Innehållsförteckning för June 2017 från Smart Photography

WE ARE GLUED TO THE GLOBAL IMAGING INDUSTRY Our team is updated with all the benchmarks and road blocks that the field of photography and imaging across the globe experiences. This helps us record the changes in the global perspective, thus making us the first to predict which products will be a rage in the Indian markets. WE’RE IMPARTIAL Loyalty towards our readers is a given, and their best interests are always on our mind. Every verdict is honest and not influenced by advertisers or personal favorites. So when we say a product is a ‘BEST BUY’, then, it is just that! OUR TESTS ARE CONDUCTED BY EXPERTS All equipment go through a series of tests at the hands of our experts. Our reviewers are experts in the field of…

Alankar Chandra is the CEO and Co-founder of Wild Voyager, a travel startup offering carefully-curated journeys to exotic natural and wild heritage sites at locations around the world. He is also a widely published wildlife photographer and has co-founded Wild Voyager with other natural history photographers. Alankar’s work has been featured in national and international publications. He has undertaken wildlife and photography expeditions to some of the remotest corners of the world, in countries and regions as diverse as India, Africa, Europe and rest of Asia. Prior to founding Wild Voyager, he held various senior leadership positions at leading firms. Alankar holds an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and is a graduate of the Delhi College of Engineering. To follow him on facebook, visit https://www.facebook.com/alankarchandraphotography/ How…

Of the five film making companies (Agfa, Fujifilm, Kodak, Konica and Orwo), only one could survive the digital holocaust. Not only did Fujifilm survive, it even became a much stronger company with interests in medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, graphic arts and imaging products. The successful turnaround of Fujifilm makes for a compelling business school study. Mr. Hoshang S. Billimoria, CEO of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. and Editor, Smart Photography, had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Yasunobu Nishiyama, MD, Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd. at his Gurgaon office. Here is an excerpt from the discussions... Nishiyama San has had a longstanding association with Fujifilm which dates back to the year 1989. Prior to taking up the role in India, he worked in the same capacity in Fujifilm Malaysia from 2011 to 2014.…

We often wish to darken the sky in a landscape photograph – only the sky. Sometimes, we can accomplish this by selecting the sky using a simple tool like the Magic Wand or the Quick Selection Tool and then with the sky selected, we merely use Levels or Curves to darken the selected area. Things get difficult however, if there are projections rising into the sky (like trees) and the sky can be seen through the little gaps in the tree branches/leaves. Here is a method that will get you through but it is assumed that you have been following this series of Image Editing and that by now you are familiar with the basic tools. 1 Open the image in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) in Photoshop. The image could be…

Our Imaging Expert No one can take a picture that everyone likes. But, almost every picture can have scope of improvement. Often, we are not our best critics, while others can immediately point out the faults. In If I were you, our expert comments on how your pictures could be taken to another level. Breakfast Time Amarjeet Gohain from Assam has sent us this photo, titled ‘Breakfast Time’ by email. The framing is perfect; the tonality is perfect. Just look at their expressions; God knows what must be going through their little minds. Good use of natural lighting. The background is what looks like the side of a poor person’s hut. At a personal level, I am not in favour of showing powerty but this picture has touched something within…

For macro and close-up photography, electronic flash has always been the choice of illumination for most photographers, especially when working in low ambient light. With the advances in lighting however, LED lights provide an alternative source of illumination with certain advantages not found with electronic flash. When using electronic flash, reflections from various surfaces is difficult to predict and unless used with light modifiers, the cast shadows are strong and usually undesirable. Very often, the photo indicates that a harsh source of light has been used. LED lights, though not a replacement for electronic flash (as it does not have the power or the action-stopping property of electronic flash) can often come in very handy and are also easier to use. The Manfrotto Lykos LED Light - Bicolor, is one…

Write to us at: Smart Photography, Next Gen Publishing Ltd, Trade World, C-Wing, 2nd Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel(W), Mumbai 400013. E-mail: sp@nextgenpublishing.net Fantastic and Realistic Dear Sir, The May 2017 issue of Smart Photography - Portrait Special - was fantastic. The article, ‘Rural Identities’ was very realistic. ‘My life with Cameras’ and ‘Desert Rangers’ were extremely informative articles. Reading them reminded me of certain tourist places where photographers are charged for bringing in their equipment. I experienced the same on my recent trip to Udaipur, where I was charged for taking my camera along. In my opinion, the authorities must club the charges levied on cameras along with the cost of entry tickets, as many people might refrain from paying the additional charges and thus,…

Hailing from the coastal town of Alibaug, Jaydatta Nikalje visited Mumbai, at the age of nineteen, to complete his education. It was during his visit to Mumbai that he got an opportunity to hold a camera for the first time. This turned out to be his first step towards discovering his true passion. Jaydatta has been working behind the scenes and creating social media campaign videos for a living, but it is travel photography that piques his interest. Since over six years, he has been travelling to various villages and small towns of India with a pursuit of framing the rawness and pristinity of his surroundings. Camera: Canon EOS 60D Aperture: f/4 Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec ISO: 250 Camera: Canon EOS 60D Aperture: f/16 Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec ISO: 100…

As a young kid, I watched with amazement my father taking photographs with a folding plate film camera, and then colouring the prints with a paint brush. The camera was a pre-war Goertz made by C.P. Goertz and Co. (now defunct). My elder brother (elder by six years) inherited the camera, and in the fifties it was still possible to find a photo store who would cut and load film in the plate film cartridge. Meanwhile, a Kodak 620 box camera was handed down to us which was the epitome of simplicity. Load the camera with 620 film which gave eight negatives, and point and shoot! Depending on how the camera was held, you got a portrait or landscape type photo. The results were pretty good for such a basic…

“One man’s food is another man’s poison”. The onset of the monsoon season is eagerly awaited by some while others dread this period. To some, it is the beginning of the dreary, overcast, grey days while for others, it is a time to enjoy getting wet, frolic in the rains, and cherish nature in all its glory. Photographers fall in similar categories. They either love the rains or hate them. Some pack their gear, others get ready to face the challenge that monsoon brings on. It is true that not taking adequate care of our camera equipment during the rainy season can cause us misery – in terms of equipment failure and the repair costs. But some simple precautions, taken especially when photographing in the rains, can save the gear…

Huh? What’s that? Never heard of it? That’s okay. First, let me say right here, that this is not an easy topic to explain but at the same time, it is important. Some cameras today are ISO Invariant or close to ISO Invariant. So what does that mean? Note: 1) In trying to over-simplify things, some of the explanations may not be 100% technically correct. 2) Pictures must be shot in Raw format. Putting it very simply, it means that the ISO setting on your ISO Invariant camera is not important. We all know what happens when we try to ‘open up’ shadow areas in post-processing – we get digital noise. On an ISO Invariant camera, you can open up the shadows and still have an image that does not…

1,19,000 Inside the Box ✓ Lens ✓ Front and back caps ✓ Lens case ✓ Hood LH880-03 Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/250sec ISO: 100 The 135mm, being an Art-series lens, certainly has a reputation to keep. 135mm can rightly be considered an essential focal length in the ‘true’ telephoto range. This telephoto range produces just the right amount of compression effect for portraits and still life. Combined with a wide aperture, this Art lens is believed to deliver shallow depth-of-field along with pleasing bokeh. Design and Build Quality Sigma Art series lenses are ruggedly constructed with dust and splash proof design. The outer shell is made of metal, complete with a tough matte-finished engineering plastic neck housing the focus and focus limiter switches. The mount is made dust and splash-proof…

57,900 (S8) 64,900 (S8+) Inside the Box ✓ Smartphone ✓ USB cable ✓ Earphone ✓ Ejection pin ✓ USB power adaptor ✓ Quick start guide ✓ USB connector (USB Type-C) ✓ Micro USB connector Aperture: f/1.7 Shutter Speed: 1/1000sec ISO: 40 A flagship phone launch is important to every company but this time, it’s more so for Samsung. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are the first flagship devices after Samsung recalled its Galaxy Note7 smartphone last year. But are the devices great enough to prove Samsung’s point that it is still the number one Android manufacturer? Read on. Design and Build Quality Let’s get this straight: the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are beautifully designed phones. Last year’s Galaxy S7 edge was a stunner in its own right but…

Snippets Panasonic India aims at capturing over 10 percent share of professional interchangeable lens camera market in the year 2017. Panasonic recently released its hybrid mirrorless camera Lumix GH5 in India. Samsung becomes the number one smartphone brand with a global market share of 22.8 percent. The company has sold 7.9 million units between January - March 2017. Sony climbs the ladder, overtaking Nikon in the full-frame interchangeable lens camera market in the US. The company is now just one spot behind the industry leader - Canon Inc. Toshiba Corp’s board approves a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the US for its Westinghouse Electric Unit after the company warns about a possible $6.2 billion writedown on the nuclear energy business. Samsung Electronics reports a 48% increase in its operating profit…

Inderjit Singh resides at nation’s capital, New Delhi. Being a defence kid, Inderjit has spent most of his childhood, moving to different neighbourhoods and cities of India. As this became a pattern, it ignited the passion of travelling in him. Making new friends along his way, Inderjit loves to travel to varied places and explore diverse cultures. He spent his early years of career as a graphics motion designer but he soon realised that his real ardour was filmmaking and photography. This impelled him to quit his job and he started a production house. He has travelled across many countries and cities capturing his vision and memories through his lens. Inderjit is a strong believer in Karma and his goal in life is to be nice to the world that…

Ashish Langade is a Pune based Photographer who takes immense pleasure in capturing beautiful moments around him. Born and raised in a small town of Maharashtra, Vaduj, Ashish begun clicking pictures of his beautiful town using his mobile camera. He graduated as an Engineer from Sinhgad College of Engineering, whose campus was beautifully located amidst the mountains. This provided Ashish an opportunity to capture some amazing landscape shots, after which there was no looking back. Ashish believes that each opportunity has taught him a lot and drove him towards perfection. To view more of Ashish’s work, visit his website: www.ashishlangade.com H ampi (Hampe) is a village and temple town recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi. In northern Karnataka, India. It was…

Residing in Thane – around the outskirts of Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) - Yuwaraj Gurjar is an ace photographer and avid nature lover. The SGNP that spreads across 104 sq. km is a home to many big and small, wonderful creatures. Yuwaraj has been visiting this park almost every weekend, for the last 29 years, and is still in awe with its beauty. While on his birding trips to the national park, Yuwaraj started admiring the lesser fauna which is very unusual, fascinating and goes unnoticed most of the time. He started observing and photographing butterflies, ants, bugs, beetles, dragonflies, other small insects and wild flowers. To view his collection of images of these gorgeous creatures, visit: www.yuwarajgurjar.com The gloomy month of June begins with light thunders and…

Should I Upgrade? I am a Nikon D200 (2006 model) user, hobbyist photographer and planning to upgrade my camera with D750/810 or D500, to bridge the gap between technological advancements since 2006. However, lot of rumours floating around is causing decision paralysis for me. Below are few of them: 1. Nikon has stopped production of D810! 2. Nikon is going to release upgraded version of D750 soon. 3. Mirrorless cameras are apparently the future and will be soon replacing soon D-SLRs (eg: Sony’s progress in sensor technology and expansion in camera/lens range is indication towards this change). Hence what should I do? 1. Should I stick to Nikon range and upgrade to models available in market or wait till end 2017 ~ mid 2018 for new launches from Nikon? Or…

Smart Photography has been continually receiving requests to start a basic course for beginners. With this in mind, we have asked a very knowledgeable photographer from Chennai to take over writing these articles. We have also requested him to be as jargon-free as it is possible, so that newcomers to photography feel comfortable to pursue the hobby. The author, Ashok Kandimalla has been in the photographic field for over three decades and has extensive experience in both film and digital photography. Being an electronics engineer by profession and a photographer, he possesses a unique and deep insight into the technical aspects of digital photography and equipment. He has published several articles on photography and some of his writings have also been published in the well-known international magazine Popular Photography. An…

Smartphones have evolved into specialised devices, and Android platform, with its developer-friendly features, provides an ideal environment for innovators. CAT brand of mobile phones, part of Caterpillar group, is offered by Bullitt Mobile Ltd. The device is not an ordinary mobile phone and certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. The CAT S60’s main USP is a thermal imaging module incorporated along with the normal camera mode. The module is developed by FLIR systems, a leader in thermal imaging (In fact, the company derived its name from the acronym for Forward-Looking Infrared). If you are wondering about the utility of this phone, let us look at the other features of this device. The CAT S60 is rugged. It is waterproof up to a depth of 5 metres for an hour. It…