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Posts Tagged ‘It’s’

PhotoPlus announces it’s going digital as it cancels its in-person expo this year

24 Aug

PhotoPlus announced this morning it is canceling its in-person event, opting instead to host its annual photo conference online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PhotoPlus 2020 was originally set to take place at the Javits Center in New York City from October 22–24. Despite numerous other photo conferences being canceled, PhotoPlus insisted the in-person event was still taking place, until today. In a press release, event director Joseph Kowalsky said:

‘The difficult decision was made after consulting our community partners and supporters and closely monitoring the ongoing progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.’

To replace the in-person event, PhotoPlus announced PhotoPlus+, which will be an ‘online experience and community bringing together visual storytellers with the tools and services they need to create.’ The event is designed to be a broader event, with product showcases, live demos, gear launches, networking events and more taking place starting November 1, 2020.

You can find out more information and register for the online PhotoPlus+ event on the PhotoPlus website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Dealer’s Choice: It’s new card time. Is that such a bad thing?

23 Aug
If you buy a new high-end camera, you’ll probably have to stock up on new memory cards. And card readers. CFexpress Type A is one of the options, but will it take off, or remain an expensive outlier?

It’s sometimes hard to recognize when life’s been treating you well until things take a turn for the worse. Like it or not, we’re not returning to the halcyon days you may have taken for granted at the time.

I’m talking, of course, about memory card formats. But you knew that, right?

For much of the last ten years, the SD card has held sway over most cameras’ card slots. Its dominance has never been absolute, Compact Flash held on in the higher end until the short-lived CFast and XQD formats usurped them, but the chances are that the camera you had ten or fifteen years ago took SD cards and the one you use now does, too. The days of xD, Memory Stick and multiple flavors of Smart Media seemed to be in the past.

An interesting side-effect of this hegemony is that many of us have forgotten what it’s like to have to buy new memory cards (and readers) every time we buy a camera. As if picking a brand (or, more sensibly, a lens system) wasn’t hard enough, the next time you upgrade you may also have to commit to a new media format, with no guarantee that the format will last beyond that next camera body.

A comparatively short life: neither XQD and CFast (the latter mostly used in pro video cameras) have shown much longevity compared to the venerable SD and CF formats.

New cameras, new formats

But change does appear to be here, with both Canon and Nikon settling on the same high-end media format (CFexpress Type B) for the first time in eight years. Meanwhile, in its latest camera, Sony has opted for the similar-sounding but physically incompatible CFexpress Type A.

There are advantages to this: CFexpress is based on a much faster interface than current SD cards, and the cards themselves are more physically durable. But, as is usual with electronics, ‘faster’ plus ‘new’ does not equal ‘cheap.’

Oddly unnecessary

What’s interesting (and I may be using that word entirely inappropriately), is that the move to CFexpress isn’t strictly necessary.

CFexpress is based around the use of PCIe 3.0 NVMe technology, an interface used for computer SSDs. But the Secure Digital Association has set out a version of SD based on the same technology. It’s even mapped out a PCIe 4.0 version which could theoretically hit 4 GB/s (the maximum currently promised by CFexpress).

However, SD Express is two generations ahead of the UHS-II cards and slots that are only now becoming common on cameras, and would only be backward compatible at UHS-I speeds. It’ll be interesting to see whether brands such as Fujifilm, Leica and Olympus will skip UHS-III entirely to adopt SD Express, or whether they too will jump aboard one of the CFexpress trains.

A little legacy support

All of the manufacturers using these cards seem keen to accommodate existing card owners: Canon by providing an SD card slot alongside CFexpress B, Nikon and Panasonic by continuing to support XQD as well as CFexpress B and Sony by designing slots that can accept either SD or CFexpress A cards. But in all instances, you need to adopt the newer format to squeeze the most out of the new cameras (in many instances, it’s video modes that require the faster card types, perhaps the one concrete example of video features adding to photographers’ costs).

No more making do

On the plus side, the move toward new card formats reduces the temptation to try to make-do with those older, slower cards you’d already bought. No more winging it to see if your particular U3 card can reliably maintain the sustained 90MB/s read/write of an actual V90 card, just because it says ‘300MB/s’ on the front. No more hiccoughing continuous bursts because you grabbed a 10-year old Class 1 ‘Extreme’ card as you left the house.

So yes, there’s every chance you’re going to have to dig a bit deeper next time you buy a fancy new camera. New cards, new card readers, perhaps at rather inflated prices if you jump in too soon. But think about it, how much have you spent during the lifetime of your camera on SD cards you’ve lost, that have become corrupted or have broken just enough that they won’t eject properly anymore?

What’s holding you back?

Look at it this way: it’s a great way of being certain your camera is able to work to its full potential, and aren’t a lot of us buying more camera than we need, to ensure it’s never the factor holding us back? And with the three biggest camera makers settling on variants of CFexpress, there’s only a slight risk that you’re investing heavily in the next xD or Memory Stick.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Drone filmmaker Nathan McBride on DJI Mavic Air 2: ‘it’s like nothing else’

10 Aug

The DJI Mavic Air offers 48MP stills and 4K/60p video recording in an ultra-compact, folding body. A significant update to the original Mavic Air, the Air 2 is DJI’s smartest drone to date, and includes HDR capture, scene recognition to optimize the look of footage depending on your subject, as well as a suite of safety features, including front, rear and underside object avoidance sensors. Meanwhile, Spotlight 2.0 keeps the camera locked on a subject, and ActiveTrack 3.0 keeps subjects automatically centered, letting you concentrate on flying.

Should your flight still somehow get into trouble, DJI Care Refresh* (available separately or bundled with the Mavic Air 2 on Amazon for a special price of $ 1,049) covers up to two replacement drones per year.

Adventure filmmaker Nathan McBride was one of the first people to use the Mavic Air 2, and had just started working on a promotional video when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US. In this interview he talks about the challenges of working with the Mavic Air 2 as the country shut down around him.

* DJI Care Refresh+ is also available, covering one more replacement drone for an additional year, for a small surcharge. Click here for more details.

What’s your background in photography and videography?

I started working in video about four or five years ago, doing action sports and story-based content. I also worked in the short film world for a while and then moved into commercials. For the last five or so years that’s been my full-time job.

The last two years I started diving into drone photography and videography pretty heavily.

Nathan McBride is a photographer and videographer based in Phoenix Arizona. He’s been using drones in his filmmaking for several years, and recently had the opportunity to create a launch video using the new DJI Mavic Air 2.

See more of Nathan McBride’s work on his website, Instagram and on YouTube.

What are the primary ways in which the technology has evolved since you’ve been using drones?

Size is the obvious one, and it’s so important. These days, so much filmmaking is run-and-gun style. How fast you can get up and running, and how safely, is really important. With these new drones, you can be hiking up a volcano with it in your backpack, pull it out, and you can be filming in minutes.

Build quality has improved over the generations, and battery life, too. Drone operators five or six years ago did not have the same flexibility and mobility as we do now. And it’s so much more affordable now, to become a drone pilot. It’s unreal.

Put a drone up in the air, and you can get a whole different perspective

What does working with a drone let you do, that a conventional camera rig wouldn’t?

Drones are cameras in 3D space. You can put a drone wherever you want. I love the potential you have with drones for movement. I started diving into the drone space just thinking ‘what could this look like?’ And instead of the conventional kind of drone shot, from high up, moving slowly, I decided that I was going to fly my drone like it was a gimbal, or get footage that looks like a hyperlapse.

There are only a certain number of angles you can get from ground level. But put a drone up in the air, you can get a whole different perspective. It’s like nothing else. You can put the camera wherever you want. That’s what I love about drones, and I want to keep pushing my filmmaking using that technology.

Nathan pictured in the desert near Hanksville, Utah.

How does preparing for a drone shoot differ from preparing for a normal stills or video shoot?

Weather is a massive factor. If the weather isn’t right, you can’t fly. There’s a lot of planning involved. I’m very much an ‘on the fly’ kind of creative, and I like working quickly, but it’s important to have a general sense of what you want to get out of a location before you go.

I’ll often do discovery flights. For example I went to a spot in Texas recently, and we shot a video there. I had the Mavic Air 2, and I knew I wanted to get really low to the water, through the trees. There were certain textures I was looking for, so I did a discovery flight, just to look around, see what looked good, where the sunlight was coming from, and to get a feel for how safe it was to fly, where the gaps were between the trees and things like that. Once I’ve done that, I’ll put in a fresh battery and start filming.

I ended up with three weeks to shoot, and decided I was just going to have to use every single day, and hit every location I could

What’s your favorite of the drone projects you’ve worked on?

Probably this video, with the Mavic Air 2. I was originally meant to fly to Brazil to shoot, but then the coronavirus hit, and things got really bad, really fast. The project turned into a road trip around the US – Arizona to Utah, then Oregon, then down the California coast. That was the plan, but then everything started falling apart.

Often I’d drive for hours to shoot at locations that ended up being closed, but I didn’t want to fail, so I decided just to do as much as I could, wherever I could. I ended up with three weeks to shoot, and decided I was just going to have to use every single day, and hit every location I could until I got what I needed. A lot of it was very last-minute.

The DJI Mavic Air 2 is a tiny, powerful drone which folds up to be very compact. This makes it ideal for travel and outdoor adventure work.

In the video you describe shooting in your ‘back yard’. That’s a big back yard!

Yeah! I live in Phoenix Arizona, and I was shooting everywhere from within a few minutes from my house, all the way out across the state. I think the farthest I went was about seven hours north. People see the video, and see that part of it was filmed in the snow, and part was filmed in the desert, and they don’t believe that it was all shot in the same area, but those two locations were probably only about 45 minutes away from one another.

It was fun to have a month, basically, where I didn’t shoot anything else.

The snow was just good luck – I had driven to Flagstaff to get my buddy back to the airport, and we woke up to about three feet of fresh snow. So we made the most of it. Because I was shooting every day, I knew I’d win eventually!

It was fun to have a month, basically, where I didn’t shoot anything else. I didn’t pick up my DSLR, I didn’t pick up my other drones, I just shot with the Mavic Air 2. The first time I took the Mavic Air 2 up, I was amazed by how smooth it was, and the quality of the footage, especially at night. The handling is so good, it doesn’t feel like a consumer product.

Nathan’s road trip took him across the southwest states of the US, shooting with the Mavic Air 2.

Where’s your favorite location to shoot?

Bali, Indonesia. It’s one of those spots where you can find shots everywhere you look. It was a real eye-opener. I was able to get so many different shots there. I’d say that Nusa Penida, which is an island just off the coast of Bali, is my favorite place.

What’s your advice for someone just getting into drone shooting?

Always shoot H.265 if you can. There’s definitely a difference when it comes to post-production. And make sure you have enough light. Get a good set of ND filters – hitting your optimal shutter speed is key. And if it’s safe, and you’re not around people, fly as low as you can. Having foreground detail in your shots is a game-changer. The motion blur from having foreground elements makes the footage look so filmic. Obviously it’s risky, and you’ll need to practice.

Droning is all about immersing yourself in the environment that you’re in

Also don’t rush – leave yourself enough time. Droning is all about immersing yourself in the environment that you’re in. Slow down, actually take a breath, and find the angles that you want to explore. And do it safely.

Always have someone with you, to be a spotter, and be respectful. Don’t fly near people, and don’t go where you’re not meant to go. But most importantly, go out and explore and have fun because in the end that’s what it’s all about.

This is sponsored content, created with the support of DJI. What does this mean?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Pentax’s new ‘Brand Vision’ shows it’s doubling down on SLR camera systems

17 Jul

While the rest of the photography world is determined to double down on mirrorless camera systems, Pentax has announced its dedication to SLR cameras. In the above video a new microsite dedicated to the new ‘Pentax Brand Vision,’ the Japanese manufacturer emphasizes its dedication to ‘the future of SLR Photography.’

A product photo of Pentax’s upcoming APS-C DSLR, which is yet to be named.

‘When you take a picture with a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, the light passes through the lens, and in turn the optical viewfinder,’ reads a manifesto of sorts on the microsite. ‘You view the image directly with your eyes, and feel it with your heart.’

The microsite notes Pentax was the first Japanese manufacturer to build an SLR and says the company ‘is committed to the future of SLR photography through the continued development of camera technology, making it more fun and exciting than ever before for all PENTAX users.’ From there, under numerous headlines, Pentax explains a number of benefits it believes SLR cameras offer over other camera systems.

Pentax ends its SLR tribute page with ‘The Five Principles of Pentax,’ seen in the screenshot below:

Pentax has also shared a 30-minute video wherein Ricoh Imaging President, Shinobu Takahashi, explains the company’s vision and what it values most in future camera releases:

This kind of dedication to SLR cameras is surprising in a market that’s hellbent on ridding the photography world of mirrors, but it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise considering how much effort Pentax put into emphasizing its optical viewfinder technology during the development livestream of its forthcoming APS-C DSLR.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Astronaut Doug Hurley on what it’s like to photograph Earth from the International Space Station

13 Jul
Photo via NASA: view of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Japan’s HTV-9 resupply ship

The Twitter account of the International Space Station (ISS) recently shared a short video wherein NASA astronaut Doug Hurley talks about what it’s like to photograph Earth from low Earth orbit.

The video, embedded below, is just 75-seconds long, but in it, Col. Hurley explains how incredible it is to take in the beauty of Earth from a distance and points out a few of the more recognizable landmarks visible from 410 km (254.8 mi) above Earth’s surface.

You can keep up with Col. Hurley on Instagram and Twitter, and follow the ISS Twitter account for future videos and photos.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nikon says it’s expecting ‘extraordinary losses,’ has updated its FY2020 projections

12 May

Nikon Corporation has issued a statement to investors warning the company ‘expects to post extraordinary losses’ for its 2020 fiscal year (FY2020) that ended on March 31, 2020, and has subsequently made a revision to the financial forecast ahead of the upcoming release of the results on May 28.

If Canon’s latest financial results were anything to go by, it was inevitable Nikon’s were going to look even worse. While we don’t have the exact numbers yet, Nikon has preemptively warned investors that it won’t be pretty. In a document titled ‘Notice Regarding Recognition of Extraordinary Losses and Reversal of Deferred Tax Assets in Non-Consolidated Financial Statements,’ Nikon says the following:

‘Using the future plan that reflects the impact and more caused by the spread of COVID-19 to business activities, the Company has assessed an indication that fixed assets may be impaired, performed valuation of financial assets, and examined the recoverability of deferred tax assets.’

Put more simply, Nikon is saying the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused much of its business to slow or stop production in its facilities and dramatically reduced sales, leading to a drop in value of its production line and equipment. In turn for reducing the value of these departments, Nikon will be able to reduce its taxable income equal to the amount it’s decreased the value of these divisions. Nikon specifically references its Imaging Product Business, saying it is posting a 5.7 billion yen impairment loss.

A worker pieces together a custom sensor rig for testing in Nikon’s Sendai factory.

In addition to the above notice, Nikon has also published revisions to its projections for the forthcoming FY2020 results. As you might expect, the numbers are down dramatically.

Nikon expects revenue and operating profits to be 591 billion yen and 6 billion yen, respectively, a decrease of 4.7 percent and 70 percent, respectively, compared to Nikon’s previous forecasts. Nikon notes these figures are amplified due to the ‘recognition of impairment losses of 11.1 billion yen’ mentioned above. Nikon specifically notes the 7.5 billion yen in impairment losses for its Imaging Products Business is ‘mainly for property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.’

Summed up, Nikon is expecting much less revenue from its Imaging Products Business and other divisions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and as a result, it’s devaluing the assets of those divisions to account for the income said divisions won’t be making in an effort to reduce its tax liability. Put even more simply, Nikon is being clever with its accounting to help cushion the financial blow from what is shaping up to be a rough year.

Just how rough remains to be seen, but we’ll know for certain on May 28, when the full results are released.

Notices:

Notice Regarding Recognition of Extraordinary Losses and Reversal of Deferred Tax Assets in Non-Consolidated Financial Statements

NIKON CORPORATION (hereinafter “the Company”) expects to post extraordinary losses and to reverse a part of deferred tax assets in its non-consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with Japanese GAAP, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

Using the future plan that reflects the impact and more caused by the spread of COVID-19 to business activities, the Company has assessed an indication that fixed assets may be impaired, performed valuation of financial assets, and examined the recoverability of deferred tax assets.

As a result, the Company has decided to post an impairment loss of 5.7 billion yen for the fixed assets held by Imaging Product Business. And for Nikon Metrology NV, the Company’s consolidated subsidiary, a loss on valuation of the investments in subsidiaries and affiliates and provision for loss on business of subsidiaries and affiliates will be recognized 6.7 billion yen and 9.2 billion yen, respectively. The Company has also decided to reverse a part of deferred tax assets and post deferred tax expenses of 20.6 billion yen. However, the losses associated with the subsidiary mentioned above will have no impact on the consolidated financial results, as those losses will be eliminated in the consolidated financial statements.

Notice Regarding Revision of the Consolidated Financial Forecast for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2020 and Recognition of Impairment Losses

This is to announce that the consolidated financial forecast announced on February 6, 2020 is revised as below, reflecting our recent business performance trend, and to disclose that impairment losses are expected to be recognized.

1. Revision of the Consolidated Financial Forecast
Revised Consolidated Financial Forecast for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2020 (From April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020)

2. Reason for Revision of the Consolidated Financial Forecast

Decrease in revenue is expected due to factors such as the delay in installations of FPD lithography system, affected by the spread of COVID-19. In addition, operating profit, profit before income taxes and profit attributable to owners of the parent are also expected to be lower than the previous forecast due to the recognition of impairment losses of 11.1 billion yen for non-current assets, as indicated below in “3. The Recognition of Impairment Losses.”

Based on these situations, the consolidated financial forecast announced on February 6, 2020 is revised as above.

3. Recognition of Impairment Losses

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, indication of impairment for non-current assets was examined based on its future utilization and the impact caused by the spread of COVID-19 on business operations. As a result of measuring the recoverable amount of the cash-generating units in which impairment was indicated, a sufficient recoverable amount was not estimated in the Imaging Products Business and the Industrial Metrology Business and Others. Therefore, impairment losses of 11.1 billion yen are to be recognized. In the Imaging Products Business, impairment losses of 7.5 billion yen mainly for property, plant and equipment and intangible assets are to be recognized. In the Industrial Metrology Business and Others, impairment losses of 3.6 billion yen mainly for goodwill, property, plant and equipment and intangible assets are to be recognized.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Imaging Resource announces it’s been acquired by Madavor Media

17 Mar

Imaging Resource has announced it’s been acquired by Madavor Media, the publisher of several other print and digital photography-centric magazines.

Back in October 2019, Imaging Resource announced it would be shutting down its website in the near future. Not long after the announcement, four different groups came forward asking about acquisition possibilities. In an email shared with DPReview, Imaging Resource founder Dave Etchells said ‘After a lot of back and forth with all of them, one company rose to the fore, and will now in fact be the new corporate “home” of IR.’ That company is Madavor Media, a publishing company who also operates Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Digital Photo and HDVideoPro.

Etchells elaborated on the transition in his email to us saying:

‘My biggest concern in thinking about handing over IR to anyone else was that the site would continue to maintain the quality and objectivity we’ve been known for, for the past 22 years. I’m confident that Madavor will do that, and am happy to think that the brand I’ve worked so hard to create will continue into the future.’

As for what this transition means for Imaging Resource, Etchells notes the site will continue to focus on providing the same level of quality and integrity as before, with the same general content, including the still life lab shots, overviews, hands-on reports and field tests. Etchells will be stepping back from day-to-day operations, but will still be involved in the direction of the site as he continues to pursue intellectual property consulting and expert witness work. As we saw yesterday, he also plans to write up many more weather-resistance tests.

All in all, Etchells says ‘this is really great news that I’m so happy to share. Imaging Resource v2.0 will live on, I’ll get to stay involved with the industry and people I love, but will also finally get some concentrated time in my basement workshops’

Madavor Media Acquires Imaging Resource

Madavor Media, LLC announced today that it has acquired Imaging Resource, one of the most popular and trusted websites for camera and photography equipment reviews. The 22-year-old website, which has millions of loyal followers, will continue to operate utilizing its experienced staff and contributors.

The acquisition by Madavor will enable Imaging Resource seamlessly to continue its mission to provide the most comprehensive, independent news and reviews in the photography business.

Imaging Resource will operate under its existing brand, and founder Dave Etchells will maintain an ongoing presence within the company as editor emeritus. The camera review website will now join Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro, Digital Photo and HDVideoPro as part of the photography portfolio at Madavor and will enhance the company’s position as the dominant media company to connect with a wide range of photographers and videographers.

“We’re excited to welcome the engaged consumer base and advertisers that trust Imaging Resource and we believe the website’s in-depth expertise on cameras and other products will be a perfect complement to our other photo content,” said Madavor Chief Operating Officer Courtney Whitaker. “The opportunities for advertisers to achieve their marketing objectives will increase across all of our photo titles as well as some of our other publications such as BirdWatching and Plane & Pilot. We also anticipate the cross-promotion of content will be very beneficial to our readers, especially our newsletter subscribers.”

Imaging Resource was started in 1998 and has provided in-depth coverage, testing and reviews on new technology since that time from its Georgia headquarters. The company will continue to be based in Georgia, giving Madavor Media a new location as part of its nationwide operations.

“Part of my confidence in transferring the IR brand to Madavor is the level of quality they’ve consistently supported in all of their existing photo publications,” Dave Etchells said. “I was also struck by the excellent strategic fit between IR and Madavor’s existing respected photo publications and websites. Their loyal and passionate audiences enjoy timely award- winning content, which tends to be more focused on the art of photography than the gear. This is an element that I’ve always felt was missing from IR, but that we never had the resources to fill.”

About Madavor Media, LLC

Founded in 2004, Madavor Media develops and markets content for consumers who are passionate about their interests and those seeking highly informative editorial that helps them take charge of their well-being and live happier, healthier lives. Through its team of experts,

Madavor delivers highly engaging, world-class content that is disseminated and consumed through virtually all channels. Headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts, Madavor’s main office acts as the hub for social media, marketing, design and production, operations and information, while its associates throughout the country keep in close contact with its customers and communities of interest.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Lensrentals announces it’s hit the 1,000,000 order milestone, shares the history of the company

03 Mar

Lensrentals has announced it’s shipped its one millionth order, an incredible feat that took just 13 years to achieve after Lensrentals founder, Roger Cicala, decided to rent out gear to sustain his photography hobby.

To celebrate the occasion, Lensrentals shared the above video, an accompanying blog post and shared a 45-minute podcast episode (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube) that goes into the history of the company and the work it took to hit the monumental milestone.

If you can find the time, be sure to read, watch and listen to the history of Lensrentals to see how Roger and his team have crafted an incredible success story in an industry that continues to struggle. And, of course, from all of us here at DPReview, congratulations to Roger and team for the monumental achievement. We look forward to many more humor-riddled teardowns.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It’s Not)

24 Feb

The post Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It’s Not) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

luminar-vs-lightroom

Are you struggling to decide whether you should be working in Luminar vs Lightroom? Do you want to know how these two post-processing powerhouses match up?

You’ve come to the right place.

Luminar vs Lightroom

Because this article will give you three ways Luminar excels over Lightroom, followed by two areas where Lightroom dominates.

And it’ll help you decide which option is best for your needs.

Let’s dive right in, starting with the biggest reason to choose Luminar:

1. Luminar offers one-click features for quick edits

When dealing with the question of Luminar vs Lightroom, I always recommend you take a look at the biggest feature Luminar offers:

One-click editing.

You see, Luminar offers a modern approach to editing, where you tap a few buttons and the software does most of the editing for you. This is ideal for photographers who don’t feel comfortable doing advanced edits in a program like Lightroom, or who simply don’t have time to carefully edit every photo.

These one-click options include the Orton Effect (which gives your photos a soft glow), to the Sunrays tool (which adds surprisingly realistic sun rays to your photos), to the Fog tool (which adds, well, fog).

Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It's Not)

Even more impressive, some of Luminar’s best editing features are powered by artificial intelligence.

For instance, Luminar’s AI Enhance tool offers an AI Accent slider that often looks quite good; it makes your photo pop with some carefully applied color and tonal adjustments, among others.

And the Luminar AI Sky Replacement is nothing short of amazing. With a couple of clicks, you can take a boring sky and turn it into something eye-catching (an edit that could previously only be pulled off by a Photoshop expert).

Luminar vs Lightroom AI sky replacement tool

So if quick editing is your thing, then Luminar is a great choice.

2. Luminar offers useful layer-based editing

If you’ve ever used Photoshop, then you’ll know that one of its most powerful features is layer-based edits.

Because with layers, you can stack edits on top of one another, selectively delete edits, mask out certain edits, and more.

And while Lightroom doesn’t offer layer-based editing…

…Luminar does.

In Luminar, you can make adjustments on different layers. Then you can selectively apply these adjustments by masking out different areas of the layer, ensuring that only part of the photo is enhanced by a slider or corrected by a tool.

Luminar vs Lightroom layer editing

You can also use Luminar’s Luminosity Mask tool to selectively adjust areas of your photos based on their underlying brightness.

Now, Lightroom does offer some similar features, though they don’t technically use layers. Features such as the Adjustment Brush.

But these aren’t quite as useful as true layer-based editing, not least because you can only apply some edits via the Adjustment Brush, whereas Luminar allows for almost every slider to be separated into a different layer and masked out (if you so choose).

Personally, I’m a huge fan of layer-based editing, and I love that Skylum included it in their software.

On the other hand, layer-based editing can be a bit complex for newcomers. Fortunately, as discussed in the section above, Luminar also has a handle on basic editing tools.

So you have a choice:

Do more complex, layer-based editing.

Or work with the one-click edits.

(Or both!)

Very cool.

3. The Luminar editing interface is incredibly easy to work with

Here’s the third big area where Luminar dominates Lightroom in the Luminar vs Lightroom question:

The Luminar interface is streamlined, simple, and ridiculously easy to use.

Open up Luminar, and you can immediately tell that it’s great for beginners. There’s a toolbar at the top that lets you access basic options, no matter the module you’re in, and the tool panels on the right are simple and uncluttered.

To do some quick editing, all you have to do is tap the Looks icon at the top, and a handy image carousel pops up:

Luminar vs Lightroom interface

Lightroom, on the other hand, is far less sleek, and a little bit messy.

Take a look at the Lightroom interface:

Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It's Not)

Sure, it’s workable, but it’s not exactly simple, and it can feel overwhelming at times. There’s a huge number of editing panels, quite a few modules, and many sliders.

So while a professional probably wouldn’t balk at the Lightroom display, a beginner may feel far too out of their depth.

Which is why Luminar is worth a look.

4. Lightroom offers far superior image organization options

Now it’s time to look at areas where Lightroom excels over Luminar, starting with Lightroom’s digital asset management capabilities.

You see, Lightroom is carefully designed to catalog, group, and label your photos. It has ultra-useful collection options and a huge number of ways to filter your images (in case you’re after an elusive image buried somewhere deep in your catalog).

image organization Luminar vs Lightroom

I love Lightroom’s organization features, and I still use my Lightroom catalogs to keep track of all my images, even when I’m doing editing in Luminar.

You see, Luminar’s photo organization options are far less powerful compared to Lightroom’s. Luminar does offer a Library feature, which gives you the option to group your photos into Albums.

But Albums don’t offer much in the way of functionality; for instance, you can’t group one album under another, nor can you sort them into a meaningful hierarchy.

Hence, when it comes to Luminar vs Lightroom in photo organization capabilities, Lightroom is the winner. Hands down.

Lightroom features a set of powerful, complex tools for precise editing

One other gripe that I have with Luminar compared to Lightroom:

It’s just not as precise.

Even though Lightroom has a complex interface, there’s a lot of options within that interface. Whereas Luminar’s editing tools are often a bit too simple.

For instance, look at Lightroom’s Split Toning panel:

Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It's Not)

You can drag around a point on the color display, and your photo will respond.

Then compare this to Luminar’s Split Toning tool, where you’re stuck dragging sliders in a far less helpful way:

Luminar vs Lightroom luminar split toning

The same is true of Lightroom’s HSL/Color editing panel. You have basic HSL options, which allow you to modify colors according to hue:

Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It's Not)

But then you also have a more targeted color adjustment tool, where you can click and drag to edit particular colors of your photos.

This is in contrast to Luminar’s Color tool, where you have the basic HSL options, and that’s all:

Luminar vs Lightroom Luminar color tool

Now, for a beginner, this may not be a big deal. You may not be interested in more complex editing tools.

But more experienced editors want this sort of thing, and so you should be aware that you can’t find it in Luminar.

Luminar vs Lightroom: Conclusion

Lightroom and Luminar are both excellent for post-processing, just in different ways.

Luminar offers fantastic one-click editing, along with powerful AI options.

Whereas Lightroom features superior image organizational features and complex editing tools.

So which is better, Luminar vs Lightroom?

In the end, the choice is yours!

The post Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It’s Not) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Google details how it’s improved Portrait mode on the Pixel 4

17 Dec

Portrait modes that simulate the shallow depth of field of a large sensor camera and fast lens have been around on smartphones for a long time. The Pixel 2 was the first Google phone to offer the feature. With the Pixel 2 being a single-lens camera the dual-pixel autofocus system was used to estimate the parallax and thus depth. The Pixel 3 still relied on dual-pixels but the system was improved using machine learning.

The Pixel 4 is the first Google phone to use dual-pixel AF and dual-cameras combined for depth estimation.

The latest Google flagship, the Pixel 4, is the first phone in the Pixel line to feature a dual-cameras. This allows for even better depth estimation by leveraging both the dual-camera and dual-pixel auto-focus system. In addition Google has also improved the appearance of the bokeh, making it more closely match that of a large sensor DSLR or mirrorless camera.

With the dual-pixel autofocus distance between the two focus pixels is very small which makes it difficult to estimate depth further away from the camera. The Pixel 4’s dual-cameras are 13 mm apart, allowing for a larger parallax and making it easier to estimate the depth of objects at a distance.

…dual-pixels provide better depth information in the occluded regions between the arm and torso, while the large baseline dual cameras provide better depth information in the background and on the ground.

Google is also still using the information collected by the dual-pixels, though, as it helps refine depth estimation around the foreground subject. In addition machine learning is used to estimate depth from both and dual cameras. A neural network first processes data from the two separately into an intermediate representation. A final depth map is then computed in a second step.

This image shows depth maps generated from dual-pixel AF, dual-camera and both combined. Dual-pixels provide better depth in the areas visible to only one camera, dual-cameras provide better depth in the background and ground. (Photo: Mike Milne/Google)

In addition to the improved depth estimation spotlights in the background are now rendered with more contrast, making for more natural looking results. This is achieved by blurring the merged raw image produced by the HDR+ processing and applying tone mapping.

Additional depth map samples can be found here, head over to the Google Blog for the full article.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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