By Jason Row

Equipment and Camera Settings You’ll Need for Better Moon Photography

Super Moon, Oxford, England

As the brightest object in the night sky, the Moon has captivated people around the world for centuries. The Moon is simply fascinating, particularly with the recent 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the Moon. It is also one of the most incredible subjects to learn to photograph. Everyone loves to observe the Moon, but have you ever looked up to the sky at night and thought, “how can I capture this magnificent phenomenon?” Well, as photographing the Moon can be a challenging undertaking, I have highlighted some information about the Moon and recommendations regarding equipment and camera settings you’ll need to consider to achieve better moon photography.
It is initially worth considering what the Moon actually is. Well, in general, the term “moon” denotes an object that orbits something other than the star in a solar system. Earth’s Moon is an astronomical body that orbits the planet and acts as its only permanent natural satellite, orbiting the Earth every 27.3 days. It is the fifth-largest Moon in the Solar System and is an average of 384403 kilometers (238857 miles) from Earth.
When you look up at the night sky to view the peaceful and tranquil Moon, you might notice that the Moon looks a little different each night. This is due to our Moon’s many phases and types.

Phases of the moon

Partial lunar eclipse, England

The amount of sunlight that reflects on the Moon’s surface that we can see from our point of view on Earth varies every day, and this is what we refer to as a Moon phase.
Moon phases change during the lunar month from a New Moon (which occurs the moment the Sun and Moon are aligned, with the Sun and Earth on opposite sides of the Moon) to a Waxing Crescent moon (when a thin sliver of the Moon becomes visible after a New Moon), First Quarter Moon (the moment the Moon has reached the first quarter of its orbit around Earth), Waxing Gibbous Moon, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous Moon, Third Quarter Moon and Waning Crescent Moon.

Different types of full moons

Super Blue Blood Moon, Oxford

A full moon occurs when the side of the Moon facing Earth is fully lit up by the Sun. There are several types of unusual full moons that look different in color and size due to its position to the Sun and Earth. These include blood moons (that appears reddish and occur during a total lunar eclipse, when Earth lines up between the Moon and the Sun); Supermoons (a moon that appears larger because it is closer to Earth), Blue Moons (the “extra” Moon in a season with four Full Moons or the second Full Moon in a calendar month) and Harvest Moons (the full, bright Moon that occurs closest to the start of Autumn), for example.

The equipment

When photographing the full moon or different phases of the moon, you will need some essential pieces of equipment. I recommend you use a tripod for stability. Whilst you may get away with hand-holding your camera, you will get better results by mounting your camera on a tripod and avoiding camera shake. In addition, a remote shutter release cable is a useful bit of kit to help prevent camera shake. It is not essential as you can use your cameras self-timer function.

Which lens to use

Moon over the landscape, Dartmoor, England

The type of lens you use largely depends on whether you would like to capture the moon in the landscape, or as a detailed close-up. Wide-angle lenses are great to photograph the moon as it moves over an interesting landscape. Alternatively, a telephoto lens is a great choice for getting closer to the moon to reveal its surface details. Consider using a long focal length lens with a range of 300-400mm.

Which camera settings to use

Moonrise, England

Once you have chosen a lens and set your camera on a tripod, you will need to select your settings. Firstly, I would recommend setting your ISO to 100 to prevent noise and grain in your images. Next, select an aperture in the region of f/8 – f/16 to achieve clearer and cleaner shots. In terms of shutter speed, 1/60th to 1/125th should be a great starting point.

Focus on the moon

Moon and sky, England

When you have applied the settings, all you now need to do is set the focus of your camera. I like to use my cameras manual focus to focus on the Moon. Once the focusing distance to the Moon looks sharp using manual focus, you are ready to shoot the Moon.
In my experience, manual focus works better than autofocus as the Moon’s surface is sometimes too dark to be recognized by the camera’s autofocus and I find manual focus to be more reliable in obtaining sharper shots in low light. By using manual focus, if you’re camera settings aren’t spot-on for any reason, you will still have reasonably sharp photos that you can recover in your editing software.
If you apply all of these tips, you’ll achieve better Moon photography and be equipped to photograph the Moon at the best time.

In summary, photographing the Moon is one of the most enjoyable subjects any photographer can learn. To achieve better photos of the different phases and types of the Moon, be sure to use a tripod. Also, consider a remote cable release, choose a wide-angle or telephoto lens, get your settings right, and focus your camera on the Moon manually.
Do you have any other tips for better Moon photography? Alternatively, share your pictures below.

Share this article.

The Third Element: The Rise and Rise of Third Party Lens Manufacturers

By Jason Row  


Let’s have a show of hands. Are you confused by the sheer number of different lenses and lens manufacturers we have today? My hand is quite firmly in the air. It seems every time we visit a group or a forum online, someone is talking about an obscure lens brand that we have never heard of.
Being somewhat of a dinosaur, I come from a time when lens choices came down to two decisions. Cheap or expensive, on brand or off brand. Cutting my teeth in the ’80s, there were the original manufacture lenses, and then there was Sigma, Tamron and Tokina. Ok, there was also Vivitar, but no one that had been into photography for more than a week ever bought a Vivitar. 
So why is there such a variety of different lens and lens manufacturers today? 

Photo by Agence Olloweb

Ease Of Manufacture 

This is not to suggest that making a lens is easy. It is, however, much easier than it was one or two decades ago. Advances in manufacturing equipment such as 3D printers and similar improvements in design software have made it easier to design and build a new lens.
Couple this with lower manufacturing costs, again due to improved technology, it is now easier for smaller companies to gear up and produce lenses on relatively small production runs. 

Increasing Large And Diverse Market

There is a saying, “Everyone is a photographer these days” while that is a cliche, the fact is the interchangeable lens market is much much bigger than a few years ago. Many more people are now taking photographs with DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. 
They might not all be doing photography as a hobby, but they still want lenses to expand their capabilities. Often they prefer budget lenses to professional level ones. 

Beyond the consumer market, many enthusiast and professional photographers are happy to work with the limitations of some budget lenses. If you are the type of photographer that shoots manual focus all the time, why spend three times the price for an autofocus lens? 

Photo by Bram Kunnen

Back To Basics

Many of these lenses are sold at budget prices because they dispense with the advanced features of the manufacturer’s lenses. The most obvious of these is autofocus, many of the lowest priced third-party lenses are manual focus only. 
Another feature that is often cut down is the lenses ability to communicate with the camera body. Camera manufacturers often lock out some of the data that is communicated, meaning that third-party lenses do not get this information.
Things like optical stabilisation three-dimensional exposure and color data and other high-level technologies are often not present in third party lenses.
However, back to basics does not mean bargain basement. Because many of these lenses dispense with expensive extras, the main focus is on optical quality. Here many of these lenses shine and are comparable with their original manufacturer equivalents. 

Photo by ShareGrid

Exploiting Niches.

Large camera manufacturers are not geared up for relatively small production runs of lenses. It’s simply not cost effective to do so. As such look at the lens line up of pretty much any camera company and you will see strong similarities: professional, fast lenses, consumer lenses, telephoto and wide zooms and a smattering of primes. 
For many years photographer’s would buy into this lens ecosphere because there were little to no niche products or those that did exist were hideously expensive. Because many of these newer third-party manufacturers are smaller, they are leaner and can gear up to small production runs of niche products and still make a profit.
One of the prime examples of niche products that are selling well is cine lenses. High-quality video has been around in DSLRs for well over a decade now. Independent filmmakers soon recognised the power of these cameras. The large sensors, small size and low cost made them powerhouses for low budget movies. 

Photo by Voice + Video

Companies soon sprang up creating adapters that would allow cinematographers to attach their expensive cine lenses to DSLR bodies. However, the camera manufactures failed to capitalise on the expanding lower end of the video market with low-cost cine lenses. 
Companies like Samyang saw this niche and brought out lenses designed for filmmakers at very low prices. These lenses feature de-clicked aperture rings and much finer focusing control with a longer focus ring turn. 
Another niche that third-party companies have jumped into is ultra fast primes. Ultrafast was once the preserve of very wealthy or top end professional photographers. Apertures of less than f1.4 were virtually unheard of. Today however you can pick up a 10.5mm f0.95 lens for a little over a $1,000. For $700 you can get an 85mm f1.2, portrait lens. The equivalent original manufacturer lens is nearly $2,000. 
Budget ultra wide primes, perspective control and soft focus lenses such as Lensbaby are amongst the other niche products that are available for considerably less than their original equivalents. 

Photo by Neal Kharawala

What’s In Name

One thing that might confuse you as it did me for a while is the recognisable names from lens companies. Remember we mentioned Vivitar at the top? They are still around; they were bought out and rebranded themselves and are still producing lenses. I cannot comment on their quality these days.
Another very well known brand from history is Voigtländer. Although the company has long gone, the brand name is still in use today on lenses manufactured by Cosina
Other third-party companies have even stranger branding. Ever wondered why Samyang and Rokinon lenses look so alike? It’s because they are the same company. As is another name, Bower. The parent company is Samyang, a South Korean lens manufacturer who has been around since the 1970s. They are testing the other brand names to see which one suits a particular market. 
Because of this, sometimes, it seems like there are many more lens companies than in reality. With that said, however, there are still many more than we had a decade or so ago and that’s a good thing. 

There can be little denying that the rise of new third-party lens companies has benefited photographers. Some of the advantages are:

• High-quality optics for much less
• Ultrafast primes
• Cine lenses for budget lens prices
• Niche and novelty lenses for extra creativity.

It’s a great time to be a photographer. With such a plethora of budget options, we can pick out a niche lens and expand our creative repertoire. 
Let us know in the comments below what your favourite third-party lens is.

5 Tips for Shooting Waterfront Cityscapes at Blue Hour

By: Joey J

When you hear the term “cityscape photography,” what kind of image comes to your mind? It could be those photographed from elevated viewpoints or light trail of city traffic. To me, nothing beats the beauty of waterfront cityscapes – especially those photographed at blue hour.

Hong Kong skyline (18mm, f/10, 199 seconds, ISO100)

Gyeongbokgung Palace (Korea) (24mm, f/8, 30 seconds, ISO100);

Shanghai skyline (18mm, f/11, 164 seconds, ISO100).

In order to capture stunning waterfront cityscape photography, there are a few key points to get right.

Shooting Waterfront Cityscapes at Blue Hour

1. Good sky and light

Michael Freeman, the author of Capturing Light: The Heart of Photography, has this to say.

“In almost all photography it’s the quality of light that makes or breaks the shot.”

This is very true with waterfront cityscape photography as well. If you want your photo to look good, only shoot on a (mostly) clear evening (dark clouds are our nemesis!). The quality of light on sunny evenings is much nicer than that of cloudy evenings, which can be easily noticeable in the resulting photos.

2. Sunset direction

Over the years of shooting cityscapes at blue hour, I’ve come to realize one thing affects the results rather significantly – where the sun has set. If the sun has set towards the direction you’re shooting, you typically see beautiful twilight hues leftover from the fading sun, which makes your blue hour photos extra special.

Singapore skyline (18mm, f/5.6, 409 seconds, ISO100). The sun went down on the right edge of 

the frame, adding a beautiful gradient of colors ranging from reddish-orange to deep blue.

On the contrary, your cityscape photos at blue hour will look dull and monotonous if the sun sets behind you (i.e., you’re shooting towards the sky that is 180-degrees opposite of where the sun has set).
In such a scenario, the quality of light is inevitably affected. The sky lacks the beautiful hues you typically see in the sun-setting side of the sky. With the sky like that, your photos won’t get much better no matter how hard you try editing in post-production.

Shanghai (China) skyline (18mm, f/13, 163 seconds, ISO100). Despite shooting on a clear evening, 

the sky looks noticeably dull, as this is the sky that is 180-degrees opposite of where the sun 

went down (the sunset occurred behind me shooting).

 https://resources.digital-photography-school.com/ref/937/

3. Long exposure

What I particularly like about waterfront cityscapes is it lets me create silky smooth water effects by doing a long exposure. As seen in the photo below, such smoothed-out water adds a dreamy feel that is very distinctive to long exposure photography. It’s the very reason I fell in love with waterfront cityscapes.

Marina Bay (Singapore) (35mm, f/11, 194 seconds, ISO100).

By default, the limited available light at blue hour allows your shutter speed to naturally get longer, especially with the use of a small aperture like f/13. That said, without using a neutral density (ND) filter, the shutter speed probably won’t go beyond several seconds. This isn’t long enough to achieve a silky smooth water effect that you see in the photos above.

Marina Bay (Singapore) shot with 2 seconds of exposure (at f/13) without using any neutral 

density filter. This is way too short to a create silky smooth water effect.

If you don’t own an ND filter yet, get yourself one! There are different densities available (2, 3, 6 and 10-stops are popular), but I’ll recommend a 6-stop ND filter (especially if you’re only getting one), as it hits a sweet spot for photographers shooting waterfront cityscapes.
Let’s say that you get a base shutter speed (when no filter is attached) of 2 seconds, which is quite a typical scenario around 10 minutes before the end of dusk (check your local dusk time at gaisma.com).
As seen in the photo above, 2 seconds of exposure hardly smooths out the water, but by attaching 6-stop ND filter, the exposure gets extended to 128 seconds (2 minutes 8 seconds). Each “stop” of ND filter approximately doubles the exposure time (2 seconds > 4 seconds [1-stop] > 8 seconds [2-stops] > 15 seconds [3-stops] > 30 seconds [4-stops] > 64 seconds [5-stops] > 128 seconds [6-stops]), which is long enough to create silky smooth water effect.

Neutral density (ND) filters help extend shutter speed lengths by reducing light entering the 

camera lens.

I own 3 and 10-stop ND filters as well, but the 3-stop is too mild (2-second exposure can be extended to 15 seconds only) while 10-stops is way too strong (2-second exposure can be extended to a whopping 34 minutes, 8 seconds).
I have found 2 to 3 minutes of exposure is enough to create a silky smooth water effect. You could go longer like 5 to 6 minutes (I won’t go beyond 7 minutes, as long exposure noise starts to creep in), but it won’t change much beyond 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Reflections on water

Colorful reflections of city lights reflected on the water are one thing that gives your blue hour photos a “WOW” feeling. That said, this doesn’t always happen. Even when you shoot the same city view from the same spot for two evenings in a row, you may get completely different results when it comes to the clarity of reflections on the water.
To achieve good photographic results, like in the first photo below, the water has to be relatively still. If the water surface is rough, you hardly get any reflections (the second photo below). Unfortunately, this isn’t something we can control, so we need a bit of luck here.

Marina Bay (Singapore) (TOP: 18mm, f/13, 142 seconds, ISO100;

19mm, f/13, 162 seconds, ISO100).

5. Having thin clouds

While long exposure works best with water, it also works well with clouds, too. This might not be as important as other points above, but if the sky has some clouds, long exposure helps get them rushing across the sky. It adds interesting movement to your photos, as seen below.

Singapore skyline (18mm, f/10, 257 seconds, ISO100).

Alternatively, if you want a greater effect, try evenings with more clouds. That said, if too cloudy, your photos will look just flat and ugly (as the quality of light is severely affected) or might come out crazy like the photo below. I prefer a clear sky with no clouds or just a little bit of thin clouds.

Singapore skyline (20mm, f/5.6, 412 seconds, ISO100).

I hope these tips help you capture epic waterfront cityscape photos at blue hour! Looking back, my love for waterfront cityscapes comes from earlier days shooting sunny beachscapes, which was the primary reason I got into photography a decade ago.
Over the years, my interest has shifted from sunny daytime beachscapes to cityscapes at blue hour, but I’m still in love with water! I frequent cityscape photography spots located at the waterfront locally as well as on trips abroad.
Lastly, if you have any questions or info to share about shooting waterfront cityscapes at blue hour, feel free to do so in the comments below.

Share this article.

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Lens Review – A Perfectly Executed Prime Lens?

By: Adam Welch

I’ve evaluated and reviewed quite a few lenses over the years – twenty-three to be exact. Throughout those reviews, I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter many that were good, a few that were great, and an oh-so limited few that were absolutely magic. Yet, I can honestly say that I have never experienced the overwhelmingly universal praise and excited electricity surrounding a freshly released lens as I have witnessed with the new Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Di USD (for Canon, Nikon). This is the prime lens that is currently wowing the masses with its mind-bending sharpness and wide-open f/1.4 speed.

Ironically enough, this little beauty marks the 40th Anniversary of Tamron’s “Superior Performance” line of lenses. Tamron has specifically geared all of the glass in SP line towards meeting the needs of discerning professional photographers.
So, needless to say, whenever I get the chance to review any new SP lens from Tamron, I always feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Would the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 live up to the hype? Could it? I was incredibly curious to find out, and, of course, I want you to come along for the ride.

Out of the box

First things first; this is a gorgeous lens. It possesses a clean and simplistic style which in my experience has been the hallmark of virtually all of the modern SP line. The lens itself is a velvety deep satin black with white lettering and, of course, that signature metallic-colored ring finishes off the minimalist design.




There isn’t a lot to see here aside from the focusing ring (which is nicely rubberized), and the AF/MF switch. Oddly enough, the SP 35mm F/1.4 lacks the Vibration Control functionality which leaves quite a bit of open real estate on the lens body.

I say the absence of Tamron’s proprietary VC image stabilization is odd not because it will necessarily be missed on a lens of this focal length, but instead because it is present on the close cousin of this lens – Tamron’s 35mm F/1.8 Di VC USD (Canon, Nikon, Sony). The exclusion of VC on this 35mm could very well be a weight-saving measure to avoid making an already robust lens heavier. More on this in just a bit.
This lens includes generous moisture sealing throughout, which if you’ve read any of my other reviews of Tamron glass, you’ll know that I absolutely love. There’s just something extremely comforting about the physical presence of that rubber gasket at the rear of the lens.

Image courtesy of Tamron

It also comes with a very nice storage bag.

Overall, it’s safe to say that the look of the new SP 35mm lens impressed me right out of the gate.
Here’s the list of specifications for the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD courtesy of Tamron:

As you can see, this is not a feather-weight prime lens. The 35mm F/1.4 with the lens hood comes in weighing just shy of 2lbs(907g) on my home scales. That makes for a hearty setup when mounted on larger DSLR cameras.

With that said, the overall balance of the lens, when mated to a Canon 5D MK III, is remarkably pleasant. It’s not light, but it’s not overly bulky either. Take into account the fact that the lens houses 14 elements, and you become somewhat surprised that it doesn’t weigh more.

That lens hood though…

“But Adam…it’s only a lens hood. Do you really think it’s worth its own section?”
Yes, yes, I do.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand how trivial this may very well be, and it’s most certainly only my highly subjective…borderline neurotic…opinion.
Tamron has recently introduced a locking mechanism to some of its new lenses. This is the second time I’ve encounter this hooded curiosity from Tamron with the first being the 24-70mm F/2.8 Di VC USD G2 (Canon, Nikon).

In short, I’m conflicted. Of course, the goal of this feature is to keep your lens hood from accidentally popping off your camera. The issue I see with this is that such a static locking mechanism could possibly lead to a broken lens hood, or worse, breakage of the front mount of the lens barrel. Instead of the lens hood simply popping off, there could ultimately be a situation where “something’s gotta give” should a substantial impact occur. What’s more, the need to depress a button to remove the hood is just a little tedious. Then again, I must say the locking mechanism is finely executed and works quite well for its purpose. It’s a feature that I could come to enjoy, but for the time being, not so much.
Relax. I’m finished talking about the lens hood.

A fresh take on Autofocus

Newly introduced with the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 is a revamped mechanism that supposedly aids in more speedy and less noisy autofocusing. It’s called the Dynamic Rolling-Cam System.

Image courtesy of Tamron

Not only is that a pretty cool name but the Dynamic Rolling-cam System assists Tamron’s already capable Ultrasonic Silent Drive AF with moving that large f/1.4 focusing unit and is reported to make the entire AF experience of the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 much more reliable. I tested the AF with my Canon 5D MK III and my trusty Canon 7D Mk1. In both cases, the AF of the lens was quite snappy and accurate, even in low contrasted scenes. This lens also features a full-time manual focus override so that you can easily tweak focus manually while still in AF mode.

Performance and image quality

If you’ve heard anything about this lens already then you probably know it’s reported to be sharp – I mean scary sharp – with beautifully creamy bokeh and superb contrast. Well, it’s all true. So if you want to take my word for it, feel free to skip down to the sample images. If not, keep reading.

Sharpness

Yep. The Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 is exquisitely sharp even wide-open at f/1.4. The center is tack sharp with only a minuscule softening at the corners. At smaller apertures beyond f/2, this lens absolutely shines with virtually no vignetting past that aperture mark as well – virtually zero distortion. Also of note is that as you move toward f/16, there are majestically pronounced starbursts at point sources of light.

Color and Contrast

Colors pop wonderfully with this 35mm lens. Equally, the contrast is great, and I noticed no chromatic aberrations even at f/1.4. I wasn’t as overly impressed with this area of the lens as some have been, but it truly does produce some beautifully contrasted photos with perfectly adequate color separation. Tamron has also introduced the second generation of their BBAR element coating which is purported to reduce ghosting and flare greatly.
Here are a few sample images for your inspection. There have been no adjustments to sharpness, color (except WB) or contrast.

F/8

F/4.5

F/8

F/16

F/1.8

F/1.8

F/2.8

F/1.8

F/2.8

F/1.8

F/13

F/2.8

F/4.5

F/1.4

Final Thoughts on the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4…

What else can I say about the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 lens? Fortunately enough for both of us, the results from this lens happily speak for themselves. I’ll admit that going into this review I had already been bombarded with tales of its sharpness and high contrast, so the bar was set alarmingly high. So high in fact, that I was concerned that I would be let down by the performance of this lens once I actually used it. Banish all such thoughts!
The SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD from Tamron is a perfectly executed fast prime. It combines all the best attributes of fine glass and bundles them into a sleek looking package that performs fantastically. It’s a fast focusing beauty that would be right at home in the field or on the street.
The best part? It will set you back considerably less than some other lenses in its class. At the time of this review, the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 sells for $899US.
Have you used the Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 lens? Do you have any other “go-to” prime lenses that you absolutely love keeping in your bag? Let us know in the comments!

Share this article.