Articles from Zhen Siang Yang

Introducing Hohem’s latest smartphone gimbal, the iSteady V3 Ultra, an upgraded version of Hohem’s V series gimbal. It brings the functionality of its bigger brother, the M series smartphone gimbal, to this more budget- and consumer-friendly product. This also means that we finally have an affordable AI-powered gimbal that actually allows you to see what it is tracking through the magnetic AI tracker, with the introduction of the detachable touchscreen remote controller.

Photography has never been more accessible than it is today. With easy access to high-speed internet leading to endless online resources, tutorials, and social media platforms, we would assume that learning photography has become easier than ever. However, my recent observation, coming from the experience of trying to learn a specific technical approach, proved otherwise. Instead of directly finding clear, in-depth guidance, I found myself drowning in an ocean of clickbait titles, surface-level explanations, and misleading information. This stark contrast to my early learning days made me realize that learning photography from the internet is now harder than it was a decade ago.

DJI has expanded its OsmoAudio™ ecosystem with the launch of the DJI Mic 3, a next-generation mini wireless microphone that combines the compactness of Mic Mini with the functionality of Mic 2—giving creators professional-grade sound in a compact, easy-to-use package.

It’s been an exciting few weeks for photography-gear enthusiasts, with product-announcement rumors coming in from every direction. But among all the speculation, as you might already know, DJI has officially entered the 360-degree-camera market with the launch of the Osmo 360.

It may sound bold, but I do believe Leica M-mount lenses are making a quiet resurgence, not just among loyal Leica shooters, but across the broader mirrorless world. A statement like that probably needs some explanation, so hear me out.

The leader of the drone market has spoken. Answering the gap in the market, DJI officially steps into the 360-degree camera arena with the Osmo 360—a bold move, and perhaps an overdue one, considering the brand’s legacy in imaging innovation. This isn’t just another consumer-grade spherical camera. It’s DJI’s statement piece, a professional imaging tool armed with 1-inch 360° imaging and the first 360° camera with native 8K 50fps video capabilities.

Lately, I’ve been evaluating my past projects and reconsidering my camera setup, questioning whether it truly serves my creative needs. The deeper I dig, the more I realize that camera setups tend to fall into two distinct categories: rigid and fluid. While rigid setups are usually technically correct and offer precise execution, fluid setups are the polar opposite, which tend to be a much better tool for creative intent and flexible execution.

As a practicing professional photographer, I evaluate my gear from time to time and make necessary upgrades to improve the efficiency of my workflow. After my recent crashing experience with the DJI Mini 4 Pro, I have decided to take a step back again to reevaluate whether this ultra-light drone is truly suitable for professional use or if I should just take the opportunity to get another drone.

As photographers progress in their journey, admittedly, there’s a natural tendency to gravitate more toward the technical side of things, including myself. The reason is simple: technical improvements are measurable metrics and rather reassuring. You can objectively tell if your images are sharper, your exposures more accurate, and have a higher dynamic range. Whereas growth in reactionary and observational skill sets like instinct is not easily measurable, let alone translated through a camera into our work.

They say there are as many 50mm lenses as there are cups of coffee in a photographer’s lifetime—and for good reason. This classic focal length continues to hold a special place in every photographer’s bag, often with more than one variant in rotation.

If you have ever used a geared ball head for photography, especially with a heavier setup, you will know how frustrating it can be to rotate the camera into the vertical position using the gear head. The entire rig becomes rather imbalanced, and with a heavier lens setup, the base mounting plate tends to slowly loosen, causing the camera to slide downwards, which is both rather annoying and worrying.

The DJI Mini 4 Pro is undeniably a marvel of modern drone technology. It is currently the best compact sub-250 g drone that money can buy. Packed with tons of new features such as omnidirectional obstacle sensing, true vertical shooting, and 4K video recording up to 120 fps, it is clearly designed for creators who demand both performance and portability—and for working professionals like me who prefer a smaller drone for easier flight access in most areas. It's easy to see why it's a popular choice among drone enthusiasts.

Let’s face it—AI is here to stay. Whether we like it or not, it’s not going anywhere. When it first emerged a few years back, I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to it. It felt like just another tech buzzword because of how immature it seemed. But fast forward to now: it’s evolving faster than most of us can keep up with, and it’s beginning to change the creative industry in a very real way.

If you’re a one-person crew or working with a small team on photo production, you’ll know the pain—especially when it comes to lighting setups. It can be one of the most frustrating parts of a shoot. It’s not just about turning a light on. It’s the constant need for micro-adjustments: tilt it a little more, feather it to the edge, raise it higher—only to realize the angle’s off and you have to bring it back down again. When your light is way up there, you never really know how much to tilt until it’s already in the air.

The L Mount was first introduced by Leica in 2014. It was developed as a new lens mount standard designed to unify full frame and APS-C mirrorless systems. What began as a proprietary mount for Leica cameras evolved into something much more significant with the formation of the L Mount Alliance in 2018. This partnership brought together Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma—three industry heavyweights with distinct strengths: optical heritage, video innovation, and third-party lens versatility. The idea was simple yet ambitious: to create a shared ecosystem of cameras and lenses under a single mount, offering users cross-brand compatibility and long-term investment value.

DJI has long been a household name when it comes to drones and camera stabilization, consistently pushing the boundaries of what compact gear can achieve. With the launch of the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 (OM7), the company has decided to bring a highly capable gimbal to the hands of beginners without the usual high price tag. While many smartphone gimbals are often geared toward enthusiasts or semi-pro users, the OM7 is designed to be a true entry-level option that doesn’t feel basic. It offers minimal compromise in functionality while still packing in big capabilities, making it one of the most approachable and reliable tools for new content creators to elevate their mobile shooting game.

DJI’s latest smartphone gimbal, the Osmo Mobile 7P, marks the brand’s seventh generation of innovative smartphone gimbals, bringing a completely new foldable design that’s even more compact and refined than before. It introduces a couple of pro features that really take content creation to the next level, including the new ActiveTrack 7.0 technology, which pushes three-axis stabilization and intelligent tracking to new heights. Compatible with a range of smart tools, capturing stabilized high-quality footage has never been easier. Judging by the letter “P” in its name and its expanded functionality, DJI seems to be clearly targeting the Osmo Mobile 7P toward pro smartphone videographers.

The recent launch of the Fujifilm GFX100RF has stirred quite a debate in the photography community. Many Fujifilm fans were frustrated by the decision to equip the camera with a fixed f/4 lens instead of a faster option like f/2.8 or even f/2. This backlash got me thinking: does a faster lens always make a camera better? And more importantly, does it help us produce a better image? The more I think about it, the more I realize that the obsession with wider apertures might not be that beneficial for visual output, but rather for bragging rights that often overlook crucial trade-offs.

The idea of traveling with just one camera and one lens wasn’t something I decided on a whim for my most recent trip to Hong Kong. If I am being honest, it was mainly inspired by Leica’s design philosophy, Das Wesentliche, or "the essentials," when I read about it a few months back.

In today's photography landscape, there is far too much emphasis on hardware and not enough thought about what it’s actually being used for. Discussions among the community often revolve around camera specifications rather than the philosophy and thoughts behind capturing images. Yet, we have long passed the point where more megapixels, higher dynamic range, and extreme ISO performance make a meaningful difference for most users.

Earlier this year, Insta360 released its first AI-powered smartphone gimbal, packed with impressive features, including Deep Track 4.0, which offers advanced tracking capabilities. However, many of these advanced features were exclusive to iPhones, leaving a gap for Android users. Fortunately, Insta360 has addressed this with the release of its latest AI Tracker attachment for the highly popular Flow 2 Pro smartphone gimbal—an easy-to-use attachment that enables Android users to take full advantage of the gimbal’s advanced AI tracking algorithm.

After making headlines for producing one of the slimmest full frame mirrorless autofocus lenses last year, Viltrox has made a bold move by making it available for the Fujifilm X-mount as well to fill a market gap. Introducing the Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 Fujifilm X-Mount, also known as a “chip” lens, resembling a potato chip—a reference to how thin the lens is. This Chinese lens maker even carries on the humor by featuring a bag of chips in the lens announcement poster, which was published on their Chinese social media.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my own journey in photography, questioning why progress sometimes feels stagnant. After speaking to a few industry experts, I have come to realize that there’s an awkward stage every creative reaches. A plateau where inspiration seems to dry up, and even slight growth feels like an impossible uphill battle. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this plateau isn’t just about skill or talent but about two fundamental limitations involving effort and money. Both demand deeper commitment, and without that, breaking through the stagnation feels impossible.

Following the recent successful launch of the latest AI-powered smartphone gimbal, the Flow 2 Pro, Insta360 has introduced the latest AI tracker as an additional attachment to meet the demand for a seamless and intelligent tracking feature as mobile content creation continues to evolve.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that creating a strong image isn’t about following a rigid compositional formula but about finding harmony in the interplay of light, composition, subject, and intent that blends both technical precision and emotional connection. These elements, when thoughtfully considered, can transform an ordinary scene into something outstanding. In this article, I’ll share the criteria that I believe define a strong image, based on insights gained through years of trial, error, and reflection.

Early adopters of the Fujifilm GFX system, many of whom migrated from Canon and Nikon, have long awaited a native tilt-shift solution to meet their professional needs.

As you might be familiar with Insta360’s Flow Pro, the first smartphone gimbal that features Apple DockKit, they have now released a brand-new model, the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro, which features a sleek design and even more advanced features. With the rapid growth of AI integration technology, the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro has taken the leap to become the next-gen AI-powered smartphone stabilizer, featuring the all-new Deep Track 4.0 that offers advanced tracking capability.

Oftentimes, when we talk about creating better images in photography, the conversation begins with compositional rules such as the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, leading lines, and so on. These guidelines serve as a good benchmark for discussion and a way to introduce structure to what can otherwise feel like an abstract concept.

In today's fast-paced world of AI and digital photography, tools like Aiarty Image Matting are transforming workflows for photographers. Designed for creators and businesses, it uses advanced AI to deliver precise background removal, even for challenging images. As a professional photographer, I find background removal essential in most of my commercial work, and sometimes dealing with a complex subject can be frustrating.

In an era where electronic viewfinders have dominated most mirrorless cameras, it may seem old-fashioned to still use a DSLR camera with an optical viewfinder. Yet, as someone who has spent more than a decade behind the lens, constantly switching between mirrorless and DSLR, I still find myself drawn to the simplicity and authenticity of the optical viewfinder.

Coming from a photography background, venturing into the video realm can feel overwhelming. While I'm confident in most aspects of photography, the learning curve for filmmaking is steep and often more complicated than expected.

To fully understand how white balance affects our perception, we must first explore how color shapes our emotional response in photography. Since the dawn of time, we humans have become accustomed to associating certain colors with specific contexts. The ability of humans to read visual cues for signs of danger is likely an instinct as a survival mechanism. For example, brightly colored insects scream danger without having to look into the species.

As a professional commercial photographer, my main priority has always been to capture the perfect still image whether for client delivery or personal project.

With the current advancement of imaging technology in digital photography, the significance of format has evolved dramatically to a point where it no longer matters as much compared to the early film days. However, due to physical hardware limitations, it is still essential for us as photographers to recognize that the decision on selecting the imaging format should always align with our creative intent to help achieve the desired result.

Exposure is a key element in photography that greatly influences how we frame our shots. It determines the amount of light reaching the camera sensor, affecting the brightness and overall look of an image. Understanding and controlling exposure is vital for creating well-balanced photos and achieving the desired visual impact. In this article, we'll explore how exposure affects composition and why it's crucial to align your framing with the exposure settings.