Gloss Prints

I have tried quite a few Permajet papers in the last few days with my new printer. I will mainly print on matte papers, but because Photo Black ink is installed by default, I tried some glossy/luster prints first. I must say – Claria inks look almost as good as Ultrachrome with test images on Epson Premium Glossy – which is not surprising. Ultrachrome is meant to be much better for Matte printing, especially in B&W. I thought I was getting quite good, neutral B&W prints from my PX700W (using “Greyscale” option in printer drivers), but boy, I was wrong! They have quite obvious greenish cast when you compare it side by side to 3880 ABW (Advanced B&W) prints.
But getting back to glossy papers – I also tried PermaJet’s Oyster paper (luster, very white) – print from 3880 looked absolutely stunning. If I ever use semi-gloss type of paper – I will definitely go for Oyster! It seems it could be good for large, impressive aviation color shots. I have not really tried any other papers (apart maybe from Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss – which is OK) and I switched now to Matte Black. I will give some feedback on matte printing soon.

New printer

I have been hesitating for some time with my buy of Epson R2880 and I was wondering – why do I feel I should think again before buying this printer? What’s wrong?
I was walking by a window of local gallery and saw some landscape prints. They were big. Bigger than A3, probably more like A2 size. And it got me thinking….Shouldn’t I go for Epson 3880 rather than R2880? Yes, it is twice as expansive and it is a bit bigger (I don’t have a lot of space next to my PC), but allows you to print up to A2. Now this is huge for home printing! Another thing is – you do not have to switch inks manually (Photo Black & Matte Black), and it is TRULY pro range printer. Besides, it is not really twice as expansive – the difference in amount of ink you getting with this printer makes up for initial difference in price. So it looked like no brainer to me. I bought Epson 3880. Wow.

Gallery

I sold my first photos (see below) in Buzkashi Gallery in Dorking. Hurray!
It looks like I will have my own exhibition there from January to March 2011. I will need plenty of prints… One of the options is to get proper printer and print them myself – tempting, but initial cost is considerable…
Hmmm - Epson R2880? ;-)

Ups! Watch out, snappers...

Unlucky...

“First” thoughts on Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 G IF-ED DX

I have been using this lens for about 2 months now, and I must say – I love it. Very is something special about it – you know when you hold in hand a really awesome (and expensive) pro-range photo product – it is exactly the feeling you get when you have a chance to use 17-55.

At first, I was probably a bit disappointed that it does not blow everything away sharpness-wise (especially 18-70 which it has replaced for me), but then I realized it is not only about sharpness. Yes, 18-70 is similar at like 35mm and f8, but it does not mean 17-55 is not better. It is – in almost every aspect. Build quality is top notch (it’s made mainly of metal), mechanically is just perfect, sharpness at 50mm f5.6 is as good as 50mm f1.8 @ f5.6 (I will post test shots later) – what shouldn’t I like about it? Even bokeh is very nice for a zoom lens, so I personally think this one is worth every penny (I bought it for about a half of street price, used). Apparently lenses like 16-85 VR are a bit sharper than 17-55, but they are a lot slower. Ability to shoot at f2.8 throughout the range is really, really something – shallow focus area and amount of light coming in are very useful.

I am usually trying to use this lens in 2.8-5.6 aperture range; it does not get any sharper above that, I would rather say that from about f8 it is getting less sharp – it is obviously optimized for best performance at wide apertures. I also have not noticed obvious sharpness drop at 55mm f2.8 – I think it is about the same as other aperture values throughout zoom range, so I don’t really now how www.lenstip.com got the result like that. Mine observation is much closer to photozone.de test of this lens. I must say I am not afraid to shoot at f2.8 at all – the results are quite remarkable – a bit worse than f4, but still very, very good.

I will post some test/comparison shots soon (hopefully).

Anyway – if you deliberating getting this lens – I recommend you do! It is a pleasure to use.

Blog...

OK...that's official - this blog won't be updated frequently. It seems like I have ALWAYS something else to do. Life is just too short...

New toy – Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8G IF-ED DX

For the last week or so I was playing with my new lens, Nikkor 17-55mm. I will post some samples soon and give first impressions, too.