Testing the Samsung NX500 after firmware update v. 1.10

This video shows the effect of the firmware update v. 1.10 on the Samsung NX500's low light autofocus speed, backlight autofocus accuracy, and the raw buffer depth.



Hit the jump for details.

Lytro Camera (First Generation) Review

This is a review of the Lytro's First Generation camera, the first consumer light field camera that became famous for changing the focus after having taken the shot.

Sony a6000 Autofocus Speed Test: Bounce House

I know the Sony a6000 autofocus is fast.  However, I didn't know exactly how fast it was.  I had already taken test shots of cars moving at up to 40 mph, which the Sony a6000 captured with ease.  But I wasn't sure if it was fast enough to capture fast-moving kids.  I got the chance to test the a6000's autofocus at a bounce house.

Sony a6000 - Recommended Settings; Autofocus Settings

Here are the current settings I'm using for the a6000, and my rationale.  (For options I've omitted it means I don't have a particular preference, or it's situational.)  Also discussed are:
- 3 ways to implement AF-On in the a6000
- Autofocus settings for different scenarios

Nikon D600 + Nikkor 24-70: A Day with My Precious Ones (and my kids too)

Last weekend I took our kids to Disneyland - just the three of us.  It was my first time to bring them there by myself, so instead of my usual two camera combo, I just brought one camera and one lens - the Nikon D600 and the Nikkor 24-70 2.8G.

In this post I will discuss how the combination performed in terms of:
- versatility
- image quality
- autofocus speed and accuracy
- low light performance (autofocus and image quality)
- dynamic range

(Click on the pictures for higher-resolution versions.  FYI no additional sharpening was used - only LR defaults.  All shots were handheld with no flash.  Except as otherwise noted, I did not apply noise reduction, clarity, vibrance or saturation.)

Nikon D600 autofocus: speed, accuracy, low light, and clustering

10/11/12 UPDATE: Added Nikon D3 shots for comparison
10/22/12 UPDATE: Added shots showing AF speed

Nikon D600 + Sigma 50 1.4 @ f/2.0

Because my subjects often move, one of the most critical components of any camera for me is its autofocus system.  What's the use of a very high resolution sensor with extremely low noise if the shot I capture is blurry - not because of subject movement but because the subject is out of focus?

In this post I will discuss my experience regarding the Nikon D600's autofocus speed and accuracy.  I will also discuss the clustering of autofocus points.

(And even though you may not be in the market for a D600, you may be interested in reading about a couple of alternatives to focus-and-recompose.)

AF assist light - stealth hack

Here's a simple modification to a camera's AF assist light to make it less intrusive.

THE PROBLEM:

Many cameras have a built-in autofocus assist light to help the camera focus in low light situations.  I find it very useful - there's no doubt that it works.  But sometimes it's annoying when you're trying to maintain a low profile.  It also causes many people to blink.

Meanwhile, some external flashes also emit an AF assist light, but one colored red, which is both less intrusive, and (in my experience) much less likely to cause people to blink.  However, I like using my external flash off-camera, and using it that way disables its AF assist light.  This was enough reason for me to think about getting an SC-29 (a Nikon TTL cable that has a component that emits a red AF-assist light).


The SC-29 is not cheap though, so I tried to find another way.

A SOLUTION

I thought, why not use a gel to simulate the less intrusive red AF assist light of an SC-29?  I have the Rosco sampler pack and found a gel that looked close enough to the red color that I wanted - Rosco #2001 Strato Red.

I cut a small piece and tested it with my AF assist light.  It worked - both in terms of being less intrusive and maintaining AF accuracy and speed.  It was still fairly bright compared to the AF assist light from an external flash, so I tried doubling it up (by folding it), and it still worked.  The light was now dim enough to be similar to that of an external flash.  I trimmed the edges, then used Scotch double-sided tape to keep the gel folded together and to stick it over my camera's AF assist lamp.  It's not a perfect solution because the AF assist lamp on my camera is rounded, and the double-folded gel isn't flexible enough to conform to the lamp's shape, but I think it will stay there.

Incidentally, I also tried an infrared filter, but it didn't work.  First, the camera had a hard time acquiring focus, and even when there was focus confirmation, the image was out of focus.  Second, the lamp was more noticeable.

BTW, you may be wondering how I took the photo of my camera.  I used an old compact point and shoot, the Casio Exilim EX-V7 using bounced flash, something I will post about soon. :)

UPDATE: I tried to see the range of the AF Assist light with the red filter, and it appears that the camera can focus as far as 15, if not 20 feet (even though the specs say the AF assist is good for up to 10 feet).

Swing into focus (Basic)

Getting sharply focused images is a challenge for toddler photos. I want to capture shots of our toddler in all his joy and it is at those times when his movements are least predictable.  I tried out a few techniques to help improve focus.

Method 1: focus priority + hold down the shutter
I normally use the focus and recompose technique (select the focus point closest to the point of interest, half-press the shutter to acquire focus, recompose, then press the shutter all the way).  The problem with the focus and recompose technique is that there is an interval between the acquisition of focus and the release of the shutter.  When our toddler moves, as he frequently does, the focus is lost. 

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority. Some cameras like the D200 have a setting called "focus priority" (don't release the shutter unless and until the image is in focus). My D80 doesn't have such a custom setting but behaves as if it's on focus priority when I switch to AF-S (autofocus single).

2. Intentionally focus somewhere else first.  It seems the D80 has a threshold of acceptable focus that is not high enough for me.  In other words, sometimes it will consider the image in focus when I don't consider the image to be sufficiently focused. To avoid getting a shot that's not sufficiently focused, I intentionally put the image out of focus first by focusing somewhere else.

3. Put the focus point on the target and hold down the shutter. With the focus point over the now-blurred target, I hold down the shutter.  The shutter doesn't release immediately because it's on focus priority. However, as soon as the image is in focus, the shutter releases.

Method 2: AF-ON
The logic for this one is similar to the previous method but somehow, it seems I get better results with this method. I first customize the AF-L/AE-L button to AF-ON.  This means that pressing the AF-L/AE-L button will acquire focus. Pressing the shutter half-way no longer causes the camera to focus.

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority.

2. Intentionally focus somewhere else first.

3. Put the focus point on the target and hold down the shutter.

4. While holding down the shutter, hold down the AF-L/AE-L button. As soon as the image is in focus, the shutter releases.

Method 3: trap focus (aka focus trap)
Our toddler was playing with a swing and I used trap focus (which I read about at other sites) with some success to get shots of him on the swing. This one also requires customizing the AF-L/AE-L button to AF-ON.

Steps:

1. Switch to AF-S / activate focus priority.

2. Put the subject at the target distance and focus. In my case, I grabbed the swing with my free hand, held it in the position I wanted for the shot, then focused using the AF-L/AF-E button.

3. Allow the subject to move.  The subject comes out of focus.

4. Keep aiming the focus point at the same target you chose in #2. In my case, the eyes.
5. Hold down the shutter.  The shutter doesn't release immediately because it's on focus priority.

6. Wait for the subject to come into focus.  As soon as the subject moves into the distance where it comes into focus, the shutter releases.