Nikon Blog
Recommended Nikon Z7 II Settings
The Nikon Z7 II is a second-generation mirrorless camera from Nikon aimed specifically at landscape, architecture and studio photographers who want as much resolution as possible. Although the Z7 II is almost identical to its predecessor in terms of its overall body and ergonomics, Nikon has made some significant internal changes, making it a much more complete camera (see my Nikon Z7 II vs Z7 comparison for more information). In this article, I will provide detailed information on what settings I personally use on my Nikon Z7 II and shortly...
read moreGear from yesteryear: What does a 50-year-old lens look like at 46 Megapixels?
The Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm F2.8 was introduced back in 1979, just one year before the release of Nikon’s third professional SLR camera body, the F3. I don’t know when my particular copy of this lens was made, but it looks pretty well-worn. I picked it up in college for a song at a local photography shop, and the aperture blades promptly got stuck in the wide-open position. A couple years later, I finally got it repaired at the tiny Camera Clinic in Shoreline, WA (since closed, sadly), and have used it on and off ever since. In...
read moreDPReview TV: Sony a1 review
Published Feb 6, 2021 | dpreview staff [embedded content] With Chris still in quarantine, Jordan becomes a one man camera reviewing machine. He takes us through the Sony a1 from top to bottom, then tells us what he thinks. (Spoiler: he’s impressed.) Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week. Sony a1 sample gallery from this episode Gear in this story We spoke to Sony straight after the announcement of the a1, to get a bit more fine detail about the camera’s specs and capabilities. And...
read moreGear from yesteryear: What does a 40-year-old lens look like at 46 Megapixels?
The Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm F2.8 was introduced back in 1979, just one year before the release of Nikon’s third professional SLR camera body, the F3. I don’t know when my particular copy of this lens was made, but it looks pretty well-worn. I picked it up in college for a song at a local photography shop, and the aperture blades promptly got stuck in the wide-open position. A couple years later, I finally got it repaired at the tiny Camera Clinic in Shoreline, WA (since closed, sadly), and have used it on and off ever since. In...
read moreWildlife Photography Without a Supertelephoto
Even though my longest lens is a 70-200mm f/4, I’m still a big fan of wildlife photography. What’s not to like? Sitting around for hours without any luck, cursing your autofocus system, getting acquainted with mosquitos and other bugs while you wait… Well, it’s not all perfect. But when everything goes right, and you do get that shot, the reward is amazing. Not to mention that wildlife photography can be done almost anywhere in the world, since there are animals everywhere. The only problem is that supertelephoto lens. While lens...
read moreU.S. Senator Mike Lee reintroduces Drone Federalism Bill
Update: please don’t call your local senator. Amendment 256 has been shelved for the time being. We’re keeping this article up as representatives from DSPA predict that Senator Mike Lee will make another attempt to pass this bill in the near futre. On Thursday, February 4, United States Senator Mike Lee (R–Utah) added an Amendment to the previously-defeated Drone Federalism Bill. First proposed in 2017 by Lee, Senator Diane Feinstein (D–CA), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Senator Tom Cotton (R–AR), the bill would...
read moreAffinity Photo 1.9 released: Free update improves performance, adds astrophotography stacking, and more
Affinity has launched version 1.9 of its entire Affinity suite, including Affinity Photo. The free update adds many new features to Affinity Photo, including linked layers, astrophotography stacking, hardware acceleration on Windows and much more. Across the entire Affinity suite, including Affinity Photo, users should expect performance improvements. On Windows, the gains will be most obvious thanks to new GPU acceleration. While prior versions of Affinity Photo for iPad and macOS already included hardware acceleration, including Apple M1...
read moreKamLan to launch $300 32mm F1.1 manual lens for APS-C camera systems
The Sony a7S III is a 12MP full-frame camera primarily designed with video in mind. We take a look beyond the specs to see what it offers to filmmakers. The GFX 100S fits most of the capabilities of the GFX 100 into a smaller and more affordable body. We look at what the camera offers and who it might make sense for. Fujifilm’s X-E4 is the most compact X-mount camera Fujifilm has yet produced, but that doesn’t make it any less competitive. Take a look at how the X-E4 stacks up and what we make of it in our initial review....
read moreThe absolute beginner’s guide to film photography: Color print film
Published Feb 5, 2021 | Aaron Gold All photos by Dan Bracaglia Color print film (otherwise known as color negative film) was the most popular variety of film in the pre-digital photography era, primarily because it was cheap to develop and easy to show and share the resultant prints. Color print film is also known as ‘C-41’ for the name of the standardized process used to develop it. One of the best aspects of color print film is its generous exposure latitude, which means that it is very forgiving of incorrect exposure,...
read morePhotography-themed playing cards take a gamble on Kickstarter
A specialist design company based in Holland has launched a new set of playing cards decorated with camera-related icons that’s aimed to appeal to photography enthusiasts. The Dutch Card House Company, which creates artistically designed playing card packs, has already hit its funding target on Kickstarter and aims to begin shipping in May. The cards come in a box decorated to resemble a Canon L lens with ribbing and a red ring printed on a black background, while the cards themselves feature a host of common icons on the reverse, including...
read moreCanon produced its 150-millionth lens in January, marking an incredible milestone 34 years in the making
Canon’s current collection of EF and RF lenses for both still and cinema cameras. Click to enlarge. Canon has announced it reached the ‘significant milestone’ of producing its 150-millionth interchangeable (EF and RF) lens in January 2021. In its press release celebrating the achievement, Canon says the lucky number 150,000,000 was an RF 70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM telephoto zoom lens. It was back in 1987 when Canon produced the first EF lens for its EOS-series AF (Autofocus) single-lens reflex film camera system at the company’s...
read morePhotographer blends science and art by slicing up a Leica M6 rangefinder
Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner specializes in dissecting objects and photographing them in stunning detail. His work is meticulously and thoughtfully crafted. One of Oefner’s more famous series, ‘Disintegrating,’ features images of performance cars seemingly being blown apart. Fabian’s latest project, ‘Heisenberg Objekt No. III,’ features a sliced up Leica M6 rangefinder camera. Oefner’s primary material for his latest project is, of course, a Leica M6. A used M6 can be found for around $2,500. He...
read moreVideo: Orbit around the moon for 4 hours in this real-time video
Seán Doran uses still images from organizations like NASA and JAXA to create stunning videos. His latest work is ‘MOON in Real Time I,’ which is the first video seen below. Doran denoised, graded, repaired and retimed footage from the JAXA/NHK Kaguya Orbiter archive. The Kaguya spacecraft, officially known as SELENE, was first launched in September 2007 from the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC). The Kaguya mission’s primary objective is to collect data to help scientists better understand the moon’s origin and...
read moreSony a1 sample gallery
Published Feb 4, 2021 | dpreview staff Sony’s new flagship Alpha 1 camera offers 50MP of resolution (and 200MP in a high-res mode) as well as ultra-fast burst shooting and incredibly dependable autofocus. We’ve had our hands on the camera for just a few days, but have gotten out to get some samples from around the Puget Sound region. As we press on with our full review, expect more action images to evaluate autofocus, as well as expansive landscapes: we’re just getting started. Gear in this story Sony has announced the Alpha...
read moreSony FE 35mm F1.4 GM field review
Introduction The Sony FE 35mm F1.4 GM is a high-end, medium-wide prime lens for Sony’s E-mount cameras. While there have been high-end 35mm F1.4 primes in the lineup for some time – including Sony’s own Zeiss-branded Distagon 35mm F1.4 – this new lens looks to be an impressive performer despite its relatively small size (and it’s less expensive than the Zeiss, to boot). Most* of the DPReview staff is in agreement that 35mm lenses make for excellent general-purpose primes, lending themselves well to all kinds of...
read moreNikon to cease operations at two of its interchangeable lens production factories in March
A promotional image from Nikon showing off just some of its expansive lens lineup. According to a report (translated, partially walled behind a free account) from Nikkei Shimbun, Nikon is set cease operations at two of its Japanese interchangeable lens manufacturing factories next month, leaving just a single factory to produce lenses domestically. As part of its ongoing effort to reduce operational costs to mitigate a declining market, Nikon will stop production at its Nagai Plant in Yamagata Prefecture and its Aizu Plant in Fukushima...
read moreON1 announces Professional Plugin support for Capture One
ON1 has announced that its ON1 Professional Plugin Bundle is now available for Capture One photo editing software. The new Capture One support joins existing plugin support for Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Corel, and Apple Photos. The ON1 Professional Plugin Bundle includes ON1 Effects 2021, Portrait AI 2021, Resize 2021 and HDR 2021. The four plugins offer photographers numerous editing tools, including one-click presets in Effects, automatic AI-powered portrait retouching with Portrait AI 2021 and much more. A sample of...
read moreCouple who faked Everest summit pictures hit with 10-year ban after not doing it well enough
A couple who used edited images to ‘prove’ they had reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain has received a ten-year ban from climbing any Nepalese mountain after being undone by some pretty basic errors. The first clue, according to The New York Times, was that the flag in the picture was hanging limp in a place known for its wind ripping flags to shreds. Other clues included an oxygen mask not connected to the tank and a lack of snow and mountains in the reflections of their glasses. Narender Singh Yadav and Seema...
read moreHow to Reduce Noise Using Smart Objects
A noiseless picture is something that photographers have sought after for ages. A decade ago, it was the limitations with ISO performance of sensors that made high ISO noise a formidable foe. Even with the latest mirrorless cameras where photographers today are able to push the limits of low-light performance, noise reduction via post-processing software still stays as an integral part of the workflow. Photoshop always had multiple built-in options for noise reduction, and there are also plenty of third-party noise-reduction plugins available...
read moreSony a7S III review
Previous 1 Introduction 2 Next Sony’s alpha 7S Mark III is the third iteration in the most video-focused of the company’s a7 series of full frame cameras. It’s essentially a native 4K camera with impressive video specs and a revised user interface. It can capture UHD 4K footage at up to 120p in 10-bit 4:2:2 encoding and promises 16-bit Raw video output. 12MP BSI CMOS sensor Bionz XR processor On-sensor phase detection ISO 80-102,400 (expandable to 40-409,600) 9.44M-dot EVF with 0.91x magnification 4K video at up to 120p, 60p...
read moreLomography launches Kickstarter for a new 17mm F2.8 lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras
[embedded content] Lomography has opened up the crowdfunding campaign for its next lens, the Atoll Ultra-Wide 17mm F2.8 Art Lens for full-frame mirrorless camera systems. The fully-manual lens is constructed of sandblasted, anodized aluminum and its optical design is comprised of 13 elements in 10 groups and offers a . If offers a 103-degree field of view on full-frame cameras, has an aperture range of F2.8 through F22, and uses an eight-blade aperture diaphragm. The lens is Leica M-mount native, but also works with Canon RF, Nikon Z and Sony...
read moreYongnuo announces updated YN685 II speedlight for Canon and Nikon camera systems
Yongnuo has announced a new version of its popular YN685 Speedlite for Canon and Nikon cameras. The Yongnuo YN685 II is a refreshed version of the YN685, which released in 2015. The YN685 II incorporates many of the same features of the YN685 while making a handful of minor changes and improvements. The exterior design of the YN685 II is essentially identical, save for the addition of a USB port. Users can update the YN 685 II’s firmware using the new USB port. On the original YN685, you had to use a YN622 trigger to send a firmware...
read moreSamsung exec says its future smartphone cameras will stylize images to each user’s preferences
It’s usually impossible to keep all the people happy all the time, but that’s exactly what Samsung is aiming to do with future cameras that will learn what we like and dislike. In a recent interview, the head of the company’s smartphone camera research and development (R&D) division said that, through understanding which filters uses go to most often and which pictures they delete and which they save, its future cameras could one day personalize themselves to suit individual users. VP and Head of Visual SW R&D at Samsung...
read moreDPReview TV: Could the Sony a1’s fast sensor bring us better picture quality as well as speed?
Published Feb 2, 2021 | dpreview staff [embedded content] The Sony Alpha 1’s sensor is so fast that it got Jordan thinking… Could the new a1 use computational photography like a smartphone to create even better photos? We explore this idea, and what it might mean for future cameras. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week. Gear in this story We spoke to Sony straight after the announcement of the a1, to get a bit more fine detail about the camera’s specs and capabilities. And it’s...
read moreReally Nice Images releases All Films 5 for Capture One, offering real film ICC profiles
Really Nice Images (RNI) has announced that its All Films 5 ICC profiles are now available for Capture One. All Films 5’s ICC profiles are all created by digitizing real film stocks ‘using the most advanced color science and best equipment.’ In total, All Films 5 – Pro includes more than 180 film styles. It includes films from the following film categories: negative, slide, instant, vintage, black and white, and infrared films. For the full list of films, click here. Clockwise from the top left corner: original digital...
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Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.