Samyang, which is also sold under the brand name Rokinon, has released updated versions of two of its best-selling lenses: the MF 14mm F2.8 MK2 and the MF 85mm F1.4 MK2.
The updated manual focus lenses feature the same optical designs as their respective predecessors but add new features to provide a more seamless and robust user experience. In particular, both lenses now have weather-sealing, an updated focus ring for better grip and a switch for de-clicking the aperture without the need to tear it apart. The 14mm F2.8 MK2 also has a new focus lock switch for ensuring the focus doesn’t get bumped out of place during operation.
Both lenses are available for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E, Fujifilm X, Canon M and MFT mount camera systems. As of writing this article, no pricing information is available for the lenses and no online retailer appears to have a product page up. We have contacted Samyang for additional information and will update accordingly when we receive a response.
The post Peak Design Donates 100% of Profits from Travel Tripod Launch to Charity appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Peak Design, the camera carry company based in California, launched their Travel Tripod in early April.
And they donated 100% of the profits to charity.
The Travel Tripod has been making waves ever since it was funded on Kickstarter, where the promise of a stable, compact tripod drew in 12 million USD from nearly 30,000 donors.
Fast-forward a year, and the Travel Tripod was ready to launch as two separate products:
A carbon fiber option and an aluminum alloy option, both offering unprecedented compactness and stability as a pro-level travel tripod solution.
Then, in the weeks prior to the launch, Peak Design announced its intentions to donate all profits to two charities:
The CDC Foundation, for COVID-19 relief, and Climate Neutral, an organization that works to combat climate change.
As explained by the Peak Design CEO:
Now more than ever is the time for us to act on our core values and ensure that our employees, contractors and retail partners can find economic shelter in a product we’ve spent years developing…Peak Design is also in a unique position to offer financial support to those that are solving the problem. To be able to donate in a time of need speaks volumes to the company we’ve built over the last ten years.
Now that the launch is complete, Peak Design has released their numbers; the company sold over 2000 tripods, culminating in a whopping $ 218,000 USD donated to the CDC Foundation and Climate Neutral.
For those who are interested in the Peak Design travel tripod, it offers:
A weight of 2.81 lbs (1.27 kg) for the carbon fiber model
A weight of 3.44 lbs (1.56 kg) for the aluminum model
A weight capacity of 20 lbs (9.1 kg)
Minimum height of 15.2 in (38.5 cm)
Maximum height of 60.2 in (153 cm) with the center column raised
Setup in 9.8 seconds
A ball head with a phone mount
You can pick it up for $ 599.95 USD (carbon fiber) or $ 349.95 USD (aluminum).
Now over to you:
Do you own a travel tripod? And how does the Peak Design Travel Tripod compare? Share your thoughts in the comments!
The post Peak Design Donates 100% of Profits from Travel Tripod Launch to Charity appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
We’ve all been there. You needed some cash, or you went overboard trying to downsize your gear stash. Selling that camera or lens seemed reasonable at the time, but in the razor-sharp clarity of hindsight, you know now it was a terrible mistake.
Since misery loves company, we thought we’d share our own stories of the gear we let go and shouldn’t have and offer a space for you, reader, to share your tale of woe. Think of it as a kind of group therapy session.
So take a deep breath, count to five as you exhale, and read on. Leave a comment with your own story of the gear you let go of – we’ll be publishing a few of them in a follow-up article soon.
Richard Butler, Technical Editor
Photo by Richard Butler with DX Nikkor 18-70mm F3.5-4.5
I usually end up using cameras until they have little to no resale value, and I have no real regrets about selling my last DSLR. Oddly, though, I do regret selling the lens I bought it with. The DX Nikkor 18-70mm F3.5-4.5 wasn’t a great lens, in the grand scheme of things, but we’d been through so much together.
That lens: a longer and slightly faster alternative to the standard kit lenses was the thing that finally settled the Pentax vs Canon vs Nikon decision I’d been agonizing over for weeks (months, maybe). Over a decade of extensively using every maker’s cameras has just reinforced the idea that picking the right lens was more significant than trying to choose a ‘right’ brand.
It vignetted like crazy at 18mm F3.5, which was the setting the impetuous younger me used most often, but 70mm F4.5 was appreciably more useful than 55mm F5.6, and the sturdier build made me feel a bit more ‘serious’ and a bit more confident that it would survive my misuse.
I don’t have any use for a DX DSLR lens anymore, but as the lens I used every day, and that helped me appreciate the value of upgrading your everyday lens, I sometimes wish I’d held onto my Nikon ‘super kit lens.’
Dale Baskin, Editor
Photo by Dale Baskin, taken with the Canon S300 Digital ELPH.
The Canon PowerShot S300 Digital ELPH was my first digital camera, purchased in 2001. To be honest, I never really loved it, but that’s beside the point. I was planning a cross-country road trip and figured it would be a good opportunity to experiment with digital. Back then, choosing between a 2MP or 3MP sensor was a pretty big decision, but I ultimately decided the third megapixel wasn’t worth hundreds of dollars more, which is mostly how I ended up with the S300.
Off I went into the sunset shooting digital for the first time in my life. I loved the instant feedback and I have fond memories of uploading photos at night on a 28.8 Kbps modem. Good times. Eventually, I moved on to other cameras and sold the S300 to a guy who wanted to use it for SCUBA with a dive housing.
So why, after all these years, do I wish I still had it? For a simple reason: it was my first. We all have memories of various firsts in our lives: first kiss, first car, first time falling in love, etc. The S300 was the first camera that allowed me to shoot in a new way that would eventually change my life, influence my career and spawn adventures I never would have dreamed of so many years ago. I’ve thought about buying a used one for nostalgia, but it wouldn’t be the same. It could never be the same as my S300.
Carey Rose, Reviews Editor
Photo by Carey Rose, taken with Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
I got my Nikon 85mm F1.8 D lens in college chiefly because I had a D80 that produced pretty horrific images when you cranked the ISO. And I found I was cranking the ISO pretty often while photographing for the college rag in wintertime in Bellingham, Wash. The days (if you can call the interminable grayness ‘day’) provide only eight hours of light, and so often my cheap secondhand F2.8 zooms just didn’t cut it. The small, light, snappy 85mm quickly became a favorite.
Fast forward a few years, and the 85mm became a staple for my wedding photography, and may as well have been permanently glued to one of a pair of DSLRs. But as I was now making some of this thing called ‘money,’ I found myself taken by a lens that would of course be superior in every way: Nikon’s 85mm F1.4 D. I found one at a price I could stomach and promptly put the 1.8 up for sale.
Cue the regret and sad trombones. Turns out, though that F1.4 lens was optically fantastic, the autofocus was far slower than the F1.8 I had so carelessly cut loose. For everything I really liked shooting, from weddings to concerts to street photography, it made such a difference that I never used it anywhere near as much as its more humble cousin. And with today’s modern sensors, I would happily trade the extra light for the extra focus speed. I still think about getting another F1.8 D someday.
Dan Bracaglia, Editor
Photo by Dan Bracaglia with the Fujifilm X100T.
The gear I most regret selling is my Fujifilm X100T. I purchased it when it first debuted in late 2014 and owned/loved it for two straight years; it was my go-everywhere, document-everything camera. But eventually I grew tired of using it and the images it produced and felt compelled to go back to shooting film in my free time. And so I sold off my X100T and replaced with a well-worn Leica M6 and went on happily shooting for another few years. But eventually I too tired of film’s limitations and once more craved the freedom of a lightweight personal digital camera.
Fortunately by the time that feeling crept it dawned on me: it’s OK to switch back and forth between film and digital for personal work. And so this time I held on to the M6 and picked up an also well-used X100F to satisfy my digital cravings. These days I still love and shoot with both as my personal cameras (along with a few other film buddies) and I’ll never be so quick to sell off gear again.
Sound familiar? Share your story of the gear you regret letting go of in the comments below – we’ll pick our favorites to include in a follow-up article.
Sony has announced the price and expected availability date in the United States for its newest flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1 II (pronounced ‘mark two’).
Announced back in February, the Xperia 1 II is packed full of pro-level photo features, including a triple-camera array, a Sony BIONZ X image processor, Zeiss-branded lenses, continuous shooting up to 20fps and even Sony’s animal and human Eye AF feature. Sony followed up the announcement with an in-depth breakdown explaining the details of the impressive collection of camera tech inside the flagship device.
This new information from Sony is to confirm that pre-orders will start on June 1 with the first units set to ship on July 24. The Xperia 1 II will retail for $ 1,200 and all pre-orders made before June 28 will receive a free pair of Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless noise-cancelling earbuds as an added bonus.
We got our hands on Sony’s new Xperia 1 Mark II smartphone, which features super-fast burst shooting and subject recognition with Eye AF. A triple camera design offers 16mm, 24mm and 70mm equivalent focal lengths, and a new Photography Pro photo app provides full manual control and a user interface that will be familiar to Sony shooters.
A camera lens is arguably the most important part of a photographers set-up, to the point where most professional photographers would rather shoot with an ok camera body as long as they had a top-quality lens rather than the other way around. However, if you are just entering the world of DSLR lenses, at first glance they can be a Continue Reading
The post How DSLR Lenses Work: DSLR Lenses Explained appeared first on Photodoto.
When most people think of Casio, they think of watches (calculator and G-Shock, most likely) and keyboards of the musical type. What people probably don’t remember is that Casio was a huge innovator in digital photography, creating features that would become standard on cameras introduced years later.
Casio stopped selling cameras in the US several years ago, and it threw in the towel globally in 2018. In this article we’ll take a look back at the innovations that Casio came up with, going all the way back to the mid 1990s.
The story begins in 1994, when Casio introduced the 0.25 Megapixel QV-10, the first consumer digital camera with an LCD and live view (the QV-10A, a variation, is pictured above). It also had a rotating lens that would not only reappear on several other Casio cameras, but on several Nikon and Sony models, as well.
The QV-700 showing off Casio’s trademark rotating lens and low-res LCD. That F2 lens had a focal length equivalent to 38mm. The tiny sensor size combined with the F19-equivalent lens allowed the QV-700 to be fixed focus.
Image courtesy of www.digicammuseum.de, Boris Jakubaschk
The real innovations occurred in 1998 with the release of the QV-700. It offered pre- and post-shot buffering, similar to what Olympus calls Pro Capture today. While it didn’t take many shots, the QV-700 let you save a few images before or after you pressed the shutter release.
Not long after the QV-700 came the QV-7000SX, which brought with it a sort-of movie mode (32 frames at 160 x 120, with no audio) and in-camera panorama stitching (something some cameras still don’t have). It also created an HTML page on your memory card that you could load up in Netscape to browse through your photos.
Note the large IR transmitter/receiver on the front of the QV-7000SX. It could beam photos to the small number of devices that supported the IrTran-P protocol.
Image courtesy of www.digicammuseum.de, Boris Jakubaschk
The QV-7000SX also offered support for infrared image transfer (later called IrDA), which was a very slow way of wirelessly beaming photos to compatible devices. Both Sony and Sharp were involved in IrDA, with the former offering a camera and printer with this feature.
Two of the more conventional Best Shot modes
Casio was a pioneer of scene modes, which it called Best Shot modes. And Casio really loved Best Shot modes, with 2001’s QV-4000 including one hundred of them on an included CD-ROM. Some personal favorites include ‘photo at hotel’, ‘photo of a toadstool’, and ‘photo of a fishing catch’.
Step 2 in the Coupling Shot feature: We’ve already taken the photo of the first person, so now you can line up the second in the right spot.
And we’re done.
One feature from that era that did not catch on was ‘coupling shot’. Essentially a multiple exposure mode for taking photos of yourself and another person without giving the camera to a stranger to take the photo for you, you took a photo of one person, whose ‘ghost’ was shown on the LCD. You then put the other person in the frame, making sure they were in the right spot, and took the ‘second half’ of the photo.
A few years later, the Exilim EX-ZR400 offered a green screen feature that let you paste a subject you’ve photographed onto a different background.
Something more helpful than self-portraits and green screens that Casio pioneered were guide modes (Casio called this Manual Assist), which are on some – but not nearly enough – modern cameras. As shown above, visual aids showed the effect of changing aperture and shutter speed.
The Exilim EX-F1 Pro could shoot at 60 fps and also had in-body image stabilization and 1080/60p video capture.
One final way in which Casio really separated itself from the pack was the sheer speed of its cameras. The company’s cameras were lightning fast, whether when shooting bursts, navigating menus or reviewing photos. One standout was 2008’s Exilim Pro EX-F1, which could take full resolution (6MP) images at 60 fps (for one second) and 1200 fps if you dropped the resolution (way) down.
After setting up the three lines, the camera will capture video of your swing, which you can view later in slow motion.
Casio used that speed for a unique use case on its EX-FC500S: analyzing golf swings. The camera could capture your swing from the front, back and side (and yes, it asked if you were a lefty or a righty). By lining yourself up with a virtual golfer on the display, the FC500S would automatically start and stop recording during your swing. All of this was captured at up to 240 fps and could be started by pressing a button, using a smartphone or waving your hand at the camera. The FC500S was never sold in the U.S., but you can find it on eBay once in a while.
Once 2010 or so arrived, other companies had surpassed Casio in most respects. Maybe not in terms of innovative features and speed, but certainly technology and image quality. The company made unremarkable compacts for a few more years (including the very awkward TRYX), until finally fading away. I do miss Casio cameras, not because they took amazing photos, but because they broke the mold and were fun to use. RIP, Casio: gone, but not forgotten.
The post How to Do Digital Scrapbooking – A Fun Activity to do Indoors appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.
Have you heard of digital scrapbooking? It probably sounds a little weird because a scrapbook is associated with crafts and handiwork. But it’s also a way of preserving and displaying your memories with a specific look that can be recreated digitally.
It’s also a fun activity for the whole family, and you can do it indoors. Keep reading to learn how to do it and even keep the crafting involved if you like.
Prep work
Selection
As you would do with any kind of album, you need to go through your photos and select the ones you want to include. Sometimes it’s easier if you choose a topic for it, especially in scrapbooking as the embellishment will be guided by it. For example, you could choose your first trip to the beach.
If you want to make the most out of this exercise, you can even organize all those files that you’re reviewing. There are many programs dedicated to this, some of the most popular are Lightroom or ACDSee.
Decoration
The most characteristic thing about scrapbooking is the embellishment.
You can add notes, frames, and all sorts of decorations around the photos. Digital scrapbooking is not different, what changes is the way you do it. However, if you want to keep some of the craftings, it’s also possible.
Let me give you some examples and ideas.
Stock Images: This is the fully digital version. You can buy or download images from different websites. Unsplash and Pexels are great sites for free stock images. If you’re just using Google, always keep an eye on the licensing permissions of each photo so you don’t infringe any laws.
Photograph objects around the house: This is not exactly crafty, but it does involve your own creativity. Do you have flowers, fruits, or any home decors that can match the topic you’re working on? Photograph them! Best if you can put it in a neutral and contrasting background, as you are going to cut them out later. This is great when you want to involve more people in the activity – that way everyone can go find their favorite objects to include.
Make your own: This is just like the one before, except that you don’t use things that you already have. Instead, you make them, especially for this project. You can do some origami figures or ‘age’ a piece of paper with tea and coffee stains to use as background. This version is the one that includes more crafting and stays closest to the original tradition. It’s especially fun if you have kids. Once you have everything done, photograph it to use in your digital scrapbook.
Digital Scrapbooking
I’m going to do my scrapbook in GIMP because it’s free software, and this way, anyone can follow. You can also use Photoshop as the main feature you need is to work with layers. Just keep in mind that the individual tools and effects would be different.
Get your images ready
Okay, now that you have the photos of your elements, you need to have them ready for use in digital scrapbooking. That means that each one is cut-out so that it can interact freely with others.
For this, you can do the work right inside GIMP, or you can use any of the many free tools to remove backgrounds that are on the market. I’ll show you how to do one here in GIMP.
Open your image and make a selection around your subject using any of the selection tools from the panel.
There is no right or wrong when choosing the tool; it depends on the image you’re working and your skills. For example, here, it’s easier to use the Rectangle because of the shape of the object. However, I could also use the scissors or the path tool to draw the edge manually.
Once you have it, go to Select > Invert so that it’s the background that gets selected. Then right-click on the Layers dock and choose Add an alpha channel from the menu to allow the transparency and finally go to Edit > Clear.
Now save your image in GIMP’s file extension by using Save As or Export to save as .png, which will make it available for other programs while preserving the transparency. Repeat the process for all the images you’re going to use and save them in the same folder for easy access.
Create your layout
To create the layout for your scrapbook, you need all the elements in the same document. To do this, you need to go to File > Open as Layers. Select all the files and click Ok. This will open one document with each photograph as an independent layer.
You can now use the Move, Scale, and Rotate tools to arrange your layout.
Keep in mind the order of your layers, as the ones on top will cover the ones below. So, if you want things to overlap, you can drag and drop the layers to change the order.
Once you’re happy, you can start adding notes, which is another important component of a scrapbook.
Add some text
There are many experiments you can do to play with your text. Here are a couple of simple ideas to get you going.
Use the Text tool to write a title, note, date, or whatever you want to include. If you click and drag, you can create a specific area where the text will fit. Then choose the font you like.
In my opinion, the ones that simulate handwriting are the best for digital scrapbooking.
You can later change the Blending Mode to incorporate it more naturally into the image or create different effects. You’ll find this menu on top of the layer panel.
Another choice is to type directly in the background. Then use the Rectangle Select Tool and draw a selection around it. Then go to Filters > Light and Shadow > Xacht Effect which is a default script included in GIMP – 2.10, which is the latest to the time of this article.
This will create a 3D effect that simulates a tag for your text.
And there you go, add as much or as little as you like.
You can use it as a template and just change the image, or you can follow the same steps to create different layouts.
Have fun using digital scrapbooking to design albums, screensavers, wallpaper for your computer and so much more. I hope you enjoyed it!
Try digital scrapbooking out at home and share your results with us in the comments!
The post How to Do Digital Scrapbooking – A Fun Activity to do Indoors appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.
The Cooperative of Photography, better known as COOPH, has released its latest YouTube video showing how to make the most of your smartphone footage by creating six different smartphone rigs using materials you likely have sitting around at home.
As you would expect for these rather primitive homemade solutions, the DIY rigs aren’t necessarily aesthetically pleasing but based on the resulting footage, hopefully your video will be. The six-minute video covers how to make a DIY gimbal, a DIY timelapse rig, a DIY stabilizer, a DIY automated slider, a DIY ‘spinning’ rig and a DIY Gorillapod-style tripod.
It’s quite the adventure, but considering there’s a good chance you’re still on some sort of lockdown or stay-at-home order, these DIY projects might be just what you need to keep your creative spirit alive in seclusion. You can find more videos from COOPH on their YouTube channel.
The post How to Create Sun Flares Using Luminar 4 and Photoshop (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
In this video from Anthony Turnham, you’ll learn how to create sun flares using Luminar 4, either standalone or as a plugin in Photoshop.
This effect can be a great addition to any landscape photo or portraits, especially if you feel your image is lacking something special. This effect can possibly give your image extra life and dynamic.
Anthony takes you through this tutorial in an easy-to-follow way, making it easy for you to create your own sun flare.
Try out this technique and share your resulting photos with us in the comments section.
Do you have other methods for creating sun flares? Share those with us too!
You may also like:
How to Easily Make Images ‘Pop’ with these Luminar 4 Tips
How to Use the Luminar 4 Pro Tools Panel
Portrait Editing with Luminar 4 – Using Artificial Intelligence
Luminar vs Lightroom: Three Reasons Luminar is Better (and Two Reasons It’s Not)
Easy Color Grading With LUTs and Luminar 2018
Tips For Editing the Colors in Landscape Photos Using Lightroom (video)
Editing Gently: 3 Tips for Processing Realistic Landscape Photos
The post How to Create Sun Flares Using Luminar 4 and Photoshop (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.
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