Gear

Famed Photojournalist David Burnett has today released a video both announcing and explaining his decision to move to Sony equipment after more than 50 years working with Canon gear.

In the grand tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, I thought I would share with you a quick story about how a less than desirable situation for me this weekend turned into a chance to improve my business and my approach.

If there is one thing photographers are obsessed with it is lens bokeh. Even if you shoot landscapes or interiors at f/22, your mouth will surely drop the second someone pulls out a fast f/1.2 lens from their bag. One of the most sought after ultra-fast primes in the Nikon lineup is their manual focus 50mm f/1.2 lens. Can this 35-year-old design compete or even beat Nikon's newest 50mm f/1.4 lens in a studio setting? Today we find out.

When it comes to studio product photography, we use a lot of tools in the studio. Sure, there’s the obvious: cameras, lenses, and lights. But today I want to talk about one of those little indispensable tools that can really make all the difference on set. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the years of working in a studio environment, it’s that you can never have enough clamps! There’s always something that you need to hold in place, or simply rig.

Patrick and I decided to create a video series where we compete to see who can come up with the best image based on a set of randomly chosen rules. This week, one of us got to use an iPhone and the other had the entire studio at their disposal.

The RED Hydrogen One smartphone was announced last summer, but details about a release date and more solid specifications are finally emerging thanks to a post by RED Founder and CEO Jim Jannard. The Android-run smartphone will operate with a Snapdragon 835x processor (as what is currently in the Samsung Galaxy S8) and will feature a massive 4,500 mAh battery (125 percent the battery capacity of the similarly sized Galaxy S8+). But there's much more than just a big battery in RED's 5.7-inch smartphone.

The iMac Pro is undoubtedly a slick piece of hardware with some very impressive specs, but it also comes with an equally impressive price tag. And while we can drool over specs day in and out, what really matters for most working professionals are real world results. This great video pits the new iMac Pro against a Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, and a Windows PC.

To many of us, it's become apparent that mirrorless is the future for cameras. The huge advancements in short period of time have made them very popular. Companies like Fuji, Sony, and Panasonic have developed some fantastic cameras, and their respective ecosystems are growing fast with new lenses and accessories. Currently, Canon and Nikon have remained behind when it comes to effective and professional mirrorless systems and many disappointed professionals have already jumped ship to other manufacturers. As it becomes clear that Canon is developing their own model, here's what I think it needs to compete with those alread out there.

We had spent several hours hiking and arrived at the viewpoint. You know the score: unholster the camera and start shooting the bucket images. You've got to go through those inspiringly uninspiring captures to allow you to work the scene, gel with your mates, and see if some of the magic of the setting flows. I try to work towards something a little different; more dramatic, less dramatic, unveiling something new. We came back together as a group in order to compare how three very different photographers imagined the scene. Two of us were shooting Nikon, one Canon. And damn, those Canon images were just singing off the screen.

The Godox AD600 Pro Strobe was recently announced to the public. Having myself recently shifted from a fantastic (but also pricey) pair of Profoto B1s to jump into the Godox (Flashpoint in the U.S.) system, I took notice.

Back at it again, the charmingly abrasive but always informative Jaren Polin (or as most of us know him, Froknowsphoto) released a new real-world review on Sony’s newly released a7R III. Love him or hate him, Polin always puts out the some of the most in-depth camera reviews in the photography YouTube space, and this video is no exception.

When I’m on location shooting photography or video, each shoot requires a different set of equipment than the last. While it’s easy (and tempting) to sling your bags and cases back into storage at the end of the day, it’s important to put some steps in place to ensure all of your equipment is accounted for and well maintained for future use. Here is Jay P. Morgan from The Slanted Lens to explain more.

Fujifilm silently added the X-E3 to its rangefinder-type mirrorless X-E series, and its been on the market for a while as the fourth member of the series. It has some improvements, both inside and outside, such as a touchscreen and Bluetooth, and size-wise, it is more compact in comparison to other Fuji X-E series cameras.

After a few months of dipping my toes in the water with the Sony a7R II, I finally sold both it and my Canon 5D Mark IV and consolidated with the a7R III recently. It's a top-notch camera that can excel in almost any genre, but it's still lacking in one area: the menu system. This video examines why a lot of pros aren't fond of Sony menus and how they can be improved.

If you're in the market for a new gimbal you're probably overwhelmed with options. In today's video, I will compare the five most popular gimbals and let you know which one you should buy.

Benro has been familiar name in the tripod game for some time now, and recently they’ve been picking up some new fans including Fstoppers’ Lee Morris. Last summer, they launched a new line of travel tripods under the ProAngel moniker. In this review I take a look at the Benro ProAngel #3-Series Tripod with B2 Ball Head kit, the most expensive travel tripod in this line and yet still only $249.

New and shiny gear from Apple is always good looking and always sounding good on paper. We've seen lots of paid reviews on various products of theirs and lots of boring laboratory benchmarks showing soulless numbers we had to believe in. How about ditching all that and making a real-world test in workflows that demand a good amount of hardware resources? You guessed it: video processing. The guys from cinema5D got an iMac Pro and decided to see if it could get the work done better than what they already had.

It’s always been said that there are two types of people in this world: those who have had a hard drive crash, and those who will have a hard drive crash. To that, I’ll add another two: those who’ve dropped a phone into a toilet, and those who will drop their phone into a toilet. Or oven. Or puddle. Or snow. That’s why it’s important to have a backup plan. A new article in the New York Times breaks it into the simplest of terms for even the greenest of photographers.

Comparison videos are nothing new, but you can’t help be intrigued by this one. YouTuber Potato Jet brought together equipment from total opposite ends of the spectrum to conduct this experiment. See how this cheap 50mm Yongnuo lens fared when attached to a 6K RED cinema camera.

Is there anything more simultaneously annoying and fun than speculating about a new product based on the obscure references in a hype video? Well, DJI just released a teaser video for their upcoming event on January 23, and it looks like they're planning something big. Here's what we think it is.

Tether Tools is well known for its variety of wired and wireless products that make tethering easier and safer for your equipment. They have consistently been able to create products that solve problems that most photographers experience. Today with the release of their newest cables, the TetherPro USB-C products, they solve what has been a huge frustration for many early USB-C adopters.

Tripods are sort of the humble buddy of most photographers: we rarely think about how much we need them in comparison to all the gee-whiz features on cameras and lenses, but they're essential in a lot of situations. This comprehensive video will show you everything you need to know about choosing the right tripod and using it to its full potential.

I can still remember the first time I saw the effects of bounce flash. The soft natural light looked unlike anything I had seen from my little point and shoot's direct flash, and the resulting image looked so natural. Soon afterward I was introduced to off camera flash and a variety of light modifiers. The results between all of these lighting techniques were not subtle and I became obsessed with finding my favorite tools to light people. In today's video, I explain how one single flash both on and off camera, and a few light modifiers can give you the perfect light quickly and easily.

As I set up to shoot an assignment last week, I found myself in a casual conversation with the owner of the location. He was also a photographer, and as I opened my Pelican case and began to set up my strobes, he commented on the fact that he owned the same one. He then lamented the fact that this particular kit was no longer made by the manufacturer. It had been discontinued and replaced by a new line of photographic debutants. I had no idea.

Western Digital recently announced a new storage device: the My Passport Wireless SSD. With capacities and prices ranging from 250 GB ($229.99) to 2 TB ($799.99), the Wireless storage device is a provocative buy you might want to add to your kit, especially if your shooting requires you to be out in the field.

It's time to stop buying those standard USB external hard drives. We've found a much better solution.

If you're a photographer, retoucher, or videographer, you likely spend a lot of time at a computer. And since you're spending all that time there, it makes sense to make sure you're as comfortable and efficient as possible. Here are six non-photography items I use to make my workspace better.

Film lovers and analog purists are not-so-patiently awaiting the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera, which should finally come out sometime this year at a cost of $2,500-$3,000. In the meantime, Kodak took CES as an opportunity to release some new test footage that looks rather incredible. At times, the reel displays a properly vintage look reminiscent of 1960s French films. Yet, in other sequences, the footage looks much more updated. It's sharper and boasts much higher contrast, which gives hope to directors that this will be a very flexible, very capable setup.

Hasselblad announced an updated multi-shot camera based on its flagship 100c 100-megapixel, full-frame 645 CMOS sensor. The result: the Hasselbald H6D-400c MS. The 400c MS allows for a 400-megapixel image by shifting the sensor in one-pixel and half-pixel increments as it takes six shots that are then combined later for a true 400-megapixel file.

Imaging Resource recently decided to put the weather sealing of a Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Olympus camera to the test. Watch as the team use a hosepipe to soak the equipment in simulation of a rainstorm to determine which camera fares best.

This can be a particularly dangerous time of year for chronic camera gear switchers. For one, the new year causes most of us to self-evaluate everything from the prior year, and photography gear is certainly not exempt. Second, for some it is the off season which means a bit of down time, and any time you stop moving can be especially dangerous for your decision making and bank account.

Weird skin tone, strange green tint, fake sky; these are a few things that come to mind when describing the colors in video coming from Sony cameras. They wouldn't look as “natural” as Fuji, Canon, and Nikon colors. But did Sony fix it? According to Dave Dugdale from Learning Video and Andrew Reid from EOSHD, something happened.

Today Leica has announced two new lenses for their SL camera system that will begin shipping next month. These two prime lenses — a 75mm f/2 and a 90mm f/2 — are the first of a new line of Summicron-SL glass.

Rokinon is adding to their line up once again with a new lens design that may delight many photographers.The Rokinon AF 14mm f/2.8 lens looks to be designed in the new style the lens family has adopted the past year. This new lens added to the lineup will hopefully impress not only the daytime shooters, but also the nighttime astrophotographers that have leaned on Rokinon lenses for Milky Way and wide-angle night sky imagery over the past few years.

Files from our cameras get bigger and bigger and we expect our workflow to get better and faster. This is not possible without using new technology for transferring our work to a backup storage device. The trend today is the portable SSD. This year several brands released their first portable SSD devices, which might make you update your on-location backup arsenal after you see the crazy speeds they can transfer data at.

Baby it’s cold outside, just look at that ice beard! Only in Northern Michigan would you find someone actually surfing in this kind of cold. But, that’s what a Marquette local, Daniel Schetter or “Surfer Dan,” does. On Christmas day, Photographer Devon Hains ventured out into the cold to photograph Schetter out on Lake Superior. If you’re thinking at all about venturing out in the cold after the next fluffy snowfall to take some shots (and you should), you need to take the appropriate actions to protect your gear. In this article, I’ll share a tip on how not to completely ruin your gear after shooting in the cold.

There are a lot of people switching from DSLR to mirrorless these days. But while Sony has the full frame side of things pretty much locked down, a ton of people, including Fujifilm X Photographer and Fstoppers tutorial maker, Elia Locardi, are recognizing the great, more compact, systems that Fuji is producing. In this video, Photographer and YouTuber Mark Duffy explains why he moved from Canon to Fuji.

Insta360 aims to immerse consumers deeper into the world of virtual reality with two new cameras introduced this week at CES in Las Vegas. The company known for lightweight, portable 360-degree cameras introduced its eight-lens VR camera and the 6DOF Light Field Camera, a 128-camera array.

As a photographer, I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, both producing and consuming content. I have a supportive chair, high-end monitors, and all sorts of peripherals cluttering up my desk. All to make that time easier, comfortable, and more productive. One area a lot of people either don't think about or just skip is speakers. Whether you are listening to music while you work or editing your next big video project, quality speakers will improve the experience and quality of that work. In an attempt to improve the audio experience at my desktop I tried out a midsize set of speakers made by the Canadian company Kanto. The Kanto YU4 speakers are a reasonable size with a built-in amplifier making them perfect for desktop use.

At CES 2018, DJI released details of the Ronin-S, a one handed gimbal system with modular add-ons for creative filmmaking. This is already a crowded market, with Zhiyun-Tech and Moza offering some of our favorite options, but given DJI’s proven track record of building top class gimbals, should you wait for the Ronin-S before investing in a new one-handed gimbal system?

Medium-format cameras have long been known for their excellent image quality and incredible ability when it comes to rendering colors. Phase One's latest camera, the IQ3 100MP Trichromatic, takes this a step further and you can now get extremely accurate and effective colors, straight out of the camera. To learn more about the Trichromatic and how it compares to the "standard" 100MP back from Phase One, check out my previous article. The main issue with medium-format cameras such as these is that they cost significantly more than what most of us would like to pay. What if we could attain that level of quality without needing to spend anywhere as close?

It's rare that I use prime lenses and I also don't shoot video with Nikon gear very often anymore. But, if I'm in an extremely dark environment, the Nikon D850 and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 is a killer combination.

Those anxiously awaiting a full frame Nikon mirrorless camera will be interested to hear this major piece of news: the company will likely be introducing a new mount, the Z Mount, for their upcoming mirrorless camera.

Intel revealed more details about its new 8th generation CPUs with AMD’s RX Vega M graphics, and if you’re a VR video producer, avid gamer, or just a lover of fast laptops (like all photographers), you’re going to want to wait for this tech to hit your favorite laptop.

Seagate’s premium brand, LaCie, and DJI have teamed up again and announced at CES this week the 2 TB DJI Copilot BOSS USB 3.1 Type-C Hard Drive. The DJI CoPilot comes with a $349 price tag. With 2 TB of storage users can expect to get 60 hours of 4K video at 30 frames per second or 20,000 raw images.

Today Sony has released a version 2.00 firmware update for its a9 mirrorless cameras. The enhancements and added functions include changes to the continuous autofocus system as well as metadata input and image protection.

One of the most important underlying themes in being a successful photographer is streamlining your workflow. That may be in how to edit photos quickly, how to organize video files, how to quickly produce invoices, or any number of tasks that you have to perform over and over again. One aspect of my business where I found myself wasting a lot of time was in my battery charging. In today's video, I'm going to outline how Fstoppers created our battery charging station and how you too can make your life a lot easier as you prepare for the next day's photoshoot.

A few months ago, GoPro announced a new camera named the Fusion that would allow users to capture 360-degree videos. now, the company introduce Mobile OverCapture for the Fusion bringing a new way to shoot video to the world. Combined the two products will let you live the moment, capture the whole scene in 360 degrees, and then compose your video in postproduction.

Recording clean audio is extremely important but can also be infuriating. Finally, after seven years, we've found a system that seems to work... most of the time.

So you received a fancy new DSLR or mirrorless camera for Christmas, or immediately went to the local electronics store with your wallet resembling George Costanzas’ from “Seinfeld,” filled to the brim with holiday gift cards, and picked yourself a kit that has everything you need to conqueror the photography trenches, including not one but two lenses. You may be asking yourself, why would people not buy this? Buying just a camera body when this is such a good deal, makes little sense when you're first starting out. If this is sounding anything remotely close to recent thoughts you’ve had, stick around. In all honesty, I wish I would have had a few of these pointers when I got started in photography.