Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.
Adobe looks like they are scooping up New York design firm Thumb Labs, a company with quite a stacked resume of well-designed mobile apps. We are gathering that Adobe has the intent to have them join the team at their other recently acquired company Behance, likely to make an expanded mobile experience to their upcoming Creative Cloud. Adobe announced the partnership via Twitter: "A warm welcome to our friends at @thumblabs, who are joining the @Behance team to help connect the creative world."
When buying a new camera, the first thing you'll notice is the change in sound from the mechanical shutter. When I bought my 5d Mark II for the first time, I was convinced that my shutter was broken, based on the low pitched ‘clunk’ it was making. Thanks to these latest YouTube videos, we can sit back and experience the sounds of all the shutters for our favorite cameras.
Sigma, hot on the heels of the outstandingly successful 35mm f/1.4 Art lens, has been releasing and announcing new lenses in their Global Vision realignment like crazy. Recently they released the 30mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C cameras, and I had high expectations for it after being told that the president of Sigma was aiming it to meet the performance set by the 35mm. So did it?
Whether I’m going out for a short hike, a weekend camping trip, shooting the zombie apocalypse, or assisting someone for their personal project, there are many times when I’ve needed to be light and fast in my video rig setup. Besides going with a single camera and lens, the accessories I choose enable me to be versatile and get better clips in the end. Here’s my top 8 list of items that keep me on the move while I’m shooting video.
Over time, you'll likely see your lens develop a couple specks of dust inside the lens. This isn't uncommon, and 99% of the time, won’t affect your image quality at all. However, for the neat freaks out there, it'll become a big issue for you, and you'll want to send your lens in for cleaning. Lens Rentals shows us how they do it.
So as a lot of you have probably seen, you can now record full 1080p 14Bit Raw video on the Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III. This is truely incredible. However, you can not just import the video and get to editing right away. To be able to use the RAW video, you have to convert the RAW files to DNG. Here is a quick workflow tutorial on how to do that. It's really not that hard to do, just a little time consuming.
Think Tank fans, rejoice! The Santa Rosa, CA-based bag manufacturer has just announced the Logistics Manager 30, a high capacity roller bag with a lage, roomy internal dimensions of 13.75”W x 27.5”H x 8.25 – 10”D (35 x 70 x 21 – 25.5cm) that will allow it to hold multiple combinations of cameras and lenses, lighting gear such as strobes and reflectors and accessories of all kinds.
Monopods, once really only useful in a handful of situations, have evolved into irreplaceable members of our creative arsenals due to the advent of high quality video being produced in DSLRs. The idea of a “video monopod” might frighten video purists, but there are those such as Patrick Hall and myself who swear by them. Manfrotto’s version was a fantastic foray into the medium, but slightly pricey. Benro recently released their more affordable versions, and I was more than ready to see if they were able to hold their own.
Fans of the Nikon 1 series mirrorless cameras will wake up to a nice little bit of news today with the announcement of the 32mm f/1.2 lens. The lens itself equates to about an ~86mm field of view, finally giving the 1 series a great portrait lens to use. It also features silent wave motor technology, making it the fastest autofocus lens Nikon has ever made.
Canon has announced their answer to Nikon's 200-400mm with their new 200-400mm f/4 L USM. It boasts a built-in 1.4x extender which, with the flip of a switch, extends the lens to a 280-560mm f/5.6. Measuring in at 5.0 x 14.4 inches and 127.7 oz, the specs on this beast look amazing, but the price tag is a little surprising. It's expected to retail for $11,800, nearly twice what Nikon's is selling for.
I was just talking with a designer friend of mine who was planning to take some photos at an upcoming Color Run event. Early morning sunlight, vibrant colors, and smiling faces seems like a winning combination for some interesting images like these. However, in a recent article by Roger Cicala over at LensRentals.com, he warns that you might want to consider the dangers of getting your gear covered in colored powder.
Olympus is following up their hugely successful PEN line with an all new member: the PEN E-P5, a digital update of a classic film camera designed new tech and performance advancements. Designed for photographers looking for superior image quality in a portable body, the PEN E-P5 delivers a unique shooting experience for photographers looking to keep things compact, including offering a shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second, a first for the compact camera market.
We learned a lot about Adobe at Adobe MAX earlier this week. We learned that they are moving to a cloud-based system that will remove support for perpetual licenses. We learned about new features that are really something special. And we also learned just a little bit about Project Mighty and Project Napoleon, Adobe's push into hardware through a pen and ruler that link to the digital world.
The new Photoshop features are not the only changes that were announced from Adobe MAX: videographers are in for a few treats themselves. Adobe is looking to solidify their dominance in the video editing market by introducing welcome additions to Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Speed Grade. There are a huge number of new features, so let’s look at them one by one to give you a clear picture of what to expect.
When we first discussed Adobe’s acquisition of Behance earlier this year, there was speculation that the purpose was to add social to the Creative Cloud. Adobe has proved that speculation correct, as Behance plays a pivotal role in Adobe’s new CC-branded software with live feeds to your Behance buddies.
Adobe Photoshop’s new feature “Camera Shake Reduction” has been has been carrying a ton of hype, likely due to the publicity Adobe has been putting behind it since last year (and more recently just a couple weeks ago). However, what it actually is and how it works is somewhat misunderstood. Many were prepared to hate the program, thinking it a panacea for all bad, blurry images. It’s not the all-healing-blur-fixing-magic-of-the-gods some of you might think it is, but it’s still really flipping amazing.
Adobe has announced that in lieu of continuing with the "Creative Suite" naming convention, they have instead changed the outlook of the popular suite of creative software to "Creative Cloud," a move that should not surprise those of you who have followed Adobe over the course of the last year.
Photoshop has become a powerhouse in terms of editing software, easily the number one choice in the industry. They haven’t gotten there by being complacent, and Photoshop CC introduces new and awesome features that expand the power of the biggest name in post production such as Camera Shake Reduction, Camera RAW as a filter, and their new Smart Sharpen.
Rebecca, Mike and I are all at Adobe MAX, ready to bring you the news as it breaks. To follow the story, either watch the live stream at Adobe.com and Fstoppers on Twitter to hear our thoughts on what Adobe is bringing to the table this year.
Known for their industry leading camera sliders and portable jibs, Kessler continues to innovate by creating useful products for filmmakers. Their latest creation is called the Parallax, and in this video, Eric Kessler demonstrates how it works to create a motor-less, controlled panning action on your existing slider. This can make a move where during your camera's horizontal move, the head pans to stay with its subject.
Lowepro has been quiet for a few months, but recently announced their new Photo Sport Pro 30L AW bag, inspired by the original Photo Sport Pro AW series. The latest back-packin' pal is set to offer the active, outdoor photographer a lightweight, comfortable, supportive and flexible daypack that fits pro-sized gear plus lots of extras.
Rounding out the batch of lenses announced in January, Sigma has released the pricing and availability of the 60mm f/2.8 DN Art lens for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILCs). It's coming in mid-May and is expected to retail for only $239.
I know that I am not the only one that runs into this issue. I set my focal point, get the focus that I want and go to take the shot, only to have my focus change when I re-compose. By going into your camera's custom functions, you can set up your camera so that it will only focus when you hit the star button with your thumb.
Samsung has been pushing all angles lately. They're putting pressure on Apple, their TVs rock (I have one) and their cameras are nothing to shake a stick at (that means they're pretty good). They're at it again, this time with expanding their line with the NX2000, a 20.3 megapixel APS-C interchangeable lens pocket camera mini monster that is stacked with everything Samsung could throw into it.
While browsing the Twitterverse today, I noticed a quick and to the point tweet from Fotodiox that introduced me to a constant LED light fixture that would accept my Bowens mount light fixtures. It promises serious power mixed with the modular adeptness that I just love. Meet the Fotodiox LED100WA.
One of the most frustrating things that can happen in photography is seeing a perfect moment and snagging a shot, only to get back to your computer and find out the picture was barely out of focus. As a wedding photographer, I can't count how many times my couple has been composed perfectly with that magic moment that only lasts one frame, and my autofocus drags away from their eyes. To be fair, there is a lot of human error that goes into focus problems. However, did you know the problem doesn't always lie in the user?
Wacom today announced the Cintiq 22HD touch, a new addition to its interactive pen display portfolio, now featuring multi-touch. Combining multi-touch with Wacom’s pen technology, the new Cintiq 22HD touch offers an on-screen experience and a more intuitive and natural way to work. The new Cintiq is expected to retail for $2,499.
Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Profoto's new-ish pack, the Pro-B4, which has a flash duration of 1/25,000th of a second. Well, last week I was finally able to take it for a test drive. And what better way to test an insane flash duration than with water?
Black Magic unveiled their crazy small Pocket Camera at NAB earlier this year, and some of the first footage recorded on the camera has appeared online from director of photography John Brawley. Unsurprisingly, it looks pretty darn good.
Sigma sent out word this morning that the delayed 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM lens slated originally for release in February 2013 will finally be coming to market in early May for $3,599. Released along with that lens is the much anticipated USB Dock that can be used to fine tune new Sigma lenses will be available $59.
There is fierce competition among the top digital imaging companies, fighting for several billion in dollars worldwide. I have examined Olympus and Sony in the past, and this year I wanted to bring in Canon and Nikon to see how their last fiscal year treated them. Though the publicly filed information tends to be pretty vague in specific company categories (instead opting to give general aggregated sales), I was able to get some approximate final sales numbers in digital imaging for these four companies. Let’s answer the big question: who came out on top?
We've all heard of renowned portrait photographer Zack Arias - not only is he a great shooter, but he's got a reputation for making some bold claims. Make no mistake that the Fuji X100S is a great little camera. Small, compact, feature-packed and with great image quality, you've probably heard quite a bit about it lately. But just HOW good is it? Zack Arias says that it's so good, in fact, that the DSLR is dead. Check out the video and let us
Firefly is a super slick skater video shot with a JamCopter, a remote controlled helicopter rigged with a camera, that follows a skater and his LED lit board around a city.
The birds eye perspective and high camera angle shots create some really nice movements and give scale to the skaters journey. The project was created by samadhiproduction.cz and utilizes the use of remote controlled helicopters from jamcopters.cz.
Very cool, very slick, very simple.
When we announced the new 18-35mm f/1.8 lens from Sigma, the excited and joy-filled response from you all was nearly instantaneous (which was rather impressive since it was confirmed at just past 1 in the morning eastern time). I too was particularly excited because of what this lens means to the industry and the future of lens design. I want to share with you my first impressions of the lens, which arrived in my studio just a few minutes ago.
Yahoo's new weather app that was released today just replaced my Apple weather app, and probably for good. Why? Because it's outstandingly beautiful thanks to Flickr image integration. Rather than just showing bland vectors of sun and clouds, Yahoo has backed up their accurate weather forecasting with geolocated imagery from Flickr users. So pretty...
You might have heard the rumors about a new wide angle zoom lens with a crazy open aperture of f/1.8. Those rumors have just been confirmed to us by Sigma: it's real and it's the first zoom lens to maintain an f/1.8 aperture over the entire length of the zoom range. Now that is exciting. Meet the 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art lens.
Having the right gear as a photographer can get quite expensive. We spend all our money on the camera and lenses only to find out later we need all kinds of other gadgets and gizmos to run our business. Often we invest in something that we use a few times and then it gets buried in our bag never to be touched again. As I was thinking about all the gear I have the one thing that came to mind as one of my most valuable was a gift from my wife and cost her just $35. Read on to find out what it is...
Pentax/Ricoh has released a new 16 megapixel APS-C camera called the GR (the last GR was released in 2011) that looks to compete directly with the popular FUJI X Pro1, the Canon G1X and the Sony RX100. This is a market that Nikon recently entered with their Coolpix A, and one that is likely to continue to grow. In what I have seen in the new GR shows Ricoh's intent to go straight at this market with a camera that performs better than you might expect, for only $800.
You might have heard some rumors spinning around earlier today regarding Lightroom 5, and those have been confirmed by Adobe in a Beta release of their latest iteration of the product. The Lightroom 5 Beta comes just 13 months after the availability of Lightroom 4, this time adding more options like a more advanced healing brush, radial gradient tool, smart preview, and high DPI support on Windows machines.
The Novo is a GoPro Hero 3 that has been modified to control exposure, change focus and give the user the ability to swap lenses. Radiant Images along with View Factor Studios have tweaked the GoPro into a smaller aluminum body with more camera controls.
The Novo digital cinema camera is available exclusively at Radiant Images. The company states that it is an ideal solution
Wanting to differentiate their affordable lines from their super high end products, Redrock Micro is going to offer a line of premium products under a new label: Redrock Black. The accessories will be made specifically for Canon EOS Cinema, Sony F and FS series, Red cameras, and Blackmagic cinema cameras.
While walking the floor at WPPI, there was one item we kept seeing over and over again: the MeFoto tripod. It seemed like everyone had one, and we had never heard of the brand. So we spoke with the guys at the MeFoto booth who agreed to let us test them out. Now after using all three sizes of MeFoto tripods, I can see why they were everywhere: they’re excellent.
Chinese company DEO-Tech has apparently developed a lens adapter that allows Leica M lenses to autofocus when attached to a Sony E-mount. They did this by first mounting a Lecia lens into a Contax G Biogon 28mm f/2, and when they use that with their Contax G - NEX AF adapter it becomes a lens usable on a Sony NEX.
Earlier this week at NAB, Benro extended its video product line by adding a Heavy Duty 3-leg folding base to the classic A38F and A48F models making them ideal for a variety of video shooters. Also new to the lineup are two twist lock versions giving the customer their choice of lock for both the S2 and S4 video monopods. The Benro monopods appear to compete directly with the popular Manfrotto video monopod.
As a wedding photographer, I run around a lot and need to be ready for any moment. Because the day of a shoot can always bring surprises, I have a motto of always being prepared with extras of everything. Usually this means my assistant or I lug around a bag or two with extra flashes, batteries, and other accessories. I'm always looking for things to help me smooth out my work flow and make any wedding day easier to handle. So, when Spider Camera Holster released their new Spider Monkey for camera accessories at WPPI 2013, I was eager to try them out.
For those photographers who do most of their work on the move, finding light-weight equipment that can really adapt to different situations is a tall order. Sometimes, even the most compact tripod or light stand still won’t fit into spaces or stay out of the way. The gratuitously named Nasty Clamps aim to amend that situation with their attach-anywhere attitude.
Not that your standard cable release is obsolete but Trigger Happy is an innovative cross platform mobile app that allows for easy camera control with phone, tablet or iPad. Born out of a Kickstarter campaign last year, the app, when combined with a three foot audio cable that is included with purchase, can fire most Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus DSLRs. It is now available and fulfilled by Amazon.
In addition to announcing their freakishly tiny cinema camera, Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Production Camera 4K, a new high resolution 4K digital film camera with an innovative large Super 35 size sensor with professional global shutter, combined with precision EF mount optics and high quality Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) file recording for $3,995.
Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, a pocket-sized digital cinema camera that includes full-size features such as Super 16mm sized 1080HD sensor, super wide 13 stops of dynamic range, built in SD card recorder for Apple ProRes, lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW capture and active Micro Four Thirds lens mount, all very attractive price of $995.
