Gear

When people first get into wedding photography, one of the main pieces of advice they will hear over and over is, “You can’t reshoot a wedding." This instantly leads to photographers asking, “How do I protect my images?" Image backup and cataloging is sort of like baking a cake. Every photographer is going to have a different recipe to how they do things. Over the years my process has evolved into what it is today. This process came about in part from learning by fire, and another part came from learning from others. If you don't want to use my entire process, I at least hope part of it can become a helpful addition to your workflow.

Casey Neistat got his hands on the new iPhone 6s before its official release. He took the phone around Manhattan and captured a range of 4k footage. Although YouTube does compress everything, it looks good, and I'm excited to put this phone to the test myself.

The original Holga camera was made in 1981 as an ultra-cheap medium format camera for families in China. 35mm film came out soon after destroying the 120 film market, but the Holga camera was then picked up in foreign markets by photographers looking for surrealistic, lo-fi looking pictures. This camera comes full circle today with the creation of the Holga Digital.

For almost 40 years, Tamrac has been producing bags aimed towards photographers who embraced the great outdoors. Their brand new collection of Anvil backpacks — which replaces the Expedition line — continues their tradition while making a number of exciting design choices that make this collection their best ever. In this review, I take a look at the Anvil Slim 15, which is sized for photographers who have entered the exploding mirrorless market, but shares the same look and feature set of the rest of the Anvil collection.

This week ONA announced a big release of an all new bag line, called The Black Collection, aimed mainly at the travel photographers. The all black designs stray away from their usual highly artistic and unique all-leather look, but loses little in the way of features and build quality.

I love great camera deals. Lee loves great camera deals. Casey is a big 'ol Debbie Downer about camera deals, but he lives in Seattle so he's required to be a contrarian. For those of you who also love camera deals, today is a great day because those killer prices on new Nikon D810s and D750s are back!

It was some time ago now that I reviewed one of Lowepro's first ProTactic AW bags when it first came out, and it was quite well received on this end. Today, Lowepro announced the addition of four new bags to the ProTactic line which are easily recognizable and known for their external SlipLock-compatible accessory and webbing system and semi-rigid, premium build. Today's newest bags come in smaller sizes and, for the first time, in shoulder-bag variants — all maintaining the all-weather (AW) design with smaller mirrorless or single-body kits in mind. For the commuters or über-mobile that don't need room for multiple bodies and half a dozen lenses in addition to a 15-inch laptop, these smaller options may be the best choice now that they're on the market.

If you're a mirrorless camera user in search of a third party lens, you could be in luck. Today, Rokinon announced the release of their new high speed 21mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Compact and the 50mm f/1.2 AS UMC Compact “made for mirrorless” lenses. The lenses are designed specifically for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and compact system cameras and will be available in mounts for Sony E, Micro 4/3, Fuji X, and Canon M. The lens will also be available in black or silver.

The Movi gimbal stabilizer by Freefly changed the video world when it was released a few years ago, and the new "Mimic" controller aims to make the system even better. Instead of controlling the camera movement with a standard controller with joysticks, you can now use your arms as though you were the one holding the camera.

Since 2012, many have considered the Canon 5D Mark III to be the proverbial workhorse of the photography industry. It's a great all-around camera. It's not perfect, though. It's also three-and-a-half years old. In the meantime, manufacturers like Sony and Fujifilm have vaulted ahead in the innovation game. This is Canon's chance to take back the spotlight.

Today, Pentax posted a teaser page on its website, announcing the debut of a full frame camera, finally bringing to fruition a camera system many have long thought was in the making.

First, second, third, and fourth generations of several companies’ drones are now out on the market. But it’s only as we head into 2016 that the drone race is really on and that all the other possible players with their collectively interesting ideas who might have lagged behind a little are now crossing the halfway point. That race won’t end anytime soon, as the consumer drone market’s innovation is only picking up. I caught up with Vantage Robotics Co-Founder and CEO Tobin Fisher on a beautiful San Francisco morning on Crissy Field, where he let his company's new 4K drone, “Snap,” do just that.

The Steadicam was invented in 1975 as a mechanical way of stabilizing video cameras. In 2013 Freefly introduced the Movi, an electronic gimbal that basically made your average Steadicam obsolete. Since then the price of electronic gimbals has plummeted to a level that the average consumer can actually afford. That hasn't stopped Sachtler from creating a hybrid stabilizer that costs $45,000.

It can be too easy to focus on giant light modifiers and expensive strobes as being where you should spend your money when optimizing your studio, but it can also be handy to consider some of the cheaper, less obvious, options that will help make your shoots go smoothly. In this article we take a look at five less common and cheap pieces of gear that can improve your next shoot.

With all the hype surrounding the release of the Sony a7SII, the wait to order it is finally over. Sony has created this camera body to revolutionize the way cinematographers shoot with DSLRs. Although the cameras probably won't ship for another month or so, this camera is worth being first in line for.

The current king-of-the-hill 35mm, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 A DC HSM, costs $900. That's not too shabby for a lens that absolutely dominates its "L" and high-end Nikon competition, which both cost significantly more. Canon and Nikon offer budget 35mm options: a f/2.0 IS and f/1.8G, respectively, both of which cost under $600 and are no slouches themselves. With the availability of extremely well performing 35mm lenses at the sub-thousand-dollar price point, why on earth would someone buy a slow (f/2.8) 35mm for $800?

The iPad may work as a laptop replacement for casual web and email surfers, but for us photographers, it's not really a professional tool. Many photographers still own an iPad as a digital portfolio or for casual use, but its simplified operating system makes using it professionally very difficult. Apple is taking a big step forward with the iOS 9 update which finally allows multitasking and it's available right now.

The new Canon 5DsR is already known for its crazy large megapixel count. At just over 50 megapixel, it is currently the highest megapixel full-frame DSLR on the market. The file size of each detail packed raw file is around 60mb. That’s about 16 images per gigabyte of card space. Now imagine 825 images being combined into one super sized panorama. That’s what David Bergman did when he created a 20,000 megapixel image of Yankee stadium.

When your printer is telling you it's time to change that cartridge, it's probably fibbing about how much ink is actually left in the tank. The folks at Bellevue Fine Art Reproduction had an inkling that their Epson Stylus Pro 9900 large format printer was lying to them every time it said a cartridge was empty and since printer ink is one of the most expensive consumer liquids on earth per fluid ounce, that could equate to some serious coin being thrown in the trash with each replacement. Watch them go step-by-step, weighing the cartridges and calculating how much ink is left inside when the printer won't use it anymore. Not only can you see their results, but you can do it yourself at home with their instructions.

With impressive looking example videos and a relatively inexpensive price tag when compared to a MoVi or Ronin, the Kickstarter for the SteadXP has already blown past its fundraising goal. I wasn't sure what all the hype was about until I watched their video with before and after examples.

A while ago we reported that Canon has come out with a new camera geared towards shooting at extremely high ISO. The new ME20F-SH from Canon can shoot in full HD at over 4,000,000 ISO. Now Canon Japan has released some promotional footage to show us what we can expect from this new camera and these new possibilities.

Culling, processing and editing jobs is a time consuming endeavor to say the least. Hours go by with you hunched over the Wacom as you find yourself leaning ever closer to your screen. Sometime you just need to get out of the studio (or your apartment) and find a different environment to keep yourself sane. Sometimes you are away on assignment and you just need to find a place with wifi, a plug, a comfortable seat and a good cup of coffee. Well the Work Hard Anywhere app aims to help you with that, by creating a community of freelancers who share their favorite haunts to plug in, plop down and post up in.

Up until a few years ago, if you purchased a quality lens you could be sure that with proper care it would continue to perform well even as you upgraded your body in the future. After all, bodies decay and glass lasts. However, with the sudden influx of high-resolution cameras and the seeming resurgence of the megapixel war, some are asking: “Can lenses keep up?”

As we have come to expect, Apple's latest announcement of the iPad Pro has caused quite a bit of controversy. Apple fans love the update and the additional accessories, while critics claim that they simply ripped off other products that are already available. Let's take a closer look.

Every now and then, it’s good to have a quick update to know what the biggest, fastest, or most affordable drives are for the money. We’re always on the go and in need of more storage, so portable hard drives go to the top of the list when new ones come out. Though it’s not that new, Western Digital’s newest and largest portable 3 TB, single-drive offering is still sometimes out of stock, but the 3 TB My Passport Ultra is certainly not alone in its segment.

Hitting your goal on Kickstarter is one thing, but to absolutely kill the competition by making something that truly stands out and brings a follower base stronger than any other brand brings real value. Langly has humble beginnings, as they started their first campaign on Kickstarter a few years ago, hoping to bring their simple goal to life. Now, they have over 170,000 followers on Instagram and plenty of social backing to keep them building for years to come, while also launching one new accessory after another.

Ever since the release of the original a7, Sony hasn't been shy about quickly updating their now-popular line of full-frame mirrorless cameras. Geared towards cinematographers, low-light shooters, and anyone who likes a lot of tech, the Sony a7S II is now the sixth camera in the series since 2013. Boasting in-body 5-axis stabilization and a promise of clean images throughout its impressive ISO range, the a7S II is likely to continue growing the brand's reputation for making quality compact full-frame cameras.

Zeiss was long expected to announce at least one new Otus lens today (and I suppose they still might, although I wouldn't hold your breath). Instead, at least for now, Zeiss announced a new line of lenses for Nikon and Canon DSLRs under the moniker, "Milvus." Oddly enough, however, there are some interesting, stand-out differences between the Nikon and Canon versions.

Are you interested in everything that Apple has coming out in the near future but you don't want to watch 2 hours of fluff and buzz words? You're in luck because Gizmodo just edited down the entire presentation into just 90 seconds and it's basically all you need to see.

As I am writing this Apple is having a press conference about their new products. The Apple Watch is getting a software update, the Apple TV is getting a total overhaul, the iPhone is all new (and can finally shoot 4k video), but potentially the most exciting news for photographers is the Apple iPad Pro.

When it comes to shooting photography and video, reflectors fall into the "basic need" category. Whether you're dabbling in the craft for fun or shooting professionally, everyone should own and have a basic understanding of how to use a reflector. If you think standard reflectors are too expensive or just want a fun project check out this quick DIY video by J.P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens on making your own reflector out of bead foam.

Camera manufacturers have been in a megapixel race for some time. Canon has its new 5DS and 5DS R bodies, Nikon has its D810 and even the D810A for astrophotography, and PhaseOne, Hasselblad, Pentax, and even Leica are competing for medium format, high-megapixel territory. While Canon's 120-megapixel APS-H sensor is actually not entirely new (it was announced some time ago), the announcement that Canon is actually working to get it into a DSLR body and not just using it for bragging rights (their 250 MP sensor now lifts that crown) is a huge development. Meanwhile, Canon is among the first to announce some serious commitment to 8K video.

Today there are amazing deals on all types of memory from SanDisk. If you are in the market for SD cards, USB 3.0 flash drives, or SSD hard drives, you won't want to miss this.

Professional hard drive and storage solutions company G-Technology unveiled a series of new hard drives that expand compatibility and flexibility with their growing Evolution Series solutions. Denoted with an "ev" in their product names, the Evolution Series products enable professionals to take portable project drives on the go, dock them to professional and extremely fast workstations in the office, and then go mobile again -- all with the same drive(s). Among the new devices is a creation from a G-Technology and RED Digital Cinema partnership: the ev Series Reader RED MINI-MAG Edition.

Prior to the a7R II’s release, the Sony Alpha mirrorless lineup played as a group of ambassadors to the possibilities in the technology. Each had their own role in showcasing how mirrorless could do amazing things that matched or exceeded DSLRs. With the a7R II, Sony has released the camera that its competition was warned of, and ultimately did nothing about. It has taken away the asterisk next to the Alpha name and is ready to play ball with the other top brand’s professional cameras on all levels.

We recently received the new DJI Ronin M, an electronic gimbal that is smaller and cheaper than the standard DJI Ronin. To put this stabilizer to the test, we decided to put it through a series of demanding tests... while drunk.

The Elinchrom Indirect softboxes are quite well known amongst fashion and commercial photographers. Especially the 190 octabank. Recently Elinchrom revised its indirect lineup and renamed it Indirect Litemotiv. The Swiss brand offered me the chance to play around with the whole line of Indirect Litemotiv for a little over a month. I must admit, these are great light shapers, and I did not really want to give them back. Are they the ultimate softboxes? I would not go this far, but they are very close. Here is why.

DxO (yes, the company best known for creating a rating system for cameras) has just released what seems to be the world's most powerful compact camera. Available today you can now pick up this incredible device that includes a 20.2-megapixel 1-inch CMOS sensor, 32mm fixed lens, and an outstanding f/1.8 aperture for perfect low light conditions. I have to admit, in my first week testing out the camera this might be one of the best compact cameras I have ever used and here are my first impressions.

Steve Perry of Backcountry Gallery has a multitude of great, down-to-earth photography how-to videos, but the latest one tackles an age-old question we've all had numerous fights over. In spite of Perry's self-proclaimed non-scientific standards, perhaps we can finally put this one to rest.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently gave final approval of $168 million in funding for what would be the most powerful (and likely most expensive) camera to date, created for the new, primarily National Science Foundation-funded Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) that will live on the peak of Chile's Cerro Pachòn.

These days, if you don't own a GoPro, you're pretty much a person that doesn't own a GoPro. But if you ARE a person that owns a GoPro, then get ready to enjoy some sweet new features that will make creating and sharing your content even easier.

I’ve been a user of the original One Man Crew for many different videos. It’s ability to get elegant motion video clips have made it a go-to piece of gear for when I need my interviews to have an interesting look to them. When I heard that an updated version was being released, I was excited to see if a few issues were fixed. In this gear review, I'll break down what is fixed, and what left me wanting more.

If you are shooting 36mp still images, you're going to be able to see a pretty significant difference when comparing cheap lenses to their pro level counterparts. Does the same hold true for video? Not really.

I know. It’s another one of those dang camera bag reviews. It’s a bag and it holds a camera, why does there need to be a full on review? Well in this case, because Wotancraft is not a well-known name in the industry and there is not a ton of information out there about their products in comparison to other brands. Their Ranger bag is also really good looking. It’s fashioned after World War II military bags and is completely handmade. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good bag review.

Canon's EOS M was a good first-try mirrorless, compact APS-C camera that fell a bit short. After withholding the EOS M2 for other markets, the M3 comes to the United States after two generations of much-needed improvements. Those features, however, just might launch the platform into best-in-class territory -- at least on paper.

Canon's rumored 35mm follow-up is finally here. Apart from the obvious general increase in quality with the standard aspheric and ultra-low dispersion elements, the new lens specifically promises to further reduce chromatic aberration (important for wide-aperture lenses) while being the "ideal complement to the latest generation of Canon's high-resolution DSLRs" (i.e. the 50-megapixel Canon 5DS and 5DS R cameras).

In this tutorial I will show you how to setup your studio strobes for full length portraits as we shoot an editorial style lighting setup. First we will look at the entire gear list we used and you can use for a similar setup, from the backdrop to the studio heads. I will breakdown our lighting. with lighting diagrams and explanation of WHY we are placing our lights where we are. Also, in this video tutorial we share some Behind The Scenes from our shoot day.