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Our favorite gear, rewarded: DPReview Awards 2020

25 Nov

DPReview Awards 2020

How is it nearly the end of the year already? Not that any of us are keen for 2020 to last much longer. To say the least, this has been a strange and difficult few months for people all over the globe, and one that we can’t wait to put behind us. The photo industry (like most industries) was impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic this year, but a lot of great products were released nevertheless, even if launch schedules were a little more erratic (and access to samples a lot more disrupted) than normal.

At the end of every year we get together as a team to recognize the standout products of the past 12 months in our annual DPReview Awards. Normally we do that in a room, but hey – contentious multi-participant discussions about which products a bunch of very opinionated professional reviewers like best are what video calls were invented for!

Without further ado, take a look through this article to find out which products made our list of the best gear of 2020.

Best accessory

Shortlist:

Apple iPad Air (2020 version)
DJI Mavic Air 2
DJI Pocket 2
GoPro HERO9 Black

Runner up: GoPro HERO9 Black

‘Go big or come home,’ is a phrase we can only assume is often spoken (or shouted?) at GoPro HQ. And with the new flagship HERO9 Black, GoPro really did go big.

The HERO9 Black offers up to 5K/30p or 4K/60p video from a new 23.6MP sensor; the former gives room to crop-in in post, assuming you’re outputting in 4K. It also features GoPro’s impressive HyperSmooth 3.0 video stabilization, which is easily the best in the action camera class.

Still images are captured at 20MP, up from 12MP on the HERO8 Black. And a new accessory wide angle attachment (sold separately) adds increased versatility to the unit. Long gone are days of confusing button combinations: The HERO9 Black offers a rear touchscreen as well as a front-facing ‘live’ screen. It’s also waterproof, without the need for a case and provides 30% improved battery life over its predecessor. That’s good enough to make it our runner-up for best accessory of the year.

Winner: DJI Mavic Air 2

The DJI Mavic series has likely done more to popularize drone photography than any other product, but in 2020 DJI really hit the sweet spot with the Mavic Air 2. It’s a true Goldilocks product that’s not too little or too much – it’s just right. In our review we called it ‘The best all-round drone for most people’.

While not the smallest drone on the market, the Mavic Air 2 still fits in the palm of your hand. Despite its compact size, it features a camera with a 1/2″ CMOS sensor to deliver better image quality than models with smartphone-style sensors. It captures impressive 4K/60p video and photos in JPEG or Raw, includes HDR and panorama modes, and packs useful features like an obstacle avoidance system and impressive subject tracking. Most important, it’s fun to fly and makes it easy to capture great photos and videos, earning it our photo accessory of the year award.

Best smartphone camera

Shortlist:

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Google Pixel 5
Huawei Mate 40 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

Runner up: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

Sitting at the top of Samsung’s Galaxy S20 lineup, the Ultra earns its name in multiple respects, starting with its massive 6.9” OLED screen. But what stands out most to us is its impressive camera hardware. It offers a large 1/1.33″ 108MP sensor in its main camera module, complemented by a 12MP ultrawide and depth-sensing time-of-flight sensors. An additional 48MP telephoto camera features a 103mm periscope configuration with an f/3.5 aperture, making it a native 4x optical zoom. A 10x “hybrid optic zoom” mode is offered that combines data from both the 108MP wide and 48 MP telephoto modules, and you can go up to 30x with some software upscaling wizardry. All but the ultrawide module offer phase-detect autofocus.

This phone was announced in February of this year and at the end of 2020 it’s still unrivaled in terms of raw camera specs. It’s large main sensor, 8K video, and its Nonacell and Tetracell technologies in the main and tele- modules that allow for higher quality images in low light thanks to hardware binning, to name a few.

In recent history, smartphone camera advancements have largely come from more sophisticated software. To be sure, the S20 Ultra has plenty of software tricks up its sleeves, but Samsung also went big on hardware in this device. For this unique combination of cutting-edge software and hardware, it earns our Best Smartphone runner up.

Read more about the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Winner: Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

Apple reserved its most impressive imaging specifications for the iPhone 12 Pro lineup, with telephoto lenses, LiDAR scanners that enable night portrait mode images, and up to 4K/60p Dolby Vision video. In fact, iPhone 12 phones are the only devices in existence that allow you to capture, edit and display video in the 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR format all on the smartphone itself.

But the iPhone 12 Pro Max takes things a step further, introducing a 47% larger sensor with bigger pixels to the device’s main camera, which in conjunction with the F1.6 main lens aperture allows the Pro Max to capture nearly twice as much light as the previous generation phones. Sensor-shift stabilization has also been added to the main camera for the first time in an iPhone, allowing for better night mode photographs.

While this may not sound like a big deal considering the 1/1.33″ sensors we’ve seen in competitors, it’s the total package that makes the 12 Pro Max our winner. It’s the only smartphone not just capturing but displaying HDR in both stills and video, in more hands than ever before. Yet also doing so also with a large sensor, sensor-shift stabilization and the image processing many have come to know and love of Apple. And seeing HDR photos and videos is believing – it’s one of the next big steps forward in image capture and display, and the 12 Pro Max is going to turn a lot of people into believers. Especially if you set your screen brightness to max!

Best zoom lens

Shortlist:

Nikon Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S
Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S
Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x
Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM

Runner-up: Nikon Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

The third and final member of Nikon’s Z-mount ‘Holy Trinity’ is an impressive lens – the Z 14-24mm F2.8 S. This one had a hard act to follow, vying to replace the very well-liked AF-S 14-24mm F2.8 in the kitbags of Nikon mirrorless upgraders.

Instead of simply adapting and re-housing the older optical design for the new Z-mount, Nikon’s engineers went back to the drawing board, creating a fast wideangle zoom that manages to be smaller, lighter and more practical than its F-mount predecessor, without sacrificing optical quality and, actually, improving on it. This is a wonderfully sharp lens, and very practical too, weighing in at less than 1.5 lbs, with the option of screw-in filter compatibility via an included hood adapter. This is a lens which – like one of its main competitors this year, Sony’s FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM – really shows what optical designers can do with a short flange-back distance.

Read more about the Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S

Joint-winner: Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S

A good 70-200mm F2.8 equivalent seems to be essential in any system which wants to be taken seriously. Nikon announced the Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S way back in January (which feels like years ago) but disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that even now, it’s hard to get hold of.

Assuming you’re lucky enough to get your hands on one, you’ll find a lot to like about the Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S. Perhaps the sharpest of the current (all very sharp) range of similar lenses for competitive mirrorless systems, this powerful telezoom features a very good minimum focus distance, excellent customization, and the ability to accept teleconverters. While it doesn’t have quite the same magic bokeh as the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8E FL ED VR, the cross-frame sharpness and flare-resistance of this native mirrorless lens is superb, making it a very capable companion for users of Nikon’s Z-mount, and the joint-winner in this year’s DPReview Awards for best zoom lens.

Read more about the Nikkor Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S

Joint-winner: Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM

In the end we couldn’t choose between the Nikon Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S and this one. The Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM is a very different kind of lens, but equally excellent in its way. Aimed at landscape and astrophotographers alike, it’s a lens that can replace a handful of primes thanks to its optical performance. It’s tack sharp wide open, and three extreme aspherical (XA), two Super ED and three ED (extra low dispersion) elements help the lens achieve little to no lateral or longitudinal chromatic aberration. Stars and city lights are faithfully rendered thanks to minimal coma, and the precision of XA element grinding ensures smooth bokeh with no onion-rings.

The Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM is impressively lightweight at 847g, only 6.5% heavier than the compact Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art lens. It accepts rear-mount gel filters, and is fast to focus thanks to four extreme dynamic (XD) linear motors that allow it to keep up with the 20 fps frame rate of the Sony a9 cameras. A newer Nano anti-reflective coating allows for lower flare and ghosting. Video shooters will be pleased by the linear focus response, lack of focus breathing, focus shift, and axial shift while zooming.

Read more about the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM

Best prime lens

Shortlist:

Nikon Z 20mm F1.8 S
Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro
Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art
Sony FE 20mm F1.8G

Runner-up: Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro

Another in a line of excellent ‘DN’ (Digital Native) lenses from Sigma, the 105mm F2.8 was designed specifically for full-frame mirrorless cameras, and delivers excellent results on the latest Sony E-mount and Panasonic/Leica/Sigma L-mount bodies.

Medium-telephoto macro lenses like this one are excellent for closeup work of smaller animals and plants, where you want to be able to maintain a reasonable camera-subject distance. They’re also handy as portrait lenses, where the longer focal length and sharpness wide-open help compensate for the relatively slow maximum aperture compared to a conventional portrait prime. As one of (still) very few native macro options for full-frame mirrorless shooters, the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro earns its runner-up spot in this year’s DPReview Award for best prime lens.

Read more about the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro

Winner: Sony FE 20mm F1.8G

The Sony 20mm F1.8G takes the top spot in our awards for prime lens of the year thanks to the fact that it’s nearly optically flawless. It’s sharp enough wide open to pair with the high-resolution 60MP a7R IV, with nearly no lateral or longitudinal chromatic aberration to speak of – particularly impressive for a lens of this type. Bokeh is smooth with no onion rings or bright edges. Nine aperture blades ensure smooth out-of-focus highlights even as you stop down, and for astrophotographers, there’s minimal sagittal flare or coma.

Autofocus is extremely speedy thanks to XD (extreme dynamic) linear focus actuators. Distortion and vignetting are also well-controlled and easily fixed in post-processing. The only flaw we can find really is a tendency to flare and ghost, but that’s excusable for a lens of this type and considering its lack of other optical aberrations.

As the most well-corrected lenses of this type that we’ve ever seen, the Sony 20mm F1.8G easily wins our prime lens of the year.

Best compact/fixed lens camera

Shortlist:

Fujifilm X100V
Nikon Coolpix P950
Sony ZV1
Zeiss ZX1

Runner-up: Nikon Coolpix P950

In a year with few highlights, testing the Nikon Coolpix P950 was definitely among them. Maybe the perfect camera for shooting during quarantine, if you can’t find some interesting photographic perspectives with a 24-2000mm zoom range, it’s time to find another hobby.

It’s all too easy to sneer at ‘big lens, small sensor’ cameras like this, but do so at your peril. The Coolpix P900 sold like hotcakes, and the P950 is a better camera, and nicer to use, too (thanks to Raw mode and a better EVF, respectively). If you respect its limits, the P950 will reward you with images that would be near-impossible to get with any other comparably-priced setup. A good camera removes obstacles to creativity, and for that reason the Nikon Coolpix P950 earns its runner-up spot in our category for compact / fixed-lens camera this year.

Winner: Fujifilm X100V

And the Nikon Coolpix P950 would probably have won outright, were it not for this pesky kid. The Fujifilm X100V is the fifth camera in the company’s perennially-popular X100 range, and brings far more substantial changes compared to previous iterations. Featuring a new 26MP BSI-CMOS sensor, flip-out, touch-sensitive rear-screen and redesigned lens, the X100V is a significantly better camera than its forebears.

We’ve always loved the X100-series, and it was very good to see Fujifilm’s engineers really grasp the nettle this year and make some bolder updates to the concept. And while some photographers might still consider the X100V’s fixed 35mm equivalent lens to be limiting, it’s worth noting that the redesigned lens makes the company’s wide and tele-converters perform a lot better than they did on some previous X100-series models. For everyday photography the X100V is a reliable and enjoyable companion, and as such it takes the top spot in our 2020 DPReview Award for best compact/fixed-lens camera.

Best stills / video camera

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R6
Fujifilm X-T4
Panasonic Lumix DC-S5
Sony a7S III

Runner up: Canon EOS R6

The EOS R6 risks being overshadowed by the 8K-capable R5 (and the initial concerns about how it recovers from overheating), but its a hugely capable stills / video camera.

The ability to record in 10-bit, either as Log or PQ HDR footage, is impressive, as is the option to shoot 4K/60p, but its appeal goes beyond that. Its stabilization is excellent, its autofocus is reliable and the video and stills settings are kept separate to a good degree, making it easy to switch back and forth. A firmware update that improves recovery times means it’s primarily its rolling shutter that counts against it. But even with this taken into account, there are few cameras at the price that make it easier to shoot genuinely excellent video.

Winner: Sony a7S III

Instead of chasing headline specs, Sony told us its priorities for the a7S III centered around reliability. In that spirit, it stuck with a 12MP sensor to capture native 4K, but its an all-new BSI sensor with dual gain architecture and fast rolling shutter performance. As a result, the camera can capture 4K/60p using the full width of its sensor, and up to 4K/120p with a slight (1.1x) crop, all in 4:2:2 10-bit color.

The a7S III also benefits from updated codecs, including a new All-I ‘intra-frame’ option, 16-bit Raw video output over HDMI, and dual-twin card slots that support both SD and CFexpress Type A. It’s also the first a7-series camera to feature a fully articulating screen in addition to Sony’s class-leading AF system, and it can record 4-channel audio with a new XLR adapter. the a7S III’s biggest drawback is that it’s stuck at 12MP for stills. Native 4K may result in slightly less detail than the oversampled video found on competitors, but it’s still the most impressive stills/video hybrid we’ve seen this year unless you really need more than 4K resolution.

Best entry-level ILC

Shortlist:

Canon EOS Rebel T8i
Fujifilm X-S10
Fujifilm X-T200
Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV

Runner-up: Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV is one of the dark horses of the current photography market. Introduced this year without much fanfare, on the surface the E-M10 IV might look like an iterative update to the venerable E-M10-series, and in some ways of course it is. But iteration is good! With the Mark IV, Olympus has created arguably its most competitive consumer ILC yet.

With a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor (an upgrade from the rather long-in-the-tooth 16MP sensor used in the last generation) and built-in IBIS effective for ~4.5EV, the OM-D E-M10 IV is a more powerful tool than its predecessors. It’s fairly fast (max shooting with AF is possible up to 4.5fps) and offers a decent electronic viewfinder, a flip-down touchscreen on the back, and 4K video. While its menu system and GUI can be overwhelming at first, the amount of features and technology that Olympus has packed into the E-M10 IV make it an excellent option for a keen beginner.

Read more about the Olympus
OM-D E-M10 IV

Winner: Fujifilm X-S10

The Fujifilm X-S10 is one of our favorite cameras of the year (spoiler alert). It uses the same sensor, processor and AF system as the flagship X-T4, and is only the third Fujifilm X-series camera to offer built-in stabilization, using a newly-developed compact IBIS mechanism. Meanwhile the deep handgrip recalls the popular X-H1.

Far from being a ‘parts bin’ camera, the X-S10 brings something genuinely new to Fujifilm’s lineup, offering a more conventional (less dial-driven) interface with a PASM exposure mode control which will be familiar to anyone who has used an entry-level camera from another manufacturer. Its performance, both in terms of autofocus and speed, is excellent, as is image quality in stills and video modes. While just on the cusp of ‘midrange’ considering its price, if you have the money, the Fujifilm X-S10 is one of the best entry-level ILCs on the market, and takes first place this year in our DPReview Awards.

Best midrange ILC

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R6
Fujifilm X-T4
Nikon Z5
Nikon Z6 II

Runner-up: Fujifilm X-T4

Fujifilm’s flagship APS-C format camera, the X-T4 is a model that we find ourselves recommending to friends and family quite often. There was apparently some debate within Fujifilm about whether to call this the ‘X-T3S’ but it was decided that enough had been changed to justify an entirely new model name.

We tend to agree. While the X-T4 looks a lot like the X-T3 (and the X-T2… and the X-T1…) it’s a better and more competitive camera. Now featuring a powerful in-body stabilization system (effective up to an impressive ~6.5EV) and 4K/60p video, the X-T4 is a highly versatile tool. We’ve seen the 26MP BSI-CMOS sensor before in the X-T3 and X100V, but it’s still among the best (if not the best) of its type on the market. Pound for pound and dollar-for-dollar, the Fujifilm X-T4 offers fantastic value, and it’s a lot of fun to shoot with, too.

Winner: Canon EOS R6

Now that full-frame mirrorless cameras have joined APS-C models in all market segments, it’s harder than ever to divide products up into categories. As you’d expect, the full-frame Canon EOS R6 costs a lot more than the APS-C Fujifilm X-T4, but it’s aimed at essentially the same kind of customers: advanced amateurs and enthusiast photographers, and perhaps professional photographers looking for a second, video-capable body.

It’s hard to imagine a camera better suited to this constituency of users than the Canon EOS R6. It’s fast, powerful and offers excellent autofocus. It’s a great stills camera, which produces very nice JPEGs and offers good (while not class-leading) dynamic range in Raw mode. The R6 also provides one of the sharpest and most responsive electronic viewfinders on the market, and offers an impressive video feature-set, in addition to stills. As a ‘do everything’ camera for enthusiast photographers the Canon EOS R6 is very hard to beat and is likely to remain competitive for a long time. As such, it’s a worthy winner of our 2020 DPReview Award for best midrange ILC.

Best high-end ILC

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R5
Canon EOS-1D X Mark III
Nikon D6
Nikon Z7 II

Runner-up: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III

Announced in early January this year, the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III was meant to be Canon’s ‘Olympics’ camera, for the games originally planned in Tokyo this summer. We all know how well that worked out of course, but sports isn’t the only thing that the EOS-1D X Mark III is good for. Despite being a ‘Mark’ update, the Mark III brings a lot of new and impressive technology to Canon’s pro market segment. Blazing speed and extreme durability are a given, but in the Mark III, Canon created the nearest thing to a true ‘hybrid’ camera we’ve seen to date.

In DSLR mode the EOS-1D X Mark III is a conventional pro camera, albeit an extremely good one. But with the mirror locked up in live view mode, it offers many of the advantages of a high-end mirrorless ILC. These include near full-frame autofocus coverage, sophisticated AF tracking courtesy of an advanced Dual-pixel CMOS autofocus system and silent shooting with a maximum frame-rate of 20fps. Oh, and up to 5.5K/60p Raw video. The vast majority of photographers won’t need many of this camera’s features, but for those that do, the EOS-1D X Mark III is up there with the best of the pro bodies currently available.

Read more about the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III

Winner: Canon EOS R5

The R5 is a more costly and pro-focused camera than the R6, and at the time of its announcement, the big news was its unique ability (among cameras of this type) to shoot 8K video. Arguably, though, 8K video is the least of the reasons to be interested in the EOS R5. Much more useful to most photographers is its excellent resolution, highly effective autofocus system (closing the gap substantially with Sony’s best-in-class implementation in the a9/II) and photographer-friendly ergonomics. As a stills and video tool for serious professional photography, the EOS R5 has a lot to offer, even if overheating concerns did take the shine off some of its headline video features (something which, to Canon’s credit, has been improved via firmware since its release).

It seems strange to talk about any company having ‘a good year’ given the unmitigated chaos of 2020, but for Canon it’s actually kind of true. Alongside the EOS-1D X Mark III and several excellent lenses, this was this year that Canon made its most convincing entry into serious full-frame mirrorless imaging with the winner of our 2020 DPReview Award for best high-end ILC – the EOS R5.

DPReview innovation award

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 600 & 800mm F11 IS STM
DJI Mavic Air 2
iPhone 12 Lineup

Runner-up: Canon RF 600/800mm F11 IS STM

While neither of these lenses will challenge more conventional, brighter-aperture telephoto primes for ultimate image quality, they’re unique in that they bring true, practical telephoto shooting into range for amateur and enthusiast photographers. Considering their reach, both lenses are relatively small and lightweight, and while F11 can be limiting, autofocus support (including even using the RF 2X converter on the EOS R5 and R6) and built-in image stabilization make them surprisingly versatile.

We’ve seen collapsing mechanisms in lenses before, and we’ve seen diffractive optics used to reduce the weight and complexity of telephoto lens designs. It’s the combination of the two technologies which makes the Canon RF 600mm and 800mm F11 IS STM so innovative, and so special.

Read more about the Canon RF 600mm and 800mm F11 IS STM

Winner: iPhone 12 Lineup

This year we’re awarding the entire Apple iPhone 12 lineup for our Innovation of the Year award, because it brings HDR to the masses. No, not the overly tone-mapped, flat HDR you’re thinking of. We’re talking about high dynamic range (HDR) display of both images and video. Like the previous two generations of iPhones, the iPhone 12 captures a wide dynamic range and tonemaps this large range into the final image. Under SDR viewing conditions (like your web browser) this can lead to high dynamic range images appearing somewhat flat. However, these very images viewed directly on iPhones with OLED displays appear quite the opposite of flat, with very bright brights (skies, clouds, lights) and dark shadows, thanks to HDR playback. HDR playback (like Dolby Vision/HDR10/HLG for video) tries to preserve the contrast between brights and darks to produce more realistic results, so that sunlit grass actually looks radiant compared to grass in the shadows, for example.

This year, down to its cheapest iPhone 12 Mini, Apple has included an HDR OLED display and Dolby Vision video. Apple has been displaying HDR stills since the iPhone X, but this is the first time it’s doing so across its entire lineup, and for video as well with Dolby Vision, a format that optimizes scene dynamic range on a frame-by-frame basis. Add to that the wide P3 color space used for both stills and video, and you have some of the nicest looking imagery from any device. Not to mention one you can carry in your pocket.

Read more about the Apple iPhone 12 line

DPReview product of the year 2020

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R6
Fujifilm X100V
Fujifilm X-S10
Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM

Runner-up: Fujifilm X-S10

The Fujifilm X-S10 might not bring much to the X-series lineup that’s genuinely ‘new’, but the way that its various features are packaged is extremely impressive – and very appealing. Built around a newly-designed compact IBIS system, the X-S10 breaks with Fujifilm’s traditional ‘traditional‘ control layout, offering a slightly more streamlined experience, more in line with competitive models.

These tweaks – plus a large, comfortable grip and a very attractive stills and video feature-set – make the X-S10 a seriously compelling camera for its price. The competition for our ‘Product of the Year’ award is always very tough, but the Fujifilm X-S10 beats out stiff competition to take the runner-up spot thanks to its uncommonly attractive suite of features, coupled with a great handling experience that make it a pleasure to shoot with.

Winner: Canon EOS R6

The Canon EOS R6 is one of relatively few cameras we’ve seen over the years which can genuinely be described as ‘multi-purpose’. While not class-leading in terms of resolution, 20MP is enough for most applications, especially when paired with such a powerful autofocus system, which rivals or outclasses the best of the R6’s competition at this price-point.

Designed as a ‘do-everything’ camera for both stills and occasional video shooters, the R6 offers a suite of advanced features in both modes. But arguably none of this would matter so much if it weren’t such a nice camera to use. The Canon EOS R6 is one of the most photographer (and videographer)-friendly cameras of its type, with performance that means it’s equally comfortable shooting sports and wildlife as it is covering weddings and events. It’s this combination of features, performance and excellent handling which make the Canon EOS R6 such a compelling camera, and the winner of this year’s DPReview Award for product of the year.

Lightroom Color Grading: An Easy Way to Supercharge Your Photos

25 Nov

The post Lightroom Color Grading: An Easy Way to Supercharge Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

The October 2020 update to Lightroom Classic introduced a feature called Color Grading, which puts an advanced color-correction tool in the hands of everyone who uses Lightroom.

For newcomers who have never tried this technique, it can feel a bit overwhelming.

But with a bit of practice, you’ll get the hang of Lightroom color grading in no time at all. And you’ll be able to give your photos the Hollywood treatment you never knew you could achieve!

young man portrait — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/2000s | f/1.8 | ISO 200

What is color grading?

While color grading is often associated with film productions, it applies to photography just as easily.

Color grading refers to the process of changing global attributes of an image to give it a specific look or feel. It’s a subjective, stylistic process that can involve many different types of edits, but generally involves changing the appearance of the highlights, shadows, and midtones of a picture. This allows a photographer to create a mood or tone, and convey a certain emotion to the viewer.

In a strict sense, any stylistic adjustments to an image could be considered color grading. Adjusting the HSL/Color panel or tweaking the tone curve are both valid color grading techniques.

However, when most editors talk about color grading, they are referring to the way a specific tint is applied to the shadows, highlights, and midtones.

A common color grading technique in movies, for instance, involves giving shadows a teal color and making midtones more orange. This gives a more intense, cinematic feel to films and the same is true for photos.

kids walking without color grading — Nikon D750 | 200mm | f/2.8 | 1/250s | f/2.8 | ISO 220. Ungraded.

kids walking with color grading — The same image as above, but with color grading applied in Lightroom. The shadows are slightly more teal, the highlights are slightly more yellow, and the midtones are just a bit more orange.

Color grading vs split toning

The Color Grading tool replaces a tool called Split Toning, which was available as its own panel in the Develop module in earlier versions of Lightroom.

Split Toning was like a beta version of Color Grading, in that it let users adjust the tint of shadows and highlights, but not the midtones. While this was certainly useful, the omission of midtone editing was a frustrating sore spot that dramatically limited the value of the tool.

Lightroom color grading split toning — The Lightroom Split Toning panel, which let users adjust the hue and saturation of only the highlights and shadows. The Color Grading tool does everything that Split Toning did and much more.

Color Grading contains all the functionality of Split Toning – and much more. In fact, any photos that were edited using Split Toning will have their adjustments completely intact thanks to the Color Grading tool.

In addition to midtone editing, the Color Grading tool introduces the vastly more useful color wheels in place of linear sliders:

The Lightroom Color Grading tool: a step by step guide

While the color grading tool has incredible depth, accessing it and getting started could hardly be easier.

Open Lightroom and click on the Develop module.

Then open the Color Grading panel on the right side, and you’re all set.

The Lightroom Color Grading panel consists of three color wheels in the middle, a line of icons at the top, and two sliders at the bottom. Each of the color wheels lets you change the tint of its respective range: midtones, shadows, and highlights.

Click and drag anywhere on one of the color wheels and you will immediately see the edit applied to your image. As you drag the slider, note that the distance from the center adjusts the saturation of the color grade, while the position of the slider around the circle adjusts its hue.

You can also click and drag the inner circle to adjust only the saturation and use the outer circle to adjust the hue. The slider at the bottom can be used to change the overall luminance of the midtones, shadows, or highlights, depending on which color wheel you are using.

Click and hold the eye icon just below and to the right of a color wheel to temporarily remove the tint adjustment, and then release the mouse button to re-engage the adjustment. Double-click anywhere inside a color wheel to reset the tint if you want to start over.

The Blending slider at the bottom of the Color Grading panel lets you adjust how much the midtones, shadows, and highlights blend together.

The Balance slider lets you customize the overall balance of highlights and shadows; values greater than 0 make the highlight edits more pronounced, while values less than 0 increase the presence of the shadow edits.

Lightroom Color Grading blending balance — Move Blending to the left to keep your shadows, midtones, and highlights separate from each other. Move Blending to the right to make your edits blend in with one another. Slide Balance to the left to make your edits to the shadows apply to more of the image. Slide it to the right to make your highlight edits more prominent. Or just leave these sliders alone and you’ll probably be just fine.

Look closely at the top of the Color Grading panel and you will see a strange-looking row of circular icons. The first appears to be some kind of alien hieroglyph, while the rest look like circles with different shading patterns. These switch between the different modes within the Color Grading panel.

The first icon, with three small circles, shows all three editing options at once: Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows. The others let you adjust a single parameter at a time. The final icon is a global Hue/Saturation/Luminance adjustment.

If you want more fine-tuned adjustments, you can click on one of the icons that show a much larger version of any of the three adjustment parameters. This can help you select your adjustments with pinpoint accuracy and give you greater control over precisely how your edits are implemented.

How to use the Color Grading tool for great results

As you make adjustments, keep in mind that there is no one correct way to use the Color Grading panel. It’s merely another tool in your arsenal to help you get your images looking the way you want.

That being said, if you want to get your feet wet but aren’t sure how to start, let’s walk through a color grading edit so you can see firsthand how it can be used to give your pictures an extra bit of punch and visual impact.

kids running in an alley with no color grading — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/180s | f/4.0 | ISO 1250. Original photo without any color grading applied.

For a scene like the one above, with a lot of tonal variety, I like to start by editing the shadows first. Rather than using the all-in-one adjustment option with all three circles showing, I prefer to use the larger circles to edit each parameter individually. I like the fine-grained control this gives me.

I recommend you start by adjusting the Luminance slider, which will make the darkest portions of the image even darker when pushed to the left, or brighter when pushed to the right. For this example, I’m going to make shadows punchier by decreasing the luminance.

Then click and drag on the color wheel to add a teal tint to the shadows; this will start to give the photo a more cinematic feel. Your shot might look a little weird with only the shadows adjusted, but it will come together after you customize the highlights and midtones.

kids running in an alley — Color grading applied to the shadows.

Next, click the Highlights option and adjust the Luminance slider to make the brightest portions of the photo lighter or darker. Some people prefer to adjust the Luminance before doing any color editing, but this is up to you.

Once you have the Luminance adjusted, click on the wheel to add a bit of orange. This will make the brightest portions of the image really stand out from the darkest portions of the image, since teal and orange are on opposite sides of the color wheel.

At this point, the example image is starting to come together. It has a grittier, cinematic feel compared to the original, thanks to a touch of teal in the shadows and orange in the highlights.

After the highlights and shadows are edited, head to the Midtones wheel to give your image a warmer or cooler feel overall. Instead of changing the appearance of the brightest or darkest portions of your image, the Midtones wheel affects everything between those two extremes.

Midtone adjustments are useful for giving your entire picture more of a warm or cool feeling. Adjust the Luminance slider, then click and drag the dot to orange or red to make your photo warmer, or blue to make it cooler.

At this point, the image is nearing completion, and you can see the results below. It’s a far cry from the original, which feels flat and boring by comparison.

Lightroom Color Grading kids running alley — The shadows, highlights, and midtones have been adjusted. But the image isn’t quite done yet.

After editing the shadows, highlights, and midtones, it’s time to tweak the Blending and Balance sliders.

As I explained above, blending refers to how much each of the three parameters stays within its own range. It has a default value of 50, which results in a relatively smooth color grade overall.

Sliding Blending to the left means the edits to shadows are confined almost exclusively to the darkest portions of the shot, and the edits to the highlights are confined almost exclusively to the lightest portions of the shot. A balance of 0 essentially makes each of the edits stay in its own lane and not affect the rest of the picture. And bringing the Balance slider to the right will increase how much each tonal area overlaps with one another. The result is often quite subtle, but can have a noticeable impact when applied carefully.

Now, the Balance slider determines how much of the picture is treated as shadows and how much is treated as highlights. Moving the slider to the left takes whatever adjustments you made to the shadows and applies them to more of the picture overall. The same happens to the highlight edits when you move the slider to the right.

If you have applied a certain tint to the shadows but want that tint to affect more of the picture, move the Balance slider to the left. Likewise, if you want your highlight adjustment to apply to more than just the brightest portions, adjust the Balance slider to the right.

Tips and tricks for Lightroom color grading

The key to color grading is to remember that there is no one magic solution. Don’t think of color grading as a search for the right way to adjust your image, but as a doorway to infinite possibilities that can be used however you see fit.

The best way to learn about color grading is to click around on the color wheels and experiment on your own. Lightroom is non-destructive, so you can always revert back to your earlier image. And in the meantime, you just might find a new way to edit your pictures that you never thought of before.

sunset on a lake without color grading — Fujifilm X100F | 23mm | 77 seconds | f/16 | ISO 200. Edited, but not color graded.

That being said, these tips will send you on your way to improving your color grading skills:

Edit your image to have an even exposure prior to using the Lightroom Color Grading tool. Use the Basic panel for highlights/shadows adjustments.
Give your shadows a richer look by adjusting them to be teal, blue, or purple
Contrast the highlights with the shadows by making them yellow, orange, or red
Adjust the midtones a little, but not too much. The midtones should complement the highlights and shadows, not compete by standing out.
For subtle tweaks, use the Blending slider to control how your graded colors meld together
Click the eye icon next to one of the color wheels to toggle between a before and after view

Sunset on a lake with color grading — The same image as above, but color graded. The shadows are blue, the highlights are orange, and the midtones are yellow-orange.

Lightroom color grading: conclusion

You should now have enough to get started with Lightroom color grading. Just remember that the goal here is the same as it is with most editing: You want to end up with an image you like! Color grading is just another tool you can use to make that happen.

Lightroom is a non-destructive editor. That means you can always undo your changes, so experiment with color grading as much as you want. And feel free to share your before and after images in the comments below!

The post Lightroom Color Grading: An Easy Way to Supercharge Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Fujifilm Introduces FUJIFILM GFX100 IR for 100MP infrared imaging

25 Nov

Image shows standard Fujifilm GFX100

Fujifilm has announced a special version of its 100MP GX100, for infrared imaging. Photography is possible at up to 400MP, courtesy of a new ‘Pixel Shift Combiner’ feature The new camera will be available for special order in early 2021.

Press release:

Fujifilm Introduces FUJIFILM GFX100 IR (Infrared) Large Format Mirrorless Digital Camera

Valhalla, N.Y., November 25, 2020 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of FUJIFILM GFX100 IR digital camera (GFX100 IR), a uniquely specialized version of its GFX100 large format mirrorless digital camera, now with infrared image-making capabilities, which can be produced upon order for professionals in forensic, scientific, and cultural preservation fields. Infrared images can now be made at 100MP – and even at 400MP through GFX100 IR’s new Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function – to reveal intricate details within a subject or scene that can only normally be seen through the infrared spectrum.

GFX100 IR also includes the ability to:

Make images in the infrared spectrum at an incredible 100MP or 400MP of resolution

Images made of a subject within the infrared spectrum can reveal details that a regular (non-IR) digital camera or the naked eye cannot see. For example, in the field of forensics, this can be an important tool in helping to identify counterfeit documents. For individuals working in cultural preservation, GFX100 IR can be used to analyze pigments in works of art and historical artifacts, even if they have degraded over time. Using the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot feature on GFX100 IR can create 400MP images with incredible detail and little-to-no color fringing.

“Using GFX100 IR with the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot feature is invaluable for cultural research because reviewing images in infrared could lead to unlocking the secrets of some of history’s most treasured artifacts,” said Victor Ha, senior director of marketing and product development for FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “It can also be an incredibly powerful tool for researchers using the images to evaluate works of art or pieces of evidence.”

Use special filters to make images within specific wavelengths

Different IR filters in front of the camera lens can be used to make images at various wavelengths, which can reveal different details within a subject. However, using the appropriate IR cut filter will allow GFX100 IR to be used normally (i.e. in the same manner as the standard FUJIFILM GFX100 digital camera) to make regular, color images within the visible spectrum.

Additionally, when the camera is set in a fixed position and paired with Capture One or a similarly compatible software application to engage tethered capture functionality, users can create images with the same angle of view. This enables them to maintain a simple capture to output workflow for maximum efficiency.

Availability

GFX100 IR is designed for forensic, scientific, and cultural preservation applications, and the product will not be made available to general photographers or customers for personal use. GFX100 IR will only be offered by specific, Fujifilm authorized retailers, and sales of GFX100 IR will be subject to a GFX100 IR User Agreement, which sets out the specific terms of use for the camera. GFX100 IR is currently expected to be available in the first quarter of 2021.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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A Guide to Repairing Camera Lens Scratches

25 Nov

That feeling when you take the lens cap off to reveal a scratch. How did that get there? When did that happen? Is it going to affect my photos? These are just some of the questions that will no doubt run through your head should you find yourself in this situation. Cameras and their lenses are expensive pieces of equipment Continue Reading

The post A Guide to Repairing Camera Lens Scratches appeared first on Photodoto.

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Video: ‘One Shot’ shows what it takes to capture an iconic image at the Olympic games

25 Nov

A thread on Reddit has brought a neat photography documentary from 2017 to our attention. ‘One Shot: Photographing the Olympic Games’ is a behind the scenes look at how photographers capture the iconic images of the Olympics, including a special focus on photographers setting up to capture the 100m men’s final in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 summer games.

Featured photographers include multi-awarded photographers such as Lucy Nicholson, Dave Burnett, Bob Martin, Tim de Waele, and Tsuyoshi Matsumoto. Nicholson had a very specific image in mind for the 100m men’s final in Rio. As she sets up her gear, nine hours ahead of the starting gun kicking off what is one of the most exciting 10 seconds in sports, Nicholson talks about how she wants a tight shot of the winner with other sprinters on either side of the winner. ‘You only get one chance to take the key shot,’ Nicholson says.

A chart showing Sports Illustrated’s plans for photographing the 100m men’s final in Rio. Click to enlarge.

The documentary, seen below, was awarded the Candido Cannavo Award at the World Final of the Milan Sport Film Festival in 2018. About 150 iconic images from nearly 100 different photographers over the last 50 years of Olympic games are featured. An iconic image tells a story for years to come. Long after the medals have been awarded to the victors, and even long after the photographer has passed, the images and the stories they tell remain. Presenter Jonathan Edwards, Olympic gold medalist triple jumper, says it well, ‘A story that’s taken a lifetime to create, told in one shot. One freeze frame.’

Years of planning are required to create iconic images, and in under a minute, an iconic photo can be sent halfway around the globe. The technology on display in 2016 during the summer games was incredible. Reuters was able to get the first photo of Usain Bolt winning the 100m men’s final out to its customers in 58 seconds. It’s safe to assume that the technology will have advanced even further when photographers head to Tokyo in 2021. And while the equipment and tools photographers use continue to evolve, photography’s importance when telling a story remains unchanged.

‘One Shot’ was directed and written by Peter Davies and presented by Jonathan Edwards. As pointed out by PetaPixel, the documentary can also be viewed on the Olympic Channel. It’s hosted on YouTube by Anthony Edgar, the Head of Media Operations for the International Olympic Committee. Edgar also appears in the video. His channel, linked above, includes a lot of interesting Olympics-related video content.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Sigma to release a new ‘DN’ lens for mirrorless camera systems via livestream on December 1

25 Nov

Sigma has announced it will be showing off a new Digital Neo (DN) lens on December 1 during its ‘Sigma Stage Online’ livestream.

No further information has been shared about what kind of lens we can expect, but with the livestream just a week out, we won’t have to wait long. The livestream will take place at 7am ET (4am PT) using the below video:

You can subscribe to Sigma’s Youtube channel to keep up to date with the latest news and click the ‘Set reminder’ button on the above video to receive a push notification before the livestream starts.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Review: Does the Canon Rebel T8i DSLR make sense in an increasingly mirrorless world?

25 Nov

Introduction

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The Canon EOS Rebel T8i (also known as the EOS 850D or Kiss X10i in some markets) is a 24MP DSLR camera that is compatible with the company’s EF and EF-S mount lenses. It has an optical viewfinder, but it also has a usable and responsive touchscreen interface and live view experience that’s a match for the company’s mirrorless camera options.

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For much of the world, shifting consumer preferences towards mirrorless cameras have left DSLRs looking like relics of history, though Europe and the Americas remain holdouts. Last year, Europeans still bought about 1.4 DSLRs for every mirrorless camera sold, while in the Americas the ratio was even higher at 1.7:1.

So why might you consider a DSLR in our increasingly mirrorless world? Some photographers still prefer DSLRs for their crisp, lag-free through-the-lens viewfinders, and there’s a much wider array of lenses available to DSLR shooters without the need for adapters.

ISO 2500 | 1/100 sec | F5 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 44mm

Yet relatively few manufacturers are left in the consumer DSLR market. Only Canon, Nikon and Ricoh (which makes Pentax-branded DSLRs) remain, making new models few and far between. Among these, Canon’s EOS Rebel series are the biggest sellers. The Rebel T8i now sits at the top of that line, replacing 2017’s T7i.

Priced at $ 749.99 body-only or $ 900 with an EF-S 18-55mm IS STM kit lens, the Canon T8i is available immediately.

Key specifications

24-megapixel APS-C image sensor
EF or EF-S lens compatibility
ISO 100 to 25,600, extends to 51,200
7 fps continuous shooting, or 7.5 fps in live view
45 point, all cross-type phase-detect AF
0.51x pentamirror viewfinder with 95% coverage
3.0″ vari-angle touch-screen LCD
24p 4K video with 1.6x crop, or full-sensor 1080p60
800 shot battery life, or 310 shots with live view

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 250 | 1/100 sec | F5.6 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 55mm

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What’s new and how it compares

The AF-ON button and rear dial make the T8i a more flexible camera for users to learn and grow with than lesser Rebels.

Externally, the 24-megapixel Canon T8i looks very similar to its predecessor from most angles, although there are some control tweaks to be found on its rear panel including a new rear control dial and AF-On button. While Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity remain, NFC has been dropped as the constant Bluetooth connection speeds up the connection process the way NFC used to. Lastly, the flash must now be raised manually when needed, as it can no longer pop up by itself. As we’ll see later on, this is a good thing.

On the inside, while the sensor resolution and sensitivity range are unchanged, a faster image processor allows a modest increase in burst performance. It’s now rated at 7 frames per second through the viewfinder, or 7.5 fps in live view mode, up from 6 fps in the T7i. There’s also a somewhat finer-grained 384-zone metering sensor in place of the earlier 315-zone sensor.

The Rebel T8i uses a familiar 24MP sensor with Dual Pixel AF that offers solid noise performance and resolution.

Canon has also added support for 4K movie capture, although this comes with several limitations including a significant focal length crop, contrast-detection autofocus (rather than the more reliable Dual Pixel AF you get in lesser Full HD modes) and a fixed 24 fps frame rate. And autofocus algorithms have been refined to add eye detection in live view mode, and face detection when shooting through the viewfinder.

How it compares…

Compared with two of its mirrorless rivals, the Nikon Z50 and Sony a6100, the Canon T8i offers much better battery life, so long as you stick to its optical viewfinder. The T8i is quite a bit bulkier though, despite not offering weather-sealing.

	Canon T8i	Nikon Z50	Sony a6100
MSRP (body)	$ 749.99	$ 859.95	$ 750
Sensor	24.1MP APS-C	20.9MP APS-C	24MP APS-C
Type	DSLR	Mirrorless	Mirrorless
Sensitivity (native)	100-25600	100-51200	100-32000
Lens mount	Canon EF / EF-S	Nikon Z	Sony E
Viewfinder type	Optical pentamirror SLR	2.36M-dot OLED EVF	1.44M-dot EVF
Viewfinder magnif. / coverage	0.51x, 95%	0.68x, 100%	0.71x, 100%
LCD	3” fully articulating	3.2” tilting	3” tilting
Touch-screen	Yes	Yes	Yes
Included flash	Pop-up	Pop-up	Pop-up
Weather-sealing	No	Yes	No
Max. burst	7.0 fps (viewfinder) / 7.5 fps (live view)	5 fps (mechanical) / 11 fps (electronic)	11 fps (mechanical)
Max. shutter	1/4000	1/4000	1/4000
Video	4K/24p, 1080/24-60p	4K/24-30p, 1080/ 24-120p	4K/24-30p, 1080/ 24-120p
4K crop	1.6x	None	1.2x (4K/30p)
Battery life (CIPA)	800 shots (OVF); 310 shots (Live View)	320 shots	420 shots
Dimensions	131 x 103 x 76mm	127 x 94 x 60mm	120 x 67 x 59mm
Weight	515 g	450 g	396 g

One thing that’s hard to capture in a table are the differences between the camera’s AF systems. In its optical viewfinder, the T8i’s 45 autofocus points are centrally clustered, which can get in the way of creative compositions. Switch into live view and you have autofocus points spread across the frame, the same as the other options give you on their rear screens and their electronic viewfinders.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 500 | 1/60 sec | F4 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm

Compared to the smaller and more affordable Canon Rebel SL3, the T8i offers more sophisticated autofocus through its slightly smaller finder, though the SL3 offers you a third more shots per charge. On the mirrorless side of the equation, the T8i bests the Canon EOS M50 Mark II’s 235-shot battery life whether you’re using the optical viewfinder or live view, but the mirrorless model is lower-priced, significantly more compact / lightweight and offers faster 10 fps burst capture.

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Body, handling and controls

Although its body is plastic, the Canon T8i is very solid in-hand, with no creaks or flexing. It’s also pretty light and compact for a DSLR. The main controls are well-placed and easy to locate by touch.

The new AF-On button is ideally situated for quick autofocus adjustments with a slight thumb motion. (And via a custom setting, can be set to AF-Off instead.) The Wi-Fi button and indicator lamp are gone but won’t be missed, as you won’t need them often. We recommend connecting via Bluetooth, which maintains a constant connection that draws little power, and also makes connecting via Wi-Fi to send images a snap.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 100 | 1/125 sec | F5.6 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 55mm

The new rear control dial is also a nice addition, though since it’s integrated with the four-way controller, it can’t be reached without adjusting your grip. On the plus side, it’s only active when the exposure metering system is brought to life by a half-press of the shutter button or you’re in a menu, preventing accidental settings changes.

There will always be some photographers that prefer an optical viewfinder; the T8i’s is serviceable, but it’s on the small and dim end of the spectrum.

Sadly, the pentamirror viewfinder is dim and tunnel-like compared with the electronic finders of mirrorless rivals and even some rival SLRs, such as the less-expensive Pentax K-70 (which has a larger pentaprism design which is brighter than pentamirror designs).

The rear LCD is crisp and easy to see even under sunlight if you turn up the brightness. Its fully-articulated mechanism allows framing from most angles, even for selfies.

The vari-angle LCD allows selfie-shooting too, but the ergonomics aren’t ideal when holding the camera backwards. Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 2000 | 1/60 sec | F4 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm

The on-screen UI is standard Canon. It’s fairly clear and logically laid-out, and can be navigated with buttons, dials or the very precise touchscreen. Your most-used options can be saved in the My Menu section for quick recall.

Battery life is excellent when shooting stills through the viewfinder, and I never needed a second battery even during lengthy day trips. (I passed 500 frames captured without the charge level indicator dropping even a single bar, which impressed me.) If you shoot a lot of video or use live view frequently, the LCD can burn through power fairly quickly, though. For that reason, the T8i goes to sleep by default after ten seconds unless in menus or live view / playback modes.

Top plate controls are fairly typical Canon, and the quick switch over to video mode is a nice touch.

A standalone charger is included in the bundle, so you can leave a second battery charging while using the camera. Unfortunately in-camera charging via USB isn’t supported, so you can’t share a charger and cable with another device when you want to pack light. As well as USB, there are HDMI, microphone and remote control ports.

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Image quality

With the same sensor resolution and sensitivity range as its predecessor, you might expect similar image quality from the Canon T8i: and you’d be right. As an affordable camera aimed at entry-level photographers, it’s good enough but won’t win any awards. That’s not to say there are no differences, however.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 800 | 1/80 sec | F4.5 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 24mm

Out of camera JPEGs mostly showed pleasing color both outdoors and under artificial light, although I found the latter a little more variable, with some images a tad warm and others a little on the cool side. In both the green fully-automatic mode and program autoexposure, the T8i’s metering proved pretty accurate, and at lower sensitivities there was a fair amount of fine detail as well, although I felt the default sharpening was a touch aggressive.

Comparison of ISO 100 and 25,600. See the sample gallery for a full ISO sensitivity series.

ISO sensitivity in auto mode is limited to a maximum ISO of 6400 by default, and that seems like a good cutoff point. Some noise and loss of saturation starts to become noticeable by ISO 3200, but it’s not until you reach ISO 6400 that it really begins to intrude. You’re best off avoiding ISO 12800 and above as there’s a significant loss of fine detail to noise, and colors can look decidedly washed out.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 3200 | 1/80 sec | F4.5 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm

Of course, shooting in Raw format helps somewhat as you can rely on the greater processing power of your computer to help tame noise while still holding onto color and detail. And there’s a fair bit of scope to correct exposure within a couple of stops, as well. Raws can also be processed in-camera, which is a nice touch for making quick adjustments on the go.

We’re honestly pleased to find that the T8i’s flash must be manually raised; previous Canon Rebels would often raise their automatically in situations where it actually has a negative impact on your images.

One notable change is that the Rebel T8i no longer tends to overexpose nearby subjects by raising and firing the flash when it’s not really needed, since it can no longer pop up automatically. You need to pay attention to your shutter speeds, though, and either raise the ISO, or lift the flash yourself. Sadly, there’s no warning in the viewfinder when shutter speeds stray below the point where exposures can safely be shot hand-held.

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Autofocus

The Canon T8i’s autofocus system has two distinct operating modes, depending upon whether you’re using the optical viewfinder or live view modes. Both systems are capable of locking focus quickly and accurately in good light. In darker conditions, both take a bit longer to achieve a lock, but if I was capable of seeing the subject through the viewfinder, the camera could usually manage to focus on it within a couple of seconds.

A simplified look at the T8i’s optical viewfinder AF system.

When shooting through the viewfinder there are a total of 45 autofocus points, all of which are cross-type. As you can see in the above illustration, they only cover about two thirds of the frame width and a little over a third of the frame height. For live view mode, almost the entire frame is covered vertically, and significantly more of its width as well.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 500 | 1/60 sec | F4 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm

Live view also offers both face and eye detection and lets you select which face or eye to focus on using the four-way controller or touch-screen. Viewfinder shooting only has face detection, and you can’t directly control which face to focus on, although if you aim directly at a particular face before half-pressing the shutter button, the camera will then try to follow that face.

Both systems detect faces pretty well, and the tracking implementation is fairly robust. In testing with my son running and riding a bike directly towards me, the T8i was able to accurately track his location and keep the focus locked on his face most of the time until he was very close to the camera. This isn’t by any means a sports shooter, but I think it’s more than capable of keeping up with amateur photographers’ needs in this respect.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 100 | 1/60 sec | F7.1 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 27mm

Really, my only complaint with autofocus is that it can be confusing if you’re frequently switching between live view and viewfinder shooting. Each mode is configured separately, so for example switching one mode to continuous servo AF won’t affect the other mode’s setup. On the other hand, this separation of settings could be useful if you’re switching from shooting stills in the viewfinder and video in live view. Which brings us to…

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Video

The addition of 4K video is one of the bigger changes in the Canon T8i, but it’s really rather a shame that it comes hobbled by several significant limitations.

First and most importantly, there’s that significant 1.6x focal length crop on top of the crop imposed by its APS-C sensor size. In other words, a 2.6x effective crop even before you enable digital IS, which crops in still further. In 4K mode without digital IS, the optional 18-55mm kit lens yields an effective 47-143mm range, so your wide-angle options are seriously limited.

4K video has a significant focal length crop. Both videos above were shot at the same location and focal length. Note also the false-color artifacts in the water ripples in the Full HD clip.

The longer effective focal length also means that even with both optical and digital IS active, the stabilization system can struggle to smooth camera shake in 4K, especially if you’re walking.

4K mode comes with a fixed 24 frames per second capture rate, too, and uses contrast-detection autofocus which, compared to phase detection, is slower and has slight but noticeable hunting.

Dual Pixel AF, seen in this demo, is only available in Full HD. In 4K, you can expect more distracting hunting before the Rebel locks on to its targets.

The good news is that if you can put up with those limitations, 4K image quality is fairly good, with lots of crisp detail and pleasing color. And while there’s definitely some rolling shutter effect present, causing verticals to lean during subject motion or quick pans, it’s far from the worst I’ve seen.

Enabling Movie Digital IS causes a significant focal length crop, too. Both of these Full HD clips have optical stabilization active, but the second clip with Enhanced IS still can’t entirely steady the motion of walking, even at a wide 18mm (29mm equiv.) focal length.

But I think it’s better to look at this as a Full HD camera which can also shoot 4K with more distant subjects and relatively sedate motion in a pinch. In Full HD, where you get phase detection AF and access to frame rates as high as 60 fps, there’s less fine detail but focusing is quicker and more confident, and motion is rendered more smoothly. The biggest downside is that Full HD seems more prone to moiré and false color artifacts.

The T8i lacks significant scope for slow-motion video, but does offer a time-lapse movie mode, as well as supporting manual exposure, focus peaking and external audio recording.

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Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Canon Rebel T8i leaves me with rather mixed emotions. On the one hand, for fans of DSLRs like myself, there are fewer and fewer choices on offer, and it does pack quite a lot into a fairly compact, lightweight package by DSLR standards.

But on the other hand, it trails its mirrorless camera rivals in terms of both autofocus and burst capture performance. And the feature which differentiates it most clearly from those rivals – that mirror-based optical viewfinder – gives a disappointingly small and dim view of your subject.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 12800 | 1/60 sec | F4 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 18mm

While 4K video capture is finally available in the Rebel T8i, it also comes with some major limitations that make it feel more as if it was added to fill out the spec sheet than for real-world use.

But with all of that said, the T8i does give you pretty good still image quality and usable high-definition video capture. And it does so at a pretty affordable pricetag, as well, and with battery life that’s in a totally different ballpark to mirrorless rivals if you tend to rely on the viewfinder.

The Rebel T8i isn’t the future for Canon, but it offers plenty of features and good ergonomics at an affordable pricetag.

There’s definitely something to be said for the vast range of Canon EF and EF-S mount lenses on offer, too; though keep in mind there isn’t a ton of variety in the more affordable EF-S range, and the EF lenses, designed for larger full-frame sensors, are bigger and pricier. And with Canon focusing on its new RF mount, we wouldn’t expect a glut of new EF and EF-S lenses to suddenly appear down the line.

Out-of-camera JPEG.
ISO 25600 | 1/25 sec | F5.6 | Canon EF-S 18-55mm @ 55mm

So, does the Canon T8i represent the future for Canon? Probably not. But does it offer plenty of camera for the money, particularly for the less experienced photographers at which it’s aimed? I’d say so, despite my reservations about its viewfinder and 4K video capabilities.

And I think that makes it a worthwhile buy, especially if you happen to spot it for sale below its list price.

What we like	What we don’t
Through-the-lens optical viewfinder is crisp and lag-free Good ergonomics and solid build Compatible with a vast range of Canon EF and EF-S lenses and accessories Excellent battery life (if you stick to the optical viewfinder) Good still image quality, albeit not as good as some newer models Fully articulating touchscreen display is very versatile	Relatively small, dim viewfinder, even by APS-C DSLR standards Wide-angle possibilities are very limited for 4K capture No PDAF and only 24fps for 4K, too Full HD video is prone to moiré and false color Less point-dense AF than mirrorless rivals No in-body stabilizer AF points for viewfinder shooting clustered near the center of the frame No ability to charge battery over USB

Sample gallery

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Scoring

Canon EOS Rebel T8i (EOS 850D / EOS Kiss X10i)

Category: Entry Level Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR

Build quality

Ergonomics & handling

Features

Metering & focus accuracy

Image quality (raw)

Image quality (jpeg)

Low light / high ISO performance

Viewfinder / screen rating

Performance

Movie / video mode

Connectivity

Value

PoorExcellent

Conclusion

The Canon EOS Rebel T8i is well-built with comfortable ergonomics and provides solid image quality for users that prefer an optical viewfinder. Unfortunately, its video capabilities aren't that impressive, and the viewfinder autofocus system is a little basic compared to what you get on mirrorless cameras through their electronic finders. Still, if you're in the market for a reasonably affordable DSLR, the EOS Rebel T8i is worth a look.

Good for

Amateur photographers looking for a solid camera to learn and grow with, users looking for a fairly compact camera with an optical viewfinder.

Not so good for

Photographers that want the best autofocus and exposure performance through the viewfinder, users that are looking for good 4K video and those looking for even more compact options.

80%

Overall score

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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MonsterAdapter’s new LA-KE1 adapter brings autofocus, aperture control to Pentax K-mount lenses on Sony E-mount cameras

25 Nov

MonsterAdapter, a relatively new player in the lens adapter game, has revealed the details of the LA-KE1, a new adapter that will make it possible to mount Pentax K-mount glass to Sony E-mount mirrorless camera systems.

There isn’t much information available about MonsterAdapter. The company’s Facebook page, which appears to be its only online presence, was created on May 20, 2020, when the company announced the development of the LA-EA4r, a modified version of Sony’s LA-EA4 adapter that expanded functionality and support. MonsterAdapters has since released another adapter, the LA-VE1, which makes it possible to adapt Minolta Vectis V-mount lenses to Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras.

Now, the company is promoting its forthcoming LA-KE1, which it claims is the ‘first of its kind in the world.’ The adapter offers full autofocus, aperture control and EXIF data transfer for Pentax K-mount lenses (KAF, KAF2, KAF3 and KAF4) to Sony E-mount cameras. The adapter uses a pair of motors for turning the screw-drive autofocus in older K-mount lenses.

This not only brings the ability to shoot with Pentax lenses to Sony E-mount cameras, but also enables many of Sony’s AI-assisted focusing modes to be used with the Pentax lenses, new and old. MonsterAdapter says the exact functionality will vary depending on what camera you’re using — noting a more powerful camera likely means more features — but both Human and Animal Eye-AF focus modes should be able to work on adapted glass.

MonsterAdapter also notes that due to the limits of screw-drive lenses, this adapter is best suited for still photographs—not video. In addition to the images of the prototype adapter in this article, SonyAlphaRumors has also shared a hands-on video demonstration of it in action:

No price is given for the LA-KE1 adapter, but it is set to ‘hit the market within this year,’ according to the company’s announcement post. You can keep up with the latest news on MonsterAdapter’s Facebook page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Gear of the Year: Barney’s choice (part 1) – Fujifilm X100V

24 Nov

Please note: the images in this article are downsized from the original files. A link is provided below to our full samples gallery.

What a year. I thought 2016 was bad, but then 2020 barged in, ripped a room-clearing fart, handed 2016 its beer and went bananas. Hopefully you don’t need me to list the many horrors of the last 11 months, because I would prefer not to.

It’s surreal looking back now, but in the first six weeks of 2020 I flew roughly 15,000 miles, all of which was for work. The year began with the CES show in Las Vegas, then on to a video shoot in Texas, and another in California, followed by the launch of the Fujifilm X100V, in London. And that’s where this story begins…

…I don’t know why I did the dot-dot-dot thing there, this article is only one page long.

By early February, the novel coronavirus had been a blip on the outer edge of my mental radar screen for a while. In late January our video crew and I had shared some wry jokes about ‘flying now while we still can, ha ha…’, but it was the following month, at the launch of the Fujifilm X100V in London, that I started to sense a more general concern. Speaking to Fujifilm executives at the event (and, significantly in retrospect, those unexpectedly not at the event) it was clear that the situation in China (where Fujifilm has some manufacturing) had become grave, and in addition to the tragic human cost in Asia, COVID-19 was having a profound effect on production and supply chain logistics around the world.

The Fujifilm X100V was launched in February at an event in London. I added a few days to that trip to see family – my last opportunity to do so, as it turned out, for what may still be a long time.

1/60sec|F3.2|ISO 800

I was in the UK for a week, which included a few days spent with my family in London and the north of England. On the darkened plane back to Seattle, I remember wondering when I would see the old country again. Coincidentally, that was also the last outing for my much-traveled and now-expired European Union GB passport.

By early March things were getting serious all over the world (with DPReview’s adopted home state of Washington an early hotspot). Partly to scratch the itch of my own growing panic, I spent a few days researching the impact of COVID-19 on the photo industry. Alongside many reasonable, thoughtful comments on the resulting article are several that have since aged like fine milk.

Oddfellows Cafe in Capitol Hill, Seattle, boarding up after the WA lockdown was announced in mid March. Cafes, restaurants and many other businesses that were forced to close put boards up over their windows and encouraged local artists to decorate the storefronts.

1/420sec|F5.6|ISO 160

We all know what happened next. After March 16th 2020, I didn’t so much as hug another human being for more than 70 days. Things got weird.

Where does the Fujifilm X100V tie into all of this? Beyond the fateful coincidence of the timing of its launch in early 2020, it’s the camera that’s been in my hands almost every day for the past ten months.

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It was a preproduction X100V that I took on my trip back home to the UK in February, and which I used to take the last (for who knows how long) photographs of my sister, my nephew and my parents. I subsequently bought one, and my personal X100V was with me all through quarantine. I carried it with me on my daily permitted walks and bike rides through Seattle’s deserted streets, in that strangest, sunniest of springs, where normally busy neighborhoods looked like Edward Hopper paintings and everyone remarked on the sound of birdsong.

I also took a lot of mirror selfies, although in my defense it was a difficult time.

When I finally ventured out into crowds in late May and early June following protests after the killing of George Floyd, it was with X100V. When Seattle briefly became the focus of global attention following the establishment of the short-lived CHAZ/CHOP zone (a much smaller area than you might have been lead to believe, which began a mere block away from my apartment), I visited several times with the X100V, making sure that I had a personal record of what was going on. Even when the circumference of my world had shrunk to the handful of blocks around my front door, photography helped me feel somewhat connected.

Protesters gather near Cal Anderson Park in Seattle in early June – one of many protests that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

1/60sec|F8|ISO 320

Sheer anarchy! Members of the local community paint a mural on the road (now preserved) near the SPD East Precinct, later in June.

1/60sec|F5.6|ISO 800

The X100V is a near-perfect everyday camera because it’s small enough to tuck under a light jacket when I’m out walking or cycling, fast, very simple to use and delivers great pictures. The new lens in the ‘V’ with its two aspherical elements, is far superior for close work to the original version on the X100/S/T/F and it performs much better with the 28mm wide converter attached. The X100V is one of those rare cameras that does exactly what I need it to, without a lot of fuss. It’s as simple at that, really; a reliable companion in a most unsettling season.

A slightly misfocused grab-shot at a spontaneous celebration following the announcement that Donald Trump had lost Pennsylvania (and the 2020 presidential election) earlier this month. In the background to the left is Oddfellows Cafe. This may have been a technically better photo had I taken it with an ILC, but the X100V is the camera I had with me – which is the whole point.

1/60sec|F8|ISO 640

For all the documentation that I’ve done this year with the X100V, I do not describe myself as a documentary photographer. I know several photojournalists personally, and I could never do what they do, especially in the current political climate here in the US, where personal safety is of increasing concern for members of the media. The pictures I take are primarily for me, for the purposes of creative practice, memory and reflection. And while there was much that happened in 2020 that I wish I could forget (and it’s not over yet), there was certainly a lot to reflect on…

…I’m doing that dot-dot-dot thing again, which means I should probably stop before this all gets hopelessly introspective. I think we’ve all had quite enough of that this year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Shoot in Low Light – 9 Commonly Asked Questions

24 Nov

The post How to Shoot in Low Light – 9 Commonly Asked Questions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Bruce Wunderlich.

low light photography moon rise — This image of a moonrise over Marietta, Ohio was taken 20 minutes after sunset during the blue hour; the sun had set and the sky was a dark blue. The city lights create a great warm glow over the city.

According to British photojournalist Donald McCullin, “There is no such thing as bad light, just misunderstood light.” Yet many photographers still consider low light to be bad light.

The purpose of this article is to encourage you to not consider low light as inferior or unusable, but to instead look for subjects that work well with the available low light. Shooting in low light can often be a struggle, however, which is why I’ll answer nine of the most frequently asked questions about low light photography.

Keep in mind that low light photography is not exclusively night photography. Low light photography opportunities may appear at any time of the day.

For instance, shooting waterfalls in low light allows you to use a slow shutter speed, prevents overexposure of the white water of the falls, and helps you create a beautiful silky effect (by blurring the moving water).

Using a flash will light up any subject, of course, but let’s take a look at how to improve your photography in naturally-occurring low light.

Low light photography FAQs

low light photography bridge — Low light creates very dramatic scenes. Dark storm clouds turned this potential sunrise into a great low light opportunity.

1. My low light images are blurry. Would a better lens alleviate the blur?

The short answer to this question is, “Yes.” A fast lens with a maximum f-stop of f/1.8, for instance, will give you better results than a kit lens with a maximum f-stop of f/3.5 or f/5.6.

But even the faster, more expensive lenses will give you undesirable results if you’re using the wrong settings. You see, the wider aperture opening on fast lenses allows you to use a faster shutter speed, which helps you capture a sharper image – but unless you dial in the correct shutter speed, your shots will often turn out blurry anyway!

Lenses with larger maximum apertures are called “fast” because they allow you to shoot with faster shutter speeds, thanks to the additional light that enters your camera through the bigger aperture opening.

2. What are the best camera settings for shooting in low light?

These are the best low light camera settings:

Manual mode

Shooting in Manual mode is essential for successful low light photography, as it allows you to control every functional aspect of your camera.

Once in Manual mode, you basically have three ways to get more light onto your camera sensor:

Shutter speed
Aperture
ISO

These three controls are together called the exposure triangle, and each of the settings can have a positive or negative result on your image’s exposure.

Therefore, learning how to use shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for the best result is the key to low light photography.

Note that your in-camera light meter will reveal where adjustments should be made to the camera settings, and well-exposed images will be the result.

Shutter speed

If you are shooting handheld, a good rule of thumb is to set your shutter speed to match the reciprocal of your focal length.

For example, if you are shooting at 50mm, your shutter speed shouldn’t be any slower than 1/50s. Of course, if the subject of your photo is moving, then you will need to increase your shutter speed to freeze the action. Because while choosing a slower shutter speed will allow more light into your camera, you’ll also risk getting a blurry result.

low light photography great blue heron — A great blue heron in a fight was the subject of this low light image. I shot this at 1/250s, f/5.6, and ISO 1250. Using a combination of a slower shutter speed and a higher ISO, I was able to create the blurry wings while panning to match the speed of the fight.

Aperture

In most low light situations, you will probably need to shoot with your aperture wide open.

But if there is enough light to shoot with a smaller f-stop, you’ll get an increased depth of field.

So here’s what to consider:

Choosing a wider aperture will let more light into your camera, but will decrease your depth of field. And this could lead to an important part of your image being out of focus.

So what should you do?

Generally, it’s better to risk an out-of-focus shot than to guarantee a blurry one – so, if necessary, widen that aperture!

ISO

The higher the ISO, the brighter the resulting shot.

But there’s an important trade-off here:

The higher the ISO, the more digital noise you’ll be adding to your image.

So keep your ISO as low as possible, and only increase your ISO after you have decreased your shutter speed and widened your aperture.

Shoot in RAW

For the best results, shooting in RAW is recommended.

This is for one simple reason: Your camera will save more shadow detail in RAW format compared to the compressed JPEG format.

Also, it is very helpful to learn how to check your histogram; that way, you don’t have to just rely on what you see on your camera’s LCD screen. Use the histogram to check your exposure, and avoid clipping the highlights and shadows.

black and white beach house — I used the low light at Huntington Beach, California to create this black and white image with a five-second exposure.

3. How do I take low light action shots?

Shooting action in low light can be very challenging, and it is almost always going to require you to shoot with your aperture at its widest setting.

Once your aperture is set, adjust your shutter speed to match the action you are trying to freeze. Of course, depending on the situation, there may simply not be enough light. If that is the case, adjust the ISO to a higher setting until a good exposure is set. If your ISO setting is so high that you are getting an unacceptable amount of digital noise, you have two options:

Either add light with a flash or some other source, or live with the noise and try to remove some of it in post-processing.

Sometimes, with the noise issue, it comes down to getting the shot with noise versus not taking the shot at all.

4. How do I reduce the digital noise level in low light images?

The simple answer to this question is to shoot at the lowest ISO that you can. But it is also a good idea to know the ISO at which your camera produces noise that you consider unacceptable.

And always make sure your exposure is correct. Even at a low ISO, if your image is underexposed, you will have some noise in the shadow areas.

long exposure waterfall — A cloudy day at Blackwater Falls, West Virginia allowed for a long exposure without blowing out the highlights.

5. How do I focus in low light?

Another reason for blurry images in low light is the fact that some cameras just aren’t manufactured to focus properly with less light.

So what should you do?

Try shining a light on your subject to give your camera enough light to focus. You can also use your lens’s focusing ring to fine-tune your focus.

Focusing via the central AF point may also help, as it usually focuses faster and more accurately than surrounding AF points.

6. How can I take pro-like images in low light?

Here are four things that most pros do in low light:

Use a tripod
Shoot in RAW
Shoot in Manual mode
Use the histogram

low light photography silhouette — Low light makes for great silhouettes!

7. How do I choose the best white balance for low light?

Set your white balance to match your environment:

Tungsten for photographing indoors with light from a regular lightbulb
Fluorescent for light from fluorescent bulbs
Cloudy for low light created by an overcast day
Shade for shooting in a shaded or shadowy area

One thing to remember:

If you are shooting in RAW, you can adjust your white balance later in post-processing.

But if you are shooting JPEGs, it is very important to get your white balance correct in-camera. For this reason, if your camera is set to capture JPEGs, you should not use the automatic white balance function. White balance is hard, and sometimes impossible, to correct later in a JPEG.

8. Should I raise my ISO or lower my shutter speed in low light?

Assuming that you are shooting with your aperture wide open, in most situations this is an easy one to answer:

Adjust your shutter speed!

And only raise your ISO as a last resort.

Remember that raising your ISO is going to add more noise into the image.

Now, most new DSLRs do a much better job with noise levels at higher ISO settings. But as I mentioned earlier, it is a good idea to know what noise levels are unacceptable, and what ISOs these correspond to. In situations where your subject is moving, it may become necessary to boost the ISO to keep your shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action.

fall scene with fog — Fog created the low light conditions in this fall image.

9. Why aren’t my low light shots sharp even when I use a tripod?

Remember that, in most low light, you will be shooting with your aperture wide open (or nearly so).

Hence, your depth of field will be very shallow (which can lead to blurry results).

So be extra careful to lock your focus (you can even try back-button focus) on the part of your scene that needs to be in sharp focus.

Case in point:

When shooting a low light portrait, it is important to have the subject’s eyes in focus. So focus on the eyes!

Also, if your subject is moving, increase your shutter speed until the subject is frozen by your camera. And when shooting with a tripod, make sure your camera’s image stabilization is turned off, because it can actually create blur!

10. A bonus tip

In low light, the LCD screen on the back of your camera is going to look very bright – and this will give you an inaccurate sense of your photo’s exposure.

So if your camera has an adjustment for the brightness of your LCD screen, turn it down. You want to ensure your image will not seem overly bright when you view it!

How to shoot in low light: conclusion

The trick to low light photography is to take control of your camera, and know that every action or setting will have a reaction.

Now, how is that different from photography in any other type of light?

It’s not, really. Just consider photography in low light as an opportunity to be creative.

Now over to you:

What subjects do you like to shoot in low light? And do you have any low light shooting tips? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post How to Shoot in Low Light – 9 Commonly Asked Questions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Bruce Wunderlich.

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