Portraits VI

Moving on with portrait series.. Thanks for the lovely model J.

Canon 100mm F/2.8 IS USM Macro review

Thank you Helen, for providing the sweet lens for testing.







It is probably going to be the shortest review I every write - the lens was just too perfect to discuss any shortcomings whatsoever. Simply a pure pleasure to use.

* Perfectly sharp wide open (stunning image quality basically at any aperture)
* Excellent glass with superb color rendition and contrast, marvelous bokeh
* Fast, precise and silent auto-focus
* Steady shots with IS on
* Excellent build quality

Even the price tag is okay considering what you get - if you can afford it, get it - there's probably no better macro lens currently available for dSLR-s. It is also an excellent portrait lens so you basically get two lenses: a macro lens, and a portrait lens - just two in one.

Samsung 30mm F/2 review

Typical to a fixed ("pancake") lens at 25-35mm range the size of the optics inside the housing is not exactly huge, especially when compared with "glass monsters" 50/1.4 (50/1.2, 50/1.0), 85/1.4(1.2) and above.

Samsung has been a major player at consumer electronics for several years. They were widely known at 1990s for producing different kind of home appliances such as vacoom cleaners, TV-s or fridges.

1/50 - F/2.0 - ISO400

As of today, the production line of the giant South Korean electronics manufacturer (brief history) has expotentially grown ever since, resulting in wide selection of uncountable electronics based products. The Galaxy smart phones are probably best known, but also laptops and tablets. Samsung also produces enormous amount of memory chips, LCD screens for other manufacturers (incl. Apple).

1/160 - F/2.0 - ISO100 (focus is at minimum focusing distance (approx.30cm), aperture is wide open so you get the idea of bokeh here).

First serious approach to enter the market of digital cameras (other than compact cameras), was a cooperation with Pentax back in 2008, resulting in DSLR cameras branded under the name of Samsung. Bridge-like cameras (smaller sensors than APS-C though) were also marketed, such as the Samsung Pro815.

1/320 - F/4.0 - ISO100 (bokeh stays cool stopped down)

The Samsung NX line (hybrid/mirrorless cameras with APS-C sensors) entered the market back in 2010. Wide range of NX lenses were introduced, including several primes. As per several sources at the internet almighty, the producer of the NX lenses is Optron Technologies.

1/1000 - F/5.6 - ISO100

One of the primes lenses, the "pancake"-type (relatively compact) 30mm F/2 lens has been at my photo bag for a while. Let me share a couple of thoughts about using the lens in real world (so no lab test reports, but impressions from the track and field).

1/500 - F/4.0 - ISO100

The lens is small, so perfect for traveling. Pocketable for mid-large pockets. The 30mm gives you are 45mm equivalent view at APS-C size sensor. This means the view is not wide, nor too narrow, but best of both worlds - you can shoot some architecture at a reasonable distance, and also portrait if you are not too far away.

1/160 - F/5.6 - ISO100

The build quality of the lens is excellent - full metal body + mount, no cheap feeling whatsoever. The feeling is the lens could last for some serious time accompanying the photographer as a reliable tool.

1/500 - F/4.0 - ISO100

As a standard of a modern lens, the auto-focus is a ring-type ultra silent drive, so literally quiet AF operation and reasonably fast focusing time. It can focus as close as 25cm, so not exactly a macro-capable lens, but there's still some freedom to capture relatively smaller things as needed. I tried to fool the focus with making it focus on very close and far objects quite quickly - focusing was snappy, and in average to decent light conditions, very precise.

1/200 - F/2.8 - ISO100

Manual focusing also works smooth - automatic magnifying of the NX1000 body (used for to test this lens) was very helpful for that. The focus rings turns smoothly with no hassle at all.

 1/500 - F/4.0 - ISO100

The lens lacks image stabilization (Samsung NX 18-55 and 55-200 zoom lens have this feature) as well as the I-Function button. I never truly missed either of these (though both features are helpful at certain situations).

The bottom line - at a glance, it may look one boring lens! Only prime, standard focusing distances, small, modest, lightweight.. but you instantly learn to appreciate the results the small lens is able to deliver - sharp wide open, fast/smooth focus, excellent bokeh, pocketable to take a shot whenever, wherever needed. A good companion for to go out at the streets, and nice backup option if you can't use your full frame DSLR available. The price is also reasonable.

1/320 - F/4.0 - ISO100

If you'd like to learn more about the NX lineup - Dx0 recently published an extensive testing of Samsung NX lenses and they were really happy with the results. So whether you are looking for a backup system or to build a new mirrorless camera system, the 30mm F/2 (and potentially other primes from Samsung) are well worth considering.

1/400 - F/4.0 - ISO100

1/320 - F/3.5 - ISO100

For me the exceptional sharpness (I sometimes thought photos taken at F/2.0 were actually stopped down ones), compact design and extremely precise and quick AF makes this lens a real gem. Combined with a slim NX body the set (camera+lens) is also very pocketable and easy to reach ("the best camera is the one that is with you").

1/640 - F/5.0 - ISO100

1/125 - F/2.2 - ISO100

Paul Apalkin

Browsed for DeviantArt today and found this gem - Paul Apalkin - take a closer look to his superb portraits.

Nikon Df

Nikon announces model DF today - the long-awaited retro-style camera for long-time Nikon fans. The unit features a 16mp FX (full frame) sensor from its current flagship D4, and accepts wide selection on F-mount lenses - even the oldest ai(s) ones. Thumbs up Nikon - in photography, the new DF could easily be considered as a product of the year.

Portraits V

Another day with the capricious light conditions late September, I was able to meet M, a real superstar, for some portrait photos. And what a splendid shoot it was, as soon as she came, all the clouds were gone. With this easy-going and ever-shining model, a productive time it was; again, it was not easy to pick up photos qualifying as "the best ones". Looking forward to the next shoots!

Portraits IV

Another (almost) spontaneous trip out to take a couple of photographs, I was lucky to meet R, and another couple of hours just went by walking around and taking photographs and facing the autumn weather. Despite a couple of light showers it all went well and the light was just superb all day so we again made our best to capture it all. Despite some technical problems (focus issues, yay, a nightmare) I was very pleased with the results; R had been doing some modeling work before, so a smooth ride it was!

Portraits III

I sometimes face tough time finding the right photographs for the blog, especially when every shot just seems so good and unique. This was the story this time as well with K, just simply stunning person to take portrait photographs of and what a creative person to play with different settings for portrait photography; I'm almost out of words how happy I was working with such a great model. And, she traveled a looong distance just for this shoot, wow! So fingers crossed she liked the results.

Portraits II

It was a superb experience to work together with K. - a spontaneous trip out of town for a portrait shoot was rewarded with excellent cooperation and experienced model full of energy and sun! Some luck we also had with the weather with the best warm summer breeze and mild sunlight. Tons of experience and good emotions - thank you very much K!

Portraits I

There are some great places online where photographers and models can meet and set up portrait sessions. It often works in a way the photographer wants to shoot to become better at portrait photography, while the model appreciated the new fresh photographs. One of these sites is Model Mayhem (I believe its database is the largest as of today, with more than 800k models registed; however Model Management is picking up, and there are additional ones (i.e. Models Meet Photographers) if you care to do some google work). So I was also able to meet some great models and since I feel I need to improve my portrait photography skills, here come a couple of shots of each shoot.

It was a superb cooperation with E., thanks for the patience and hard work with finding the best ways for the great portraits! Truly emotional, sometimes serious, but always creative and easy to work with, it was a great experience of taking some headshots.

Afterword to summer

A couple of shots from spring/summer. As the time goes on the pickier I'm with the photos so it was really hard to make a selection which on to take, which one to leave. I was finally also able to shoot some portraits, some shots to follow at the following posts.