Sometimes you need to bring the whole photo or video kit along on your adventures. The Multi Camera Pack from Langly Bag Co. is their largest bag, and as the name suggests, there's plenty of room for "multi" anything.
ORCA is the maker of a wide range of photo and video accessories: primarily bags and other protective gear. They sent me their new rolling camera bag to try out, and I was eager to give it a go. As you'll see below, I've been using a $50 suitcase from Target as a camera bag for the last four years, so I was excited to see how an actual camera bag would hold up.
Do you like photographing long exposures with an ND filter, but don’t like carrying a large filter holder and square ND filters? In that case, Haida’s NanoPro magnetic filters may be a nice solution.
When it comes to product and food photography, lighting is critical and can make or break the final image. Achieving the perfect lighting can be a complex process, even more so if you are just starting out with this type of photography.
Topaz Labs, the company behind the wildly popular DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, and Gigapixel AI, has made a huge change. These apps, once a triad of separate programs to fix your photographs, are now combined into one beefy app that is here to save the day. Meet Topaz Photo AI, your new best post-processing friend. Let me show you how I used it to save my low-light wildlife photographs.
Recently, I had the opportunity to try out the Fujifilm GF 23mm f/4 lens along with two other lenses and a GFX 100S, and I have to admit it has left a lasting impression on me. As landscape photographers, we value wide angle lenses for capturing wider vistas with stunning detail, and this lens didn't disappoint.
Over the past few years, there has been a remarkable rise in M and LTM lens manufacturers, throwing in with Leica and Voigtlander in an attempt to carve out some space of their own. Many of these lenses lean towards the more affordable side of the marketplace, with TTArtisan and 7Artisan joined by revived "classics" like Meyer-Optik Görlitz or handmade, artisanal lenses like MS-Optics.
The Godox ML60 light gives you a whole lot of features that can really improve your lighting when you’re a run and gun type of shooter, or want constant light on location. I mean, it can run on a battery, and has a handle.
Broncolor is often thought as one the most exclusive flash manufacturers. Its studio units are renowned to be built like tanks and to be remarkably consistent in terms of color and exposure. The Move L is no exception even though it’s meant to be used outdoors. Solid, well designed, and powerful, it will match any sport and action photographer’s needs, even more so now that it can sync up to 1/8,000s with compatible cameras, thanks to HS.
How often is it that you miss that great selfie expression, kid photo, or sports play because you didn't have your camera running at the right time? It happens to me a lot, but a new app for iOS and very soon coming to Android called SnipBack has some good ideas to fix this issue, and it makes me think that our pro gear could learn a few lessons here.
Changing the overall color tones in your image can be very powerful. You can drastically change the emotions or the vision of the shot by simply color grading the image. If you are not exactly sure on how to create your own gradient maps, this might be the perfect tool for you.
This is a bag for the females, the girls, the chicks, the ladies. This is a bag made for women. Women photographers. It’s chic and practical, light but resistant, and most of all, adapts to your needs. It’s a great offer for the urban shooter. The very fact that it exists shows how much the photography sector has evolved in the last years.
Mac users with a need to migrate image catalogs to another hosting app have found that process difficult to impossible. Help is here, in the form of a new app called Avalanche Unlimited from CYME Software. The app can deal with migration from Apple Aperture, Adobe Lightroom, Luminar 4, Capture One, and Apple Photos. The latter two are coming soon as a free update.
I recently wrote about how photographers should be seriously looking at the medium of video as a skill that should be in their repertoire. Hopefully, some of you were inspired enough to start capturing your own moving images and now you're ready to edit the footage. VSDC Free Video Editor could be just the piece of software you've been looking for.
Why would you get a hard case instead of a backpack? This review of the Nanuk 935 Hard Case will make you think differently about how you store and get your gear from point A to point B. There are other hard cases out there, but this one has a lid organizer, which in my opinion, sets it apart.
If you work in tough conditions and need something a bit more rigorous than the standard USB flash drive, the Lexar JumpDrive Tough could be the ticket. Built to withstand some pretty crazy ordeals, it could be a great option for photographers who frequently work in less-than-stellar environments.
Lighting is everything. As a photo professional, I know this. I've dealt with lights for stills photography for about 15 years now, and although I'm always learning, I'm pretty confident around lighting. Video is an entirely different beast altogether. Although I love my AD600, it does me very little good trying to capture anything in video. Selens as come up with a "low-cost" 3-light kit that may appeal to those looking to hone their video lighting skills. Let's see how it did!
As previously reported on Fstoppers, Capture One's new "Spectrum" Styles Pack is designed as a finishing tool for cinematic color grading applied to your photographs, providing a wide range of toning options for stunning yet subtle results that make no impact on exposure or contrast to keep the dynamic range in tact. Phase One offers a number of Styles as workflow-enhancing enhancements and time savers; Spectrum is the latest and at $49, the least expensive in their lineup. Here's what I found after putting the new style to the test.
Can't decide which lens to take? Why not take them all! With Lowepro's new Pro Trekker 650 AW, you'll likely have to buy more lenses and accessories to fill this behemoth of a camera backpack. I got to test drive this bag for several video and timelapse shoots, so I got a pretty good idea about how it performs. In my full review I'll cover the build, features, and whether it was helpful to have or simply too bulky to deal with.
With the current generation of the GoPro Hero 7 at $329USD and the upcoming HERO8 looking to be even more, a lot of us that are more budget minded may be looking for an alternative, and the Akaso V50 Elite may just be that alternative.
Travel tripods are not just for travel photography. They pack lighter and more compact so that traveling with them can be less of a hassle, but just like any tripod, they can be used in a variety of shooting scenarios. This one from Fotopro is an option for shoots with higher demand.
$419. Let's just get that out of the way up front. The ONA Clifton Camera and Everyday Backpack costs $419 and it doesn't hold an extraordinary amount camera gear. Yet is it still worth every penny?
With smaller mirrorless cameras becoming more popular for traveling photographers, smaller and lighter filter systems are becoming the appropriate choice for many more people. While 75mm square filters are nothing new, there are some great options being made for them, and today, we'll take a look at Haida's new M7 Filter Holder kit.
Speaking for wildlife and landscape photographers, we all seem to be interested in the fast glass (especially if it's longer than 600mm or wider than 24mm), better battery life, more frames per second, higher resolution, and a weather-sealed robust body that can take a licking. But, when the weather turns cold, there's something we can't shoot without: gloves.
If you are in the market for an adaptable filter system that really is top quality, I would definitely check out the H&Y filter system.
I don’t hold back words for gear that has fancy specs but is not built to be a workhorse for high-volume photographers shooting under various conditions. With all the impressive technology attached to the SanDisk PRO-CINEMA CF Express card, I set out to see if it was not only as fast and high-powered as it touts but also if it was built with the durability that I expect when I’m investing in gear.
Ring lights have been around for a while, but recently they haven’t been as trendy as they used to. Except in the YouTube beauty industry where many influencers rely on these, day in and day out, to create their content. I recently tried the Angler Circo LED Ring Light to see how good it was.
Skylum has completed its trilogy of new Generative AI tools with the addition of Generative Expand. The company has already released GenErase and GenSwap.
We've been fans of the Fiilex P360EX for years now. It's dimmable, color shiftable, and it accepts Profoto accessories. The only problem? It's not that bright. Fiilex had an answer to my power problems in the form of the Q8 Travel.
I surround myself with creative and inspiring visionaries. One of them is a conceptual photographer and illustrator named Elena Ohlander, whom I am happy to call my best friend. Her focus is in conceptual self-portraiture and illustration that deals with identity, gender issues, space, individuality, and pop culture. Her main influences are Taiyo Matsumoto, Gregory Crewdson, Paolo Roversi, Cindy Sherman, and Japanese aesthetic.
We’ve noticed the trend. Video is becoming the way most people communicate online these days. How can you as photographer use video as a tool to influence the personal brand you are constantly building, and how can you expand your product offering to clients? There are various types of videos you can focus on to produce, and the aim should be to make videos that you would like to make for a client. Therefore, it needs to be professional, and something clients might actually use as their marketing and advertising materials.
There are many different ways to carry a camera with you, and depending on how you do carry the camera or even multiple cameras could determine what accessories you might need to help you out with that. As I typically strap my camera around my neck or occasionally crossbody, the standard manufacture strapped that comes with the camera does the job, but it's not quite as comfortable as I would like. I am also one of those photographers that don't like to advertise which camera I have on me when I am walking around so that was another reason for me to ditch the manufacture strap that 's included in the box. With so many choices on the market, what's a good camera strap to get?
The new 50 liter FERNWEH bag from WANDRD ticks a lot of boxes and is one of the most comfortable and versatile bags I’ve ever used. If you’re after a sturdy bag to follow you into the wilds, this is definitely a contender.
Since GoPro released their first action cameras, many other brands have tried to take on this market and offer alternatives. One of them is called Aukey, and they designed the AC-LC2 to be a very affordable yet still capable action piece of equipment. It can shoot in 4K at 25 fps, can produce time-lapses, and even has a Wi-Fi connection. I’ve had one for a little while and wanted to share with you why having one in your bag might be fantastic, but also why it may probably not replace a higher-end action camera.
If you're starting out in photography or videography, it feels as if there are unlimited items you need, which is not the case. However, there are some less expensive tools that can aid in your production and make a bigger difference than their cost implies.
When it comes to light painting, the tool you use to paint with is just as important as the camera you use to shoot with. Different tools give different textures of light, color, and intensities. The main issue here is that most tools are handmade and there isn't always a lot of information online about how to build everything. So when someone comes out with a well-made tool that you can use right out of the box, it’s time to take notice. That’s what we have here with The Ball of Light Tool from the master light painter himself, Denis Smith.
Finding and licensing music: it has got to be one of those painful tasks for anyone who creates videos or slideshows for clients, which is why we are reviewing a new player in town, Audiio.
Video is now king, and all us still photographers better get on board if we hope to survive. That's what I've been told, anyway. Making the leap into video can be daunting, though, and so, a new website hopes to make that process just a little easier.
Are you a fan of gadgets? When it comes to photography, there are plenty of fabulous extras that we can use to improve what we do, but how about a smartwatch? I experimented with the Kumi GW5 Pro to see how useful it would be.
Most people are a fan of the film look, but actually shooting, developing, and scanning it can be a bit more hassle and money than many of us are willing to undertake. The Rocket Rooster Analog Film Bundle gives you Lightroom presets for many popular film stocks as well as a range of local adjustment brushes for avoiding the need to go into Photoshop. Check out our review of the full system here.
When Aputure released the LS 600d Pro, it took the market by storm and signaled an era of high-power LED coming. But when the LS 600X Pro came out, it took the D version and made it greater. I’ve been using the 600X Pro for the past month, and here are some of my thoughts on it.
Skylum has released LuminarAI Update 4, which delivers a rather amazing Portrait BokehAI feature along with a few other new or improved items that add to the popular software application's bag of tricks.
The Stella Pro Refkex S is a hybrid light that can be both a powerful constant light as well as a strobe-style flash. And with this new update, the Reflex S just got better than ever.
The Elinchrom ELB 1200 is the almost perfect battery pack for any photographer who shoots with flash. Powerful but not too cumbersome to carry, it has a lot of features to seduce you! Find out through this review if it has a place in your kit or not.
I had the opportunity to test some permanent LED lights. Designed primarily for video, I thought I would also try them out for photography as I am soon setting up a home studio, so I ran them through a series of tests to see how they fared.
Early on in my career, I was quite reluctant to use any kind of filter system. I was under the impression that any filter effects could be achieved by utilizing a few techniques such as mean stacking. I've changed my mind since then and I now regularly use filters for my work. The issue is they can be a hassle, however, a company called Alter may have a solution.
Aimed at DSLR filmmakers looking to invest in a larger production kit, the Blackmagic Video Assist 4K is a seven-inch touchscreen monitor that doubles as a video recorder. I was able to use the Video Assist during several shoots last month in Chicago, and I’ll go over the features, build quality, uses, and talk a bit about pricing as well.
On the surface, it doesn’t look like Insta360’s latest entry in the GO lineup is all that different from its previous model. Looks, in this case, are very, very deceiving. The Insta360 GO 2 fixes every issue with its predecessor and in the process, has become a versatile and eminently usable camera in its own right.
Packed with features and accessories, the Rode Wireless Pro is easily the best value in wireless audio. At just $400, it's an easy decision to buy, but it still has room to improve.
Insta360 seems to be determined to bring 360 video into the mainstream, with a range of easy-to-use cameras that span from low-res models meant to piggyback off your phone, to high-end professional models with six lenses. The new Insta360 One X takes many of the best bits from all of these devices and puts them into a standalone 360 camera that sits at the top end of their consumer lineup, just below the Pro models.
