Lens Secrets of the Pros
Nicky Hamilton
With a background as head of art at M&C Saatchi, Nicky Hamilton is ideally placed to have a strong handle on the requirements of commercial photography and, typical of many modern photographers, he’s built a reputation not just as a provider of high-quality stills but also video content for his list of top-notch clients.
The requirement for the very highest quality imagery led him to choose to work with Fujifilm’s medium format GFX system, which delivers stunning results in a form factor not dissimilar to that of a professional-spec 35mm full-frame equivalent. For Nicky, however, lens choice has largely come down to zooms, with the GF options now available giving him a full selection of glass to choose from, all of them delivering the impeccable end results he needs to fulfil his top-line professional and personal assignments.
“For my first personal project, The Lonely Man, I was investing so much into building sets that I wanted to ensure the final images captured every detail,” he says. “Medium format gave me the resolution, tonal depth and overall image quality I needed to record every nuance and texture in the environments I’d created.
“Back then, medium format cameras came with incredible benefits, but they were also bulky and quite tricky to handle. That limitation eventually pushed me to try Fujifilm’s GFX system, and I was honestly blown away by how intuitive it was to use. The autofocus, the handling and the quality of the GF lenses completely changed my experience of shooting medium format.”
Nicky was speaking from the Starbucks at Amsterdam Airport, on assignment to shoot key art for a new Netflix show alongside some personal street photography. It meant that his bag of lenses was extensive, allowing him to cover every eventuality.
“First of all I’ve got the GF 32-64mm f/4 with me,” he says, “which I’ll use for the main key art, setting the focal length to 50mm and the aperture to f/8, so that everyone is sharp from front to back, allowing for more flexibility in post-production.
“Then I’ve got the GF 45-100mm f/4, which I’ll use for shooting solo portraits. Time with actors is usually capped to five minutes so I have to work fast. This lens allows me to capture wide, medium and close-ups, with 80mm being my sweet spot. I’ll set the aperture to its maximum f/4, which allows a nice amount of depth of field. I also have a second GFX which will be fitted with a GF 110mm set to f/2 for a dreamier look, I tend to use this as a bonus if we’ve got the shots we need.”
