Photography Gear

Israeli based photographer Dima Vazinovich is specializing in news, documentary and wedding photography. One thing that separates him from other photographers in the industry is the unique and creative look his photography has. Recently Dima decided to try adding a new kind of look to his portfolio, and the results are truly amazing.

The internet has become a gold mine of resources for photographers of all different genres, experience levels and styles. It's so easy to find inexpensive Lightroom or Photoshop presets to help create interesting post-processing colors and effects without spending hours trying to create them yourself. The only problem is: which ones do you use?

Cokin has a new line of filters, the Pure Harmonie filters, that offer the lightest and thinnest solution for your lenses. They come in various sizes and promise to be amongst the highest in quality. Now, I've owned some "thin-line" filters before by top European brands and was already impressed by those...so seeing these would intrigue me... 

Rob Dunlop, creative director and brains behind PrettyInWhite.com, just posted an interesting and also somewhat humorous account of his purchase of a Canon 5d Mark III through DigitalRev.com.

PocketWizard is to radio transceivers what Kleenex is to tissues. PW's have become the industry standard and the benchmark which all other radio transceivers/transmitter & receiver combos are measured. This week PocketWizard introduced the G-Wiz Vault Storage Solution... What is it? To me it would appear to be the fancy name for a lunch box...

Sigma's latest addition to their new lens lineup, the 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, became available for purchase today from B&H. Along with the release, Sigma published a preview of what you can expect from the lens in terms of performance. If it is up to snuff, it will be a great option for those in the market for a wide-angle APS-C lens. 

B&H is having a SanDisk 1-day sale that is offering some pretty good prices, like a 64 GB SD card for $41. Also you can grab a refurbished Nikon D600 or D800 for a bargain. Rounding out the product news, Sigma's new 17-70mm f/2.8-4 lens has arrived in stock for $500.  

One Day SanDisk Deals:

Ah the ProDot, tied for the win as recipient of the most baffled and confused responses from photographers along side Tiffen’s confusingly expensive flashlight. Many of you laughed aloud when you saw this product hit the market, and even more after you watched the launch video. But is it possible that you might actually like the ProDot? Actually, yes.  

David Loftus has been working with food television star, Jamie Oliver, for over 15 years taking dynamic imagery of the culinary masterpieces that Jamie creates in his kitchen. In this behind the scenes video David is shooting with the Nikon D4.

For sports photographers everywhere, tonight is the night that you someday hope to be working. Super Bowl Sunday has basically became a national holiday for Americans. Whether you’re watching for the commercials, or the game, photographers everywhere want to see that lineup of camera bodies and lenses on the sidelines. 

Recently I was chatting in a photo forum and mentioned that I am loving my new Canon 5D MK2. Someone noticed and said, "do you mean the MK3?" When I told them no, I recently bought a new MK2 I got flamed with questions of, "WHY?!?!" Well let me explain...

If you've been wanting to get an aerial perspective but dont have a clue how to fly an octocopter, check out the new LA100 by Lehmann Aviation. They've designed a drone that flies itself while an attached GoPro records the flight. After take off, the drone follows a preset flight pattern for five minutes and gives an excellent view of the surrounding area.

One of our favorite lenses for cropped DSLR cameras is currently on sale at BH Photo for a ridiculously low price of $289 (Next lowest price is Amazon at $349). If you've been looking at getting a nice wide angle lens for low light or super shallow depth of field, this lens is one to consider.

Fuji previously released firmware updates that upgraded the X-Pro 1's autofocus performance, among other things, turning it into another kind of beast. Now, they again promise AF accuracy improvements and more for the X-Pro 1, X-E1, and XF 35mm f1.4 lens. 

Rokinon recently released a new offering in the 35mm lens range, and I was super excited to get my hands on it for a number of reasons. The great price, wide aperture, and popular focal length of 35mm makes for a great combo, but never having used a Rokinon product before I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

So this is pretty cool! MeCam is a tiny helicopter that follows you around capturing video of you "all day", or as long as the battery lasts I suppose. This new technology, which is still being refined by the creators Always Innovating, boasts that MeCam will be able to instantly upload the video to your social networks such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and more!

CP+ kicked off and has led to a ton of Nikon announcements, including the new 800mm super-telephoto beast, now available for pre-order, an AF-S 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G, firmware updates to the Nikon D4, and even updates to an array of smaller, compact and semi-compact Nikon cameras...  

The micro four thirds format has really taken off in the past two years, and now that the market has shown staying power more companies are supporting the hardware. Adding to Sigma's news announced earlier, Tamron added to the party with their 14-150mm F/3.5-5.8 Di-III VC.  

Continuing on the internal restructuring found in the Sigma Global Vision, Sigma today announced the release of four new lenses for APS-C format, E-Mount and Micro Four Thirds lenses filed under the "Art" line. The four lenses are the 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM, the 60mm f/2.8 DN, the 19mm f/2.8 DN and the 30mm f/2.8 DN.  

Telephoto lenses are a key part in nearly every photographer’s camera bag. Having a solid long telephoto lens in our arsenal lets us be prepared for numerous scenarios without having to switch out our primes and possibly miss the shot. Tamron’s latest lens revamp is the 70-200mm f/2.8 DI VC USD, and it’s a solid option for those looking at this focal length.  

Lomography has been around for a while now, known and loved for its crazy light leaks and cool hipster style that Instagram has tried tried to emulate for years for mobile digital imaging networkers (smartphone users). They have great stuff not only for the hipster society, but also for anyone starting out in photography, as their cameras are extremely affordable.

Dust and moisture are the enemies of your equipment's longevity. I'm sure most of us have experienced the annoyance of a foggy lens when moving from one environment to the next, but what about when that fog turns to fungus? Every lens eventually gets some dust in it, even the wonderfully expensive weather sealed professional lines.

Market testing happens all the time. It's not uncommon for brands to test identical products under different names in different markets or cultures. It is rare, however, to see one company brand three competing products against each other in the same industry in the same country/culture.

Kodak struck a deal to allow the use of its name with the production of a camera by JK Imaging that will be known as the Kodak PixPro S1 -- a micro four-thirds mirrorless camera. Additionally, JK Imaging will also release future compact and superzoom cameras using the Kodak name. Is it just me, or does this seem cheap to anyone?

Though they've each been a player for some time, Samyang, Bower and Rokinon have each grown in popularity over the course of the last year or so. Recently releases by Samyang and Rokinon in particular have garnered a lot of attention from gear heads. But unlike mainstays like Canon, Nikon, Sigma and Tamron, consumers generally aren't as familiar with Samyang, Bower and Rokinon.

Most of us would agree that it is quite exciting when the UPS Truck pulls up with some new gear that we purchased especially when it's a new camera body or lens. Like kids on Christmas morning we can't wait to unbox the new toy and put it to test. Sadly one photographer opened the box not to find a new camera body but floor laminate.

Impossible, right? That's what I said too when I ran across Metabones' new Speed Booster today (currently only available for pre-order). One important thing to get out of the way first off though before you get as excited as I did... this adapter is currently only available to convert from EF, ALPA and Leica-R mounts, to Sony NEX and Fuji X mirrorless cameras.

Perhaps one of the most mysterious and misunderstood lights available to a photographer is the ring light or ring flash. Most people associate the ring flash with fashion photography, but unfortunately many photographers might not know what the effect is actually doing.

NEC is synonymous with high-end displays. Everyone knows they produce great monitors for professional imaging applications. But if they know that much, they also know they’re quite expensive. So why should you pay thousands of dollars for the PA301W 30” monitor when you can get one for a few hundred? What’s the difference? And is it worth it? Let’s find out... 

Kickstarter product "Lil-Mule" is small, motor-powered camera platform that has been developed to capture timelapse or real-time video for lengths much longer than most rail or slider based systems can provide. It's aim was also to give the user a simpler feature set, doing away with the complicated math and setup that other systems offer.

The reputable seller "bigvalueinc" on eBay is currently selling the Nikon D600 for $1685.99. This is a pretty killer deal considering this camera is still very new and sells everywhere else for $2000. They are also selling the D800 at a decent price. If you are in the market for this camera you better jump on this tonight because I can guarantee they will be sold out soon.

Samsung announced their new NX300 and 2D/3D lens last week in anticipation of CES 2013, so we had them take us through a quick rundown of the new NX300 mirrorless camera as well as their new 2D/3D lens, a first of it's kind.  

Do you have an extra $2000 laying around? If so, I would suggest coming to Dubai with us, but you might also want to buy Canon's premiere portrait lens, the 85mm 1.2. Mark calls this lens "the magic lens" because of it's incredibly shallow depth of field that can make almost any location look amazing. For a similar look check out the critically acclaimed 85mm 1.4 by Sigma. 

We all know making precision pieces of glass for camera lenses must be a difficult task. Today Nikon Japan released a beautiful video showing exactly what goes into making their ED Nano Crystal coated lens elements. I really do not know what I'm looking at but it's still pretty amazing to see how much effort and care goes into the gear we use everyday.

Have you ever wanted to film yourself while doing a photoshoot for some behind the scenes action, but not one of your videographer buddies wanted to get away from whatever indie marathon was running that weekend and help you film it?

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about the Sony RX1, a true, compact beast with a full-frame sensor. But I was less than impressed with its price, thinking there's no way this can really be as great as a high-end DSLR. Put up against the D800, the RX1 does surprisingly well in DxoMark's tests, however... 

On December 17th, Fstoppers briefly introduced you to Polaroid's upcoming IM1836 (dumb name for such an innovative product). But what we didnt know at the time was that this camera is not only the first camera to feature interchangeable lenses and Android Jellybean, but also the first camera to have the sensor built right into the lens instead of the camera's body.

In an interesting development, four months ago, Sigma announced a dock that allows you to connect your Sigma lens to your computer and adjust custom settings, but we have today we have more information, expanding on what we already posted then. You can adjust setting like a new minimum focus distance, autofocus speed, optical stabilization parameters and more.

Until now, Sony has been the only XQD card manufacturer (you know, for those crazy fast, kind of small, and weird format cards that go into your Nikon D4). Finally, Lexar has announced their own 32GB ($299.99) and 64GB ($579.99) versions along with a USB 3.0 XQD card reader. The cards feature read speeds of up to 168MB/s (1100x) and slower write speeds that aren't yet stated.

The 14-megapixel Nikon 1 J3 mirrorless camera and 24-megapixel Nikon D5200 consumer DSLR were all announced yesterday with new lenses for the 1 system, including a 1 NIKKOR 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 VR and a 1 NIKKOR 10-100mm f/4.0-5.6 VR. Both camera systems expand options in multiple ways for the consumer photo enthusiast or beginner... 

Sigma has unveiled the latest iteration of their extremely powerful compact camera series in the DP3 Merrill, a 46 megapixel monster with a 50mm f/2.8 macro lens (a focal range equivalent to 75mm on a 35mm SLR camera) and Sigma's signature Foveon X3 sensor. It includes an advanced user interface and the capability of seven-frame continuous shooting.

CES started today in Las Vegas, and with it comes the announcement of pricing and availability of the two lenses we announced last year. The 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM will be available this month and the 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM will be available in February. The 17-70mm will retail for $499 and the 120-300 will retail for $3,599.  

Olympus blew the doors off the camera announcing train with six cameras released at CES this week: the STYLUS SH-50 IHS, two new STYLUS TOUGH IHS cameras, the TOUGH TG-2,the STYLUS SZ-16 iHS and the STYLUS SZ-15. There is kind of a lot to take in, so let's go one by one and so we can cover what these are all about.  

STYLUS SH-50 IHS

The new Fujifilm X100S is available for pre-order from Amazon for $1299.95. The camera features a new X-Trans sensor and hybrid phase and contrast detection autofocusing, as well as many more features. See more information about the camera here.

Well, the teaser ad from Canon France that we showed you last week was confirmed today. The PowerShot N is the compact camera that Canon is pushing of their four released cameras today. Here is a promo video they put on Youtube.  Is anyone excited about this, and if so, why?

You can pre-order the cubist camera now for $300.

There have been a few really great lenses released in the past couple months hogging the spotlight, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the newly released upgraded Tamron 90mm f/2.8 VC Macro passed under your radar. I’ve had a few weeks with it and have mixed feelings on Tamron’s latest prime.  

In addition to the PowerShot N, Canon also announced three other PowerShot cameras today: the ELPH 130 IS, the A2600, and the A1400. These cameras supposedly give consumers a simple, yet enhanced image sharing experience with Canon's built-in wireless functionality, which has evolved with new options that help make posting on social networking sites easy.

Canon today announced the the PowerShot N, a tiny portable camera designed to capture "life's every day moments." The 12.1- megapixel High-Sensitivity CMOS sensor and DIGIC 5 Image Processor is packed in an insanely small body which includes a tilt screen for tough angles. The tiny camera will retail for $300 and is expected in April.  

Update 2: This update goes here because circumstances have changed. If you missed the hype, Arstechnica.com has a great explanation of what happened. The download link still works for a select few, so feel free to try, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work any more. Read on for the original post and a short explanation...  

Phottix has had their BG-D800 grip for the Nikon D800/D800E on the market for a while now. However, a new BG-D800M is now available, featuring a higher-quality magnesium build. While the BG-D800M is currently listed on their site for $200, the BG-D800 (the regular one) is listed for $150, but can be had for $90 on Amazon.