The simplest way is to let people jump in the air and  push that button in time. Tokyo based Japanese photographer Natsumi Hayashi takes however the art of ‘levitation’ photography’ to a higher level in a wonderful way. She photographs herself instead of others in all kinds of daily situations and in a more natural way than what we usually see in those jumpy leisure diving  images. That it is not easy the way she does it is explained on her blog. For every levitation image she often needs many many exposures and sometimes the help of a friend before the perfect levitation is there.

© Natsumi Hayashi

Natsumi Hayashi’s blog diary with many daily levitation images can be found here
An inspiring and explaining interview with Natsumi Hayashi of the New York Times can be found here

Despite the enormous devastation and the difficulties people are facing being hit by this tragedy, cleaning and rebuilding is taking place and it shows the enormous strength and will of the Japanese people to continue their lives.

A photographic proof of the rebuilding which is already done is a photo series published at several news sites. It shows the devastation during and just after the earthquake and tsunami, and the rebuilding and restructuring of their societies about a year later at the same location.

the Atlantic – In focus: Images of the Tohoku earthquake March 2011 and a year later

I was happily surprised when Nikon updated it’s ‘plastic fantastic’ in spring 2011. The lens was due to it’s outdated design ready for an update. Since the mid 1980’s Nikon produces a 50mm fast auto focus (AF) lens which is not only very good but also very low priced. This makes at an excellent ‘starter’ lens  for people who want to go beyond their standard zoom lens (which they got with their camera) and try a fast ‘foot zoom’ lens. For professionals this is an excellent lens to always have with you.

Low priced ~ not cheap
There are no unprofessional Nikon lenses. There are however Nikon  lenses which are aimed at professional photography. These are usually built for heavy usage internally and externally, they have often weather sealing and are made in Japan. The new  50mm f/1.8G does not have these ingredients.  It is mostly plastic (not the lens mount) and it has no weather sealing. It does however contain a special aspherical element to reduce chromatic aberrations, the same element which also is used in the lenses aimed at professional usage.

Made in China
The lens is made in China, for many already to have doubts about the quality of this lens as it is with other Nikon lenses produced in China. China is however the same country which produces those excellent Mac books, and ipads. One proof that good production stands with design & quality control and not where it is produced. That is with Nikon lenses no different. There are no stories I know of that the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G lens is badly produced or has a large sample difference by means of build or image quality, the same as it is with it it’s predecessor, the 50mm f/1.8D

2 versions – the D and the G – what are the differences which one to buy?
At many (internet) stores there are still 2 versions of the Nikkor 50mm AF f/1.8 for sale. The previous “D” version and the currently produced  “G” version, introduced in Spring 2011. The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D  still has an aperture ring, which makes it suited to even operate without any problem on old Nikon film  cameras. So if you own or ever plan to buy an old (manual focus) Nikon film camera, buy the D version or previous versions of this D model.  The D model is also lower priced than the current G model. For around 120 Euros you can purchase the D version, and for around 200 Euros the G version.

The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G does not have an aperture ring as all “G” type lenses. So you can only set the aperture on the camera itself. If you own any kind of digital slr camera of Nikon this is no problem. Also all “G” type lenses have a build in focus engine, so if you have a digital slr camera from Nikon at the lower end range without an own focus engine, the G version will auto focus on that one as well.

Above: The lens hood can be placed reversed on the new G version. the biggest visual differences between the D and new G version is the lack of the aperture ring on the G and the adding of some contact pins on the back

Besides that the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G has no aperture ring, there are some other minor differences.  At the bottom of the lens there are extra  contact pins added for the lens focus engine to communicate with the camera. The focus ring of the G version is a bit bigger as well, making better controlled manual focusing noticeable more pleasant. The auto focus on the G version can be easily interupted, by just using the manual focus ring on the lens so there is no need to turn the MA/M switch on the lens or a nob on the camera if you quickly want to override the auto focus. Focus is very quiet due to that the lens has it’s own build in AF-S engine. This is quite a difference with the older versions . As a G type lens it has no turning front parts and element, so the rubber focus ring is not rotating while auto focusing. No rotating front element is also handy for example when using  graduated type of filters.

The lens itself is a bit more larger and weights a little more than the previous version. It has instead of a metal screw-in type lens hood like it’s predecessors, a plastic bayonet type one, which gives more cover. The lens hood can also be connected reversed on the lens itself for transportation. The lens takes 58mm filters, which is a common filter size but which is larger than the filter size used on the D version (52mm.)

Above: the lens is small sized, especially compared to a standard zoom lens of Nikon. The large plastic lens hood gives better cover than it’s predesessor

Stiffness
There is one clear difference between  the D and G  version, that is that the G version is much stiffer to screw on your camera than the older D version. I’m not the only one who notices this, there are more users mentioning it. The first time I thought the lens mount was not good, but it seems to be like that. I use the lens for about 9 months now on several cameras’, and the stiffness does not weaken, due to wear of the lens mount or play between camera and lens, so that’s good.

Focusing and Focus Speed
One of the remarks at many internet forums is that the 50mm AF lenses of Nikon are slow in focusing.  I think it’s better to say they are not the fastest lenses to auto focus but they are absolutely not slow. It never caused any problems for my photographic work, and I use it quite often for moving objects. In relation to the D version of this lens, focusing speed is about similar on all cameras’ (compared on D3S, D700 and D300.) At any given aperture the focusing is good and on any of my FX or DX cameras’ there is no noticeable front or back focusing.

Color, Contrast and Sharpness
The colors this lens produces are excellent, in comparison with it’s predecessor which I own about 8 years  I see a tiny bit of difference in better color and contrast, more clearer in bright lit conditions. It delivers nice contrasty images all along. Flaring and ghosting are well under control and as long as you do not deliberately search for it, you will not find any of it in your images. The same counts for color aberration (CA) , there is no noticeable CA with the new G version in relation to the older one, especially wide open the D could easily create some of those purple lines around objects in high contrasted situations. Sharpness is already verty good wide open at 1.8 and it’s noticeable sharper wide open than the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. At f/2.8 this lens shines already. I’m not a sharpeness freak, but at f/4 and up this lens is extremely sharp. What more is important is that the lens is consistantly sharp from the center to the border at all apertures.

Boke
Boke of this new G lens with it’s rounded blades is in my opinion more pleasant, compared with it’s D predecessor, especially of course at fast apertures. What is good or bad boke is a point of endless discussions, but if you do not like those hard cornered edgy lines like me this new G version will give you lesser of those.

Compared with…
In my opinion there is no use at all to compare lenses which have a totally different construction and usage in mind. So I only compared it to the older 50mm f/1.8D version, you can see some comparisons in the samples. I also don’t give any scores (we’re not at school.)

After some time used…
No use to review a lens when it’s just new and mention it is great while you don’t know if this will hold up from a user perspective after at least some time of usage. I’ve used this lens now for more than 8 months quite extensively in all kinds of (rainy) conditions. And although it does not have the good environmental sealing as those lenses which are aimed at professional usage, there is not much to worry about. No form of wear, on both the rubber focusing ring and metal lens mount, no odd sounds when focusing and the auto-focus  is still working as it should be. I dropped the lens twice on a hard wooden floor from about 1.5 meters high. Both times saved by it’s own light plastic construction, it literally bounces when you do so (I highly advice you to not try it on purpose…) the only thing what happened is that the lens hood jumps off (undamaged as well.)

Conclusion
The new Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G is absolutely the new “plastic fantastic”. Nikon made the D version which was already incredible value for it’s money even better. Okay, it’s a bit more expensive but still this lens should not be missed in your bag. It’s light, it’s small sized and with the build in auto-focusing engine which can be manually overridden it does it’s work silently on both FX and DX camera’s already from a focusing distance of just 45 centimeters. It offers wide open wonderful quality which is better than that of the previous D version, and with the new lens design it can hold itself from f/2.8 easily in the top when it comes to image quality. I can only advice the D version if you want to save some extra money and/or use old manual focusing Nikon film cameras’  For anything else I highly recommend the G version.

Samples

(NOTE: all lens image samples made with a D700 at standard in-camera settings with a sharpness of 5 – Images processed in Nikon Capture NX2 – Images resized & cropped in Photoshop – No image enhancements are done to the sample images (no sharpening or color and contrast changes)

Technical & product information of the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G lens

• Product name - Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G
• Produced in – China
• Boxed – supplied with soft case CL-1013 and bayonet type plastic lens hood HB-47
• Build – Hard plastic body with metal lens mount
• Filter size – 58mm
• Optical construction – 7 elements in 6 groups
• Number of aperture blades – 7 rounded
• Special functions & features -  1 aspherical lens element, no aperture ring, no rotating front element, auto-focus override
• Focus motor – yes (auto focus works on all DX and FX camera’s and on most film camera’s)
• Minimal focus distance – 45 cm
• Weight and size – Weight 184 gram, 72mm by 52.5mm
• Price around 200 Euros (Netherlands)
• Availability – widely available

There was much more to see of course. What was noticeable that both “retro” and “mirrorless” were 2 immense popular items. Olympus combined this in a wonderful looking retro body the EM-5 which will be part of Olympus’ it’s new camera OM-D system.

Now to the most asked D800 related questions I received by mail:

• “Will the D800 be available only in Japan in March?” What was explained was that the camera (D800, not the “E” version) version will be available world wide at the end March.  Due to the immense popularity of it already in Japan only, I can assure you that pre-ordering is a must every where, if you like it to have it as soon as possible that is.
• “What is the difference between the D800 and the D800E version?” Me was explained The D800E has a different low-pass filter, which offers sharper images but can cause moire. As I already told on some forums, the D800E also has a low pas filter, so you cannot say it does not have one, however it works differently, hence the price difference. Both in-camera and in Capture NX2 there will be ‘tool’ to make moire less apparent in images.
• “Which is better to buy, the ‘normal’ or the “E” version?” If you want the upmost in sharpness and you do a lot of controlled photography, it might be that the E version will be a better choice. It’s not specifically aimed at one form of photography, like landscape photography, but aimed at photographers who know how to deal with camera’s which have no/different kind of low pass filter as usual is used in relation to their subject.
• “Where stands the “E” for?” E stands for ‘Expert’ so not for ‘Expensive’
• “Is the camera same size as D700?” No, the camera is a bit smaller and a bit lighter. But due to the different shaped grip and a tiny bit more slender body lines it does not look smaller. It feels very firm and solid. I as many other people who also use the D700, will have to get a bit used to the new position of the buttons.
• “Can I use my D700 batteries in the D800?” No, the D800 camera’s use the same battery as  a standard as the one which is used in the D7000. In the optional battery grip you can use another D7000 battery, AA’s or a D4 battery in a similar way as the D3 battery can be used in the D300/D700 series. The optional grip of the D800(E) is not the same as the D7000 or D700 grip.
• “Will you do a preview/review of the camera?” The camera is ordered for me, as soon as I have it I will do an impression with details and lots of images not made by a mobile phone

• There will be 2 versions of the new 36MP camera, both will be in Japan (retail information) already for sale around mid of March – for pre-official technical details of the cameras’ visit Nikon Rumors. There will be a version with and a version without AA filter to increase image sharpness. (Japanese messageboard) The camera without AA filter uses an other type of lens structure on top of the sensor  in combination with in camera processing to reduce moire (hence it’s higher price difference.) Both versions will use the D7000 battery and an optional different battery pack. (retail information) As asked, I do not know if there will be a larger battery (for example of the D4) available with a kind of adapter/other part needed to fit in the new batter pack (like it is done with the D3 battery for the D700) The camera will be between 275.000 – 285.000 Yen (retail information) Because I can only base it on one product code information, I think it will be for the version with AA filter.
• The D700 is not anymore for sale at stores of a very large retail organization in Japan, it’s sold out and production is stopped (retail information) but there will be probable another lower MP full frame camera released  later this year. This was told indirectly to a user of a Japanese Nikon message board who was told this when he brought in his D700 camera for a service check at a Nikon center in Nagoya Japan.
•  There will be new DX camera released later this year to follow up the D300S which is out of production. The D300S was not a top seller (in Japan) especially not since the D7000 came out. This was told  to people of a large retail organization in Japan by Nikon. (retail information)
• There will be at least 2 new Nikkor lenses this year, both are zoom lenses, one will be DX and the other one FX, probable a telezoom (retail information) A large retail organization in Japan does not have the 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR anymore in their assortment for months, while their order availability statement of Nikon is set as limited.
• There will be a new version of Nikons’ well known and excellent RAW processing software Capture, it will follow up Capture NX2 and will be available later this year. It seems not to be anymore made in cooperation with Nik Software and seems to be developed in cooperation with an other Japanese company and a foreign company. Besides image editing it seems to be capable to do movie editing as well.  (Japanese message board.)

For official previews of new products announced at CP+ visit DPreview from the 7th of February 2012.

Due to CP+ I will not be able to answer my mails till the 11th of February. I will update my Twitter regularly at CP+

Best national newsphoto of the year 2011 - Joost van den Broek - Zilveren Camera Award

Joost van den Broek is a well-known news photographer working mainly for the Volkskrant newspaper in The Netherlands. He won numerous (international prices in the past for his news and portrait photography.

That the lens is already used and tested out on all kinds of different Nikon camera’s proofs user Phantomas on Flikr which connected it to a Nikon J1 camera  (which makes it a 230mm tele lens )

proofs the website Photoshopdisasters. The website shows 8 wonderful examples of terrible political Photoshopping jobs.