The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
A bit of a departure this week! We want to see your mistakes, we all make them, we learn from them (or we don’t, I mean… who knew my kids were that fast on scooters!)
Love them or hate them, mistakes are a part of learning. I could have used a different focus mode here, I could have been more prepared for when master 6 came towards me and I missed him with my focus point, but I wasn’t ready and I missed the shot and there was no way he was going back to do it again! Moving on.
9 Solutions for common camera mistakes beginners make
Photo Mistakes! Learning from a Photo Autopsy
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Dig through your photos and find something that you remember as a mistake, here’s another of mine from a few years ago now, I was in Cuba, somewhere I likely won’t get to go back to, and I’d recently purchased a 50mm f/1.4 and was still in that “Whoa! Everything looks amazing at 1.4!” …I misfocused when I built up the courage to ask this chap if I could make an image, I got the tip of his nose nice and sharp, but missed his eyes… It made me slow down a little and make sure I had the focus point in the right place. As long as we learn from our mistakes, they can be a valuable tool!
Great! Where do I upload my photos?
Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. We’re interested to see how you revisit the images that you’ve taken before now in this re-edit challenge!
Share in the dPS Facebook Group
You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSMistakes to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
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The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Mistakes appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.
Lead image: Dan Bracaglia. All other images: courtesy of Ebay and used with permission.
Not long ago, I was poking through a film camera forum where someone mentioned they were looking to ‘dabble’ in film – and they were about to spend $ 700 on a Leica. I choked on my Mountain Dew, mercifully missing the laptop screen.
$ 700 might be reasonable by digital standards (or perhaps even by Leica standards), but for a 35mm camera it’s a king’s ransom. I’ve been railing against the (mis)conception that film is prohibitively expensive, and one of the pillars of that argument is the low cost of equipment. In today’s film world, you can buy some shockingly good cameras for ridiculously low prices.
I’ve been railing against the (mis)conception that film is prohibitively expensive, and one of the pillars of that argument is the low cost of equipment
Maybe it was time to put my money where my mouth was.
I emailed Dan Bracaglia, my editor at DPReview. ‘Let’s do a $ 20 Film Camera Challenge. We’ll get some DPR staffers and maybe a few prominent film bloggers. Everyone gets a $ 20 budget, including shipping, to buy a working film rig and see what kind of pictures it makes. Whaddaya think?’
‘Great idea,’ Dan wrote back. ‘You go first.’
I know marching orders when I see them, so it was time to fire up eBay and see what I could find.
Option 1: Point and Shoot
I figured my best budget option was a compact point-and-shoot camera, even though I’m not the biggest fan. Not that there’s anything wrong with them – in fact, for those new to film, they highlight a strange tenet: When it comes to film, the quality of the camera has little impact on the quality of the images. It’s the lens, not the guts of the camera, that determines how sharp the image is. That’s why 35mm point-and-shoot cameras were so popular: Even the most inept photographer could get decent results.
If a compact is what you want, the $ 20 camera hunt is both a gold mine and a mine field. There are a trillion of these cameras out there, and aside from a few really advanced models that sell for crazy money (Nikon Ti, Olympus XA, anything from Contax or Leica, and don’t even get me started on the Olympus mju II), you’ll find a lot of them under $ 10 before shipping. Not all are great, but a lot are good.
The Perils of P+S
The problem is that the good point-and-shoot cameras are in the same price range as the really crappy ones. These include “focus free” or “fixed focus” cameras from Argus, Vivitar, LeClic, and even Kodak, Olympus and Minolta. They don’t have a moving lens element, but instead rely on a small aperture to get everything more-or-less in focus. And then there are the plastic-fantastic toy cameras of the sort given away free with magazine subscriptions. They’re the ones that are styled to look like 35mm SLRs but obviously aren’t. They’re good for Lomographers, but not for those who want sharp photos.
I thought seriously about a compact; a cool power-wind P&S might be a nice addition to my collection. But then I realized that I already have one, a weatherproof Pentax Zoom 90WR, that I still haven’t gotten around to trying.
Also, I was starting to realize that $ 20 could buy something even niftier.
Option 2: Let’s go retro!
One of the things I’m eager to add to my collection is an antique 35mm camera, and I was surprised at how many I found in my price range. As a former resident of Rochester, New York, I’ve been keeping half an eye out for an old Kodak, and I found lots that were in or near my price range: Ponys, Signets, Automatics, even a couple of Retinas (though I didn’t expect those to stay under my budget once bidding began). There was a Canon Canonet, advertised as working, though I understand the selenium meter cells go bad and can’t be replaced. I also saw an East German camera called a Beriette for $ 19.99 with free shipping. Several of these classics made my short list.
I couldn’t believe how many beautiful old cameras were available for such cheap prices
Buying a vintage camera takes a bit of legwork, most importantly including research to figure out if there’s an instruction manual available online or on eBay. With shipping taken into account, a lot of the cameras went above my budget – but only by a few bucks. I couldn’t believe how many beautiful old cameras were available for such cheap prices.
Option 3: Go with what I know: the SLR
As my sorted-by-price listings hit the $ 10 range, I started seeing interchangeable-lens single-lens reflex cameras, the kind I know best. I knew I (probably) wasn’t going to score a Nikon FM for twenty bucks, but I saw plenty of lesser-known and less-loved cameras, mostly newer and more automatic, well within my budget. I saw some lovely old Sears cameras, which are really rebadged Ricohs. I also found some real horror shows, like a Pentax MG (above) in ‘like-new’ condition that looked like someone had hacked away at the lens mount with a Dremel tool.
The challenge with cheap SLRs on eBay is that a lot of sellers have separated the camera body from its lens. If I was looking for a body that was compatible with lenses I already owned, hitting my budget would have been ridiculously easy – but the rules Dan and I had established dictated that I must purchase a complete working rig. An SLR isn’t much good without a lens, and matched sets were proving tough to come by.
And then it occurred to me: If the sellers were splitting up cameras and lenses, why couldn’t I do the same thing? By shopping for my camera and lens separately, I might be able to hit my budget.
Minolta to the rescue
I needed a brand with good lenses that sold cheap, and one name kept coming up: Minolta. Back in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, Minolta produced a line of consumer-level plastic-bodied SLRs that they advertised the daylights out of on television. They also had a partnership with Ritz Camera stores, one of which seemed to be installed in every US shopping mall. I already owned a couple of Maxxum cameras, including a 400si I bought for $ 12 as a parts camera that turned out to work perfectly. Minolta’s older AF zooms were great lenses that sold cheap. Could this be my answer?
My prospects for Minolta’s entry-level SLRs looked good. I saw plenty in the $ 10 to $ 15 range, shipping included
My prospects for Minolta’s entry-level SLRs looked good. I was looking at the 300si and QTsi (“Cutsie”), auto-only cameras that are effectively point-and-shoots with detachable lenses, as well as the 3xi which has manual and Av/Tv modes as well. I saw plenty in the $ 10 to $ 15 range, shipping included. Matching lenses, primarily 28-80 and 35-70 zooms, were around the same price. I found a seller – a camera store, as it happened – that had a 3xi for $ 10 and a lens for $ 12, both with free shipping. I was all set to email and ask if they would sell me the two for $ 20, all-in.
But just before I did, I scrolled a little bit farther down, and I found… IT.
The $ 20 camera of my dreams!
It was an SLR with lens, a model I hadn’t heard of, and it wasn’t just a glorified point-and-shoot – in fact, from what I could tell, it had a feature set to rival my Nikon N8008. And it was within in my $ 20 price range. Like, way within in my price range.
I made an offer. That offer was accepted, and my less-than-$ 20 film camera was on its way.
Would it work? Would it be any good? How much did it cost me? And what the hell kind of camera did I buy, anyway? I’ll answer all those questions in part two. Stay tuned!
All Aaron’s $ 20 film camera finds
$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3200359335″,”galleryId”:”3200359335″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) }); Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The Game Boy Camera was never meant to be a serious piece of photographic equipment, so what happens when you pair the Nintendo Game Boy peripheral with a serious piece of glass to take some portraits? Just ask Sam McKenzie, of YouTube channel 3D Printor, who took it upon himself to adapt a Tamron 70–200mm zoom lens to the 0.1MP Game Boy Camera.
Detailed in the above video, McKenzie 3D-printed an adapter he came across on Thingiverse and attached it to the front of the Game Boy Camera. With the adapter and lens in place, he went out for an ultra-low-resolution portrait shoot to see what the Frankenstein’d camera was capable of.
The modded Game Boy Camera mounted to a Manfrotto Pixi tripod next to a print of the 0.1MP portrait.
While capturing the image was simple enough, getting it off the Game Boy and turned into a canvas print was less intuitive. This process wasn’t featured in a video, but in an email sent to DPReview, McKenzie said:
‘The Super Game Boy for SNES allows you to play Game Boy games on your TV […] so I used an old VHS to DVD making software and USB capture card I had from the early days of DVD and thankfully it worked with the SNES.’
Once he had the image, he ordered a small canvas print and within the week it was at his front door.
The canvas print, in all its pixellated glory.
You can find more of McKenzie’s 3D printing projects on his YouTube channel.
Image credits: Photos by Sam McKenzie, used with permission.
The post Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 Lens Review: The Best All-Purpose Fujifilm Lens in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Is the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 OIS the right lens for your needs? Who should think about purchasing it? Can it satisfy beginners? Professionals? Everyone in between?
That’s what this article is all about.
For weeks, I’ve been testing the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4 OIS.
And now I’m ready to share my conclusions.
So if you want to find out how this lens performs…
On the surface, the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 is an all-purpose lens that can do pretty much everything.
It offers:
An excellent focal length range, stretching from wide to standard to (slight) telephoto (24-120mm on a Fujifilm APS-C camera)
Fujifilm’s image stabilization technology (OIS), promising up to 6 stops of extra sharpness
A well-built, weather-sealed body with relatively compact dimensions
A fixed f/4 aperture, which can’t offer the same low-light or bokeh capabilities as an f/2.8 lens, but is still decently wide
0.25x (1:4) magnification
A reasonable $ 800 USD price tag
Put all this together, and you’ve got a lens that should be able to find its way into the kits of landscape photographers, architectural photographers, street photographers, walkaround photographers, and travel photographers alike (and can even work for the occasional close-up shot!).
But all-purpose lenses like these tend to fail in a couple of ways.
First, they’re often optically mediocre, especially on the extreme ends of their focal length range.
Second, they’re sometimes slow to focus, which immediately takes them off the table for street photographers, and can be a big issue for travel and walkaround photographers, as well.
So does the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 suffer from these same issues?
Well, I’m happy to report that it does not. And while I’ll go more into the details later, I’m prepared to argue that the 16-80mm is one of the absolute best all-around lenses out there, and combines impressive value with fantastic photographic capabilities.
It’s not that the lens doesn’t have any drawbacks; pretty much all lenses, especially sub-$ 1000 lenses, do! But the Fujifilm 16-80mm offers remarkable quality given the price (and will even satisfy both amateurs and professionals).
Right out of the box, the Fujifilm 16-80mm feels solid, but not in an annoyingly heavy tank sort of way. It’s just under a pound (0.97 lb/440 g), which is light enough for long days of shooting even when lots of travel is involved. You have a mix of metal and plastic on the body, and a nice, tactile zoom ring smack-dab in the middle of the barrel:
Below the zoom ring is the aperture ring, which fits nicely with Fujifilm’s old-school style and feels great. Above the zoom ring is the focus ring, which is a bit smaller and fast to focus than I’d like, but still very serviceable.
One of the great things about the 16-80mm f/4 is its size. At 16mm, the lens is under 4 inches (10 cm) long and fits firmly in one hand, so you can store it easily in a camera bag or backpack.
And even when zoomed out to 80mm, it feels relatively unobtrusive, which is nice for street photographers hoping to move through crowds unnoticed.
As I mentioned above, the manual focus ring is smoother than I’d like (there’s no real stiffness, at least not on my copy), which is a shame, given how the lens boasts 1:4 magnification for close-up shots on the fly. But the focus ring isn’t bad, and should be fine for casual macro shots.
And I haven’t even mentioned the weather sealing. Honestly, this feels like icing on the cake, and is especially important for street and landscape photographers, who shoot in all sorts of conditions and need a lens that can withstand a bit of water.
(Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you’re also using a weather-sealed body, such as the all-around awesome Fujifilm X-T4!)
Finally, one of the real bonuses on the 16-80mm is the image stabilization. This is a lifesaver in so many situations, from close-ups to low-light street shooting to handheld landscape photography and more (though the exception is photography of fast-moving subjects, where you’ll probably want to opt for a lens with a wide maximum aperture, instead).
I tested the Fujifilm 16-80mm on the Fujifilm X-T4, and focusing speeds were stellar; the lens was snappy in good light and still pretty strong in low light. I’d expect a slight drop in focusing speeds as you work with other cameras in the Fujifilm lineup, but I can say, without a doubt, that I was happy with the 16-80mm’s performance.
If you’re shooting street-style photos, this fast focusing is essential. And you’re also going to appreciate the 16-80mm’s speed if you grab the occasional action shot while doing walkaround or travel shooting.
That said, the Fujilm 16-80mm doesn’t really scream fast-paced action, so if you’re looking for some sort of wide sports lens or fast lens for indoor events, I’d suggest going elsewhere. This is thanks to the f/4 maximum aperture, which really isn’t going to get you the shutter speeds you need when shooting fast-moving subjects in low light.
On the whole, however, the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 autofocuses very well, and won’t let you down when it comes to capturing the occasional action shot.
In terms of focal length, I absolutely love the 16-80mm range on a crop-sensor camera. You can shoot landscapes at the wide end, zoom in for portraits, and zoom all the way to 80mm for longer street shots.
In fact, I’d argue that the 24-120mm focal length equivalent is one of the best focal length ranges available, especially compared to the standard 16-55mm kit-lens focal length range, which does well on the wide lens but just doesn’t offer that extra bit reach for travel and street scenarios.
When I buy a lens, image quality is my greatest concern.
Why?
Because I don’t care if a lens is lightning-fast and is a dream to handle if it can’t deliver sharp images in key scenarios.
Fortunately, I can confirm that the Fujifilm 16-80mm does extremely well optically. At f/4, sharpness is excellent at the center of the frame at all focal lengths, though it does fall off toward the edges of the frame, especially at the focal length extremes (i.e., 16mm and 80mm).
That said, edge sharpness is still good at f/4 when shooting in the 30mm to 50mm arena, and edge sharpness improves across the board when you stop the lens down to f/5.6 and beyond (which is really where things start to count for landscape and other detail shooters, anyway).
All in all, you’re going to love the resolution that this lens can provide. You get gorgeous results in the center of the frame, and very good results at the edges when stopped down, which will be enough for most photographers, including professionals.
You also get pretty much zero chromatic aberration, limited distortion, and limited vignetting.
Now, the f/4 maximum aperture isn’t great for low-light shooting. You’re going to want an f/2.8 lens if you plan to shoot indoor events, and you’ll probably also want f/2.8 if you plan to do any astrophotography.
The f/4 maximum aperture is also a problem for portrait photography, where the goal is often to achieve a creamy background blur combined with a sharp subject; at f/4, the blur is nice, but not outstanding (as pictured below).
The Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 is, simply put, an outstanding lens.
It offers the focal length, build quality, autofocus speed, and image quality to be taken seriously by professional landscape and street shooters. It’s also a fantastic walkaround or travel option, given its light weight and compact size, especially when attached to Fujifilm’s smaller camera bodies.
At $ 800 USD, the lens doesn’t come cheap. But the price is far from unreasonable when you consider everything it offers.
Pretty much anyone looking for an all-purpose lens who can afford the price tag. The Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 also does well at street photography, travel photography, walkaround photography, and handheld landscape shooting, and while I wouldn’t recommend it as a primary portrait or macro lens, you can still get some use out of it in both of these genres.
So I absolutely recommend you check it out; the lens is available for $ 799 USD here!
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The post Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 Lens Review: The Best All-Purpose Fujifilm Lens in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Winners and finalists for the 2020 Minimalist Photography Awards
Powered by B&W Minimalism magazine, the 2nd annual Minimalist Photography Awards recently announced its winners for 2020. Over 4,200 photos from 41 countries were submitted across 12 categories including Street, Photomanipulation, Conceptual, and Aerial. Australian photographer George Byrne won the title of Minimalist Photographer of the Year for his series ‘Exit Vision’ – though 2 of the images ended up in 2nd place for the Abstract and Fine Art categories, respectively.
‘As an approach in photography, minimalism or minimalistic photography could be taken by the photographer in all genres. No matter your are a portrait, architecture, landscape etc. photographer, minimalist photos are always an option as long as you have a minimal look toward your surroundings,’ said Milad Safabakhsh, founder and president of the awards. First, second, and third place winners in each category will be published in a book and exhibited at Galerie Minimal Berlin when it reopens.
All category winners and honorable mentions can be viewed here.
1st Place Winner, Abstract Photographer of the Year: ‘Abstract Series One’ by Stanislas Augris
Artist Statement: I’m Stanislas Augris. French musician and photographer. I’m from the Parisian suburb so part of my photographic work is to focus on the geometric shape, patterns and palette color of the urban environment, my daily environment. The aim is sometime to render an abstract picture of flat tints of colors and so create an artwork that decorrelate the form and the substance. Photography allows me to keep my eyes open to the world and to those everyday places, those in-between places.
I think either for architecture photography or for the rest of my photographic work (landscape and street photography) the main world is to keep it minimalistic and graphic. Trying to find simple lines, curves and play with foreground and background to create new shapes is really something that matters for me.
2nd Place Winner, Fine Art: ’71st St. Miami’ by George Byrne
Artist Statement: This image is from a recent series of mine called Exit Vision. It is a photo-collage, constructed from elements pulled from multiple locations. Shot on medium format film in Miami. For the ‘Exit Vision’ series, I would look for ready-made vignettes of color and form in the built world around me, and then try and repurpose or reinvent them. By embracing the process of photo-assemblage or collage, these photographs have become creations as much as they are observations.
Honorable Mention, Open Theme: ‘The Square’ by John Andreas Godwin
Artist Statement: Coming back to this geometric shape as the landscape surrounding it changes. [Taken in] Akersberga, Sweden.
3rd Place Winner, Aerial: ‘Salt Shapes’ by Kevin Krautgartner
Artist Statement: Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns, are shallow artificial ponds designed to extract salts from sea water. To make its sea salt, many companies in Australia are using a method called ‘solar evaporation.’ Solar salt is produced by the action of sun and wind on seawater in large ponds. The seawater evaporates in successive ponds until the seawater is fully concentrated and the salt then crystallizes on the floor of the pond.
Due to variable algal concentrations, vivid colors, from bright blue to deep red, are created in the evaporation ponds. The color indicates the salinity of the ponds. This photo was taken from a small plane with the doors removed.
Honorable Mention, Landscape: ‘Whipped Cream Iceburg’ by Geffrard Bourke
Artist Statement: An iceberg resembling whipped cream in the ocean off the coast of Greenland.
1st Place Winner, Photomanipulation Photographer of the Year: ‘Yellow Stairs’ by George Byrne
Artist Statement: This image is from an ongoing series of mine called Exit Vision. It is a photo-collage, constructed from elements from multiple locations. Shot on medium format film. For this series, I would look for ready-made vignettes of color and form in the built world around me, and then try and repurpose or reinvent them. By embracing the process of photo-assemblage or collage, these photographs have become creations as much as they are observations.
2nd Place Winner, Architecture: ‘Oqaatsut Home’ by John Kosmopoulos
Artist Statement: Oqaatsut is a small Greenlandic town north of Ilulissat in Eastern Disko Bay. As the sun drenched and warmed the colorful homes and rocky landscape, it revealed clues of what life must be like there: a close but isolated community where the spirits of icebergs come and go in the distance.
I wanted to convey the feeling of the town by using minimalist compositions and creative framing to provide portraits of life in Greenland. Most of the citizens were indoors, but one citizen overlooked our whereabouts while children played a game and chanted a song that echoed through the town.
Honorable Mention, Long Exposure: ‘Ariake’ by Ulana Switucha
Artist Statement: From a series on Japanese Torii gates.
1st Place Winner, Portrait Photographer Of The Year: ‘Selfhood’ by Vicky Martin
Artist Statement: The series ‘Selfhood’ is in part inspired by the proverb ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and a desire to challenge the need to see the eyes within a portrait. The intention in each portrait is to create a character and a narrative and encourage an empathy without the visual stimulation of the eyes.
The conscious composition of each image gives the character a foundation in reality whilst combining fantastical creative elements to challenge the viewer’s preconceptions surrounding the connotations of each individual outfit and distinctive concealment of the eyes.
The viewer is inspired to make their own inferences about the subject’s persona and circumstance by drawing on personal connections and interpretations to each image, whether these be from memory or culture. Therefore each portrait in the series can take on a number of different identities depending on links made by the viewer to their own experiences and opinions.
3rd Place Winner, Conceptual: ‘Alabula (Colorful)’ by Mehrdad Fathi
Artist Statement: Mircea Eliade (philosopher and historian) says about the creation of universe: Creating the universe is considered to be a prototype for any type of building. Every city and every new home that they establish, it is a brand new imitation of the creation of universe, in other words, means of repeating the creation of the universe.
1st Place Winner, Night Photographer of the Year: ‘Decay by Night’ by Rachel Warne
Artist Statement: Decay by Night is a continuation of Rachel Warne’s fascination with the beauty of decay. Rachel has embarked on several personal photographic projects such as ‘Faded Glory’ exhibited at the Garden Museum, London in 2015 and ‘The Beauty of Decay’ – a collaboration with floral installation artist Rebecca Louise Law, touring several countries during 2017.
The idea of ‘Decay by Night’ seems like a natural progression for Rachel whom is drawn to decay and rebirth within the botanical world. By shooting flora at night she will be able to capture the transitional process which naturally occurs throughout the night, but rarely seen. Giving quite a different interpretation to their form as seen in day light.
Rachel shoot the flora in the dead of winter, once darkness falls. The plant portraits were be lit by one small portable continuous light to emulate the moon. Rachel wanted to explore how flora appears in the shadows creating its own ethereal beauty. Ghostly an enigmatic with a hint of gothic.
Winter is the perfect time to photograph the flora before the dormant season ends.
Shot at the Millennium gardens Deigned By Piet Oudolf at Pensthorpe in Norfolk. Pensthorpe seemed to be the most poignant naturalist garden in England to work from. Especially with Piet’s piquancy with the beauty of decay too.
1st Place Winner, Street Photographer of the Year: ‘Coronavirus Confinement’ by Santiago Martinez de Septien
Artist Statement: Millions of children in Spain, stuck at home since the authorities implemented a nationwide lockdown in mid-March, have been unable to exercise outside, take a short walk around their block, go with their parents to the supermarket or leave their house except for medical reasons. Such measures, the strictest in Europe, have left countless children bored, exhausted and sometimes depressed.
It might be one of the last manufacturers to the party, but Sony has just released its Imaging Edge Webcam utility, making it possible to use select Sony cameras as webcams with compatible livestreaming and video conferencing programs.
Similar to webcam utilities for other companies, Sony’s Imaging Edge Webcam utility is only available for Windows 10 computers, for now. We’ve inquired with Sony about a macOS version and will update with more information when we have it.
Below is a list of the cameras supported by Imaging Edge Webcam utility as of version 1.0.0:
?: E-mount?ILCE-?
ILCE-7M2
ILCE-7M3
ILCE-7RM2
ILCE-7RM3
ILCE-7RM4
ILCE-7S
ILCE-7SM2
ILCE-7SM3
ILCE-9
ILCE-9M2
ILCE-5100
ILCE-6100
ILCE-6300
ILCE-6400
ILCE-6500
ILCE-6600
?: A-mount?ILCA-?
ILCA-77M2
ILCA-99M2
ILCA-68
Digital Still Camera?DSC-/Vlog camera)
DSC-HX95
DSC-HX99
DSC-RX0
DSC-RX0M2
DSC-RX100M4
DSC-RX100M5
DSC-RX100M5A
DSC-RX100M6
DSC-RX100M7
DSC-RX10M2
DSC-RX10M3
DSC-RX10M4
DSC-RX1RM2
DSC-WX700
DSC-WX800
ZV-1
The utility is free to download on Sony’s website. Simply select the camera you intend to use the program with and click the download link. Sony has also provided a thorough guide on how to install the utility and set your camera up for use.
The latest upcoming evolution of Android, version 11, will introduce a fairly small but unwanted change about which some smartphone owners are already complaining: elimination of the camera selection menu. Going forward, Android users will only be able to access the device’s pre-installed camera app when attempting to take a photo through a third-party app, something Google has confirmed and described as necessary for privacy and security.
Though Android devices come with a stock camera app, users have a huge number of alternative options available in the Play Store, including ones that feature ‘pro’ controls. When a user attempts to capture an image through a third-party app, such as an auction app that supports directly capturing images rather than uploading from the camera roll, they may be presented with a menu that asks which installed camera app should be used.
When the Android 11 update rolls out, however, this will change and users will no longer be given this option, as recently spied by Android Police. Instead, the third-party app will default to the device’s stock camera app. To get around this, users would have to first launch their preferred camera app, capture the images they need, then upload those images in the third-party app from the camera roll — a process that would take considerably longer than directly launching the desired app.
News of this change seems to have first surfaced on Reddit’s Android Dev community, where developers have expressed frustration and concerns about the restriction.
Google itself details this change on its Android Developer website, stating that, ‘Media intent actions require system default camera.’ In this case, ‘intent’ refers to the third-party app’s intent to capture an image, but its dependency on the device’s camera apps due to its own lack of built-in camera functionality.
When questioned about the change on its Issue Tracker website, a Google employee stated that the lack of third-party camera selection was an intended behavior and that despite potentially making things more complicated for developers, ‘we believe it’s the right trade-off to protect the privacy and security of our users.’
The idea is that while the Google Play Store takes steps to protect users from malicious apps, some still manage to get through to users. In addition, Android allows users to sideload apps that haven’t gone through the security vetting process, potentially putting themselves at risk. A malicious camera app may compromise the user’s privacy, gathering anything from images to location data.
Whether that risk is an adequate reason for restricting the third-party camera picker is a point of contention among developers. While some acknowledge the security benefits of ensuring users don’t accidentally use malicious third-party camera apps, others note that users are likely to blame developers for this restriction.
Beyond that, users are deprived of the freedom of choice that has made Android an appealing platform to many. Whereas Apple has historically restricted users in ways intended to protect their privacy, Android users have enjoyed more control over their devices, including the ability to load apps outside of the Google Play Store — even if it does come with risks that average users may not understand.
Some developers and users have expressed concerns that Google’s decision to restrict the camera picker in the name of security may indicate a wider change behind doors that could lead to additional restrictions in the future. Whether this ends up being the case is yet to be seen.
At this point in time, Google offers developers who are unhappy with this change an option for getting around it, but it would require them to have their apps directly check for other camera options by looking for their package names. This isn’t a terribly useful option as developers would have to choose which packages to look for ahead of time. If the developer fails to include the specific camera app the user wants to access, they’ll still end up using the stock camera app.
After updating to Lightroom version 5.4 on iOS and iPadOS, numerous users found that photos and editing presets that had not yet been synced to the cloud were missing. Worse yet, Adobe has confirmed that affected users and Adobe itself will be unable to retrieve the missing data.
After reports of lost photos spread around the web on places such as our own forums, Reddit and Adobe’s own forums, Adobe representative Rikk Flohr published a response on the afternoon of August 18. It reads:
‘We are aware that some customers who updated to Lightroom 5.4.0 on iPhone and iPad may be missing photos and presets that were not synced to the Lightroom cloud.
A new version of Lightroom mobile (5.4.1) for iOS and iPad OS has now been released that prevents this issue from affecting additional customers.
Installing version 5.4.1 will not restore missing photos or presets for customers affected by the problem introduced in 5.4.0.
We know that some customers have photos and presets that are not recoverable. We sincerely apologize to any customers who have been affected by this issue.
If you are affected by this issue, please refer to the information in this forum thread.’
Adobe has not issued any additional comments about the incident, nor has it disclosed an estimate of how many users were affected by the issue ahead of the release of Lightroom 5.4.1. When we contacted Adobe this morning, a representative said they have no further statements at this time.
In a thread originally started by Lightroom user Mohamad Alif Eqnur on Adobe’s forums, numerous users chimed in with their own experiences of lost photos, including multiple users who shared that they had lost purchased presets.
Affected customers are understandably very upset, especially given that Adobe’s fix only acts to prevent the issue from happening to additional customers, rather than offering users a solution to restore missing photos and presets.
When issues like this occur, and if it can happen to a giant in the industry like Adobe it can happen to any company, it stands as a reminder that it’s critical to have multiple backups of your images. Further, it’s a good idea to save edits of your photos as sidecar files, so even if a catalog becomes corrupted, you will retain your edit data. These sidecar files can even be read by Adobe Bridge.
The post 5 Ways to Diversify Your Photography Business appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.
Photography is an incredible art form that really gets your creative juices flowing. There are so many elements to making a great image, and the beauty of it is that so much of photography is really subjective.
Sure, there are some technical requirements that you might need to pay attention to. But these days, even those are somewhat relaxed in the name of art.
That said, there are a lot of things that you need to consider and pay attention to if you want to make photography your full-time career, or even make a living out of creating images. It is hard to start out and get consistent work in a sea of photographers. The fact that there is really a low barrier to entry in terms of starter gear results in a lot of competition. Plus, much of photography education online is free (or almost free), so there is nothing you cannot learn about photography on your own, right?
Being able to call yourself a full-time photographer and being able to make a living out of photography is not that easy. Markets are constantly changing; customer tastes are evolving and prices for good photography are also shifting. Unfortunately, you will always find someone who is willing to do a job for less money. That is a reality, not only for photography, but for almost any business out there.
Luckily, it is not all doom and gloom when it comes to making a living from your photography. The smart thing to do is to diversify your photography business and create multiple streams of income; that way, when one area is slow, the others more than compensate in terms of monetary benefits you can derive from this art form.
Here are five ways you can diversify your photography business:
1. Shoot different genres
I know that many photographers promote picking one genre and sticking to it. There definitely is an advantage in honing your skills and perfecting them. But I have never been one to follow that rule. I tend to get bored easily and, when I was just starting out, I did not know what I wanted to specialize in.
I tried to photograph everything I could as a way to practice using my camera as well as a way of figuring out what I wanted to do long term. When I first started my photography business, I photographed children and families. Then I moved into photographing weddings. That quickly changed to more travel and lifestyle photography and, somewhere along the way, small business branding came into play.
Now I focus on travel, lifestyle, and business editorial visual content creation. While you might think this is a crazy trajectory, I try to focus on all the soft skills I picked up during each of these phases: dealing with different types of clients, working with different kinds of lighting, and even creating different types of visual content. And I found that this really helped when it came time to diversify my photography business.
Family photos for this client led to a small business branding shoot and many more family shoots along the years.
2. Teach or mentor other photographers
Once you have been around the block a few times, you realize that you have learned a lot from all your experiences. This holds true for life as well as photography, doesn’t it? If you find yourself constantly in the position of talking to other photographers who are asking for advice on how to do certain things or how to manage a photography business, perhaps it is time to officially start teaching and mentoring newer photographers.
But I have to warn you: This has to come from a place of genuinely wanting to help and teach others. Don’t just use this privilege as a way to make money. We photographers know when we are being taken for a ride, right? Being someone’s mentor or teacher is a huge responsibility, and you need to be willing to give more than you take.
I teach photography workshops at conferences as well as small group mentoring. It’s a way to share my love of this art form with other photography enthusiasts.
3. Write photography-related articles
This is, by far, one of my favorite ways to diversify my photography business. I started writing articles for Digital Photography School in 2013, and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity this community has given me to connect, share, and be a part of an awesome group of people who all have a common love for this art form. This has also led to more writing work, as well as more clients, so I see this as a win-win from all sides.
Writing articles and reviewing gear for DPS.
Now, just to set the record straight:
When you first exploring writing photography articles, be prepared to maybe do some pro-bono work. As more and more photographers are getting into writing and teaching, there is a lot of supply. Consider this exercise very similar to your initial portfolio-building experience.
4. Shoot and sell stock
I admit that this was not on my mind at first. But the more I started speaking to my friends about how they are maintaining their photography business, the more intrigued I became by stock photography.
I started shooting images for stock and found that it was a lot of work. So instead, I started adding stock imagery as one of the line items in each of my shoots (client and personal). I was creating work for my clients, anyway; why not spend some time after the shoot creating some images that can be added to my stock portfolio?
I also shoot scenarios specifically for some of my stock clients if and when I am assigned that job.
I prefer creating custom stock for clients rather than shooting generic stock.
5. Sell physical products
I started doing this when I was actively photographing weddings and families. I resisted the temptation to simply copy all images onto a disk or add to an online gallery and give my clients all the images. I found that most of the clients I served were overwhelmed with 50+ images from a session.
Instead, I started an in-person-sales process, where clients would get to see their images and choose images/prints and products. This increased my average sales per shoot and added more revenue to my bottom line.
Never underestimate the power of diversification of your business; this was taken on a content creation trip to Sri Lanka.
Conclusion
I have been a professional photographer for the past 10 years and, if I have learned anything this last decade, it is that we have to be nimble and flexible in how we navigate the small business entrepreneur path. What worked five years ago is definitely not going to work today.
For that matter, what worked last year may not work this year. So take it in your stride and actively work on diversifying your photography business.
Not all of these options might be appropriate for you. But if you can even take one of these suggestions and make it your own, you might be less stressed when the slow season comes along and your bills keep piling up.
The post 5 Ways to Diversify Your Photography Business appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.
Chinese cinema lens manufacturer Vazen has announced the release of their new 85mm T2.8 1.8x Anamorphic lens for PL and EF mount camera systems.
The 85mm T2.8 1.8x Anamorphic lens is the first of a new ‘LF’ lineup designed for large-format cinema cameras, such as the RED Monstro, Alexa LF, Kinefinity Mavo LF and Z-Cam E2-F8.
The lens weighs just 1.5kg (3.3lbs) and measures only 17.5cm (6.9”), making it ‘the world’s lightest and smallest 1.8x anamorphic lens for full-frame cameras.’ It features an 86mm front filter thread, a front diameter of 95mm for mounting matte boxes to, 0.8 mod cine gears for follow focus systems and a minimum focusing distance of 9.6cm (3.8”).
Vazen says the anamorphic lens ‘delivers a buttery smooth oval bokeh, signature blue, but not oversaturated, horizontal flare and the widescreen cinematic look.’ When paired with 4:3 sensors, the lens yields a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Below is a video preview of the lens by Expressway Cinema Rentals:
The lens is currently available to order from the Vazen website and authorized Vazen retailers for $ 8,000. The first units will start shipping out in ‘late August.’
Vazen says it also has two other lenses in the works: a 55mm and a 105mm. These two lenses are expected to be released in ‘late 2020/early 2021’ and will eventually be sold as a three-lens set with the 85mm T2.8 anamorphic lens.
Lead image: Dan Bracaglia. All other images: courtesy of Ebay and used with permission.
