Wedding Weekend

Occasionally I get asked to shoot weddings, or parts of weddings.  I don't like being the main photographer, and usually refuse the job, but I am quite happy to do some support work, as is the case this weekend.  My main role is to shoot the groom and his groomsmen getting ready, so mostly indoor work, with possible candid shots later.  I doubt I'll do too much after as my wife will complain she won't have a date at the wedding!

Which brings me to what gear I should use.  I will take the D600, SB800 and a couple lenses; most likely the Nikon 24-85mm f2.8-4, the Nikon 85mm f1.8 and probably the 50mm f1.4.  This should be enough.  I could take the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, but it is heavy and I don't want to take too much gear.  I might also be feasible to take the Nikon 20mm f4 as it is so small, but we'll see.

It will be fun getting ready with a new camera, and I am looking forward to giving it a go!

Nikon 24 -85mm f2.8-4D standard zoom lens - full frame test

About a year ago I purchase a Nikon kit from a guy which contained an F90X, a 70-300mm AF-D telephoto zoom, and the lens above.  I've always wanted this lens for full frame as it the performance has been rated very good and it has a very cool 1:2 macro feature, which makes the lens very versatile.  The purchase price was quite reasonable, so after I sold off the camera and tele lens, it meant I really didn't pay a lot for it.  

Since I purchased it, I've hardly used it as it really isn't that handy on DX, but as I now have full frame again, I pulled it out to give it a test run.  My idea was that it was going to be my standard zoom on the D600, but after a quick test run there are a couple issues.  

Firstly the lens is screw drive with no AF-S motor. Initially I thought this would be a non-issue as the D600 has a screw drive for non-AF-S lenses, but I found it makes a LOT of noise which is very readily heard in video, and quite disconcerting.

The second issue is close focus.  On this lens you need to select the macro mode which can only operate in the 35-85mm range. This means you have to manually switch it over if you want to go closer than 50cm way - quite difficult if you are shooting squirrelly kids.  However, it does go pretty close (1:2 Macro) as the shot below of my Fuji GA645i shows.

Otherwise it is a good lens.  Sharpness is good, barrel distortion is not terrible and the zoom range is very handy for every day use.

Nuit Blanche 2012

A couple weekends go we went to Nuit Blanche in downtown Toronto.  We really only got to see one exhibit and that was "Byo Logyc".  Basically it was about a drug company that promoted their product, had 'protesters' outside and you had to go into the church to get screened.  There were the company promotors outside and people to take all your details.  Once inside you got screened, interviewed by psychiatrists, made to watch a video and asked to take a pill.  If you didn't, you're phot was displayed outside with the warning: "If you see this person, avoid contact, seek safety."  Kinda 1984 meets the Matrix.

I took the Nikon D600 out for its first major test run and took along the Nikon 50mm f1.4D.  It was a good combination and generally worked well, though the exposure could be a little weird in some low light conditions.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Sure it's not very 'pro', but a few weeks ago I took my Nikon D90 with the Nikon 18-200mm zoom on a family trip to Nova Scotia.  The thought was it would make a good travel camera - lots of zoom range, not too heavy and decent quality images.

In the end, I didn't use the camera a ton, except for a trip to Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove, where I took three quarters on the trip's shots.  Just as we got to Peggy's Cove, the sun was setting, and the evening light on the town, light house and surrounding rocks was absolutely incredible.  The result was that the photos were absolutely amazing.

It really highlighted to me that the capability of the camera isn't anywhere near as important as the capability of the photographer.  Getting the lighting, composition and subject right is far, far more important.

Full Frame Observations - manual focusing with fast lenses

One lens that I have for a while and love using on full frame is the Nikon 50mm f1.2.  Actual performance at f1.2 is not that great, with very high light fall off and some overall softness, but the images really do pop with the shallow depth of field when you get it right.

However shooting a toddler near minimum focus distance at f1.2 with manual focus on a full frame camera is close to impossible.  You only have less than 1cm available to you to nail focus, and as they move so quickly you don't get too many keepers.  Better to use it as a night street shooter, like this shot of Nuit Blanche in 2010 on the D700.