Photography Etiquette

Just read a couple of articles regarding the infamous “Geisha paparazzi” in Kyoto. (original articles here on CNN and Petapixel).

It sounds sad, and, if I may also add, makes one look really desperate when trying to flock these ladies just to get a few snaps to share on your social media.

Looking at the video embedded in the Petapixel article, it just looks as though a group of photographers are waiting for a parade to pass by in a theme park. No, these are not cast characters - these are just regular people on their way to work, and should be given at least the decency of their own privacy and space.

You can argue that the streets are public and laws do allow general photography on public spaces. You can argue that as long as no trespassing of private properties or any physical contact is done there are no laws broken. You can argue that these ladies chose to walk the path of a Geisha and having their shots taken should not come as a surprise.

The arguments are definitely sound, but I just hope there is still some sense of etiquette, or at the very least, human decency, to not cause any distress to the ladies or commotion in the streets.

Just really disheartened to read about this news, and it would be unfortunate for everyone if new laws and rules were to be enacted that eradicated all forms of photography in that area.

While this is just one example, it seems like such behavior has become more rampant recently in various places.

I am not advocating everyone to stop shooting or dismiss street photography entirely, but just, please shoot while being considerate and respectful to your subjects and surroundings.

Nextorage NX-B2PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type-B Cards Announced

Just read that earlier today Nextorage has announced their CFexpress 4.0 Type-B cards, the NX-B2PRO.

According to the official page, the NX-B2PRO comes in 4 capacities, and while all of them are VPG400 certified, they do have slightly varying max speeds and sustained speeds:

• 165GB : Max Read 3,900 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s

• 330GB : Max Read 3,900 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s

• 660GB : Max Read 3,700 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s

• 1330GB : Max Read 3,700 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,200 MB/s

CFexpress 4.0 specifications doubles the theoretical bandwidth of current CFexpress 2.0 cards (actual press release of CFe 4.0 here; you can read my write-up on it here), and while none of the current camera bodies are capable of using CFe 4.0 speeds in them, the standard being backwards compatible means that it does make sense to purchase a CFe 4.0 card for future proofing.

I have had very good experience with Nextorage cards so far, and their customer support was efficient and helpful when I contacted them prior to my first purchase with them to learn more about the cards, so I definitely am glad that they are one of the first few to have CFe 4.0 cards ready and available.

With this release, they now have a simple to understand line-up for CFe-B cards:

• B1SE - Standard CFe cards with decent max speeds, but low minimum sustained write speeds (discontinued)

• B2SE - Successor to B1SE; standard CFe cards with improved max write speeds and minimum sustained write speeds

• B1PRO - High performance pSLC CFe 2.0 cards with high max speeds and high minimum sustained write speeds.

• B2PRO - High performance pSLC CFe 4.0 cards with high max speeds and high minimum sustained write speeds.

B2SE cards do offer a really good cost performance per GB if you do not require high speeds for video or high fps shooting, and definitely would recommend them (especially the 512GB version) for anyone looking for a high capacity card that is plenty fast.

The B1PRO is a great card to use with the Z8 (and I would assume the Z9 too), as even shooting in moderate bursts at high FPS in lossless compressed RAWs, the buffer does not stutter and remains responsive throughout its operations. It also remains relatively cool throughout - both during shooting and when offloading from the reader to the PC.

The B2PRO with higher speed ratings, almost double in fact, means that using them in current equipment now should make them run much cooler than the B1PRO since the speeds are way below their theoretical threshold.

Which brings me to wonder the following:

• Will there be a B3SE based on CFe 4.0 standards too? This could be a good way to get high speed high capacity cards with good cost/GB ratio.

• Will future Z cameras come with a CFe-B primary slot, and a SD+CFe-A hybrid secondary slot? If CFe-A slots run at CFe 4.0 specifications it would be performing at current CFe-B speeds now, so not much compromise on speeds need to be made.

Anyway definitely looking forward to reading B2PRO’s reviews, and keeping my eyes on it when it is time to replace or add more cards to my kit.

What Happened to Crumpler Products in Japan?

Just really curious about what happened to Crumpler products in Japan.

I own several Crumpler bags, from simple messenger bags that I used when I was in college, to camera bags and laptop bags that I still use now.

One of the ones that I still use frequently now is the Flying Duck Sling 4000 bag, as it is a very lightweight bag yet provides adequate protection, on top of being the perfect size for my kit when I need to go compact.

If I remembered correctly they used to have a flagship store here in Tokyo, but during COVID I guessed the dealership contract with the official distributor here in Japan ended and was not renewed, so the flagship store is gone and most, if not all, products have been pulled from shops and retailers.

It’s really quite disappointing as I do really like their products for their practicality and toughness, and their camera-oriented products have always been well-regarded and are reasonably priced as well.

I do sincerely hope their products will make their way back here again soon.

Detailed List of Nikon Lens Hoods

I would like to share this useful information on older Nikon lens hoods.

A list of Nikon lens hoods, originally compiled by Rick Housh, and further maintained by Ed van de Zilver currently, consists of very in depth information about the lens hoods made specifically for the older Nikon lenses.

The list can be accessed directly on Ed van de Zilver’s website here.

[Update 28/03/2025: The page on Ed van de Zilver’s site seems to have gone down for several months now, and since I had gotten prior permission from him, I have reproduced his list on my page here. If anyone knows how I can contact him again please let me know.]

While it does not cover the more current bayonet hoods (HB- prefix hoods), which anyway is very specific in shape and size to their respective lenses, it is a useful reference to know which lens hoods to get for older manual focus or AF-D lenses.

The list also goes one step further and includes two extra information, which is extremely handy to know - the diameter of the front of the lens hoods, and the depth of the lens hood.

I say this because most of the older lens hoods now are now out of production, and may be hard to find even on the used market.

So if you look for after-market third party generic lens hoods, knowing the original front diameter and depth of the lens hood can give a good estimation on whether a generic lens hood would cause vignetting on your lens.

** Side note: Just in case you are wondering what the prefixes of Nikon lens hoods mean:

• HN- : Screw-in Lens Hood (nejikomi)

• HS- : Snap-on Lens Hood

• HR- : Rubber Lens Hood

• HK- : Slip-on Lens Hood (kabuse)

• HB- : Bayonet Lens Hood

Update on Brother’s PICOCHARGE Service

Got a reply from Brother earlier today regarding some of my questions about their new PICOCHARGE service which was announced earlier last week.

Here’s a summary of my questions and the response from them:

• Do the pre-paid allocation expire after a certain time?

  • No. Any pre-paid print allocation can be used any time after purchase without an expiry or duration limit.

• Are replacement ink cartridges free, or only shipping costs for the ink cartridges are free?

  • Replacement ink cartridges are free and included in the pre-paid print allocation. This is a new model that we are creating so that instead of having to purchase ink every time it runs out, customers purchase print allocation instead and we will provide the necessary support. Strictly speaking, the ownership of the ink cartridges still belongs to Brother.

• Does printing a full color A4 photo on a photo paper count as 1 page only?

  • Yes, a single page of printing is counted as 1 page of your print allocation regardless of size, color or monochrome settings, or amount of text or images.

    While auto-duplexing is not available, it is possible to print on both sides of a paper manually, and would count as 2 pages.

So with these answered, now this seems like a feasible option for my use case, and is honestly really tempting.

Now I just need to find out more about the print quality when it comes to photos. Wonder if it will be displayed in the upcoming CP+ show.

Nikon Z8 Firmware 2.00 (Auto Image Rotation)

Z8’s FW 2.00 introduced a new setting, Auto Image Rotation under the Playback Menu, and as I was going through the options setting up my camera, I thought that this option sounded pretty confusing, especially since the next option just below is it called Auto-Rotate Pictures, and thought perhaps I could do some explaining.

Anyway it seems like what Auto Image Rotation does is to include or exclude rotation(orientation) data (most probably in the EXIF) when the image is saved. This data is then used when loading the images in the computer, so that images shot in vertical orientation can be automatically rotated and displayed properly as shot.

Similarly, the next setting, Auto-Rotate Pictures, if turned on, would use the same embedded rotation data to rotate vertical images during playback (i.e. when using the back LCD horizontally, vertical images would be rotated to be vertical with black bars beside it)

So once you know what these two options are actually for, the effects are as such:

• Auto Image Rotation “On”, Auto-Rotate Pictures “On” - This is the default settings. Images shot will rotate properly on PC, and also rotate during playback when using the camera in horizontal position.

• Auto Image Rotation “On”, Auto-Rotate Pictures “Off” - I use this pair of settings personally. Images shot will rotate properly on PC, but during playback images will always be displayed in landscape orientation.

• Auto Image Rotation “Off”, Auto-Rotate Pictures “On” - Images shot will always be displayed in landscape orientation on PC and at the back of camera.

• Auto Image Rotation “Off”, Auto-Rotate Pictures “Off” - Images shot will always be displayed in landscape orientation on PC and at the back of camera.

Hope it clears some confusion for any one out there who finds these pair of settings puzzling.

Anyway the Japanese menu option for this is “縦横位置情報の記録” - literally translated to “Recording Orientation Data”, and it explains what this option actually does clearly. While I get that there might be character limits for the menu items, why not just call it “Orientation Data” or “Image Rotation Data”, which makes it much easier to understand?

Side note 1: more information on this can be accessed on the Z8’s FW 2.00 supplementary manual (page 48 to be exact)

Side note 2: Auto-Rotate Pictures used to be called “Rotate Tall” in older Nikon bodies, so if you know what Rotate Tall does then it might be easier to understand.

** Extra Information Update (14/2/2024)

There seems to be a bug when these settings are set:

Playback Menu’s Auto Image Rotation ON
Playback Menu’s Auto-Rotate Pictures ON
Setup Menu’s Auto Rotate Info Display OFF

With these particular settings in place, when the camera is held in a vertical orientation and you playback a vertical image, the D-pad and touch controls for panning around the image act as though the camera is in horizontal position (in simple words, it’s moving in the wrong direction)

Have escalated this issue to the service center for them to look into it.

** Bugfix Update (23/4/2024)

Nikon has released FW2.01 (can be downloaded here) which addressed the issue mentioned above, and contains some other minor bug fixes.

Tresorit Send - Secure File Sharing Service

Before I get started, let me just say this upfront: no this is not a sponsored article, nor are there any paid ads or affiliate links in here.

Some time back, I was looking for a simple, secure file sharing service to deliver files to my clients. I might have multiple file deliveries with overlapping download durations, so typical methods like using Google Drive or Dropbox to generate shared links were not feasible unless I upgraded to a paid plan with way more storage.

In Japan the de-facto file sharing service is called Gigafile, which I shall not link here as I personally am totally not fond of it - ads are everywhere on the site, and I have never managed to find any notes on how uploaded files are encrypted or secured so I just assume it is non-existent.

That was when I stumbled upon Tresorit Send. Tresorit provides secure cloud storage solutions, with extra emphasis on security, and Tresorit Send is a free standalone product provided by them that uses similar underlying technologies in their secure cloud storage solutions.

While you do not need an account with Tresorit to use Tresorit Send, a valid e-mail address is required during upload (for admin control, more on this later).

The way to use it is pretty straightforward - simply select your files through their website or browser plugin, fill in your e-mail address, add password protection if desired, and start the upload process.

(Side note: I do recommend the browser plugin - makes the entire process more seamless)

The files are encrypted locally on-the-fly as they are uploaded, and when the upload process is completed, a URL is generated for sharing. Both the path to the files and the decryption key are embedded in the generated URL, and as a user accesses the shared URL, the files are decrypted on-the-fly as they are being downloaded.

If password protection was selected during upload, the user accessing the shared URL must key in the password before being able to start the decryption process.

An admin link is also sent to your e-mail address which allows you to check how many times the file has been accessed, as well as to revoke the link any time. It is important to note that the admin link does not contain the link to the actual file in any manner (for security reasons), and as such if you lose the original generated URL your only way is to just re-upload and get a new URL.

More in depth information on the service and its technologies can be read in their FAQ here.

Being a free service it does have certain limitations and restrictions:

• Maximum total file size is 5GB per link.

• Maximum number of files is 100 per link.

• Each link can only be accessed 10 times.

• Each link is only active for 7 days.

• Admin links only show number of downloads, not detailed statistics like IP addresses.

• The service is only available in English, which may matter to some users.

While you can circumvent the maximum file number limit by zipping up your files prior to upload, removing the other restrictions and limitations (except for the English language only restriction) would require you to subscribe to their cloud storage solutions and using it to generate a secure link.

To be fair, 5GB/link is really generous for a free service, and the duration of the active link is decent too since most of my clients would download it within a few days upon receipt.

However, a certain OS (from a certain fruit) does sometimes not show when a file is downloading, especially when using an embedded browser, so there are instances whereby my clients just spammed the download button and exceeded the 10-times download limit unknowingly within seconds.

Anyway, something to take note of is that since encryption and decryption happens locally on-the-fly, for large files it is actually a pretty resource intensive process, so depending on your machine’s/device’s specs it may take much longer than anticipated to upload or download a file.

Brother’s New Printer Pricing Model

A few days back Brother announced PICOCHARGE, a new type of printer pricing model for consumers and home users. (as of writing it seems like this service is only available in Japan)

The basic concept of this new pricing model is purchasing of pre-paid print allocation.

You do have to purchase the printer (JPY 20,000) initially, and it comes with a pre-paid allocation of 1,000 pages.

When your print allocation runs out, you can choose to top-up your print allocation via their app/portal page, which currently comes in 6 tiers:

• 10 pages for JPY 200

• 50 pages for JPY 500

• 150 pages for JPY 1200

• 500 pages for JPY 3500

• 1000 pages for JPY 5000

• 3000 pages for JPY 9000

As you can see the bigger the pre-paid allocation you purchase, the less it cost to print per page.

Furthermore there is no difference in price for printing in monochrome or color - printing 1 page counts as 1 page regardless of color settings.

When the ink is about to run out you will get a notification asking you to request for new ink, which will then be delivered to you for free.

At the time of writing, I do find this a little confusing as the official site does have slightly contradicting statements in their contents:

• The special contents page (linked at the start of the article) states that replacement free ink cartridges would be sent to you when your ink runs out.

• The official news release article states that free shipping would be available for replacement cartridges - somehow the wording here sounds like you have to pay for the ink and only shipping is free?

There is no proper FAQ page up for this new service yet (only article in their FAQ is how to top-up your allocation), so right now the only information I have are from the press releases and the official site.

In all honesty I do think there might be a small miscommunication in the wording of the official news release, since by buying pre-paid allocation you are supposedly already paying for the required ink (and hence a new pricing model) - it just does not make sense to have to buy allocation AND ink at the same time.

** I will update this post again when I get more clarity regarding this issue.

That being said, if the new pricing model means just purchasing pre-paid allocation, and replacement ink cartridges are all provided at no additional cost, then I think it does make it very applicable for my use case - if I top up JPY 9000 I would be able to print my photos at JPY 3/page, which is much more economical than what I am paying for right now.

** Update 14/2/2024

Got a response from them regarding my enquiry, and yes the purchase of the print allocation includes the replacement ink cartridges, so there are no additional costs apart from having to purchase the printer initially and print allocation top-up.

CompactFlash Association’s VPG Certified Card List

Just thought it might be good to share it here (and for my own personal reference too).

CompactFlash Association (CFA), the body which sets the standards for all things related to CompactFlash, has recently published a list of cards which have passed their VPG tests.

VPG, or Video Performance Guarantee, is a standard set by CFA for CFexpress cards (both Type A and Type B) which indicates the minimum sustained write speeds when writing to the card continuously. Cards which pass the tests set by CFA are awarded a VPG200 (minimum 200MB/s) or VPG400 (minimum 400MB/s) certification (as of writing only these two levels are available).

The VPG ratings do look to be on the conservative side, as most of the cards (especially the pSLC ones) are definitely capable of much higher sustained write speeds, and even the current generation TLC ones do report having good sustained write speeds too. I guess the VPG ratings take into account writing the entire card from empty to full continuously and making sure there are no frame drops throughout the entire write process?

While the testing methods are not transparent, having an official list direct from CFA do bring about a peace of mind when purchasing new cards as it will act as a good reference to counter manufacturers just blatantly sticking any labels they want on their cards.

And since I am on this topic, while it is always nice to grab a good deal, be wary of no-brand cards or never-heard-of cards. It is not worth it to risk losing images, or worse frying your cameras just to save a bit on the cards.

(If you’re interested, I have an entry previously written about the cards I am using currently. Don’t worry there are no affiliate links or ads.)

Nikon Z8 Firmware 2.00 Release

Nikon has just released a firmware update (2.00) for the Z8 a couple of days ago.

I have updated my unit and tested it out, and am really liking the changes so far - please feel free to go through my Z8 equipment notes page to learn more about how I am using the Z8 with the new firmware if you are interested.

Anyway, here is a set of links for useful information regarding the new firmware update for the Z8.

Official Firmware Download Link

Official Firmware 2.00 Supplementary Manual (PDF)

FW 2.00 Video Introduction by Ricci Talks (YouTube)

I definitely recommend downloading a copy of the supplementary manual and go through it as the list of changes is really extensive.

At the end of the manual a set of default settings for the camera is also listed, so it is a useful reference if you wanted to revert any settings back to the original in the future.

Creating an Equipment Page

I have been using Obsidian as a tool to manage my equipment inventory and take notes of my observations or experience when using my stuff.

One reason why I am using Obsidian for this is because its back-linking is convenient and efficient to link up notes together, and helps a lot whenever I needed to recall or check on certain issues I had encountered before.

That said, my notes also include things like how certain gear behaves or performs, and over time my thoughts and notes kind of look like a long-term usage reference of sorts, so I thought it may be useful if I uploaded the notes here too (albeit not in the short bullets I use in my notes and in more legible sentences lol) as a form of reference for any one that may be interested.

And acts as a small backup of the notes for me as well.

I did write some opinions that looked like mini reviews and stuff on the scribblings corner too, which just got lost too easily in the sea of other things I write here, so I figured consolidating them into a page might also be easier to digest and navigate.

Unfortunately I only started using Obsidian recently, so most of my “real-time” observation notes are for my more current equipment.

But nevertheless I have decided to also include my older gear in the list - including gear that I had used in the past but already sold off and no longer own anymore, and just write down my thoughts and opinions in retrospect as they might still be a source of reference for someone out there.

There is no native simple back-linking support in Squarespace so I am going to have to resort to the typical manual hyperlinking work, so please do not start flaming me if I forget to hyperlink an item in a post or something.

So yeah, feel free to head over to my equipment list page to have a look. It might take a while before every single item there gets their own page, but definitely keep checking back if you are interested.

Opinions on Using AI Generative Content in Photos

Had a discussion with some friends a while back regarding the use of AI in photographs.

Image compositing is not a new technique, and has been used by digital artists for a long time now.

With the advent of AI and improved content generation algorithms, there are many software available now that use AI generative content to aid creating the image that you have in your mind and bringing it to life.

Examples include Photoshop’s content-aware fill and text-based generation, Luminar’s sky replacement tools, etc.

I personally think that these AI tools are definitely useful and make life easier for us, but the extent of usage would really depend on each individual, together with the notion of whether or not one is setting out to create a digital artwork or documenting a scene as true as possible.

I imagine the AI tools available now as just extensions of what are available to us now, and the extent of retouching/editing/postprocessing falls on what the photographer is set out to create - as long as one does not lie and try to pass off an image containing AI generated contents as “documented straight from the camera”, then there is no right and wrong here and up to one’s creative ambition.

Personally for me, I do not use AI generated contents and composites in my photos, just because I like to keep the images as true to life as possible. Granted that during the retouching process I might use clone/healing stamps to clean up the image a little, and apply AI denoising algorithms for shots taken in bad circumstances, but that is the extent of AI I would use in my photos and would not use compositing techniques in them and pass them off as “true photos”.

Though that being said, I do play around with AI generated content and images to create memes and stuff for fun, and I can definitely see the use cases whereby such tools would greatly benefit an artist’s creative vision. I guess just as long as you do not try to label such techniques as photography I’m totally cool with it.

Now back to the discussion with my friends, one mentioned that perhaps one day we would all do our shoots in front of a green screen and just change the background to whatever the client likes.

I do not deny that I see market potential in that, and I am pretty sure there are studios around which already offer such packages now. I can also imagine pre-wedding photoshoot clients wanting such an option in order to get that picture-perfect image.

But unless it is a commercial shoot or an artistic shoot, I for one would definitely not do that for my pre-wedding photoshoot clients.

In my opinion and experience, I feel that taking part in a shoot, especially in an outdoors location, part of the fun is visiting the location itself, part of the fun is exploring the location with the clients, and last but not least, a significant sense of satisfaction when we all work together to create an image by utilizing the location and surrounding environment.

The memories created by this is one that cannot be replicated simply by standing in front of a green screen and then swapping in a background of your liking - I just find that the fun factor is lacking too much for such a shoot.

(Well I do have to admit standing in front of a green screen might make you feel like a movie star or sorts, and that itself might be a good memory too if it is your cup of tea.)

To me, a photography session encompasses so much more than just pressing the shutter button and handing the photos over - the entire process from discussion and brainstorming, going through the shoot on the actual day with each other, and then receiving the photos at the end, is an experience that I would like my clients to enjoy and remember too.

So yeah, perhaps things might change in the future, but as for now, I would very much still prefer to put my boots on the ground and get my shots the old school style.

What If There Was a Unified Camera Mount?

I have been primarily a Nikon shooter in my photography journey so far ever since my first DSLR (the Nikon D40), and while I am happy with the performance of my gear and the technological advancements made by the company thus far, I cannot help but wonder what it would be like if all the camera mounts were unified and giving users more choices and freedom to mix and match the equipment to their liking.

In modern camera equipment, we first saw such an open system with the m43 mount where you could mix and match Olympus and Panasonic m43 gear without any major demerits. To me it was an interesting prospect, as Olympus had more stills-focused bodies and Panasonic had their video-oriented hybrids, and you could choose the body that fits your use case and choose the lenses from a wide array of available selection.

Next came the L-mount alliance spearheaded by Leica, Sigma and Panasonic. While one might argue that them being minor players it made more sense to move in this direction, it does not reduce the fact that the end-user were treated with a good selection of lenses and bodies available to them with this collaborative effort.

I started pondering over this issue since there are more players in the camera gear space now, but yet the market demand for camera equipment has been shrinking over the years, so having such collaborative efforts might create a better ecosystem and value for end-users.

I guess from the companies’ point of view perhaps it seem more lucrative to lock down the ecosystem, since unlike what you see from so-called influencers, most people who have acquired a decent amount of gear over the years would be unlikely to “switch from Brand X to Brand Y” just because of a body or lens from a competitor that performs better.

Well objectively speaking, if a body and/or lens from another ecosystem is unique enough, it is common to see people using gear from two ecosystems simultaneously, though it would be a nightmare to get your muscle memory to work with the different button allocations and stuff.

And back to the topic of a locked-down ecosystem, I think it also deprives others who are interested in a particular piece of equipment but are unable to use it with their current kit due to different mounts.

I know mount adapters exist, but how many are officially supported by the first-party manufacturers, and how many are able to operate with no compromises?

I find that a unified mount system would be immensely celebrated by end-users, since we would be able to freely mix and match out equipment without worries, and would also drive the manufacturers to provide better value for consumers since they would have to make sure their products are unique from their competitors.

Imagine being able to choose freely from the Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM if you want a smaller and lighter kit, or the Nikon 50mm f/1.2S if you want a lens with optical focus breathing compensation.

Or perhaps being able to mount the behemoth Canon 28-70mm f/2 L on a Nikon or Sony body you currently own.

We have seen this happen to memory cards before - how manufacturers finally moved on from Memory Sticks, xD cards, MMC cards, etc. and decided to use SD cards as the de facto standard.

We have also seen this with phone chargers - the first move from proprietary chargers to micro-USB, and the now with USB-C even tablets and laptops can also use the same charging protocols.

It might not be that far-fetched to imagine such a change, and I for one will be very glad to see such a collaborative effort between all camera manufacturers come to fruition.

Looks Like the Nikon Z6 III is Coming Soon

My go-to site for anything Nikon-related, Nikon Rumors, just published a set of rumored specifications of the Z6III from one of his reliable sources.

The rumored specifications seem very probable (i.e. does not sound like a wishlist of fantasy specs), and are also in line of what I am speculating and expecting of the Z6 III.

Personally while I like using the high MP Z7 and Z8 for my leisure shoots since I print and they give more room for cropping, work-wise the 24MP files hit a nice good sweet spot of quality + detail + noise performance, and am really glad they are keeping to 24MP for the Z6 line.

It’s almost a given that the Expeed 7 would be in the Z6III, and the one aspect that I’m most interested in is the improvements in autofocus tracking with subject recognition active.

My main issue with the Z6 II (and the OG Z6 and Z7 for that matter) is that while subject detection is pretty reliable and the eye AF algorithms give really good hit rates with static subjects, focus accuracy takes a huge hit the moment movement is involved, especially at wide apertures - most of the pictures of subjects (well my cat) walking towards the camera end up just 1cm or so slightly back-focused.

I do not observe this when using the Z8, which shows that the Expeed 7 can definitely keep up with the calculations, coupled with the fast data stream from the stacked sensor the calculations are made in near real-time.

Though that being said, using single point AF-C the autofocus can reliably follow moving objects as long as the AF point is kept on the subject, so I do suppose the bottleneck is the Expeed 6 CPU being unable to keep up with subject detection and tracking AF simultaneously.

So now begs the question that I really want answers to - an Expeed 7 with a slightly slower non-stacked BSI sensor, how would the AF tracking abilities with subject detection be like?

CFexpress 4.0 Specifications Announced

Just last week CompactFlash Association (CFA) announced the new standards for next-generation CFexpress 4.0 cards.

The new specifications will double the speed of current CFe cards (known as CFe 2.0 specs; don’t ask me what happened to CFe 3.0 I guess they just wanted to line-in the card specs with the PCIe version specs lol).

Now why is this exciting?

Firstly nearly all high end cameras now use CFe cards, but specifically the Type-B cards since they provide the best cost-size-performance ratio.

However Type-B cards do have a downside - it requires a special slot by itself (which is usually back-compatible with XQD specifications unless you’re using a Canon), and the slot while not as humongous as the old CF slots, definitely take up real estate as heat dissipation is a big concern for fast cards.

Enter Type-A cards, which have similar physical dimensions to the normal SD cards. This allows a single SD-card slot to accept either a SD card when inserted one-way, or accept a CFe-Type A card when inserted the other way.

Sony’s one of the major manufacturers doing it this way, and while it’s really a good move to bring CFe speeds to a higher end body while maintaining backwards compatibility with SD cards if needed, the cost-performance ratio is really bad as there’s only 1 manufacturer using it for consumer products now - Type-A cards are shunned by the other manufacturers due to the lack of speed (it’s only half that of CFe-B).

However now with CFe 4.0 specs, the Type-A cards have a theoretical max speed on CFe 2.0 Type-B cards - meaning whatever applications that CFe 2.0 Type-B could handle before without issues, the CFe 4.0 Type-A should be able to handle it gracefully too.

So just to put some numbers in for easier understanding:

A typical 45MP RAW file (14-bit lossless compressed) is 50MB

A fast camera can shoot 20FPS at full resolution = 50MB * 20shots = 1GB/s of data moving through

Currently the cameras when paired with pSLC CFe-B cards with high minimum sustained write speeds (usually in 1.3-1.5GB/s range) can fire away at 20fps all day and the camera internal memory buffer won’t fill up at all as the shots are offloaded as fast as they’re taken.

However using a CFe-A card, which have typical max write of around 800MB/s and sustained write of around 500MB/s some stuttering might happen as the buffer starts filling up and you will lose the 20fps.

The even larger culprit is the SD cards - certain camera models have a SD card slot as a 2nd card slot, and when a SD card is placed inside, it bottlenecks the entire process (if you’re writing to two cards at the same time) as write speeds for SD cards max out at 95MB/s (UHS-I) or 280MB/s (UHS-II). And also not to mention the disgusting pricing strategy of UHS-II cards.

So now back to the topic, the reason I’m really excited about the new CFe standards is because now manufacturers can have more motivation to put a hybrid SD+CFe-A slot as their 2nd slot, to maintain backwards compatibility and ease of use with SD cards, and yet not sacrifice too much in performance and speeds when needed to do a 2-card simultaneous shoot by using the Gen 4 Type-A cards.

Of course one can always argue that no matter the generation, the Type-B cards will always be twice as fast as Type-A cards, and the new Type-B cards will just open up even higher FPS shooting modes. Which brings me to the point - would you rather have an inferior SD-only slot as your backup slot where you’re locked down at 5FPS or so, or a hybrid SD+TypeA slot backup which can still shoot at 20FPS RAW which is the gold standard right now?

tl;dr I find this exciting news as on occasions I spray at 10-20 fps at my cat lol

Enjoying the Nikon Z 40mm f/2

Back in late June when Nikon announced their cashback campaign, I decided to get the Nikon Z 40mm f/2 muffin-ish lens to couple with my ex-workhorse Z6 to make a compact lightweight set-up.

According to the reviews online, many mentioned that the sharpness of the lens is not exactly awe-inspiring, especially when you are used to the quality of the S-line lenses, so I went in with that expectations in mind.

I paired the lens with a Nikon HN-2 screw-in metal hood (on top of a Nikon NC filter) to be able to put it inside my bag without using a lens cap, and this combination still remains relatively compact and does not introduce any vignetting at all.

After using it for more than a month now, I’m honestly surprised that I’m enjoying the lens way more than I had expected. The lightweight and compact size does make me bring the camera out more often, and somehow using this set reminds me of the days where things were simpler and I just wanted to take shots of things for fun or anything that is of interest to me.

As per most reviews, the sharpness is not exactly the best as compared to the rest of the Z-lineup, and at close distances the resolution and sharpness do take an additional hit in their quality. However, that being said, it is still not in the realm of unusable bad quality - shots do maintain enough detail retention even when shot wide open, particularly in the center of the frame, and sharpness improves for shots done from 2m onwards. Stopping it down to f/2.8 does bring out more resolution and contrast across the frame, so I’m pretty much using it as a f/2.8 lens now that can also open up to f/2 when the situation calls for it.

So some of the things I’ve observed or experience from using this lens so far:

• The rendering is not like the typical Z S-line lenses due to the steep sharpness falloff out of the central region, which creates a more “vintage” look typical of the F-mount lenses

• At f/2 the sharpness falloff of the out of focus areas coupled with the slight glow from spherical aberrations do actually give images an interesting atmosphere and look

• Not the best in strong backlit situations - fringing rears its ugly face and further loss of contrast happens throughout the frame

• Using the lens at f/2.8 tames the lens quite a bit and it performs closer to the typical quality known of Z-lenses

• The lightweight and compactness is definitely something that one should not overlook - I have the 50mm 1.8 S as well, and while that lens is not a behemoth so to speak, the 40mm f/2 is just so much easier to carry around

Looking forward to creating more with this lens!

List of Recommended CFexpress Cards for Nikon Cameras

Just want to put this list out here as a reference for anyone who needs information regarding CFexpress cards for Nikon cameras.

Note that this is not an actual in-depth review with synthetic speed test benchmarks (which are widely available online), but rather from my personal experience from using the cards on a regular basis.

(Side note: The official list of recommended cards by Nikon can be found here.)

• Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB (Exact model used: SDCFE-064G-GN4NN) [Not Recommended]
  Sandisk is a renowned brand with a very good track record for reliability, and I’ve been using their products (SD cards and the old school CF cards) in my cameras for as long as I can remember.
  While I have nothing but praises to say about their Extreme Pro line of SD and CF cards, unfortunately I did not have good experience with their CFexpress cards. The 64GB CFexpress card that I used gets hot really fast, like literally to the point where you feel unsafe to touch it with your bare hands. This causes thermal throttling issues to kick in many times even though I was not shooting at high burst rates, and several times it caused my camera to freeze up as the thermal throttling caused buffer errors, and entire series of shots were lost as the buffer could not write to the card before the freeze.
  Some other people recommend the higher capacity cards (256GB and above) would not have thermal throttling issues, but personally I’d try to avoid this card for Nikon cameras, as another key thing to take note of when purchasing is that the -xxxIN suffix cards will totally not work in Nikon cameras at all.
  [[Tested in Z6 and Z7]]

• Delkin Devices Power 128GB (Exact model used: DCFX1-128) [Highly Recommended]
  Delkin Devices have been around for a little while now, but unfortunately in Japan they do not have a large presence so I did not know of them until fairly recently. I contacted their customer service to enquire about their products and was met with very helpful and warm responses, which led me to buy a Power 128GB card to test out. It’s very well-built and feels very solid in your hands, has reliable read and write speeds and I have not encountered any thermal throttling issues so far. I’ve used it in both work situations as well as personal casual shots, and have not encountered any errors with it yet.
  One thing to take note is that Delkin cards do not come with a recovery software bundled - they do partner with a recovery software company (LC Technology) should you need to recover files from your card, but it requires a paid license so just keep that in mind if you prefer to have a recovery software on standby.
  [[Tested in Z6, Z7, Z6II]]

• Delkin Devices Power 1TB G4 (Exact model used: DCFXBP1TBG4) [Still in testing]
  Just received the newly launched 1TB G4 card, and am still running it through normal usage and long term tests before reaching any conclusions.

• Nextorage NX-B1PRO 165GB (Exact model used: NX-B1PRO165G) [Highly Recommended]
  Nextorage is an up-and-coming brand, established by ex-engineers and staff from Sony’s memory storage arm. I was personally intrigued by them as they do have the technical expertise and experience in flash memory products, as well as being very aggressive and pushing boundaries of such products. I managed to grab a B1PRO 165GB card during a sale event, and am highly satisfied with it. It has a robust and solid build, and has a very high minimum sustained write speed of 1800MB/s, and has not encountered any thermal throttling issues in my usage with it thus far. While I can’t exactly objectively quantify the minimum sustained write speed that they claim, I have not encountered any hiccups in using it in my Z8 at high burst rates of 14-bit lossless raw files. The card does run a little warm when shooting long bursts, but does not go into the “are you sure this termperature is OK??” type of hot at all.
  [[Tested in Z6, Z7, Z6II, Z8]]

Obsidian

Lately I’ve been using Obsidian to jot down my thoughts, as well as act as an inventory management for my equipment.

I’m definitely no power user - I just have the base Obsidian installed without any addons or extensions, but boy am I impressed with how easy it is to do backlinking and see how my thoughts are connected to each other!

Wireless Keyboard Woes

Just thought of sharing this sort of hilarious incident I had with my recent wireless keyboard purchase.

At home when I am using my desk-bound laptop, as it is elevated on a laptop stand I had a wired keyboard attached to it - nothing fanciful, just a simple full-sized US-layout membrane keyboard.

In the sea of JIS-layout keyboards available here, it was seriously difficult to find a proper US-layout keyboard that did not cost an arm and a leg, so I was happy to be able to grab that wired keyboard at a very reasonable price.

As the little human is getting more active, when she’s sitting with me in front of the PC she tends to want to type on my keyboard too - I am sure anyone can imagine what sort of interesting text strings can arise from that.

So I thought of a simple solution - if I got a wireless keyboard, when she’s sitting with me I can just turn it off, so even if she hits on the keys nothing would happen. Perfect!

Looked through Amazon and found a keyboard that suits my requirements - US-layout, long lasting battery life, properly sized chiclets-styled keys.

Enter the HP 230 Wireless Keyboard. It is a simple wireless membrane keyboard that promises 16 months of battery life, and cost about JPY 2600. Perfect balance of everything for me.

Upon receiving my new keyboard I took it out of the box, plugged the USB receiver into my PC’s USB port, and searched for the On/Off switch on the keyboard.

Wait a minute..

There is no On/Off switch on the keyboard.

Anyway I just booted up my PC to see if it works, and the USB receiver and keyboard were pre-paired and could recognize each other instantly - and a tap of any key on the keyboard would bring it out of sleep mode as long as the USB receiver is active.

I do not have any issues with the keyboard itself - it works as advertised, being very comfortable to type on for a membrane keyboard, and is responsive to wake up from sleep and hibernates automatically when not in use.

The issue is with myself - I bought a wireless keyboard wanting an option to quickly turn off the keys to prevent accidental typing by the little human, but this keyboard though ticks all the other requirements for me, and just misses out on this one little feature that I was truly after.

I won’t be returning this keyboard as I like it much more than the previous wired one I was using (and not having an on/off switch sounds like a really bad reason to return the product), so I guess I’ll be putting up with more random text strings by the little human for a while more.

Capture One Pro Lens Profiles

When images are loaded or imported into Capture One Pro, lens profiles are automatically applied if they are available.

While the profiles made by the Capture One team are pretty accurate and work well, one shortcoming of using their profiles (or the Generic Pincushion/Generic Distortion profiles) is that any form of distortion correction will cause some pixel loss, so even if no resizing is done and the images are exported at full size, there is a chance that you will end up with images with slightly varying dimensions (depending on lens used and amount of distortion correction applied).

I have found that one way to circumvent this, if your camera body allows for it, is to use the “Manufacturer Profile” option, so even if distortion corrections are applied, the dimensions would remain the same.