Photo Traveler » Technology

Hands on impressions of the Nikon Coolpix P7000

Bob — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:14:20 +0000

I had the opportunity, a few months ago, to work with prototypes of the newly-announced Coolpix P7000 on an assignment in the Southwest US. It was for Nikon’s ad agency in Japan. The P7000 is a fully-featured compact that would be the perfect backup/stealth/walkaround camera for a travel photographer.

This is not a review. So, if you are looking for MTF charts, camera-to-camera comparisons, and all the stuff a full-blown review offers, stop reading now, please.

It is, as the headline clearly states, my impressions of the machine. On these gigs, I’m handed a camera or a lens and I have a limited time to make as interesting a set of pictures as I can, not do side-by-side comparisons. So, tech heads, please forgive me in advance:-).

When I got the call, my client said “bring along your DSLR too, in case we see something special and you want to shoot it on your main camera.” I thought it was a very generous offer, but based on my previous experience with a variety of compacts, I declined. I knew that, in the heat of a great photo opportunity, I’d probably forget to use the compact altogether (Oy! Can say “blown assignment?”).

So, in order to save me from myself, I went out without a “net,” and after a day or so of getting used to using the LCD screen (although there is an excellent, if not 100% accurate, optical viewfinder), I didn’t miss the D90 nearly as much as I thought I would.

In fact, I’m using one of the pictures from this assignment in the oversize calendar that I do as a promotional piece for clients every year. I’ve done the calendar for years and never used anything but DSLR pictures. But I got my early copies last week from the printer, and the P7000 frame is indistinguishable from the DSLR frames. Not bad!

To read more about the camera and see a few JPEGs, hit the jump.

The camera is a bit larger than the P6000 and similar in size to a G10 or G11. It’s got a lot of dedicated knobs and buttons so you don’t get lost in menu-land. Plus, it has the same larger-sized sensor as the Coolpix P6000, but has only 10 megapixels on that sensor. I’m glad that Nikon has backed away from the megapixel war because that amount of pixels on this size sensor makes higher ISOs actually useable (for the first time, in my experience with a compact).

I’d have no problem using the Coolpix P7000 at ISOs up to 800, and even 1600 in a pinch. This, as Paris Hilton would say, is huge. One thing you want from a walkaround belt camera is the ability to grab useable shots in low light interiors. Now we’ve got it.

The focusing of the 28-200mm (35mm equivalents) zoom is fast and sure and you get 60mm more of Nikkor-quality reach on the longer end than the competition. It also features a very neat zoom memory function: with the touch of a button, the lens moves from 28, to 35, to 50, to 85, and so on. So you prime lens lovers can feel like you’re switching lens (in real time) as you move from favorite focal length to favorite focal length without stopping in between. Kind of an “express” zoom, if you will.

And while it is still not as fast a shutter release as a DSLR, it is faster focus and release than I’ve previously experienced on a compact, I was able to shoot slow shutter speed pan shots of rafters in white water….not getting as many frames off as I might with an SLR, but getting enough viable frames that I didn’t feel like tossing the camera itself in the rapids (destruction of the camera was a common urge for me whenever I got stuck trying to shoot action with a compact in the past!).

Other things I liked: The ergonomic handgrip made grasping the camera a breeze. This is important when you’re using the auxiliary 21mm (equivalent) wide angle lens. The lens makes the camera a bit larger, but is optically very good and gives you just that extra few degrees of coverage that can make all the difference.

Although it wasn’t installed yet in the firmware of the early prototypes we had on the job, the 720P HD video option is gonna be a big plus (and get this, the Coolpix P7000 even has a mic jack). This could be the stealth video camera of choice in the near future.

One thing that has me mystified: The NRW raw format. It’s a kind of a NEF, but it isn’t? But at least Adobe is starting to support this format. But why not just call it a NEF and call it a day?

But minor quibbles aside, this is a camera that can produce serious results. So if you’re looking for a compact travel camera or something compact to back up your DSLR on your next trip, check out the P7000. This will be the camera to use when you need great results, but you don’t want to look like a “pro.”

Samples with the new AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Bob — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:42:45 +0000

Photo © Bob Krist

Nikon announced several new lenses today, one of which I got to play with a while ago.

Of course, I knew that an announcement was forthcoming, I just didn’t know when (because like the husband, the photographer is always the last to know).

In fact, If I hadn’t gotten a nasty email from a Czech photographer this morning who absolutely hated one of the pictures used in the official Nikon web announcement (namely, mine!), I would have never known the lens was launched.

Ah yes, there’s nothing quite like getting a new orifice torn while you’re enjoying your morning java to really jump start your day!

Unlike my critic, however, I was blessed with the opportunity to play with a prototype of the 28-300mm for a couple of days out in San Francisco last February.

I have to say that this lens, along with the venerable 18-200mm Nikkor, has completely turned my head around when it comes to the viability of a variable aperture uni-zoom as a professional tool. This one, in particular, blew my mind and spun my head around 360 degrees…(think Linda Blair in The Exorcist!). I couldn’t find a downside to it.

It’s sharp end to end, not too big or heavy, and ergonomically pleasing to use. It features a zoom lock, which is important because, while it’s not overly large for what it is, it’s a substantial piece of glass, and I highly recommend keeping the zoom lock on while you’re walking around. You can read about the specs here and also see the full-sized samples here .

You know I’m not too technical (they had to loan me an FX camera, a D700, to shoot with) but I can tell you that this is an awesome piece of glass. You literally could shoot a whole job with this baby with no compromise that I could discern (although I’m sure someone in, um, the Czech Republic might be able to!)

The VR works well and makes up for the F/5.6 at the long end (although, as a regular user of the 70-300mm VR on my D90, this is no surprise, or hardship, for me). If I were an FX travel shooter, this lens would be in my bag (paired, most likely, with the 16-35mm f/4 VR).

Man, that would be a combination (throw in the 24mm f/1.4 and the new 85mm f/1.4 for available light and bokeh issues, and you’re in FX travel-shooting heaven, my friends! Four lenses that can do it all). But if you could only carry one lens for your FX explorations, this would be it, no doubt.

Here’s another frame of a very cool performance artist called Chi Energy, whom I bumped into while shooting the Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco:

Photo © Bob Krist

Hit the jump for more of Chi and San Francisco with the new lens…

Photo © Bob Krist

Is Travel Photography Dead?

Bob — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:44:51 +0000

www.whattheduck.net

I just read Andrea Pistolesi’s post A Requiem for Travel Photography, (first brought to my attention on Tewfic El Sawy’s excellent Travel Photographer blog).

For those of you who may not recognize his name, Andrea is one of the busiest and most talented travel shooters around, with a string of publication credits that would choke a horse. If I had a quarter for every assignment I lost to Andrea over the years, I’d be very well off—this guy can shoot (and write, in English, even though he’s Italian!).

I highly recommend taking a read of the whole post, but to summarize, Andrea posits that travel photography as a profession is gone, primarily because most of the publications that made assignments are either gone or severely cutting back. But he ends with a very cogent and insightful observation:

“I keep thinking that the world has a lot of stories worth to be covered photographically. The real task is to modernize our scope, create new ways of distribution (using the new technologies, think of the iPad for example), reach the young reader.

For the Travel Photographer the time has come to drop the “Travel” label. Everybody has a camera in his pocket today. The photographer is somebody able to see in a personal, strong way, and pass the message on..

Wow, Andrea’s analysis really hits a home run (or, more culturally fitting, scores a big goooooaaaaaal). To find out what this might mean, hit the jump.

Nobody needs more shots of the neon-festooned hotels in Miami's South Beach, but a story about a cool character who lives and works there, like muscian Leo Casino, might find a market in the new media environment. Photo © Bob Krist

It’s finding the stories in our travels and a personal way of telling them, that may help us all survive in the new media market. And it sure jibes with my experience. A lot of travel photography I see (and have done myself on occasion) lately is trophy hunting more than story-telling.

Like the photo tours and cruises, where the leader takes the group to all the best spots so everybody gets “the shot.” Or going and nailing the skylines, the icons, etc. that have been done before (and yes, we try to do them better, but sometimes, in the older professional travel photography business paradigm, you just needed them).

I know that my last few months have been spent grappling with new media, trying to learn the new grammar of visual storytelling with moving pictures.

It’s all brought me back to wanting to tell stories, like the picture page spreads I did on local characters in Jersey City and Hoboken for The Dispatch back when I was a fledgling news shooter in the mid-70′s, rather than shooting single iconic photos that have been done before.

Problem is, there’s no clear market for these stories, local or exotic…. yet. But hopefully there will be, because the net is very niche, and because the billions of pictures of every place from the Taj Mahal to Monument Valley out there being licensed or sold outright for pennies, combined with the dearth of editorial outlets, really have doomed the old paradigm.

And I’m hoping, but not entirely sure, that the new paradigm might include a pay-to-play, decent-money-for-decent-content, business model.

So besides learning a new way of telling visual stories, I’m also going to try to go for a new paradigm in my own travels. Just like the Slow Food movement has taught us to slow down and really eat, I’m thinking of Slow Travel—-go fewer places, stay longer, and dig out the stories of the people who are in the place.

That doesn’t mean I won’t accept the run and gun assignments that have been a career staple (I say that knowing that although no photo editors read this blog, I should cover my kiester just in case one stumbles upon this post… Yes, Mongo have camera, will shoot fast for food and mortgage money!).

So, like Andrea Pistolesi, I’m hoping that professional travel photography (and photographers!) don’t need a requiem just yet……maybe just a major makeover!

New and Old Friends

Bob — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:02:01 +0000

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of catching up with some old friends, and meeting some new colleagues, on a couple of projects I’ve been working on these last few weeks. I’ve learned a lot from these guys and I recommend hitting their websites/blogs for some excellent inspiration and instruction.

Reznicki Rules–I’ve known Jack Reznicki for years and long admired his people photography, but I had never heard him speak until I caught him at a recent conference. Wow, his talk was funny, informative, and just loaded with terrific images! He is one of those rare shooters who not only makes great pictures, but he’s able to break it down and teach the process as well. His books and website are highly recommended. http://www.reznicki.com/

Dynamite Dave–Veteran sports shooter and speedlight maven Dave Black is a delightful guy, major talent, and great teacher. He regularly runs “Workshops at the Ranch” which are always popular. I had a chance to watch Dave at work recently. Although Dave is famous for his sports photos (and rightfully so) I love his feature work and the stuff he’s done with lightpainting and speedlights, especially at Arlington National Cemetery….haunting and beautiful. http://www.daveblackphotography.com/

Corey is Cookin’–I also recently met Corey Rich , and he is a one man visual dynamo as well as an articulate teacher. Long known for his outstanding adventure and extreme sports photography, Corey has made the transition to video and has made it with a bang. I admire him not only for his eye, but for what he’s had to climb (hint: El Capitan, for one) to get that eye in the right place at the right time! http://www.coreyrich.com/

Tanzania Photo Safari Redux

Bob — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:02:17 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

I had all but given up on the video footage I shot with my D300s when leading a photo safari in Tanzania last February for National Geographic Expeditions. Although I used a beanbag and did my best, the ever so slight movement of the Land Rover, even parked with the engine turned off, were enough to give most of my clips a little shake. A shake that became painfully obvious on my 30″ Cinema Display!

Of course, I didn’t notice it at the time on my LCD—I thought everything looked solid. Oh, the lessons learned (see the post–Prides Cometh Before a Fall)

I’m working with the son of a friend this summer, trying to learn Final Cut Express, and together, we tried to salvage what we could from my clips, posted above. As regular readers know, I’m currently struggling with video and wondering if I might be better off forgetting the whole thing and sticking to my strong suit, or plunging ahead.

Plunging…hmmn, unfortunately, that’s still the operative word when it comes to my video chops so far. But I’m not giving up yet!

I spent last weekend shooting video of the first ever Jazz Academy at Solebury School, one of the projects of the Jonathan Krist Foundation.

We had students from inner city Camden and bucolic Bucks County side by side all weekend, learning jazz from some great pros like James McBride, George Laks, Brent White, Marlene Rice, Devyn Rush, Jamal and Nasir Dickerson, Hassan Sabree, and Dave Bachart.

Next week, I’m teaching my travel photography class up at the Maine Media Workshops….it’ll be great to be back in New England, teaching a subject that I know something about!

What’s wrong with this picture, er, I mean, this video…

Bob — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:26:52 +0000

www.whattheduck.net

In the midst of the packing and last minute details for an assignment I’m leaving on tomorrow (note to self: no more blog posts about Photoshop or plug-ins…whoa…you guys are tough, tough, tough), I took stock of my upcoming shopping list for gear, gadgets, and software.

And none of it was for still photo stuff.

I should be upgrading to CS5, but all my cameras are covered by the version of Adobe Camera Raw in CS4 so what I’m really getting ready to plunk down near four figures to upgrade is to Final Cut Studio from Final Cut Express, and not from CS4 to CS5.

And yes, I’d like that tiny new 85mm Nikkor DX VR macro lens, but what I’m actually buying next is a fairly pricey little Sennheiser wireless mic setup. And I’ve been hitting the videography blogs with alarming regularity.

What the hell is going on? Hit the jump to find out just who, or what, has hijacked my brain.

Like a lot of editorial shooters, I’m totally swept up in the multimedia vortex. Truth be told, I’ve been in there for a while, and I’ve enjoyed the added dimension of dealing with audio in my multimedia slideshows, (even though I’ve yet to find a reliable market for these gems).

But, I put off learning about video for as long as I could (poor baby, I thought the learning curve of basic Photoshop was brutal… that was, of course, until I met Mr. Final Cut, who is a truly tough mofo), but the day has come.

And I’m excited by the possibilities. If the above cartoon (and Malcolm Gladwell, who floated the 10,000 hour formula in his excellent book, The Outliers) are right, I’ll probably be a grandfather (take your time, boys, no rush to reproduce! Dad doesn’t fancy grandfatherhood just yet.) before I get close to a decent fraction of the required hours, but there’s the thrill of total authorship that drives us old editorial shooters, who are all-too-used to getting our vision pawed over by layers of editors and writers before it sees the light of day.

But, I’m noticing a disconnect.

While magazine and editorial shooters are all about learning video, and the documentary and indie film folks are absolutely head over heels in love with big-chip, soft-bokeh, fast-prime-lens DSLR videography, lots of photo enthusiasts could give a hoot about the video capabilities of their SLRs.

At least that’s the feeling I’m getting at recent seminars I’ve taught recently in Houston, Philly, and San Francisco for National Geographic Traveler.

So, while it’s going to be quiet around here from me in these next 10 days, I’d love to hear from you, regarding your thoughts on DSLR video (or any kind of video) and how you think it will impact what you do. Or not….And go Celtics!

Bokeh in a Box

Bob — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:22:35 +0000

Photo © Bob Krist

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Ordinarily, my clients don’t let me mess with reality, but I had a shoot last weekend for the Arthritis Foundation‘s annual report cover that was clearly considered to be a “photo illustration,” and as such, I had more than the normal leeway.

The AD wanted a shot of a remarkable guy named David who cycled across country to raise money for the foundation, despite the fact that he’s pretty heavily laden with arthritis. And the concept was to get him moving along on his bike—trying to keep him sharp but getting a sense of movement to the rest of the shot.

So we popped open the trunk of my car and I got in, rigged up an SB800 on the lid, put my trusty 20-year-old KenLab KS 6 gyro stabilizer under the D300s and 24-70mmf/2.8, and had David trail the car (which was piloted by my good buddy, photographer Jerry Millevoi) at upwards of 20 miles an hour down a country road near New Hope. I tried a variety of shutter speeds, some resulting in very dramatic blurs, but for the cover purposes, just the hint of movement seemed to do the trick.

The 1/30th of second shutter speed picked up a nice bit of blur, the flash froze David (an excellent and fearless cyclist who tracked the car without breaking a sweat!), and the shot worked nicely. But the trees and the road behind him didn’t fall off a lot because we were down at f/11 or thereabouts. So if you wanted to run a cover headline and cutlines, the foliage would be pretty defined and distracting. But how to soften that background after the fact?

Cue the software cavalry…

Aaand bingo! A program called Bokeh, from Alien Skin, comes riding to the rescue. Hit the jump to find out how.

With this program, you make a selection around the areas you want to remain sharp, and then you can apply the necessary amount of bokeh (unsharpness) to the rest in a variety of ways. I won’t go into too much detail here, since the Alien Skin website is full of great examples and tutorials, but you can emulate a natural focus falloff, a radial LensBaby look and anything in between.

I bought the program about a year ago, and hadn’t used it much (it took me a while to learn how to use the Quick Selection tool in Photoshop…I’m such a klutz). But for this gig, it came into its own.

I’ve also been having fun using it with some of my food shots (forget the LensBaby on your last restaurant shoot? Not a problem getting that sexy selective focus look after the fact with a little of that Bokeh black magic). Do watch the excellent tutorial videos, as they give you a lot of inside info on making the effect look natural.

Truthfully, I’d use it a lot more if I weren’t bound by editorial constraints of “no messing with reality” on many of my assignments. But for a corporate, commercial, or stock shoot, this kind of thing is fair game, and it really is a great option to have. Here’s another before and after example of an owl I shot in Kazakhstan during a falconer’s demonstration a couple of months ago.

Photo © Bob Krist

It’s a pretty cool program and it’s earned its keep in my Plugin folder, that’s for sure!

Now, if they could just make an onboard version for DX shooters that would allow us to get a “24mm f/1.4 wide open on a D700″ look with a 16-85mm on a D90 while we shoot, all my Bokeh dreams will have come true!

May Gear & Gadget Update

Bob — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:42:56 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Large 220V Powerstrip

Compact Magellan Powerstrip

Kodak Zi 8 pocket camcorder

Wide angle auxiliary lens for Zi 8 (caution: soft corners ahead!)

Polaroid Pogo Printer

Bob’s Maine Media Travel Photo Workshop, July 4-10

No Truer Words…

Bob — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:08:02 +0000

You don’t often think of the U.S. government when you think of wise persons with perspective, experience, and fundamental good taste. And yet, I know just such a guy, who did Herculean work on behalf of all of us while in the employ of Uncle Sam.

David Kay was a weapons inspector for the UN, and is a very very good photographer. He spoke truth to power during the runup to the Iraq invasion, and since then, he’s retired and taken a seminar or two with me. Honestly, I’ve wanted to pick his brain (he knows what really went on in Iraq and a lot of other places) more than he’s wanted to pick mine (the longer I do photography, the less I know about it).

In fact, I linked to his blog, Trust Your Cape, ages ago.

Anyway, I was reading his always-interesting observations the other day and came across the following passage, which is just about the most cogent sum-up of our current photographic situation as I’ve come across:

Remember the days of Kodachrome 25 or 64 when the shot you took was the shot you got. Sure you could add filters and make variations in EV, but in the end the image that was on the piece of film was the image you were left with. Not today! We are rich in possibilities, have a poverty of time and, perhaps most frightening of all, dependent upon our own visual judgment and tastes.

Damn, if that doesn’t about say it all. I’m glad David is enjoying his photography these days, but I wish he were back in the trenches on our side, because we need guys with his brains and perspective watching our backs (and our fronts) if we’re going to make it through the 21st century…..

Luxury Hotel Peeves–A Rant in Four Acts

Bob — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:05:27 +0000

www.whattheduck.net

I’m back and furiously trying to get the three long multimedia slide shows, one for each leg of the jet trip, done and sent off to National Geographic Expeditions so they can dupe them and send one to each passenger. It’s fun working in iMovie and iDVD when you’re totally jetlagged. It makes you feel like you are not as smart as you think you are!

In the meantime, I had a chance to bang off a rant on the plane home. It illustrates just how nasty I can get when I’m sleep deprived, but what the hell, here goes:

It’s been almost two straight months, 18 countries, and countless hotel rooms. Most of the latter in much better establishments than I’m used to staying….much, much better.

By and large, the luxe hotel experience is kinda nice (but I tried really hard not to get used to it!). However, I am stunned at how many things about some of these these places are, well, downright frustrating. Things that much cheaper hotel chains got right years ago.

I don’t want to be whiny, (but I am, ‘cuz I’m profoundly jet-lagged) but there are reasons (besides my lack of income and inherent cheapness) that I stay at regular two or three-star business hotels and not these types of places. Here’s a quick list of my luxury hotel pet peeves.

1. Playing Hide the Plug–With a few notable exceptions, many of the fancy places don’t understand that we travelers need plugs, and we need plenty of them and we need them to be accessible.

I don’t care if the table I’m sitting at in my designer-furnished room is made from rare Burmese teak smuggled out of the jungle on the backs of thousands of specially-trained army ants in the service of Sultan of Brunei and carved to its current state of exquisiteness by a band of blind eunuchs who commit ritual suicide after they finish their works of art.

If I have to crawl on my hands and knees under said exquisiteness to find one damn plug, it’s all for naught. Why don’t they get that? What we need is a power strip with universal plug receptors on the top of the main table in the room. There are a few places that do something just like that in a very tasteful way (yeah, Four Seasons in Istanbul, you go!).

But if I have to get on my hands and knees to look for electricity, I think they should charge the damn interior decorator, and not me or my client, to stay in the room. C’mon! With apologies to Richard III, “My kingdom for an outlet!”

For a look at some of my other hotel pet peeves, and a chance to add a few of your own, hit the jump!

2. I’d like to use the internet, not necessarily own it!–$37 a day for glacial internet that makes me feel like I’m back in the early 90′s using dial up AOL? Really? You really have to charge almost $40 freakin’ dollars a day for this subpar service, when my client is already paying 10 times that per day to rent the room for me? Really? You usurious bastards!

Although a number of places (mostly in China and Japan) would include free internet, a lot of other places gouge you on this, and then have terrible service just to add the “coup de grace” to the total feeling of being ripped off. Oh, Courtyard by Marriott, how I missed you!

3. Is it coffee, or liquid gold? Because the speed and rarity with which it is dispensed at breakfast might convince you that it is the latter. Yes, one thing luxe hotels have is plenty of waiters, and what that army of tuxedo-clad help does in the morning for the first 10-15 minutes that I sit at the breakfast table waiting for a freakin’ cup of Joe is beyond me, because they ain’t pouring java, that’s for sure.

Of course, if you want to make them appear, just get up with a cup in your hand looking for a coffee urn, and you get swarmed and scolded for looking for your own coffee. And then you’ll wait another 10-15 minutes before they come back, usually with some tepid excuse for coffee.

I hate to say it, but Denny’s and iHop, with their insulated pots of steaming, albeit weak, coffee plopped at your table before your fanny hits the bench seat, could teach these palace hotels and six star places a lot about the priorities of the breakfast experience.

Of course, true aficionados always get a quad latte at Pete’s or Starbucks before hitting those chain joints for solid food, a meal strategy which pretty much constitutes the piece de resistance of the road warrior breakfast experience, AFAIC. But then again, I’m from New Jersey, and as the brilliant John Gorka song says, “I don’t expect much…”

4. Did you wash my clothes, or have exact replicas made in a day? Because you just charged me more to launder my shirt and pants than I paid to buy them….

I gave up on hotel laundries decades ago, and travel with all microfiber, supplex and other fast drying, easy wash clothes that I rinse out and hang up myself (it’s a great thing to do while you’re waiting for your cards to download!). But we were just moving too fast on this trip and there was simply no time in the evenings to do this.

So I had to throw myself on the mercy of hotel laundries. Ouch!

True, they package up your clothes intricately and present it to you in a variety of baskets and bags that make them seem like ritual offerings to royalty (“behold the royal boxer shorts, my liege, starched so stiff that they stand up by themselves, and if it please my lord, notice that we also starched and ironed your socks!”)

Yes, it’s good to be a laundry liege and not have to rinse out your own skivvies in the sink. But, you pay dearly for those momentary glimpses of what life was like in the glory days for the Windsors and the Hapsburgs….

Got a few pet hotel peeves of your own? Let’s hear ‘em. A little whining here and there is good for the soul…whether you’re jet-lagged or not!