Zack Arias in Atlanta

Added on June 27, 2013 by John Sturr.

BW Facade

Added on June 26, 2013 by John Sturr.

Nikon 1 - V1, 10-30mm, NuSkin Provo Utah

Provo Utah, NuSkin Center Street entrance.

Directing Construction

Added on June 25, 2013 by John Sturr.

From across the street - I observe a worker who takes eye of the events before him.

The forms are bold, sharp and square. I love this.

SLC Federal Courthouse

Added on June 22, 2013 by John Sturr.

I don't know what Nikon is doing with these V1 lenses - but they are beyond anything I've experienced in sharpness. Everything is sharp - everywhere. I'm really impressed, and I'm really tempted to get the 30-110mm to round out the set.

These are developed in LR 5 - and I wanted to experiment with the new lens corrections - and they are quite the time saver and usually spot on.

This was yesterday Morning using the 10-30mm - and I'm crazy impressed. And granted - I shouldn't really be that surprised - but I am as I was using this piece for more than just point and shoot situations.

Nikon 1 - V1, 10-30mm Federal Courthouse, SLC

Glass Dancers

Added on June 21, 2013 by John Sturr.

Last nights Utah Arts Festival - and as we approached was this scene of dancers on the South side of the SLC Library glass.

Shot with the 18.5mm. The 10-30mm was in the bag but I decided to give this lens a real workout.

The focus response was stellar - and as close as I can get to a full D3s focusing system.

The only complaint I have is the focus point - I'm finding that in some cases the focus point is not as "Pin Point" as I would want or expect. And that surprises the result at times. Meaning - I miss focus.

ViewNX from NEF to JPG - no crop.

'52 Ford

Added on June 18, 2013 by John Sturr.

This is one of my best of late. And it's a bit strange / funny how I pass by this area every day - but this time I was heading in the opposite direction.

The simplicity of the scene with the 4pm Sun really set it off for me. Note the richness of the blues in the sky - with no post adjustments. Today's lenses are so contrastly and rich - rarely do I even think to use a polarizer.

Dalai Lama in the Window

Added on June 16, 2013 by John Sturr.

One of my favorites of Friday night walking home from the train.

It was an intersection of the sun peaking over the roof ridge, the homage to Dalai Lama, and just happening to have a camera.

I walked by - stopped in my tracks - and did a double take.

Nikon 1 V1, 10-30mm

The V1

Added on June 15, 2013 by John Sturr.

After a few weeks - the "1" is becoming a very good above the fold, performance piece of equipment. It is small, cheap, and the color rendering is all Nikon. It impresses while at the same time being in the shadows.

The two plusses are nailing focus - and color rendering. The biggest minus is resolution on the sensor. This is like a mini D3s - sans $3200. Monochrome, as with the P330 is epic !

I just acquired the 18.5mm f1.8 - and I was going to wait on this -- but every thing I read played this up really well -- and for good reason. This thing is crazy sharp -- crazy !

Sun and Grass

Added on June 11, 2013 by John Sturr.

A different perspective of an everyday scene.

Success in Photography From Gulf Photo Plus 2013

Added on June 5, 2013 by John Sturr.

Drive

Added on June 1, 2013 by John Sturr.

Nikon V1 Settings

Added on May 31, 2013 by John Sturr.

Here are some of my settings and considerations.

I'm always thinking about the focusing settings - Single Point (most of the time) and focus lock with the button half press - so I can focus and recompose. But I realized from a photo walk on the street last night that I should be experimenting with AF Area. As evident with the bicycle going by - I really missed that shot in focus. And then I need to consider AF-S, or AF-C.

Rendering - I'm at Portrait in camera most of the time - and since I'm shooting NEF I can adjust in post. I'm finding that Portrait is offering the best balance of colors, contrast and sharpening right out of the camera. I'm importing and converting in CaptureNX - even though I have LR4. And i love LR4 - but the rendering coming out of CNX is wonderful.

Oh -- and here's the most significant, I feel; I'm in Electronic Shutter, continuous, at 10fps. A can fire off one frame at a time if needed - or I can pound the shutter and get a burst if needed. And since it is silent - it is a bit of a game changer.

I'm also trying to shoot at 18mm on the 10-30mm to replicate the 18.5 as much as possible -- as that is on the list.

Nikon 1 V1 - Photo Walk

Added on May 30, 2013 by John Sturr.

I cut my teeth on a used D2h -- then graduated to the D3s which was quite a stepping stone, in just about everything.

Then I bought into the Nex-7 - i got the first push back in Feb 2012 and i thought things were fairly complete. I would backfill my architectural work with the Nex when I needed a crop with some of my tilt shifts. Yet the Nex was love hate -- in great bright 2pm daylight the color rendering was great - everything else - I had to really dig deep on the post processing to bring out some mojo. I didn't really think much of it - but I knew it was falling short - so I lived with it.

Then I bought a P330 - and rediscovered my love for the NEF. I mean -- the rendering is about perfect coming out of the camera -- crazy perfect. Then -- for that rendering reason I gave the V1 series another look -- and I was hooked to get my hands on one. Second to the rendering is the focusing - I wanted crazy fast focusing.

Hell -- I could probably live with the Nex's rendering if the focusing was as fast as the 1. So I'm into the V1 now -- with the 10-30mm kit, and for what that lens is, it's not bad - and sometimes surprising - but it is slow. The 18 1.8 is on the list -- but I may save that for the 6.7-XX zoom.. we'll see. Here are some shots from tonight - I'm still learning it, of course.

V1 Street

Added on May 28, 2013 by John Sturr.

I took the train home today - an unusual event as I usually get a ride home or I'm on the bicycle.

Street shooting in Salt Lake is a bit of a challenge - population density is, well, not dense, and the city isn't that urban… ok - so it's hit or miss for street work.

The only way to get good - is to shoot - no matter what the genre, portrait, sports, street -- etc.

I knew I didn't want single point - so I switched to Area AF - and then I wanted constant focusing -- so I set that AFS -- but now as I check out that setting -- I should have set it to AFC. I've already learned something. Cool.

So - focusing on this thing is amazing -- it blows the Nex out of the water… this shot was at chest level, shot to my right 10-30mm as I was facing front. I didn't want to attract attention and loose the scene. I knew what I wanted to capture - but didn't know what I got - until after the shot.

Developed in Capture NX2 - Portrait with minimal contrast. I'm finding that Portrait is more than Neutral but less than standard.

Today's Favorite

Added on May 24, 2013 by John Sturr.

The favorite of the day - I'm blessed to have some great situations to capture here at the office.

The challenge is doing it in a why, which is un-obtrusive, discreet and isn't time consuming or distracting from my regular responsibilities.

AF is Manual Mode, in Monochrome, Nikon P330

Nikon 1 V1

Added on May 22, 2013 by John Sturr.

At first notice - the camera is a chunk -- and with the Fotodiox grip it becomes more of a chunk. The grip provides some body protection - I like that, and I like the grip.

I wish I had a hood for the 10-30 - it needs a hood, or a filter…. and I would rather have a hood. All I have is the 10-30. This is a kit from Cameta - Factory Refurb. It looks like a straight return with a white box and a zeroed out shutter. There is also a press tape label on the battery charger - so it may have been a review unit.

AF was good - I was expecting a lot though - coming from all of the reviews - something short of a miracle AF machine - once I backed off my expectation and started shooting it like my D3s - I came back earth. I had some miss focused shots, as most were shot either waist high or something other than thru the viewfinder. I'm still shooting like this it is an NEX-7 with the flip out screen. I need to use the viewfinder more. The auto AF is something to get used too -- sometimes it does what I want -- and sometimes not. Can I be specific no -- it just doesn't grab the pure subject in the scene.

The grain is wonderful - the colors are wonderful -- I basically don't have to do any post -- with the 7 I had to work my magic about 90% of the time - Always. I'm also excited to shoot this as Monochrome. This result is what brought me back to the way of Nikon - everything is just as it should be -- and not in between.

These are processed in LR - as it is convenient. If i'm going to print I'll bring them into LR and then process to TIFF in ViewNX. I really like that extra push from the OEM side of the house.

So -- all in all - I'm pretty happy -- I still have to figure out the best AF, as I'm not really satisfied with the camera driving the system - but when I hit the shutter - it fires - and that's damn cool.

Oh -- I can see myself getting the 18.5 f1.8 - for sure. I'm really fatigued of the variable aperture lenses - and on that note - I really need to get used the "Rocker" -- as the aperture doesn't much stay pegged at wide open -- it stays somewhere in between

Big Camera or Small

Added on May 18, 2013 by John Sturr.

Big camera or very, very small camera.

3 years ago this wouldn't even been a consideration - the advance of imaging, color rendering, and sensor sizes is moving so quickly I can't even give a decent answer when asked, "Hey, what camera should I buy" -- I literally have 3 models I'm keeping up on at any given time. The competition, an performance value is that close. Sometimes I find myself wanting to upgrade to a different model after only 6 months using the what is in hand.

Speaking of brands and models -- I have no loyalty - only economic loyalty and that stems from lenses on the big stuff.

I'm invested in Nikon with the D3s - and you know what - I chose wisely - as I love the color and contrast the Nikon system produces. I wouldn't have it any other way. And -- the only competition at that level is Nikon itself and Canon.

Everything else is the flavor of the day / week / month. And I guess I should clarify -- that "everything else" is anything but a hulking pro body.

Here's what I'm getting at - I was in Paris last week - and I took the Nikon P330 point and shoot. I've tried to anticipate the "what" of the trip - and it worked out well - that 90% of the time the P330 was better than expected - and the other 10% of carrying the NEX, it became evident the NEX was becoming long in the tooth.

The P330 is small and crazy convenient to pocket. I could whip it out - select either "Green" for a quick shot - or I could go "A" and give the dial a spin for the aperture, get a focus point and go - or go User setting where I have it set up as Monochrome. As a B/W shooter i love it - totally love it. Blacks are really rich - everything pops - and I have the contrast + from normal. And the most important part of all of this -- and I keep combing back to this one point - between the P330 and NEX; The P330 is wicked sharp. And i can get sharp just about all the time. The NEX - well - that's been a struggle for me. And now that I have something to compare it too - my frustrations are even more real.

The NEX has become love/hate -- when it all comes together the system can be a bit magical - but when sharpness / ISO / or focus don't become a Trinity - then the images are DTM. Dynamic range seems to be endless - I can pull detail for what seems forever. Shutter speeds need to be twice focal length - although Aperture Priority pegs the min. at 1/60 so that's a mode which is impossible to maintain. Focus "pogos" once in a while, ok, most of the time - single point is difficult to lock. And -- the images just don't have a good "look" without much manipulation. If focus isn't tack sharp - then the images is DTM.

I'm going to move on - selling the NEX and I just ordered the Nikon 1 V1. If focusing performance is what everyone says it is, I'll be really happy - and Nikon's color rendering will be a nice change from the Sony - with the lack of resolution of course. I will miss that.

Pointe Du Hoc

Added on May 9, 2013 by John Sturr.

The Pointe was awe inspiring. I have no words. As was Omaha Beach. RLTW, Sua Sponte.

Paris Street

Added on May 7, 2013 by John Sturr.

Great imagery here in Paris - everything is historical, and most architecture is really well done.

Mona Lisa

Added on May 6, 2013 by John Sturr.

The Louvre was packed - many, many people. The most moving we're the classical artists.

Notre Dame was a surprise - celebrating the 850 year Anniversary. We paid for the Sacristy self tour and it was a special access and a look to an area of private access.