Gear

Much like gathering around the water cooler at the office took a hit with the advent of bottled water; the light table seemed to vanish overnight once digital cameras decided to stick around. Well fear not ex-film shooters, thanks to the Microsoft Surface touch computer and Industrial Color's "GLOBALedit" App you can once again swap war stories around the light table. Jump to the full post to see the demo video and more.

Scott Kelby was lucky enough to have a few Nikon reps come over to his studio with a brand new Nikon D4 and a the WT-5 (Nikon's new wireless transmitter). On another note, BH sold out of the pre-order on this camera the first day it went live but it's actually available again for anyone who still wants to get this camera early.

ApertureAcademy has an interesting article by Stephen Oachs about a recent sighting of someone who apparently works for Canon. He seemed to be testing a new 5D (or perhaps 7D) series camera. At some point, he also had pulled out a 600mm lens along with a new 200-400mm lens with -- get this -- a built-in teleconverter! Brilliant! See the full post for all the juicy details and photos.

See one of the first side by side video comparisons of Nikon's D4 and Canon's 1DX posted by Fenchel Janisch. This video was shot in daylight using the same settings on both cameras and Sigma 50mm F/1.4 + Sigma 85mm F/1.4 lenses. (Settings: ISO 100, F/4 + F/5.6, shutter speed 1/50s). Which looks better to you?

Have you ever caught yourself wondering what the inside of your camera looks like? How about the insides of a $35,000 camera? Thanks to the FCC, we can now see the Red Epic's innards in all its glory. I certainly wouldn't have guessed ahead of time that it was mostly RED inside; not the usual green we are all so used to. If this sort of thing piques your interest, make sure to click through to the full post to see more photos!

Sony's new XQD cards and compatible card reader are now available for pre-order on Adorama. Pre-order the 32GB card, 16GB card, or the card reader for delivery in February.

Everyone remembers the original Battle at F-Stop Ridge, the live-action camera battle that had camera enthusiasts everywhere laughing. The creators of the video, The Camera Store, in Calgary, AB, created a sequel and I'm happy to say that it's just as awesome as the original. Check out the full post to see it.

The new, much-awaited, and potentially game-changing cinema camera from Canon, the EOS-C300, is now available for pre-order at B&H in either the Canon EF mount or the PL mount. Additionally, in the full post, check out a great BTS video with Vincent Laforet on his new short, Mobius, shot on the C300.

With just over a week since it's announcement, Nikon's flagship D4 DSLR is already causing a stir in the most unlikely of places. The camera will feature a slot for the new XQD memory card which moves data much faster than current SD or CF cards. But can the card become the next media standard? Both Lexar and Sandisk, the later of which helped design the format, have said that they will not produce the XQD cards anytime soon. So what do you think? Click the full post to leave your comments and participate our poll.

Between Nikon's D4 announcement at the end of last week and this week at CES, it's been (and will continue to be) an exciting time of imaging innovation. In this post, we'll re-cap some of the top innovations that have been introduced recently and what these new features mean for you -- in the real world.

Last time, photographer Jay P Morgan gave us tips on the best way to use a reflector. This time he shows us how he combined a Hensel 1200w Porty Pack with a beauty dish attached and the photoflex 5 in 1 reflectors. Click the full post to see the behind the scenes video.

The guys over at stillmotion have always got their hands in something new and creative. This time, they teamed with up Shootsac to film a short commercial showing the point of view of their Tote & Shoot bag. Click the full post to watch the behind the scenes video.

31 megapixel? with a wireless interchangeable lens (yes, a wireless lens!)? and all of that inside a phone? at least that's what the guys from WVIL claim. Watch this video from CES 2012 (world's largest consumer technology tradeshow in Las Vegas) and tell us - is it real or is it fake?

Nikon D4 is up for pre-order at B&H today. They're selling out fast so hurry over to B&H Photo to reserve yours today!

The new PowerShot G1 X launched today. It as a 14-megapixel larger-than micro four-thirds sensor, allowing for increased light sensitivity and depth of field. One crazy new feature: this camera can store facial recognition for individuals with names and birth dates, allowing auto-focus priority to the youngest in the group! See the full post for the full press release.

As expected, today, Fuji released their much-awaited X-Pro 1 mirrorless camera, featuring a revolutionary, new organic sensor that supposedly rivals 35mm image quality and even color fidelity. We'll wait to see what reviews say, but if true, this technology could give Nikon and Canon a run for their money. Check out the full post for all the specs.

We just received another great installment of video comentary with the incredible wedding videographers at Visual Masterpiece. Even if you hate weddings you will be able to appreciate the talent that goes into each of their videos. Check out the full post to see the BTSV and the finished product as well as a breakdown of the gear that they use on every shoot.

Most are aware, by now, that 2011 has been dubbed 'the year of the protest.' However, in our corner, it's also the year of the mirrorless camera. As small-sensor image quality is improving and electronics are shrinking, manufacturers are taking advantage of being able to fit slightly larger-than-before sensors into the same pocket-sized cameras. Interchangeable lenses give even more flexibility, and, in the mirrorless format, give consumers a greatly portable system at a relatively low cost. Fuji's new X-Pro 1 mirrorless camera (with a 16-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor that's supposed to rival the quality of full-frame 35mm sensors) is expected to be announced early this coming week, but the new lenses that will be available for the system have already leaked early on Amazon. If you're thinking of getting the system, you may want to consider ringing in the new year's first mirrorless camera by building your lens set in advance. Fujifilm Lens X-Pro1 18mm F2.0 Lens Fujifilm Lens X-Pro1 35mm F1.4 Lens Fujifilm Lens X-Pro1 60mm F2.4 Macro Lens

Check out this beautifully shot video made by Corey Rich of Lake Tahoe, CA. The video shows off not only the incredible capabilities of the Nikon D4 (be sure to watch it in HD and full screen), but also offers inspiring footage of three athletes in action: Alex Honnold, a free-solo climber, Dane Jackson, kayaker, and Rebecca Rusch, an ultra-endurance athlete. The final product combines both time lapse footage and video footage, which according to Corey was recorded directly to CF, and all of the interview audio came directly off the camera. Now that I mention it, you might want to grab your headphones while you watch this video.

If you are like me, and constantly paranoid that your monitor color isn’t quite right, then today is a good day for you. The folks at Datacolor, who have previously brought us products such as the Spyder2 and Spyder3 screen calibration devices, have just released a new colorimeter. As you might have guessed, it’s named the Sypder4. Once again, there are three unique versions from which to choose, with three equally unique colors to distinguish them: red, blue and green, or RGB for short. Coincidence? I think not! There is an Express, Pro and Elite version of the Sypder4. Click on through to the full post to see more info and pretty pictures.

I thought I'd start at Fstoppers posting about the newest add-on to the RED camera family. The Red Scarlet-X. If you don't know what RED is, take a second, stop reading, open a new tab on your browser, and visit WWW.RED.COM. For those of you that know about RED and their amazing cameras you're fully aware that they released the RED SCARLET-X this past November of 2011. The camera starts at an amazing low(er) price of $11,700. For a camera that shoots RAW and looks that close to true 35mm at just under $12,000 is just insane! Until the release of their most anticipated camera, the RED EPIC-X( no release date yet ), the Scarlet-X is still currently the camera to beat in its price range. Click the full post to see what I'm talking about

On the heels of Sony's XQD announcement comes Lexar's first 1000x compact flash (CF) cards. Available in February in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB sizes, these cards now promise speeds of up to 150MB/s, even faster than the Sony XQD's 125MB/s. Prices are slightly higher, too, but it seems as though the premium paid for top-of-the-line, professional, solid-state storage is dwindling, making it more affordable, finally. Lexar's cards, in theory, should also support the Nikon D4's massive 100-frame burst possibility (200 frames in JPG). Additionally, Lexar has released the world's first 256GB CF card, running at 400x (or 60MB/s). These will be available sometime in the first half of this year. Full press releases and prices in the full post.

Hey there everyone, my name is Mike, and I’m one of the new Fstoppers crew. Today I’m bringing you up to speed on some audio gear you might find useful for your video shoots. Besides using an H4N to record second-system sound, what else can you do to get better audio for your video projects when shooting on a DSLR? This question plagues a number of video shooters I know, sometimes because of budget, or simple the need to keep their kit as small and portable as possible. Click to see the full post here.

Last night the Nikon D4 went on sale at Amazon for about an hour before it sold out. The only other store that we know of that is currently taking pre-orders is Adorama. Head over to their site and put down just $250 to reserve your camera today.

Card of the future or just another format we need to buy? Time will tell. Sony, tonight, alongside the Nikon D4 announcement, announced their plans for a new memory card based on the new XQD format that the D4 supports. The XQD format is based on a smaller form factor and Sony's boasts write and read speeds up to 1Gbps(125MB/s) with future theoretical speeds reaching up to 5gbps. While this might help ultra-high resolution video professionals, it could also help still photographers capture up to an unprecedented 100 images in burst modes with cameras such as the Nikon D4. And for starters, prices seem 'under control' at 16GB for $129.99 and 32GB for $229.99. Tell us what you think in the comments section. Read the press release in the full post:

We've all seen leaks after leaks about Nikon's newest flagship DSLR. Some of us have been saving forever. Some of us are still saving. Some of us just want the price of the D3S to drop, and then some don't care much because they shoot Canon. Well, whichever we might all be (I'll have mine on order soon), the time has come. Just around 11PM EST, Nikon finally released it -- the Nikon D4. Replacing the D3s, the D4 boasts 16MP stills, full HD video, and excellent low-light capabilities. It even supports the new XQD card format! There's a bunch of awesome stuff about this new body, and all in all, it should prove a strong competitor against Canon's recently announced EOS-1D X. For all the info on what we learned tonight, including price, photos, and a comparison table, check out the Full Post and check out the hands on review below! Update (January 6): The new Nikon WT-5 wireless transmitter featuring wireless 802.11a/b/g/n for the D4 and the new Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S were both released yesterday alongside the D4. Personally, I'm a huge fan of what I call Nikon's '1.8 line,' as they offer a great product at a great value. If you don't quite have the cash for three $1500+ pro lenses, you can get three of the '1.8 line' for a fraction of the price and have a great set of primes. And Nikon's 85mm 1.8G is a welcomed addition. Pre-order links for the 85mm 1.8G and links for the rest of the '1.8 line' to suit your focal length needs below. Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S Nikon 35mm f/2D (Or almost f1.8) Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S Update 2 (January 7): Unfortunately, the Nikon D4 does have less battery life than the D3s with its new EN-EL18 battery, lasting only 2,600 shots instead of the previous 4,200. Additionally, it's another $60 over the other battery, and the dual battery charger is another $150 over that of the D3s. The D4 is certainly a pricey upgrade, but if necessary, you may still want to get some backup batteries or chargers, now available on Adorama: EN-EL18 Battery; MH-26 Battery Charger for EN-EL18.

If you've watched an american football game, you've seen those cool shots from high up in the air. They come from a camera called the Skycam which was actually invented by the same people who designed the Steadicam used in movie productions. It's basically a remote camera controlled by four computer driven suspension cables. But what happens when everything goes wrong and the camera comes crashing to the ground? Well that's exactly what happened during the 2011 Insight College Bowl Game featuring Iowa and Oklahoma. Luckily the camera missed landing on any of the players but it sure did come close. Check out the full post to see a behind the scenes video on how the Skycam works.

Unless you shoot fast moving objects with flash on a regular basis, you might not be aware that a strobes "flash duration" has a huge affect on an image's total sharpness. Flash duration is simply the time at which your flash is emitting light. Technical gurus will break it down into T.1 and T.5 times but for simplicity the longer the flash duration, the more your strobe light acts as a constant light for extremely fast moving objects (great article here). Recently Broncolor did a test between their Broncolor Scoro power pack and the Profoto Pro 8 Air to see which one had a faster duration. As biased as it might appear, I think it's fair to say that the Scoro does produce a sharper image especially since you can digital select the flash duration on the power packs themselves. The Broncolor packs do cost about 20% more than the Profoto packs so unless you are shooting extremely fast moving objects then you probably won't ever notice the difference. I think it could be interesting to throw something much cheaper into the mix like an Alien Bee but my suspicion is it might fail the color accuracy part of this test.

If you are like me, then you might have jumped straight into studio lighting without paying much attention to manipulating natural light. If that is the case, now is a great time to play around with reflectors outside especially since the sun is lower on the horizon this time of year. Jay P Morgan heads to the ultimate graveyard with the lovely Liz Hernandez to show just how effective reflectors can be in place of strobes. Jay is using a few of the Photoflex 5 in 1 Reflectors in various sizes to manipulate not only the size of the reflected light but also the color. Unlike when using strobes, when using a reflector you really need to pay attention to where the sun is shining so you can maximize the amount of fill light bouncing back into your subject (backlighting your subject is a good starting point). The other major selling point of using a reflector over a strobe not mentioned in this video is your ability to shoot wide open at 1.4 or 2.8 for shallow depth of field. Unless you are using something like the Pocket Wizard Flex System, strobing outside is usually going to force you into the > f8 category which destroys the wide open aperture look. Hope this helps those who haven't used reflectors as much and good luck shooting!

Have you ever wondered what happens to your checked luggage after you check into your flight and leave it to be loaded on the conveyor belt? Well this video will show you just what happens to your prized belongings when they enter the hands of the airlines and the TSA. Six cameras were mounted in what looks like a pelican case so every angle could be documented. Obviously all of the bag handlers were aware they were being filmed (so who knows how authentic this 'experiment' actually is) but it's still pretty interesting to see how your bag gets from the Delta Terminal to your final luggage terminal in another city. Am I the only one who thinks if I did this the TSA inspectors would have turned my cameras off or changed their position? They never seem to leave my carry on lenses alone yet these video cameras go untouched. Nevertheless, thumps up to Delta for a creative advertising campaign.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our readers! We are all at home visiting our families right now but we just wanted to thank our Fstoppers readers and fans! You guys are such an important part of keeping this site up and running. The guys over at ScreenWerks created this mash up of all of the Christmas classics. Enjoy!

The Canon vs. Nikon video has gone viral these past few weeks. The behind the scenes video was just released so I thought I'd share. If you missed the actual video, click here to see the original post. A big thank you goes out to Fstoppers reader, Marten, for submitting this video to us.

Inspired by Google's street view, Honda Civic is launching their 2012 campaign by creating an interactive 360 degree online experience that will let viewers explore unique environments that have never been seen before. This behind the scenes video is just a peek at what is to come and so far it is pretty awesome. They have filmed areas like the previously unexplored Alaskan ice caves and an underwater art museum in Cancun, and the Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Watch the preview and making of Honda's upcoming campaign below.

I'm not sure what has gotten into Chase Jarvis lately. First he decided to be a judge for our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest. Next he flies over to Hong Kong to test a new Lego camera. And now I come to find that he's running his own "Will It Blend" campaign with the brand new Polaroid Z340 instant digital camera. Whatever the reason is for his latest antics, I'm glad Chase made this video because I've been wanting a digital AND film Polaroid camera since I picked up a camera. Sure they would be fun during trips and parties but what if you passed one or two of these out at your next wedding for the guests to have fun with? How big of a hit would that be! If Chase has any pull with the folks over at Polaroid, we'd love to see a version with a simple hotshoe on top so we could use bounce light or a pocket wizard with these things. With paper refills at $17, it wouldn't be the cheapest thing you could bring to a wedding but I'm sure your clients would be talking about it for years! What do you guys think?

Okay this video has been emailed to us a bunch of times, and it has already made the rounds on a bunch of blogs BUT I'm still not sure I understand this story at all. Researchers at MIT have created a "video system" made up of 500 sensors that can capture light movement at 1/1,000,000,000,000th of a second. Now after watching this video and reading the official MIT press release, my mind is pretty much blown. It's clear that this camera is not actually filming a native 1 trillion fps but are they saying that the speed of light is so fast that essentially the shutter speed of the composited frames would in fact be 1 trillion fps when strung together? I know there must be some physics gurus out there that can explain this in simple terms! No matter what is actually going on here, it's still pretty geeky and extremely cool to watch such a complicated setup record some of the fastest images ever created.

Who needs a clunky camera these days when you've got a 12 megapixel camera in your pocket. Shot using a Nokia N8, the guys over at Aardman (producers of Wallace & Gromit) broke the world record when they produced this short animation. The final video is only 1 minute and 31 seconds but it took them 5 days on the beach to shoot all the images. I think it goes without saying that the amount of time and effort it takes to produce a video like this is tremendous. Click the full post to see the final video.

We don't usually put a lot of deals on the front of Fstoppers (we save those for our twitter account) but this one is simply too good to pass up. Right now BHvideo has the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera on sale for $1999 which is pretty close to the price of some of Canon's cropped sensor cameras. Who knows how long this will last or if this is a sign of a new camera coming or just a great holiday deal. Either way, if you need a 2nd camera or haven't made the jump to full frame, this might be the best time to snag one of these up. We will try to update our Holiday gear guide as more sales pop up or if you find some, send them to us on twitter or in the comments below. Happy holidays everyone!

There are a ton of car photographers out there but very few of them are this good. Lee Howell just sent me his newest portfolio shoot that involved shooting a new Audi R8 GT in a soon to be opened tunnel. Lee got his hands on one of the craziest car rigs I have ever seen and walks us through the basics of his production. With a little bit of post work, the images become world class shots. Head over to Lee's website to get more info and pictures.

We've featured a lot of timelapse videos here on Fstoppers. And while they are really cool, very few videos have been made on how you can actually make one yourself. The guys over at Dynamic Perception, makers of the Stage Zero Dolly and MX2 Dolly Engine, have created a pretty thorough explanation of how to program dolly movements with long DSLR exposures. Many of the concepts in this video are useful no matter what electronic dolly you are using, and it really does a great job teaching some of the pitfalls you might have when calculating the timings required for both great photos and slick camera movements. Click the full post to watch an intro video to timelapse and head over to Dynamic Perception's site if you are interested in getting into this type of photography.

Most of the readers here at Fstoppers are photographers but we also have a lot of videographers as well. Most of us photographers are completely out of the loop when it comes to the tools videographers use day in and day out, and some of them are pretty cool. Mitch Gross demonstrates some of the features found in the new ARRI L7 LED Fresnel Lights and they look pretty awesome. Having WB control over your light color is pretty awesome and could come in handy for a lot of photography applications. These Fresnel lights are pretty expensive at $2700 but hopefully this technology will show up in other less expensive lights too. How cool would it be if our future speedlights had both strobe light and controlable LED lights for video (hint hint Nikon!)

Just a few weeks ago Canon announced the new C300 video camera to join the professional video world. Many people were confused because the specs didn't seem that much better than the 5DM2 but the price was way higher ($20k). In the video below Jonathan Yi does a great job of showing many of the benefits of the C300. If I had a little bit more money I would be tempted to buy one of these myself.

I'll always remember a friend of mine saying that he loved the Canon 5D Mark II for film making because it was expendable and cheap compared to "real" video cameras (he crashed a lot of them). For most of us, having any piece of gear break is heartbreaking especially when it comes from our own stupidity lack of foresight. Such was the case for filmmaker and 3D Animator Kurtis Hough as he was doing a little beach videography. While on set for what appears to be The Goonies II, Kurtis encountered something pretty scary. After watching the video below you might want to reconsider not insuring your photo gear.

The final day to submit your behind the scenes video for our contest is December 31st. With 30 days left, the videos are starting to pour in and they are getting better and better. I've never had any interested in infrared photography until I saw Mark Fore's contest entry. In the video below Mark shows us how he converted his digital rebel into an infrared camera for $6. He then takes pictures lighting his subjects with the Xbox Kinect. To learn how to turn your camera into an IR system, check out this website.

One of the biggest announcements I was really excited about this year was the release of Nikon's Flagship SB910 Speedlight. Many people were speculating that the revamped portable strobe would be smaller like the classic SB800, finally offer wireless syncing via radio, incorporate a small constant LED light for video, or add another half stop or two of power. Unfortunately none of those changes have become reality yet but the new speedlight does offer enough updates that anyone in the market for a powerful speedlight will want to check out the Nikon SB910. Click the full post to read the official Nikon Press Release. You can already preorder the Nikon SB910 as it should be shipping mid December 2011. Out of curiosity, if you could design the perfect speedlight, what features would you want that this new flash does not already offer?

Everyone has been waiting for the new Nikon D3s and D700 replacement cameras for what seems like forever. Nikon Rumors recently opened a whole can of worms as they released photos that the rumor blog owner stats as being 99% legit. However new speculations have come out from another reliable source over at DigitalRev. We here at Fstoppers aren't going to claim we know what the next Nikon DSLR will actually look like so instead we pose this question: Which version of the Nikon D800 do you think is more accurate and which one excites you the most? Click the FULL POST to view a side by side comparison of both speculated versions of the camera and leave your thoughts below in the comments. I'd actually be more interested in the DigitalRev version but that's just me.

Happy Thanksgiving Fstoppers! I know we all haven't even started carving into our turkeys yet, but I wanted to let you know that I have just completed the Fstoppers 2011 Holiday Buying Guide. I made this guide to help narrow down some of the best ideas for gifts for the photographer or videographer in your life. I also made the guide easy to navigate based on budget by dividing the Guide by price. Don't have a lot to spend? Not to worry. There are plenty of great gifts under $100. Want to melt their face off with a ridiculous and unexpected gift? Check out the over $500 category. I will be updating the Buying Guide frequently all the way up until Christmas as more products go on sale or come to my attention. Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to receive quick updates on fire-sale-priced products that won't last long enough to warrant adding them to the Buying Guide. Happy shopping Fstoppers!

Some of my favorite behind the scenes videos we've featured on Fstoppers are of Matthew Jordan Smith. He speaks well and always articulates his lighting and setups in a way that both amateurs and pros can understand. In this video Matthew talks about exposing for a high key background, metering your subject's face for dramatic studio light, and balancing ambient backlight with a studio keylight. I'll be honest and say that I've never used a Sekonic Light Meter but I can see how useful they can be for more advanced studio lighting. I think Matthew might be the only professional I know of shooting on a Sony DSLR! I guess it goes to show that your camera brand makes little difference in producing great images. Check out more of Matthew's tutorials here.

Now despite the way this apparatus looks, it's actually something that has been discussed by major photo industry companies. Event photographers continually struggle with needing to have their lighting equipment in just the right spot while simultaneously needing to be somewhere else to get the shot. Even if they do get everything in place, seconds later they will need to somewhere else. In the current economic slump, not everyone can afford an assistant, so what can you do? Build yourself a strobist backpack, that's what.

This video has been sent to us so many times over the last 24 hours that I thought we should share it. It was filmed at After Dark Education based in Tucson, AZ and is a pretty funny look at how some videographers and photographers view each other on a wedding day. Just a good fair warning though, if you were offended by Lee's tongue in cheek take on fanny packs then you might be shocked to find out the situation is worse than you previous thought :) I guess we can all pick on the Star Wars fanatics instead this time!