Journal /

I have been using 28mm Nikon f/2.8D lens for well over a year now. I would call it my work horse lens. It’s a f/2.8D, Standard 74° picture angle, with great colour and bokeh. I have taken this lens to the streets. I have been in situations where rain was falling in great amounts, and it survived. I have dropped my camera with this lens attached—the filter broke, but the lens pristine. It has a 52mm filter diameter, and it does great for wide angle shots.

I use this lens when I know that I am going to be in unpredictable surroundings or where I need options. I used this lens actually for my poverty collection. In the photography world you will meet photographers who prefer primes, then you’ll meet some who prefer zoom lenses with multiple focal lengths. I myself have greater comfort with prime lenses. It brings out the creative side of me. You have one focal length, and that is 28mm. You can either step forward or step backward—take your shot. You can increase your f/stop or lower it for your depth of field, or for a beautiful bokeh.

One hard decision to make was whether to get the 24mm, or the 20mm Nikkor. I personally believe that it doesn’t make to much of a difference. I have taken photos with a 24mm, and don’t feel as if im missing the 4mm focal length difference. As far as buying after-market lenses, I only buy Nikon lenses. I came to this conclusion after seeing the differences in chromatic aberration in after-market lenses like Sigma, and the others and then comparing them to Nikon prime lenses. The only brand that seems comparable is the Tokina glass. I won’t even buy cheap Nikon lenses. From what I know and have tested, if you buy a prime lens or a “gold-tip” your sure to get crisp images.

Bokeh is the only type of blur that I really accept. It is so aesthetic and inspiring. Some bokeh can be distracting, and some can be good. I believe that the 28mm generates a good amount of bokeh. The shape of the 28mm’s aperture is one of the great influences to the bokeh generation in this lens. Bokeh is generated from the out-of-focus points in the background.

When this lens is stopped down to the smallest aperture it would generate disc similar to the shape of the circular or polygonal aperture. Bokeh is also gracefully evident in the 50mm f/1.8D Nikkor in which the disc seem to be a bit larger. I have heard that some have been able to change the shape of there bokeh into a star, or heart, or any shape imagined. Pretty creative stuff.

I have been using the Fujinon S2 Pro for about 2.5 years now, and must say that even though it’s an old camera, it’s a work horse. My first SLR was a Nikon N8008s, which was Nikons first AF camera with a built in AF motor. The nice thing about the Fuji cameras is they make the trade off with Nikon’s old film bodies and make stellar Digital SLR’s with amazing CCD’s, in Fuji’s terms Super CCD.

Fuji is famous for there hexagonal pattern CCD which has received great reviews from people like me, and wedding photographers for it’s dynamic range in comparison to conventional SLR CCD’s. Now that most newer cameras are walking in the pathway of CMOS, I still like my Super CCD camera. In my experience I have taken photos with this camera that I though were horrible, and started tweaking the RAW in Adobe, and it’s amazing how much detail this CCD can capture! Things that I thought were destroyed from the over exposure, were brought back with a few tweaks. Concerning resolution I think the JPEG qualtiy is pretty bad. If you ever use this camera your best bet is to just shoot RAW. I did a quality test with my 80-200mm/2.8 rocket, shooting at full focal length and compared a 12 mp JPEG to a 6 mp RAW image, and the 6 mp won by a long run. This camera has produced some razor sharp images. All the pictures in my photo gallery were taken with this camera with the exception of a few with my iPhone. See if you can tell which ones were taken with the iPhone!

As far as durability is concerned, this camera is superb. I have dropped it twice on aluminum in a trolly, and a brick road, and it rolled like a brick. The only major causality I had was the destruction of a filter on my 50mm that cracked, but other than that the camera and of course all Nikkor lenses just live on. My most vigorous test was when I was using it for wildlife photography up in the mountains of Tennessee. It was raining very consistently, and the rain had touched every button on my S2. That convinced me that my next camera will either be a Fuji S6 Pro, S7 Pro, or a Nikon body of some sort. I really like the Nikon D3s. That might be my next camera since I’m so used to large SLR bodies now.

Now concerning the battle between Nikon and Canon, I like Nikon since I started with Nikon. Hence the reason I ventured to Fujinon since it works with Nikon lenses. I did this just in case I switch back to Nikon. I like the ergonomic feel of the Nikon which was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. So it has the Euro-simplistic touch. Each button feels as if it was placed for a purpose for efficiency, speed, and comfort. I have held a Canon, and since im so used to Nikon, my hands feel a little weird turning the large dial on the back of the Canon body. I will say that Canon makes a good camera, and in some cases it all depends on where you first started. I know of some who switched from Nikon to Canon, which is great! Canon takes superb pictures. In some photos with a trained eye you can almost tell whether a photo was taken with Canon or Nikon. I do like Canon’s glass and speed, but I probably will not switch to Canon anytime soon. I will recommend a Canon, just as well as I would Nikon.

As far as accessories currently I have 3 lenses with a nice wish list. I have a 80-200mm/2.8, a 50mm/1.8, and a 28mm/2.8. I have made an oath to only buy Nikkor lenses, that are either prime or have a diameter of 72mm or more. I call it the “gold tip” lenses. Anything below that in Nikons line in my experience doesn’t do to well, even there most talked about 18-2000mm/3.5-5.6 I believe is bad on chromatic aberration. A good rule of thumb to follow is the aperture. If the smallest aperture is more than 2.8 it’s probably not there best glass unless it’s a 400mm or 600mm Nikkor, or there other rocket lenses. I also have a SB-600, a Stroboframe, with a SB-16 flash chord, and a im2600 Storm Case to house everything. Not to many bell’s and whistle’s. Just the basics will even do. If all you have is a Nikon D60 with a 50mm/1.8 or 1.4 you can make some awesome pictures that will sell. A key that I always follow is “fill the frame.” That rule won’t apply for everything, but when starting out I followed that principle. As you grow in your photo profession you will see the beauty of simplicity, open space and composition. Try looking into the golden ratio. Your sure to be inspired. Keep it up and don’t get discouraged!

Resources for Fujinon S2 Pro
1. DP Review – Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro Review
2. Google Product Review – Fujifilm S2 Pro
3. Wikipedia – Fujifilm S2 Pro

Aman L. Anderson

Dockers recently has been looked down upon by many at large. Honestly I like the design. Im still trying to figure out what font they used. But the ad you see above is a new campaign for the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 to show that men need to step to the plate, having no turkey uncarved. They have recently been attacked by the gay communities. And amazingly the V.P. of Global Marketing for Dockers, Jennifer Sey, believes the world needs this type of advertising. The weird thing is she’s a woman, and the media is claiming that the ad’s are sexist. Interesting. Heres what it says;

“Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.”
-Dockers www.dockers.com

Read more from the New York Times about the Dockers Ad: New Dockers Ad Campaign for Soft Khakis brings Charges of Sexism