Benjamin Von Wong is known for making some pretty exceptional creative images, but this time he decided to go audio instead of visual. In his latest project, he uses 12 Nikon cameras (with the assistance of Nikon Professional Services) and the musical know-how of composer Andrew Kesler to produce a masterpiece of rhythm and shutters.
Last night Canon unveiled the successor to their popular 60D DSLR, the EOS 70D. There is a lot to like about the camera, but where Canon is focusing the brunt of their marketing is around the new Dual Pixel sensor which supposedly offers significantly faster focusing during video production. We've gathered a few videos from numerous Canon sources for your perusal to get you excited for Canon's next camera.
In recent months Fstoppers has shied away from churning the rumor mill, but you no doubt have read about the expected announcement of the new Canon 70D from other blogs. We've been eagerly waiting for its announcement because of what we understand to be a totally new sensor housed within the successor to the 60D: the Dual Pixel CMOS. Canon's newly announced 70D comes with this sensor, which focuses more accurately and faster when shooting video.
If there is one lens manufacturer whose heritage exudes excellence, it’s Zeiss. They are the Ferrari, the Lamborghini of camera optical glass and with that reputation comes their, usually, extremely high price. And much like a Lamborghini, the Zeiss is a no-frills powerhouse that does one well-designed thing: as the Lamborghini is fast, the Zeiss is sharp. Zeiss’ latest telephoto prime is no exception, and the 135mm f/2.0 APO SONNAR is truly magnificent.
We at Fstoppers often talk about Instagram with a note of positivity, but not everyone tends to agree that Instagram is a "cool" thing or worthy anyone's time. In fact, many comments on those articles seem to be saturated in what appears to be a deep-seated hatred. But do we really hate Instagram, or do we hate something that we can only express by hating Instagram? I think it’s the latter, and here’s why.
Though I appreciate the spirit of this commercial put together by Samsung, I'm not sure I'm fully on board with their test environment (comparing image quality from an LCD or even a tablet isn't really a comparison). However, it does show the kind of people that camera companies are advertising to. Often pros are baffled by some of the products that hit the market. There isn't as much money in appealing to pros, but rather to the often totally ignorant consumer.
We've been listening to feedback, and it seems as though you all like contests that engage your skill level. Well prepare to be engaged! We will be hosting more photo contests in the future, starting with this one brought to you by Nations Photo Lab and hosted by our pals at Viewbug! Just submit your best photo that features bright colors for your chance to win!
When I first saw this video, my jaw was hanging open. This new dynamic target tracking camera is absolutely outstanding, capable of following extremely fast moving objects as well as able to project images on fast moving objects. It's something out of science fiction, and I love it.
Samsung just announced what looks to be a really great new ILC: The Galaxy NX, a camera enabled with 3G/4G capabilities. It's not a phone, but a camera that can always be connected to the internet. I may have been hard on Samsung in a recent article on their Galaxy S4 Zoom, but this new product is one I can really get behind.
Dream jobs are made where individuals labor in love, and passions are fostered. It is where “working” is hardly the right descriptor for they day-to-day. Seeing people who truly love their work and work for their passion is rare. I want to tell those stories, and I found one worth telling at a place where they produce the tools that make the lives of creative professionals possible- tools that often at first we never knew we needed, but now would find it impossible to live without.
Shock, dismay, joy, and envy. These emotions have been running wild since Sigma announced their new 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens. It’s the first lens in our modern age to maintain that open of an aperture through a zoom range and it’s also equipped with auto focus. This type of innovation has been unheard of from Sigma until recently, but now it’s almost expected. The main question I wanted to answer about this lens was: “Is this lens for real, or relying too heavily on the hyped, somewhat gimmicky nature of that innovation?”
Lowepro has just announced a new DryZone pair of bags, a backpack and a duffel, that are weatherproof and watersport-friendly and are designed to keep your gear not only safe, but protected from aqueous elements. This is the kind of bag that can sustain powerful waves and blasts of water, so you can finally climb into a waterfall cave without fearing for the safety of your camera.
When Sigma first made known the existence of the 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens, the photography world could barely contain itself. Social media and blog comments blew up all over the net, including in the Fstoppers universe. This lens has been a subject of intense conversation for the past few weeks, nothing more debatable than speculation of pricing. Speculate no more. Sigma has revealed the pricing, and you're not going to believe it.
Pentax/Ricoh has just announced three new cameras to their lineup. Two are APS-C sized cameras that are pretty similar, but one is most certainly aimed at a more consumer market. The third is a new mirrorless camera, one that Pentax is boasting as the world's smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera.
Samsung has a weird, and to me slightly irritating, inclination that is bordering on habit: pushing products into hybrid scenarios that are doing just fine where they are. As someone who likes to have a camera, a tablet and a phone as separate devices (because, well I use them at different times for different things), I am continually baffled by the choice to shoehorn them into each other. I’m also disappointed that consumers are rewarding this, and Samsung is at it again with the Galaxy S4 Zoom.
UPDATED WITH SAMPLE IMAGES Though Samsung is a brand very few of us associate with either pro optics or cameras, they really want us to take them more seriously. I've used their mirrorless cameras on occasion and have been generally happy with the experience. To try and sway us further into their camp, Samsung has just unveiled a new addition to their lens lineup: the thinnest fisheye on the market in the 10mm f/3.5 wide angle lens.
Late last night Adobe announced Photoshop Lightroom 5 to much fanfare. Though some of course have complaints, the general consensus has been pretty positive. Following the release, we posed a few questions to Adobe, and they got back to us on what they learned from the Beta, new features and the differences between Creative Cloud and perpetual licenses.
Fotodiox just announced a brand new fresnel-style LED light that is dimmable, focusable and cooler than traditional fresnel tungsten lights. The new lights offer a power of 9,100 – 60,000 Lux/m Luminance, which Fotodiox is saying is about the same as the output of a 1K light, all controlled wirelessly. This adds another high-powered LED to the Fotodiox lineup, the first being the LED100WA.
I love creative videos that are just plain fun to watch. In this video, one Photoshop "magician" uses hidden cameras and a specially rigged advertising board at a bus stop to entertain bus patrons with retouched images of themselves, done in real-time. I have to admit, if I was sitting at that bus stop and they did this to me, I would be pretty amused.
Sometimes those obligatory travel photos snapped on location are great on their own, but (at least for me) a lot of them aren't visually dazzling. Luckily, that can be rectified. Jonas De Ro recently published an absolutely breathtaking composite image psd.tutsplus that is jaw-droppingly amazing. Best part is, he shows you how to make it so all you Photoshop fans can try a similar project yourself. Turn ordinary into fantasy!
ONA, a camera bag and accessory company known for really beautiful products, announced several new additions to their line today. The Leather Bowery, The Bolton Street Backpack, The Dark Truffle Leather Brixton, The Smoke Bowery and The Presidio Camera Strap were all announced today. All these look really sharp and are sure to appeal to many of you (they certainly look great to me). I'm personally a fan of their new "dark truffle" leather color.
The explosion of the app development industry after the colossal growth of smartphone and tablet products in the market started out as a fantastic new tech segment worth watching. It has contributed significantly the rebirth of my beloved Bay Area and Silicon Valley. However, in recent months, this once proud and innovative space has devolved into an overcrowded, hyper competitive and absurdly redundant “look at me” marketplace. This is probably most true for apps based on taking and sharing photos and videos, and I’m getting really sick of it.
SanDisk is having a crazy one-day fire sale of some of its more popular pro-level memory cards. CF, SD, Micro SD and USB flash are all included, some highly marked down. Might want to jump on these before they sell out...
Nikon has released a group of new rebates that take effect when you combine cameras with lenses or speed lights. Cameras include the full range of Nikon SLRs, like the D7100, D600, D800 and even the D4.
Zeiss is preparing for the availability of their Touit line, lenses for E-mount and X-mount cameras. For those who love Zeiss glass and compact cameras like those from Fuji and Sony, getting these high quality lenses might be a must. For the rest of us, we can still appreciate the beauty of the precision that goes into producing lenses of this quality. Check out this video just published today on Zeiss' YouTube channel.
Large, imposing and drop dead gorgeous, the new Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG OS APO HSM AF is one hell of a lens. Sigma has done an outstanding job in recent months producing some top quality lenses and they didn’t let up on the gas with the first Sport category offering in their new global vision. With two levels of optical stabilization, a wide open f/2.8 aperture, crazy fast and accurate AF and a beautiful body build, you want this lens, even if you don’t know it yet.
There have been fewer hotly debated topics in the past six months than Adobe's move to the cloud. Many creatives really like the new cloud, but others are steadfastly against it. I actually have seen some very harsh arguments that might even surpass the flame wars between Nikon and Canon enthusiasts. As hard as it might be to believe for some of you, Adobe does listen and is addressing some of your major concerns with the cloud-based software system.
Canon hasn't had any rebates on camera bodies lately, so I'm pretty pleased to find that there are a batch of rebates incoming for the 5D MKIII, 6D and 7D. Though the 7D is probably on its way out soon, deals on the 6D and the 5D MKIII are always welcome. The 5D and 7D are now $200 off, while the 6D got a slim, but still appreciated, $100 off.
Aaron Nace at PHLEARN teamed up with professional product photographer Rob Grimm to demonstrate how a super high-end watch shoot would be put together. Check out how Grimm takes numerous shots and combines them into one advertising-quality image.
Reviews are a tricky subject. On one side, there are a lot of people out there who want to hear as many voices on a product as possible before they make a decision. On the other side, there are skeptics across the internet who assume the worst of people and believe every review to be somehow influenced in a particular direction by unseen greedy fingers. We really want to clear the air on what makes an Fstoppers review, both in the past and in the future.
While many of us are dedicated to producing great video content, we often neglect to think about how that content will be consumed by the masses. I spend so much time producing, directing, writing and editing video that by the time it's done, I neglect to give distribution as much consideration as I should. A recent study performed by Harris Interactive shows, somewhat unsurprisingly, that video is moving away from search and is more tightly tied to social sharing.
Adobe looks like they are scooping up New York design firm Thumb Labs, a company with quite a stacked resume of well-designed mobile apps. We are gathering that Adobe has the intent to have them join the team at their other recently acquired company Behance, likely to make an expanded mobile experience to their upcoming Creative Cloud. Adobe announced the partnership via Twitter: "A warm welcome to our friends at @thumblabs, who are joining the @Behance team to help connect the creative world."
There haven't been too many raging deals lately, but if you're in the market for a new micro four thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 has dropped to basically ludicrously low pricing. I'm not even entirely sure how Panasonic is making a profit at this price point. Just a few weeks ago it was listed for $300, but now it's down to $239. It's not that the camera is bad either, as reviews have been pretty positive. At this price though, it's not much of a risk.
Sigma, hot on the heels of the outstandingly successful 35mm f/1.4 Art lens, has been releasing and announcing new lenses in their Global Vision realignment like crazy. Recently they released the 30mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C cameras, and I had high expectations for it after being told that the president of Sigma was aiming it to meet the performance set by the 35mm. So did it?
This might be an extreme take on the all-too-common client request of "get it done quickly," but it serves as an excellent benchmark of what can be done in a short amount of time. Odds are, you won't ever be asked to do a full post-production retouch in such a short amount of time, but the idea behind what Aaron Nace of PHLEARN is showing here is solid: with the right tools and knowledge you can streamline your workflow with extreme effectiveness.
