. Each of the 6.0um square pixels are selectively covered with red, green or blue pigmented filters for color separation. The sensor is housed in a 52 pin, PGA package with 100 mil pin spacing.

preview Nikon D700

The introduction of Nikon's new D700 may been one of the worst kept secrets in an industry with more leaks than the Titanic, but it was still something of a surprise coming so hot on the heels of the D3 and D300. Essentially a D3 shrunk down and squeezed into a body roughly the same size as a D300, the D700 is Nikon's first 'compact' professional SLR, and seems designed to go head-to-head with whatever Canon has up its inscrutable sleeve to replace the EOS 5D.

The imaging side of the D700 is pretty much the same as the D3; it shares the acclaimed 12.1MP full frame ('FX') sensor and has the same processing engine, so we would presume output to be almost identical. The main differences (aside from being considerably smaller) are physical; there's a different shutter (good for 150,000 exposures rather than 300,000 on the D3), different viewfinder prism (with 95% coverage) and a slower burst rate. You also lose the rear LCD info panel (there's no room for it) and one of the D3's two CF card slots, but you do get a couple of extra features to soften the blow slightly; most notably a self-cleaning sensor and a built-in flash. We'll look a little more in-depth at the differences between the D3 and D700 in a moment.

The D700 joins the D3 as a fully-fledged 'professional' model; it has the same tank-like build quality (though we're sure the pop-up flash will cause a few raised eyebrows), and gets you the full pro service from Nikon. And the pricing (around $2999) reflects this; anyone hoping for an 'affordable' semi-pro full frame Nikon SLR will have to wait until the cost of producing such large sensors falls considerably.

Nikon D700 Key Features

• 12.1 megapixel full-frame sensor (8.45µm pixel pitch)
• Image Sensor Cleaning (vibration) *
• ISO 200 - 6400 (with boost up to ISO 25600 and down to ISO 100)
• Also supports DX lenses, viewfinder automatically masks (5.1 megapixels with DX lens)
• 14-bit A/D conversion, 12 channel readout
• Same ultra-fast startup and shutter lag as D3
• Nikon EXPEED image processor (Capture NX processing and NR algorithms, lower power)
• New Kevlar / carbon fibre composite shutter with 150,000 exposure durability *
• Multi-CAM3500FX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage)
• Auto-focus tracking by color (using information from 1005-pixel AE sensor)
• 95% coverage, 0.72x magnification viewfinder *
• Auto-focus calibration (fine-tuning), fixed body or up to 20 separate lens settings
• Scene Recognition System (uses AE sensor, AF sensor)
• Picture Control image parameter presets
• 5 frames per second continuous with auto-focus tracking*
• Optional MB-D10 Battery Pack (same as D300), increases burst rate to 8 fps *
• UDMA compatible single CF card slot *
• 3.0" 922,000 pixel LCD monitor
• Live View with either phase detect (mirror up/down) or contrast detect Auto Focus
• Virtual horizon indicates if camera is level (like an aircraft cockpit display)
• HDMI HD video output
• 'Active D-Lighting' (adjusts metering as well as applying D-Lighting curve)
• Detailed 'Control Panel' type display on LCD monitor, changes color in darkness
• Magnesium alloy body with connections and buttons sealed against moisture
• Improved Info display on main screen *

* Different to D3

preview from dpreview