A couple of weeks ago the kind people of Calumet let me play with the Hasselblad H4D. It wasn’t a real scientific test. Tom and Pieter were trying out some lighting gear and I just snapped away some pics with the Hassy while we acted ridiculous as usual.

We did this just outside the room where Mike Larson was giving one of his great seminars organized by Calumet and Sunbounce. We even borrowed his beautiful model for an hour or so.

So what about the H4D then? First of all, this wasn’t any kind of scientific test. I basically just snapped away some pictures like it was a compact camera and that’s probably not what it was intended for. (Although a friend of mine said he saw a tourist with an H4D in Venice.)

Let’s start with the bad news: ergonomics, build quality and handling sucks big time. And I mean really big time, my 450D feels a lot more professional. The H4D looks and feels like it’s made of the same plastic as my first DSLR, the 300D (aka the digital rebel). It’s very slow in writing pics to the card (not even 1 pic/second). I do understand that these are very large files but then the camera should have a larger buffer / more processing power. The autofocus is slow and simply doesn’t work at all if the subject is backlit. The menus seem to be designed in the 90’s. The LCD-screen is plain rubbish. If Canon would fit such a bad screen on an entry level DSLR, the forums would be filled with complaints. I could not tell anything about the pictures when watching them on the lcd.

Is there anything good to say about the H4D? Well, it has something that my 5D mkII nor my 1D-bodies have … a pop-up flash. Yes, that’s right, a pop-up flash.

But wait, there’s more: Once you download the huge files to your computer, you finally discover what Hasselblad has been famous for during decades: SUPER QUALITY. The resolution is just mind blowing. If I zoom a picture to 100% in Lightroom on my rather recent Macbook Pro, I can go and make myself a coffee while it’s rendering. To some this resolution is essential for their work but most of us can easily get by with a Canon or Nikon. To me, the biggest advantage of the Hasselblad files is the depth. The gradients are way smoother than any digital camera I’ve ever seen.

Since I met him for the first time, I’ve been wanting to take a portrait of Waldemar. You may not know him, but he’s the one that drives the van on the European Sunbounce workshop tours. He’s also the one that bends the ultra strong German steel in the Sun-Movers. He looks like a very tough guy (and I’m sure he is when needed) but he’s also a very generous man. And he’s the owner of a face that just screams to be taken a portrait of.

These were shot outside in the middle of the day. I underexposed the ambient so it didn’t play any role in the picture. We lit this with just one beautydish overhead.

I know the H4D is not supposed to be a replacement for a 5D mkII. It’s probably expected to be used tethered to a computer, in a controlled environment. But still, for that price I would have expected a decent construction, good lcd and excellent ergonomics. I wouldn’t even mind if they would have to drop the pop-up flash for that. If you need the resolution and/or the depth it’s probably still worth the hefty price tag and I’m not sure if the other digital medium format solutions are any better.

Conclusion: The H4D is certainly “haute cuisine” when it comes to image quality, too bad you have to consume it with a plastic fork on a cardboard plate. But still, I wouldn’t hesitate to rent one, if I need the image quality.

Can I fall in love? Considering my previous post, a title like this could make you think this blog post is about women. Well it’s not but if the newspapers can use misleading headlines, so can I. This is about lenses, the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM in particular. I’ve had it for a couple of years (it’s actually my second one as the first got stolen 13 days after I bought it) and it’s always been my least favorite lens.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great lens: well built, the perfect all-round focal length (on full frame), it’s fast and accurate. It’s good at almost anything … but great at nothing. It just isn’t as edgy, extreme or special than any of my other lenses.

Come to think of it, it’s not that different from falling in love with a woman. You just don’t fall in love with a girl because she’s moderately interesting, slightly intelligent, not ugly and reasonable in everything. You fall in love because you get a kick out of Nobel prize winners or because she makes you laugh every minute (or just because she has the perfect boobs).

But in the end you might be probably better of with that first girl who can be trusted every time. I got a similar feeling with the 24-70. That lens has been my must-have/go-to lens when I need to play it safe. But to see if I can fall in love with it, I’m going to use it more often for a while during those times where I don’t have to play it safe and would normally choose another lens. Yesterday I took it with me on a long Geocaching walk with the kids and some friends.

Because the weather forecast was far from great, I used my bulletproof vintage 1Ds mkII. In combination with the 24-70 that’s a heavy beast to lug around for a long walk during which you need to operate a hand held GPS and a bunch of kids. But I don’t regret it as I’m pretty happy with the souvenirs I was able to make of this great day. I’ll keep committing myself to using the 24-70 more often for some time and I’ll report in later.

Small things can make a big difference to a photographer, sometimes they are not even directly photo related. It’s winter here in Belgium and even though we got rid of the snow, it’s still pretty chilly if you have to shoot outside for longer than 10 minutes. I swear by outdoor gear when it comes to picking the right trousers, shoes, socks, jacket and a hat for working outdoors but that always left me with cold hands. I tried photographing with thick gloves, thin gloves and everything in between but I always ended up putting taking them off when working (and lost countless pairs of gloves on location). I even tried some gloves with a removable flap for the fingers but it just didn’t feel right. A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on/in a pair of Etre Touchy Gloves and I’ve been very happy about them.

These gloves look and feel they were made by your grandmother and that’s not a bad thing at all. The lambs’ wool feels incredibly comfortable and the gloves fit my medium sized hands perfect. The idea behind these gloves is one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-it-myself ones. Just leave the fingers you need exposed: thumb and index finger. The material gives me enough grip to comfortably hold my camera and other equipment.

If you are embarking on a polar expeditions, these gloves are not for you. Your thumb and index finger will get cold. But I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable they are when photographing for a couple of hours in temperatures around freezing. The exposed fingers got cold but never went numb. So I’d say (exposed) thumbs up.

Just after I published my previous blog post about how I’m doing with my medium format film camera, the doorbell rang. The DHL guy seemed to be a bit disappointed when “Stephani” turned out not to be a sexy babe but the last name of a fat photographer. I, on the contrary, was pretty excited by his visit because he brought me my new scanner: the Epson Perfection V700 Photo.

I did quite some research about the options to scan the negatives of my Hasselblad 500cm. Once I’ve learned to work with it, I’ll write a more in-depth review about why I choose it and if it is able to meet my (high) expectations. For now, I’ll leave you with some first impressions.

I must admit that I was pretty sceptical when die hard film fans stated that a well scanned medium format negative could hold it’s own against a digital file from a modern DSLR. But now, I’m not so sure about that anymore. I don’t have enough knowledge and experience yet to make a founded statement on that. Too be honest, I don’t even want to spend my time on doing scientific tests to find out what is best. At the moment I think that you can’t really compare film to digital in a completely objective way. It’s like vinyl vs CD, sure a CD is cleaner but the technical quality of vinyl isn’t that bad and it has something that digital lacks: character. Like cd (or iTunes), I believe that digital is probably the best option for most photography but film still has it’s place if you’re after that certain look.

But back to the Epson V700, here are my first impressions:

- The thing is huuuuuge, it looks more like a desktop copier than a scanner. But it doesn’t look out of place next to a trendy Mac.
- It all feels pretty sturdy and professional.
- It comes with adapters for different sizes of film.
- I read some horror stories about these film holders but I found the MF holder to be pretty practical.
- The MF film holder holds 6 square negatives. That’s better for productivity than the 2 I had on my old scanner.
- Preview scanning is pretty fast
- Scanning time at 1200 dpi is rather fast too
- Scanning time at 2400 dpi takes a bit longer, but I’d rather have a slow but good scan than a fast but bad one. I haven’t tested higher resolutions yet.
- I’ve heard lots of good things about the Silverfast SE6 software that came with the scanner. The more advanced version of this software is supposed to be even better but for now I’ll stick to the SE-version. There’s already way more options in it than I can understand. It’s not “dummy”-software (although it probably has some dummy-mode”. That means that I’ll probably have to go through a steep learning curve but if that makes my scans better, that’s time well invested.
- Last observation for now: I’m blown away with the image quality (I bet you saw that one coming).

I only did a couple of test scans last night. The difference with my old scanner is huge. Not only in the resolution but also in the gradations captured. In the picture above, the little girl was a bit blown out. I tried to scan it for safety, so I got a pretty dull grey image that would give me more options for some dodging and burning. But before the dodging and burning, I cleaned up the dust and scratches.
The image below was shot on color film (Porta 400NC) and converted to black and white, I also did some cleaning up and some minor dodging and burning.

Scanned at 2400 dpi the above image of my wife became a 5115 x 5010 pixel image. That’s a pretty big file hey. Below you can see how much detail is present in a 100% crop. I must say that I found that to be pretty impressive.

Now I’m even more desperately looking for some free time to do some test shoots with the Hasselblad.

Since I get so many questions about my gear, I decided to post an article every now and then about what I use and why. Don’t expect lab tests, honest comparisons and too much technical data, there are other sites who do that kind of stuff way better then I could do. Sure, the specs of any piece of equipment are important in making my choices but there’s also the beyond scientific factor of personal taste, look and feel. Remember, my ideal choice may be completely wrong for you. A personal subjective view hardly qualifies as a real review, so I’ve called this new section RSO (Review, Sort Of).

Every single photographer I know that has ever used a California Sunbounce reflector agrees that there just is something that makes the light just that little bit better than most other reflectors. I find that to be especially true for the zebra (gold/silver) fabric. I also like the sturdy but lightweight metal frame that keeps the fabric from moving (and thus constantly changing the light) in the wind. But even though the frames are pretty quick to setup and travel pretty well, they are not as fast and handy as one of those pop-up reflectors. I still think that a Sunbounce mini (the most versatile to me) or a pro (the best light) are good investments for professional photographers and serieus amateurs who use reflected light a lot. But they might be a bridge too far for someone who’s just starting out and/or on a budget. Also for the run-and-gun work, they are sometimes not fast enough to use unless you have a dedicated assistant who’s running around with the reflector.

But now there’s the Sun-Mover, a reflector that promises to have the best of both worlds: a sturdy reflector with the proven Sunbounce fabric that can be folded up fast into a small package. It may be a bit more expensive than most other similar sized pop-up reflectors, but I think it’s worth it.

It’s an oval 85 by 79 centimeters reflector that folds up into a small supplied bag. The bag fits easily into the front compartiment of my LowePro Computrekker Plus AW backpack. The bag also has a sturdy plastic D-ring, to attach it to smaller camera bags. One word of caution: watch out when you fold open the reflector. To overcome the sloppyness that’s usually associated with pop-up reflectors, Sunbounce used some extremely strong steel. You can really hurt yourself when opening up the reflector if you don’t watch out. But then again, I never had a pop-up reflector before that doesn’t go floppy on me in a moderate breeze. The Sun-Mover will probably work fine for a shoot in a hurricane.

There are two comfy big handles that proved to be the key to get the most out of the Sun-Mover. They make it easy to hold the reflector but by bending the handles in- or outwards you also get a surprising amount of control over the beam of light.

The Sun-Mover comes in two flavors: silver/white fabric and zebra/white fabric. I choose the zebra/white because I usually find silver a bit too harsh for a smallish reflector. I also like the slightly warmish tone of the zebra.

When I’m on assignment I take at least a Mini and a Pro with me but when I’m working without assistants and have to shoot fast, they usually stay in the car. There are those moments when it’s restricts your movement too much to take a Mini along but you still think: “If only I had a reflector now”. One of those times was during the amazing wedding of Daphne and Katrien. They focussed on enjoying their big day and their friends and family, so we didn’t schedule a wedding portrait shoot. But suddenly they found themselves with 10 spare minutes to do an improvised portrait shoot. I grabbed my camera, the Sun-Mover and Daphne’s best man as an assistant.

When you don’t have much time it’s often best to look for uncluttered backgrounds. The shot bellow is made outside in a shaded area with a large wooden door behind them. When I took a quick testshot the light on them was soft but flat and the difference in intensity of the light on them and the background was not enough to get the background to go black. So we grabbed the Sun-Mover, placed it in a sunny spot and directed the light towards their faces. This gave me reasonably soft yet directional light. By keeping the beam tight (flexing the handles inwards) there’s no light spill on the background and the intensity of the light on Daphne and Katrien was a couple of stops higher than the background.

Same setup but I moved a bit to get the trees in the background. To be perfect, the light should have been pointed a bit higher, now the sweet spot is on their arms. Look at how the zebra fabric warms up the light just that little bit to be pleasing without getting that golden-Playboy-in-the-eighties-look.

In the next picture you can see what difference the Sun-Mover makes. I often try to light the faces just a bit more than the rest of the body. The size of the Sun-Mover is perfect for that. If you want to light a full body shot evenly, you need a bigger lightsource but the Sun-Mover is perfect for portraits to half body.

Here’s an iPhone snap of the setup:

Reflectors are usually used as a main light or fill light, but I use them pretty often as a back- or hairlight too. The soft indirect available light in the picture below was perfect as a main light. The bright blurred out background gives the picture a summery feel. To complement that even more, we placed the reflector behind the couple to give some of that nice just before sunset hairlight. The slightly warm light from the zebra fabric makes the picture complete.

During this first real life experience with the Sun-Mover it met and exceeded my expectations. It’s not as good as the Mini’s or Pro’s that I usually use, but it comes close, really close. And it has the added benefits of being cheaper and more convenient. Whenever I have the choice, I’ll go for the metal frame reflectors, but the Sun-Mover has earned it’s permanent place in my backpack. After all, the best reflector is the one you have with you.

In the last picture in this post, no reflectors where used, but I couldn’t resist sharing all this sexyness with you.

Since I get so many questions about my gear, I decided to post an article every now and then about what I use and why. Don’t expect lab tests, honest comparisons and too much technical data, there are other sites who do that kind of stuff way better then I could do. Sure, the specs of any piece of equipment are important in making my choices but there’s also the beyond scientific factor of personal taste, look and feel. Remember, my ideal choice may be completely wrong for you. A personal subjective view hardly qualifies as a real review, so I’ve called this new section RSO (Review, Sort Of).

Let’s start this series of articles with the most expensive piece of gear I’ve bought lately: the Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed AS kit. This is basically a very powerful studio flash (generator + head).

What’s in the kit?

- Ranger RX Speed AS generator with battery
- extra battery
- battery charger
- “A” flash head
- standard reflector
- softlite reflector + softlite umbrella
- case

info: 1/200 – iso100 – f/16 – 24mm – bare Ranger Head to camera left

The need for a battery powered studio flash

I guess I’m a bit known for my use of small flashes (speedlights), the Strobist way. I still think small flashes are often the best choice, so the Ranger is not a replacement for my speedlights, rather an addition to have more options in lighting. Small flashes are remarkably powerful but sometimes that still isn’t enough. Placed close to the subject a speedlight is usually powerful enough to do whatever you want, but I evolved into making more wider shots which means that I have to put the flash further away from the subject to avoid having it in the frame, so more power was needed. And even if a speedlight throws out enough photons, recycle times become really slow at full power, 5-6 seconds between two pictures can be too much to keep a nice “flow” in the shoot.
Even more important than sheer power is the quality of light. With light modifiers like umbrella’s en softboxes, I find speedlight to throw out pretty beautiful light, but the hard light they throw out is not always as pretty. A speedlight is a bit of a compromise between power and light quality, with studio lights that’s less of an issue.
The last reason why I invested in portable studio equipment is to have more lighting options: beautydish, large softbox, … Sure, you can put a couple of speedlights in a large softbox or make a beautydish out of a salad bowl but sometimes the real deal makes work that little bit more enjoyable.

info: 1/200 – iso100 – f/14 – 17mm – bare Ranger Head to camera left

Why the Ranger RX Speed AS?

Let’s have a look to my list of requirements:
- Lots of power
- Consistency and accuracy of power settings
- Being able to dial the power way down
- Fast recycle
- Short flash duration capable to stop action even at full power (many flashes have to long flash durations, certainly on full power)
- Long battery life / pops per charge
- Availability/Price of modifiers and accessories
- Price

The Ranger meets all those criteria even though I wouldn’t mind if the price was a bit lower. Elinchrom is also a brand that has been regarded as very reliable and sturdy, which is important for a location photographer. When you’re buying your first studio flash, it’s wise to see it as buying into a complete system. If you end up with two or three different brands, accessories are often not interchangeable and assistants must be trained to use different systems. So I wanted a brand that can grow with me. Elinchrom wasn’t the only brand that qualified. Other brands like Profoto, Hensel and Broncolor have maybe even better reputations and products so they where on my shortlist too. Comparable products to the Ranger tend to be a bit more expensive but that wasn’t the major showstopper. “Availability” was my last but not least requirement. The possibility to rent or borrow equipment within the same system is important to me too. I don’t want to buy stuff that I only use once a year. Those things are better rented or borrowed from a friend. You can rent some other brands but usually just a basic kit and isn’t that just what a photographer would likely invest in. When it comes to huge modifiers, super powerful packs and exotic accessories, there’s a vast wasteland in Belgium. Only for Elinchrom there’s something to rent (although still not enough IMHO). It also helps that most of my friends who own studio gear, use Elinchrom.

I am not saying that Elinchrom is the best nor am I saying that I will stick to this brand forever. The recycle time of the Profoto’s, the inovativeness of Hensel and Broncolor’s sublime light quality are still very appealing. And there are probably more good brands around. I believe in using the right gear for the job and if that means switching over to another brand, so be it.
info: 1/200 – iso100 – f/10 – 70mm – bare Ranger Head to camera right

Why assimetrical?

You can plug in two heads into a Ranger pack and the Ranger Speed comes in a symmetrical and assymetrical flavor. With symmetrical, the power is distributed evenly (50-50) over the two outlets. The assymetrical distributes two thirds of the power to outlet A and one third to outlet B. I didn’t buy a second head and I’m pretty sure I never will buy one without buying another power pack. The idea of attaching two heads seems interesting at first but I see very limited use for my work. You don’t have control over the power of the heads seperately, with the symmetrical one, both heads put out the same power and with the assymetrical one, head A puts out twice the power of head B. I know you can start fiddling around with ND filters but that seems a bit too cumbersome. With two heads you’ll probably going to have cables all over the place and that’s not my idea of a smooth way of working either.

So if I’m just going to use one head, it doesn’t matter if you buy the symmetrical or the assymetrical, right? No, wrong otherwise I wouldn’t write this. For me the minimum power of a flash is at least equally important as the maximum output. I still like to use wide aperture when using flash so I need to be able to dial them way down. With the assymetrical Ranger, you can go down to 7 Watt/seconds if you plug the head into socket B. While if I’m not mistaken the symmetrical Ranger’s minimum power is double of that.

info: 1/160 – iso100 – f/10 – 200mm – bare Ranger Head to camera left

In the field

Enough about numbers, specifications and theory, how does the Ranger performs in the field?
Remarkably well, it’s a bit more of a hassle to set up a Ranger than a speedlight but it’s still pretty fast and easy. Very important to me is that it looks like it can take a serious beating. What’s the point in location lighting equipment if you’re afraid to use it on location? It packs more than enough power for most of my needs and recycles very fast. The battery seems to contain and endless suply of power even while using the modelling light a lot. I never had to use the spare battery yet.
And then there’s the quality of light. Especially hard light looks a lot better when it comes from the Ranger. With speedlights I’m always worried that hard light will not be very flattering, with the Ranger I’ll be using more hard light.

To me the Ranger is very much worth the investment because it opens up many new possibilities in my photography and can make some of the things I’m already doing look even better.