Illuminationlighting meaning

NIKKOR Z mount lenses fall into two categories: zooms and primes. A prime lens is a lens with (fixed) focal length that cannot be changed. Zooms, on the other hand, allow you to change the focal length across a predefined zoom range.

Illuminationmovie lamp

The new NIKKOR Z DX 24mm f/1.7 is the first DX prime lens for the Nikon Z mount and offers access to beautifully exaggerated bokeh at an amazing price. Lenses with DX in the title have been designed with DX-format cameras in mind (such as the Nikon Z fc, Nikon Z 30 and Nikon Z 50). DX cameras and lenses are the perfect beginner option, rather than full-frame FX cameras (such as Nikon Z 5, Nikon Z 6II, Nikon Z 7II and Nikon Z 8), due to their affordability and performance. Check out the differences between DX and FX cameras here.

Backlighting is when the light is positioned behind the object in the field of view. This method is used to create silhouettes around the inspected object. Illumination products used for this method such as flat lights and diffuse bar lights must illuminate an area with high homogeneity to ensure black on white contrast throughout the entire field of view.

Light illuminationtest

Primes suit a variety of genres, including action, landscape, close-up, low-light, portrait, wedding, street photography — and, of course, video!

Many photographers love prime lenses for their bokeh. Landscape photographer George Karbus shot his daughter with the NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 prime lens to get a perfect shallow depth of field with plenty of foreground bokeh in the bluebell woods (see two images above).

Brightfield is when a light is positioned and projected at an angle very close to the camera optical axis. By using a light in brightfield, the field of view will be flooded with a high intensity of illumination. Users must take care with direct reflections of shiny parts and utilize diffusors, polarizers, light position and different styles of lights such as a dome light.

Prime lenses are almost always faster than zooms because they offer wide apertures – the opening in your lens through which light passes to enter the camera. A wide aperture allows you to shoot when there is less light and also creates a shallow depth of field, meaning you get that lovely background (or foreground) blur, or bokeh, while your subject remains in focus. Some Nikon primes boast maximum apertures below f/2.8, such as the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S and NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S. And the NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S boasts a f/0.95 aperture! Don’t forget that the lower the f-stop number the bigger the aperture and the greater the blur.

Illumination lightcar

Urban sports photographer Little Shao often uses long focal prime lenses, such as the AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED, to focus in on the action.

Illuminationlighting design

Low angle is when the light comes from an incident angle of 30° to 80°. To create the low angle effect, the light is positioned between darkfield and brightfield to get the advantages of both illumination methods. The camera will observe highlighted edges and some light on the top surface of the object. The LMLX and bar light series are suitable for such applications.

LEDilluminationlights

Darkfield is when the light illuminates the field of view (FoV) with an incident angle between 80° and 90°. Creating a blade of light across the FoV illuminates any features with height or depth and edges, resulting in contrast. To create an ideal darkfield effect, lights must be of high intensity and with a narrow beam angle (LBA). With shiny parts, diffused light sources (LBD) are needed.

NIKKOR Z mount lenses fall into two categories: zooms and primes. A prime lens is a lens with (fixed) focal length that cannot be changed. Zooms, on the other hand, allow you to change the focal length across a predefined zoom range.

For in an in-depth look at choosing lenses, click here. For further information on the new NIKKOR Z DX 24mm f/1.7, read our guides here.

Prime lenses are generally smaller and more compact than zooms. As prime lenses have an optical formula optimised for one specific focal length, they produce razor-sharp images with fewer visual aberrations compared to zooms (which must accommodate multiple focal lengths).

Prime lenses are generally smaller and more compact than zooms. As prime lenses have an optical formula optimised for one specific focal length, they produce razor-sharp images with fewer visual aberrations compared to zooms (which must accommodate multiple focal lengths).

Wedding photographer Tali Pelosi and videographer François Lamoureux love primes because of their image quality and wider apertures. “I can open apertures as wide as f/1.8 and not have any issues with backlight when shooting at night or in indoor locations,” says Tali.