Gear

Here's a deal that sounds good on the surface, but many would argue isn't a deal at all. The $28,500 Hasselblad H5D-50C is more than 50% off at B&H. Sadly, it still costs more than my car.

In my journey to separate my family life from my work life, as detailed in my last post, a change in my work environment has been key. Namely, my wife was tired of seeing my hard drive sitting on the kitchen island and I was handily kicked down to the basement. I took this opportunity to switch up my workflow from using a local external hard drive to a NAS (network-attached storage). Here are some interesting things I've discovered along the way.

Host of The Camera Store TV (TCSTV), Chris Niccolls, has seemingly gone a little stir crazy while his Video Producer and bosom buddy, Jordan Drake, is out of town. To help him past the time, Chris takes a few old cameras, a large caliber rifle, and a Cognisys StopShot camera triggering system for a little hands-on field mayhem... I mean testing. Watch as Chris fires a few rounds, decimates a few cameras, and scores a few snapshots.

A few weeks back, we discussed the idea that you really need to know your gear so that it will get out of the way for you. The next step is to know what to use when. The old adage goes that you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. As much as this applies to misfits or carpenters, it also applies to the art and craft of making images. The idea that certain tools or ways of thinking are not a fit for the task at hand is a powerful one. It can help us make purchase decisions, technical choices, and even post-processing choices.

When SLR Lounge Founding Partner Pye Jirsa, noticed his studio's IT needs had grown to 'beast' levels, he decided they should perform a series of tests to find out which machine was best suited for their needs. Taking two similarly priced boxes, a $4,431 iMac, and a $4,370 custom built PC, they set to the task of testing each machines' speeds in Adobe's Lightroom.

Thanks to Sony's latest attempt at recapturing some of the DSLR market, in favor of their feature rich compact digital cameras, I'll never look at my Canon 5D Mark III the same again. Watch as an angry, over opinionated DSLR, muscles its way through a leisurely photo-walk, only to be outdone by a happy and helpful Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV.

The Nikon 58mm 1.4 and The now famed Sigma Art 50mm 1.4 are two lenses that arguably have a lot in common and at the same time polar opposites. The fact of the matter is the Sigma series which is marketed under the “art” moniker has received its praise because of technical proficiency while the release of the Nikon 58mm fell flat due to misguided expectations.

For years, Elinchrom users have been complaining about the aging Skyport. A few months ago, the Swiss flash manufacturer finally released the brand new Skyport HS, and it is a great product. However, not everyone needs its advanced features. Some photographers couldn’t care less about technical stuff and only want their transmitter to do the job it is designed for: triggering the flash remotely. Well, that’s why the Skyport Plus was recently released.

Has Came-TV created a poor man's Technocrane? This new jib is turning heads at NAB this year, allowing the user to extend the crane. Is it just a gimmick, though?

We are living in an era that everyone complains about their bulky camera gear and how hard it is to carry it all day. Many photographers are now switching to mirrorless cameras for this reason. But hey, there is another solution for that: You can minimize your lenses and other gear, rather than changing your main camera body. That's what I did.

If you own a DSLR and like to shoot with fast lenses, you're likely acquainted with the procedure known as "autofocus microadjustment." The process is a bit tedious and annoying, but highly useful for those of us who savor that razor-thin depth of field. Thankfully, owners of new Nikon bodies now have the option of having their cameras perform the procedure automatically for them.

Late last year, I wrote here about choosing your next lens for photography. In the comments, I was asked to write a similar guide about cameras. So today, we will be discussing the important factors in choosing a new camera body, or if you are just getting into the world of interchangeable lens systems, your first camera body.

Anyone that has used a gimbal without a support harness for longer than a few hours knows that it can get exhausting, and stretching the use longer can be downright painful. Now, many people will say: "hey, why don't you get a Support Vest to take the weight?" That is a viable option. However, with those systems, you're frequently locked into a height, and you don't have the opportunity to change from a low level shot to a high level shot. Even shooting freehand, you're only able to get as high as your arms will reach.

Camera straps are about as ubiquitous as cameras themselves. If it weren't for the dreadfully uncomfortable ones that come with most cameras, you'd think they're pretty hard to get wrong. Most third party ones are at least adequate, or better, so what can someone do to stand out? We've spent the past month with four custom hand-made-to-order leather straps, in the form of a wrist strap, two neck straps, and even a unique TLR strap from the Deadcameras lineup. Do they have what it takes to stand out in an endless sea of straps? Let's find out.

"What lens should I buy?" It is the question I have seen countless times over the years in so many forums. It's the question I get from friends — the never-ending question. There is only one problem: the lens you should buy really all depends on you! What lens do you love? How do you like to photograph? Where do you photograph? Do you have space to back up so you can use a long lens? What do you like?

The winners of the contest have been chosen. Congratulations to:

Joshua Jeppesen

Hector Reyes

Ian Johns

We will be in touch with you via your Fstoppers messaging system to receive your prize! Thank you to everyone who participated.

Yes I said it. I can hear the outraged shrieks of equipment addicted photographers, but hear me out. In February, I went to Capetown for a month to please my trigger finger and shot eight stories in the same location using just natural light. South Africa is a renowned location for occidental productions. When it is snowing in Europe and in the States, it is summer season there. During that time the only weather complication can arise from wind with the upside being constant blue skies. During my stay, I got unpredictable rain and clouds. When I was done throwing tantrums at the black skies and banging my head against a wall questioning my decision of spending hard earned bucks to fly to the southern tip of Africa, I capitulated and went with the flow. And learned a lot in the process. Getting out of my comfort zone reminded me about the core of photography: my vision.

For a few years, the names in the game of digital video technologies have remained pretty constant, especially in the professional or prosumer category. It’s not often you have a company jump onto the scene swinging, promising to release what could be one of the most versatile systems to hit the market in a while; this is exactly what Craft Camera has done. Purchasing isn’t available yet but they are taking reservations now and shipping out the first units off the line as early as December.

Recently, a gear company you may be familiar with, Tether Tools, released their new Case Relay Power System (CPS). This contraption allows you to shoot continuously without any interruption or having to keep recharging batteries. So, I decided to put it to the test and travel almost 100 miles away with just the power system and no batteries.

A new 12-bay storage solution by LaCie, four- and eight-bay systems by CalDigit, and four-, six-, and eight-bay systems by Promise announced Monday at NAB 2016, all support Thunderbolt 3, even before Apple has a single device that supports the protocol. That shouldn't be the case after Apple computer announcements expected this summer (or perhaps through a refresh any moment); and some PCs already have Thunderbolt 3 support. But with mass adoption already around the corner, these three companies are showing they're ready to take on the transition to the new standard.

Edelkrone is the king of reinvention, from the Pocket Slider to their tabletop dolly. Sometimes, they’re also very good at charging top dollar for useless rubbish.

If you're like me and you've already purchased a Ronin-M gimbal, hearing news of its replacement is terrible news. Luckily, the new Ronin-MX brings new features to the table, and it's a whole new beast.

Announced this morning at NAB 2016, the G-RACK 12 is G-Technology's first network-attached storage (NAS) device to the market. Featuring bays for up to 12 hard drives, the G-RACK 12 combines the company's proven direct-attached storage (DAS) reliability and speed with network access over quad 10-gigabit-Ethernet (10 GbE) ports for a super fast networked connection for virtually any small business or studio.

Canon has announced a hilariously boring and ambiguous camera, just in time for NAB: the ME200S-SH (catchy, right?). They want it to be an all-rounder, but it may just be subpar in every single category.

"The Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens is a revival of a lost esthetic that disappeared from photography some 175 years ago. Based on the Charles Chevalier's historical lens model and built using a unique achromat design, you can now create modern images that look like world's earliest photographs bathed in a powerful, alluring veil of light."

Impossible Project, the awesome folks that have been bringing you film for your Polaroid 600 instant cameras and even the ability to make Polaroid prints out of your camera phone images, have just announced their all-new instant film camera and it sounds awesome.

Street photographers are a funny breed and have special requirements for their equipment. Ardent street photographer and owner of Fundy Software, Andrew "Fundy" Funderburg, worked closely with Matthew Swaggart of leathergoods masters Holdfast to create an uncompromising luxury camera bag specifically for those that shoot rangefinder and other mirrorless cameras and need to work light and fast. We spent the past six weeks using one ourselves to see if they succeeded in their quest.

Following the introduction of its Immerge virtual reality system, Lytro, the "light field" camera company whose consumer models we now see discounted nearly everywhere, recently left the consumer space to concentrate on and introduce its new product, Lytro Cinema. Offering a complete solution with an included server to handle the 755 megapixels of data at up to 300 frames per second (not typos), the Lytro Cinema is a new kind of too-good-to-be-true beast. But the most incredible thing about the camera? It's no lie.

Fans of Lensbaby's unique optics will be pleased to know that today, the company has announced a new lens, the Twist 60. Drawing on the resurgence in popularity of swirly bokeh effects, the lens is sure to be another interesting option for those who have recently jumped aboard the vintage optics movement.

I'm normally a huge numbers geek. I want to know every specification of every device because I believe in the power of statistics. But when it comes to hard drives, well, I just want them to work. I want ample space for my data, I want to know it's backed up without a second thought, and I want to be able to access it quickly and easily, no matter what device I'm on. Enter the Western Digital My Cloud Mirror.

Capturing a good time-lapse requires patience and precision. Normalizing exposure in changing lighting conditions is an intricate task. Similarly, knowing how your final product is shaping up during the process is difficult. One company is seeking to solve both those problems with one device.

Medium-format cameras have long been in the hands of working pros because of their combination of ease of use and incredible image quality. While large format was always the king of resolution and dynamic range, it is difficult to work with on location and cumbersome. Today, medium format is a little different. Phase One and Hasselblad have both released 100 MP options, allowing for unparalleled image quality.

Some photographers value the technical aspects of a lens above all else. Others prefer lenses that create unique, if not technically perfect photos. The Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 is for those in the latter camp. This lens is famous for its characteristic swirly bokeh, and in that it does not fail to disappoint.

For years, videographers shooting in dark situations frequently ran into the issue of a ton of noise in darks and shadows that would oftentimes make some footage difficult or impossible to use. Many have heralded the release of the a7S II with applause due to its power for video in low-light situations and even to record bursts of high frame rates in HD, so we took one into the deep recesses of an abandoned power plant in New Orleans to see how it did.

Reportage seems to be a genre where feminine qualities are seen as an obstacle rather then as an asset. I sat down with French photographer Audray Saulem who proved them wrong and listened to her experience shooting an epic race of 210 kilometers in the Sahara over 6 grueling days.

Hasselblad has launched a brand new medium format digital body, the H6D, in both the familiar 50-megapixel CMOS flavor and also in a new, 100-megapixel CMOS configuration with the same Sony sensor found in Phase One's XF IQ3 100 MP released earlier this year. The new body features an updated UI, a relatively new look and design for the first time in several generations, and a brand new lineup of updated lenses capable of shooting at up to 1/2000 of a second, with full support of the new 100 MP sensor.

Swimwear Photography with Joey Wright Behind The Scenes continues today with Episode 2. In last weeks episode you were able to see our journey from the US down to Curacao. In this episode we finally begin filming lessons with Joey for this swimwear photography tutorial.

New to the market is the GX8 "lite," the DMC-GX85. This is one of Panasonic's most recent mirrorless digital camera releases that comes with almost all the same perks as the GX8. The main differences between the two cameras are the lower resolution Live MOS sensor (16 megapixels versus 20 megapixels on the GX8) and a fixed EVF. Here are some of the specs the camera comes with.

Los Angeles-based photographer Zach Sutton has spent a long time doing on-location photoshoots for his business. These kinds of shoots usually involve the typical off-camera strobes on light stands and maybe an assistant to help mule equipment or adjust lighting for the photographer. However, when Sutton moved to L.A. last July, he quickly learned that this sort of on-location shoot is not allowed in the city without a proper commercial shoot permit — even if it’s ultimately for personal use. His solution for getting by light stand free looks somewhat crazy, but the end results speak for themselves.

While researching and deciding on what camera or lens to buy next, there can be a lot of banter, back and forth, and noise on opinions on what camera or lens is right for you. It is possible that some websites, influencers, or average Joe’s can hold slanted biases that may play a role in your purchasing decision, and we don’t want that. So what if I told you that there was a more objective resource to help aid your purchasing decisions? Well, I have a site to share with you: DxOMark.

When we think what defines our brand as photographers, we think of our logo, website, and even the style of imagery we create. But, everything that is related and connected to us and our company is a representation of our brand — from the way we answer our emails, interact with our clients, down to the pants we wear, the bag we carry our gear in, and the overall way we present ourselves to the world. Every detail reflects back on our company and in the end reflects back on our bottom line.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing Syrp's awesome, affordable, perfectly executed Genie Mini time-lapse device. However, time-lapse photography and videography barely covers the beginning of what can be done with the New Zealand company's awesome devices. The Slanted Lens' Jay P. Morgan not only shares his entire lighting setup for a classic food shot, but also proposes some clever and welcomed case studies for how to use Syrp's devices to create better shots, not only around stars, but also around close-range subjects.

Introduced alongside the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 last week, Sony has added its own take on the “Nifty Fifty” to their lens lineup. Aimed at photography hobbyists, the FE 50mm f/1.8 will only cost $248 and gives a wide aperture option to those that may be only shooting with the FE 24-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens at the moment. Here are my first impressions of the new 50mm f/1.8 after briefly shooting with the lens.

Anamorphic lenses are mostly used by cinematographers to get a ratio of 2.40:1. The cinematic look these lenses offer has become popular amongst photographers lately. While such a wide ratio is not very practical for most genres, the squeezed bokeh and the unique flare these optics create is a way to stand out amongst the competition.

If you’re looking for a little more reach with your Sony Alpha mirrorless camera, there is a new telephoto lens coming soon that you may want to check out. Sony announced plans to ship their longest E-mount focal length zoom lens, the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS, in May 2016. I had the chance to shoot with the new telephoto mounted to the 42.4-megapixel Sony a7RII, and am happy to share my thoughts on the practical-use aspects of the lens in this article.

I've never been one for artificial light in my photography, and it's an issue that many photographers come across when leaving that oh, so beautiful natural light. The struggle of having a budget to put towards lighting equipment can be daunting but shouldn't limit you in finding the best way to create the shot. In this behind the scenes look, I will go into how I created a high-end product shot using light trails, all while on a budget. Remember, this can be recreated with any camera, including an iPhone, that allows for long exposures.

First and foremost, gear is not the be all and end all. Creativity will bring the most out of the simplest of gear. We stand on the shoulders of giants now. Remember that it was only a few years ago that high ISOs were all but unusable and that once you'd shot a black and white frame, it stayed black and white. The fact remains, though, that understanding what your gear is capable of is the key to exploiting its strengths and weaknesses, which is where creativity lives. Learning a few simple things about what your existing gear is capable of will do more for your images than any shiny new purchase. Use these five simple exercises to learn more about what the tools you have can do.

This could be your once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a piece of historic glass that could simultaneously boost your hipster and geek street cred out of the stratosphere.

The Zeiss Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 lens by Carl Zeiss AG, produced especially for the Hasselblad Electric Data Camera (HDC), is a shiny silver gem. But the particular sample RR Auction is planning to offer on April 14 is a piece of history in the truest sense. This lens has been to the moon, after all.

Think Tank makes some of the best camera bags on the market period. Their bags are so well designed that I've actually become a bit cynical when someone announces the "next breakthrough camera bag" because, well, there isn't really much more I need other than my Think Tank Airport. Today Think Tank has announced a new roller bag for everything that won't fit in your camera bag and it looks awesome! Welcome the Think Tank Production Manager 50.

Canon and Nikon have always had their single digit models at the top level of performance. From the original D1, bringing a professional digital camera to the world that didn’t require a separate backpack for a processor, to the D3, Nikon’s first ever full-frame body, this series of cameras has pushed the envelope of what a camera can do. The Nikon D5 not only pushed the boundary, it has demolished any previous limitation that I have found in a camera.