Photography News

Sony Updates RX10 IV With Real-time Eye AF for Animals

The Sony RX10 IV bridge camera was released in October 2017 and features a 24-600mm equivalent lens with the capability of shooting up to 24 frames per second with autofocus. Pairing those kind of specs with Sony’s newer Real-time Eye AF for Animals tech makes perfect sense, and now it’s here.

Sigma Announces the 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens

The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art was the company's first in the Art line, a series that has grown to become some of the most respected optics in the industry. Now, the company has introduced the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art, an update to the classic lens, with a variety of new features and improvements.

Creating Photographers, Not Consumers: Canon's Creator Lab and Student Advantage Program

Canon Canada just launched Canon Creator Lab as part of what I'm calling its new community-building mandate. A lot of corporations these days talk about building community, about creating a space to encourage growth. Most of it seems to be lip service at best. Here, however, we're seeing Canon Canada invest time and money into a free hub designed to help photographers get better while actually connecting with each other. Being a Canadian, I'm proud that Canon's Canadian operation is looking to lead the global photography community into this space.

Sony Kando: A Free Virtual Event That You Won't Want to Miss

Sony Kando is an event that mixes experience, community, and education in order to create a world-class event like no other. But due to COVID, they are taking it virtual and giving it to you for free. And you don't want to miss this opportunity.

Watch The Panasonic GH5S Reveal Live, Right Now

The Panasonic GH5S, the update to the wildly popular GH5, is speculated to be released right now, live in Las Vegas. Watch the press conference right here, right now.

Investigation of Government Loan To Kodak Finds No Wrongdoing, Stock Price Increases 80%

Earlier this year, a struggling veteran of our industry got a lifeline in the shape of three-quarters of a billion dollars to assist in the production of drugs, in part to aid with the pandemic, but also to reduce the reliance on foreign drug companies. However, the legality of the loan was called into question shortly after.

Canva acquires Pixabay and Pexels

I met up with Melanie Perkins at the VIVATECH conference in Paris this weekend. She's the co-founder and CEO of Canva, a company aiming to democratize design and marketing materials. They have acquired Pexels and Pixabay.

DXO Pushes Solid Updates to PhotoLab and ViewPoint

Wednesday upgraders and new customers will see PhotoLab 6 and ViewPoint 4 on offer. Photolab 6 has a lot of new features, most notably an update to DXO's popular DXO PureRAW technology, arguably the best software available to fix color, noise, and optical issues in RAW files.

Snapseed Now Offers Raw Editing on Android

Snapseed, Google's ridiculously powerful and popular image editing smartphone app, just got a major upgrade for its Android users. Following up on the introduction of raw file capabilities in Android 5 last year, the app now supports editing of those files right on your phone, greatly increasing the capabilities of photographers on the go.

Huge Black Friday Sale at SLR Lounge!

Our friends at SLR Lounge have announced a Black Friday sale for 30% off of their education and resources. If you're unfamiliar, Pye Jirsa and his team create some of the best photography education outside of Fstoppers, with complete and comprehensive education focused on wedding and portrait photography.

Notable workshops and resources include the following:

The Complete Wedding Photography Training System (70+ hours) The Photography Business Training System (30+ hours) The Photography Fundamentals Training System (27+ hours)

...

Gif or Jif? Jif Peanut Butter Pokes Fun With Limited-Edition Run

Jif, the popular American peanut butter company, launched a new campaign last week with the popular site GIPHY to settle the GIF pronunciation debate once and for all and in doing so, claims they "finally put a lid on the #jifvsgif debate." Available with several fun messages printed about, a limited 40-oz. jar labeled "Jif" on one side and "Gif" on the other is also now available from Amazon while supplies last.

Verifly: Affordable, Easy-to-Use Insurance for Aerial Photographers, Videographers, and Hobbyists

While there are many insurance companies that are out there for photographers and drone pilots, Verifly is the first drone liability insurance company that protects pilots and allows them to pay on demand. I recently interviewed Verifly CEO Jay Bregman to find out more about his new company and what they are doing to help drone pilots all around the country. One of the first things you will see about Verifly is that they cover up to $1,000,000 in liability within a flight radius of a quarter of a mile with any drone under 15 pounds. All operators have to do is select their area, after which they are instantly approved and provided with on-the-spot insurance to fly and proof of coverage to show to anyone who needs to see it.

How Drones Are Helping Save Lives in the Ukraine War

In our profession, we think of every piece in our gear closet as designed to take pictures. If you were assigned to walk into your gear closet and redesign one piece for the purpose of saving human lives, what would you create? North American company Dranganfly has taken drones and has created gear that is used in new ways for smarter and safer warfare.

Associated Press Announce New Exclusive Partnership With Sony Cameras

Sony and the Associated Press just announced a new exclusive partnership, giving Sony a firm lead in the race to be considered the industry standard for photography and videography. Sony will begin distributing equipment including the full frame mirrorless Alpha series, 4K XDCAM, and a wide variety of lenses and accessories to journalists around the world.

Apple Announces New iPad Air

Today's Apple event brought a ton of exciting new devices for photographers and filmmakers, including a new version of the thin and powerful iPad Air that brings the company's M1 chip to the device along with a lot of other new features and upgrades. Let's take a look.

Kandao Stuffs 8 APS-C Sensors Into New Obsidian Pro 12K 360 Camera

With a global pandemic precluding many from physically visiting places, you’d think that 360 cameras would move beyond niche status into the mainstream, as the immersive aspect can somewhat create an effect of being somewhere in-person. While that hasn’t really happened, maybe capturing those spaces in 12K 360 video will change that. At least that’s what Kandao is hoping for its new Obsidian Pro 360 camera.

DRL Simulator: The Best Alternative for Flying Indoors

So, it's cold, windy, and snowing outside. What are you supposed to do with that fancy drone of yours? Considering it's hard to fly most drones inside, DRL Simulator is game for PC or MAC that you can use to practice flying.

 Focus Iran 2: Photo and Video Competition Call for Entries

The first competition in 2014 attracted hundreds of entries from all over the world. Now, the Craft & Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) in Los Angeles and the Farhang Foundation have put out a call for entries for the second, biennial juried exhibition of contemporary photography and video works relating to Iranian culture and heritage. The submission period opened June 1st and runs through August 8, 2016. Up to 40 photographs and videos will be selected by a panel of seven jurors for inclusion in a group exhibition at CAFAM from January 2017 to May 2017.

Lensrentals Has Decided to Start Renting Drones for Aerial Video and Photography

In a bit of a surprise, a blog posted today from Lensrentals explains the different options of drone systems now available for rent, including a short list of rules and tips for flying for both recreational and commercial use. While I've seen many requests online from people asking where they could rent a drone for a one-time shoot, most companies have stayed away. So is this a good idea or a bad idea?

Zeiss Expands the Loxia Line with a New 21mm f/2.8 Distagon Lens

The E-mount lens family for Sony mirrorless cameras seems to be growing larger every day. Today, Zeiss announced a new addition to their manual-focus E-mount Loxia line: the Loxia 21mm f/2.8. Joining the 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/2 Loxia lenses already available, this trio aims to provide the high level of image quality that Zeiss glass is known for, and look good while doing it too.

Canon Cloud Service Loses Customer Images

Canon has posted an update concerning a recent issue with its image.canon cloud service. Canon has confirmed that some of the photo and video image files saved to its cloud service were lost.

Take a Trip Down Memory Lane With This Great Collection of Vintage Camera and Lens Manuals and Brochures

One of the things I love most about photography is its rich history of innovation and quirkiness, with a vast range of cameras and lenses with unique designs having come and gone throughout the years. If you would like to take a trip down memory lane (or you need a manual for that old camera sitting on your shelf), this fantastic site features a wide range of camera and lens manuals and sales brochures from about 120 different brands across decades of history.

Why the Standalone Oculus Go Is What the 360/VR Industry Needs

360-degree video is a great way to tell immersive stories. Until recently though, the experience hasn’t been all that accessible. Just to view 360-degree content the way it was meant to look, you’d need an expensive headset like an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive and a fairly beefy computer to run it on like a high-end Alienware or something with a powerful graphics card. This meant that while VR content was being produced in droves, few people were experiencing it the way it was meant to be. That’s about to change. Oculus just announced a standalone VR headset called the Oculus Go.

The Lomo'Instant Square - Fully Analog Instax Square Film Camera

While the world grows increasingly digital, there’s something that draws humans to the physical gratification of analog media. Whether it’s the surge in vinyl record or cassette sales or the cult VHS collectors, it’s clear that there’s a deep-seated nostalgia that draws many of us to physical mediums. That nostalgia inspired Fujifilm to make the Instax Square Film that’s now being utilized in the quintessentially retro, “Lomo'Instant Square” from Lomography.

Drones Are Saving a Life Every Week

Drones are often maligned, whether as nuisances or dangers. Nonetheless, they are a very useful tool for rescuers, so much so that a new study shows they are saving a life every week.