Tag Archives: digital

Slowing it Down for Better Photographs

By slowing yourself down, you can learn to see things differently and get better results.
By slowing yourself down, you can learn to see things differently and get better results.

Photography is more accessible than it is ever been. Advances in technology have given us wonderful equipment at fairly inexpensive prices. One of the greatest assets of digital photography is that it allows us to shoot high-volumes of images at relatively low cost. The ease of clicking the shutter on a digital camera means that quite often will end up with hundreds if not thousands of images. But how many of those images are really good? If you find yourself shooting quantity over quality then maybe it’s time to slow things down and take a slightly different approach to your photography. It’s so easy to shoot with digital that sometimes it can be hard to control yourself! Here are some simple techniques that can help you slow yourself down and potentially achieve better results. Continue reading Slowing it Down for Better Photographs

Quick thoughts: TC-20E III

I received a Nikon TC-20E III teleconverter a few days ago.  I’ve not really been an advocate of 2x teleconverters, but this new design from Nikon contains aspherical elements (Nikon claims it is the first teleconverter with such a design) intended to drastically improve performance.

A 2x teleconverter is only intended for use on fast telephoto lenses.  In fact, Nikon’s design prevents mounting any of their teleconverters on non-AFS lenses.  Because the teleconverter robs you of light (in the case of the TC-20E III, two full stops), autofocus performance may degrade and viewfinder brightness will diminish.  Given that, I only have a couple of lenses in my arsenal that would be a good match for the TC-20E III:
  • 70-200mm f/2.8 AFS VRII (becomes a 140-400mm f/5.6 lens)
  • 200mm f/2.0 AFS VR (becomes a 400mm f/4.0 lens)
I also have a few lenses that might work ok, depending on my need for fast autofocus:
  • 300mm f/4.0 AFS (becomes 600mm f/8.0 lens)
  • 200-400mm f/4.0 AFS VR (becomes a 400-800mm f/8.0 lens)
  • 600mm f/4.0 AFS VR (becomes a 1200mm f/8.0 lens)
So far, I’ve briefly evaluated sharpness and AF ability with each of these lenses in a non-scientific manner.
Continue reading for my first impressions…

Continue reading Quick thoughts: TC-20E III