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head-cropI stood across the street from this cafe in Lyon and started to figure out how much exposure compensation I would need to make the shot work. I dialed in one stop negative exposure compensation knowing that it would probably need more, but it would give me a starting point when I looked at the LCD. It blew the scene and I dialed in another two thirds of a stop and that held the white of the shirt, while the rest of the scene looked OK. The owner of the cafe and a delivery man looked back across at me, (they are just out of the frame to the left) and seemed to be wondering what I was trying to photograph. They looked up at the front of the cafe and across the tables while I fiddled with my camera.

My new sunglasses are polarized. The rear LCD on the camera is polarized and the two act together of course to darken down the view in the LCD so that it is almost unreadable. That’s something else to think about – where to put your glasses when a strongly lit scene like this comes along.

The point of this though is that the man’s face in the crop represents a very small proportion of the total frame but it shows lots of detail. The conclusion is that this 35mm lens is sharp. It is also a pleasure to use.
 
Nikon D60, 1/2000 second, f4.5, -1.7 exposure compensation, ISO 100
 
french-cafe

 

 

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I have written a twenty-two page guide to things you will find helpful when choosing a digital camera.

There’s no catch – I wanted to put down on ‘paper’ what I have learned and spread it around. My idea was to be clear and speak in plain english.

Chapter Headings
michelle1. The physical size and weight of the camera
2. Seeing what you are shooting
3. Image Quality
4. Sensitivity
5. How images are processed – Jpeg and RAW
6. Why you would want RAW files
7. The Quality of Light – White Balance
8. Printing the image
9. About lenses and how to isolate the subject
10. What’s new?

Download: “Ten Things To Know When Buying A Digital Camera”.

About bit.ly
I use bit.ly, a service which shortens links and tells me how many times the e-book has been downloaded. It will be interesting to see how things go over the coming months.

 
 

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Nikon D200 and 60mm Macro AF-S lens

April 30, 2009 Nikon

I make no apologies for posting with a few words and a photograph. I have been using the D60 so much that I forgot what a pleasure it is to use the D200. It is heavier, which is why I have not been carrying it around.
 

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Test of Nikon 35mm f1.8 AF-S lens on D200 and D60

April 23, 2009 Nikon

It’s a question I keep coming back to. What is the difference, if any, in image quality between the Nikon D200 and the Nikon D60?
Now that I have the 35mm AF-S lens, the question has become more relevant. The D60 with the tiny 35mm lens is such a good carry anywhere combination that I really [...]

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Nikon 35mm f1.8 AF-S sample photo

April 14, 2009 Nikon

I have been using this lens for several weeks now and I am extremely with it. It is small, light, and sharp. It is AF-S and I am using it on my Nikon D60. The D60 has no drive motor in the body, so it needs an AF-S to enable autofocus.
I could have made a [...]

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Nikon 35mm f1.8 AF-S Review – First Impressions

March 16, 2009 Nikon

I’m in love. Shot wide open, this lens renders out of focus areas beautifully. I don’t mean the bokeh. I mean simply that it is a pleasure to use a fast lens that is sharp at open aperture and which therefore is able to separate subject from background so well.
The fact is that I had [...]

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