Articles from Christopher Malcolm

Here's a quick look at a few of the less-heralded and far less expensive items in my daily camera kit.

Today, I’d like to discuss a camera that I’ve talked about once before. After my initial glowing review, how has the Canon EOS R5 held up after six months of operation in the real world?

Beware, those with gear acquisition syndrome. Blackmagic Design has just dropped the price of their URSA Mini Pro 12K to $5,995.

This month, I’ve gotten a chance to spend some time shooting with one of Nikon’s two new macro lenses, the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 Macro.

Making a living in an oversaturated marketplace can be a challenge even without a global pandemic present to further shrink the marketplace. It takes a lot of tools, even some unexpected ones, to make it the distance.

Sometimes, to grow as a photographer, you have to take two steps back to go three steps forward.

I got a sneak peek at a pre-production version of the new Nikon Z fc and thought I’d share a handful of thoughts.

An overabundance of junk email this morning reminded me that turning a passion into profit sometimes means returning to one very basic concept.

This week, I got a chance to connect with Blackmagic Design to discuss some best practices when approaching color grading video footage through DaVinci Resolve Studio.

I make a habit of spilling as much ink as possible in this column towards extolling the virtues of making your gear purchases based on business needs rather than emotion. In today’s article, I will do the opposite.

Today, a short story about how forcing yourself to look at art from a different perspective can sometimes help you see the whole picture.

Sometimes, photography, like life itself, can be a dance of one step forward and two steps back. So, allow me to divert from the nuts and bolts of camera gear for a moment to talk about something just as important to sustaining a career.

A short walk leads to a short story about how bigger isn’t always better.

Having spent a long and exhausting, but fruitful and necessary, weekend going about the chore of reorganizing my overly cluttered garage, I found myself with time to think about a basic question. Why exactly did I become a professional photographer?

With more and more amazing lenses being introduced at a dizzying pace, I find myself asking a very basic question: How many lenses do I actually need?

This is another brief story about the possibility of progress over the course of a photography career.

Having now had at least one of the second generation of Nikon Z cameras, either the Z 6II or Z 7II, in my possession for almost a year now, I thought I would share three of my favorite things about the cameras so far.

I often write about the careful process of making sure you get the most bang for your buck when shopping for photo gear. Well, sometimes you just get lucky.

Being a successful artist can sometimes mean being both determined and flexible at the same time. But how can such a duality exist over the course of a career?

After a long day of shooting, thought I would take a moment to write a short piece about one of the most important tools in my kit.

Recently, I got a chance to shoot with the new Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S and compare it to its little brother, the 50mm f/1.8 S to see which is the best fit for my camera bag.

In an industry where every day seemingly brings the announcement of a new camera system promising to up your photography game while simultaneously depleting your bank account, it can be hard to know what is really worth the investment. So today, I’ll have a quick look at three areas where I’ve found you almost always get an appropriate level of bang for your buck.

Today, I’d like to discuss one of the most overused and most misunderstood concepts in photography. What exactly makes something a “professional camera”?

Despite being a long-time Nikon shooter and a fan of their latest mirrorless offerings, it’s only fair to keep an eye on what the competition is doing. So, with the right level of begging, I was able to get my hands on the Canon EOS R5 and thought I would offer a few brief thoughts.

So, you’re starting to think that you really want to grow and try something new with your photography, but don’t have the funds for a new camera? Well, there’s a good chance that you can make significant upgrades to your productivity without breaking the bank.

While March might be a bit early for me to already be filling out my holiday wish list for Santa Claus, the recent announcement that Nikon is developing a Z 9 to be released this year already has me in a festive mood.

After a series of articles detailing when and what to buy, today, I’d like to have a look at the other side of that equation.

As an unabashed proponent of the Nikon D850, specifically my own personal D850, as being the greatest DSLR to ever come off the assembly line, the prospect of ever actually trading in my beloved camera for a mirrorless option has always been met with a healthy dose of skepticism. So, today, having had both a Z 7II and a D850 in my possession for a couple of months, I thought I would try to definitively answer the question of which is the best Nikon on the market, or, more specifically, for me.

With the release of the Z 7II and the specs running so close to those of my beloved D850, it makes sense that it’s the first of Nikon’s mirrorless cameras to really make me consider the switch. But what will happen when I get out of testing mode and put my feet to the fire in the real world?

Having previously spent a few months with the 24-megapixel Nikon Z 6II, today, we move to its bigger brother, and I will begin a series of essays on Nikon’s latest high-resolution entry into the mirrorless camera market, the new Nikon Z 7II.

After a string of gear-related articles extolling the benefits and/or drawbacks of buying a particular camera system, and before launching into another such series in the weeks to come, I wanted to step back for a moment and re-evaluate a question larger than whether or not any particular camera is worthy of its place in your camera bag.

In the first two parts of this three-part series, I discussed my initial impressions of the new Nikon Z 6II, a bit of casual shooting, as well as a fun trip to photograph some birds. Today, we will put the camera to a real test in a professional shooting situation to see how the camera might handle a commercial advertising campaign.

Today, we jump into part two of my three-part series on my experience shooting for the past three months with the new Nikon Z 6II mirrorless camera. In part one, we went over ergonomics and first impressions, while in today’s episode, we will take the camera out into the field to visit the wildlife.

Today, I will begin a series of three lengthy and in-depth essays discussing my experience shooting with the new Nikon Z 6II over a three-month period.

I started out today to write a specific camera review but ended up taking a broader view of a brand that I have come to depend on. I haven’t forgotten about the review, but, in today’s article, I thought I would simply share the love.