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The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options)

17 Jun

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

the best Lightroom presets in 2021

If you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.

To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs).

So read on to discover the 13 best preset packs in 2021!

1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets

Best Lightroom presets landscape and travel photography presets

Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a bundle of eight Lightroom presets packs, designed for different landscapes. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.

These professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.” In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases.

Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also also purchase the packs individually.

2. Night Leaks

Night Leaks Lightroom presets

This free pack of presets from Presetlove.com will add vibrancy to your urban night photography. It’s part of the Night bundle, which includes more than 300 free presets.

Night Leaks work best on night scenes where there’s artificial lighting, such as street lights. They’re designed to give you a colorful and vibrant effect with clear tonal contrast.

3. Golden Hour Presets

golden hour presets

These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.

KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).

4. All in One Lightroom Preset Bundle

all in one lightroom preset bundle

The All In One Lightroom Preset Bundle is perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.

The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!

5. Boho Wedding

Boho wedding presets

If you’re a wedding photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.

This Boho Wedding preset bundle offers ten one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, plus they come with an installation guide PDF and video. And they create a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures.

6. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection

winter wonderland presets collection

Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.

This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.

7. The Crush Pack

Best lightroom presets the crush pack

Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.

Whether it is soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.

8. 20 Free Lightroom Presets Collection

20 free lightroom presets collection

This is a starter pack from BeArt-Presets, and includes 20 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits.

The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.

9. Free Lightroom Presets for Street Photography

Free street photography Lightroom presets

These presets are designed for a grungy look that creates contrasty, detailed images and is especially suited for urban photography.

You’ll be able to choose between color, black and white, and three different tones to “make your images jump off the screen.”

10. Color Pop

Color pop presets

If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.

The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.

11. Free HDR Lightroom Presets

free hdr lightroom presets

This free preset pack offers ten Lightroom presets designed to adjust the light balance and color tones while boosting saturation, luminosity, and contrast. You can find the preset that matches your style and subject and apply it with just one click.

And if you like what you see, Fix the Photo has a store with a wide variety of LR presets, PS actions, LUTs, overlays, and more.

12. Nathan Elson’s 2020 Lightroom Presets

Nathan Elson's Lightroom presets

Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection.

The download includes six color profiles and ten custom-built presets that “create cinematic images to push your photography to the next level.”

13. Prolost Graduated Presets

Prolost graduated presets

Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.

Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.

How do you pick the right presets?

There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?

First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.

So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.

Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.

Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.

Are presets worth it?

In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.

Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!

The best Lightroom presets: conclusion

Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2021! Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!

Now over to you:

Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Lightroom presets FAQs

Is it worth buying presets for Lightroom?

Yes. Many professionals offer high-quality presets that are a great investment; they’ll help you achieve the look that you want in your photos.

Do professional photographers use presets?

Yes. Some professionals create their own presets to save time when editing. Others use presets from professional retouchers. Photography and photo-editing are two separate skills and can be performed by two different professionals.

Can you use Lightroom presets for free?

Some of them are free, yes. Others cost money. Before downloading a preset, I recommend checking the preset terms and conditions.

Can I create my own presets?

Yes. A preset automates a set of image adjustments. Any Lightroom post-processing that you do can be saved as a preset and used in other photographs.

Can I use Lightroom presets on the mobile version?

Any preset that you have in Lightroom can be synced across devices. That way, you can download the best Lightroom presets and use them on your computer and your phone.

The post The Best Lightroom Presets in 2021 (13 Beautiful Options) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.


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Funleader’s 18mm F8 ‘cap lens’ gets more lens mount options and is now available to the public

03 Oct

Last October, Funleader started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to produce its ridiculously small 18mm F8 pancake lens for Sony E mount and Leica L mount camera systems. As promised in its campaign, it started shipping to global backers in December 2019 and now, nine months later, the lens is available to purchase by the general public in three additional lens mounts.

The pancake lens is constructed of six multi-coated elements in four groups, has a 100º field of view on a full-frame camera and is made of aluminum. The lens measures just 15mm (.59in) and weighs only 80g (2.8oz), making it only marginally larger than the lens cap you probably keep on your camera to keep the mirror and sensor protected.

Funleader designed the lens around its hyperfocal distance, ensuring everything from 80cm (2.6ft) to infinity is in focus at its F8 aperture.

Below is a sample gallery of images taken with the lens and various cameras:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_1260982875″,”galleryId”:”1260982875″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

The Funleader 18mm F8 cap lens is available for Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Leica L, Nikon Z and Sony E mount camera systems. Funleader has it available on its website for $ 150 with free worldwide shipping.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Canon Officially Announces Two DSLR-Crushing Options: The EOS R5 and EOS R6

13 Jul

The post Canon Officially Announces Two DSLR-Crushing Options: The EOS R5 and EOS R6 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

After months of waiting, it’s finally official:

dps-news-canon-eos-r5-and-eos-r6

Canon is releasing two new R-series mirrorless cameras, both of which will ship before the summer is out.

The Canon EOS R5

Canon EOS R5

The first of these is the highly-anticipated Canon EOS R5, a full-frame body that offers 8K video, 20 frames-per-second shooting via the electronic shutter (12 fps via the mechanical shutter), in-body image stabilization, and dual card slots (1 CF and 1 UHS-II SD).

But while we’ve reported on plenty of R5 details, it’s only now, thanks to Canon’s announcement, that we can fill in any knowledge gaps.

The Canon EOS R5 will pack a 45-megapixel sensor, which makes the R5 the highest-resolution camera in Canon’s mirrorless stable, and the second highest-resolution camera in Canon’s full-frame lineup (just after the 5DS/5DS R pair, both of which sport 50.6 megapixels). Combine this with the 20/12 fps shooting speeds, and you’ve got yourself some truly awesome capabilities, both for landscape and other high-resolution shooting, as well as for serious action photography.

Canon EOS R5

The EOS R5 is also equipped with top-notch autofocus features, including Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF II technology, human and animal eye detection, and a whopping 1053 AF zones.

Much of the debate around mirrorless versus DSLRs has centered around electronic viewfinder capabilities, so we’re happy to reveal that the EOS R5 will offer a class-leading 5.76M-dot EVF, which is a significant step up from the (excellent) EVF on the EOS R, and puts the EOS R5 on par with the Sony a7R IV and the Panasonic S1R. This will ensure a better all-around shooting experience with an extremely life-like display and may satisfy even some of the more pro-OVF photographers.

Canon also notes that the EOS R5 will offer “weather, drip, and dust sealing on par with the EOS 5D series,” which suggests that the EOS R5 should be able to handle shooting in difficult weather, a requirement for landscape and wildlife photographers in particular.

Bottom line:

The EOS R5 is the best kind of generalist camera, one that suits nearly any genre of photography, from action to wildlife to landscape and more, and does it all at the highest level.

Of course, a camera this powerful doesn’t come without a significant price tag, but the EOS R5 will drop at a reasonable $ 3900 USD (body only).

The Canon EOS R6

As for the Canon EOS R6, you get a lot of the same features, but with a lower ($ 2500 USD) price tag.

Canon EOS R6

This includes in-body image stabilization, identical autofocus specs, and dual card slots (albeit 2 UHS-II SD compared to the 1 SD/1 CF design on the EOS R5).

As you might expect, Canon has made several cuts compared to the EOS R6, primarily in terms of resolution. The R6’s full-frame sensor includes just 20.1 megapixels, the EVF offers a (still-respectable) 3.69M-dot resolution, and video capabilities top out at 4K/60p.

Canon EOS R6

Canon also claims that weather sealing is “on par with the EOS 6D series,” which isn’t especially comforting for more serious shooters, but which is better than nothing and should be able to hold up in light rain or snow.

In many ways, the EOS R6 feels like the far more compelling option compared to the R5, at least for non-professional shooters. For nearly $ 1500 USD less, you get powerful IBIS, dual card slots, blazing-fast shooting speeds, impressive autofocus, and 4K/60p video (which is more than enough for even more serious videographers). You can also expect an excellent high-ISO performance from the EOS R6, as implied by its expansive native 100-102400 ISO range (compared to the 100-41200 ISO range on the EOS R5).

The main disappointment here is the 20 MP sensor, which feels low compared to the EOS R5, the EOS R, the EOS RP, and the 6D Mark II (all of which sit at 26 MP and above). But 20 MP is enough for most purposes, and the bigger pixels should guarantee top-notch low-light performance.

Canon 100-500mm

Lenses

Canon has also officially announced a Canon RF 100-500mm f/3.5-7.1L IS telephoto lens ($ 2699 USD), an RF 600mm f/11 IS STM ($ 700 USD), an RF 800mm f/11 IS STM ($ 899 USD), and an RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM ($ 600 USD).

Note that these cameras and lenses will begin shipping at various points over the next few months. You can expect the EOS R5 before July is out, however, and the EOS R6 toward the end of August.

Comparison video

So if any of these cameras or lenses interest you, go ahead and put in a preorder! You don’t want to miss out.

Now over to you:

What do you think about this announcement from Canon? Are you more interested in the EOS R5 or the EOS R6? And will you consider purchasing any of the lenses? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Canon Officially Announces Two DSLR-Crushing Options: The EOS R5 and EOS R6 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro features faster CPU options, latest Intel Iris Graphics configurations and updated keyboard

04 May

Apple has announced its new 13-inch MacBook Pro, bringing modest performances improvements and one physical improvement that should make keyboard warriors around the world much happier.

We’ll get to the specs in a minute, but first the most important update—the keyboard. Apple has eschewed its troubled ‘butterfly’ keyboard for its Magic Keyboard with this new 13-inch MacBook Pro. For nearly five years, Apple’s ‘butterfly mechanism’ keyboard has caused issues for MacBook owners, with individual keys sometimes becoming entirely non-functioning, causing all sorts of issues while typing. This transition means the ‘butterfly’ keyboard is no longer present in any of Apple’s laptops.

The physical ‘esc’ key is a welcomed change also.

In addition to the changes underneath the keys, Apple has also added a physical ‘Escape’ (esc) key to the left of the Touch Bar. On previous models, the ‘esc’ key was digital, located within the Touch Bar, a design decision that could wreak havoc if the Touch Bar glitched out or broke.

The updated 13-inch model is powered by Intel quad-core chips, with optional upgrades to configure the MacBook Pro with Intel’s 10th-gen CPUs that offer up to 2.3GHz per core and TurboBoost speeds up to 4.1GHz. Apple has also added the option to configure the 13-inch MacBook Pro with up to 32GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X RAM and has doubled the base model storage to 256GB (with optional upgrades to increase it to 4TB).

If you upgrade to the $ 1,799 model, you’ll also get the latest Intel Iris Plus Graphics, which Apple claims will offer an 80% performance increase over the previous-generation dual-core MacBook Pros. In addition to improving overall graphic performance, models with Intel’s Iris Plus graphics will be able to power Apple’s Pro Display XDR at its full 6K resolution.

As for the laptop’s own display, the 13-inch screen supports P3 wide color gamut, offers a maximum 500 nits brightness and includes Apple’s ‘True Tone’ technology that automatically adjusts the screen’s white balance based on the ambient environment.

The base model starts at $ 1,299 and includes a 1.4GHz quad-core 9th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. However, if you’re planning on using this for editing photos or video though, we’d suggest you jump up to the $ 1,799 base model, which offers Intel’s 10-gen CPUs with the newer Intel Iris Plus graphics and 16GB of RAM. Further upgrades can be configured for additional costs, as usual.

You can find out more information about the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models and browse through the different configurations on Apple’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Lenses for mirrorless: how Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony full-frame options compare

01 May
The move to mirrorless by some of the industry’s biggest players put the focus on their new lens lineups.

In our recent look at ~$ 2000 full frame mirrorless cameras, we said that choosing between them is as much about buying into a lens system as anything else. In this article, we’re going to have a look at the four full-frame mirrorless systems to see what they offer and where they might yet go.

This article isn’t a question of ‘which range is biggest,’ it’s to help show which lineups have the lenses you might need for your photography.

As well as the lenses currently available, we’ll consider the degree of support provided by third-party lens makers and briefly discuss some of the technologies involved.

Sony E-mount

When it comes to full-frame lenses for mirrorless, Sony has the biggest head start. Sony introduced its full-frame ‘FE’ range alongside the original a7, back in late 2013, and already had several years experience of making APS-C E-mount lenses by that point.

Sony has also taken the unusual move of allowing third-party lens makers access to its lens mount specifications and communication protocol. This has allowed companies such as Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Zeiss to expand the range of available lenses for Sony photographers. In the case of Sigma, these include existing DSLR optical designs as well as new, dedicated optical formulations for mirrorless.

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

In addition to covering most of these bases, Sony has had time to add specialist lenses, such as 600mm F4, 400mm F2.8, 100-400mm and 200-600mm telephoto options, equivalents to which aren’t currently available for other systems.

Starting earlier has given Sony time to provide a wider range of lenses, including less obvious options such as the 135mm F1.8 GM

Sony says that the years it’s spent making large lenses for mirrorless camera has allowed it to develop expertise in the types of motors best suited for full-frame mirrorless lenses (the need to drive lenses smoothly for video, as well as quickly means the requirements aren’t the same as for DSLRs). However, while it’s true that Sony’s adoption of technologies such as linear motors and piezoelectric drive provides its more recent lenses with impressively fast, smooth focusing, be aware that some of the company’s earlier lenses don’t always show this same performance.

Canon RF-mount

Canon’s RF lens lineup thus far has shown a distinct focus on the needs of professional users, with many of its first lenses belonging to the premium ‘L’ range.

Canon hasn’t opened up its lens mount to other makers, so there’s limited third-party support available at the moment. If the RF mount gains anything like the popularity that the EF mount did, it’s extremely likely that other companies will find a way to offer autofocus lenses, but widespread third-party support for RF may be some years away.

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

Canon currently uses a variety of motors in its RF lenses: primarily using the company’s fast, smooth ‘Nano USM’ technology and the ring-type USM motors that underpin most of its high-end DSLR lenses. These ring-type motors appear to work pretty well with Canon’s dual pixel AF system but aren’t always the smoothest or fastest, especially given that they tend to be used in the lenses with large, heavy lens elements that need to be moved.

The RF 35mm F1.8, meanwhile, uses a small stepper motor, which makes it noticeably slower and noisier to focus than the best of Canon’s other mirrorless lenses.

Nikon Z-mount

Like Canon, Nikon has not yet opened up the Z-mount to third-parties, which currently limits your autofocus choices to Nikon’s own lenses.

However, Nikon’s initial build-out strategy looks very different from Canon’s: Rather than starting with exotica, Nikon has provided a range of comparatively affordable/portable F1.8 primes, alongside a set of F2.8 and F4 zooms.

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

In terms of focus motors, Nikon seems to primarily be relying on the use of small stepper motors for its lenses so far, which offer decent performance but don’t appear to match linear motors or Canon’s Nano USM technologies for either speed or smoothness. Twin focus groups help to give accurate focus even close-up, in some of Nikon’s zoom lenses, which can also improve on the often modest speeds of single-motor designs.

L-mount: Panasonic, Leica and Sigma

Panasonic, along with Sigma, has aligned itself with Leica by adopting the ‘L’ mount for its full-frame mirrorless cameras. This instantly gives it access to an established lens range (though, like Sony’s, one that is built around a mount originally focused on APS-C). Sigma’s inclusion in the alliance should ensure a wide range of third-party L-mount lenses become available.

All Panasonic cameras so far have been based around the company’s Depth-from-Defocus (DFD) AF system. The degree to which lenses from other members of the L-mount alliance are optimized to this system is not clear at this point. We’d expect Leica’s lenses, which are designed around a distinctly DFD-like approach to work well but we don’t know how closely Sigma has yet embraced the DFD concept. For now we wouldn’t expect the same consistency across native L-mount lenses that we’ve seen from the single-maker systems, but we’d expect Sigma to be working to maximize compatibility.

Diagram covers autofocus primes and high-end zooms in the 14-200mm range. Lineups correct as of April 2020.

Panasonic’s lenses primarily make use of linear focus motors, but use a combination of linear and stepping motors for lenses such as the 50mm F1.4 and its 70-200s that require more glass to be moved around.

DSLR lens support

If you already own a selection of DSLR-mount lenses, then you’ll find that with the right accessories, you can mount them on any of these camera bodies. Since the mirrorless mounts are all shallower, this leaves plenty of room to put an adapter between the lens and body. The performance you get will vary, though.

Canon frequently bundles one of its EF-to-RF adaptors with its RF-mount cameras, and it makes three variants (a simple pass-through tube, another with a control ring around it and a third that lets you drop a choice of filter between the lens and the camera). The dual pixel AF system, combined with Canon’s knowledge of its communication protocol means EF lens users will get probably the best adapted lens experience when using Canon RF-mount bodies. That said, we still wouldn’t necessarily expect DSLR-level performance from all EF lenses when adapted.

Unsurprisingly, you tend to get the best adapted performance if you use DSLR lenses on the same brands’ mirrorless bodies. Don’t expect DSLR levels of performance, though.

Various companies also make EF-to-E adaptors, allowing EF lenses to be used on Sony bodies. And, while not quite as consistent as Canon-on-Canon combinations, we’ve had good experiences with this combination, though generally only with shorter focal lengths. Meanwhile, Sigma makes the MC-21 adapter for using EF lenses with L-mount bodies but, without phase detection AF in any of those cameras, continuous AF is not available.

Nikon also offers kits that include its ‘FTZ’ F-to-Z mount adaptor with some of its camera bodies. This provides a decent level of support for existing lenses but does not contain a focus drive motor, so can only autofocus lenses with their own motors (AF-S, AF-P and AF-I lenses and their third-party equivalents). F-to-E adapters are available, but performance can vary, lens-to-lens, making it more of a gamble.

As you’d probably expect, then, older lenses tend to work most reliably with the cameras made by the same brand. However, they can be used on other systems, so depending on how extensive your existing lens collection is, you may find you can make do with lowered performance, rather than having to sell-up and start again, if you don’t want to remain bound to the whims of the maker of your DSLR.

Summary

As you’d expect, Sony’s nearly five-year head start and openness towards third-party makers has let it build up a significant advantage over its rivals, but all four mounts are already starting to see key holes in their respective lineups being filled.

In the long run, it’s likely that all four systems will be extended to offer a range of mid-range, as well as high-end primes and zooms, but it’s pretty clear that initially, Nikon and Canon are focusing on different sets of users.

Third-party support provides more options in young lens systems.

Nikon and Canon’s decisions to keep their mounts closed to competitors means they can control the consistency of experience for their users (with no risk of a third-party lens offering sub-standard AF speed or smoothness, for instance), but with the downside that you’re entirely dependent on that company’s development priorities, unless you’re happy to take your chances with simple manual focus options.

It’s the third-party makers and their ability and willingness to produce fully-compatible lenses that will be interesting to watch. The adoption rate of Sony E-mount cameras and the availability of the lens protocols is likely to mean most future third-party lenses will be designed around this mount but it’ll be interesting to see which other systems this support gets extended to.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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NAB Show cancelled due to COVID-19, but alternative options are being considered

12 Mar

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Gordon Smith has confirmed the NAB Show has been called off, at least for the time being, due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19 (the coronavirus).

In the announcement shared on the NAB Show website, Smith says:

‘In the interest of addressing the health and safety concerns of our stakeholders and in consultation with partners throughout the media and entertainment industry, we have decided not to move forward with NAB Show in April. We are currently considering a number of potential alternatives to create the best possible experience for our community.’

Later on in the post, Smith notes NAB is ‘still weighing the best potential path forward’ and is ‘committed to exploring all possible alternatives.’

The five-day event was set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada starting April 18, 2020. In addition to CP+ and The Photography Show being canceled or postponed, Adobe, AJA and Nikon all confirmed they wouldn’t be attending the NAB Show, putting a damper on the already doubtful event.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Viewing Images in Lightroom – What Are The Options?

26 Feb

The post Viewing Images in Lightroom – What Are The Options? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

viewing-images-in-lightroom-options

Digital photographers can tend to take tons of photos. Viewing images in Lightroom can be a tedious and time-consuming task if you are not familiar with the various tools available to you. In this article, I’ll outline some techniques and tools to help improve your post-processing workflow.

Lightroom Grid View - Viewing Images in Lightroom

Viewing many images in Lightroom

The most common way of viewing images in Lightroom is by using the Grid View option. You can also use the Filmstrip option.

In Grid View, your main panel in Lightroom is populated with the thumbnails of photos stored in the folder you have open. To select the folder with images you’d like to view, open the left module panels. To do this, you can press F7 on your keyboard, or click on the triangle to the left of your main panel. Then navigate in the Folders tab to the folder you want to open.

Alternatively, you can use the Filmstrip. This shows up below your main panel when you press F6 or click the triangle at the bottom. Using the Filmstrip module, you are limited to viewing the thumbnails at only one size.

In Grid view, you are able to alter the size of the thumbnails. Three ways you can do this are by:

  1. Using the Zoom slider below the main panel and to the right
  2. Using the + and – keys
  3. Holding down the Ctrl key (cmd on Mac) and scrolling your mouse wheel.

Below the main panel, you will also find the option for choosing how Lightroom sorts your images. By default, it uses Capture Time, but you might find it more convenient at times to change this. There are lots of options including File Name, File Type or Label Color.

Lightroom Grid View Options

You can customize the way your Grid View looks.

To do this, go to View in the top menu then click on View Options. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+J (or cmd+J on a Mac). Here you have a lot of control over how the information about your photos is displayed. It may seem overwhelming if you are new to viewing images in Lightroom, but keep in mind these options. They will be good to visit again later when you are more familiar with the software.

Selecting and viewing more than one image in Lightroom

There are various options for ways to view images in Lightroom when you want to compare images. To select the photos you want to compare, click on one, and then, while holding down the Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) key, click on the other photos you want to select.

When you have selected more than two photos, you can press the “N” key. This will bring you into Survey View, where you will only see the photos you have selected. I use this feature often when I am initially culling my photos. Being able to view a limited number of images helps compare them and then select the best one.

Compare viewing images in Lightroom

If you select only two images, you can use the “C” key to bring you into Compare View. This can help you see the differences between two very similar photos. You can view the images side-by-side, full size, and you can zoom in. When you are zoomed, you can use the hand tool to drag around and view different parts of the photos. Both images will move together when you do this. You are also able to change the Candidate image using the arrow keys at the bottom right.

Viewing images with Loupe View

Viewing images in Lightroom using Loupe View allows you to see them much larger. Loupe View gets its name from the magnifying loupe used to view slides and negatives on an old fashioned lightbox. To switch to Loupe View from Grid View, use the “E” key or the spacebar.

Old Fashion Loupe and Lightbox

When you are in this mode, you can view other images in Lightroom by using:

  • The arrow keys
  • The scroll wheel on your mouse (when you are not zoomed in)
  • Or the film strip panel

You can zoom in on an image using the slider under the main panel. Or you can hold down Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) and use the scroll wheel on your mouse. Once you are zoomed in, you can use the hand tool to move the image around.

You can also choose to show a Grid overlay on your images in Loupe View. This option is at the bottom right. If you cannot see one of these options, click on the triangle to the lower right to bring up the panel to display the available tools.

Viewing images in Lightroom Develop Module

The Lightroom Develop Module is where you make adjustments to the way your photographs look. In this module, it’s’ good to be familiar with some of the ways you can view your photos.

One of the functions I use the most in the Develop Module is the “\” key. Hitting this backslash key will show you what your original image looked like prior to you making any adjustments. This helps you see what you are doing and guide you towards further steps you might take.

Another similar option is to use the “Y” key. When you’ve made some changes in the Develop Module, hitting the “Y” key will bring up your original image alongside one with the changes you have made. Once again, when you are zoomed in, you can move the images around in tandem using the hand tool.

Before and After Viewing images in Lightroom

Viewing image information

One more handy tip is to use the “I” key to bring up a display of image information about the photo you are currently viewing. This will show you EXIF data from the image.

You can control and change what you see. To do this, go to View in the top menu and then click on View Options. In either the Loupe View or Develop option panel, check the boxed for the information you’d like displayed.

options for viewing images in Lightroom

Conclusion

I hope you’ve picked up at least two or three useful tips from this article. I’m sure there are many more ways of viewing images in Lightroom. Please share some of the techniques you employ in your regular Lightroom workflow.

The post Viewing Images in Lightroom – What Are The Options? appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.


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Venus Optics adds Canon M, Fuji X and Sony E mount options to its 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens

21 Jan

In addition to DPReview receiving confirmation that Venus Optics is working on a new ultra-fast F0.95 ‘Argus’ lens lineup, Venus Optics has also announced it’s adding new mount options for its 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens.

Now, in addition to Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, the 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens will be available for Canon M-, Fuji X- and Sony E-mount camera systems. The updated models will feature the same optical design constructed of seven elements in six groups. The lens features a 210-degree angle of view, 8cm (3.14in) minimum focusing distance, seven-blade aperture diaphragm and weighs just 135g (4.7oz).

Below is a gallery of sample images, provided by Venus Optics:

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The new Canon M-, Fuji X- and Sony E-mount versions of the 4mm F2.8 circular fisheye lens are currently available on Venus Optics’ website for $ 200.

Venus Optics adds Fuji X, Sony E & Canon M options to the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye Lens

Anhui China, Aug 7, 2019 – Venus Optics, the camera lenses manufacturer specializes in making unique camera lenses, add new Fuji X, Sony E and Canon M variants to the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye Lens.

Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens is an 8mm equivalent fisheye prime specially designed for mirrorless cameras with APS-C and MFT sensors. On the contrary to the Laowa ‘Zero-D’ wide angle lenses, the new 4mm fisheye lens is designed to create an extremely distorted circular fisheye perspective.

210° angle of view The lens features an ultra-wide 210° angle of view. Photographers can take advantage of the dramatic field of view to capture more than what your eyes can see. A full 360-degree panorama can also be done using just 2 images as opposed to shooting 6 or more images with conventional fisheye lenses. This lens is also particularly good for VR photography, shooting virtual tour, skateboard shooting and spherical panorama.

Fast f/2.8 aperture The ultra-fast f/2.8 aperture makes it an ideal option for astro-photography and shooting in lowlight condition.

Focus as close as 3.14” (8cm) from sensor Photographers can take advantage of the super close focusing distance to capture some heavily distorted & impactful shots.

Drones friendly The MFT version of the lens can be mounted on DJI Inspire X5 drones to create some epic ‘God’s vision’ shots.

Outstanding sharpness Houses with 7 elements in 6 groups, the new 4mm has an outstanding sharpness throughout the frame. Along with the 210o ultra-wide angle, photographers can either ‘de-fish’ the image in post-processing or crop to transform the image into a rectilinear image.

Super Tiny & Lightweight The lens is extremely tiny and lightweight. Measuring only 1.77” (45mm) long and weighing 4.7 oz (135g), the lens is so small that can be put into pocket for shooting anywhere, anytime.

Huge Depth of Field The depth of field of this lens is so deep that no focusing operation is required. Simply park the focus ring at infinity focus and stop down the lens to around f/5.6, everything will be in focus.

Pricing & Availability The lens is currently available to order from authorized resellers and in Venus Optics official website (http://www.venuslens.net/). It is ready to ship now. The ex-VAT retail price in US is USD 199/pc. Pricing may vary in different countries.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Venus Optics adds Canon RF, Nikon Z mount options to three of its most popular lenses

04 Dec

Venus Optics has announced it’s adding Canon RF and Nikon Z variants to three of its existing Laowa lenses.

The Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D, 25mm F2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro and 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro have all been altered so they can now work on Canon and Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless systems. Aside from the mount alterations, the lenses remain unchanged from their counterparts.

You can find our previous coverage of the lenses below:

  • Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D
  • Laowa 25mm F2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro
  • Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro

The new Canon RF and Nikon Z mount versions of the Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D ($ 949), 25mm F2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro ($ 399) and 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro ($ 449) are available to purchase on the Venus Optics website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Hands-on: Tamron’s new 24mm and 35mm Di III OSD M1:2 are featherweight options for Sony shooters

30 Oct

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

Tamron just announced a trio of featherweight full-frame lenses for Sony E-mount, each of which weighs less than eight ounces and offers a 1:2 macro capability. The new Di III OSD M1:2 range of F2.8 primes are highly portable options for Sony shooters, which sacrifice lens brightness for impressive compactness and light weight.

We’re still waiting to see results from these new lenses, but we had the chance to check them out in person at last week’s Photo Plus Expo in New York.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

The 20mm F2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 will be coming in the new year, and a working sample wasn’t available to use at the show but it’s physically and cosmetically extremely similar to the 24mm, shown here. The 24mm F2.8 Di OSD M1:2 weighs in at 7.6 oz (215g) and measures 2.5in in length. That’s compared to 7.8 oz for the 20mm, and in fact all three of these new lenses are essentially the same size, not including their hoods.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

All three of the new primes feature ‘front element focusing’ which basically means that when the lenses rack from their nearest to furthest points, the front element moves within the lens, and the size of the lens does not change.

The ‘OSD’ (Optimized Motor Smart Drive) focus motors provide silent automatic focus, although on the a7III which we used, there is some noticeable ‘wobble’ as the lens finds its mark. This could be a pre-production issue (and it could be related to the horrible tradeshow light) but we’ll reserve judgement until we receive final shipping samples.

This photo shows off the shallow petal-style hood of the 24mm F2.8, and the 67mm filter thread, which is common to all three lenses.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

If you didn’t get the message yet, these are tiny lenses, and so light that when mounted onto an a7R II, they feel like they’re hardly even there. Some photographers will always lust after brighter, more ‘professional’ options but for everyday shooting, assuming the image quality holds up, we anticipate these primes being very appealing to casual Sony a7-series shooters.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

The 35mm F2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 looks almost identical to the 24mm, and in fact shares a similar optical design, of nine elements in eight groups (compared to ten elements in nine groups, for the 20mm and 24mm). These contain LD (Low Dispersion) and GM (glass-molded aspherical) lens elements and BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) Coating, to reduce flare and ghosting.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

The 35mm doesn’t need such a wide hood, and ships with a rather attractive ‘snoot’ style hood which serves to protect the front element not only from stray light, but also from accidental scratches and scuffs.

Hands-on with Tamron’s 24 / 35mm Di III OSD M1:2

The hood is removable, at which point the 35mm F2.8 is near-impossible to distinguish from the 20mm and 24mm. The fact that all three lenses weigh almost the same, measure almost the same in length, and use the same 67mm filter thread could lead to confusion when groping around in a dark camera bag, but we suspect that their combined weight of less than 1.5 lb (about 680g) will more than make up for the inconvenience, for a lot of photographers.

All three of Tamron’s new Di III OSD M1:2 lenses will ship for $ 349, with the 24mm and 35mm (featured in this article) shipping next month, and the 20mm coming in early 2020.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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