Epson Hot Press Paper review

 

Before we start the Epson Hot press paper review here are the technical specs that Epson give for both the Hot Press Bright and Hot Press Natural papers:

Hot press bright paper

This paper has an acid free base, PH Buffered, 100% cotton rag on 330 gsm weight. It has a bright white surface and an ultra smooth finish for excellent colour and black & white reproduction. With extreme high D-Max for high contrast, it dries instantly and has a wide colour gamut.

 

Hot press natural paper

This paper has an acid free base, PH Buffered, 100% cotton rag on 330 gsm weight. It has a white surface, without OBA’s and an ultra smooth finish for excellent colour and black & white reproduction. With extreme high D-Max for high contrast, it dries instantly and has a wide colour gamut

 

First Impressions

 

My first impression when I received a couple of boxes of the Epson Hot Press papers was how well packaged they are compared to all other papers I have used (and I’ve used a lot).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The papers come in oversized boxes which help to protect the paper from bumps during transit. I have to say Epson have done a great job with their packaging and even if the boxes were thrown around I reckon the paper would still arrive in perfect condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you open up the boxes and handle the paper for the first time the thickness ( 330GSM) of the sheets exudes quality and it feels like a luxurious paper in hand. I would feel very confident handing this paper to clients knowing the luxury feel will just add to the value of my images.

The Hot Press papers have a very smooth surface as denoted by the name Hot Press, if you’re after a more textured surface then you should give Epson’s Cold Press papers a try.

 

The Proof is in the Print

 

The first print that I printed out was a black and white image of Asygarth falls in the Yorkshire Dales which has very deep blacks and bright whites so it is a great test to compare this paper to the other matte papers which I’m currently using,  Canson Rag Photographique 310 and Hahnemuhle German Etching as well as to glossy surface papers like Canson Baryta and Epson’s own Premium Luster.

I initially printed out all the prints using Epson’s ABW driver on my Stylus Pro 7900. The Hot Press Bright actually came out a little warmer than I had expected with it actually being only marginally brighter than the Canson Rag Photographique which was surprising considering the Epson Hot Press Bright uses OBA’s and the Canson paper doesn’t.

I had a play around with the tone settings in the ABW driver but the print was still a little on the warm side compared with the display on my calibrated monitor so I decided I would create a custom profile using my Spyder 3 Print SR and see if I could get a better match for what I was seeing on my monitor.

Before doing this I printed out the same image to both the Hot Press Natural paper (which I simply found too warm and creamy for my taste on this image although I could see it suiting some) and Hahnemuhle’s German Etching paper which actually printed out very well using Epson’s ABW driver with the media setting of Velvet Fine Art paper.

Hahnemuhle German Etching uses moderate amounts of OBA’s just like Epson Hot Press Bright so I would expect them to be producing an image with a similar warmth and tone but the German Etching was noticeably cooler and almost an exact match for the image on my monitor. I’d also say that for this particular image I liked the added tooth that the texture on German Etching gave and I would be interested to see what it was like in comparison to Epson Cold Press Bright.

However once I created a profile for the Hot Press Bright using the extended grays target in Spyder 3 Print SR  the paper printed perfectly.

What impressed me most was just how dark the blacks on the Epson Hot Press Bright are, I’m used to using baryta papers which print exceptionally dark blacks and yet I was amazed that this paper could produce a satisfying black, the dmax is nothing short of incredible for a matte paper but don’t expect it to match that of glossy papers becasue it’s just not going to happen. It’s very hard to show just how nice this black and white print looks in person but I’ll try and show you anyway.It has a depth and feel to the print that I couldnt get with a glossy surface. It’s very hard to quantify but it is a thing of beauty in reality.

Now on top of feeling like a beautiful paper it is also performing like one. The blacks are darker than the Canson Rag Photographique 310 although there is really hardly anything in it and the highlights are fractionally in favour of the Epson too with them being very slightly brighter but both are exceptional matte papers. This is a great performance by the Hot press Bright as the Canson Rag photographique has up until now been by far my favourite smooth matte paper but I would say that the Epson Hot Press Bright certainly performs  equally well for black and white prints.

 

 

 

I printed out a still life image of mine which particularly suits matte papers on the Epson Hot Press Bright and the Canson Rag Photographique which are very evenly matched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whats’s particularly interesting is that Epson Hot Press Bright actually performs better than baryta papers when printing blues and yellows, it’s colour gamut is larger in these areas.

If you select your images carefully then there is no doubt that Epson Hot Press bright can outperform even fibre based and gloss surfaced papers in certain areas and the paper surface is a thing of beauty. Where this paper loses out to baryta papers is in the reds and greens and it wont produce as dark a black but it does produce a beautiful black with a different character and charm to baryta papers.

Verdict

In the end I would recommend choosing Epson Hot Press Bright if you want the widest possible gamut, bright whites and dmax on a matte paper, you will love the images that this paper can create!

 

If you need an OBA free paper then you could give the Epson Hot Press Natural a try, especially for portraits as the natural paper white will suit skin tones and you get that beautiful surface but for my landscapes it was a little too warm.

I will definitely be using Epson Hot Press Bright in my repertoire of papers as combined with Epson’s HDR inks in my 7900 it’s capable of blowing you away with the quality you can achieve.

In fact I have really enjoyed printing on matte papers thanks to the Epson Hot Press Bright and it has inspired me to get out and create a series of prints that will be printed only on matte papers rather than my usual tendancy to print on fibre papers.

 

These papers are not cheap but if you want to create prints that can really wow your clients/friends/family or even just for the aethetically pleasing results for yourself then I would highly recommend trying them out.

 

I’ve recently taken delivery of a new epson 7900 Stylus Pro printer, which was quite a feat considering I live in the Outer Hebrides. Despite the haulage company who said they were delivering the printer actually not having it at all it still arrived and thanks to the kind delivery driver and a couple of bottles of whisky (gifts for the driver not drinking on the job lol) we managed to get it to where it needs to be. Thankfully it just squeezed in the gate and up the stairs to my print room, hopefully it will never have to move again.

I have set the printer up and created some custom paper profiles using a Spyder 3 Print SR which I shall be reviewing alongside the Epson 7900 and some papers which Epson have kindly sent to me.

So far the printer looks fantastic, output is excellent and it’s pretty easy to use thanks to having previously had an Epson 3880. I’m looking forward to more testing with the Epson Hot press papers once some new ink turns up, yes I’ve already used one of the small ink cartridges that the printer comes bundled with

This competition is now closed

How do you fancy winning yourself a brand new Vanguard Up Rise 45

backpack this Christmas?

 

Well courtesy of Vanguard and David Fleet Photography you can do exactly that and all you have to do is answer this simple question to be in with a chance of winning a Vanguard Up Rise 45 backpack.

 

Complete this famous landscape photographers name

Ansel *****

 

Send you answer, your name and postal address to competitions@davidfleetphotography.com to be in with a chance of winning this great prize.

The winning entry will be selected at random and the winner announced on the 21st December so you should get your prize in time for Christmas.

Please note that the comepetition is only open to European residents.

For more details on this great backpack simply visit Vanguard World

 

 

For even more chances to win click the below image

Panasonic G3 review

 

I recently bought the Panasonic DMC Lumix G3 lens system camera and so this is my Panasonic G3 review based upon my observations of the last few month of use.  Overall, I think that the Lumix G3 is a great camera that performs almost as well as a DSLR does, only on a much smaller scale.

 

My First Impressions

 

The first thing that I noticed (and it has to be said one of the reasons I bought the camera) with the Lumix DMC-G3 was how small and light it was as compared to most DSLR cameras and even other lens system cameras. Despite its small size, it was still packed with many features that I think are very useful. The reason I bought this camera and the reason I think many keen photographers will consider buying it is that it offers high image quality in a lightweight package and that fits the bill nicely when I want to go out  and not lug all my heavy DSLR kit around.

 

The camera comes with an electronic viewfinder, a tilt-swivel LCD, touchscreen control, and dust reduction technology. I must admit to being a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to touch screen tech on a camera, I still prefer using actual buttons and dials but thats for you to decide. Luckily and again one of the reasons I considered this camera is that it retains a lot of physical controls so I can change aperture, shutter speed and ISO without having to go into the menu or use the touchscreen.

I was also impressed with the Intelligent Automatic exposure and the different exposure modes: automatic, semi-auto, and manual. The Lumix DMC-G3 is able to produce 15.8-megapixel photos and comes with a Venus Engine FHD processor, which results in a fast autofocus. Also, the Lumix DMC-G3 isn’t only a camera – it comes with full HD video capabilities. Now I can honestly say that I have used the video function on my Canon 5D MK 2 once, just to see whether it worked. I’m not a video user but for those who are the G3 video seems to tick most of the boxes and the auto focus is good at keeping up with moving objects. It’s much more user friendly than the video on my DSLR.

 

In my hands, the Lumix DMC-G3 felt pretty strong and sturdy, thanks to its aluminum construction. Many compact cameras have a plastic construction, so the Lumix DMC-G3 is more solid in comparison which is reassuring when I’m hiking up hills with it around my neck or stuffing it in my rucksack.

 

A total of 11 lenses are available by Panasonic, so that gives you several options when using the Lumix DMC-G3. The options include wide-angle, telephoto zooms, and macro. There’s even a 3D lens that I would love to try out, but have not had the opportunity to do so. Some lenses from other manufacturers including Olympus will also fit the Lumix DMC-G3. More choice is always a good thing. I did consider the Sony NEX series of cameras because they offer a slightly larger sensor and so in theory even better image quality but from what I have seen the difference is minimal and the lens lineup for Sony is very small at the moment. I also favour the micro four thirds standard to outlast that of the sony but we shall have to see on that front.

 

Finally, I was impressed with the price of the Lumix DMC-G3. It’s a great price for what you get, with all of its features in a compact size, however it is in the same price bracket as entry level DSLR’s which means if you are ultimately after the best image quality for your money then you would have to go with a DLSR thanks to their larger sensor.

 

But WAIT there’s more to buying a camera than image quality alone otherwise we would all have large format film and medium format Digital cameras…..

 

Putting It In Use

 

I took the G3 outside next to my neighbours croft where he runs lots of sheep as I wanted to test out the auto focus system. It was a perfect setting to really see how well the camera performed. I was photographing both fast-moving objects (if you can call running sheep fast moving?) and still images and it was quite gloomy so I had to use a higher ISO setting than I would have liked. . For the most part, the Lumix G3 performed well and I enjoyed using the camera. The auto focus was pretty quick and did a decent job of keeping up with the moving sheep. I also tried snapping a few birds and again the camera focussed correctly most of the time.

The Lumix DMC-G3 is really light and easy to handle. It only weighs around 360 grams, which is considerably lighter than the DSLRs that I usually tote around. The grip on the camera is nicely designed and it fits in my average sized hands pretty well.

 

When I did try out the HD video feature on the Lumix G3 I found it to be of high quality. It was also really easy to use – much easier than using the video feature on any DSLR.

 

A nifty feature that I especially liked was the pinpoint AF, which helped me zoom in to the exact locations I wanted. I controlled this feature by using the touchscreen, which even for me was so simple to do.

 

The autofocus on the camera was really quick, which was really handy when capturing moving objects or for grab shots. The camera was able to quickly focus and take shots in rapid succession although the buffer fills up pretty quickly and then the camera grinds to a holt. It’s perfectly acceptable for quick bursts of shots but you wouldn’t want to be shooting sports with it all the time.

 

The kit lens comes with optical image stabilization, which is always useful, but I have noticed that the corners are a bit soft but this improves when you stop the lens down. Obviously the 14-42mm lens isn’t the best performing but I have to say that I’m happy enough with the resulting images. People sometimes make too big a deal about corner sharpness and tiny little faults in lenses that admittedly are there but most people dont notice. If someone is noticing that the corners in your image are not quite sharp enough then I would say that your image is not doing it’s job properly becasue they should be admiring the composition. Anyway (rant over) there are so many other lens choices available for the G3 that you can easily change it or buy the 20mm pancake lens instead.

Some people might enjoy the touchscreen on the Lumix DMC-G3, but as I said earlier I prefer to use regular buttons. It all depends on what you want out of a camera. If you like being given instructions as you go along, you might appreciate the touchscreen more than I did. However, one thing I did like was the ability to swivel around the touchscreen when I needed to. I have sometimes looked at the newer DSLR cameras that have a swivel screen and thought , why would I want that?  but I have actually found it usefull on a number of occassions, particularly when shooting close to the ground it enabled me to compose a shot without getting my face in the mud which is always a bonus.

The menus sometime got a bit complicated with terms that weren’t very clear but with some fiddling around, I was able to navigate my way through the menus, it just takes a bit of getting used to a new system, that’s not a fault of the camera but mine.

 

The battery had a pretty short life, which is something you’ll need to keep in mind for long photo shoots as it wouldn’t last a days shooting if you are constantly taking pics. Panasonic quote 200 shots on a full charge and I reckon thats pretty accurate.  I would recommend you to get a second battery especially if you are going to use it in cold conditions as they drain batteries much more quickly.

When I printed photos from the Lumix G3 , I really liked the quality. The resulting photos were comparable to those I usually get from my DSLR cameras. I didn’t have to do much post processing after shooting, because the jpegs were already sharp and the colors were vibrant. I have shot Raw and Jpeg with the G3 because until recently Lightroom 3 didn’t recognise the G3′s files but thankfully a Lightroom update has solved that.

The one obvious difference from my 5D MK2 is that the G3 just isn’t able to resolve the detail in a landscape shot as well. This should come as no surprise considering the Canon is using a full frame sensor with 21mp of resolution which wiped the floor with my previous EOS 450D 12mp camera too. Whether you would really notice the difference depends upon how closely you are looking but as long as I use proper technique when shooting with the G3 it produces images that I am happy to put my name to. For most people it will be more than good enough.

 

My Overall Opinion

 

With the Lumix G3’s features and its impressive performance, I have to say that it is almost as good as a DSLR. For most people, the purchase of this camera will deliver the high quality that they need for everyday photo taking. Thanks to the Lumix G3’s 16-megapixel sensor, a fast autofocus, adaptable lens lineup, and high-quality images, it has the feel and quality of a DSLR without the heaviness and bulkiness.

If you’re looking for a compact camera that delivers high quality photos and video, I would recommend you consider the Lumix G3. It has a great price and won’t take up too much space. Where purchasing a bulky DSLR  may be overkill for a lot of people and a small point-and-shoot may be limiting due to lack of features and controls,  the Lumix G3 gives you the best of both worlds.

If this review helped you then please buy through my Amazon links, it wont cost you anymore but it helps towards the upkeep of the site.

 

Camera Settings Guide

Digital cameras and particularly Digital SLR cameras come with a mesmerising amount of settings and controls these days so here is a quick camera setting guide to some of the most important ones and what they do.

 

Control Dial settings:

:Green Rectangle mode- a simple automatic mode which will choose all your settings for you, surely not why you bought a DSLR

:P (Program Mode) – This mode automatically sets your aperture and shutter speeds for you while letting you decide other settings like ISO, metering and focussing.

:TV (Time Value) – This mode lets you choose your desired shutter speed and then it automatically adjusts aperture to suit. This mode is useful when the choice of shutter speed is critical to your photo, for example in sports or wildlife shots.

 

:AV (Aperture Value) – This mode allows you to set your desired aperture value and then it will adjust shutter speed accordingly. I use this mode quite often for shooting landscapes. It’s useful when the choice of aperture is critical to the shot, such as the use of small apertures (large numbers) for landscapes and large apertures (small numbers) for portraits. :Manual Mode- Manual mode allows you to set and adjust all settings yourself. It can be particularly useful when you need to keep exact settings, for example when I’m shooting a landscape by the sea and I wish to have a slow shutter speed to capture movement in the Ocean and at the same time need a small aperture to keep everything in focus. It is also useful when you are photographing in unusual lighting conditions and the other modes are not providing the exposure you want. Other settings

ISO – ISO values are part of the photographic triangle of exposure settings. They determine how quickly your sensor can gather light. The higher the number the quicker your sensor gathers light and can therefore allow you to use faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures. However with the increase in speed comes an increase in image noise because to gather the light more quickly the camera has to increase the voltage to the sensor causing interference. Try and keep to as low an ISO value as possible to produce the best possible quality images. For my photography I rarely leave ISO100 but anything up ISO400 produces first rate images and up to 3200 images can be useable on my Canon 5dMK2. High ISO performance is improving with every generation of cameras so you may find that ISO6400 and beyond produces images that you are happy with on the latest cameras. Setting your camera to auto ISO will allow the camera to adjust the ISO in conjunction with the aperture and shutter speed. Some newer models allow you to restrict the maximum ISO selectable while in auto mode so you can limit it to whatever value you are happy shooting at.

 

 

  White Balance: White balance determines the colour warmth of your images and is affected by the colour of the light in your scene. If you shoot in Raw format as I do then WB can be left to automatic as you can change this in post processing to suit the image. However if you shoot in Jpeg then you have to pay closer attention to this setting as you have limited ability to adjust it after you have taken the shot. The choices are pretty self-explanatory ranging from tungsten at one end of the scale to cloudy at the other. Metering Modes: Evaluative or average- This mode takes readings from all areas of the scene and tries to work out an average exposure value to give a correct exposure. For most scenes this metering mode will do a perfectly fine job. If you are photographing particularly bright or dark scenes then you may need to apply exposure compensation to get a correct exposure. Spot- This metering mode takes a reading from the middle 3% of your viewfinder. It is a very specific metering mode that can be used to take readings from known value targets or if you are able to identify mid tones in a scene which you can take an accurate reading from. It is a useful mode to use when photographing difficultly lit scenes. Partial- Partial metering is virtually the same as spot mode but takes its reading from a larger area of roughly 10% of the image in the centre. Centre Weighted-  Centre weighted as it sounds, takes readings from all over the image but gives greater weight to the centre portion. This mode is great if you are photographing a subject such as an animal against a bright sky where you want the animal to be properly exposed but you want the camera to also consider the background and not blow out the highlights.

AF/Drive mode – These refer to the Auto focus mode and drive mode. The AF mode can be selected from:

One shot AF where you half depress the shutter button and the camera will lock onto its subject and stay locked on to that same subject until you either take the shot or release the shutter button completely. This mode is the most commonly used and is suitable for static subjects.

AI Focus- Which allows the camera to make the choice of whether your subject is moving or not and therefore selects either one shot AF for stationary subjects or AI Servo for moving subjects.

AI Servo- So as you probably worked out, AI Servo is for use on moving subjects where the camera will lock on to the subject and continue to track it and keep it in focus while you have the shutter button pressed down halfway or all the way when combined with multi shot drive mode. This mode is perfect for sports and wildlife shooting.

 

So why would you choose AI Servo over AI Focus?

Simple, it’s quicker because the camera doesn’t have to assess your subject to see if it is moving or not so it can instantly concentrate on getting the subject in focus.

 

 

Drive Mode- refers to how the camera reacts when you depress the shutter button. Single shot will take just one shot each time your press the shutter button. Multi shot will fire off successive shots at high speed until either the buffer becomes full or you lift your finger. Finally there is usually the option to have a timed shot so the camera will countdown 2 or 10 seconds after you press the shutter button and then take the shot. Useful if you want to run into shot or if you want to give the camera a few seconds to minimise vibrations before taking your photo

 

There are of course hundreds of different combinations of controls on modern cameras but the above are the some of the most important. The only other one that I shall mention here is the option to adjust the exposure by way of exposure compensation.

Exposure compensation

Exposure compensation can be used in P, TV and AV modes to adjust the exposure that the camera decides upon for you.

So let’s say you’re in AV mode and you have selected an aperture value of f/8 and ISO is set to 100, to get your initial exposure the camera meters the scene and decides that a shutter value of 1/125 of a second is correct. After taking the image and reviewing it you decide the camera got it wrong and the image is too bright….. Well you would use exposure compensation to correct the camera. In this case you would add negative exposure compensation to get the camera to make the scene darker. If you set -1 exposure compensation then the camera will decrease the exposure by 1 whole stop so shutter speed would increase to 1/250 of a second resulting in a darker image and hopefully a correct exposure.

If you want more tips on everything from your cameras basic controls through to simple techniques that the Pro’s use then Scott Kelby’s series of books are a great place to start.