Landscapes with the Hoya ND400

At the end of 2017 I began to play around with filters for my landscape photography. I've always been a Cokin square filter user (both the A and P styles), and so I picked up some super cheap (i.e plastic) neutral density (ND) filters to see if this was something I could/should use on a regular basis (see this post).

An ND filter is basically a 'darkening' filter. It places a dark - hopefully 'neutral' - colour over the lens which shuts out a lot of the light reaching the sensor, giving a longer shutter speed. The amount of light blocked depends on the strength of filter used, anywhere from 2 shutter stops up to 10 stops of light! Lee Filters have what they call their 'Little and Big Stopper' - cutting out 6 or 10 stops of light respectively. Many other filter companies have followed suit, offering a variety of square ND filters, made from high quality resin up to photo grade high quality glass. These are a great choice if you have already bought into the whole square filter eco-system, but can be very expensive (over $200NZ each for the Little or Big Stopper).

With Christmas coming, I was starting to get asked by my family what I would like from Santa? 😉 I decided that I would like to get a 'serious' ND filter to replace the plastic filters I had previously been using that were degrading my image and leaving a strong colour cast (see previous post). Asking for a $200NZ+ filter was probably a bit too much for our Christmas budget, so I decided to ask instead for a screw-in ND filter that would fit both my zoom lens (that share a 52mm filter thread). I was thrilled on Christmas morning when I opened a present to find a brand new Hoya ND400 52mm filter. Yay!

I've been a huge Hoya filter fan since I started in photography. Most of my protective UV filters are Hoya's, and I have always found their quality vs price point to be excellent. The ND400 is an 8 stop light-loss filter (actually 8 & 2/3rds to be exact) - so sits between the 6 and 10 stop Lee Filters. And while many photographers prefer the square filters for their versatility, I figured that if I was choosing to use an 8-stop ND filter in conjunction with a Cokin polariser, then having the ND screwed on to the front of the lens would free the filter holder up for other filters? Yesterday (Jan 4th), I got to put this to the test.

10 Mile Creek. Straight shot with no ND filter or Polariser. f5.6 @ 1/50th sec, ISO 200

We've been blessed with an amazing summer here on the West Coast this year. Sunny, hot, bright and clear days - beautiful for sunrise and sunset, not so great in the middle of the day. Fortunately this day was bright and warm - but overcast. There was still a lot of light, but it was soft. Ideal for forest and water photography - with an ND filter. I headed out to a walk I had been wanting to get back to for a while (it's an easy walk with a few places I knew I could get use to get down to the river). This first shot is straight out of camera, using the 12-50mm EZ lens. At 1/50th the movement in the water is quite distinctive, and there is quite a lot of light reflection in the water, even on an overcast day.

10 Mile Creek. With Hoya ND400 Filter. f8, @ 5 seconds. ISO 200

 With the addition of the Hoya ND400 filter, the 1/50th shutter speed has become 5 seconds (with a decrease in the aperture to f8). Now we get that classic 'smokey water' look that happens when you slow the shutter speed down with a neutral density filter. Although the first image might be more 'true' that what our eyes see when we are at the river, the second, slower shot actually seems to capture the sense of flowing water better. The image with the ND filter portrays movement of water over time and makes it seem more 'real', even though it never actually looks like this in reality.

10 Mile Creek. With Hoya ND400 and Cokin 'A' Polariser. f8 @ 15 seconds. ISO 200

With the addition of a polariser, we now not only see more of the riverbed itself (because the polariser cuts out the reflections on the water), but the green colours 'pop' - and the shutter speed has decreased 3 more stops to 15 seconds.

10 Mile Creek 2. OM-D E-M1 with Zuiko 12-50mm EZ lens. F5.6 @ 1/125th. ISO 200

10 Mile Creek 2. OM-D E-M1 with Zuiko 12-50mm lens + Cokin 'A' Polariser. f5.6 @ 1/30th. ISO 200 

10 Mile Creek 2. OM-D E-M1 with Zuiko 12-50mm lens + Cokin Polariser & Hoya ND400. f8 @ 10 seconds. ISO 200

The three images above tell the same story. The first is straight out of camera and again is a fairly direct representation of the scene in front of the camera. The second adds a polariser, cutting out the reflections in the water and some of the glare on the rocks - making the colours more intense. While the third and final image adds the ND400, dropping the shutter speed to 10 seconds, blurring the water, and intensifying the colours even more. This 'may' have introduced a slight green cast to the image from the ND filter - or it could just be a result of the green light building up more over the long exposure? I'll have to do some more shooting with the ND in different lighting conditions to make any further conclusions on the introduction of colour casts.

10 Mile Creek 3. Cokin 'A' Polariser & Hoya ND400. f8 @ 5 seconds. ISO 200

Using the Hoya ND400 was a lot of fun, and I loved the final images it produced. The verdict is still out on whether it produces a colour cast to the images - but even if it does, I'm sure it's pretty easy to fix in Lightroom if you shoot RAW (and you should).

When used in conjunction with a polarizer on streams, riverbeds and waterfalls, the final results with the ND400 straight out of camera is like night and day! I had to do minimal work in Lightroom (some shadow and highlight recovery) because everything is pretty much achieved in-camera with the filters. It's taken me a very long time to get a decent ND filter for my landscape photography (over 30 years!) and I honestly don't know why it's taken so long? But now that I have the Hoya ND400 in my bag, beautiful long-exposure images are finally in my repertoire.   

Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7 G - initial thoughts

In my last post I hinted at the end that Santa had been very good to me in 2017. I've been wanting to complete my micro four thirds kit with the two missing pieces (for me) of the puzzle; a decent flashgun and a fast 50 prime lens. Mrs Clause has been listening (thanks honey), and now I finally have both - although the lens that is the subject of this post was actually a present to myself 😉

Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7 G next to the excellent Canon 50mm f1.8 STM.

In the last few months of 2017 I shot a wedding, several portraits for work and a food assignment - all with my Canon 40D and the 50mm f1.8 (exclusively for the portraits and food photography). I enjoyed using the 40D with 50mm - it's a great piece of kit. But, having said that, I only used it because I didn't have the equivalent set-up with my E-M1.

For the wedding, I didn't have a flash - or a fast portrait lens, so I went with the Canon 40D (and borrowed a friends flash). For the portraits and food, again, I was missing that fast prime/portrait lens. On the 40D, the 50mm f1.8 has an equivalent field of view of an 80mm medium telephoto lens, ideal for portraits. Although I do often think it's just a little too 'tight' for some of my uses at 80mm?

Panny 25mm f1.7 G on the OM-D E-M1. A very nice combo.

I've had a hankering for a fast 50mm to go with my Olympus for a while - as a general purpose prime and occasional portrait lens. At 25mm, the Panasonic is bang on the 50mm field of view for micro four thirds (25mm x2 = 50mm), and at f1.7 is almost as fast as it gets. Olympus have their own 25mm's - an f1.8 that is about $200NZ more expensive than the Panasonic, and an f1.2 that is stupid, crazy expensive because its - f1.2 (and part of their 'Pro' line). For my budget the only consideration would be the f1.8. Yeah, OK, the Oly f1.8 is probably 'better' made, with a little more metal to it, but is it going to be $200 better in image quality? I think not.

At $255.00NZ leading up to Christmas with a Panasonic promotion, I just couldn't say no. But then there was the small matter of actually paying for the lens (just a minor inconvenience). With the flashgun problem solved as a Christmas present (more about that in a later post), my OM-D E-M1 kit was almost complete. So I decided to bite the bullet, and sell my Canon 40D to get the required funds to purchase the Pannny 25mm lens. A week later, with the Canon sold, the deal was done and the Panasonic arrived between Christmas and New Year (overnight from Photo & Video in Merivale, Christchurch - thanks Greg).

Fits the E-M1 like a glove. Sleek, black and gorgeous!

With the E-M1 body, 3 batteries, Olympus 12-50mm EZ lens, Panasonic 45-200mm, Panasonic 25mm f1.7, Sigma 60mm F2.8 DN (more on that later as well), and Godox TT350'O' flashgun - I now have an Olympus mirrorless kit to take on any challenge.

Initial impressions on the Panasonic 25mm f1.7 G are positive. It's a very 'handsome' lens when attached to the E-M1, and the size and weight are perfect. It's a little thinner compared to the Canon 50mm f1.8 STM, but has about the same heft in the hand (both are plastic with metal lens barrels). It's quick and quiet in operation, and the focusing barrel (which makes up almost the entire body), is silky smooth. But looks alone don't make a lens -right!? To see how it would perform as a day-to-day walk-around lens, I took it with me on a family outing to Punakaiki - as my only lens!

Punakaiki Rocks. OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic 25mm f1.7G lens. f4 @ 1/1000th. ISO 200

Many people swear by the 50mm 'standard' prime as an ideal walk-around everyday lens. I get a little nervous at the prospect of carrying a prime as my go-to kit, even though I know it's really only psychological. I've done my own tests before to see how much 'zooming with the feet' is required for a 50mm to cover the field of view of the 35 to 70mm zoom (see the post here). It was literally a case of 5 steps back, or two steps forward. And I have to say, I happily shot all afternoon with the Panny 25mm without once wishing I had another lens with me.

Pancake Rocks beach. OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7 G lens. f4 @ 1/2000th sec. ISO 200.

There is an old saying that you 'Cut your cloth accordingly'. That's what you have to do if you are using a 50mm prime lens - cut your cloth accordingly. No, it's not an ultra-wide, so don't go looking for ultra-wide images. And no, it's not a telephoto - so don't go looking for telephoto images either. It can be used for landscapes (see the images above), and it can give the impression of a short telephoto for portraiture if you get in reasonably close to the subject and use the f1.7 aperture to blur the background. But every lens has its uses, and its limitations - and I'd rather carry a 50mm field of view with me than just an ultra-wide or just a telephoto - both of which would be more limiting than the 50mm.

Limpets on the Rocks. OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic 25mm f1.7 G lens. f4 @ 1/320th sec. ISO 200

One of the other great features of the Panasonic 25mm f1.7 is its close-focusing capabilities. At just 25cm for the closest focusing distance, you can achieve some shots approaching macro territory. And as with macro lenses, the closest you focus, the shallower the depth of field becomes - so make sure that the aperture is closed down enough for a decent depth of field. At f4 (f8 equivalent in terms of depth of field on a full frame sensor), the bottom Limpet that I focused on is sharp in the center, and starting to blur slightly along the outer edges. The Limpet itself is probably about 3cm in length - so that's not a lot of depth of field!

Initial impressions of the Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7 G are very positive. I want to do some more shooting wide-open at f1.7 - to see what I think about its portrait capabilities. But I'm already very happy with my post-Christmas purchase.