One of the most exciting cameras released today is Canon’s PowerShot G1 X Mark II, which retains the 1.5-inch-type sensor from its predecessor and adds a faster processor, longer and brighter lens, tilting LCD, dual control rings, and much more. We’ve put together a short article that covers the most interesting new features on the G1 X II. Have a look.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Canon has announced the long-awaited follow-up to its PowerShot G1 X large-sensor compact: the G1 X Mark II. The G1 X II improves upon its predecessor in many ways. It’s smaller, features a faster 24-120mm equivalent F2.0-3.9 lens (with closer focusing distances), a 31-point AF system, dual lens rings, a touchscreen LCD that can tilt upward by 180°, and Wi-Fi with NFC. One added trick is that the G1 X II can shoot at 3:2 or 4:3 with the same field-of-view. The catch? No more optical viewfinder (though an EVF is optional). It will be available in April for $ 799.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
One of the most exciting cameras released today is Canon’s PowerShot G1 X Mark II, which retains the 1.5-inch-type sensor from its predecessor and adds a faster processor, longer and brighter lens, tilting LCD, dual control rings, and much more. We’ve put together a short article that covers the most interesting new features on the G1 X II. Have a look.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The a6000 sits in the middle of Sony’s range of mirrorless cameras, just above the a5000 and aging NEX-7. The feature that makes it stand out from the crowd (and not just among Sony cameras) is its Hybrid AF system, which has phase detect points across 92% of the frame. To learn what that means to photographers, and learn more about the a6000 in general, then have a look at our a6000 First Impressions Review.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Nikon’s new collapsible kit zoom, the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II rolled into our office Friday afternoon and we took it for a spin over the weekend. Like similar designs used in mirrorless kit lenses, the 18-55mm VR II twists to expand when you’re ready to shoot, and contracts into a more compact ‘at rest’ state. It’s a natural companion for Nikon’s consumer-level bodies including the D5300. While we put the finishing touches to our D5300 review, we used that camera to put together a gallery of real-world samples. See gallery
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The Nikon D800, a 36.3 megapixel full frame camera.
For many years photographers have accepted that, when it comes to image quality, a full frame camera beats one with a smaller sensor every time. Let’s look at some of the reasons why.
This portrait was taken with an EOS 5D Mark II. Using a full frame camera helped obtain the out of focus background.
Full frame cameras have some disadvantages too:
The EOS-1D X – Canon’s largest and most expensive full frame camera, designed for professional use. It’s an amazing, high precision camera for the most demanding photographer. But it also shows the main disadvantages of full frame cameras: size, weight and expense.
If you’re an aspiring pro, you may feel that you need a full frame camera to be taken seriously. In fact, this has never been completely true. There are plenty of professional photographers who use crop sensor cameras. The quality is more than good enough, and if you’re a sports or wildlife photographer you may also appreciate the extra reach that an APS-C camera gives you with telephoto lenses.
So far most of these points apply mainly to digital SLR cameras. But over the last few years we have seen the rise in popularity of mirrorless camera systems (sometimes called compact camera systems). It is easy to see why these are popular. Their small size and unobtrusive design means they are easy to carry while travelling, and less likely to draw attention if you in an area where the locals are sensitive to photographers. Mitchell Kanashkevich has written an excellent article on this topic: Istanbul and My Review of Fuji X100S as has our own Valerie Jardin using the same camera.
Furthermore, the new Fujifilm cameras such as the X-Pro 1 and X100S have garnered a lot of praise for their high image quality, with some reviewers saying it is on a par with that of full frame digital SLR cameras (there is more information on the science behind it here).
The Fujifilm X100S. This camera has had some very positive reviews. Some photographers are moving away from full frame digital SLRs and towards smaller, mirrorless camera systems.
It seems to me the question has shifted. We used to ask ‘what camera gives you the best image quality?’ and the answer was inevitably – full frame. Now the question has become ‘which camera is best for me?’ Image quality is only part of the equation, and has become less important as the gap between full frame and crop sensor cameras has narrowed. So if you’re in the market for a new camera here are the things you might want to consider before making a purchase:
The Sony A7 (pictured) and A7R are the world’s smallest full frame digital cameras with interchangeable lenses.
What are your thoughts on the full frame versus crop sensor debate? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
More reading on this topic here:
My ebook Mastering Photography: A Beginner’s Guide to Using Digital Cameras introduces you to photography and helps you make the most out of your digital camera, no matter which one you own. It covers concepts such as lighting and composition as well as the camera settings you need to take beautiful photos like the one in this article.
The post Is Full Frame Still the Best? by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.
I have been photographing weddings for around 6 years now, and have been very fortunate to be able to contribute in my own small way, in making these fantastic events a memory that my clients will treasure every time they look back at their photographs and albums. The added benefit for me is that my […]
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
A subway speeds by the platform, leaving most passengers with a fleeting impression and fast-fading memories of people glimpsed only for a moment, but not this crafty slow-motion documentarian. If you watch no other video today, this week or this year, make the time for at least one of those below.
In the above video excerpt, Adam Magyar captures frozen bystanders in fast succession (50 frames per second) at a Tokyo, Berlin and New York (Grand Central) train stations. His custom technology captures everything, and limited post-processing generates a kind of three-dimensional panoramic portrait of everyone in view. These finished products come both in the form of prints and videos, but the latter in particular are must-watch wonders.
“In Stainless, I scan rushing subway trains arriving to stations. The images record a number of tiny details of this moment. We see people staring towards their destinations standing at the doors framed by the sliding door windows. They are scrutinizing the uncertain future. Similarly to all my images, their main motivation is arrival. The darkness of the tunnels deep below the city turns these chemically clean mock-ups into fossils of our time. “
Magyar uses slit-scan and other technologies and techniques to, as writer Joshua Hammer describes, “bend conventional representations of time and space, stretching milliseconds into minutes, freezing moments with a resolution that the naked eye could never have perceived. His art evokes such variegated sources as Albert Einstein, Zen Buddhism, even the 1960s TV series The Twilight Zone.”
The extended film from Tokyo is shown above. It is truly mesmerizing to watch the most mundane behaviors caught in mid-act, be it a wet dog in mid-shake, creamer hanging over coffee mid-pour or a woman seen in mid-sneeze. It took Magyar years to perfect his craft – the worthy projects that led up to it (shown below) are essential to understanding how he achieved his current mastery.
If the process behind this uncanny effect seems impossibly complex: his signature un-moving montages came with a great deal of time and technological experimentation. This Stainless series is indeed just the latest in a long line of experimental photo projects, starting with Squares (shown above) which features collections of people taken out of time and selected to force a grid-like order on passersby.
Here to lighten the mood a bit during the duller parts of your nighttime or subterranean transit is a quirky little projector that suctions to vehicular shells.
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You can snag a volume from their floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall collection of ebook samples with the click of a button (in epub, pdf or even audiobook format).
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Bustling hubs give way to spindly spokes, infrequently taking locals to particularly distant destinations and often entirely unseen by tourists and other …
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
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There’s no question that the best light occurs during the golden hours, but does that mean that you should pack up your cameras after sunset and miss all the fun of night photography?
Absolutely not!
Night photography offers so many great opportunities for photographers that it’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact – I think it should be experienced by everyone.
Of course photographing at night means that you’re going to be pushing your gear to its limits. High ISOs, long shutter speeds, fast lenses, tripods, remote shutters, and patience are a must when it comes to photographing after the sun has set, but the results will be worth it.
So what is there to capture at night, and more importantly how do you go about capturing each of these subjects?
Cities are great places to take photos any time of the day, but at night, cities come to life. Just think of Times Square in NYC or the Vegas Strip for example. Of course, not everyone’s going to have access to such iconic locations, but that doesn’t mean that your local city won’t offer you the goods.
When photographing a city you have so many options open to you; from skylines, to the simple every day things that make cities run. Things like the traffic, the people, and the objects they use to get around are a great start. This photograph of a bike, chained to a parking meter, in front of a church lit up for the night, is a great example of what can be found walking the city streets.
For more tips and examples on photographing cities at night check out these great posts:
When it comes to capturing the night sky there are two basic ways that you can go about doing this. You can either show the vastness of space and showcase the number of stars in the sky, or you can capture the motion of the Earth’s rotation by creating star trails.
Night photography showing vast open sky and stars
The basic concepts for capturing both types of night sky photos are the same. You’ll need a tripod, a wide angle lens, and you’re going to be working with a large aperture in most cases.
When it comes to the shutter speed and ISO that is where things start to differ between the two types of shots. As the Earth’s rotation is what causes star trails to form, you have to limit your shutter speed in order to capture a single frame shot before this rotation creates the trailing effect.
Night photography capturing star trails over a long period of time
A general guideline for this is known as the 600 rule which basically states that the longest shutter speed you can use is determined by dividing 600 by your focal length corrected for 35mm. So if you’re using an 18mm lens on a 1.5x crop sensor DSLR you’d take 600 divided by 27 (18mm x 1.5 crop factor) which would mean that the longest shutter speed you can use would be about 22 seconds. To control this you’re going to need to set a rather high ISO. However, with modern DSLR cameras being as good as they are with noise these days, this is becoming less and less of an issue.
However, if you DO want to capture the star trail effect, then the object is to capture the motion that you were trying to avoid before. Often times star trail photographs are created by stacking multiple long exposures of the same scene over a long period of time. Since shutter speed is not going to be an issue here it’s much easier to use longer speeds which will result in less frames in the end. You’ll also be able to use lower ISO and smaller apertures here if you prefer.
Here are some more great posts to send you in the right direction for taking better photos of the night sky
Light trails are a lot of fun to photograph and can be done just about anywhere you can find a busy road.
In general any shutter speed from one second, to a few seconds, should be enough to give you the look you’re after. But it doesn’t just come down to finding a road with traffic and photographing it – make sure you’re aware of your composition as well.
As roads make for great leading lines, try to use those to your advantage. You can either shoot from above the traffic on a bridge or a building, or your can try and get down low and shoot from a median or side walk. No matter where you’re shooting from you’re going to want to be super aware of your surroundings and never do anything that would put your life in danger – no photograph is worth getting hit by a bus over.
For more tips and examples on light trails check out these posts:
What else can you think of for night photography? I know I left at least one big one off this list and I did that on purpose as I have no experience in light painting – oops did I just give one away?
The post Do you pack up and leave after sunset and miss the fun of night photography? by John Davenport appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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