Gear

Today Leica announced a complementary upgrade to the Leica M, the M-P 240. As in the past, the 'P' designation here implies features are catered toward that of the press photographer. The M-P's virtually scratch-proof sapphire crystal display with anti-glare coatings provide for better outdoor viewing, a doubled memory buffer size now at 2GB allows for longer continuous shooting, and a viewfinder selector displays bright framing options for various focal lengths that help make composition and lens-choice decisions before changing lenses.

Blackmagic Design today released Camera v1.9.3, a firmware update that adds histogram, audio meters and media time remaining indicators to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Pocket Cinema Camera. These features were also recently added to the Production Camera.

As one might expect (though perhaps not quite so soon after the H5D-50c announcement), Hasselblad has taken to Instagram to announce the H5D-200c MS, a 200-megapixel, multi-shot variant of the H5D-50c. The camera, which can still produce normal 50-megapixel stills at 6200 x 8272 pixels, also ads 4- and 6-shot capabilities for applications such as fine art reproduction, product photography, and more. At its highest resolution, the 200c MS produces massive and glory-clenching 600MB, 16-bit TIFF files.

ONA, makers of some fine fashion-forward camera bags, has announced the availability of new camera bags: the Prince Street and Berlin II. The bags are designed to carry a camera, two lenses, an iPad and personal items. The Berlin II is a Leica collaboration and made for the Leica M-System. It features one signature red rivet and a red interior.

There is no denying it: there are a lot of motion control devices and even more slider options out there. With the success of Kickstarter, it seems like we get a new awesome idea every week and it can be hard to keep up. That said, I was recently pointed to the Nebo Motion Control Slider and decided to share it with you all because it's actually pretty cool despite entering a very crowded market.

When it comes to diffusion panels, several companies have prefab "blades" intended for holding diffusion materials that fit nicely into grip heads and knuckles, but at nearly $100 a pop, buying several of them may not fit into everyone's budget. Earlier this week, fellow Fstopper Clay Cook put together an awesome post about building your own V-Flats. His post got me thinking about some of my own DIY projects.

In this video, Karl Taylor and Urs Recher experiment with and demonstrate the uses of a Parabolic reflector. Using a model who is wearing white against a white background, they produce a number of portraits demonstrating how to shape the Para light to separate the model from the background. The versatility of this practice is quite astounding as the photographer is able to stand in front of the light and have it still perfectly illuminate the model and is a simple one light set up.

While Canon users have had this for some time, Nikon users have been waiting for a TTL remote to control their Profoto B1 flashes. Finally the Air Remote TTL-N has been announced and is available for pre-order on B&H for $395. Allowing TTL use up to 300 feet away or normal use at up to 1000 feet, these radio remotes also let you control the power output on multiple units at a time, building on the already fabulous Air system and opening it up to Nikon users with the B1.

How fast is your DSLR's frame rate? Does it shoot at 4.4 trillion FPS? Doubtful, but researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a a system they call "sequentially timed all-optical mapping photography" or STAMP for short. Shooting at 450x450 pixels with a record breaking frame rate of 4.4 trillion they are able to tote the worlds fastest camera title.

Our DSLRs have confused us. We obssess over the wrong things. Sharpness at 400%; bokeh characteristics of lenses produced from what-must-surely-be prancing magical unicorns; high speed burst frame rates that make cameras sound like gatling guns; 4k resolution to shoot better cat videos; 100 auto focus points that still won’t focus on what we need them to; and noise performance at 400,000 ISO. Absolutely none of these will make your photographs better. Shooting film will though, here's why.

Syrp's timelapse machine, the Genie, rocks at what it does despite some limitations. You can read our full review of the unit here. Many of those limitations are made easier to swallow once you see what you can do with the new Magic Carpet slider, a tool with a lot of options for both video and timelapse.

Maxell Professional Media, in an effort to continue diversifying from its well-known CD/DVD manufacturing business, announced it will release various camera accessories including three-way power shoe adapters, USB and other power connectors, and an interesting shoe clamp that will let you add a cold shoe just about anywhere.

Ever since I started diving into studio photography the term “V-Flat” has been a big mystery to me. Google and YouTube have been the quintessential resource for photography knowledge and for whatever reason there isn't much detailed information on how to construct a V-Flat or what purpose they actually serve. It took time to sift through the noise of nonsensical DIY fabrication and even more time to unfold the enigma of this studio essential.

There are few things I see photographers skimp on more frequently than a good camera strap. While the default manufacturer straps can certainly get the job done under most circumstances they're pretty limiting in terms of style and functionality and can serve as a un-needed advertisement for the gear you're packing. The guys over at Cecilia Gallery want to give you an alternative to the stock strap that provides a similar minimalistic design with high-quality materials and some cool little nuanced touches.

B&H now has a great selection of some high speed lenses available for purchase. These pieces of glass will allow for you to take your creativity to an entirely new level and there is one in nearly every price range, from the lows of $599 all the way up to the high end pricing of $2079 with the Handevision IBELUX 40mm f/0.85 Lens, the Mitakon 50mm f/0.95 Lens and the SLR Magic 12mm T1.6 Hyperprime Lens.

Aerial videos that have been shot by drones have been flooding YouTube for the last few years, especially as the cost and expertise needed to get into it has come down. A birds-eye point of view can add a lot of production value to a video project, but where does one start when looking to get into aerial video? I spoke with Brent Foster who told me about the doors that shooting aerial video can open, as well as the challenges they present.

First-person cameras, such as the ubiquitous GoPro, have been filming hours of footage from their owner’s journeys for years now. These lengthy uncut videos don’t hold much interest to most people, but a team of Microsoft Researchers are aiming to change that by using some remarkable technology they hope to release as part of an upcoming app.

Remember the Nikon D600? It's a great camera other than the fact that the shutter would spray oil all over the sensor. The oil can't easily be seen at wide open apertures but it's a major problem when you stop down. Due to a class action lawsuit Nikon is replacing D600s with new D610... For some people.

The largest ring light I've ever seen consists of 27 bulbs and is four feet in diameter. Six months ago, I built it. With so many questions left unanswered, I put together a short film that explains how I built it, why it was built, and why it's the most amazing light I've ever used to date.

12 years ago I assisted a commercial photographer and I fell in love with photography and decided to make it my career. I started little by little buying all of the gear from another fellow photographer in an attempt to go pro as soon as I graduated college. Tomorrow, all of that gear will be sold.

I believe that the Nikon D810 is currently the best all around camera you can buy for the money ($3300) even with competition from Sony's A7R. The more difficult question comes from current D800 owners like me; "Is this camera worth upgrading to?" The answer isn't cut and dry.

Magnanimous Media posted a video detailing some of RED's newest technology as they go through the performance of the sensor in the new 6K-capable Epic Dragon. In what is perhaps one of the most interesting and visually appealing ways to display RAW and ungraded vs. graded footage, Magnanimous Media's video shows quite some promise for the new sensor that promises better color, dynamic range, and low-light shooting with clean video at ISO 2000.

B&H is running a pretty good deal on the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens right now. It is regularly priced at $199 and now can be purchased for only $149. We are unsure as to how long this deal will be going on so take advantage of it now if you have been in the market for this lens or patiently waiting for a nice sale to pop up.

There are two things that immediately come to mind when we talk about the new Sigma dp2 Quattro: the new new Foveon X3 sensor (the book), and the shape of the camera (its cover). Do either matter? Are either necessary? Why do/don’t I like it? And overall, should we all go out and buy this camera today? I had some time to myself with the camera for a preliminary review this week. Here are some thoughts.

PocketWizard has expanded their TTL compatibility to several popular Nikon and Canon cameras, including the Canon 70D, 1D X and 6D as well as the Nikon D810, D610 and D4S. The update to its ControlTL firmware is for both Nikon and Canon versions of its MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios. The update is available today and can be installed into your radio triggers via USB connection to your computer.

Western Digital makes some of my favorite hard drives, and one drive in particular recently caught my interest: the My Cloud Mirror. The idea of the My Cloud Mirror was appealing: managing my own cloud network that could be accessed from anywhere and also shared out of, but without a monthly fee. Basically, it is a personal DropBox. I had a pretty set-in-stone process for working remotely and delivering content which has included DropBox, but I decided to give a wholly WD workflow a shot and see if it could do the job just as well, if not better.

There is a good chance this video will make you jump. You may even pee your pants just a little. The REMUS SharkCam equipped with GoPro cameras gives us a clear view of what it would be like to be attacked by a great white. Watching this video I couldn't help but appreciate how cameras have opened the world to us. How else could we experience something like this...

I recently produced a documentary on fine art photographer Tony Irons, showcasing his new photography exhibit entitled “Dead Weight.” The collection includes images created in a studio setting on large format film and landscapes photographed in and around Taipei, Taiwan.

Having recently moved from a DSLR into medium format digital, I can affirm the transition isn't a cheap one. Besides shelling out tens-of-thousands of dollars for a body and digital back, you've also got to buy a new set of lenses which average around $4k each. Add tether cables, tripod mounts, additional batteries, and filters, you're in the hole for the equivelent of a home mortgage. Every once in a while, the manufacturers will offer incentives and/or savings and for Hasselblad, July happens to be one of those times.

There is no avoiding it: timelapse is popular right now. With the ability to use relatively low-cost cameras to still generate extremely high resolution video, hardly a day goes by without a new, amazing timelapse video blowing up on Vimeo. The Syrp Genie is a Kickstarter success story, garnering over six times the original asking pledge amount. After using it for several months, I have to say it gets a lot right, but it still left me wishing it did more.