Articles from Jaron Schneider

Over the past month I've been hard at work testing the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema (BMPCC) camera in a variety of situations for an Fstoppers review (since they updated the firmware, it's like an entirely new camera). While that review is still in progress as of today, I did want to talk to you guys about one piece of equipment that made shooting with it a great experience: the Metabones EF to Micro Four Thirds Adapter for the BMPCC.

Quick update: Sigma's newly announced 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens (unveiled last week) already has a confirmed price point: $1,999. It will be available some time in October, with a specific date not yet given. At that price point, it's much higher than the Tamron we reviewed earlier this year, so Sigma must believe the performance and build quality to outperform the Tamron. 

Though they are excellent for photographers, Pelican seemed to fall into the industry rather than build specifically for it. But with options between the ubiquitous Velcro inserts and foam, there hasn't been a lot to complain about in the design and function. They do exactly what they claim to, extremely well. However after using Lowepro's first attempt at hard cases, I can now see room for improvement. I think the perfect hard case is somewhere in between the two brands' offerings, but Lowepro is closer to the mark.

Think Tank has announced a set of new bag offerings at Photokina including the massive 15.7” x 40” x 12.6” Production Manager roller case, designed specifically to carry large amounts of lighting equipment long distances. It is a large roller with room for multiple flash heads, power packs, monoblocks, softboxes, and light-stands. They also released a premium quality limited edition roller and shoulder bags.

Following up their massive 512GB SD card announcement last week at IBC, SanDisk today announced that they are releasing the fastest microSD cards on the market, capable of producing 95MB/s transfer speeds and intended for use with 4K capable cameras. 

Profoto just released a video showcasing their popular B1 units on location with wedding photographer Brian Marcus. Marcus shows how he uses the lights through new York with ease, obviously taking advantage of the size and weight of the B1 heads. This particular video focuses on the NIkon TTL Air remotes that were just released.

Lowepro, who makes some of my favorite bags, has finally refreshed their entire line and included something I think we all expected from them a long time ago: hard cases. Under the new "Hardside" line, the hard cases look to take on Pelicans in the photography market. Also new are the Trekker, the Toploader and Protactic lines. 

Samsung has been trying to hit the digital interchangeable lens camera (ILC) market for some time, slowly clawing their way to #2 in market share in the US. That said, they haven't done a lot to impress professionals. I had a sense they were going to release something special at Photokina, and the NX1 doesn't disappoint. With a 4K video shooting APS-C sensor and newly announced 50-150mm f/2.8, Samsung is taking aim at more serious photographers.

We recently reviewed the insanely awesome G-SPEED Studio 4-bay platform, and if you think that thing was cool, you'll love what they announced late last week at IBC: the G-SPEED 8-Bay Thunderbolt enterprise-class hard drive platform. If you, like me, are a video or timelapse shooter, this should appeal to you greatly. We can never have enough storage.

RØDE makes some of my favorite audio equipment across the range of prices. Today at IBC they announced something they seem really proud of: the Stereo VideoMic X, an on-camera microphone that excels at capturing amazing audio in short ranges, making it ideal for foley and ambient scene-setting audio in productions. 

Sigma has announced several new pieces of gear in preparation for Photokina this coming week. Firstly, they have announced the availability of two different versions of the150-600mm f/5-6.3, one a Sport line lens and the other a Contemporary line member. They also announced the 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 lens, also a member of the Contemporary line. Finally they announced the first global vision accessories: teleconverters and filters.

Sigma is adding to their dp Quattro line with the dp1, a 19mm f/2.9 fixed lens (28mm equivalent to full frame). To those fans of the system, this now completes two of the three cameras in the lineup with the last one surely not far behind. 

Nikon has announced the latest member of their full frame camera family, the D750. The camera is an advancement specifically for Nikon in the video realm, as the new camera's 24.3 megapixel sensor captures full HD video at 60p, a feature that is becoming a necessary standard for any modern video camera. Nikon also announced a new super-fast wide angle lens, the 20mm f/1.8 EG, and a hybrid video speedlight featuring an LED video light in addition to the traditional strobe.

This morning at IBC in Amsterdam, SanDisk announced the impending release of the highest capacity SD card in the world: the 512GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I card, 90 MB/s recording speed with 95 MB/s transfer speed. They also announced a faster CF memory card, with 128GB capacity with a write speed of up to 440MB/s and transfer speeds up to 515 MB/s. Dang.

We’ve teamed up with SanDisk for a product bundle giveaway featuring the Extreme PRO CompactFlash, newly upgraded Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I cards and the Ultra Dual USB Drive to bring you the ultimate memory storage bundle. All you need to do to win is tell us what you will shoot with all that storage space!

I have used a lot of hard drives over my career and that includes what was to me, at the time, the rather excellent Lacie d2 Thunderbolt. It wasn't long, however, until other manufacturers came up with better options leading to the d2 feeling a bit underwhelming. That changes today with the announcement of the d2 Thunderbolt 2.

Really, really good news out of Blackmagic today, as they just informed me that they have updated the firmware of the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K to allow for in-camera formatting of the SSD. So will this be coming to the Pocket Cinema Camera and the Cinema Camera? Yes, yes it will.

A lot of my work is on the road, which is why I spent a long time looking for the best mobile storage options before eventually landing on the WD My Passport Pro and the LaCie Rugged SSD. But when I'm not on the road, I'm at my desk editing a wide range of video. It's here that I realized I needed not only a reliable backup, but also a powerful and fast working drive to burn through edits. What I found was the G-Speed Studio, and I love it. 

I live in constant fear of either accidently formatting a card or having data corruption of information before I get back to my main workstation. Because of this somewhat totally rational fear, I tend to back up cards on location during or right after shoots. To fill this remote backup need, I tested the LaCie Rugged 500GB SSD which offers USB 3 and Thunderbolt 2 speeds in a tiny package. 

Case Logic has been making bags, tablet sleeves and accessory holders for quite some time, but this was my first time reviewing, and using, a dedicated camera bag from the company. The Luminosity DSLR Split Backpack is a hearty, sturdy bag with a few neat compartments and a unique design that is aimed toward either the professional photographer or pro-sumer who needs to protect their gear while on the go. When considering this bag, know that protection was at the forefront.

Though we have no confirmations that the price drops are permenant, we can probably assume them to last a long time if not forever. Canon has cut prices from $1000 on the higher-end lenses to $50 on the more affordable glass across their product line. In all, there are 26 lenses discounted as of today. 

Fstoppers has partnered with the awesome folks at ViewBug to bring you sweet, sweet contests weekly! This week if you impress the ViewBug community, you could win yourself a feature on Fstoppers.com! The winner's photo will be given a 24 hour feature on our top slider as picture of the day as well as a full featured article.

Advertising photographer, historical Fstoppers contributor and good friend of mine Blair Bunting today published a blog detailing exactly how he achieves his iconic images, specifically his popular football portraits. Blair has become known in advertising circles for his excellent use of rim light and kickers, and now you too can get this iconic look.

B&H has launched what is easily the most comprehensive platform for understanding Canon glass that we have ever seen: the Canon Lens Experience. Backed by 15 powerhouse photographers including Gregory Heisler, Jeremy Cowart, Jim Wark and Randy Kerr, the new platform lets you get a very in-depth look at lenses, what they do and what images taken with them look like. 

As much as I like to rely on Tamron VC for moving video shots, it only make the footage less shakey and doesn't make the footage more fluid. This is where camera stabilizers like the Steadicam and the Glidecam have come in, but both options tend to be extremely heavy and take a long time to properly calibrate. There have been a few new innovations in camera stabilization, the latest of which is the Casper Mini which solves both the aforementioned problems and works ideally with smaller cameras, what I think are the future of filmmaking. 

Fstoppers has partnered with the awesome folks at ViewBug to bring you sweet, sweet contests weekly! This week, we don't want you to forget to enter to win Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers, 2014 Release by Martin Evening! All you need to do is share your best photos showing human faces. Be creative!

Blackmagic Design today released Camera v1.9.3, a firmware update that adds histogram, audio meters and media time remaining indicators to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Pocket Cinema Camera. These features were also recently added to the Production Camera.

ONA, makers of some fine fashion-forward camera bags, has announced the availability of new camera bags: the Prince Street and Berlin II. The bags are designed to carry a camera, two lenses, an iPad and personal items. The Berlin II is a Leica collaboration and made for the Leica M-System. It features one signature red rivet and a red interior. 

Today is World Photo Day and to celebrate 175 years of modern photography, Lytro has released a pretty snazzy infographic that shows the history of camera innovation from the inception of the photograph all the way up to present day (ending as expected with their Light Field camera the Ilum).

There is no denying it: there are a lot of motion control devices and even more slider options out there. With the success of Kickstarter, it seems like we get a new awesome idea every week and it can be hard to keep up. That said, I was recently pointed to the Nebo Motion Control Slider and decided to share it with you all because it's actually pretty cool despite entering a very crowded market. 

Fstoppers has partnered with the awesome folks at ViewBug to bring you sweet, sweet contests weekly! This week your best "old and rusty" image enters you a chance to win... a mystery prize! Once you submit your image, the prize will be revealed. You could win awesome prizes and have your photo reviewed by renowned photographers. Don't miss out! 

I think it's fair to say that the 7D II is coming soon, with a lot of signs pointing to a release at Photokina this year. This fire sale on the camera only bolsters that possibility, with the body only now at $999 and bundeld with a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 at $1,099. This is still a darn good camera, if not a bit dated, for such a low price. [via B&H]

Syrp's timelapse machine, the Genie, rocks at what it does despite some limitations. You can read our full review of the unit here. Many of those limitations are made easier to swallow once you see what you can do with the new Magic Carpet slider, a tool with a lot of options for both video and timelapse. 

The Samsung NX30 is a very affordable, DSLR-like mirrorless camera with a lot of features and a lot of promise. It's Samsung's number two camera in terms of "levels" (much like a 5D would be second to the 1D in Canon language) and is designed to appeal to an emerging photographer as well as the everyday user (like mom or pop), but is it be a camera worth considering for anyone semi-pro and above?

Fstoppers has partnered with the awesome folks at ViewBug to bring you sweet, sweet contests weekly! This week you can win the entire suite of Macphun software and an Instax 90 Mini camera. This contest is judged by photographer Karen Hutton.