Gear

As a creative artist, I am always looking for new perspectives as a way to improve my work, and usually, when I see something fascinating, an orchestra plays inside me; I crave to try something new. However, not all cravings can be satisfied, simply because they are way too extravagant and unaffordable. Here is a fascinating list of some lenses you might have never came across before.

Some of you may be familiar with Leica's R system. Though the system was certainly overshadowed by the M cameras, these lenses are some of the best that Leica ever made. I was first introduced to these lenses during my brief foray into the Sony mirrorless system. I picked up a 50mm f/2 R mount lens and it is likely the best 50mm that I have owned. It was sharp, small, smooth, and light. It could be the perfect 50mm. There is, however, another level to the Leica R madness.

It is no secret that Nikon is starting to fall behind in the lens game, partly because competitors, such as Sigma and Tamron, have doubled down on quality and focused heavily on innovating, but also partly due to Nikon's seeming unwillingness to invest in new and updated, innovative designs. As the demands of modern sensors expand, so does the demand for sharp, high resolution glass. Nikon has several legendary lenses in their past, which with a modern facelift could become some of the most competitive lenses in today's market.

Watch YouTube star Julien Solomita follow behind-the-scenes as fellow YouTuber Keaton Keller of Tech Smart reviews the new DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter obstacle avoidance feature. As a review, it isn't to be taken too seriously with Keller attempting to fly the drone into a tree, branches, a tripod, and finally himself.

Hasselblad recently announced that you can buy the new H6D body with the 50-megapixel CMOS 50c back and decide later to trade up to the newer 100c (100-megapixel) back for the original difference in price. This promotion works for anyone who buys the H6D-50c at the full $25,995 price between May 1 and May 27, 2016. To partake in the offer, you must also trade up to your new 100c no later than September 30, 2016.

The world is filled with presets. Everywhere you look, you can find presets that promise to give you a certain look. Hipster, soft skin, blue sky, Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One — today, filters promise to do anything and everything. But what happens when a company like Totally Rad! promises to emulate film? A one-click solution to turn your raw files into Kodak Portra 400 shots? Is it possible? Let’s find out.

Softpanels LED lights claimed three awards at NAB 2016, and it’s easy to see why, with innovative features such as auto skin tone enhancement and auto balance feature for matching color temperatures.

Anybody that has purchased a lens at anytime knows that it can definitely be a costly endeavor, and most people would argue that frequently, you get what you pay for. For years Samyang, has produced affordable alternative options that maybe are not as refined as other lenses, but deliver a good bit of optical quality for the price. Up until now, they haven't offered autofocus-equipped lenses, but with this announcement, they have launched two autofocus lenses.

Where Leica goes, controversy is sure to follow. Last week, the M-D Typ 262 rangefinder camera was announced, and as usual, photographers were there to complain about it. While the constant eye-rolls in the direction of Leica are usually in regards to sky-high prices or other minor design decisions, this time, there's something truly worth talking about. The M-D is completely lacking an essential element of all digital cameras: the screen. It's bold, it's beautiful, and it was the perfect move for Leica.

Nikon has sent out quite an enticing deal for the month of May. With the purchase of a D610, D750, or D810, you can get the respective battery grip for free. This is a huge savings, as the grips for these cameras are expensive. Essentially, you're getting an extra $350 rebate on top of the already fantastic sales that Nikon has had available on their bodies.

The history of camera gear is rich, storied, and well, weird. Camera design has evolved in many different directions over time, sometimes in magnificent arcs of ingenuity and design, others in pit stops of absurd creativity or questionable judgment. Today, we're celebrating some of the strangest stops along that journey.

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.