Recent Product Photography Articles

Hasselblad Launches the CFV-50c CMOS Back for V-System Cameras

Today, Hasselblad launched the CFV-50c -- a medium format back using the same 50-megapixel CMOS censor in the H5D-50c that can be attached to any existing V-system camera. With no external cables required to connect the backs, the back is incredibly well priced at €11,000. While we're not quite sure what that means for the US market, the new back seems poised to be an incredibly affordable 50MP CMOS medium format system.

DIY Tips for Making Your Own Backgrounds

Does winter have you climbing the walls looking for something to do? Do you need some new or more interesting backgrounds for your food or product photography? Well then perhaps this DIY project is just the thing for you.

Google Introduces the Nik Collection

When Google purchased Nik software in September, photographers were left wondering how the tech giant would assimilate Nik into its fold. It was clear that the company was lured by Nik’s mobile editing software Snapseed. Yesterday, Google, which had been mute on the subject since the purchase, unrolled a retooled suite of Nik software tools at a heavily discounted rate — $149 as compared to $499.

Wacom Refreshes Their Tablet Lineup With The Intuos And Intuos Pro

With a recent update, Wacom has decided to drop the name 'Bamboo' from their lineup. Instead, it is now simply called the Intuos. It comes with a new product to replace the old Bamboo lineup. Secondly, the previously known Intuos will now be called the Intuos Pro. They also have modified the design a bit. In addition, they have also released a special edition Intuos Pro.

Trade In Any SLR, Upgrade to Leica S

I an effort to bring more professionals into the S system, Leica Camera has gotten aggressive with a new S-System Trade Up discount program. Launched as a component of their "100 Years of Leica Photography" centennial, Leica Camera is granting a $5000 credit towards the purchase of a new Leica S (Typ 006) digital medium format camera for customers trading in any SLR camera or medium format camera (film or digital).

Nikon's New AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR Is More Than Meets the Eye

Nikon's newest AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR isn't any ordinary lens. Aside from the obvious addition of VR, the lens features a number of other features, including a new 82mm filter size and increased weight. While it's hard to consider those last two qualities "features," if you thought it was a bit odd, you were right. There's a reason behind everything -- and the reasons behind the design changes prove this might be a lens to think on more than you otherwise would. It also starts making that hefty price tag feel a whole lot cheaper.

Mirrorless Camera Roundup: So Who's the Best?

Fstoppers Mirrorless Month really got me rethinking the entire small-camera strategy. I’m normally someone who doesn’t mind lugging a camera mounted to an 18th-century cannon, so long as it can take better photographs than the thing before it. But holding so many small cameras every day gets me thinking, is there another, better way to do this? And if so, what’s the best...?

Improve Your Photography with this Simple Exercise

You can improve your photography dramatically by merely practicing a little product photography. And no, you don’t have to be a product photographer to benefit from this practice. Portrait, architecture, macro, and even landscape photographers can all benefit from a little product photography practice.

New Nikon D4s Officially Announced

The Nikon D4s is FINALLY public! After months of rumors and random sightings of the camera, it has finally hit the market and is available for purchase. Everyone knew it was coming it was just a matter of guessing when it would be announced. Even Adobe leaked the D4s in the recent update to Camera Raw.

Five Tips for Better Beer Photographs

I am trying to brush up my photography skills in areas I am not overly familiar with. This week it was beer photography, and boy did I learn a lot.

Photoshop Shortcuts Stop Working When Using Wacom Tablets - SOLUTION

After endless hours wasted, I found the solution for an issue I've had using the Intous tablet with my Macbook Pro. The brush would get stuck and I couldn't hit Photoshop shortcuts between brush strokes. I went through the hassle of reinstalling all drivers, buying a new tablet and setting all my Photoshop settings back to default before finding the following simple 30-second fix. This issue pertains to people using Apple computers with Photoshop CS6 or CC and a Wacom Intous tablet. The fix is for the following issues:

Fstoppers Reviews Venus Optic’s 85mm f/5.6 2x Macro Lens: Amazing Magnification From a Tiny Lens

If you’re into macro photography, you might be wondering why so many macro lenses emphasize a wide aperture; f/2.8 is nice to have, but when focused down to 1:1, it’ll leave you with no depth of field. From my point of view, Venus Optics seems to have had the same thought. They built a macro lens with a spec sheet that’s focused on delivering macro results. Is this the new best option for macro photographers?

How Many Steps Does it Take to Shoot a Wedding?

Right before Christmas a sale popped up for the FitBit Flex (a fitness tracker) and even though I didn't "need" it, the FitBit would help me stay in shape. So of course I bought it. Over the last couple of months I have been making a conscience effort to make sure I am active. I love seeing how different activities affect my daily step count and, well, shooting a wedding sure does.

Hands-On Review with Sigma's Newest 24mm f/1.4 Art Beauty

Coming off of its previous reputation as an extreme budget brand when it came to DSLR lenses, Sigma has now had well over two years to fend off quality concerns with their restructured Global Vision lineup that began with the superb 35mm f/1.4 Art lens. Since then, Sigma’s Art-, Contemporary-, and Sport-series lenses have proven themselves better than or on par with their Nikon and Canon counterparts for far less capital; and the 24mm f/1.4 Art gives us no reason to suspect the new direction doesn’t have a clear vision to go global.

Rack Focusing Made Easy With FocusMaker

Anyone getting started out in DSLR video production can tell you that one of the biggest frustrations for them is changing focus during a shot. This is where FocusMaker comes in. It attaches to any lens and in just a few minutes you can have focus points marked on the big ruler, and easily jump back and forth from focus point to focus point.

Behind The Scenes – Up The Ante With A GoPro

I’ve always been enthralled with first person movie scenes, games and music videos. Clocking countless hours with Duke Nukem 3D in my parent’s basement on an old Packard Bell PC planted a seed that forever changed me. To this day I think The Prodigy's breakbeat electronic hit “Smack My Bitch Up” is one of the greatest first person videos of all time.

500px Announces a New Portfolio System and New Prices

500px took the industry by storm in 2010 when it was released to the public. It seemed to have all the best parts about flickr, without the messiness. Since then, it has grown to be among the most popular portfolio websites available for photographers, and they're about to do another overhaul, at a price of course.

Precision Automated Focus Stacking with Stack Shot

Ever tried to photograph a subject, only to find out that you don’t have enough depth-of-field to get the whole thing in focus? Typically our first reaction is to stop down to increase our DOF. Unfortunately that doesn’t always give us the results we expect. The first issue is that even with our lens stopped down to its smallest aperture, we still may not have our subject completely in focus.

How To Photograph An Exploded View Of A Motorbike

I've always been fascinated by technical photographs showing every single part of complex machines. And shockingly enough, most of those images are created with a lot less Photoshop than one would imagine. "Explode" photographer Adam Voorhees shows us a quick timelapse of his latest Kawasaki Moto photograph shot for ESPN. Click the full post to view the final image.

Review: The Meike MK-DR750 Battery Grip for the D750 Is Fantastic, and It's Not Even Because of the Grip

I haven't had the Meike MK-DR750 Battery Grip and Wireless Remote for long, but I can already tell I'm definitely keeping it. Not only does it fit well enough and do everything as promised, but it also comes with a wireless 2.4GHz (not infrared) remote control that can trigger the Nikon D750 to which it's attached. Meanwhile, Nikon's grip costs upwards of $350, and their wired remote cable release timer clears the $150 mark. Naturally, there have to be a few caveats for a grip and remote package to come in at an astoundingly low $80, but I was hard pressed to find any at all.

Video Review of the Sony G-Master 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens by Tony Northrup

In February, Sony announced their new "G-Master" lineup of full frame zoom lenses, with fast apertures and made specifically for their mirrorless camera options, like the popular the a7rII, or even the recently reviewed a6300. In this video review by Chelsea and Tony Northrup, they got to kick the tires of the new 24-70mm f/2.8 Sony G-Master lens, and were impressed by the results.

Behind the Scenes of Canon's 'Rhythm of Life'

Canon has recently come out with their short film, "Rhythm of Life' showcasing their new line of cine lenses. Shot with the Canon C500 director, Dean Hargrove and cinematographer, Steven Poster ASC, explain how the different cine lenses affect the footage and change the color and feel of your shots. The BTS video was shot with the Canon C300.

Leica Announces New Leica M-P 240 with Increased Buffer and Understated Aesthetics

Today Leica announced a complementary upgrade to the Leica M, the M-P 240. As in the past, the 'P' designation here implies features are catered toward that of the press photographer. The M-P's virtually scratch-proof sapphire crystal display with anti-glare coatings provide for better outdoor viewing, a doubled memory buffer size now at 2GB allows for longer continuous shooting, and a viewfinder selector displays bright framing options for various focal lengths that help make composition and lens-choice decisions before changing lenses.

Westcott Flex: First of Its Kind Now Available

Announced earlier this year, the Westcott Flex is now available in stores. This unique device bridges the gap between a light and a light modifier, as it is a little bit of both. This fully­ bendable mat features a 10” x 10” surface lined with 166 dimmable LED diodes and outlined with a moldable 1⁄4” black frame. Weighing in at just 5 ounces, its compact design allows it to be easily concealed on set and allows for easy travel.

Canon Lenses On The Panasonic GH4, Using The Metabones Speedbooster Adapter

In a recent article by Jaron Schneider about the Metabones Speedbooster on a Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera, several readers had questions about the model designed for the GH4, whether this one would work with it or not, and other comments. I bought one of these a week ago and wrote this article to tell you what works, and what doesn’t.

Fstoppers Reviews the Canon 35mm f/2

The 35mm focal length is one of the most popular primes made, probably only second to the 50mm if second to anyone. It’s popular because it is good for so many things, making us feel like we have to own fewer lenses to capture more amazing images. Most of you know that I’m very attached to my Sigma 35mm f/1.4, but when shooting with Canon’s new 35mm f/2 IS, I did my best to remain objective.