Articles written by Jaron Schneider

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera isn’t new, but when it was first introduced it created such a buzz that actually getting one’s hands on the new video camera proved difficult. Though Blackmagic has since pumped out the Pocket Cinema Camera and the 4K Cinema Camera, the original 2.5K camera is still quite the looker. I wanted to know, would it be possible to transition from my beloved DSLRs and over to the Blackmagic, which boasts some rather impressive specs, without much trouble?

There are a lot of contests out there this time of year, but I wanted to take a minute to bring the California Academy of Sciences Big Picture: Natural World Photography Competition to your attention. Now through March 31, 2014, Cal Academy is inviting photographers to enter their wildlife and conservation images to this competition for a chance to win a share of the $20,000 in cash and photography gear prizes.

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. Profoto and Fstoppers have teamed up to ring in the Holiday season by offering one of the hottest and most talked about Products of the year. The new Profoto B1 makes it easier than ever to use your flash off camera. TTL achieves your light in an instant. With battery-power/ without cords, the 500w/s B1 goes wherever you go. Combining performance and the legendary Profoto light shaping system the B1 makes great light easy. Are you ready to win?

Ah the week of Thanksgiving. Turkey, gravy, family and the harsh realization you are horrifically underprepared for the holiday season. That's ok fellow photogs, we at Fstoppers have your back! Over the next few weeks we will be releasing updates to our Holiday Gear Guide, first starting with the lower-cost items and working our way up to the premium stuff. This week, let's look at the best ideas under $100.

We have been doing our best to provide you all with the most amazing original and curated content for the past three years, but up until this point that's pretty much been guesswork. We think we know what you like, but often times we can be very, very wrong. So help us out by letting us know who you are and what you do. We will use it to tailor our content as we head into year 4 of Fstoppers.com.

If you're like me and shoot a lot of video, you use both an on-camera shotgun as well as lav mics interchangeably, depending on the situation. The shotgun I use is the Rode DSLR video mic, and it rocks except for the need for a 9 volt battery. Seriously, who has those kicking around anymore? It seems Rode is listening to bitter complaints like mine, and their latest microphone, the VideoMic GO, requires no dedicated battery.

On November 1st, I let you know that the Fstoppers team was participating in Movember, and asked for you guys to join us. The month is half over, and we wanted to share some of our spectacular facial growth. Check out how Blair, Lee, Mike and I have been doing, and lend us your support!

Blackmagic Design, makers of the line of cinema cameras that are growing in popularity, today released the Blackmagic Camera 1.5 software which adds new 12-bit Log CinemaDNG RAW recording to the Pocket Cinema Camera. This update is free from Blackmagic's website and can be downloaded today.

When it comes to bags, I’ve come close to seeing it all. I have a bag for basically any situation plus spares in each category. Over the years I’ve seen different designs from a broad range of manufacturers, and that means I’ve seen both good and bad ideas. Bags are seen as a commodity, and I won’t argue they aren’t. But in their attempt to reinvent themselves and grow out of that box, sometimes we end up with bag designs we never needed or asked for. That’s why it’s such a relief when a bag company just makes a no gimmicks bag that just works.