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Uwe Moebus of Hasselblad – “We have learnt that we should launch products when they are fully developed”

30 Jun
Uwe Moebus, Hasselblad’s head of sales for Europe and MD of Germany. Photograph by Damien Demolder.

It has been interesting watching Hasselblad’s fortunes over the last couple of decades. When I began writing about cameras the V system wasn’t called the V system, and the company’s medium format film bodies were very popular with high-end amateurs as well as with professional photographers. I suspect that even in those days it was amateurs that contributed the majority of Hasselblad’s income, and the company was revered for quality, craftsmanship and very high standards. It seems Hasselblad is aiming to recapture that valuable amateur market once again and the X1D II 50C is the camera the company hopes will bring droves of non-professionals back to its door. The company’s product catalogue has been dominated by very high priced digital medium format models for quite a period of time, which has kept the majority of non-professionals away.

During the launch event for the X1D II 50C in London I got to speak to Hasselblad’s head of sales for Europe and MD of Germany, Uwe Moebus, to ask him how this relatively low-cost model came about and to find out what Hasselblad aims to achieve in the future.

‘We have learnt that we should launch products when they are ready and fully developed’

I asked Moebus what the company has learnt since the launch of the original X1D, and how that learning has been implemented in this new model and the way the company operates. ‘We have learnt that we should launch products when they are ready and fully developed for the market. We have also learnt a lot from our customers over last three years about what should be improved and we tried to bring this into the new camera.

Start-up time was an issue from the beginning – this is improved now – frame rate needed to be improved – everybody wants faster frame rates, though this is difficult with medium format because of the amount of data – and some people weren’t happy with the previous viewfinder. These things were okay in the first camera, but now they are much better and enhanced in this mark II version.’

Attracting amateurs again

We chat about how it had been some time since Hasselblad had dealt with the amateur market when the X1D came out and how things had changed since the days the film bodies were at their height. ‘Everybody thinks that the V system Hasselblad were only for professionals. The camera was about £5000 at the time, and actually almost two thirds of users were amateurs. So, working in this market is not so new to us. But in between, when medium format went digital, things became so much more sophisticated, complicated and expensive that our whole market turned around to the point that over 90% was professional. The number of cameras we made dropped a lot and the price went up a lot – and we had a much smaller customer base.’

‘There are fewer professional photographers and it is getting harder for professionals to make money’

‘Now though we will be turning that situation back again. There are fewer professional photographers and it is getting harder and harder for professionals to make decent money. So Hasselblad needed to look to the future and ask if those customers would continue to use expensive medium format cameras, or would they look at full frame cameras? We decided that ‘no’ many wouldn’t continue to spend on high priced medium format systems and that we needed to take a different route. We will continue to develop our H system, which is very high-end and for pros, but the new X1D will open a new market for us. Maybe we can go back to [how things were in] the 80s and have a lot of amateur customers.’

‘The purpose of this new model and its lower price is to broaden our market, to put the company on solid ground. We can do this by having more products: this X series, the H series, having a new V series with the CFV attached and the new 907X – this will allow us to develop our position in the market. Looking back ten years we only had the H system. Now though we can attract a new customer group. £5500 is still a lot of money but it is a lot less than these cameras used to be, and you can have a camera and a lens for below £10,000. This is a much bigger market for us.’

New electronics

The main changes in the new body are centered around performance and speed of operation, all of which have been achieved using a new faster processor and a whole new electronics system. Moebus wouldn’t say exactly how much faster the new processor is, but it has cut start-up time almost in half, has produced reduced shutter lag and black-out time between frames. It can also run the 60fps EVF while also adding 30% to the maximum frame rate – though 2fps to 2.7fps doesn’t sound all that impressive until you think of the data that is being moved. To cope with this new processor the camera has had a complete electronic make-over inside with an entirely redesigned system.

The new processor also helps the auto focus run more quickly, speeding up acquisition and tracking. Moebus said the system only has to read the area of the sensor beneath the AF points rather than reading from the whole sensor, so it is efficient and operates quickly.

‘We have further optimized the power management and the heat management systems’

‘New firmware also helps to run the camera more efficiently’, says Moebus, ‘and new systems are used to deal with the heat. We fixed the firmware in the original X1D to change the way the camera was always running all its systems all of the time, so that then only systems that were needed would be on while they were in use. The same is true in the X1D II but we have further optimized the power management and the heat management systems to make the camera work even better.’

The body is almost exactly the same on the outside other than the slightly remoulded grip and the much bigger rear screen, and it uses the same materials in its construction.

Evolution, but the same camera

I asked Moebus why this model is called a mark II and not X2D, for example. ‘There is more to come’ he joked. ‘This is an evolution of the original camera. There are some significant changes but it still looks like an X1D. It is not a completely new camera, which is why it has the same name.’ He wouldn’t be drawn on what would have to change to make it a revolution and thus completely new camera, rather than an evolution. I tried!

Hasselblad was never tempted to use a higher resolution sensor in this model, according to Moebus. ‘This camera was designed to have a 50MP sensor, and we were clear on this from the start. The X1D is a portable tool that captures high end images while maintaining is size and low weight to make it the most compact medium format camera on the market. The sensor we have used in the X1D II 50C is exactly the same one as is used in the original model.’

I was surprised at first that Hasselblad has placed so much emphasis on being able to record JPEG images – and that were was so much demand for more JPEG options. Moebus tells me that many Hasselblad users want to be able to shoot JPEGs and not have to spend time processing them afterwards. ‘Most professionals need raw data of course, but there is a market that requires JPEG only, so we have included the ability to shoot one file type or the other, or both at the same time. With the more accessible price of the camera we expect more amateurs to use it, and some of them just want to produce wonderful images straight from the camera. The X1D II 50C immediately delivers very nice JPEGs.’

I suppose that Fujifilm has also gone to some lengths to cater for the JPEG market in its medium format bodies, but it does too in the X series models. I was just curious that anyone would pay for a Hasselblad X1D and lenses and then record JPEGs, but having just seen the photo staff from luxury department store Harrods at the press briefing it clicked for me that I might not be their typical customer. Like Leica, Hasselblad has many wealthy fans who want a nice looking camera for their holiday snaps. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

Cost reduction

Even though the X1D II 50C costs a good deal more than the average amateur camera, its price is significantly lower than the launch price of Mk I version – and the price of the Mk I version the day before the Mk II was announced. So, how was this price arrived at?

‘We have optimized production processes and our supply chain’ explains Moebus. ‘When we began making the X1D we were buying in lower quantities, but now we are buying more and in bulk. Buying more brings the unit cost down, so now we can make an even better camera for a lower price. These changes have not come about suddenly because the Mk II is an easier camera to make, but as a progressive journey since the beginning of the X1D.’

‘The whole organization has had to migrate to a situation where we are making many more products’

Hasselblad was caught out by the demand for the X1D and really struggled at first to produce enough units to meet its orders. Since then though the company has boosted its production line, its manufacturing processes and assembly to deal with much larger volumes than it had expected. ‘This hasn’t happened in a split second’ says Moebus ‘but the whole organization has had to migrate to a situation where we are making many more products. We had to do this without dropping quality as that would undermine the company and the brand. At Hasselblad image quality is everything. Everyone wants a fantastic picture. If you sacrifice this you aren’t going the right way. It was a stretch, but now we can make better cameras at a lower price.’

‘We are now in a position to be able to meet demand for the X1D II 50C. We are assuming it will be a popular camera, because of the features and the price, so we are prepared. We employed more people to meet demand for the Mk I so we are already in a good position. We will also be able to make the 907X and CFV II 50C on the same premises and cope with demand when the time comes. We are used to making digital backs, as we have been doing so since the merger with Imacon and also for the H system. The CFV II isn’t a new challenge for us to make, so we will be able to cope. The 907X is a nice slim camera with some mechanics and electronic connectors. We will be able to make an appropriate amount to feed the market. That shouldn’t be too complicated.’

Moebus isn’t prepared to discuss the price of the CFV II 50C or the 907X unfortunately, and argues that the original CFV wasn’t expensive – it was $ 15,000! We might hope though that with efficiencies in production and supply chain the cost of the CFV II 50C might synchronize with the drop we’ve seen in the X1D II 50C.

Moebus points out that the 907X camera and the CFV II 50C will have a whole system waiting for them once they are launched. ‘Often manufacturers have only a few lenses when a new camera system is introduced but the 907X already has nine native X lenses, and will also be able to work with H, V and XPan lenses – we have a complete line-up.’

Half an eye on the competition

We’d already discussed how Hasselblad reduced costs in the making of the X1D II 50C, but I wanted to know if the camera’s new lower price was a response to Fujifilm’s activities with its GFX series. ‘We are both in the medium format mirrorless market, so of course we look at what other people are doing in the same field. Primarily though we are looking at ourselves and thinking about what we need to bring to the market. We aren’t interested in copying and we don’t strive to make cameras that match others. That’s why the X1D is the way it is. The current price of the X1D II 50C reflects that we wanted to make the camera accessible to a larger audience, not because of Fujifilm’s pricing.’

‘We will listen to our current customers’

Hasselblad has been quite good at offering trade-in programs to encourage its H system users to move up the ladder to the newest equipment, but Moebus says there are no similar programs in place for the X series. But, he says ‘We will listen to our current customers’ meaning perhaps that if there is enough demand the company might consider it. The issue for some is that the new body costs less than the original did the day before the launch of the upgrade, so if you’d bought the original model the week before you might feel a bit annoyed. Moebus said the company was aware that this might be an issue, but that the most important thing was to make the new model accessible.

The best lens ever

After speaking to Moebus I was able to chat to other technical staff about the new 35-75mm F3.5-4.5 zoom lens. Hasselblad claims it is the best lens the company has ever made, so I asked what it was in particular that made it so. The answer it seems is MTF. Charts were produced that show the lens to perform to the sort of standard you’d expect from a prime lens – and much better in many cases.

Comparing the MTF at various focal lengths with the prime versions the company makes it is clear to see, in theory at least, that the 35-75mm will provide a prime-lens experience for those who don’t need super-wide maximum apertures. Even at the long end though the maximum F4.5 aperture is comparable to moderate telephoto lenses from past medium format systems – though with the X1D’s smaller sensor the ability to achieve differential focus will be a little more limited.

On its own the lens seems very expensive, but taken in the context that it really could replace three or four prime lenses it might begin to sound like a very good deal. In full frame terms the angles of view offered by the zoom are those we’d expect from a 28-60mm, so it encompasses 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and 60mm lenses. Our only quality measure at the moment is just the manufacturer-provided MTF of course. How that and the other characteristics will translate into real life image quality we will have to wait and see.

Forward to go backwards

This clutch of product announcements from Hasselblad creates a very positive air around the company and its future. Even with the original X1D the company seemed in a much more precarious position as the shock at the size of the order book generated so many issues of its own. But the company survived that and has grown, and now seems on a much better footing – production is sorted out, buying can be done in more efficient volumes and Hasselblad is geared up for meeting its new enlarged market with popular products that more people can enjoy. Are the good old days back I wonder? Perhaps not just quite, but things are looking rosy for the future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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This dead Polaroid SX-70 was rebuilt as a fully functional digital camera

27 Jun

Josh Gross, a managing partner at design and development studio Planetary, has published a writeup detailing the conversion of an old defunct Polaroid SX-70 into a fully functional digital camera. The finished product retains the same external design as the original, but the innards have been heavily modified to include a Raspberry Pi Zero W and CCD sensor.

Gross details the rebuild in a blog post on his website, where he explains the project’s trickiest aspect was fitting the CCD and lens camera assembly into the Polaroid’s head. The original focus wheel and exposure wheels stayed intact, as well as most external components.

Moving on from the lens assembly, Gross says he removed the Polaroid camera’s Fresnel mirror and replaced it with a small 6.3cm (2.5in) screen in order to provide a live image preview. The screen assembly and battery were mounted within the camera’s film storage area, and the rest of the components were added.

One of the final images captured with the finished product.

Gross used OpenCV and Python on the software side for processing and displaying images. Size constraints required the use of a fisheye lens, so Gross used software to remove the fisheye effect for more authentic final images. Overall, he explains the project took 8 months of ‘on-and-off’ work to complete. Below is a full gallery of images shared with permission from Gross:

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‘Was there a point to it? Absolutely not,’ Gross says in his writeup. ‘Was it fun? Hell yeah.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Irix confirms its lenses are ‘fully compatible’ with Canon’s EOS R camera

31 Dec

Swiss lens manufacturer Irix has announced its lens lineup is completely compatible with Canon EOS R cameras when attached using Canon’s EF to EOS R adapter.

In an announcement post on its website, Irix says ‘it is possible to control the aperture from the camera’ and notes that all metadata is transferred properly from the lens to the camera including focusing distance and other exposure details.

Irix specifically mentions its 11mm F4, 15mm F2.4 and 150mm F2.8 1:1 Macro lenses.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sigma confirms that its current lenses are fully operational on the Nikon Z7 with FTZ adapter

29 Sep

Sigma has issued a statement confirming that its current lenses operate without any issues when mounted on the Nikon Z7 via FTZ adapter. The company notes that interchangeable lenses lacking AF drive motor will function only in manual focus, and that some older lenses that aren’t compatible with current DSLRs will not operate on the Z7. Sigma plans to keep testing and verifying whether discontinued lenses will function on the camera.

Read the full statement below.

Operating condition of Nikon “Z7” and SIGMA’s interchangeable lenses for Nikon mount

Thank you for purchasing and using our products.

We would like to announce that we have confirmed that SIGMA’s interchangeable lenses for Nikon mount in the current lineup do not have any issues with general operation when they are used on the “Z7”, released by Nikon Corporation, via their “Mount Adapter FTZ”.

In addition, please note the information below when using the following lenses.

  • Interchangeable lenses that do not incorporate an AF drive motor will operate only in manual focus.
  • Some interchangeable lenses shipped out before November 2013 that are not compatible with the latest DSLR cameras will not operate.

We will continue verification and provide updates on the operating conditions including discontinued models.

For further information, please contact your nearest authorized SIGMA subsidiary / distributor.
https://www.sigma-global.com/en/about/world-network/

We appreciate your continued support for our company and products.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Worth the money? Fully loaded iMac Pro vs fully loaded iMac

08 Feb

A fully loaded iMac Pro will cost you an eye-watering $ 13,200… but if you’re set on an Apple all-in-one, is it really almost $ 8,000 better than a fully-loaded 5K iMac? Parker Walbeck of Full Time Filmmaker ran some tests to find out, putting both all-in-ones through their paces using RED 8K footage, Canon 1D X Mark II 4K footage, and DJI Phantom 4 Pro 4K footage.

He also tested the machines using both Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X, to eliminate the CPU-crushing effects of Adobe’s software.

As you might expect, the iMac Pro outperformed the iMac in nearly every test, playing back full resolution footage flawlessly while the iMac dropped frames, and rendering/exporting at about 2x the speed. However, it didn’t win in every regard. The iMac actually outperformed the iMac Pro by 25% when it came to applying Warp Stabilizer, because this feature is only using an individual core to do the work.

Playing back 8K RED footage on the iMac Pro was much smoother than the iMac, which had to be dropped to 1/8th resolution to match performance.

All of this leads Parker to his very reasonable conclusion:

“I definitely think there is a point of diminishing returns, where you’re paying a premium for slight, incremental improvements,” says Walbeck. “But that’s how it is with most new technology, it’s overpriced and you’re going to pay a premium for the latest and greatest.”

As for the value, he sums it up pretty well in the video, and it’s probably exactly what you expected coming into this comparison. Is it worth the money?

For most people? No. For a select few, yeah, it may be a difference maker. Do I personally need a computer this powerful? No. I’m sure I’d be just fine with my iMac or a base model iMac Pro

[…]

I’ve edited RED 8K footage on my MacBook Pro before, it’s definitely doable, it’s just a lot slower than if I were to use an iMac Pro. So my advice would be to use whatever you’ve got, whatever you can afford, and just start creating content.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, might be the most practical advice to come out of one of these iMac Pro comparison videos yet. Check out the full breakdown in the video above, where Walbeck offers some great advice for video shooters who are salivating over Apple’s newest machine… and yes, he does touch on why he doesn’t think that, at least for him, it’s worth it to spend less money and build an equally powerful PC.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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A fully loaded iMac Pro will cost you $13,200

15 Dec
Photo: Apple

It’s official! As we reported yesterday morning, the iMac Pro is now officially on sale in the United States, starting with the two base models—the 8-core and 10-core variations—and a price tag of $ 5,000 for the ‘standard configuration.’

Up until now, that’s the only price we knew for this behemoth of a computer—what Apple calls “the most powerful Mac ever”—but now that the iMac Pro website is official and the product is up in the store, we can find out how much a fully loaded version costs. And let’s just say you should hold on to your wallets.

If you go to Apple’s store website and trick out the computer, going all the way up to the 2.3GHz 18-core Intel Xeon W Processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz, 128GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory, a 4TB SSD, and a Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics card with 16GB of its own HBM2 memory, your price tag goes up to.

Drum roll please…

$ 13,200

If you do one of the more basic configurations, you’ll be able to get yours in the next 1-2 weeks. However, if you plan to shell out the aforementioned $ 13,200 for the fully-loaded 18-core beast, don’t expect to get the computer in 2017. According to the Apple store website, a fully loaded variation will ship in 6-8 weeks.

To learn more or configure your own (if you’re lucky enough to have pockets this deep) head over to the iMac Pro website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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FilmLab negative scanning app fully funded, changes pricing model

11 Jun

The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the FilmLab negative scanning smartphone app that we recently wrote about has ended successfully, with more than 2000 backers funding the project almost 200%. After screening the reader feedback on our original article, FilmLab founder Abe Fettig has also decided to change the pricing model for his app. Instead of a subscription model FilmLab will now be available as a one-off purchase.

The app will be a free install with a limited number of free scans for testing. Once they have run out of free scans users can decide between buying additional scans or upgrading to the FilmLab Pro version which will offer unlimited scans and a range of additional power user features. FilmLab Pro will cost $ 4.99 for Kickstarter backers and $ 29.99 for everybody else.

In the video below Abe explains the new pricing model in more detail and also provides more information about the current state of the app and its image output. In addition he has written a blog post with side-by-side comparisons between FilmLab captures made with a smartphone camera, and professional film scanners.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sigma says three of its lenses are not fully compatible with the Canon EOS-1D X II

03 Jun

Sigma has announced that three of its lenses, the 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art, 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art and the 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM, aren’t ‘fully compatible with’ Canon’s newly released EOS-1D X Mark II. When one of these lenses is used with the camera, the resulting images may be underexposed. The company is developing firmware to correct the issue.

According to Sigma, the issue manifests when users choose ‘Center-weighted Average Metering’ or ‘Evaluative Metering.’ In addition, the company recommends users disable lens correction settings in the camera when using one of Sigma’s interchangeable lenses. This includes Chromatic aberration correction, Peripheral illumination correction, Distortion correction and Diffraction correction.

The latter point likely refers to an issue with the 35mm F1.4 Art lens and 1DX Mk II that surfaced last month in which images taken with the pair showed unusual banding around the edges. As SLR Lounge noted, turning off Peripheral illumination correction in-camera fixed the issue, which now appears to be Sigma’s official workaround. The camera maker also says that the Manual Override focus function isn’t available with the 1D X II when using its lenses.

Via: Sigma

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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5 Advantages of Using a Fully Manual Lens

17 May

A Stroll in the Night DPS

Shooting with a manual lens centers your attention on the precise image you want to produce. Once you get the hang of shooting manual (here are two prior dPS tutorials: Tips for Using Legacy Lenses and Shooting in Full Manual and Why Every Photographer Should Use a Manual Focus Lens), you learn how to produce some pretty cool images that are easier to manage, than if you leave autofocus on, and that can make for some fun photography.

With all of the computing that’s in a modern autofocus lens, the camera and the lens often take the photo for you. Further, autofocus and shake reduction can actually work against your art. If you shoot frequently on autofocus, then you know the camera can easily focus on the wrong subject. This is particularly true in situations where the light varies greatly.

Potomac at Night DPS

Even when you turn off autofocus and go manual, the modern computer-driven lens can be cumbersome. It’s like turning off an automatic mode in a car and using paddles to shift gears. The experience is just not the same, things don’t work right. You want to step on the clutch, and shift through gears, feeling the engine with your right hand as you accelerate.

That’s how I feel about shooting manual. Your eye and hand drive the photo, rather the camera telling you how to drive.

Here are some of the cooler shots I’ve taken while photographing with manual lenses. They are listed from easiest to hardest. I hope you’ll enjoy some of these, too .

1) Nature shots that feature lots of bokeh

Purple Blossoms DPS

It’s spring and that means the world is filled with lots of colorful flowers, and blossoms to admire. Who doesn’t love photographing these beautiful subjects?

Because I live in a populous city, I shoot flowers with a wide-open aperture to create maximum bokeh. It allows me to blur many unwelcome background objects like cars, bikes, telephone polls, people, and even some buildings.

Manual is ideal for this kind of shot, as it is simplistic. I focus as closely as the lens permits, and set the aperture as wide as possible. I calibrate shutter speed to accommodate light and shadow differentials. The rest is easy as could be. I move myself and the camera to a position that frames the relatively still flower (wind not included) and capture the frame. The above crabtree blossoms shot is a classic example of this technique.

2) Spot focus street shots

Don t Fall Down DPS

Street photographers like to capture candid moments of human nature. Capturing cool street shots is hard. Personally, when I do shoot street photography, I tend to find a setting that I like, frame the shot, set my camera, then wait for the right person to come along. So perhaps I cheat a bit if you are a pure zen street photographer.

However, to get that shot, I love manual focus. I can set the focus based on the distance between the camera, and where I anticipate the subject will be. Autofocus often latches on to an object, and frankly sometimes the object is a little off from the spot I want to shoot. So I prefer to use manual focus, on the spot where I anticipate the subject will be.

This shot taken at the National Gallery of Art took about 10 minutes. I focused on the middle stair well and waited for the right person to come through. Unfortunately for me, a bus load of secondary school kids were there at first, but once they cleared out, things happened quickly.

3) Bright night shots

Ferris Wheel DPS

Some objects are brighter at night than others. The moon is a great example. So are ferris wheels, because they shed an enormous amount of light, often rendering all other light sources as dull or non-existent.

For some reason, in darker situations like this, the light meter in my Nikon D810 and the autofocus on some of my lenses, don’t synch well. At times autofocus doesn’t catch the subject at all, or worse, it focuses on the wrong object, like a street light in the background. So I almost always calibrate both focus and aperture manually, to get the sharpness and light just right.

Back to the ferris wheel in the image above. The image was shot with a Figmentum 35mm lens. Focus was easy, as the distance from the subject let me simply set the lens on infinity. But, the aperture required some manipulation, as I started off too bright, and had to close the aperture slightly. I actually shot this at ISO 100for 30 seconds at f5.6, which turned the water reflection into a crazy bokeh as it came closer to me.

4) Panning

Good Catch Panning DPS

Panning is one of the most difficult forms of photography, literally catching an object in motion, at a slower shutter speed. This creates fantastic blur behind the subject, while at the same time keeps the object in focus.

You pretty much need to shoot manual to pan well. Sure, you can lock in your moving target with autofocus and then pan, but really there’s so much that most cameras get wrong with autofocus. When I pan, I like to spot focus with manual. I understand where my subject will be from a distance perspective. I focus, then keep my hands on the focus dial to sharpen as necessary.

In the case of this photo with my dog, I shot it with an 85mm lens, so I set the focus on infinity and planted myself in the middle of a dog park. This fine pup was playing catch with her Dad and was quite happy about it. I caught this shot on her sixth catch.

5) Shutter drag

Shutter Drag DPS

Instagram Rock Star DPS

If you think manual panning produces some cool shots, try dragging the shutter. This is for low light situations where you basically have the same technique as panning, but now use a flash to freeze your subject in motion.

Generally speaking if you are in a low light situation, autofocus may be suspect anyway. That’s why I prefer shooting manually. I’ll confess. If there is an autofocus lens on my body, then I’ll use it to get the camera focused on or close to the subject, then go manual to finish the job.

This shot was also taken at the National Gallery of Art, and features the LED light tunnel between the East and West wings. If you are on Flickr or 500 Pixels, you see a great photo of this every week or two. I decided to play double jeopardy with this shot and rode the conveyer belt while I shot the pic, so not only were the lights and the subject moving, but I was also moving at the same speed as the belt. The exposure was 1/4 of a second, with on-camera flash.

What are your favorite manual shots?

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The post 5 Advantages of Using a Fully Manual Lens by Geoff Livingston appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Sphericam 2 professional fully spherical camera records 4K/60 fps videos

13 Feb

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The folks at Sphericam are back with a second generation model of their unique angular camera. The Sphericam 2 is, according to the company, the first fully spherical pro-grade 360-degree camera that records 4K footage at 60 fps. The resulting videos can be used in VR applications, as well as on platforms that support 360-degree content like YouTube and Spinnable.

Unlike other spherical cameras, Sphericam features angular sides comprising a geometric design made from anodized aluminum. These ‘faces’ allow the camera to be placed flat on a surface, and also house things like lenses, mounting points, and buttons. Sphericam 2 has six cameras, each using a sensor with global shutter and synchronized to fire within 50 microseconds of each other.

Footage is available as 60 fps raw/unstitched and as 30 fps stitched panoramic videos. Capturing in 30 fps allows the video to be stitched in real time; a live streaming function is currently in development. Content, meanwhile, is recorded at up to 1.2 Gbps to an internal microSD card. The camera supports use of up to six MicroSD cards at once by way of a removable module adding up to a total maximum storage capacity of 768GB, or about 85 minute of footage.

The camera has two power options: a non-removable rechargeable battery for up to 90 minutes of operation, and a USB-C port for continuous operation when plugged in. Finally, Sphericam features a total of 8 mounting points, each a standard threaded 1/4-20 offering, for use with various third-party mounting accessories. 

Sphericam 2 is available for preorder from Sphericam for $ 2499; shipping is estimated to start 10 to 12 weeks after ordering.

Via: Sphericam

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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