Turtle, Rosser Park

Some photographers prefer zoom lenses and others, myself included prefer to use prime lenses. There are advantages both ways and the path you select will depend on the type of photography you do.

The above image has been captured with a prime, 300mm, f/4, fixed focal length lens. When photographing a very slowly moving subject such as a turtle there is plenty of time to change to a suitable prime , fixed focal length lens.

Zoom Lenses

• Zoom lenses do offer great flexibility if you are shooting quickly and do not wish to change your position for framing the image, such as at a wedding or at at sporting events where there is fast action or even at parades.
• Bear in mind that many zoom lenses do not perfom with the same quality over their full focal length range. Do not get me wrong they still perform quite well but not with the same quality over the full range. Zoom lenses are generally a compromise over their focal length range. Some zooms give better quality at the short end some at mid range and others at the long end.
• Zoom lenses generally have more elements in the lens and I guess the more elements make it more difficult to manufacture with the same quality.
• Most zoom lenses are available with apertures in the range f/2.8 to f/5.6 and this can be an important consideration in the choices between zooms and primes. An f/5.6  lens may not be all that usefull where you are dealing with low light levels.

Prime Lenses

• The prime lenses are designed specifically for their particular focal length and generally perform exceptionally well.
• Prime lenses are generally available with apertures ranging from f/1.2 to f/2.8 or sometimes f 4.0. This type of lens is far more suitable for use in low light applications, particularly once you get down to apertures of f/1.2 and f/1.4.
• The prime lenses with low apertures also offer additional benefits with selective focus. A low aperture lens setting will give a far narrower depth of field and will enable you to focus selectively on the main subject, to give more creative effects to your images, such as throwing the background out of focus. It can be very difficult to get these creative effects with f/5.6 aperture lenses particularly with wide angle lenses.
• There are many specialist Macro (Micro) prime lenses available which perform exceptionally well in their special field.
• Other specialist lenses such as tilt and shift lenses are available in primes for correction of perspective in architectural and product photography.

Pelican

One of the faster focussing Nikon cameras will be required for this type of photography, as fast acquisition of focus is essential due to the fast movement of the bird. Some of the ideal cameras in order of preference are the Nikon D3, D700, D300s and the D7000. The image above has been captured with the Nikon D700 camera.

It is a great challenge attempting to freeze the action of a moving bird, but I love the challenge in getting sharp images.

Summarising some of the following will assist in getting better images;

• Fast focussing lens,
• Lens focal length in the range 300-400mm,
• I prefer a light weight lens for this type of photography, I use a 300mm f/4 and I feel that a 300mm f/2.8 lens would be much heavier and consequently more difficult to manage,
• Vibration Reduction (VR) can be very useful to reduce the effect of camera movement, but VR does not assist in stopping the subject movement,
• Low aperture lenses are very useful to aid in using higher shutter speeds,
• High shutter speed is required to freeze any camera and shutter movement,
• High ISO settings are very useful, to enable higher shutter speeds, Due to the high ISO needed sometimes it may be useful to have some noise reduction software to help reduce any noise in the image,
• I find that the image in the viewfinder of an FX camera is brighter and easier to follow the subject compared to an DX camera,
• The DX cameras do have some advantage, as there is a 1.5 times multiplication factor in the effective focal length,
• A monopod is very useful for birds in flight as it makes the outfit very manoverable and fast to achieve focus, it is very easy to spin around to follow the bird as it moves around,
• A tripod is not so useful due to lack of manoverablity,
• Above all some fast reflexes are required to track the subject.

Some reviews of  suitable cameras are covered in the following links, Nikon Camera Reviews and Nikon Lens Reviews.

 Nikon Super Telephoto Lenses

Rainbow Bee Eater

Does it really matter what digital camera you use? Will a particular camera improve your photography?

Photography is mainly all about technique and knowing the principles of photography, we do have many articles on the site to help you improve your techniques. Is a Canon camera better than a Nikon camera?

To some extent the camera does not matter, it is more that some of the features of the camera do matter, let me give a few examples.

1. The point and shoot cameras have very small sensors and consequently they have smaller pixels. The smaller the pixels the less sensitive they are to light thus cameras with larger pixels are better in low light situations. Some of the latest Digital SLR cameras can even shoot by moonlight, I love shooting in low light so I could never use a such a small sensor camera, but if you do not need the low light capability a point and shoot camera may be for you.
2. Also the smaller the pixels the more the camera is susceptible to the effects of diffraction. As you stop down the aperture on a lens, any light passing through the lens will diffract, reducing the sharpness as the depth of field is increased. The reason for this is that the edges of the diaphragm blades disperse the light passing through the lens. At larger aperture settings, this diffracted light is only a small percentage of the total amount of light hitting the digital sensor, as the aperture is stopped down the amount of diffracted light becomes a larger percentage of the total amount of light being recorded. The diffraction effect is to reduce the sharpness of the image at smaller apertures.
3. Small sensor cameras in general will give a much larger depth of field, larger sensor cameras such as full frame 35mm cameras and medium format cameras however, will allow a much narrower depth of field and thus allow for very fine selective focus to isolate your subject.
4. Some cameras have faster and better focussing systems and this can be a very important consideration if you wish to capture fast moving subjects, such as animals or birds.
5. If you need large high quality prints, 16 x 20 inches or greater, then a larger sensor camera will be required such as medium format, full frame 35mm or APS-C sized sensors. Point and shoot type cameras will not generally be suitable for larger prints.
6. When choosing the camera you plan to use, do not forget the lens, as it forms an integral part of your system. Do you need to use interchangeable lenses to give additional flexibility. Lenses with a low aperture capability will allow you to use selective focus techniques, to enable you to control the depth of field more effectively. Some camera manufacturers have a much greater range of lenses than others, so take this consideration into account in choosing your camera system.
7. Do you need a zoom lens to give additional focal length flexibility or do you need prime fixed focal length lenses with larger apertures to give better low light flexibility.
8. Also when choosing a camera system pay close attention to the range of accessories available, as  accessories such as electronic flash speedlights, remote control systems and GPS accessories.

In looking at all the above points you can see that I place a lot of emphasis on the complete camera system and you need to consider the full range of photographic activities you wish to pursue with your photographic interests.

See our camera review sections for detailed reviews of the various cameras we recommend.

Australian White Ibis

There are great array of lenses available for photographing water birds. Whether you are using a Canon or a Nikon there is a great range of lenses available to choose from. Sometimes water birds can be photographed from quite up close. The image above of the white ibis taking a bath has been captured with a Nikon 105mm Micro lens. I find this focal length very versatile has it can focus from infinity to a reproduction ratio of 1:1. There are also other Micro or Macro lenses available for this type of photography. Nikon have a 200mm Micro lens and Canon have an excellent 180mm Macro lens. See our lens review sections for more details of these and other lenses.

Nikon Lens Reviews.

Grey Teal Taking a Dive

On most occasions a longer lens such as a 300mm or longer may be required to catch excellent water birds. The above image of the Grey Teal taking a dive has been taken using a 300mm f/4 lens.

When using longer lenses such as over 200mm, care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no camera movement and quite often I will use a monopod or tripod to help stabilise the lens and camera, a monopod helps you to  be more mobile than with a tripod.

In photographing water birds it helps add more interest to the image if the birds are doing something interesting and natural. In the first image above the ibis is having a bath and showering water everywhere. With the second image the teal is ducking its head under the water probably to catch something to eat.

With water birds, I prefer a lens with a minimum aperture of f/4, there are cheaper lenses with higher apertures of around f/5.6 for instance, but they are not as satisfactory for use in low light. Also lenses with vibration reduction or image stabilisation help to reduce any camera or lens movement at lower shutter speeds. It should be noted hawever that VR or IS will not help in reducing blur due to subject movement.

In photographing water birds it helps greatly if you try to limit any sudden movements and try to approach the birds very slowly to avoid frightening them.

You will generally find that there are many areas where water birds frequent, such as permanent ponds and streams etc. It can be very rewarding photographing water birds and also keep in mind that it may be handy to carry a wider angle lens to enable you to capture any nice water scenes you may come across.

Fungi, Coombabah Wetlands

When selecting a Nikon flash unit there are quite a few options to choose from, depending on your area of photographic interest. In the following article I will summarise some of the options available. Some of the units have inbuilt diffusers and optional clip on diffuser units. There are also optional third party flash accessories.

Macro Photography

With macro photography the best solution is the Nikon Close up Speedlight Electronic Flash Kit. This kit will almost do everything the macro photographer  desires, it comprises two SB-R200 speedlight flash units together with the associated SU-800 commander unit. The two SB-R220 units can be mounted using the ring accessory at the end of a macro lens. If required even more that two SB-R200 remote units can be used if desired.

General Photography

For macro photography you may not want a dedicated macro flash setup. If you purchase a combination of Nikon Speedlight SB-700, SB-600 or SB-400 Electronic Flash, these can be used in combination as a master flash and also with one or more slave unit to form the basis of Nikons creative lighting system. These units will be suitable for macro use or for an excellent portrait lighting setup.

Wedding Photography

For wedding photography a system similar to the above Speedlight SB-700, SB-600 or SB-400 systems together with the addition of a SB-900 will be excellent. The SB-900 is an excellent high powered flash for use in large halls, churches or very large rooms and offers the full Nikon creative lighting functionality.

Off Camera Flash

A great way to improve your flash photography is to use off camera flash. This is easy to accomplish when using the dedicated Nikon  SC-29 TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord, this cord also provides an  with AF Assist illumination and has a Coiled 3-9 foot extension cable. There are also optional Pocket Wizard flash interfaces to interface with the camera to remotely fire flash units.

Further details of all the current Nikon flash units are given in the Flash Review section.

Grasshopper on Hibiscus

A prime lens is a fixed focal length lens, why do photographers use these prime lenses and what are their advantages over zoom lenses?

There are quite a few reasons why photographers use prime lenses and I will summarise some of the reasons below.

Size and Weight

Prime lenses are generally quite a bit smaller and lighter than the equivalent focal length lenses in the zoom range. Many of the f/2.8 zoom lenses are much larger than the equivalent prime lens with the same focal length.

Aperture

One of the most important considerations for many photographers is the minimum aperture of the lens.  The aperture of the lens determines the low light capability of the lens.

The minimum aperture also determines the effectiveness of the lens in providing satisfactory selective focus. Many images are improved by using selective focus to help create more impact with images. A low aperture will provide a very narrow depth of field and some of the lenses in the Nikon range which are great for this are as follows;

• 24mm f/1.4,
• 35mm f/1.4,
• 50mm f/1.4,
• 50mm f/1.8,
• 85mm f/1.4,
• 85mm f/1.8,
• 105mm f/2.0,
• 105mm f/2.8 Micro,
• 135mm f/2.0,
• 180mm f/2.8,
• 200mm f/2.0,
• 400mm f/2.8.

All of the lenses above ranging  from wide angle to super telephoto, will provide an excellent narrow depth of field.

Bokeh

The bokeh is the out of focus characteristic of the lens. Many of the prime lenses listed above offer excellent Bokeh characteristics to further improve their excellent image quality.

Image Quality

Prime lenses are designed for the specific focal length and hence are generallY of better quality than the zoom lens of the same focal length. Many characteristics of a lens determine the quality and somme are summarised as follows;

• Resolution,
• Centre sharpness,
• Edge and corner sharpness,
• Colour aberations,
• Vignetting.

Special Applications

Prime lenses are designed for special applications, such as close up applications, there are quite a few Nikon Micro prime lenses which offer exceptional performance for macro photography. There are also many prime telephoto lenses designed for special use such as the f/2.8 telephoto lenses for sporting applications. There are also several f/4 super telephoto lenses aimed at nature, animal and bird photography.

Convenience

All the points above do give an advantage to the prime lenses. However there are disadvantages and that is convenience. For many applications the zoom lens is far more convenient due to the fact that in many cases you can keep shooting without the inconvenience of changing lenses.

There is a detailed review of all the current complete range of Nikon lenses in our Nikon lens Review Section.