Of course you can zoom your lenses, but did you know you can zoom your speedlight flash? Depending on the model that you have, your flash head can be moved internally. On the Nikon SB-910, the flash head can be zoomed from 24mm to 200mm – a much larger range than their previous model, the SB-800 which had a range of 24mm to 105mm.
Speedlight Features
If you have this flash connected to modern Nikon cameras, the flash and the camera will talk to each other. They will automatically set the zoom of the flash to match the focal length of the lens that you are using by default. This is a great feature! As you use a longer focal length, the flash head will automatically zoom so that more flash power is given where you need it. Here are some example photos showing the difference in the light produced by the flash at different zoom lengths:
This first photo has the flash zoomed out to 24mm. It is giving it’s largest spread of light against the wall. If you need to cover more area with the flash, this is will cover a wider area. This also corresponds to a wider area seen by a camera lens set at 24mm.
At 70mm, the light beam becomes more focused. There is not as much spread of light up and down from the flash. The more you zoom in with your lens, the less that you need the light to be spread out across the frame, so this only flashes what you need without worrying about the areas that are not going to be seen in camera.
The tight beam of light that comes from the flash at 200mm is the most extreme setting. If you are zoom out this far with your lens, there will be a corresponding small area that you need to iluminate that far from the camera. Having these options for you gives you creative possibilities to focus light. You can manually set the zoom on the flash apart from the focal length of the lens. This works well to create more dramatic portraits just by zooming the light you are already carrying! Try it next time and let me know how it goes.
This upcoming Wednesday, I am planning an upgrade to the proofing website. The current site is working just fine, but there is a new version of the software available. There are some features that some of you have requested including a simple slideshow for viewing your photos. There is also a version that is specifically made for iPad users! Smartphone and iPads are used to view the websites more and more, so I am looking to make sure you get the full experience going forward.
On Wednesday, I will close the proofing website for testing. The self tests on the website should not take long, so there should be a seamless transition to the new software. I will post here on the blog when it is completed. Please try it out and let me know how you like the new features. If there are any issues, I will work to get them fixed before the next new event. Of course, I would be happy to help if there is something you cannot find n there. Thank you!
For my professional photography career, I have been digital all the way. I am not nostalgic about the hey day of using film when capturing images. In the few times that I have used film, there is not much different in the way that the camera works. With later Nikon SLRs, the mechanics and ergonomics are almost exactly the same without the screen on the back for viewing images, of course. And then there is the ISO button.
One setting that is different on digital SLRs compared to film is the ISO button. This setting relates to the light sensitivity setting of the sensor and what I think what allowed digital photography to surpass film in quality and usability. Here is the reason why. ISO refers to the International Organization of Standards that creates the universal criteria for a variety of measures.
ISO Rating
The lower the ISO number on your camera, the LESS sensitive your sensor is to light (ie 100 or 200) . The higher the ISO number, the MORE light sensitive your sensor is to the light hitting the back of the camera (ie 1600, 3200 and higher). Back in the film days, you used to have to choose your film speed when you were at the store. This corresponds to the ISO setting in digital cameras. They would sell photos for bright daylight which would be ISO 100 or ISO 200, or you would choose an all-around film which would be rated at ISO 400, or you could get action film which usually would be black and white and be rated for 1600 or 3200.
Why would you choose one over the other? In photography there are always trade-offs. In film, it is grain, in digital capture, it is digital noise. As your sensitivity goes up, so does the amount of grain or noise in your image. The lower ISO values give you the cleanest image without little dots of noise that do not accurately have represent the scene. Higher ISO values may introduce noise or grain artifacts, but it is possible for you to capture a sharp image with faster shutter speeds. Sometimes getting ANY image no matter how grainy is better than getting a completely blurry image without any grain. This was important for photo journalists that needed to get sports shots, or images in bad light without added lighting, and still be sharp enough for printing in the newspaper. Here is an example of a photo taken with Kodak T-Max that is ISO 3200:
Yes, there is lots of grain in the image! But considering there was no added flash, and using only the ambient light from lamps in the room, you do get a sharp image, and you can make out the subject. Here is a 100% crop from this frame really showing the grain from the film:
With digital photography changing at a rapid pace, the ability to shoot at higher ISO has become the next technological marking stick. Manufacturers have been making cameras that can shoot at higher and higher sensitivities. The magic in new hardware and software allows for this increased sensitivity without adding much noise to the image. Here is an example from a DSLR at ISO 8000 – almost 2 stops more sensitive than the film images above!
The noise/grain is really minimized. From these developments, it really does not make as much sense to shoot film especially for sports or event photographers. This really changes what kinds of situations I can shoot, and what equipment I need to make good images. All digital cameras have an ISO setting, even the iPhone. You may not be able to control it, but you can go into the data for each of your images and see what was the sensitivity for each.
Camera Settings
At the beach on a bright sunny day, the ISO will be 50 or 100, and the computer in the camera will push the ISO up as it gets dark. With this changing automatically in point and shoot or smartphone cameras, you no longer have to worry about sensor sensitivity, but know that as it gets better, so will the quality of your indoor or lower light photos. Rest assured, the sensors in DSLRS are much larger making them much better, but it shows how much people want better low light photos for what they want to photograph.
