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Nine things working photographers can do for their business during isolation

14 Apr

Things photographers can do for their business during isolation

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on a lot of creative industries, including professional photography. For the past 7 years, I’ve been a self-employed photographer shooting mainly corporate events and restaurants. Just a month ago, my business was starting to pick up, and I was excited for a packed year of photography gigs. But COVID-19 started to spread and in less than 2 weeks, all of my photoshoots for the year were canceled or postponed indefinitely. It was a blow that I genuinely did not see coming.

Today, I have been self-quarantining at home for nearly a month, looking for any excuse to flex my creative muscles. In doing so, I’ve come up with 9 things that professional photographers can do while in isolation at home.

Evaluate your camera gear

Use this time to take inventory of your camera gear and accessories. Thoroughly clean your camera sensor and lenses (if you don’t know how now’s a good time to learn). If you find any gear that needs to be repaired, make a note of it, but don’t send it in to the manufacturer as many servicing facilities have closed down recently.

Make a list of all of your gear with details such as serial numbers for your own records and for insurance purposes. There are mobile apps for this, such as MyGearVault or Zither (iOS only) but a Google Docs spreadsheet will also work just fine. Speaking of insurance, make sure all of your gear is properly insured to give you peace of mind if you happen to damage or lose your gear.

Finally, take note of your camera inventory and evaluate what you really need. If you’re low on funds and really need the money, selling camera gear is one way to help make ends meet.

Rework your photography contracts

Before you perform any photography service in exchange for money, it is wise to have your client sign a photography contract. There are a number of reasons why photography contracts are important, but there’s one reason in particular that stands out right now. A good photography contract will have a section detailing what happens if a photoshoot needs to be canceled. This is important during times of economic prosperity (ie. what happens if you, the photographer, gets sick and can’t shoot?). But it is more important than ever now that nearly every type of photoshoot has been put on hold or canceled.

I am not a legal professional and cannot provide specific guidance, but here are a few things to consider spelling out in your photography contracts:

  • If a deposit is paid to secure your services, under what terms (if any) is that deposit refundable?
  • What happens if the client needs to postpone or cancel the photoshoot?

When it comes to enforcing the contract terms, it depends on your relationship with the client, but it doesn’t hurt to have some flexibility, especially since everyone is suffering right now. I’ve had a number of relatively positive outcomes including clients who credit the deposit toward a future photoshoot, some who decided not to collect the deposit back even though they had every right to, and many who have promised to rehire me for the photoshoot when they are able to reschedule it.

Back up your photos

If you don’t already have a solid backup system for your photography content, now is a great time to start one. There are a lot of backup options out there including NAS and RAID systems, cloud storage, and simply using physical hard drives. According to the 3-21- backup strategy, you should have at least 3 copies of your data, 2 copies that are on different devices (think 2 different hard drives), and 1 copy offsite (think cloud storage).

The great news about backups is that the cost of physical hard drives has dropped dramatically. Western Digital 10TB hard drives are under $ 200 right now, and Costco likely has not sold out of hard drives yet. My backup strategy uses a combination of physical hard drives, and cloud backups to both Backblaze and SmugMug.

Update your portfolio

While you’re backing up your photo archives, take time to comb through your library of images for work that can be used to update your photography portfolio. Add new work to existing albums, and consider making new categories. A section for Personal Projects is always great for showcasing creativity.

If you don’t have a photography portfolio or are considering switching platforms, now is a great time to look into different website options. Today, photographers are using everything from WordPress, Squarespace, SmugMug, and Instagram to showcase their work. Some sites are free and others are paid; many paid sites are offering discounts or extended trials right now, so consider taking advantage of them.

Also, don’t forget to update your LinkedIn profile. Although photography resumes are rarely needed, LinkedIn is a great place to keep a digital resume and professional presence. It can also help you generate new photography leads if you use the platform regularly.

Experiment with different photography techniques

It takes about 10,000 hours to master a skill, and it’s still possible to keep taking photos even if you’re stuck inside. Play with different photography concepts such as natural lighting and artificial lighting, macro photography – you get the picture. Explore these concepts in-depth and consider participating in or setting up a daily photography challenge for motivation. You may end up new skills that you can use in the future, or a new section in your portfolio.

One particular photography genre worth exploring is product photography. Online sales everywhere are up even during this pandemic which means that product photography is more important than ever before. Product photography requires proficiency in lighting and composition, and many of these skills are transferable to other types of photography including headshots and stock photography. You can also make a makeshift product photography “studio” in your home without buying expensive gear.

Consider selling stock photos

Stock photography doesn’t always have a positive reputation because payouts can be small and you typically have to upload a large number of photos over a long period of time to see results. However, this is a good time to consider stock photography because 1) we have a lot of time on our hands, and 2) any long-term passive income payment is better than nothing.

If you’re curious about stock photography, there are a number of websites out there where you can sign up and start uploading almost immediately. Shutterstock is my favorite since it is relatively quick and easy to upload and keyword content, and I have consistently made sales there since I started uploading two years ago. Just sign up for an account, read the fine print that details what quality standards they require and start learning about how to keyword your images since keywording is ultimately what will help you sell more images.

But before you start uploading, make sure that the images you want to sell are not prohibited for re-sale if you shot them for a client (refer to your contract), or a unique image that you might want to sell for yourself at a higher value down the road.

Diversify your income

This point may be hard to act on right now as many industries are not hiring, but start thinking of ways to diversify your income outside of taking photos. The reality is that outside of a pandemic, there are many reasons why you may not be able to perform your job (ie. prolonged illness, personal situations). In times like this, it’s important to have other streams of income or jobs that you can do that don’t require you physically picking up a camera.

Think editing photos for other photographers, being an image quality reviewer for stock photography websites, teaching photography classes, etc.

Prioritize your spending

This is probably a no-brainer if your business has ground to a halt as mine has, but it bears repeating. Now is the time to save your money as much as possible. We don’t know how long this pandemic will be around or how long it will be before business is back up and running. Realistically, not all of our clients’ businesses may make it, and budgets for photography may shrink or dry up after all of this is over. So count your pennies now and do what you can to make your money stretch.

And if you don’t already have one, consider starting an emergency saving account that you chip in to on a regular basis. This may not be possible to start right now, but this pandemic is a good reminder of why it is essential to have emergency savings on hand in the future.

Take up a new hobby

Even though it’s important to keep practicing photography right now, it’s also worth taking a break from it. Taking some time away from photography is great for inspiring different types of creativity. We have so much time on our hands right now, that you can make the most out of it by learning a new skill or taking up new hobbies. Is there a language you always wanted to learn? Or a recipe you want to perfect? Think of a time when you’ve said, “If only I had more time, I would do ___” and start doing it.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DJI releases nine new accessories for Ronin-S handheld stabilizer

22 Nov

DJI has released a total of nine new accessories for its Ronin-S handheld camera stabilizer, expanding the system and making it more attractive to ambitious video shooters and film makers. Below is a quick run-down of each of the new accessories.

The new Focus Motor enables motorized focusing of lenses and offers lens control with an accuracy of .02 degrees. The Command Unit attaches to the side of the stabilizer and lets users to modify settings such as motor parameters, remote control and operation modes without the need to connect a mobile device.

The Ronin-S BG37 Grip offers an extra 12 hours of operating time via a 2400mAh built-in battery and the Top Hotshoe Bracket mounts to the camera hot shoe and the Ronin for extra security during fast-paced shooting, for example when the stabilizer is mounted to a moving vehicle. The grip comes with a cold-shoe, so you can still attach accessories with the adequate connector.

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The Extended Lens Support helps secure the camera and larger lens on then Ronin-S and can be used when the standard support is not long enough. With the Ronin-S Universal Mount the stabilizer can be mounted to a car, jib, cable cam system and more.

Finally, the External GPS Module offers improved stabilization performance during fast accelerations or decelerations and better reaction to sudden camera movements. All new accessories are available now, pricing is as follows:

  • Focus Motor: $ 169 USD
  • Focus Motor Rod Mount: $ 20 USD
  • Focus Gear Strip: USD $ 20 USD
  • Command Unit: $ 129 USD
  • BG37 Battery Grip: $ 99 USD
  • Top Hotshoe Bracket: $ 49 USD
  • Extended Lens Support: $ 20 USD
  • External GPS Module: $ 69 USD
  • Universal Mount: $ 179 USD

More information can be found on the DJI website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

19 Nov

The first lens many photographers will own is the kit lens. This lens typically covers a focal range of 18-55mm and has a variable maximum aperture. So before you move onto other lenses, how can you get the most out of this particular lens? Well, there is an awful lot that can be achieved with this lens when you put your mind to it. There are limitations of course, but there is even more room to experiment with your kit lens creativity! So let’s look at some of the ways you can do just that.

Kinetic Light Painting - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

This photo used the kit lenses ability to zoom to do some kinetic light painting.

1 – Kinetic Light Painting

Light painting is an exciting form of photography and one that you can experiment with using a humble kit lens. What the kit lens is well suited for is a niche form of light painting, called kinetic light painting. This form of light painting involves moving the camera, as opposed to moving the light source. Light painting uses a long exposure, and as with all long exposure shots, it’s a good idea to use a tripod. So what types of kinetic light painting will work well?

  • Camera rotation – This is a type of light painting that involves moving the camera around while it is attached to a tripod. Use a wide focal length, and experiment with light sources that are above the camera. Tall structures like skyscrapers often work well for this technique.
  • Zoom – The 18-55mm focal range is ideal for zoom light painting work, good for kit lens creativity. In fact, perhaps the only better lens would be a superzoom 18-300mm. This time you’ll change the focal length of the lens during the photo, causing light to be painted across the scene.
Panning - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

Panning is a great technique to practice, and it’s fun.

2 – Panning

While it’s true you can use more or less any lens for panning, you don’t need an upgrade from your kit lens to make this type of photo either. In fact, a focal length of around 55mm is often ideal for this particular technique. You simply require a shutter speed of around 1/20th second. There are some excellent guides on this subject, and the technique is simple and fun to master.

  1. Find an area where you’re moving subject will move across the area you intend to photograph. You’ll want your moving object to run parallel to you, relative to where you’re positioned.
  2. Use a shutter speed of around 1/20th. You can increase or decrease this if you wish. At slower shutter speeds the chance of camera shake increases, so you will need to be very steady when tracking the motion of the object you’re panning. It’s possible to use a faster shutter speed for panning, but then you’ll need a fast moving object to pan with.
  3. As the object you’re panning approaches, begin to follow the motion with your camera. When you’re confident you’re following the motion steadily, press your shutter gently as you continue to move with the object.
Zoom Burst - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

Using your lens for long exposure photos can be creative.

3 – Zoom Burst

You’ll notice zoom is a kinetic light painting technique. It can also be used during the day, to create a dynamic feel to your photo. The shutter speed needed is similar to that of panning, so around 1/20th. You can also use a tripod for extra stabilization of your photo. It’s best to zoom into your subject when practicing this technique, which can work very nicely for portrait photos. Once again the kit lens is well suited to this since it allows a zoom range from 18mm to 55mm.

4 – Glass Ball Refraction Photography

Refraction photography is a niche that can use any kind of camera. You can certainly use a kit lens to get this type of photograph. The technique revolves around using a crystal ball, though other objects such as wine glasses filled with water will work. When you consider that a glass ball works like an external lens optic, in a sense, you’re getting your creativity from another lens. However, you still need a kit lens to take the photo! As these photos work best with a blurred background look to photograph at 55mm, and with the largest aperture you can.

Refraction - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

In this photo, a wine glass was used to show refraction.

5 – Low-Key Light Portrait

You don’t need low light to create low-key portraits, and with that in mind, the kit lens can be a very useful lens. Using your lens at around 50mm will work nicely for your portrait, and you can use your camera body to expose at -2 or -3 exposure value. You’ll need to set your aperture and shutter speed to the appropriate settings to get this exposure value, depending on the environment you’re in. To make a low-key photo you’ll need a large difference in light from model to the background. This can be achieved through finding a place where a shard of sunlight comes through a gap in the roofing, perhaps at a market. You now need your model to be lit up by the sun, while the background will be underexposed, and therefore dark.

Low-Key Portraits - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

You can use any lens for low-key portraits, including the kit lens.

6 – Long Exposure Photography

Your kit lens will not restrict your ability to take long exposure photos. The limiting factor here will be a lack of a tripod, and perhaps a lack of the correct filter. That means you can take amazing long exposure photos with a kit lens, so long as you have the correct additional equipment.

  • Car light trails – Find the right location above a road with plenty of traffic, and you can take photos of light trails produced by cars. Close down the aperture, and you’ll also create a starburst effect with any street lights nearby. You’ll need exposure times of 5 seconds or more for this type of photo.
  • Moving water – Moving water can look attractive in your photo, and a kit lens can certainly capture this. Exposure times of around 1 second or more will give moving water a silky look when photographed.
  • Light painting – The merits of the kit lens for kinetic light painting has already been discussed. It’s no surprise you can also up your kit lens creativity with light painting of any type.
Long Exposures - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

Fireworks can be recorded using a kit lens, and it’s great for capturing the whole scene at wide focal lengths.

7 – Attaching a Filter

A great way to increase your kit lens creativity is to add a filter, and that’s not the digital kind. There are a good variety of filters you can add to your kit lens that will give you extra options as a photographer. These can be graduated sunset filters, that add warms tones to the sky. Alternatively, a strong ND filter will allow you to take long exposure photos during the day, using your kit lens and a tripod. This article will give you an idea of some of the available filters you can use. You’ll need to use the correct sized filter, with 52mm or 58mm being typical for a kit lens.

Adding Filters - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

Filters can be attached to your kit lens. This photo was taken with an infra-red filter attached to a kit lens.

8 – Get Wide

At 18mm your kit lens is wide enough to capture a good amount of the scene in a landscape photo. This means as you travel with this lens you can take some photos of amazing viewpoints. Combine this with a technique such as long exposure or kinetic light painting and you will get your kit lens creativity! Note that if you’re using a crop sensor APS-C camera 18mm is effectively 28.8mm on a full-frame camera.

9 – Portrait Work

At the other end of the scale with your kit lens is 55mm. Once again when using an APS-C camera this will effectively be 88mm if this was used on a full-frame camera. These focal lengths are ideal for portrait photography though. Any compression of the face won’t be too extreme at the effective focal length of 88mm. So focal lengths from around 30mm through to 55mm will give you some good compression ratios to work with for portrait photography.

Get Wide - Nine Ways to Boost Your Kit Lens Creativity

Whether your portraits are street photos, posed, or travel, the kit lens is going to give you nice results.

How Will You Get Your Kit Lens Creativity?

The drive for more creativity is always there with photography. There is a lot you can do using your kit lens if you choose to. The list above gives you some examples of how you might go about doing that. Have you tried any of these techniques with the kit lens? Are there any other ways you’ve taken interesting photos with this particular lens? Please share your thoughts, and photos in the comments section.

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Enter for a Chance to Win One of NINE Photomatix Licenses!

05 Jun

Enter the Photomatix “Spring in HDR” Photography Contest Today!

Over the last few years here at dPS, we’ve run very some very popular competitions with our partners to give away some of their great photographic products to lucky dPS readers.

We are lucky enough to be able to do it again today!

Enter to Win One of NINE Photomatix Licenses

For this competition, HDRsoft is giving away THREE Photomatix Pro Plus Bundles, THREE Photomatix Pro, AND THREE Photomatix Essentials.

HDRsoft, the maker of the popular Photomatix software and pioneer of HDR photography post-processing, bring you the “Spring in HDR” photo contest.

What is HDR, you ask? HDR stands for “high dynamic range.” In simple terms, dynamic range is basically just the difference between the lightest light and darkest tones in a scene. HDR photography lets you capture a high contrast scene as you saw it. Take three or more photos with different exposures and merge them to create one stunning HDR image.

With spring in full swing, let’s have fun and SPRING into HDR!

These prizes are designed to help every level of photographer create impressive HDR pictures. Each prize will be won by a different dPS reader.

Photomatix Pro and Essentials offer the dPS readers High Dynamic Range photography software to:

Merge bracketed photos to HDR

  • Load photographs taken at different exposures (a.k.a. bracketed photos) to merge them into a single HDR image.
  • You can leave your tripod at home. Photomatix will align your bracketed photos for you.
  • If there are moving objects or people between the bracketed shots, Photomatix will remove them via its ghost removal tools.

Adjust the HDR image to your liking

  • Choose from a wide variety of styles, with built-in presets from natural looks right through to surreal or grunge effects.
  • Try different HDR styles and fine-tune the HDR settings to find enhancements that work best for your photo.

HDR Photo by Manarola Wojciech Toman, created with Photomatix Pro.

Prizes

Three grand prize winners will win the Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle, a $ 119 value. Three second prize winners will win Photomatix Pro, a $ 99 value. Finally, three third place winners will win Photomatix Essentials 4, a $ 39 value.

HDR Photo by Manarola Wojciech Toman, created with Photomatix Pro

THREE Grand Prizes

Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle – a $ 119 Value

Bundle of two products:

  • Photomatix Pro 6
  • Tone Mapping Plugin for Photoshop

3 second place prize winners will receive Photomatix Pro 6 – $ 99 Value

Photomatix Pro is a standalone program (running on Windows and Mac) to create HDR photos with the look you want, from natural to artistic, using one-click presets and a large range of settings.

  • Merge bracketed photos to HDR.
  • Automatic alignment of hand-held photos.
  • Advanced ghost removal tools.
  • 6 HDR styles (Tone Mapping / Fusion).
  • Over 70 HDR settings and 40 built-in presets.
  • Create an HDR “Look” with a single photo.
  • Native RAW file support.
  • Brush Tool.
  • Options for real estate photography.
  • Batch processing.
  • Plugin for Lightroom included.

Three third place prize winners will receive – Photomatix Essentials 4 – $ 39 Value

Photomatix Essentials is an easy-to-use standalone program (running on Windows and Mac) to create HDR photos with the look you want, from natural to artistic, using one-click presets and streamlined settings.

  • Merge of bracketed photos to HDR.
  • Automatic alignment of hand-held photos.
  • Automatic ghost removal.
  • 4 HDR styles (Tone Mapping / Fusion).
  • 33 HDR settings and 30 built-in presets.
  • HDR “Look” with a single photo.
  • Native RAW support.
  • Plugin for Photoshop Elements included.

Learn a little more about Photomatix Pro 6 HERE

How to Win

To win this competition you’ll need to:

  1. Download a free trial of Photomatix Pro or Photomatix Essentials from HERE
  2. Load a bracketed photo set or a single photo of your favorite shots in Photomatix Pro or Photomatix Essentials, to create an HDR photo and adjust it to your liking.
  3. Post your HDR photo in our comments section below, include a few words about what you like about the software…and of course, a few words about your HDR photo. It’s as easy as that!

Do this in the next month and on or about July 20, 2018, the team at HDRsoft will choose the nine best photos and comments, and we will announce the winners in the following days.

Deadline to enter is July 6, 2018, 04:59 pm AEST (July 6, 2018, 02:59 am EDT). Photos and comments left after the deadline will not be considered.

Please click HERE for full contest rules, terms and conditions.

There’s no need to write essay length comments to win, just what you like about Photomatix and/or HDR. Don’t forget to include your HDR photo in our comments section below. We encourage you to have fun and be creative!

This competition is open to everyone, no matter where you live. To enter – simply leave your photo and comment below.

HDRsoft will be offering a 25% discount on Photomatix when we announce the winners. Make sure to get your trial now and watch out for the announcement after July 20th!

 

 

Learn more about Photomatix HERE

Disclaimer: HDRsoft is a paid partner of dPS.

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You simply Have nine Authentic Options to stop Foreclosures

14 Mar

avoiding foreclosure is just about everywhere. Utah has now reached selection five while in the most foreclosures from the country, and of coarse Salt Lake Town is main that amount. You’ll find ways in which it is possible to cease foreclosure in northern Utah, however you ought to act now. Find the leading 3 ways that would work greatest for you and begin pursuing them currently. I suggest 3 approaches for the reason that then you really will have 2 again up strategies.

1. Help you save up and acquire recent about the home loan by shelling out again the payments. You may well be in a position to do this by finding a loan from friends or loved ones, or tapping into your IRA account, or your 401K account. Those people affiliated to you personally understand that your situation isn’t your fault and many might be willing to make it easier to End Foreclosures.

2. Work with all the loan company to place jointly a compensation plan. This can be what most loan providers are executing for that people who are actively attempting to quit foreclosure. This is when the loan providers have an understanding of your problem, and they still consider that you are a great financial commitment for them. They think that you simply experienced a hiccup inside your financial condition and in order that they include the cash that you choose to owe back again towards your mortgage and you simply pay out them again over time. The loan company wishes to stop foreclosure just as much when you do.

3. Do the job together with the financial institution to switch the conditions in the loan. This is where the lender forgives some of the balance in the bank loan to lower your payments, they might also alter your desire fee to reduce your mortgage loan payments, or they could maximize the length within your bank loan. This is a terrific circumstance for you if your loan company is prepared to do that.

4. Refinance. This will be described as a fantastic choice in case you don’t like how your financial loan modification came out. By refinancing you will be asking a further financial institution in case you are continue to a good financial investment for your financial institution. If they concur then they’re going to finance your home via them as well as loan that is certainly foreclosing on you are going to be compensated in complete, thus halting your home foreclosure.

five. Individual bankruptcy. That is a short-term correct in most conditions. You may stall your foreclosures for up to 2 decades in certain scenarios by continually declaring personal bankruptcy. Time you stall your foreclosures can be plenty of to suit your needs to monetarily get back again on your own feet, but this hurts your credit history just about just as much to be a foreclosures plus the desire you are going to be paying on back payments to the home finance loan is going to be outrageous if the individual bankruptcy is about. Lots of bankruptcy attorneys will propose a brief sale since the entire issue of bankruptcy will be to do away with financial debt and a quick sale or offering the house outright may be the only way to eradicate your home finance loan without the need of going into foreclosure.

6. Provide outright if your assets is worth plenty of. You have a restricted amount of your time to try and do this if this can be the route you wish to implement it to prevent foreclosure. To pursue this route you may really have to price cut the house drastically and possibly provide it to an trader or amongst the we buy homes advertisements.

seven. Short profits. This is when you obtain the lender to have a discount on your own mortgage loan. You find a buyer to your home. The client will wish to buy your house for under you owe on it. You might submit the offer you in to the lender they usually will credit score your house loan as paid out in comprehensive. It is important to do your investigation find another person to assist you make this happen. They must not demand you anything at all they usually should have finished a lot of of these in advance of. Typically your very best bet is to speak to an trader who concentrates on brief income to prevent foreclosure.

The post You simply Have nine Authentic Options to stop Foreclosures appeared first on Photonovice.

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Nikon releases new firmware for nine cameras, mostly AF-P lens support

04 Mar

Nine Nikon DSLR models are getting new firmware to fix a few issues users have been encountering, particularly when using AF-P lenses. Updated models include the D4, D4s, Df, D800, D800E, D810, D810A, D7100, and D7200.

The whole lot of them received these fixes:

Added the following supports for AF-P lenses:

  • If the standby timer expires after focusing, the focus position will no longer change when the timer is reactivated.
  • When focus is adjusted by rotating the lens focus ring, the focus indicator in the viewfinder (and in live view, the focus point in the monitor) now flash to indicate when infinity or the minimum focus distance is reached.

The D4, D4s, Df, D800 and D800E received the following fixes:

Added support for AF-P DX lenses.

And the D4, Df, D800 and D800E also benefit from:

When photos were taken using Camera Control Pro 2 after Custom Setting d10 (Exposure delay mode) was enabled in the CUSTOM SETTING MENU, the software would sometimes mistakenly display a message stating that no photo could be taken.

Finally, the Nikon D810 and D810A received fixes to their microphone operation and multiple exposure modes, while the D7100 and D7200 get updates that fix an issue of incorrect exposures when E-type lenses are used in live view mode.

For more information on all of these updates, or if you want to get your Nikon DSLR up to the latest firmware version, visit the Nikon firmware download web page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sigma announces nine full-frame E-mount Art primes

28 Feb

Sigma has announced plans to bring seven of its existing full-frame Art-series primes, plus two newly-announced lenses, to E-mount. Sigma says that the E-mount versions will offer “a newly developed control algorithm that optimizes the autofocus drive and maximizes the data transmission speed.” The lenses will work with Sony’s AF-C mode, and as with existing lenses adapted via MC-11, will work with in-camera stabilization and in-camera lens corrections.

Below are the lenses Sigma plans to offer in E-mount:

  • 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art
  • 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • 70mm F2.8 DG Macro | Art
  • Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
  • Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art

Sigma says that launch dates for all models are yet to be determined.

SIGMA launches seven interchangeable Art prime lenses for Sony E-mount cameras with full-frame sensors

SIGMA Corporation is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of interchangeable lenses for the Sony E-mount digital camera series with full-frame image sensors. SIGMA will gradually introduce the lenses as members of the Art line, which offers photographers the highest level of optical performance.

While offering the same high-performance optical design as other lenses in the Art line, the new Sony E-mount models will feature a newly developed control algorithm that optimizes the autofocus drive and maximizes the data transmission speed. In addition, these lenses will be compatible with Sony’s Continuous AF (AF-C) and high-speed autofocus, which are not addressed by SIGMA MOUNT CONVERTER MC-11. Like the converter MC-11, the lenses will be compatible with in-camera image stabilization and in-camera lens aberration correction, which includes corrections for peripheral illumination, chromatic aberrations, and distortion.

The lineup will include the Art line set of seven prime lenses covering 14mm to 135mm. It will also include two models that SIGMA will be exhibiting at CP+ 2018: 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO | Art and 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art (launch date TBD). Further, SIGMA plans to introduce additional Sony E-mount models in the Art line going forward.

Note: This product is developed, manufactured and sold based on the specifications of E-mount which was disclosed by Sony Corporation under the license agreement with Sony Corporation.

Key features

1. Autofocus tuned for each lens
Thanks to an autofocus drive control program tuned for each lens and high-speed data transmission, the lenses will offer high-speed autofocus at the same performance level as that of a lens designed exclusively for mirrorless cameras. In particular, in E-mount cameras offering Sony’s Fast Hybrid AF, AF-C mode will deliver exceptional subject following performance. Moreover, autofocus will remain extremely precise even in those E-mount cameras offering only contrast AF.

2. Compatible with in-camera image stabilization
The lenses will be compatible with in-camera image stabilization. The Sony E-mount camera senses the focal length of the lens and automatically optimizes image stabilization performance.

3. Data loaded for compatibility with in-camera aberration correction The lenses will be fully compatible with in-camera aberration correction, which includes corrections for peripheral illumination, chromatic aberrations, and distortion. By matching corrections to the optical characteristics of the lens, this function takes image quality to an even higher level.

4. Native mount for a more rigid and stable feel Making the mount native to the lens makes possible a more rigid and stable feel to the lens. Featuring a special surface treatment to enhance strength, the brass bayonet mount offers a high-precision fit and exceptional durability. The mount connection area incorporates rubber sealing for dust- and splash-proof construction.

5. Available Mount Conversion Service This service converts the mount of SIGMA lenses to that of a different camera body, allowing photographers to continue using their favorite lenses over the long term regardless of camera system.

Note 1: The Mount Conversion Service is different from a normal repair. In order to apply for the service, please contact your nearest authorized SIGMA subsidiary or distributor. http://www.sigma-global.com/en/about/world-network/

Note 2: This service is performed exclusively by SIGMA.

Product lineup

SIGMA 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case

SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case

SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

SIGMA 70mm F2.8DG MACRO | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit)
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

SIGMA 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit)
Launch date: TBD. Include case, hood, and tripod socket

SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art
Launch date: TBD. Includes case and hood

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nine straight-forward tips from an award-winning travel photographer

13 Jan

Travel photographer Bob Holmes recently put together this quick-tips video for Advancing Your Photography in which he shares nine useful photography tips; or, as Holmes puts it in the video, nine ‘crutches’ for when you feel like the muse has deserted you.

They’re basic tips, but this is what Holmes looks for when he goes out to shoot—lines, punctuation, and energy—and they’re the reason he has managed to continue producing award-winning work year after year after year.

For those of you who prefer reading to watching, here’s a quick summary of all nine tips:

  1. Look for leading lines – they can lead your viewer through the composition
  2. Look for diagonals – they give a dynamic feel to your photos
  3. Look for horizontal lines – they will give a calm feel to your photos
  4. Capture gestures – they can really help your photo pop
  5. Try to find ‘punctuation’ – like a splash of color or a solitary person in a larger landscape
  6. Put energy into your photos – you can do this by capturing movement in the frame
  7. Be receptive – let the picture ‘impress itself’ upon you
  8. Look at art for inspiration – famous paintings are often examples of fantastic composition and great lighting at work.
  9. Look at photography books for inspiration – there’s a reason the Irving Penn’s and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s of the world are still remembered today.

The tips might seem overly simplistic, but simple isn’t always a bad thing when you’re trying to get out of a rut. And it’s not like Bob Holmes doesn’t know what he’s talking about: he’s the only photographer to ever win the Travel Photographer of the Year Award 5 times, most recently in 2017.

Check out the video above for photo to go with each of the tips, and then let us know if you have your own “get out of a rut” routine in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nine things you should know about the Google Pixel 2

07 Oct

Nine things you should know about the Google Pixel 2

With all the hype surrounding the release of the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL and their “world’s highest rated smartphone camera,” it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees. What’s important about this new phone? Where did Google leave us wanting more? How is this phone’s camera better than its predecessor? And why should photographers care about the technology baked into Google’s new flagship?

After covering the launch in detail and spending some time with the Pixel 2 in San Francisco, we’re setting out to answer those questions (and a few others) for you.

Dual Pixel AF

The new Pixel phones sport a very clever feature found on higher-end Canon cameras: split left- and right-looking pixels behind each microlens on the camera sensor. This allows the camera to sample left and right perspectives behind the lens, which can then be used to focus the camera faster on the subject (it’s essentially a form of phase-detect AF).

It’s officially called dual pixel autofocus, and it has the potential to offer a number of advantages over the ‘focus pixels’ Apple phones use: every pixel can be dedicated to focus without any impact to image quality (see this illustration). We’ve been impressed with its implementation on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and on Canon cameras. So we’re expecting fast autofocus for stills, even in low light, as well as very smooth autofocus in video with little to no hunting. Given how good the Pixel 2’s stabilized 4K video is, you might even make some professional-looking clips from these new phones.

Dual pixel + machine learning driven portraits

The split pixels have another function: the left-looking and right-looking pixels underneath each microlens essentially sample two different perspectives that are slightly shifted from one another. Google then build a rudimentary depth map using this set of separated images and some help from its machine learning algorithms.

Clever. However, the stereo disparity between the two images are likely to be very small compared to a dual camera setup, which is likely to make it difficult for the Pixel 2 cameras to distinguish background from subject for more distant subjects. This might explain the poor results in DXO’s comparison, but better results in the image above where Allison is much closer to the camera.

On the plus side, Portrait mode now renders full resolution 12MP files (you only got 5MP files on the original Pixels), and the ‘lens blur’ Google uses is generally more pleasing than Apple’s more Gaussian blur. Out of focus highlights are rendered as more defined circles compared to Apple’s results. This comes at a cost though: the blurring algorithm is computationally intensive so you’ll generally wait a few seconds before seeing the result (and you can’t see it in real time as you can with Apple).

Hardier hardware

Unsurprisingly if you’ve been following the rumor mill, the hardware specs on the new Pixel 2 phones didn’t particularly impress any more than what we’ve seen from other phones. They’re nice devices, and both are far more durable with IP67 ratings (a huge step up from the poor IP53 ratings of the previous Pixel phones, which were prone to quick wear and tear), but hardware-wise there’s not too much to be excited about.

We’ve lost the headphone jack but gained stereo speakers in the front. The XL has less of a bezel, but it’s still not as bezel-less as Samsung phones. No dual-cameras. RAM and processor are what you get in other Android phones. You can invoke the Assistant with a squeeze, but… well…

Nothing really stands out. But wait, there’s more to the story.

AI First

If there’s one point Google CEO Sundar Pichai continuously makes in his presentations, it’s that we’re moving from a ‘Mobile First’ to an ‘AI First’ world. He’s referring to the move away from thinking of mobile devices simply as pocketable computation devices but, instead, intelligent devices that can adapt to our needs and make our lives easier. And Google is a leader here, thanks to the intelligence it acquires from its search services and apps like Maps and Photos.

AI is increasingly being used in many services to make them better, but often transparently. CEO Pichai recently cited an example of the Fitness app: every time he opens it he navigates to a different page. But rather than have the app team change the default page, or add an option to, he figures AI should just learn your preference transparently.

What’s that mean for photography and videography? We’re purely speculating here, but, imagine a camera learning your taste in photography by the way you edit photos. Or the photos you take. Or the filters you apply. Or the photos you ‘like’. How about learning your taste in music so when Google Assistant auto-builds videos from your library of photos and videos, they’re cut to music you like?

The possibilities are endless, and we’re likely to see lots of cool things make their way into the new Pixel phones, like…

Google Lens

Sundar Pichai first talked about Google Lens at the I/O Developer Conference earlier this year. It marries machine vision and AI, and is now available for the first time in the Photos app and within Google Assistant on the new Pixel phones. Google’s machine vision algorithms can analyze what the camera sees, and use AI to do cool things like identify what type of flower you’re pointing your camera at.

This sort of intelligence is applicable to photography as well: Pichai talked about how AutoML has improved Google’s ability to automatically identify objects in a scene. Anything from a fence to a motorbike to types of food to your face: Google is getting increasingly better at identifying these objects and understanding what they are – automatically using reinforcement learning.

And once you understand what an object is, you can do all sorts of cool things. Remove it. Re-light it. Identify it so you can easily search for it without every keywording your photos. The Photos app can already pull up pictures of planes, birthdays, food, wine, you name it. We look forward to seeing how the inclusion of Google Lens in the new phones makes Photos and Assistant better.

Maybe intelligent object recognition could even fix flare issues by understand what flare is… though this may not be necessary for the new phone…

Goodbye ugly lens flare

Thankfully, the nasty flare issues that plagued the first-gen Pixel phones appear to be remedied by lifting the camera module above the glass backing, which has also been reduced and streamlined to fit flush with the rest of the phone.

The camera unit is raised from the back ever-so-slightly though, but that’s a compromise we’re willing to accept if it means the camera isn’t behind a piece of uncoated glass – a recipe for flare disaster. The only flare we’ve seen so far with our limited hands-on time is what DXO witnessed in their report: the lens element reflections in corners you sometimes see even in professional lenses. That’s something we’ll gladly put up with (and that some of us even like).

If flare bugged you on the previous Pixel phones (it certainly bugged me), consider it a non-issue on the new phones.

Incredibly smooth video

When the original Pixel launched, Google claimed its camera beat other cameras with optical image stabilization (OIS) despite lacking OIS. It claimed its software-based stabilization approach allowed it to get better with time as algorithms got better. Omitting OIS was also crucial to keeping the camera small such that it fit within the slim body.

Google is singing a different tune this year, including both OIS and electronic image stabilization (EIS) in its larger camera unit that extends ever-so-slightly above the back glass. And the results appear to be quite impressive. The original Pixels already had very good stabilization in video (even 4K), but combining OIS + EIS appears to have made the video results even smoother. Check out the video from Google above.

For low light photography, OIS should help steady the camera for longer shutter speeds. You should also get better macro results and better document scanning. Hey, that’s worth something.

Equally as important as what the new phones offer is what the new phones don’t offer…

Color management? HEIF?

Notably absent was any talk about proper color management on the new phones. The previous Pixels had beautiful OLED displays, but colors were wildly inaccurate and often too saturated due to lack of any color management or proper calibrated display modes.

iPhones have some of the most color accurate screens out there. Their wide gamut screens now cover most of DCI-P3 but, more importantly, iOS can automatically switch the screen’s gamut between properly calibrated DCI-P3 and standard gamut (sRGB) modes on-the-fly based on content.

This means you view photos and movies as they were intended. It also means when you send an image from your iPhone to be printed (using a service that at least understands color management, like Apple’s print services), the print comes back looking similar, though perhaps a bit dimmer.*

The Samsung Galaxy S8 also has calibrated DCI-P3 and sRGB modes, though you have to manually switch between them. The new Pixel phones made no mention of calibrated display modes or proper color management, though Android Oreo does at least support color management (though, like Windows, leaves it up to apps). But without a proper display profile, we’re not sure how one will get accurate colors on the Pixel 2 phones.


*That’s only because prints aren’t generally illuminated as much as bright backlit LCDs that these days reach anywhere from 6 to 10 times the brightness prints are generally viewed at.

HDR display?

Sadly there was no mention of 10-bit images or HDR display of photos or videos (using the HDR10 or Dolby Vision standards) at Google’s press event. This leaves much to be desired.

The iPhone X will play back HDR video content using multiple streaming services, but more importantly for photographers it will display photos in HDR mode as well. Remember, this has little to do with HDR capture but, instead, the proper display of photos on displays—like OLED—that can reproduce a wider range of tones.

To put it bluntly: photos taken on an iPhone X and viewed on an iPhone X will look more brilliant and have more pop than anything else you’re likely to have seen before thanks to the support for HDR display and accurate color. It’s a big deal, and Google seems to have missed the boat entirely here.

HDR displays require less of the tonemapping traditional HDR capture algorithms employ (though HDR capture is still usually beneficial, since it preserves highlights and decreases noise in shadows). Instead of brightening shadows and darkening bright skies after capture, as HDR algorithms like the Pixel 2’s are known to do post-capture (above, left), leaving many of these tones alone is the way to go with high dynamic range displays like OLED.

In other words, the image above and to the right, with its brighter highlights and darker shadows, may in fact be better suited for HDR displays like that of the Pixel 2, as long as there’s still color information present in the shadows and highlights of the (ideally 10-bit) image. Unfortunately, Google made no mention of a proper camera-to-display workflow for HDR capture and display.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nine new lens adapters announced for the Fujifilm GFX

04 Aug

A host of new adapters have just been launched that allow owners of the Fujifilm GFX 50S to attach new and historic lenses from other brands to their mirrorless medium format camera.

K&F Concept has introduced eight of the adapters, and is offering completely manual mounts for some surprising brands, including Olympus OM. The K&F adapters are brass on both sides and have matte black interiors to prevent flare.

K&F Concept adapters:

  • KF-EFG: Canon EF – Fujifilm G
  • KF-CYG: Yashica/Contax – – Fujifilm G
  • KF-LRG: Leica R – Fujifilm G
  • KF-OMG: Olympus OM – Fujifilm G
  • KF-NFG: Nikon F – Fujifilm G
  • KF-SRG: Minolta MD-MC/SR – Fujifilm G
  • KF-PKG: Pentax K – Fujifilm G
  • KF-42G: M42 – Fujifilm G

None of the K&F Concept adapters have any electronic communication with the body, and all cost around ¥10,000 (approx. $ 90)

Contax 645 users will be more interested in this adapter from Fringer, which allows full electronic contact between the Fujifilm GFX and Contax 645 lenses.

The extent of the communications provides autofocusing for 35mm f/3.5, 45mm f/2.8, 80mm f/2 and 140mm f/2.8 lenses, aperture control on all lenses through the camera body, and full EXIF information in the image file. Fringer admits ‘AF performance is not as good as native GF lenses!’ but some AF is usually better than no AF. The Fringer Contax 645 – GFX smart adapter costs $ 750.

For more information see the K&F Concepts website (where there is no mention of the adapters) or the Shoten Kobo website (where there is).

More information on the Fringer adapter can be found on the Fringer website.

Sample shot taken with the Fringer adapter that allows AF with Contax 645 lenses on the Fujifilm GFX body

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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