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Metabones enables 10 fps shooting with AF for Canon glass on Sony a9
If you were disappointed by reports that the Sony a9 struggles with long adapted Canon lenses, you might be able to take some comfort from Metabones’ latest firmware update. The update for EF-E Smart Adapter Mark IV/V and EF-E Speed Booster Ultra adds autofocus support for medium and high burst modes on the Sony a9. However, since adapted lens support maxes out at 10 fps with AF, high burst mode simply runs at medium speeds (10 fps electronic, 5 fps mechanical).

We’ve have had a chance to give this update a go with a number of Canon mount lenses (including Sigma lenses), and are impressed with the results: with wider lenses (85mm and wider), you get phase-detect AF over most of the frame at 10 fps in Wide and Flexible Spot modes. With longer lenses (70-200/2.8, 100-400/4.5-5.6), focus starts to falter outside of the central region – something that doesn’t happen with native E-mount lenses. In L drive mode (3 fps), the camera opens up the aperture in between shots – both for adapted and E-mount lenses, allowing the camera to continue focusing beyond F11 (at frame rates higher than 3 fps, the camera reverts to manual focus at apertures smaller than F11 – with both adapted and native lenses).

In manual focus mode, you can shoot up to 20 fps with adapted lenses. This is quite an impressive update for the Metabones adapter, and we’ve confirmed it to function significantly better with the a9 than the Sigma adapter (which has yet to issue a firmware update for the a9).

The firmware is available for download now from Metabones.
Firmware upgrade for EF-E Smart AdapterTM MARK IV/V and EF-E Speed Booster^TM ULTRA

RELEVANT PRODUCTS

This information is for the following models:
- EF-E Smart AdapterTM MARK IV/V (model number MB_EF-E-BM4 / MB_EF-E-BT4 / MB_EF-E-BT5)
- EF-E Speed BoosterTM ULTRA (model number MB_SPEF-E-BM2 / MB_SPEF-E-BT2 / MB_SPEF-E-BT3)
ABOUT THIS DOWNLOAD
- Name: Firmware update V0.57 for EF-E Smart AdapterTM MARK IV/V and EF-E Speed BoosterTM ULTRA
- Release date: 26 Jun 2017
- Benefits and improvements:
  – Added autofocus support during high speed and medium speed continuous drive (up to 10fps) on Sony A9 (“Green” mode only). Experiment with the “Priority Set in AF-C” setting for the best compromise between hit rate and frame rate for your shooting style. Overall performance depends on lens used. The camera does not use hunting while tracking is in operation. If subject movement exceeds the measurement range of the OSPDAF sensor, autofocus pauses. This is by design. The measurement range of the OSPDAF sensor decreases as the focal length increases. Except for the original Mark I Smart Adapter this feature is available for all subsequent Speed Boosters and Smart Adapters.
  – Enlarged PDAF area on supported cameras when adapter is in Advanced mode, with the advisory that AF performance may be unsatisfactory outside of the central portion of the frame.
  – Enabled AF illuminator (Advanced mode only).
  – There is an AF accuracy issue when using AF-S or DMF on Sony A9 and telephoto lenses with Metabones in “Advanced” mode, which affects this and all previous firmware versions. Green mode, which is set by default on Sony A9, is not affected (except for the original Smart Adapter Mark I, which does not support “Green” mode). A9 users are advised to not use “Advanced” mode but stick with the default “Green” mode. In addition, some telephoto lenses rarely exhibit this issue, such as EF 200/2.8L II USM, EF 400/5.6L USM and Tamron 150-600/5-6.3 VC USD A011. Investigation of this issue is still in progress.
  – Fixed AF issue with EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM and EF-S 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS Nano USM lenses.
  – Fixed smooth iris support for 40/2.8 STM, 50/1.8 STM and Sigma 50-100/1.8 DC HSM Art 016.
  – Fixed CN-E 18-80 T4.4 L IS KAS S servo zoom used by the camera’s zoom rocker and the lens’ rocker in alternation.
  – Fixed CN-E 18-80 T4.4 L IS KAS S auto iris when adapter is in Green mode, where extremely bright conditions no longer causes the iris to close completely.
  – Fixed aperture display with Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens and Kenko Pro 300 teleconvertter.
  – Corrected W-T zoom scale display in “Advanced” mode for Speed Booster and Kenko Pro 300 teleconverter (except Mark I/II/III and original Speed Booster).
  – Faster aperture diaphragm for still photography in Advanced mode when Live Vide mode is set to Setting Effect OFF.
  – LED (if available) now shows solid magenta when adapter is connected to USB waiting for Metabones App to run.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
June 28, 2017
How to Use the Star Walk 2 App for Milky Way Photography

Photographing the Milky Way is unlike any other kind of photography. The camera settings are completely different, as are the post-processing techniques, and there’s a lot more planning that goes into a successful outing than people (who haven’t done it before) realize.

The Milky Way over Half Dome in Yosemite NP, shot from Glacier Point.

The trick is how to find the Milky Way

You see, finding the location of the Milky Way in our sky is always changing. In the northern hemisphere the best time to photograph the Milky Way is in the late spring to early fall. It isn’t even visible during most of winter because it’s only above the horizon during the day when we can’t see the stars. And of course in the southern hemisphere, everything above is reversed.

The Milky Way over a group of oak trees in San Luis Obispo, California.

When the Milky Way is visible, it’s hard to know when it will be in peak position and in which direction (north, south, east, or west) it will be visible. Then there’s the question of whether or not it will be rising straight up from a certain direction or appear as an arc across the sky.

Plan your trip accordingly

All of the answers to these questions will, of course, determine what foreground subjects you can use at any given time of the year. For example, if you’re trying to shoot Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, you’ll need the Milky Way to be visible in the northeast sky. Plus, you need it there at a time of night when the moon is either beneath the horizon or during a moon phase where the light from the moon will be minimal. If it’s a full moon for example, the Milky Way and night sky will be considerably dimmer than say during a new or crescent moon.

The Milky Way over Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

As you can see, there are a lot of variables. That’s where the app Star Walk 2 comes in.

I found this app years ago when it was in its first incarnation, and still use it today for most of my night sky photography planning. This app is beautifully designed and will let you know exactly when and where the Milky Way will be at any given time, along with every other star and constellation in the sky. It’s an incredible resource for photographers. I created a video showing how I use it.

Have a look below and let me know what you think.

Conclusion

I know there are other options and apps that do similar things available as well, so comment below and tell us what you use. I’m always open to trying new things and would love to hear them.

You can find the Star Walk 2 app in the Google Play Store for Android and on iTunes for Apple devices.

The post How to Use the Star Walk 2 App for Milky Way Photography by James Brandon appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 28, 2017
18 Friendly Photos of Buddies Just Hanging Out

What better thing to do that to just hang out with your buddy this summer. Better yet get a photo together!

Here are 18 photos that show what it is all about to be friends.

By Lenneke Veerbeek

By Stew Stryker

By PicselPerfect

By Philip Brookes

By Trent McBride

By Sam Cox

By Leo Hidalgo

By Jay Melnick

By Chris Ford

By Art G.

By bunnysuicides

By Stefan

By Jarle Refsnes

By wolfgangfoto

By Stephanie Wallace

By Holly Occhipinti

By Theophilos Papadopoulos

By Julien Belli

The post 18 Friendly Photos of Buddies Just Hanging Out by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 28, 2017
Sony announces new 20MP 1-inch sensor

Sony’s sensor division has announced a new 1-inch type sensor with an effective pixel count of 20.48MP. The new CMOS sensor is backside-illuminated and offers an all-pixel global reset function which should drastically reduce rolling shutter effect when panning. The chip can also record 4K 2160p video at up to 60 frames per second and output 12-bit full-resolution images at readout speeds approaching 22 frames per second.

The new sensor has similar specifications to the chips used in Sony’s RX100 line of high-end compact cameras and RX10 superzoom models but appears to be designed specifically for industrial and surveillance applications. Full specifications are available on the Sony Semiconductor website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 27, 2017
Underwater Photography Tips from Aquapac

A wise crustacean once said that it’s better down where it’s wetter.

Singing crabs normally should not be trusted, but when it comes to photography, he does have a point.

So we turned to a more trust-worthy source, our pals at Aquapac – makers of the Underwater DSRL Case – for their top underwater photography tips.

So waterproof up your favorite cam and dive right in to this wonderful splashy world.
(…)
Read the rest of Underwater Photography Tips from Aquapac (449 words)

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The post Underwater Photography Tips from Aquapac appeared first on Photojojo.

Photojojo

June 27, 2017
Shoulderpod goes modular
Shoulderpod, the Spanish makers of the S1 smartphone camera grip and other high-quality mobile camera accessories, which are particularly popular with mobile journalists and videographers, has converted its offerings into a lego-like modular system by from now on offering all individual parts of existing products separately, allowing users to build exactly the rig they need for a specific project or simply replace a damaged part.

On top of the 4 existing products (G1 Grip, S2 Handle Grip, R2 Pocket Rig and X1 Pro Rig) there are now 9 new parts available for order individually, allowing for attachment of lights, microphones and other accessories:
- P1 – The Long Plate
- P2 – The Short Plate
- H1 – The Handle
- K1 – The Knob
- Z1 – The Cold Shoe
- W1 – The Wrist Strap
- G1RP – Rubber Pad replacements for G1
- H1RP – Rubber Pad replacements for H1 and K1
- U1 – S2 to R2 Upgrade Kit
“Don´t get tied to a fixed solution” – says Enrique Frisancho, Co-Founder at Shoulderpod – “Start small with one of our basic configurations and grow from there with additional accessories. You can use the advantages of modularity also when travelling. Select only the parts you need before every trip and avoid carrying that heavy backpack full of unnecessary gear.” More information and pricing is available on the Shoulderpod website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
June 27, 2017
Never before seen photos of Mount St. Helens eruption found in thrift shop camera

Photographer Kati Dimoff found this camera at a Goodwill in Portland, OR. The undeveloped roll of film inside contained never-before-seen photos of the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980.

Photographer Kati Dimoff has developed a curious habit. Whenever she enters a thrift shop, she makes a B-line for the used camera section and checks each and every 35mm camera for exposed but undeveloped rolls of film. Recently, this habit yielded an incredible discovery.

On May 26th, Dimoff found herself in southeast Portland, OR. And as is her habit, she stopped by the Goodwill on Grand Ave to have a look at their film cameras. This time, she struck pay dirt.

“I found an Argus C2—which would have been produced around 1938—and it had a damaged roll of kodachrome slide film in it,” she tells DPReview over email. Naturally, she bought it and took it to the folks at Blue Moon Camera and Machine in the St. Johns neighborhood to have it developed.

When I picked up the prints on Monday, June 12th, there was a note on the package that said ‘Is this from the Mount St. Helens eruption?’

Kati tells us Blue Moon Camera is one of the last, best places to get old, expired, and out-of-production film processed, and though they couldn’t breathe color back into the iconic Kodachrome film—the developing chemicals were discontinued years ago—they were able to develop the roll in black and white. What awaited her when she picked up the prints was a short note.

“Blue Moon developed it for me,” she tells us, “and when I picked up the prints on Monday, June 12th, there was a note on the package that said, ‘Is this from the Mount St. Helens eruption?’”

It was. Three of the photos on the roll were taken on or around that fateful day in 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted violently—considered by many to be the most disastrous volcanic eruption the United States has ever seen.

There were three photos in all. The first, which Dimoff says was likely taken from Highway 30, shows St. Helens in the distance with just a puff of ash coming out from the top. That photo may have been taken during the two months prior to the eruption, when the volcano was occasionally causing earthquakes and venting steam.

The other two photos are more striking. Captured from in front of John Gumm elementary school in St. Helens, Oregon, they show a massive ash cloud—mushroom-like and dramatic.

But this story doesn’t end with three never-before-seen photos of a historic event captured in 1980 and re-discovered in a thrift shop in 2017 (even though that would be enough for us). There was another photograph on the roll: a family portrait.

This photo actually helped Dimoff to identify the owner of the camera. Pictured are Mel Purvis, his wife Karen, his grandmother Faye, and his son Tristan. Mel saw the portrait in The Oregonian and reached out to the paper, who put him in touch with Dimoff.

Now, his grandma’s camera, negatives, and prints are on their way back to their rightful owner.

All photos courtesy of Kati Dimoff, and used with permission.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 27, 2017
Weekly Photography Challenge – Friends

Let’s start our day with a little friendship. It’s good for the heart and soul. Check out 18 friendly photos here.

By Felipe Bastos

By Tambako The Jaguar

Weekly Photography Challenge – Friends

Friendship comes in many forms and can be as varied as the friends themselves.

Your job for this weekly photography challenge is to create a photo of friends and show what that means to you. Friendships can cross borders and boundaries and are formed in the heart, not logically. How can you represent friends in a photo?

By bagsgroove

By Marciaaa.

By Ralf Steinberger

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment 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 favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Friends by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 27, 2017
Tips for Finding Potential in the Obsolete – Photographing Trash

Most people like photographing the new and the fresh – a bright flower, a laughing child, a dawning day, the beginning of an era. Yet beginnings are but a small and rare part of the human experience. The persistent passage of time leaves us with ever growing piles of both literal and figurative garbage; maybe that’s why we seek out the new, for a glimpse of something different.

Sometimes we have no choice but to dwell in the past. Why not take the chance to explore it? There is something to be found and shared in that which is already past its due date – items that have been thrown away or left behind. Let’s open up this world of opportunity I like to call Trash Photography and see if we can find something of value!

The Left Behind

You may have heard of Urbex, or urban exploration photography, where the photographer visits and captures abandoned urban places. The photos often have a haunted feeling. The same atmosphere can be achieved on a smaller scale as well, all you need is something that seems to have been abandoned.

I found this old, rusty pair of scissors hanging on an old shelf at a friend’s cottage.

It doesn’t have to be something eerie. It can also be something out of place, something intriguing or different; a scene that gives a sense of a time gone by.

Old fuse insulators found in storage at my grandparents’ place.

Found Treasure

Trash and treasure might not be synonyms in your vocabulary, but for a photographer, they can be! Many things are thrown away because they don’t serve their original purpose anymore. That doesn’t mean that the object is useless – all it takes is a bit of inspiration and a creative mind.

I found an abandoned LCD TV in the recycling room and decided to borrow it for a project. The screen was indeed broken but not completely. With the addition of some intentional camera movement I managed to create something quite abstract.

But treasure doesn’t have to be shiny. It can also be a fascinating pattern or a revelation.

An alien skull or an old hair clip?

Contrasts

If you’re attempting to make an interesting photograph, capturing some kind of contrast usually works surprisingly well. When focusing on garbage or trash, the most obvious thing to contrast it with would be something new.

Apart from the contrast between old and new in this picture, there are also contrasts between organic and metallic, and a rusty color versus the green of the leaves.

You can also create contrast by challenging expectations.

This broken laundry machine standing outside in the rain, surrounded by laundry, offers another kind of contrast.

Which brings us to the last topic . . .

The Story

Telling a story with just a picture is hard, but it’s a challenge worth taking on. In terms of trash, it can be a story about human nature, environmental issues, the passage of time, there really are no limits.

The pile of discarded water bottles with a beautiful waterfall in the back might seem significant – what does it tell you?

Try it out and see what stories you might be able to tell!

The abandoned fishing net begs the question of why it was abandoned. Was it lost? Thrown away? Might it pose a threat to someone or something?

Conclusion

What do you think, is there any point in photographing trash, or does this just seem like a waste of time? I would love to hear your ideas and see your creations from Trash Photography in the comments below.

The post Tips for Finding Potential in the Obsolete – Photographing Trash by Hannele Luhtasela-el Showk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

June 27, 2017
Finishing the line: Nikon 28mm F1.4E ED sample gallery

The Nikon 28mm F1.4E ED has come to the market more than twenty years after the rare and expensive 28mm F1.4D was released in the early ’90s. It’s the latest lens to join the company’s F1.4 professional prime lens lineup, which now has 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 58mm, 85mm and 105mm options – it looks pretty complete to us.

The 28mm F1.4E adopts an electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism, meaning aperture control is fully electronic, as opposed to Nikon’s older G and D lenses, which feature a mechanical lever on the mount for this purpose. In the real world, this should result in greater exposure accuracy when shooting at high continuous burst speeds.

The lens is very well-built, features dust and weather-sealing, and the minimum focus distance is less than a foot from the sensor or focal plane.

We’ve had ours around town, to the beach, a car show and a wedding to suss out what its capable of – find out for yourself.

See our Nikon 28mm F1.4E ED samples

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

June 27, 2017