From all the rumour and photography news websites it is clear that Nikon are taking a good hard look at their product line in light of recent financial results.

I’m not about to announce some ground breaking news about the Nikon corporation but wanted to write about what I would like to see product wise from them.

To start, I would love to see Nikon come up with a camera that could compete or beat the Canon C300 Mark II camera.

It is odd for me to say this as I have never really considered myself as a video producer but the reality is that Canon have been stealing a march in this area. If you look at it objectively, it is really difficult to justify having Nikon stills equipment when you have just invested in a Canon C300 Mark II.

The problem for Nikon is that they don’t have a heritage in video when Canon have produced video equipment for the professional market so have a knowledge of what is in demand. But it does mean that having a fresh pair of eyes on a blank sheet of paper you could come up with something ground breaking.

Personally it would be wonderful if Nikon came out with a replacement for the aging Nikkor 135mm f2 DC lens.

And as for camera bodies, I’m really waiting for what comes out this year to see if it is really worth getting a new body. If rumours are right the replacement for the D810 is just round the corner.

I’ve always been a bit of a snob when it comes to camera bodies. I would rather get the one digit (i.e. D5) with built in grip over the three digit (i.e. D810). But having a lighter camera which is more stable on the horizontal when on a tripod is drawing me to the benefits of a camera like the D810 or D500.

When or if I do get a new camera, you will be the first to know here.

I came across this YouTube video today about filters for camera lens.

It never really occurred to me that what seems like such a simple tool, if used in the right way, can add mood or feeling to enhance the story you are trying to tell visually. 

It maybe time to get my wallet out to get some filters to see what I can do with them.

I’m going to warn you now that this could be a bit of a rambling post. So I won’t be offended if you decide to skip this and head over to your favourite cat video.

This isn’t about the future of photography as an art form but more about the direction the technology is heading and my thoughts on it.

As you may know when I started in this game I was shooting rolls of film in a 35mm camera. Once or twice I did get my hands on a medium format film camera which I did enjoy using.

For all you tech nerds like me out there it wouldn’t have passed you by that the likes of Hasselblad and Fuji have brought to the market what people are calling affordable medium format digital cameras.

Medium format cameras at their height in the film days weren’t exactly cheap but what these companies are offering now is in line with that market.

So for a person like me who loves their equipment whose main camera is a DSLR is my future sticking with this form factor or is it going smaller with the mirror-less or larger with the medium format?

You invest a huge amount not just in money but effort in learning what is possible from squeezing the limits from whatever kit you have. So it isn’t a light decision when swapping to another work flow.

Unless you are super rich which most people aren’t trading in your old system for a new one is only going to happen after hours of research.

It may not seem it but we really are living in interesting times in the world of digital photography.

In 2013 when I started this project I knew I needed some reflectors to bounce light back. So I decided to get a Lastolite Trigrip that came with a set of covers. It looked perfect for the way I wanted to work without an assistant but on my own.

In the real world it is really difficult to operate a camera plus hold a reflector in the right position without getting arm ache. So the solution to this is to get the Lastolite Trigrip bracket which allows you to attach the reflector to a stand. 

This hasn’t really worked out for me which you can read about on my main site here. So to solve this problem I have just purchased the Westcott Reflector Arm Extreme.

It is really well built to hold a huge range of different sizes of reflectors. And when it is packed away it is the same length as my light stands which is handy to transport.

I wish I had purchased this sooner. The Trigrip bracket isn’t a total waste as I can use parts of it for other things but I do wish I had known three years ago what I do now.  

Picture courtesy Nikon

While Canon have brought out another version of their 5D camera it has made me think about getting another body. So I’ve been looking at the Nikon D500 to see if it fits my needs.

As you may know I have a Nikon D3 which I purchased used on an Internet auction site back in 2011. It is full frame and I do like the way it feels in my hands. But it is getting on a bit and the latest cameras are loaded with a lot more functionality than older cameras.

So does the D500 have what I need? For starters it doesn’t have a pop up flash. Which is good. I can’t stand the things. I know that it can get you out of a hole if your main flash stops working and is useful as a trigger for remote flash work but I just don’t like it. The split in the prism of the camera where the pop up flash lives just doesn’t appeal to me.

But can I live with a crop sensor? It is nice to make your long lenses longer just by the fact that you are using a crop sensor but the downside is that you need to go to super wide just to get a normal wide. Doing what I’m doing now with my own gear I very rarely shoot wide and if I do want that I will still have my full frame D3.

It would be good to have a slightly smaller camera body once in a while which was why I had been looking at the Df.

Now thinking about it a bit more, is this camera a would like to have item in my bag or a must have? And I have to say it is a would like to have.

Round of applause to Nikon for making the perfect back up camera body.

According to the Internet (so it must be true 😀) that the reason why Nikon can’t produce their latest Nikkor lenses at f1.2 is because of a technical factor.

Someone once told me it was because of the flange but I have read elsewhere it is because of the difference in the size of the mounts. As you can see from above, the Nikon (on the left) is much smaller than the Canon.

Is this the reason that Nikon can only get to f1.4 and no more?

Also according to the Internet the difference between f1.4 and f1.2 is not big and that Canon only do it so that Canon fans can play lens Top Trumps with Nikon fans.

Whatever the reason, it would be nice to have some f1.2 glass in my bag. 

I’ve said on here that my preference is to shoot in JPEG to get the discipline to get it right in camera. But there are occasions when shooting in raw just makes sense.

When there is a mixed lighting situation, raw can help you decide at the edit stage what looks best colour wise.

Raw, like everything else technical in photography, is a tool to help you create the images you want. If it does what you want it to do then don’t hesitate to use it.

At school the topic that interested me the most in physics was optics and the properties of light.

I’ve pretty much forgotten what I learnt and decided to get a book to refresh my memory.

It might never come in handy for everyday use but there is no harm in knowing the science behind how lenses work and the scientific theories of light.

2 June 2016 Having had a bit of time to have a look through this book Optics Demystified by Stan Gibilisco is a really useful guide to explain the principles behind chromatic aberration, lenses, inverse square law amongst other things in as simple a language as possible.

I’m not sure how much of the information is sinking into my tiny brain but at least I have a better understanding of the science behind the equipment I’m operating on a day to day basis.