AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Balanced: The new 70-200mm f/2.8 is radically redesigned, both internally and externally.

CAN Nikon’s update to the classic 70-200mm f/2.8 improve on the original?

There are a few lenses which every Nikon owner always aspires to own — currently, that’s the 14-24mm f/2.8, the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8, all of which cover everything from the extreme wide-angle range to the telephoto.

Of course, being the top of the Nikon line of zoom lenses, the price is equally astronomical — the 14-24mm for example, has a list price of RM6,888 while the 24-70mm f/2.8 lists for RM6,688.

Nevertheless you always get what you pay for and without a doubt, these lenses are pretty high up there in terms of build quality and corner-to-corner sharpness.

Which brings me to the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II — the most recent (and quite major) update to the popular AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED which was released in 2003.

So the question is whether Nikon can improve on an already classic lens design and make a lens even more drool-worthy than its predecessor.

Design

The first thing you’ll notice about the new Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G is that the design is quite radically changed from the original.

Instead of a large front cylinder which tapers as it goes towards the lensmount, the new design is nearly a constant diameter until it reaches the lensmount.

The new 70-200mm is also a tad heavier than its predecessor — at 1,530g compared to the old one which was 1,470g, there’s not a big difference, but hints at the internal changes that have taken place.

Indeed, the internal lens elements have been redesigned and now features 21 elements in 16 groups, of which seven of those are ED (extra-low dispersion) elements and one featuring Nikon’s Nano Crystal Coat (both of which mean the new lens is more resistant to chromatic aberrations and flare than ever before).

Just to compare, the older version featured 21 elements in 15 groups with only five ED elements and no Nano Crystal Coat.

SIDE BY SIDE: A comparison between the old (right) and the new versions of the 70-200mm f/2.8 shows that the new one is slightly shorter but slightly thicker.

The overall length of the lens is now different as well with the new 70-200mm being slightly shorter than its older sibling.

Handling is pretty similar between the old and new versions, despite the differences in width.

There is one major difference between the old and the new lens. The new 70-200mm f/2.8 omits the focus lock buttons near the front element of the lens which served as a quick way to lock focus when you’ve pre-focused at a certain point and don’t want the camera wasting time trying to focus every time you depress the shutter release.

Of course, this is somewhat mitigated these days since nearly all modern pro and semi-pro Nikon DSLRs have a dedicated autofocus button so you can separate the autofocus away from the shutter release in the Custom function settings.

Lastly, the new 70-200mm now focuses slightly closer, at 1.4m throughout the zoom range compared with 1.5m on the older version.

Oh yes, apparently Nikon has also improved the Vibration Reduction (VR) system on the lens, and now claims up to a four-stop improvement when shooting at slow shutter speeds, compared with three-stops on the older model.

Of course, the effectiveness of the image stabilisation technology also depends on how steady you can hold the camera but we generally managed to take shake-free images at as low as 1/10sec even zoomed out all the way to 200mm.

Quality

At this price level, the quality and sharpness you get are top-notch in both the new and old versions of the 70-200mm. Any differences are actually quite minor as both versions of this lens are extremely sharp throughout the zoom range, especially when stopped down a little from maximum aperture.

SHORTER: The new Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 is shorter, but chubbier version of its predecessor.

If you’re using a Nikon DSLR with an APS-C size sensor (such as the D300, D300S, D90, etc) you’re not going to see any difference at all in quality between the old and the new 70-200mm even with the aperture wide open at f/2.8.

Having said that, there is a difference when you’re using a full-frame 35mm Nikon like the D3S, D3X and D700 where the larger sensor means that you’re really looking much further into the corners of the image circle than on an APS-C camera.

In our tests using the D700 as the test camera, we found that wide open at f/2.8, the new 70-200mm f/2.8 slightly but noticeably trumps its older sibling in the corners, offering a tad more sharpness in the corners than the older version.

In the centre, there was no difference at all in terms of resolution — both lenses produced extremely sharp results even wide open so there’s no complaints there at all.

Stopped down to f/5.6 and f/8, both lenses are practically neck-and-neck, and any difference in the corners is now gone, with both lenses exhibiting corner-to-corner sharpness.

As usual, if you want to have a look at these shots and compare them yourself, visit bit.ly/25J5c and download the full-sized images to compare for yourself.

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Canon PowerShot TX1 Concise Review

the PowerShot TX1 is an unusual offshoot of the hugely popular IXUS / ELPH range that attempts to straddle the divide between digital stills and digital video cameras with its unusual vertical styling and 720p HDTV video capture. Despite its diminutive dimensions (it's little bigger than a pack of playing cards) the TX1 packs a fairly impressive punch, offering a 10x optically stabilized zoom, 7.1MP CCD, vari-angle LCD and 1080i HDTV component video output. So does the TX1 represent a new direction for compact digital cameras or has Canon set off down a blind alley? Let's find out, starting as ever with the headline features:

New vertical design
New 1/2.5-inch 7.1 million pixel CCD
Vari-angle LCD monitor (1.8-inch)
10x optical (39-390mm equiv.) zoom lens - 12 elements (one UD & one Aspheric element)
Optical image stabilization
ISO 80-1600
DIGIC III and Face Detection
720p (1280 x 720) movies at 30 fps with stereo sound
1080i component video output
Flexible movie / still shooting Shoot a full-resolution still image during movie recording, or start movie recording by simply pressing record button

Making it picture perfect

Ever come back from a major holiday trip with loads of photographs in hand and wished you could show them off in a more professional manner?

Well, on a recent trip to Nepal, I took so many nice photos that I really wanted a way to show them to my family and friends in a more impressive way.

A bunch of 4R or 5R prints? Too small!

A number of A4 printouts from an inkjet printer? Too easily damaged and too much of a hassle to carry around a folder.

Well, then how about making a coffee table book? In many ways this is the perfect solution – you can show off your prints in a larger size with no loose pages or prints to lose, all protected in a bound hardcover.

Just a few years ago, doing such a thing would have been unheard of – not only would you have to employ somebody to do the layout of your book but also you'd have to shop around for a printing company that will do it for you.

Even then, nobody would print you just one book – you'd have to order in bulk and therefore have to look around for buyers of the extras to cover the phenomenal cost of such an undertaking.

Well, it's now the digital age and believe it or not, you can actually do what was once impossible – print a single hardbound or paperback book just for yourself or as a gift to your family and friends.

Such a book, if properly made, would also be great for professional photographers as a portfolio of their work.

A number of companies have popped up recently that produce so-called photo books.
These photo books come in a variety of sizes, from small, pocketable 5R-size books to A4 size and even a truly impressive A3 size.

Before you even get started with creating a photo book, you're going to have to gather a bunch of photos.

This isn't as simple as it sounds – unless you only plan to have a single photo on each page of a 40-page A3 photo book for example, you're probably looking at close to 80 photographs that you have to collate just for this purpose.

In fact, even if you're going for a simple 12-page double-sided book, you need to prepare at least 30 or so shots to make it really interesting.

Once you have the photos, you want to plan how you want the photo book to look, which means deciding which photos will look good together.

Getting an idea for the layout of your photo book is important as it determines the flow of images from page to page and thus how attractive the finished product will look when other people look at it.

Once you've decided on the shots, all you need to do next is to go online to one of the companies which offer the photo book service for the next step in the process.

Photo book companies

The photo book industry is still pretty new in the Malaysian market, and my research only turned up three companies which offer the service – Photobook (www.photobook.com.my), Pixart (www.pixart.com.my) and Ecaztudios (www.ecazstudios.com).

These companies offer varying levels of service and size of books so you should take a look at our guide and decide which one is right for you.

How to Choose a Digital Camera - Tips

Resolution and Image Quality

When buying a digital camera, the resolution you select should be matched to the intended use of your photographs. If you will be putting your pictures on a Web page or plan on e-mailing many of your photos, stick to the basic camera’s resolution of a 1-megapixel or less to keep the file size small and downloads quick. If you plan to print pictures, choose a higher resolution. The higher the pixels, the higher the resolution. The higher the resolution, the larger you can print a photo with good results.
Simply put, a 1-megapixel camera is good for posting photos on the Web, but does not give terribly good quality printouts. As you increase the number of megapixels in the camera, you increase the quality of the printed photos, and the size at which those photos will look good.
To the average user, a 3-megapixel photograph will rival prints from 35 mm camera even at sizes up to 8" x 10". However, you must remember that sometimes you will only want to print out a portion of a picture. For instance, you take a great family photo. Aunt Josie looked fantastic, so you would like to cut her out of the picture and print the photo of her alone. When you enlarge Aunt Josie, the higher resolution that the photo was taken at the clearer the print will be and the larger you will be able to make it.
You will have to pay more for a high resolution, high quality camera, but we live in the visual world of movie theatres and big screen televisions. So purchase as high a resolution camera as you can afford if you plan to print out your photographs. Don’t forget, your printer plays an important part as well. Along with a digital camera, you will also need a good quality color printer.

Panoramic View in Brinchang Camerron Highland

Panoramic view at Mount Brinchang and tea-estate

testing for shockwave posting