Photography News

I don’t always write about power solutions for video and photography equipment, but when I do, it’s because I see something that is versatile, space-saving, and designed with traveling in mind. I appreciate all three of those things in a product, so the Crank Juice Box might be a product I get behind.

Richard Prince, the well known and much maligned artist, famous for his works in which he reuses the photographs of others with minimal to no modification, has lost his attempt to have a copyright lawsuit against him thrown out of court.

One of the many reasons I love this great color grading tool (as I've already written about) is that the creator, Oleg, is very good at listening to requests and creating or adding new features, while fixing minor bugs along the way in a much more responsive manner than what I've seen from the big companies. I'm happy to see the new 1.42 update released today.

Since it turned high-resolution digital cinema upside-down, RED has been a name synonymous with big Hollywood films. But getting RED gear has remained relatively difficult, often requiring waiting periods and only available directly from RED. Yesterday however, B&H Photo Video began offering RED accessories and the Epic-W Brain with the Helium 8K S35 sensor and Scarlet-W Brain with Dragon 5K sensor.

A few weeks ago I shared my review of Alien Skin Exposure X2, and I was amazed by how efficient it is. Not only is it an amazingly powerful tool when used as a plugin for Photoshop or Lightroom, but it’s also very convincing as a raw processing software. Until the 24th of July, the app is becoming even more attractive as it’s now available with a 40% discount!

Bowens has been reported as being into liquidation and will cease all operations. It seems as time goes on, technology gets better. This is normally a good thing for innovation and the end user. But if often leads to the end of things as we know it.

Procter & Gamble is a household name with nearly 100 brands and associated products under its wings. Tide detergent, Pampers diapers, Bounty paper towels, and the skincare brand, Olay, are all owned by P&G. Marketing these brands has also earned P&G the title of the world's highest-spending marketer (the brand spent over $18 billion last year on promotions, nearly $10 billion of which went toward advertising). P&G certainly has the budget to pay for licensing photography, but apparently lacks the will to do so according to accusations brought by Cincinnati-based photographer, Annette Navarro, who is suing the company for $75 million.

Recently, Adobe sent out a survey to users inquiring about their most common performance gripes in relation to Lightroom's notoriously sluggish behavior, even on high spec computers. Today, Adobe has released a new update to Lightroom that is meant to address some of these performance concerns. We quickly installed it to see if any of Adobe's claims are true.

A scammer is using the highly popular funds sharing app Venmo to steal thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment. It appears that the thief operates inside of Facebook Marketplaces and seems to be targeting videography professionals in the Los Angeles area.

Today Picr is joining ranks in the photography community with a bold statement: Picr does it all. The U.S.-only Picr Beta will aim to be your one-stop shop for everything you need to run the business end of your photography. From lead generation, client management, and financial earnings reports, to hosting your website, delivering your completed photo projects via client galleries, and re-generating follow-up repeat client work.

I think few people can argue that Sigma hasn't been killing it lately, particularly with their 85mm f/1.4 Art and borderline audacious 135mm f/1.8 Art lenses turning in mostly rave reviews. It was only a matter of time before the big manufacturers responded, and from the looks of things, Canon is preparing to do just that.

Ready to try Sigma's Art optical quality built into a cinema glass? Sigma has made that possible in their new 14mm T2 FF and 135mm T2 FF cine lenses and now have announced their prices and availability.

The first solar eclipse in almost a century will be visible across the entire United States on August 21 this year. That means if you’re looking to catch a photograph of it, it’s time to gear up. When I was a younger (read: greener) photographer, my first instinct would be to point the camera at the sun and let it rip. That’s a really bad idea. You’ll want to prepare both your own eyes and your camera to shoot this rare event properly.

Nikon is expanding its list of D750 bodies affected by a shutter issue that may cause shading across a captured image. This is expansion follows a similar one in February 2016, which followed the original notice back in July 2015. The ranges of dates of manufacture of the cameras with this issue vary sporadically and include bodies produced from the start all the way through as recently as September of last year, so it's best to check your serial number (my personal body is affected).

Adobe took to its Lightroom Journal blog to ask users to submit feedback about Lightroom's "most pressing issues" when it comes to performance of the application. In the blog post, Adobe wrote "I would like to address concerns recently voiced by our community of customers around Lightroom performance, as improving performance is our current top priority." I would beg to differ with Adobe on the timeframe within which these concerns have been voiced, but it's great to know they're getting serious about improving performance.

Many Canon and Nikon users have been anxiously awaiting their respective companies to offer a truly professional mirrorless solution. With the Sony a9 taking aim at the top DSLRs, that clamor has only increased in intensity. A Nikon spokesperson has recently confirmed that the company is developing a mirrorless camera that "should compete in the mid-range and high-end DSLR [market]."

After updating their Cintiq line with the Cintiq Pro 13 and 16 inch in the previous month, Wacom announces two new products coming for the beginning of 2018. Both products will complete the Cintiq Pro range and come with brilliant 4K displays. One will be 24 inches and the second 32 inches, offering a solution for everyone.

In a world where a formal education in creative fields is becoming less valued by many, Antonelli Institute in Philadelphia, Pa has announced it will no longer be offering its visual arts programs after the 2017-2018 academic year. Founded in 1938, Antonelli Institute offers two year accredited Associate's Degrees in Photography & Graphic Design.

News of Lily Robotics' action-oriented drone arrived with much fanfare. But a few months ago, Lily filed for bankruptcy and announced it would not be able to fulfill any of its pre-orders. Thankfully, they're at least trying to refund pre-order customers (pending approval by a judge), but you only have until July 10 at 4 p.m. Eastern to submit a claim. While you can mail one in, it will be much easier and faster to simply fill out the information online. But if you don't act now, you could lose your right to a refund.

Remember in late 2015 when the FAA announced drone operators would need to register their aircraft, and there would be a $5 registration fee? Well, a recent court finding has led the FAA to go "Whoops, our bad," and offer refunds to drone owners who operate only as hobbyists.

As the White House continues to ban video and live recordings at various press briefings, a growing media coalition has called on President Trump to reinstate their presence at all briefings, with the National Press Photographers Association now joining the letter.

A filmmaker favorite, the Canon C300 Mark II has always been a little more expensive than other cameras with similar specs. Last year around this time, Canon dropped the cost from $16,000 to $12,000, and lowered prices on a few lenses. Now they have dropped it again, bringing it down so that for only $9,999 you can get a shiny-new, internal 4K video camera.

Consumer drones continue to grow both in capabilities and sheer numbers at a rate that seems to be outpacing the government's ability to find a way to properly integrate them into the national airspace. As the FAA works to catch up, their newest proposal could be a big step forward.

For many photographers, a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens with vibration compensation is a holy grail. Tamron has just introduced their second generation of that exact lens with many improvements and a slick redesign. Check out the new lens!

Lensbaby has revealed the next lens in their new "Velvet" lineup. Following on the heels of the Velvet 56, the Velvet 85 is set to offer a similar optical effect to its 56mm cousin re-purposed into the classic 85mm focal length. Like the Velvet 56, the 85 continues Lensbaby's timid new steps into more traditional lens designs featuring standard aperture and focus rings.

With perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated updates, Canon has announced the 6D Mark II, the second version of their popular budget full-frame camera, which now has some intriguing new features. They've also announced the SL2, the second version of their smallest DSLR. Check out the improvements to each model!

CineStill is best known for its 35mm motion picture films that it processes and repackages for use in still cameras, but it's only recently that they dove into medium format with a high-speed, 800T (tungsten-balanced) film. Right now, 50D, a fine-grain daylight film stock already available in 35mm is now also available for pre-order in 120. The official announcement will be up on their site tomorrow, but you can see image samples and already pre-order if you read on.

Blackmagic Design have brought new functionality to the URSA Mini Pro, their flagship camera. Keeping up with the times, users will now be able to download an app in order to control the camera. The best part? They’re letting the public create their own custom versions.

In February, Sigma announced a cadre of new lenses including a 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM ART and 14mm f/1.8 DG ASM ART. Sigma now has revealed prices along with the opportunity to pre-order. At reasonably competitive prices for both of these new additions to the ART line it suggests they will mimic the quality photographers have come to expect from ART lenses over the past few years.

The photo came out of the camera like that, I swear! Not really, and now there’s a website that can prove it.

This morning, Carl Zeiss have announced the tenth lens in the Milvus series for full-frame Canon and ZEISS DSLRs, boasting a new optical design that offers "practically no chromatic aberations". Previous Milvus lenses have been impressive, but often specialized, whereas this new addition is more of an all-rounder.

You might say they are late to the pack, and it's quite ironic. One of the largest photography communities in the world and Adobe Lightroom, the software many photographers use to make the photos look the way they do. I'm glad they are doing it, but why now? I mean, Fstoppers has over 325,000 followers on Instagram. It's because of the love of photography and the community that we form part of. And I am not sure I can say the same thing for Adobe Lightroom starting up their profile now. Instagram just became a very viable marketing platform too, so it makes sense for brands to come into the fray, especially brands who make products for the photographic market.

There's a lot of discussion around having a camera out constantly during experiences. And while the etiquette of it is one question, a recent study shows that taking pictures of enjoyable events does indeed increase one's positive experience of them, as long as a few conditions are met.

Unless you're an eccentric billionaire with more money than sense you'll probably want your purchases to stand the test of time. If you recently bought Microsoft's new Surface Laptop you may want to look away now.

In a bizarre case, the Justice Department issued a complaint on June 15 alleging that "Dumb and Dumber To" and "Daddy's Home" were produced using funds diverted from the Malaysian government by international fraudsters.

Neill Blomkamp directed "District 9" and "Chappie" and now he's released a short film of a dystopian future where aliens have taken over earth and the humans have to fight with whatever they can to survive and before it's too late. It's done in the style you kan expect from Blomkamp, in a way I believe only he can do, and it's got all the action, suspense, and gross details of brain implantation and alien creatures that he's become known for.

Our blockbuster action films have become so advanced with regards to the 3D and special effects that I'll go watch a movie just to watch it, and forgiving the lame dialog or bad acting just as long as the movie pushes the barriers to what I've experienced. Now Rokoko has made a suit that someone can wear that can generate a character of any kind to embed into a realistic computer generated space in real time. It removes the cameras and the time it takes to add in these characters in post production, and it happens in real time, so it's a massive saving for the production houses. It leads to new possibilities with regards to character movement and creating something that looks indistinguishable from reality.

Nikon announced their 100th Anniversary commemorative cameras, lenses, and special collectors items today. Founded in 1917, Nikon Corporation's 100th Anniversary is coming up on July 25th of this year. According to Nikon's press release, "Authorized Nikon retailers will be accepting orders for these commemorative products and special collection items starting today, June 15 through August 31, 2017."

Sneaky advertising is annoying. People often use their social media following to their advantage, featuring paid content to promote products, but the problem is that they often don't disclose that, leaving the consumer possibly tricked into believing it's an honest endorsement. With both the FTC and Instagram itself taking notice of this problematic trend, the company is introducing a new feature to help eliminate the issue.

Adobe Stock continues to expand in terms of both capability and content. In addition to adding content from multiple editorial and premium outlets, Adobe has also introduced the ability to filter images by certain aesthetic attributes, making the process of finding the desired shot much easier.

Announced earlier this year at CES 2017, Kodak's Kodachrome Magazine is now available for sale in the United States. Kodak's new publication is coined as a "new journal for anyone who loves art, film, and analog culture... Each issue, we bring you stories and conversations from around the globe that showcase our shared fascination with creation, craft, and inspiration."

After updating the firmware for many of their lenses just a couple weeks ago, Sony today has released firmware updates for many of their popular full-frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras. The updates mainly focus on overheating indicator issues as well as resolving the “star eater” problem that was introduced in a prior firmware version, plus other various support and stability fixes.

In what seems like a long overdue move, Flickr posted on its blog on Tuesday that it’s unveiling a new “showcase” section to profiles. Photographers can feature specific photos in a large grid when users click on their information. It’s not unlike an Fstoppers profile page, actually.

Preset lovers rejoice: today Phase One announced new products in the form of Capture One Styles Packs. With a drag-and-drop installation, these Styles are made to be integrated with one’s Capture One workflow and provide creative support as well as speed up the image editing process.

In a story that's either a case of camera and computer technology taking a step forward or another nail in the coffin of privacy, the South Wales Police recently arrested a man using a mobile automatic facial recognition (AFR) system deployed in a van.

Rokinon announced the latest in their line of autofocus lenses made for Sony E-mount cameras with the 35mm f/2.8 FE. Joining the AF 14mm f/2.8 FE and AF 50mm f/1.4 FE, the company once known for its comparably inexpensive manual focus lenses remains on course to gain momentum with the new autofocus releases.

Today Serif released their fully featured photo editing app Affinity Photo for iPad on the App Store. The new app uses the same backend engine used in the desktop version while also focusing its capabilities for the iPad’s hardware, touchscreen, and Apple Pencil. “The result,” said Serif’s Managing Director Ashley Hewson, “is a genuinely unique new way to interact with your images and your iPad.”

Just a few days ago we got information on the new Canon C200, a 4K video camera with a number of interesting features including internal raw recording. While people were scoping the new Canon camera and talking about how it fit into the market with BlackMagic and Sony products, there was no mention of Panasonic for good reason – they didn't offer a feature-rich 4K capable camera, with interchangeable lenses, around the $7,500 mark. But coming this fall, that's going to change with the AU-EVA1.

Today, Nikon announced three new lenses targeting different users. The new AF-S 28mm f1.4E ED was highly expected this year. Also, Nikon is finally out with its first FX zoom fish-eye lens, the 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED, and the AF-P DX 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR wide-angle lens for DX users.