Table of contents for July 2023 in Digital Camera Magazine

He might have been H shooting the stars since he was seven years old, but Josh Dury is adamant that astrophotography is for everyone – you really don’t need to be an astronomer. In fact, the advances made in camera technology over the past decade mean that capturing high-resolution images with low noise – the holy grail for astrophotographers – has never been so straightforward. All you need, says Dury, is a camera that can handle digital noise well, a wide-angle lens that will let in plenty of light via a large aperture and a solid platform to shoot from. Having seen Dury on a local news programme, discussing the Northern Lights being visible from the UK (www.bit.ly/dcm270joshdury_tv), we discovered that we had an expert astrophotographer based near Digital Camera…

Although the grey squirrel is a non-native species to the UK, its ubiquitous nature makes them a popular and easily accessible subject for wildlife shots, whether in your back garden or the local woods. If you are fortunate enough to be in an area where the native red squirrels still abound (or black squirrels, which are a spin-off from the grey), the same techniques can be employed. Some squirrels will be sufficiently familiar with humans for you to get close enough with a telephoto zoom, but using a camera remotely with a wide-angle lens can make for intriguing images with a ‘wow’ factor! By positioning your camera close to a well-used habitat and luring them with some popular squirrel food, such as nuts in shells or chopped fruit and vegetables,…

Your local duck pond or river is a great place to start honing wildlife photo skills. The birds will be used to people and you’ll have an opportunity to try both simple portraits and fast action images as visiting birds take off and land. Try to find a quiet spot with a simple, natural-looking background and avoid getting human activity in the frame. To photograph birds taking off, note the wind direction. Larger birds, like ducks, geese and swans, like to fly into the wind, so for front-on shots, you need the wind at your back or, if you want the subject moving across the frame, it should be on your side. Your subject is active, so have AF set to Continuous (AI Servo) to allow the active AF points…

The most abundant target for wildlife photographers is insects – and species such as damselfly and dragonfly are the most colourful and obliging. You’ll find them among the reeds next to ponds and rivers during the warmer summer months. With a macro lens or shorter telephoto, get yourself parallel to their perches, so you can keep as much as possible in focus with an aperture of f/8 or f/11. Lighting from an off-camera flash can also help illuminate their intricate detail and contrast with a background in shadow. Both damselfly and dragonfly spend much of their life as free-swimming nymphs in the water, before crawling up a reed stem and emerging as an adult. If you can find one at the point where the wings are just unfolding, you can…

June and July are the best months to capture puffins around the coastline of the UK, along with other birdlife, including oystercatchers and gannets. When shooting your photos, using a large aperture can help create a strong wildlife image with your subject in focus and the surrounding environment blurred for a great depth-of-field effect. If you are shooting from a higher vantage point, using the sea as a backdrop can also give a pleasing bokeh effect as the light reflects off the water, so always consider the angle at which you take your shots. There are plenty of bird reserves located around the country so do a little research and plan your trip in advance so that you are aware of what type of birds are likely to be present.…

“When Apple sneezes, the world of tech catches a fever” The world’s global tech superpowers are intent on corralling mankind into a virtual world and the latest attempt comes from arguably the biggest hitter, Apple. At the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook used his “one more thing” moment to reveal the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset and its all-new operating system; visionOS. So what is it and why is it a big deal? This isn’t just any old virtual reality headset; Apple claims it ushers in the “era of Spatial Computing”. In non-Apple speak, it’s a device that combines virtual and augmented reality into a product that could transform the way we interact with content, as well as how we create it. Apple has gone…

Specifications Sensor: 12.1MP full-frame CMOS Image processor: BIONZ XR Lens mount: Sony E-mount Viewfinder: Electronic viewfinder, 2.36-million dots LCD screen: Vari-angle touchscreen LCD, 3.0 inches, 921,600 dots Video recording: 4K UHD at up to 30fps, Full HD at up to 120fps Autofocus: Phase-detection and contrast-detection autofocus Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Dimensions: 122.5 x 72.8 x 94.8mm Weight: 492g (body only) www.sony.co.uk The vlogging camera space is heating up, with manufacturers targeting content creators with specially designed products. Sony was one of the first to recognise this market and has made several cameras in its vlog-focused ZV line, such as the Sony ZV-E10 or Sony ZV-1F. These focused on the entry-level vlogger, with 1-inch or APS-C sensors and affordable prices. Sony now has something for the more serious vlogger, the ZV-E1. It’s…

Specifications Mount: Nikon Z Full-frame: Yes Construction: 15 elements in 10 groups Angle of view: 28.5º Autofocus: Yes Image stabilisation: No Max aperture: f/1.2 Min aperture: f/16 Diaphragm blades: 11 Min focusing distance: 0.85m Max magnification ratio: 0.11x Filter size: 82mm Dimensions (L x D): 141.5 x 102.5mm Weight: 1,160g www.nikon.co.uk The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S has been a long time coming but the combination of an 85mm focal length and f/1.2 aperture fits the bill perfectly for Z system full-frame cameras. The lens is also compatible with Z DX (APS-C) format cameras like the Nikon Z fc, Z 50 and Z 30, where the ‘effective’ focal length of 127.5mm works for tight headshots. Effective autofocus is a key feature. This lens uses dual AF drive units that work…

Specifications Max read speed: 2000MB/s Max write speed: 2000MB/s Available capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB www.westerndigital.com SanDisk and its parent company, Western Digital are some of the best-known names in digital storage. They offer an extensive range of memory cards, flash drives, hard drives and solid-state storage drives. The Extreme Pro Portable SSD has been around for a while but the most recent incarnation (V2) is capable of read and write speeds that are twice those of its predecessor. Although SanDisk refers to V2 on its website, that isn’t included in the product name on the drive itself or its packaging. However, the data transfer markings on the packing make it clear which version of the drive you are looking at. Key features SanDisk offers the Extreme Pro Portable SSD V2…

Mike Will Photographer & content creator The founder of Shooters explains how to run a photographic community on social media – and why he always carries business cards, from page 120 Kaylee Greer Dog photographer Greer concludes her mini-series of pet photography techniques with an exploration of why the shooting angle is so important to a successful capture, on page 20 Adrian Davies Wildlife & nature photographer Occasional DC contributor Davies has just written a new book about photographing plants. We dig deep into it, adapting some of its projects for a new series. Page 24 Jon Devo Photographer & writer Our resident tech columnist enjoys considering the latest developments in photography and digital imaging. Read his latest dispatch on page 94 Angela Nicholson Photographer & writer DC’s former staff…

1 | LANDSCAPES Focus on foregrounds Alistair Campbell shows you how to draw the viewer’s attention to the key areas of your scene Getting out into the great outdoors brings positive and healthy energy to your life. And, if you’re a keen landscape photographer, you will have an extra incentive to tear yourself away from the computer screen and go exploring. However, carrying lots of kit can be quite cumbersome so, today, I’ve decided to travel light, packing just my compact Fujifilm X100V and a Manfrotto mini tripod for stability. I often attach my camera to the mini tripod, sling it over my shoulder and begin my trek to my desired shooting location. I’m aiming for Crook Peak, a small rocky formation popular with walkers in Somerset’s Mendip Hills. It…

Shooting birds that visit your garden is a fantastic long-term project that may well last a lifetime! But pictures of garden birds pecking peanuts through the wire mesh of a plastic bird feeder are never going to grace your portfolio. That’s not to say that a bird feeder isn’t useful – you just don’t want it to be part of your shot. Instead, set up a natural-looking perch close to your bird feeder. A small branch from your local woodland floor will do and, if you get one with a few different perching options, you’ll increase the variety of shots you can get as the birds use it as a ‘waiting room’ for the feeder. How you position the perch is important, as you need to have a good angle…

It’s a quirk of modern living that you’re more likely to see foxes in a city than in the countryside. Despite living in proximity to humans, they remain wary of us. Even if they regularly visit your garden, it takes some time for them to become used to your presence. You may come across bold individuals that seem relaxed enough to hang around for a photoshoot, but you will have to put work into observing their behaviour first. Foxes are more active at quieter times and places, so look for them in the evening in churchyards or close to wasteland. They are creatures of habit and often visit the same haunts regularly, so wait in your car – the perfect invisible urban ‘hide’. Shooting in low light requires high ISO…

10 FREE CURVES PRESETS Turn to page 78 to find out more! WATCH THE VIDEO! FILE & VIDEO www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc270 Curves has long been one of the best tonal tools in Photoshop and Lightroom. Whether you want to boost contrast, tweak brightness, experiment with creative colour shifts or make any number of other adjustments, Curves is the tool for the job. As one of the Photoshop old guard that has been around for decades, many of us simply couldn’t do without it. However, it isn’t the easiest of tools to master and there are plenty of other simpler options available. But avoiding Curves would be a mistake as, with a little practice, it quickly becomes the most intuitive and versatile of tonal tools. You’ll find a Curves command in lots of…

Canon EOS R100 The brand’s most affordable EOS R camera to date replaces the hugely popular EOS 200D/Rebel SL2 and EOS 2000D/Rebel T7 DSLRs The manufacturer’s latest entry-level camera, the EOS R100 is the most affordable body in the EOS R lineup. Retailing at under £670/$600 with a kit zoom, the R100 is an ideal camera for beginners, photography students and anyone looking to upgrade from shooting on a smartphone. The R100 is the mirrorless equivalent that replaces the Canon EOS 200D/Rebel SL2 and EOS 2000D/Rebel T7 DSLRs, which are two of the manufacturer’s best-selling bodies. Primarily a stills camera, the R100 features a 24.1MP APS-C image sensor, powered by a Digic 8 processor and featuring Canon’s original Dual Pixel Autofocus with face and eye detection. It can shoot bursts…

Specifications Wide camera spec: 4/3-inch sensor, 20MP, 24mm EFL, f/2.8-f/11 Wide camera video: 5.1K 50fps, 4K 120fps, 1080P 200fps Medium (3x) camera spec: 1/1.3-inch, 48 or 12MP, 70mm EFL, f/2.8 Medium (3x) camera video: 4K 60fps, 1080 60fps Tele (7x) camera spec: 1/2-inch, 12MP, 166mm EFL, f/3.4 Tele (7x) camera video: 4K 60fps, 1080 60fps Colour modes: HNCS (1x cam), D-Log (1x), D-Log M (1x, 3x), HLG (1x, 3x), Night Video Mode (1x) Flight time: 43 minutes Range: 15km/9.3miles www.dji.com When DJI first teased the announcement of what is now the Mavic 3 Pro, it used the phrase ‘Inspiration in Focus.’ We hoped that might be code for ‘a DJI Inspire 3 you can actually afford’. The previous Inspire 2 came in two editions, a cinematographer edition with SSD recording…

Max read speed: 2000MB/s Max write speed: 2000MB/s Available capacities: 0TB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB www.westerndigital.com SanDisk is one of the most widely known names in digital storage. It offers a range of memory cards, flash drives, hard drives and solid state storage drives (SSD) with options to suit consumers, enthusiast photographers and professional content creators, photographers and videographers. The Pro-Blade Transport and Pro-Blade SSD Mag were announced in May 2022, along with the Pro-Blade Station, as a modular SSD system. While the Pro-Blade Transport can hold a single Pro-Blade SSD Mag and is intended for use on the go, the Pro-Blade Station can hold up to four Mags and is designed for desktop use. The Pro-Blade Transport and Pro-Blade Mag are now on sale, with the Pro-Blade Station set to…

Specifications Max read speed: 3000MB/s Max write speed: 2600MB/s Available capacity: 4 slots enabling up to 16TB total capacity www.westerndigital.com The Pro-Blade Station joins the Pro-Blade Transport and Pro-Blade SSD Mag to create a modular SSD system. The Station is an SSD enclosure that is capable of holding up to four Pro-Blade SSD Mags. While the Pro-Blade Transport only holds one Mag and is more portable, this has been designed for desktop use. The idea is that the Station is kept connected to a computer and Mags are swapped in and out of it and the Transport as required, to avoid having to copy files from one place to another when you’re on the go. Key features Sandisk sells the Pro-Blade Station by itself (with the power and USB-C cables),…

If getting a crisp, clean shot of a butterfly is tricky enough, then bagging one with the wings delicately backlit by sunlight might seem a step too far. However, keeping a close eye on the weather and the periods of activity in your back garden or local nature reserve will tell you that early in the morning is the best time to venture out. Butterflies are relatively inactive as they warm up in the sun, and provided you don’t spook them with sudden movements, you can get fairly close to them as they pose. A macro lens or a long telephoto are good choices, but lock your focus point on the closest eye and use an aperture value around f/5.6 to give some leeway with the depth of field. You…

Red kites are one of the UK’s most elegant birds of prey, and after a period of persecution and near-extinction, they have made an astounding recovery in some parts of the country. They are amazing flyers, cruising around the countryside looking for prey, although like many animals they prefer the easy option, which is why you see many close to roads looking for roadkill. It’s impossible to chase individual birds, as they can cover a much larger area than you in just a few seconds. However, it’s possible to locate their preferred areas of flying in search of food, or alternatively, visit a centre where they are fed each day. The latter is certainly the most productive way of getting lots of shots as they swoop, dive and interact in…

BONUS GRITTY HERITAGE PRESET Turn to page 78 to find out more! FILE & VIDEO www.digitalcameraworld.com/dc270 The British Isles is blessed with an eventful past that continues to fascinate. From castles to towers and manors to mansions, there are plenty of historic buildings to visit and photograph. And when it comes to editing, you could also aim to apply some history to your images. Silver nitrate formed the basis of early photography, so you could only create a black-and-white image of your scene. Times were also much harder, with poverty rampant and the divide between rich and poor even greater than today. You can evoke this feeling by creating a gritty look to your photo. In Lightroom Classic, you do this using the Presence tools; Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze. For…

Luka Vunduk Landscape photographer Title: ‘Like Heaven, The Long Wait Paid Off’ Location: Alpe di Siusi, Italy Date: 2022 www.lukavunduk.com Born in Slovenia, Luka Vunduk’s passion for photography has taken him around the world exploring and capturing stunning scenes from the coastline of Saudi Arabia to the Grand Canyon in the USA. But it was his image of a place much closer to home that saw Luka take the gold medal and €1,000 in prize money at the Canarian Photo Awards 2023, a contest held in Lanzarote that focuses on nature, ecology and sustainability. “Photography is a passion that takes me around the world to capture the most unique and breathtaking places. However, sometimes the true beauty of a place can only be discovered at the most unexpected time,” says…

Specifications Sensor: 45.7MP full-frame stacked CMOS Image processor: Expeed 7 Autofocus: 493 phase-detect points, 493 contrast-detect points Stabilisation: 5-axis, 5.5 stops (up to 6 stops with specific lenses) Continuous shooting: 20fps RAW, 30fps hi-res JPEG, 120fps lo-res JPEG Video: 8K up to 60p, 4K up to 120p • 8- or 10-bit H.265, 10-bit Apple ProRes 4:2:2 HQ, 12-bit in-camera ProRes RAW HQ Viewfinder: Super-bright OLED, 3.69m dots, 100% coverage LCD screen: 3-inch bi-directional tilting touchscreen, 1.04m dots Dimensions: 144 x 118 x 83mm Weight: 820g (body only) www.nikon.co.uk Rumours of a Nikon Z 8 mirrorless camera, fitting somewhere between the Nikon Z 7 II and Nikon Z 9, have been doing the rounds for years but now it’s finally here. The manufacturer is touting the Nikon Z 8 both as…

Specifications Mount: Sony E (FE), Leica L Full-frame: Yes Construction: 14 elements in 11 groups Angle of view: 46.8º Autofocus: Yes Image stabilisation: Yes Max aperture: f/1.4 Min aperture: f/16 Diaphragm blades: 11 Min focusing distance: 0.45m Max magnification ratio: 0.15x Filter size: 72mm Dimensions (L x D): 110 x 78mm Weight: 670g www.sigma-imaging.co.uk The Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG DN Art has a heritage that includes the 50mm F1.4 DG HSM for DSLRs, launched in 2014 as the second ‘Art’ prime in the company’s Global Vision line-up. This ‘DN’ version, redesigned for mirrorless E and L mount cameras with no concessions to minimising size and weight, gains a host of impressive upgrades. This 50mm prime has a complex optical layout for a ‘nifty fifty’, based on 14 elements in 11…

Specifications Max data transfer speed: 1011 MB/s Available capacities: 240GB, 480GB, 1TB, 2TB www.owc.com Other World Computing (OWC), was founded in 1988 and is a zero-emissions technology company that produces an extensive range of computer upgrade kits, memory, computer docking stations and storage drives. The Envoy Pro Elektron is the company’s smallest SSD but it’s also tough and its NVMe M.2 2242 technology means that it is capable of transfer speeds of up to 1011 MB/s. Key features OWC produces the Envoy Pro Elektron in four capacities, 240GB, 480GB, 1TB and 2TB, majoring on the smaller sizes rather than the larger ones. This means that the SSD is available at attractive prices; however, the 2TB drive has some stiff competition from the likes of the SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD. The…

While there are three SanDisk drives in this group test, they all serve rather different purposes, and all four SSDs are very good in their own way. As part of a modular system, you need to invest in the Pro-Blade Station to get the full benefit of the SanDisk Pro-Blade Transport, but it’s incredibly fast. The SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD is a robust and dependable drive, but it lacks the speed of the smaller, lighter SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD V2, which is our top pick of the drives on test here. You might need to purchase a longer cable to go with it, especially if it is attached to a desktop computer, but the Extreme Pro Portable SSD V2 is built to survive and moves data at a blistering…