Modern lens

Sometimes, we could get very passionate about the lenses we have. Fortunately, I have limited fund to play with lens and I only have one lens (24-70mm) for all my purposes. Sometime, my fingers do get very "itchy" and would like to buy fish eye lens or tele lens. But thanks God that I found no money when I opened my wallet. I have serious problem in justifying for them because they will be under utilised. So, poor case for justification to buy additional lenses means no new lens for the time being.
During my early days, ie, in the early 70s', I only had fixed lens, ie, 50mm or 105mm or 200mm. I was really itching for a zoom lens. So, I remember buying a zoom lens from Tamron. I like the result when I fixed it to my German made Rollieflex camera. But at the end, I still go back to my "prime" lens because I find it impractical to change lens in the field, ie, on duty.
Ok, today, my plan is not talking about the past but to talk about the "nano coated" modern lens I have from Nikon.
I read from their web site about this new technology:
"Nano Crystal Coat is an antireflective coating that virtually eliminates internal lens element reflections across a wide range of wavelengths, and is particularly effective in reducing ghost and flare peculiar to ultra-wide-angle lenses. Nano Crystal Coat employs multiple layers of Nikon’s extra-low refractive index coating, which features ultra-fine crystallized particles of nanometer size."
So, I brought my camera out for field test on Saturday and pointed it into the bright afternoon sun.
Camera: Nikon D3 with a AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens. Flash was not used.

The huge sun was right at the corner, and true to its claim, I could hardly see any ghost and flare with this type of shots. However, there are three "spots" clearly visible next to the sun.

In the good old days, we had multi layered coating and we could never take any decent photos like the one above.

So, do you think it is worth the money for the new high tech lens? Check out the price and you may faint! Perhaps, the price will drop when it is getting more competition.

Warning: Avoid pointing your compact camera to the sun for too long or you may damage your sensor. If you are using SLR, you may damage your retina. So be careful!

Event Photography

Perhaps the most challenging photography is trying to take event with the ambient. By this I mean, to capture the situation "as is" without any additional light, eg, flash light. The situation is becoming even more challenging when the spot light keeps changing in colour and brightness. I would say that it was mostly impossible to take good photograph in such situation until Canon and Nikon both came out with their highly sensitive full frame sensor.
To take photo with such an ambient light, I will need to do some experiment. Consider this:
1. The light distribution is random and will cause the light meter go crazy!
2. The people or subject also move in random and varying in speed

To counter item 1 above, I adjusted the EV or exposure compensation. This is different for every performance and therefore different setting.
To counter item 2 above, I set focusing to single point and locked into a particular subject I wanted to follow.
Next, wait for the right moment and press the shutter release.
Below are two photos taken at an event in Boulevard carpark Miri on 29 March 2009

Camera: Nikon D3 with a AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens. Flash was not used.

Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/1250 sec ISO-1800 EV: -2.7 70MM no flash.

As this was my first time taking real action under some colourful spotlight, I have to experiment. Initial shots were blur because the shutter speed was too slow until I crank it up to 1/1250 sec. Only then I manage to "freeze" the action. Nikon D3 f/2.8 1/1250 sec ISO-1800 EV: -2.7 70MM no flash.

The two photos above were not retouched other than cropping and resizing. There is no noise/grain visible.

One thing I like about this kind of show is the "cloud" effect. If you are in luck, the combination of the "cloud" and light can add a lot of "life" into the photo.

Alip Tang & Siti Wedding

Date: 10 Feb 2007
Siti's father, Kipli is my colleague. The following photos were taken when I first took delivery of my Nikon D200. At that time, I was eager to test out my camera and flash.