Gear

The guys and Brain Farm has been featured on Fstoppers a few times now for their incredible video work and seemingly endless budgets. In this video, Brain Farm teams up with Schiebel to produce the most capable, video recording, radio controlled helicopter in the world. Check out the full post to see their demo reel.

Due later tonight is an official announcement of Nikon's new D3200 DSLR. But Nikon Switzerland seems to have beaten the rest of the world to the punch. They published a wonderful PDF: a price list outlining Nikon's entire line-up -- including the D3200, a wireless transmitter, and new lens...

If you have ever used dual monitors, it's very difficult going back to using just one. I'm forced to use one tiny monitor on my laptop every time I travel and its always made working on the road a slow and painful task. That is until I learned that I could use my iPad as a wireless second monitor and pair it with my laptop no matter where I am.

This week the Fstop Academy released some BTS footage and a short film shot with the new Sony NEX-FS700. On their site they also have a great write up as well as a complete video overview reviewing Sony's new 4k Super 35mm toy for the video boys. Enjoy!

If you've missed the news, NAB 2012 is going on right now. NAB is the big video show that gives professional broadcasting companies something to look forward to. To that point, there are budget options and other video announcements that are sure to peak the interests of budget shooters as well. So far, Apple, Fujinon, and others have made some interesting announcements...

Canon has issued a product advisory for the 5D MkIII, admitting that the company's newest addition currently on shelves has some issues exposing correctly while the backlight is on. Canon is working on the issue, but has not yet stated anything specific about possible solutions...

Creating 3D images of interiors, with furniture, colors and textures is a time consuming process to say the least. But now Matterport, a device prototyped from an Xbox Kinect, uses twin lenses on a hand held unit to render a three dimensional space. This tech obviously has a way to go but the preliminary results are impressive none the less.

In this second installation, Chris Niccolls over at The Camera Store TV, compares the Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800, with photojournalist Mike Drew. Mike and Chris look at how these two cameras handle fast action in low light and how JPEG processing compares to the RAW files. What I really dig about this comparison is that it's not another model shoot but rather a real working world photographer shooting under the unique and difficult conditions of a cutting horse competition.

If you are not a seriously hardcore, professional editor then I doubt you will give the Eizo FDH3601 a second glance. With it's 4k display that supports a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160 pixels or the equivalent of four 1080p displays in a 36.4 inch frame, this monitor would be the perfect companion for Canon's 1D C, C500 or any high res shooter. The display delivers 100% sRGB coverage color gamut as well as

There is no doubt that Nikon and Canon are putting a lot of effort in creating better video features in their flagship DSLR cameras. One of the most talked about new features has been Nikon's clean, uncompressed 1080p output from the camera's HDMI connector. Both the Nikon D800 and Nikon D4 DSLR cameras allow for this feature, but we've wondered just how useful are these new uncompressed files? We decided to test the new Atomos Ninja 1080p external recorder to see if these 12x larger files gave us better image quality for our own video projects.

Canon unloaded a ton of news this morning. Apart from specifically releasing specifications for the EOS 1D C (Cine) DSLR and the C500, they're also apparently working on a few other things, including four lenses and other 4K cameras -- the C300 was definitely just the beginning. Full specs and tons of photos after the jump!

EOSHD.com reports that Canon is working on both lower- and higher-end versions of the C300, the C100 and C500. While we're unsure about the C100, new rumors indicate that Canon could be ready to announce the C500 along with the previously rumored Cinema EOS 1D DSLR made specifically for video! And all this could happen before the weekend, when NAB 2012 is set to kick off. Read on for some specs!

You may remember R.J. Kern and Amanda Tipton from a shoot we featured on here before - well they're at it again and this one is pretty awesome too. Using the PhaseOne 645Df camera and the Capture Pilot w/Camera Control photo app they got some really cool images. They had the models lay flat on a white seamless background while they shot a typical wedding day in a 2D approach. To see more images click here.

Ok, so the Lord of the Rings reference is a bit dramatic. But photographers ask this question of each other all the time: "What lens could you not go without?" Imagine that you had to pick one lens for your camera for the rest of your life. Which lens would that be? Could you be completely satisfied with an 85mm f/1.4, or would you grab the 70-200mm f/2.8? Decisions decisions...

As many of you have probably already read, Sony Corp announced that it is cutting 10,000 jobs, which translates to 6% of its global workforce. Sony has been struggling with negative profits for four straight years, mainly due to its floundering television division. But what does this mean for Sony’s camera division? With the television sector likely getting the main force of the cuts, will Sony rely on growth in their digital imaging division to make up for the numbers?

I don't know if it really is the smallest camera in the world like makers Hammacher Schlemmer claim, but it's probably the smallest camera that looks like a camera! It's powerful 2 megapixel sensor can capture still images at 1600 x 1200 resolution and captures video at 30 fps at 640 x 480 resolution. It even has built-in autofocus!

Hard drives are something we all need. But in an industry that advances (i.e. depreciates) so quickly and with increases in price due to flooding in Thailand, how can we be sure we're getting what's right for us? And how can we stay technologically flexible with upcoming releases when we have 'old' hard drives? Do I need Thunderbolt? Do I need more than two hard drives? How can daisy-chaining help me? These are some of the starter questions that lead into an entire breakdown of what you might need in certain situations.

It seems a new issue has popped up for the Canon 5dmk3. Multiple people are reporting that there is a light leak through the top LCD panel that directly affects metering. The easiest way to detect this issue is to put the body cap on the camera body as well as cover the viewfinder. Then place the camera in "P" mode at ISO800 and press the LCD backlight button.

For those of you that prefer real world testing to shooting test charts, you may be interested in seeing Mark Wallace's newest review. In this video Mark goes out and shoots the brand new Canon 5D Mark III. On paper the 5D3 may not look like much of an upgrade from the M2 but the focusing, metering, and ISO performance show huge improvements.

On the D3100, D5100, and D7000, Nikon placed a rather low video recording time limit for a single clip. Currently, it's somewhere in the area of ten or 20 minutes, depending on the model. However, Nikonhacker.com has come up with a crack that will extend this limit to a much more reasonable 25 to 30 minutes. Read after the jump for more info!

Today, Tamron announced the availability of what they are calling "the new super performance full-frame zoom lens features class-leading resolution and Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization and USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) , with resolution at the top of its class." It is available for pre order now from B&H Photo.

For the photographer who likes to travel light, it has always been a challenge to find flash modifiers that are both effective and easy to use on the go. ExpoImaging has long been making accessories, but their recently released Rogue diffusion panels for their popular FlashBenders will be a welcome addition to any strobist’s kit.

Photographer, Michael J Moore was granted access to a creepy and abandoned state mental hospital for this fashion shoot. He used a combination of lighting setups but mainly, the Phase One 645DF camera with a Profoto 8A 2400W and various Profoto strobes. With all three different lighting set ups, Michael did a great job at capturing that Vanity Fair-esque look that we all know so well.

As photographers, we are always in search of that new unique lighting modifier to add to our bag of tricks. I recently saw this video on Strobist where Amber Gray claims her Broncolor Para FB could actually reduce the amount of post production on her models. That statement seemed a bit bold when I first heard it; usually I credit a great makeup artist for awesome skin texture rather than a specific light. I've never used a ring flash

The web is abuzz with comparison articles on which $3000 DSLR camera is the best bang for the buck. Kevin Good with CrisisLab recently did a side by side comparison of the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800 in several real world tests. His tests include Resolution, Rolling Shutter, High ISO Test, and Durability. Each test was conducted to the highest of standards and perhaps might be the most scientific review I've seen yet. Now off to Craigslist to find me some models!

Fstoppers reader Jason Kolsch just put together a beautiful 2 minute promo video of the new Nikon D4. The D4 is shooting stills at an impressive 11 frames per second but the Phantom (the camera that this video was shot with) was shooting at 1000 frames per second. The beauty of gadgets in motion should bring a tear to any nerds eye.

We get asked to show our lighting for our Fstoppers Original interviews all the time but it seems like we always forget to shoot our lighting schemes. StillMotion just released a killer video that shows how they light interviews with key, fill, hair, and background lights. By using Profoto's new HMI lights with Air remotes, you can easily change the output of each light without moving from behind your camera. Of course all of this still applies to still photography as well.

The Canon 5D MkIII and the Nikon D800 are two of the hottest cameras on the market right now. In this video commercial photographer Nathan Elson joins up with The Camera Store's Chris Niccolls to see how these two cameras stack up in the image quality department. Enjoy!