Gear

While we all might not all be a fan of his on-camera persona or his punchy photography style. I think we can all agree that Jared Polin aka FroKnowsPhoto does a great job of testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest in the Photography industry. In his newly released “Real World Review” Jared takes the newly released Sony a9 and puts it through the paces at a professional soccer event in Philadelphia.

I don’t know about you, but I'm not personally acquainted with anybody who could afford, or even want, to buy a RED Scarlet before their twenties. That’s a serious commitment to your career, and it’s exactly what Kansas teenager Thad Swift did.

Full-frame cameras are superior to the crop sensor ones. There's no doubt. Most of the professional photographers out there are making a living with full-frame bodies and thus those cameras are considered professional. What if you shoot with smaller sensor cameras? Let me share my own story.

RED is entering a nearly impossible market, and promises to deliver a smartphone like no other – armed only with their reputation. What exactly stands in their way, and can the RED Hydrogen compete? Here’s everything you need to know about their chances.

If there's one button on your camera that you could go your entire photographic career without ever pressing, it's the depth of field preview button. Nonetheless it turns out that that weird little button is rather useful. This helpful video explains its function, quirks, and best uses.

News of Lily Robotics' action-oriented drone arrived with much fanfare. But a few months ago, Lily filed for bankruptcy and announced it would not be able to fulfill any of its pre-orders. Thankfully, they're at least trying to refund pre-order customers (pending approval by a judge), but you only have until July 10 at 4 p.m. Eastern to submit a claim. While you can mail one in, it will be much easier and faster to simply fill out the information online. But if you don't act now, you could lose your right to a refund.

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) is Sky-Watcher’s newest time-lapse and astrophotography tracking platform. It’s their attempt at a compact lightweight mobile setup that's both beginner friendly and easily packed into your camera bag.

Canon recently released both the 6D Mark II and SL2 cameras. The 6D Mark II was particularly anticipated, as it is Canon's cheapest and lightest full-frame DSLR. Here's a helpful and practical first look at the newest DSLR in the Canon family.

There’s no denying that LED panels are a stellar option for lighting your scene. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice some of the portability benefits, then you might be better off keeping your softboxes around and getting the best of both worlds. Caleb Pike shows us exactly what kinds of bulbs we can use with our existing softboxes for an affordable entry into high-quality LED lighting.

Electronics company MGCOOL has recently put out several new sports action cameras in the style of GoPro targeting the 4K and affordable market. The Explorer 1s both feature rich and capable of 4k at 24FPS packs a lot in for the low price of $70.

A filmmaker favorite, the Canon C300 Mark II has always been a little more expensive than other cameras with similar specs. Last year around this time, Canon dropped the cost from $16,000 to $12,000, and lowered prices on a few lenses. Now they have dropped it again, bringing it down so that for only $9,999 you can get a shiny-new, internal 4K video camera.

Even though many photographers like to think they can move to video whenever they want, the truth is both medias are totally different. Shooting films is an entirely different story than capturing stills. One example is stabilization. While many photographers can safely rely on their lens or body stabilization, videographers must use much more complex systems. One issue when starting out in the cinematography world is knowing what stabilization to buy. YCImaging created a video comparing three of the most popular options out there, giving us his advice on what to use according to our work.

Unlike most people in Photography, I didn’t pick up a camera for the love of making art. I never thought of myself as an artistic person but I wanted something better than my phone to document my hikes in the Appalachian Mountains. Quickly after getting my first Sony a6000 just like with all my hobbies I had to know everything about it and so I ran down the photography rabbit hole (and haven’t come back). Even though I do more with my camera nowadays than just documenting the trail, it has taught me a few things that have helped me immensely in my work.

We’ve all been there having a filter stuck tightly on the lens, or it’s been damaged and won’t come off cleanly. There are plenty of tools and tricks to help unscrew the filter, but a band saw has to be the most dangerous way of going about it.

We've all seen those inspiring commercials which claim to have been shot entirely on a smartphone. While technically they were captured with the device they are trying to sell to you, it is often with some heavy equipment adaptation which has always felt a little fraudulent to me, even if they do mention it in the small print which no one reads.

For many photographers, a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens with vibration compensation is a holy grail. Tamron has just introduced their second generation of that exact lens with many improvements and a slick redesign. Check out the new lens!

With the rising prices of additional baggage when flying. Traveling with all the gear photographers need for the average location shoot is getting out of hand. There are lots of articles and tricks for saving some money but most of us have stripped down our travel kits to the essentials. This of course means for bigger jobs renting extra gear once on location. Manufactures seem to get this and there has been a boom in options, from battery powered strobes to wireless flashes and all sorts in between. Back from his online blogging hiatus, Zack Arias shares how he has solved this issue with an all in one ready to go lighting bag.

If there's one thing no one can accuse DJI of, it's having too few drones for consumers to choose from. If you're looking to purchase the Spark, Mavic Pro, or Phantom 4 Pro, this quick comparison will give you a glimpse at the relative video quality between the three popular options.

With perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated updates, Canon has announced the 6D Mark II, the second version of their popular budget full-frame camera, which now has some intriguing new features. They've also announced the SL2, the second version of their smallest DSLR. Check out the improvements to each model!

CineStill is best known for its 35mm motion picture films that it processes and repackages for use in still cameras, but it's only recently that they dove into medium format with a high-speed, 800T (tungsten-balanced) film. Right now, 50D, a fine-grain daylight film stock already available in 35mm is now also available for pre-order in 120. The official announcement will be up on their site tomorrow, but you can see image samples and already pre-order if you read on.

Blackmagic Design have brought new functionality to the URSA Mini Pro, their flagship camera. Keeping up with the times, users will now be able to download an app in order to control the camera. The best part? They’re letting the public create their own custom versions.

Jakob Owens is a visual director based out of Los Angeles, California. He directs music videos, commercials, short films, and manages his YouTube channel TheBuffNerds. Ever since discovering Owens through YouTube, I have used his channel as a constant source of industry information and inspiration. In his newest video, he announces his recent acquisition of the 6K RED Dragon and while explaining the purchase he gives insight on how he justified this milestone purchase.

Until yesterday, when someone asked for a memory card brand recommendation, most people would answer with either SanDisk or Lexar. However, this is all about to change with the decision of Micron Technology to discontinue its Lexar retail removable media storage business. The parent company has decided to concentrate its activities and efforts on opportunities in higher value markets and channels.

I use a bike in Paris, and I use bungee cords to tie things down when I need to, but this video shows a way to use it in studio which I think is so simple, yet so brilliant. Studio space can seem large and vacant at first, but after a couple of weeks things start piling up and if you and your team don't clean up and maintain it, can become a place you dread going to. Light stands are one of the items we use mostly in a studio, and we have more than two at any given time.

On the day the Sony a9 was announced, I said it was a sports camera without sports lenses. Still, part of me secretly hoped that with the right adapter, I could shed my Canon bodies and just take my lenses over to the Sony ecosystem. This video shows what the current state of affairs is.

Looking at this list, I am paradoxically full of joy having made these gear additions, yet I also recall the pains of creating without them. Many of these upgrades are niceties, others you could argue are absolute necessities depending on what you are doing, especially if you are running a business around using a camera. I always try to gauge the opportunity cost of making an investment and try to maximize value, so there is something on this list that is relevant for every reader.

When you're just starting out in photography, one of the first things you'll probably wonder about is the difference between prime and zoom lenses. Check out this helpful video that details the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of both types.

One of the latest vlogs from Casey Neistat was a little different to the others. If you are like me, you have subscribed to his channel, and have noticed that his approach and energy towards it has changed quite significantly since he took his break. But now it’s become a marketing platform, and his vlogs are just marketing brands and products. This vlog especially, with a teenage fantasy that he’s always wanted to experience during summertime as concept, and him pursuing it. At the end of the video the sponsorship messaging, which is obviously great from the brand’s perspective, but not so much for the viewer. We watch vlogs because of its candid, honest nature. With this vlog, it’s not true anymore.

This morning, Carl Zeiss have announced the tenth lens in the Milvus series for full-frame Canon and ZEISS DSLRs, boasting a new optical design that offers "practically no chromatic aberations". Previous Milvus lenses have been impressive, but often specialized, whereas this new addition is more of an all-rounder.

We know, we know: gear doesn't matter, except when it matters. I'm not here to rehash that debate. Rather, this is just a great film that shows off what you can accomplish even with a $50 lens and some know-how.

It was less than a year ago I sat here and told you guys about the brilliant Google Pixel and how it was truly an iPhone killer for those wanting to give Android a go. The way manufacturers are building incredible hardware around Google's Android system is far better than it was years ago, and today OnePlus is doing just that with their brand new OnePlus 5.

This week is an awesome time to check out some of the most popular cameras and lenses out there. Whatever you shoot, B&H has some great deals waiting, including many discounts on camera bodies and lenses.

With every job or concept we go to shoot, our gear that we take with us is constantly changing. We take our full lighting setup for a day in the studio then we turnaround and pack a separate bag to go shoot in the mountains for that perfect sunset. The gear we take with us is on a constantly turning roundabout between our bags and kits. Through all the madness there does seem to be a few items that are consistently put into every setup. It’s those pieces of gear that work in all scenarios that are invaluable to us and how we work. These are the five items that I won’t leave the house without regardless of what’s on the agenda.

In this detailed series of articles and videos from Matt Porwoll at AbelCine called "Behind the Lens", viewers will get a chance to compare specs and review footage captured using a number of popular zoom lenses. From the nearly $30,000 Fujinon Cabrio 19-90mm to a modest Canon 17-55mm, find out what Matt discovers about each of the lenses he reviews. This is the first video in the series, that covers the Fujinon MK 18-55mm Zoom.

Being lazy is one of my favorite traits, so walking needs to be avoided at all costs. I'm kidding... well, not really. This wireless remote for my camera has saved me quite literally thousands of steps in my light painting processes.

Video cameras' resolution war has already started. So has the frames-per-second race. Current DSLRs shoot high resolution stills and lower resolution video. What if you can have an 8K video camera that captures both raw stills and raw video in 8K? Would you replace your stills camera with it?

Unless you're an eccentric billionaire with more money than sense you'll probably want your purchases to stand the test of time. If you recently bought Microsoft's new Surface Laptop you may want to look away now.

Our blockbuster action films have become so advanced with regards to the 3D and special effects that I'll go watch a movie just to watch it, and forgiving the lame dialog or bad acting just as long as the movie pushes the barriers to what I've experienced. Now Rokoko has made a suit that someone can wear that can generate a character of any kind to embed into a realistic computer generated space in real time. It removes the cameras and the time it takes to add in these characters in post production, and it happens in real time, so it's a massive saving for the production houses. It leads to new possibilities with regards to character movement and creating something that looks indistinguishable from reality.

Nikon announced their 100th Anniversary commemorative cameras, lenses, and special collectors items today. Founded in 1917, Nikon Corporation's 100th Anniversary is coming up on July 25th of this year. According to Nikon's press release, "Authorized Nikon retailers will be accepting orders for these commemorative products and special collection items starting today, June 15 through August 31, 2017."

Not too long ago, using autofocus in video was slow, unreliable, and generally unacceptable. Companies have been working to make it viable for filmmakers, with Canon's solution being Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus, which has generally been lauded for its performance. Here's a neat, short video on how it works.

Back in the day (not all that long ago, in fact), the only memory cards you would find in a “pro”-level camera were Compact Flash. That all changed as SD cards started to get faster and faster. Speeds up to 95 MB/s were great for emptying out the buffer on machine-gun mode and writing 1080p footage, which meant that space in the bodies could be used for other things. These cards were great. You could dump 64 GB of images while you watched the evening news. Then came along UHS-II cards, and if you’re not using them yet, you should definitely add them to you list next time you're upgrading cards.

As a wedding photographer, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to add to our income. This usually comes in the form of photoshoots, prints, albums, and various types of upgrades, but most wedding photographers seem to be missing out on one of the easiest ways to make more money.

For the past few months I've been looking for a new laptop to edit videos on. As you probably know, I'm a Windows user, but because Apple just refreshed their MacBook Pro line two days ago, I decided to throw one into the mix as well. The results of my tests were both shocking and depressing.

After updating the firmware for many of their lenses just a couple weeks ago, Sony today has released firmware updates for many of their popular full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. The updates mainly focus on overheating indicator issues as well as resolving the “star eater” problem that was introduced in a prior firmware version, plus other various support and stability fixes.

Leica is a company that is synonymous with premium quality at a premium cost in the photography industry. So when Leica co-engineered their second-generation dual-lens camera with Huawei and placed it on the affordable $599 Mate 9 smartphone, I was eager to try it out.

We have certainly talked about this before, but it seems Gear Acquisition Syndrome is forever waiting in the wings to try to convince us that that new camera will help us make better images. This is a great reminder that skilled photographers with basic gear will do a better job than someone with a nice camera.

While preparing for a shoot, whether it’s for film or photo, there usually is a few miscellaneous tools you don’t think of until you needed them. Sometimes they are really basic tools, when you realize you don't have them with you, you end up being disappointed that you didn’t think of it before.

B&H is having a massive sale for the Optic 2017 conference. Check out these great deals on numerous cameras, lenses, and accessories!

The Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro Hard Drive is one of the best options for photographers looking to back up and access their files on the go. Western Digital updated the line in 2017 with new firmware features and capacities. Check out our review to see how the new version fares!