The exciting world of photography never seems to rest, and here we find that Toad Hollow Photography has been looking in all known corners of the internet for links to tutorials, special features and great photography to share with everyone. This weeks list is composed of a wide diversity of subjects and features, from some […]
The post Catch Up On The Coolest Links In Photography appeared first on Light Stalking.
To celebrate the end of summer, B&H Photo Video is having huge savings on several cameras, lenses and other photography gear. We’ve listed a few of our favorite deals below. These deals won’t last long! Olympus specials Savings include up to $500 off on cameras, up to $200 off on lenses and up to $180 […]
The post Olympus, Sigma and more savings in August from B&H appeared first on Photofocus.
Kodak aims to be the master of all things nostalgia-related in the photography world but, to be fair, a photo kiosk in 2019 might just be the kind of fusion of old and new that we need. After all, there are a lot more things you could do with a photo kiosk now than you […]
The post Kodak Refreshing the Photo Kiosk with Quirky Project appeared first on Light Stalking.
We wrote this recommended settings for Sony A6300 guide for those who are confused by the camera buttons and the long list of menu options in the camera. The Sony A6300 is an advanced interchangeable lens mirrorless camera designed for enthusiasts and professionals, so it has many complex functions and features. In this article, we will go over important information on what settings are ideal for day-to-day photography and videography needs, as well as explain what some of the settings do.
President Trump has announced that a fresh wave of tariffs will be imposed on goods imported from China beginning September 1st. The 10% tariff—which is in addition to the 25% tariffs already in effect—may mean increased prices on any cameras, lenses, or other photography gear imported to the United States from China.
The news broke last night, when the President tweeted that “the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country,” before clarifying that “This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%…”
…buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die! Trade talks are continuing, and…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019
…We look forward to continuing our positive dialogue with China on a comprehensive Trade Deal, and feel that the future between our two countries will be a very bright one!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019
That “remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods” includes all photography-related products, from lenses to cameras to accessories and even film photography products. You can find a full list of products here.
While the political reasons for these tariffs are beyond the purview of a photography publication, the potential effects on photo gear are not. As we reported last month, Sony may well be selling its new 35mm f/1.8 lens for significantly more in the US because this particular lens is made in China. Sony already warned that additional tariffs would mean higher Playstation prices for US consumers, and there’s no reason to believe that the same would not apply to Chinese-made imaging products since these will be hit with the import tax as well.
The President did tweet that “trade talks are continuing” and ended the thread on a hopeful note. However, unless progress is made before the tariffs go into effect on September 1st, we can expect to see price hikes on everything from Chinese products like Godox, to Japanese products made in China like the much-loved Nikon 105mm f/1.4E ED lens.
(via Engadget via The New York Times)
Last week, somewhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Puerto Ricans marched along the largest highway on the island in protest against the governor Ricardo Rossello, and I was there.
I had a chance to talk to Hollywood photographer Mike Kubeisy. Mike and I talk about a very sensitive topic among photographers -- Do photographers need to buy the latest and greatest gear?
The post The InFocus Interview Show with Mike Kubeisy | Photofocus Podcast August 2, 2019 appeared first on Photofocus.
Andrew of husband and wife photography team Denae and Andrew recently partnered up with KEH to test out 10 of the best-selling vintage 50mm lenses on the used market. From old Nikon and Canon glass, to Minolta, Pentax and even a Contax lens, all of these can be had for under $100, and Andrew wanted to find out which of the 10 performed best.
One note: Andrew tests all 10 lenses on his Fujifilm X-T3, so there is an APS-C crop involved, but we don’t feel it takes much away from the comparison. However, if that totally negates this shootout for you, feel free to click off and check out this video about how scientists colorize deep space photos.
Alright, back to it. The lenses included in this shootout are:
Each of these can be had for under $100 on eBay, or a little more if you want to make sure yours is in pristine condition, and all of them perform fairly consistently. Some of them do have quirks though, especially if you’re adapting them, and Andrew is good about walking through the feel of each lens before comparing everything from sharpness to color, contrast, bokeh and beyond.
We definitely recommend checking out the full video for an in-depth comparison of how each of the lenses performed before you go hunting for a vintage 50mm lens on eBay. At less than $100, you’re not risking much picking one up, but it’s good to know exactly what you’re getting into and what to expect from this older glass.
(via ISO 1200)
A lack of light is the enemy of any photographer and, in certain situations, it may force you to bump your ISO far higher than you're comfortable with. The resulting visual noise in the image can render it unusable. Unless you follow this tutorial from PiXimperfect, that is.
Each week, members of the 500px team curate eye-catching photography from our talented and diverse community in Editors’ Choice. This week’s curation highlights striking black and white photography, intimacy, and blue backgrounds subjects. Check out this week’s roundup of some of the most intriguing photography on 500px, handpicked by our Editors.
Check out which photos are catching our Editors’ eyes today in Editors’ Choice!
Not on 500px yet? Sign up here to explore more impactful photography.
The post This week in Editors’ Choice: Black and white photography, intimate moments, blue backgrounds appeared first on 500px Blog.
Over the past several months, there have been some rumblings in the rumor mill that Nikon is planning to release an APS-C Z-Mount camera dubbed the Z3 by rumor sites. Now, a new design patent filed in Japan seems to show exactly that: an APS-C Z-Mount camera with no built-in EVF.
We would never consider a patent image “confirmation” that such a camera is coming, but the coincidence between recent rumors and this recently unearthed patent is raising eyebrows. The original rumor on Nikon Rumors indicated that the so-called Z3 would be an, “entry-level DX camera with fix LCD screen, 24 or 26MP sensor, one micro SD card slot only, [and] probably no EVF.”
Based on the patent drawings below, the “probably no EVF” looks to be spot on. We can’t quite tell if the LCD is fixed, although there seems to be a tell-tale rim that would indicate it’s a vari-angle screen that pops out from the body. We also can’t tell if this camera would indeed only take microSD cards, a decision that would be… interesting… but has now appeared on the rumor mill multiple times.
Here’s a closer look at the patent drawings of multiple angles:
According to the most recent reports, Nikon is actually working on two DX Z-Mount cameras, one with an EVF and one without. The smaller of the two is rumored to be released in “early 2020” and be followed by three DX lenses: a 20-200mm f/4-5.6, a 35mm f/1.4, and (later) a rectilinear 8-20mm f/4. No word on when we might expect the more advanced “Z5,” which would allegedly sport an EVF.
If these rumors pan out, Nikon might have a chance at stealing a few customers from Sony’s popular a6XXX series of cameras. Then again, as with the full-frame Z6 and Z7, they’ll be fighting an uphill battle against a company that has many years head start in this particular market.
(via Nikon Rumors)
Traveling is fun and exciting, and many people love turning their journeys into travel videos. No matter if you create travel videos for YouTube, Instagram, or just your personal archive, there are some things that make them amateurish and uninteresting. Sometimes, no matter how good the shots are, or how great was the place you […]
The post Three reasons why your travel videos suck appeared first on DIY Photography.
Just as Canon announced that profits from its camera division have dropped by almost two-thirds, Sony has given an indication that it is not optimistic for the future, predicting that it will sell 1.4 million fewer cameras than it did in 2017.
Every mind-blowing deep space photograph captured by the Hubble space telescope that you’ve ever seen started out black-and-white. So how do we get those amazing technicolor images of the Pillars of Creation or the Bubble Nebula? This short video explains how scientists manage this feat.
The video was put together as part of VOX Video Lab, and anybody with a working knowledge of color photography can probably skip over the first couple of minutes. At first, the video explains the basics of the visible light spectrum, and how the first color images were composites of three black-and-white photographs captured through a red, green, and blue filter, respectively.
But around the 1:50 mark, VOX takes this knowledge and dives into the science behind colorizing Hubble’s deep space photographs like this iconic shot of the bubble nebula:
Hubble’s main function, explains VOX, isn’t to capture color images, it’s to measure the brightness of light reflecting off of objects in space. In order to produce a color image, Hubble captures images using “broadband filtering” that captures a general range of red, green, and blue light in a black-and-white image. Those are then combined to create a true-color image.
But the scientists who colorize Hubble often go beyond true color, in order to show us portions of the image that would never have been visible to our eyes in the first place. For example: turning certain gasses into visible color in a photograph.
Hubble does this using “narrowband filtering.” This filters extremely narrow wavelengths of the visible light spectrum that correspond to individual elements like oxygen and hydrogen, then shifting the color of each image to correspond to red, green and blue. That’s how the famous Pillars of Creation image was created:
In this image, sulfur is represented by the color red, hydrogen by the color green, and oxygen by the color blue, which is not where they actually sit on the visible spectrum. But when you shift each element over so they correspond to either red, green or blue, and put them all together, you get what VOX calls “a colorized map” that is much more useful for analysis… and just plain pretty as well.
This is how we get most of the amazing images of deep space nebulas that you see on the Hubble website. True color images would skew significantly to one color—in the case of the Pillars of Light, it would be mostly red in “true color”—but by using narrowband filtering, scientists are able to generate useful data and amaze the public at the same time.
Finally, VOX also covers how Hubble handles color images made from light outside the visible spectrum—namely, ultraviolet and near-infrared. That’s how we get this close-up image of the Monkey Head Nebula, which is made up entirely of wavelengths in the infrared spectrum, but we’ll let VOX explain how that’s done:
Check out the full video above for a deep dive on how all of these modes of colorizing space photography work, with plenty of animated demonstrations so you can see each technique in action. It’s a fascinating look at how NASA and the ESA have created some of the most iconic space imagery of our time.
(via Reddit)
Credits: All images courtesy of NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team.
Achieving accurate colors and contrast in your images can be difficult for many photographers. Without the proper tools, you are often just guessing at the best overall settings during post-processing. For lots of people, getting close enough to accurate color works most of the time, sometimes you need to be more accurate. The SpyderCUBE is […]
The post How to use the Datacolor SpyderCUBE for white balance and contrast appeared first on Photofocus.
Press releases shouldn’t be too long. You have to be able to garner attention with a short but effective note. Here are some essential tips on writing a press release
The post How To Write A Press Release For Photographers appeared first on Light Stalking.
Metabones Speed Boosters and focal length reducing lens adapters from other brands have become very popular over the last few years as more people take to smaller sensor formats like APS-C and Micro Four Thirds for shooting both stills and video. There are a number of them out there now, although Metabones continues to be […]
The post Metabones has announced a new set of Speed Boosters specifically for the Blackmagic Pocket 4K appeared first on DIY Photography.
