Nikon D500 Archive - Pixelfriedhof

My equipment and basic settings for wedding photography in churches

megaadmin — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 10:05:21 +0000

Of course, there is no magic formula for setting the camera, no matter what kind of photos you want to take. Neither is there any ultimate equipment for such jobs. This is also the case with the photography of weddings in churches. Motives and light conditions vary from shooting to shooting. Nevertheless, I usually move with my equipment in a certain setting range, or try to approach the location, motives and light from a certain value. Here I talk about equipment, camera settings and editing.

My photo equipment for weddings

I use the Nikon D500 with the Sigma 24-70mm F2,8 DG OS HSM Art lens as my main camera. In my opinion, the focal length range is ideal for weddings and the lens is sufficiently fast. It is a full frame lens, of which I only use the middle field of view because of the DX sensor. This has the positive side effect that the images are crisp right into the corners. And in this image field the autofocus also works absolutely perfectly.

Nikon D500 Gehäuse*

20,9 Megapixel CMOS-Sensor im DX-Format
Schnelles Autofokus-Messsystem mit 153 AF-Messfeldern

Special offer

Sigma 24-70mm F2,8 DG OS HSM Art Objektiv für Nikon F Objektivbajonett*

Eignet sich ideal für moderne hochauflösende Digitalkameras
Hyper-Sonic-Motor (HSM) für einen ultraschnellen Autofokus

As second camera I use the Nikon D7500 with the Sigma 18-35mm F1,8 DC HSM Art lens. The 18-35 is actually my favorite lens. With a maximum aperture of 1.8 it produces a beautiful bokeh and is extremely fast. The 18mm focal length is not only suitable for the portrait capabilities of the lens, but also for presenting architecture and churches in an appealing way.

Nikon D7500 Digital SLR im DX Format (20,9 MP, EXPEED 5-Prozessor, AF-System mit 51 Messfeldern, ISO 100-51.200, 4K UHD Video...*

20,9 MP DX-CMOS-Filter ohne optischen Tiefpassfilter; 180k-Pixel-RGB-Belichtungsmesssensor; Expeed 5-Bildprozessor; ISO-Empfindlichkeit...
8 Bilder pro Sekunde maximale Serienbildgeschwindigkeit; 51 AF-Messfelder mit 15 Kreuzsensoren und Messfeldgruppensteuerung

Special offer

Sigma 18-35mm F1,8 DC HSM Art Objektiv für Nikon F Objektivbajonett*

Lichtstarkes Standard-Zoom-Objektiv
Bequeme Handhabung durch Innenfokussierung

To keep both cameras close at hand and to be able to switch between them quickly and comfortably, I use a storage system with clip-in function. I love the Peak Design Capture Clip V3. Just screw the Capture Clip under the camera, attach the strap to the belt and we are ready to go. The nice thing about it: With the mounted plate, I can insert the cameras into an arca-compatible tripod head at any time without having to screw anything on or off.

Peak Design Capture Camera Clip V3 Schwarz, inkl. Standard Plate (CP-BK-3)*

Mit dem Capture Camera Clip muss deine Kamera nie wieder in die Tasche, sondern ist jederzeit in Reichweite für das perfekte Foto....
Vom Capture Clip lösen - und unmitelbar am Arca-Stativ einsetzen. Möglich dank der kompatiblen Schnellwechselplatte.

My basic settings for wedding photography in churches and similar buildings

As described above, there is no such thing as “the ultimate camera setting for wedding photography”. If you seriously believe this, you should refrain from the thought of working in this field. This means that the following settings only reflect a guideline value that has proven to be useful for me and my equipment in most locations. Adjustments to the values are almost always necessary, but as a starting point these are mostly worth gold.

Preparation is everything

If you have the possibility to enter the location before the actual event, you should familiarize yourself with the exact local conditions in advance and adjust your settings with regard to the available light and possible motifs. Remember that the lighting conditions can change depending on the time of day, the weather and the artificial lighting that can be switched on and off. Preparation is everything.

Depending on your chosen and available equipment there will of course also be deviations, this should be clear.

Basic camera settings for wedding photography in churches

Exposure time: 1/250 (I don’t use longer exposure times for human photography)

Aperture: F 2.8

ISO: 2000

Exposure compensation: +1/3 or +0.3. Images tend to be too dark rather than too bright, hence this manipulation.

Focus priority instead of trigger priority, as blurred images are of no use to me.

Exposure metering: center-weighted metering or rare matrix metering.

Recording format: RAW compressed (NEF for Nikon).

White balance: Automatic white balance. This usually works reliably and saves a lot of work during subsequent image processing. Should errors occur, I can correct them in the post-processing thanks to the RAW image.

Photo development and image processing

Some time ago I switched to the image development software and Lightroom alternative “Luminar” from Skylum. The available subscription options from Adobe for Lightroom and Photoshop were simply too expensive for me. I reported about it in this article.
What I particularly like about “Luminar” is the easy and fast application of image settings to other images. This simply saves time, because I don’t have to edit each image individually, but can “copy” the settings of one image to other images with similar motif placement and similar lighting conditions. This still needs to be fine-tuned, but this is the smallest part of the work.

What works really well is the integrated Accent AI technology, which automatically adjusts images using an AI. In my opinion, the results are not perfect, sometimes even artificial if you exaggerate the intensity of these functions, but they also save a lot of time. A feature I miss in Lightroom.

For later retouching and image manipulation I use the Photoshop alternative “Affinity Photo” by Serif.

Where can I buy Luminar and Affinity Photo?

If you want to support us, you can buy “Luminar 3” and their HDR software “Aurora 2019” via the following links, we get a small commission and you get a 15% discount:

Buy “Luminar 3” with 15% discount (Affiliate-Link)
Buy “Aurora 2019” with 15% discount (Affiliate-Link)
Buy Affinity Photo

Can I test Luminar and Affinity Photo for free as a demo?

If you want to try the software first, you can download a fully functional, but limited test version of the software from the following links:

“Luminar 3” as demo version (Affiliate-Link)
“Aurora 2019” as demo version (Affiliate-Link)
Affinity Photo as demo version

All the links in this text are Amazon Affiliate Links, and by clicking on an affiliate link I will earn a percentage of your subsequent Amazon purchases. However, this circumstance does not influence the background of my product recommendation. This product recommendation is independent, honest and sincere.

Bei allen genannten Links handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links. Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag My equipment and basic settings for wedding photography in churches erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Charging Nikon DSLR batteries in your car with 12V power

megaadmin — Wed, 22 May 2019 19:59:24 +0000

If you travel frequently by car or mobile home and also want to charge your batteries on the road, you may know the problem: Sometimes there is no 220V power supply at hand and the battery of the SLR remains empty.
After a long search, I have now found a charger that charges the batteries on the 12V on-board power supply, for example via the cigarette lighter.

I have been a fan of the third market batteries of “Blumax” for quite some time, as I report in this blog entry. The same manufacturer also offers a selection of chargers, one of them can also charge the batteries on the 12V car electrical system.

In the past, I have searched several times for possibilities to charge the batteries, such as the EN-EL15a or EN-EL15b mobile, but have always failed, because the tried chargers functioned unreliably. Now I have made another attempt and I am finally satisfied with my new 12V charger.

Blumax Akku kompatibel mit Nikon EN-EL15 [ 2040mAh ] + LCD Dual Charger EN-EL15c EN-EL15b EN-EL15a für D800 D850 D7200 D7500 Z8...*

ERSETZT FOLGENDE AKKUS: Nikon EN-EL15 / EN-EL15a / EN-EL15b / EN-EL15c
KOMPATIBEL MIT: Nikon Zf - Z8 - Z7 II - Z7 - Z6 II - Z6 - Z5 --- D500 - D600 - D610 - D750 - D780 - D800 - D800E - D810 - D810A - D850...

My new “Blumax” charger is not very light and space-saving (12.5cm X 11cm X 4cm at 284gr weight), but it can charge two of the above batteries at the same time.

The charger can charge the batteries either via the regular 220V power supply or the 12V car electrical system. The variety of the connection possibilities relativizes the bulky form and the high weight of the charger, as now I don’t have to carry the original chargers with me anymore. An output socket for USB power allows me furthermore to charge my power bank connected via USB.

The device has a digital display, which shows the state of charge of the batteries in percentages of 10 (10%, 20%, 30%, …, 100%). This display of the state of charge works reliably, the value actually corresponds to a large extent with the value determined by the camera. The devices I have tried so far could only do this very unreliably or not at all.

When charging the batteries, the user has the choice of whether they should be charged particularly quickly or with normal charging current. I myself always use the slow mode, because I think that the batteries are charged slower, but more gently. So I haven’t gained any experience with the fast mode yet.

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

I’m gonna do some advertising. I’ve been dealing with all kinds of image editing software for months, comparing a lot, testing a lot and finally choosing RAW developer and Lightroom alternative Luminar 3.

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Der Beitrag Charging Nikon DSLR batteries in your car with 12V power erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Nikon D500 4K Video Settings – Best practise explained step by step

megaadmin — Thu, 16 May 2019 19:01:26 +0000

In this manual I will explain the settings I use to record videos on the Nikon D500 and why I use these settings. So you can create clear video with high recording quality with your D500.

The complete manual as video

Reading’s not your style? Here you see all settings with explanation in the video.

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

Setting the Camera to M Mode

This mode gives us full control over both exposure time and aperture.

Choosing the right shutter speed

When creating videos, the shutter speed must always be set in proportion to the video material being made and its frame rate.
As exposure time I use 1/60, because I usually shoot videos later with 30 frames per second (30p), more about that later.
If you use other frame rates, like 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p or 24p, you have to adjust the shutter speed to the next suitable value. Here again the overview:

Framerate	Shutter speed
60p	1/125s, as there is no 1/120s
50p	1/100s
30p	1/60s
25p	1/50s
24p	1/50, as there is no 1/48s

Attention: Please also note the section “Flicker reduction” in this context.

Choosing the right aperture

Which aperture you choose is up to you, depending on how you want to present your motif. If you choose a lower aperture, the background of your motif will blur due to the shallow depth of field, making your motif more prominent.

With a higher aperture, the background of your motif is sharper due to the high depth of field and the entire image is characterized by a high depth of detail due to continuous sharpness.
Note that if you choose a higher aperture, the image itself becomes darker, and if you choose a lower aperture, the image becomes brighter.

The only important thing at this point is that we have control over the aperture, because we use the M mode of our camera to do this. If we were to let the camera control the aperture in A mode, the camera would change the aperture depending on the light situation while shooting and we would take a shot with varying depth of field and brightness all the time. Not only does this look unprofessional, it’s also really annoying for the viewer.

Movie Shooting Menu Settings

For all the following settings, we switch to the movie recording menu. The settings stored there only take effect when we operate the camera in movie mode. I don’t proceed here in the order of the menu entries, as for example some settings are already adjusted automatically by the selection of the resolution and frame rate and we don’t have to deal with them anymore.

Choosing the correct frame size/frame rate

I make my own video recordings in 4k with 30 frames per second.
At 30 frames per second, movements in the picture look most natural and smooth, and 60p shots of action cams can be integrated very easily, for example to create slow-motion functions.

Therefore, I first select the setting “3840 x 2160; 30p” in the film recording menu under “Frame size/frame rate”.
With these settings, the “Choose image area” is changed to “DX” by default, the movie quality is thus automatically set to “High” and the digital VR is off, so we don’t need to deal with these menu items anymore.

Note: To be honest, nobody buys a Nikon D500 or D7500 to make bad videos, I myself never understood why there is the possibility to set the movie quality to “Low” at all.

ISO sensitivity settings

Now you can decide how you want to proceed and whether you want to make the ISO settings manually or automatically. In the menu entry “IOS Sensitivity Settings” you can select if the automatic should be used in the field “Auto ISO control (Mode M)”.

• If you are recording a video in an environment where the lighting conditions in the subject will not change, you can manually adjust the ISO settings and then leave them at the correct value.
• If you have to assume that lighting conditions will change during shooting, for example because a person moves in the picture and their illumination varies, use the ISO automatic.
• If you are simply lazy, regardless of the ambient light conditions, you also use the ISO automatic. Seriously, ISO auto works reliably and doesn’t cause any image distortion if the ISO number changes during shooting. Actually, you can use the ISO automatic with a clear conscience.

There is one thing that needs to be considered with regard to the ISO automatic. Set the “Maximum sensitivity” value to “10,000”. Above this value, the image quality can suffer from noise and color noise, so we only allow the ISO automatic to operate up to this value.

White balance

Almost the same applies here as with the ISO automatic.
Actually, the automatic white balance is sufficiently reliable. I use it in 90% of all shots.

Picture Control

Here I select the setting “FL Flat”.
This preserves details over a wide range of tonal values, which maximizes the optimization potential in later post-processing, i.e. you can get the most out of this profile afterwards.

Active D-Lighting

Off. I don’t want the camera to manipulate the image independently.

High ISO NR

Here we leave the default value “Normal” set.

Flicker reduction

The flicker reduction is intended to avoid flickering in the image, which can be caused by artificial lighting. Depending on the frequency at which the local power grid operates (50Hz in Germany), some light sources tend to emitt the normal fluctuations in the power grid, so that you will notice them when recording video at that light.

The automatic flicker reduction delivers good results. Sometimes, however, it also fails, this can happen in very bright environments, for example.
To counteract this, you can take the following measures:

Manual setting of the flicker reduction to 50Hz or 60Hz, depending on which setting gives the best result.
If the flicker reduction is not enough, you may need to adjust the shutter speed, even if this would violate the above recommended shutter speeds.
o1/125s, 1/60s or 1/30s at 60Hz power grid
o 1/100s, 1/50s or 1/25s at 50Hz power grid

Microphone sensitivity

When I use the built-in microphone of the D500, I use the automatic level.
If I use an external microphone such as my Zoom H2n, I manually level the microphone input.
You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Frequency response

Here you can choose between “Wide” and “Voice”. I personally don’t like the sound of the “Voice” setting in speech at all and therefore use the much more natural sounding “Wide” frequency response, no matter if I record with the built-in microphone of the D500 or my Zoom H2n as an external microphone. You can find more details about external microphones in this blog post “Zoom H2n as an external microphone on the DSLR”.

Wind noise reduction

The wind noise reduction settings only work when we use the D500’s built-in microphone.

If I record in locked, windless rooms, I switch off wind noise reduction as a potential source of error.
If I record outside with the built-in microphone, I activate wind noise reduction.

Which memory card is suitable for 4k video?

So that your camera can pack even high data rates quickly on the memory card, you should rely on a correspondingly fast SD or XQD card.
You don’t have to buy the expensive XQD cards, even a fast SDXC card is sufficient.

I myself use the following card:

SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SDXC Memory Card up to 170MB/s, UHS-1, Class 10, U3, V30*

Professionelle Leistung für schnelle Aufnahmen und 4K UHD Videos mit der SanDisk Speicherkarte; Im Lieferumfang inbegriffen ist die...
Dank der schnellen Übertragung von bis zu 170 MB/s warten Sie nicht mehr lange, während Ihre Bilder und Videos auf Ihre SD Karte oder...

Record video – what do I have to do?

Now it’s getting easy. At the bottom right of the display you will find a toggle switch with a photo and a video symbol. Toggles this switch so that the video mode is active. Now switch on Live-View and you will see the camera’s field of view in 4K mode on the display. By pressing the red “Record” button on the left under the release button, you start and stop the recording.

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Der Beitrag Nikon D500 4K Video Settings – Best practise explained step by step erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Nikon D500 after firmware update 1.20 with fully functional WiFi

megaadmin — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 18:22:29 +0000

Nikon has released the firmware update of version 1.20.

After installing the update on my camera, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Apparently Nikon finally gave the D500 the long-awaited open Wi-Fi, with which now also connections to other devices than only the SnapBridge app are possible.

In the release notes of the 1.20 firmware update, however, there are no references to this change, only support for the SnapBridge app is mentioned here:

But in fact, after the camera has been updated to the new firmware, we can find the data of the WLAN network that the D500 is using in the menu under “System” “Wi-Fi” “Establish Wi-Fi connection”. With this data, we can now dial into the camera’s network using a PC, Mac or mobile device and then remotely control it using any software such as “qdslrdashboard” or “ControlMyCamera”.

The new firmware 1.20 is available at this link: https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/323.html

Neewer 2er Pack 750II TTL Blitz Speedlite Kit mit 2.4G Wireless Trigger und Diffusor, Kompatibel mit Nikon DSLR DSLR D850 D810...*

BLITZMODI: High Guide Nr. 58 (ISO 100, 180mm), Unterstützt TTL, Manuell, Multi, S1-, S2-Modus, Wiederaufladezeit: ca. 3,5s, Drehung um...
KOMPATIBILITÄT: Kompatibel mit Nikon D810 D800 D750 D700 D7500 D7200 D7100 D7000 D610 D600 D500 D5500 D5300 D5200 D5100 D5000 D3300...

See the new Wi-Fi functions in a video:

Ihre Daten werden erst beim Abspielen des Youtube-Videos an den Dienst übermittelt. Your data will only be transmitted to the service when you play the Youtube video.

Further links to software for remote controlling your D500

https://dslrdashboard.info

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/controlmycamera/id1444319448?mt=8

Beschoi Fotorucksack wasserdicht Kameratasche Kamerarucksack mit Laptopfach für Canon Sony Nikon Olympus SLR/DSLR Kamera,...*

Dieser Kamera Rucksack geeignet für DSLR Kamera mit aufgesetztem Objektiv bis 320mm, 4-6 weitere Objektive, Blitzgerät, Zubehör, 14...
Außenmaße: 44cm*28cm*14cm; Innenmaße: 41cm*27cm*13.5cm. Robust und wasserabweisend, zweifarbiges Nylon-Material

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Der Beitrag Nikon D500 after firmware update 1.20 with fully functional WiFi erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Replacement battery EN-EL15a and EN-EL15b for Nikon cameras from third market – finally no crap

megaadmin — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 17:26:38 +0000

Since buying my very first Nikon camera in 2005, I have tried some replacement batteries from the third market. To be honest, I should have always saved the money for the alternative products and instead I should have used original Nikon batteries. After a long time I tried again and was positively surprised.

In December 2017 I ordered two replacement batteries for the Nikon lithium ion battery EN-EL15a of my D500 from Amazon. It was an alternative product to the original Nikon batteries.
I had had very bad experiences with third market batteries before and wanted to try it one last time.

As of today, I have been using Blumax alternative batteries for a little more than 1 1/4 years and still can’t find any bad characteristics on the batteries.
In contrast to my previous experience with alternative batteries, there is no memory effect, no unpredictable switching off of the cameras, no excessive heating, and a consistently normal charging behavior.

For the first time I can now recommend a third market battery for Nikon DSLRs to my readers, which only costs about a third of the original battery, but is in no way inferior to it.

Replacement battery for Nikon EN-EL15a for cameras D850, D7500, D750, D810, D810A, D610, D7100, D7200, D600, D800, D800E, D7000, D500, Nikon 1

Blumax Akku kompatibel mit Nikon EN-EL15 |- 2040mAh -| EN-EL15c EN-EL15b EN-EL15a für /- Z8 Z7 II Z6 II Z5 Zf -/ D500 D800 D850...*

ERSETZT FOLGENDE AKKUS: Nikon EN-EL15 / EN-EL15a / EN-EL15b / EN-EL15c
KOMPATIBEL MIT: Nikon Zf - Z8 - Z7 II - Z7 - Z6 II - Z6 - Z5 --- D500 - D600 - D610 - D750 - D780 - D800 - D800E - D810 - D810A - D850...

Comparison of the original Nikon battery EN-EL15a

Nikon ENEL15a wiederaufladbarer Li-Ion Akku, schwarz (en-el15 a)*

kompatibel mit Nikon D700 D7100, D7200 und D7500
kompatibel mit Nikon D800, D800E, D810 und d810 a

Replacement battery for Nikon EN-EL15b for cameras Z6, Z7, D7000, D7100, D7200, D600, D610, D750, D800, D800E, D810, Nikon 1

Blumax Akku kompatibel mit Nikon EN-EL15b |- 2040mAh -| EN-EL15c EN-EL15a EN-EL15 für /- Z8 Z7 II Z6 II Z5 Zf -/ D500 D800 D850...*

ERSETZT FOLGENDE AKKUS: Nikon EN-EL15 / EN-EL15a / EN-EL15b / EN-EL15c
KOMPATIBEL MIT: Nikon Zf - Z8 - Z7 II - Z7 - Z6 II - Z6 - Z5 --- D500 - D600 - D610 - D750 - D780 - D800 - D800E - D810 - D810A - D850...

Comparison of the original Nikon battery EN-EL15b

Special offer

Nikon EN-EL15b Wiederaufladbarer Akku*

Kann in den Kameras Z 7, Z 6II, Z 6 und Z 5 mit EH-7P und UC-E24 geladen werden
Kompatibel mit Hybriden Z 7, Z 6 (und Version II)

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Der Beitrag Replacement battery EN-EL15a and EN-EL15b for Nikon cameras from third market – finally no crap erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Nikon D5, D850, D500, Z6 and Z7 get support for CFexpress memory cards

megaadmin — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 20:40:38 +0000

With a press release from 14.02.2019 Nikon quietly and secretly announces a firmware update, with which the cameras D5, D850, D500, Z6 and Z7 can also be operated with CFexpress memory cards.

The slot for XQD cards built into the cameras is identical in construction to that of the CFexpress format. The new supported format gives photographers the possibility to use the much faster CFexpress memory cards compared to the XQD card as soon as the first CFexpress cards will be available in early summer 2019. The new CFexpress format should not be confused with the old Compact Flash cards – they have nothing to do with each other, even if the abbreviation “CF” suggests a similarity.

According to a Sony press release, the CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link) are characterized by extreme robustness:

withstands a force of 70 Newton
temperature-resistant
insensitive to X-rays
antistatic
integrated UV protection

I myself did not use the XQD memory card slot of the D500 as a backup slot in the past because the price of the XQD cards was too expensive for me. I don’t have much hope that the new CFexpress cards will be cheaper than the XQD cards. After all, the new CFexpress cards are a bit more expensive than the XQD cards in terms of speed, and the manufacturers will certainly have to pay for that. In addition, the cards will only be available with 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB capacity, the inexpensive 64GB variant should be omitted at least at Sony.

Update January 2020: SanDisk, my favorite SD-Card manufacturer, has published CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link) with 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB as well. These will be my choice, take a look at them here: San Disk CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link)

There’s still one small glimmer of hope: Maybe the “old” XQD cards will become cheaper after the launch of the CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link).

Comparison of speeds

The CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link) achieve a significantly higher write and read performance than the XQD cards. A comparison with my previously preferred SD card shows the speed advantage particularly clearly. For comparison a fast, “old” Compact Flash card again.
If you don’t want to record 4K videos with 60fps (which the above mentioned cameras can’t do), you probably won’t use the maximum possible write rate of the XQD card or the CFexpress cards (Amazon Affiliate Link).

SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SD Card: 170 MB/s Read, 90 MB/s Write
Compact Flash SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB: 160 MB/s read, 150 MB/s write (just for comparison, has nothing in common with CFexpress)
Sony Professional XQD G-Series 64 GB: 440 MB/s Read, 400 MB/s Write
Sony CFexpress Type B Tough 128 GB: 1700 MB/s Reading, 1480 MB/s Writing

Availability of the new firmware

When the update will be released is still unclear, more information can be found in the original Nikon press release:
https://www.nikon.de/de_DE/news-press/press.tag/news/firmwareupdate_zseries_14022019.dcr

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

Have a look and try the free trial version. Just click on the banner:

Der Beitrag Nikon D5, D850, D500, Z6 and Z7 get support for CFexpress memory cards erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Affinity Photo: Create Focus Stacking Merge from HDR images

megaadmin — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 22:59:43 +0000

I love Affinity Photos features to create HDR shots and focus stacks. These two functions let us create beautiful images.
So far I’ve always had to choose one or the other kind of image editing, but can’t we also create an image that consists of both HDR and Focus Stacking? Yes we can.

What is HDR, what is Focus Stacking?

If you know what HDR and Focus-Stacking is, you can skip this paragraph. For everyone else, here is a rudimentary explanation:

HDR photos are characterized by a high level of detail. Normally I take 5 or at least 3 pictures of the same subject for an HDR image. For simplicity’s sake we assume three pictures.
By using different exposure settings of the camera I take three pictures:

First shot overexposed: Dark areas of the subject are taken clearly visible, bright and normal areas are overexposed.
Second shot normally exposed: Center areas of the subject are clearly visible, bright and dark areas are overexposed or underexposed.
Third shot underexposed: Bright areas of the subject are clearly visible, dark and normal areas are underexposed.

The three photos I took are now combined to one picture in the HDR workflow. Thereby I reject the overexposed and underexposed areas and only assemble my picture from the well taken components.
Thus I get perfect visibility of all details, no matter if in a dark, normal or light area of the motive. If I want to capture the details even more granularly, I even take 5 shots with different exposures instead of our exemplary 3 shots.

Focus Stacking also describes a workflow in which I combine several images into one image. But this time it’s not about details, but about the sharpness of the subject.

I take three pictures by changing the focus on the lens:

First shot with focus on objects close to the camera (almost at the close-up limit of the lens).
Second shot with focus on objects in the medium distance range from the camera (50% of the focus bandwidth)
Third shot with focus on objects far away from the camera (near infinity range of the lens).

From these three shots, we only combine the sharp areas to form a new image. The result is an image which is characterized by enormous sharpness in all areas. There are no more blurred areas, no bokeh.
If I want to capture the different focus areas even more granularly, I even take 5 shots with different focus instead of our exemplary 3 shots.

HDR and Focus Stacking – Taking the photographs

First we set the camera for HDR: RAW image, middle aperture, usually 8, mirror lock up active, ISO value static, 3 (or 5) bracketing row with step size 1 active).
Under this link you will find an example video of the Nikon D500 setting for HDR recordings with bracketing, if you are not so familiar with the topic yet.

Of course we make all following recordings with the tripod.

Shooting the first HDR exposure series with focus on close-up range
Shooting of the second HDR exposure series with focus on medium distance range
Shooting the third HDR bracket with focus on the area far away from the camera.

It is important that no settings are changed on the camera during the above shots, not even by the camera’s built-in auto modes. Only the focus may be changed.

HDR and Focus Stacking in the Affinity Photo Workflow – The Order Makes the Difference

First we create the respective HDR combinations from the three created recordings (New HDR combination in the menu). We should avoid excessive light edges.
We start with the HDR series with the middle focus. When we have finished assigning the tone values, we save all our development settings as presets.
Now we save the finished image as a .afphoto file. We save it as 8-bit, better as 16-bit image.

After editing the first row, we take the close and wide row. When developing the images, we simply call up the previously saved preset and do not change anything else.
We also save the images of the wide and close focusing as .afphoto files.

That’s it with HDR. Now we can dedicate ourselves to the Focus Stacking.
We now load these three created .afphoto-images into the Focus Merging Stack in the File / Focus Stacking menu to merge them into one Focus Stack.

The result is a focus merge from three HDR sources. In the ideal case high detail fidelity and sharpness in all image areas.

Der Beitrag Affinity Photo: Create Focus Stacking Merge from HDR images erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Set up Nikon D500 for bracketed exposure series for HDR

megaadmin — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 14:46:39 +0000

In this video I’ll show you how to set up the Nikon D500 to create an exposure bracket for HDR shots. We store all HDR-specific settings in a separate user setting under the photo and individual settings, so that we can quickly switch between normal workflow and HDR workflow.

Nikon D500 kaufen -> http://amzn.to/2zYOcVR (Amazon Affiliate-Link)

Here is the video showing the correct settings:

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And here again the menu settings in text form:

Selecting the correct operating mode

First of all we make sure that we operate the camera in mode “A“.

Photo Shooting -> Create new photo shooting menu bank for HDR

Photo Shooting Settings

Change Storage folder name to HDRD5 for example – (so we have our own directory for HDR photos)
Change file naming to HDR for example – (so we can distinguish HDR-photos already at the filename from “regular” photos)
Picture Quality RAW
Imagesize L
NEF RAW, lossless compression with 14-bit
ISO-Auto OFF, start at 100
White balance Cloudy
Active D-Lighting OFF
Noise Reduction with Long Time Exposure OFF
Vignetting Correction OFF
Auto distortion control OFF
flicker reduction OFF
Auto bracketing set AE

Custom settings -> Create new custom settings bank for HDR

Custom configuration settings

C – Timers/AE lock -> C3 Self-timer -> Self-timer delay 2
C – Timers/AE lock -> C3 Self-timer -> Number of shots = 5
Interval between shots 0.5 seconds

Enable exposure bracketing before shooting

Hold down the BKT button and use the rear dial to set 5F for exposure bracketing with 5 levels. 1.0 select for whole step size.

Switch to self-timer, and take pictures. Now 5 shots are taken automatically within the configured exposure bracket with a lead time of 2 seconds.

After the end of the HDR shooting

Photo capture configuration back to standard configuration
Individual configuration back to standard configuration
Hold down the BKT button and use the rear mode dial to set 0F for deactivated bracketing.

How to develop the HDR photo / Which Software to use

As a software for HDR merging I use Aurora HDR 2019.
You can get yourself a free trial by clicking this link: https://skylum.grsm.io/ENAuroraYT

My first choice as a Lightroom alternative

Have a look and try the free trial version. Just click on the banner:

Bei allen genannten Links in der Videobeschreibung handelt es sich um Amazon-Affiliate-Links.Durch einen Klick auf einen Affiliate-Link werde ich prozentual an Euren darauf folgenden Amazon-Einkäufen beteiligt. Dieser Umstand beeinflusst aber nicht die Hintergründe meiner Produktempfehlung. Diese Produktempfehlung erfolgt unabhängig, ehrlich und aufrichtig.

Der Beitrag Set up Nikon D500 for bracketed exposure series for HDR erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.