An interesting lens has recently joined Lensbaby family: Burnside 35 is a f/2.8 wide-angle adaptation of the Petzval lens design, with an effect slider that operates as a second internal iris. DIYP spoke to Craig Strong from Lensbaby about this creative lens that lets you change the swirl in the bokeh, as well as adjust the vignette and center brightness. Lensbaby Burnside 35 is all-metal, non-tilting lens similar to their Velvet series....

The AF features of Fujifilm X-T3 are pretty impressive, judging from the tests so far. But it doesn’t only work well with native lenses: the X-T3 nails focus even with a 600mm lens paired with a Fringer adapter. In this video from Fringer, check out how well the Fujifilm XT-3 performs even with a non-native, adapted telephoto lens. In this demo, a Fujifilm X-T3 was paired with a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM and a Fringer EF-FX adapter....

Today I will discuss the importance of background in photography composition illustrated with some examples of mine. Part of a larger series covering elements of composition in photography for which you’ll find links at the end of this article. I taught myself photography in quite a specific order, I navigated / progressed through various urban photography genres: Graffiti Photography > Urban Landscape Photography > Street Photography It’s the reason I realised early how important an image’s background really is, allow me to explain:...

If you have not seen Spike Jonze’s ‘Welcome Home’ ad for the Homepod, you must be living under a rock. Let me fill you in. In the ad, dancer FKA twigs realizes that her home can expand and contract to match her dance moves. It is a visual candy. The big excitement about the clip comes from the fact that 99% of the clip is not done in a computer, it’s done in camera, by actually creating a real-life sized expanding house (or at least parts of it)....

The lens shown off on the Laowa stand last July at a photography show in Shanghai, China is now official. Venus Optics has today announced the Laowa 24mm T14 2x Periprobe lens, which takes the original 24mm f/14 and T14 probe lenses and extends them with more versatility, thanks to a new 90° periscope like tip on the end that lets you shoot at right angles to the plane of the camera sensor....

When purchasing the right kind of lenses, there are some characteristics that people should not be buying for most photographical practices. I then wish to talk about modern lenses. Here’s a recap of what I call the Lens Intention Diagram. Based on my “right” gear manifesto, lenses shouldn’t be (or aim to be): The Outdated Quest for Speed led to the Quest for Resolution Up until fairly recently, camera sensors couldn’t achieve usable image quality above ISO 1600....

The Rode VideoMic Pro has been the staple of vloggers and YouTubers the world over since its initial release. It’s also extremely handy as an on-camera mic to get a good track in camera to let you more easily sync footage to a master audio track in post. But the VideoMic Pro is not perfect. Rode listened to feedback from its customers about the VideoMic Pro and last year announced the VideoMic Pro Plus....

When the Ultimate Lens Hood was first announced a couple of years ago, it came via Kickstarter and saw pretty massive success, overachieving its funding goal by more than 2,000%. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s basically a big rubber lens hood that allows you to shoot through glass while eliminating reflections bouncing off your side. Now, after the success of the original, they’re launching the Ultimate Lens Hood 2....

Small compact camera technology and tiny sensors have come a long way in the last few years. This is largely due to the advancement of smartphone cameras. But the benefits that those small sensors bring to the table can also be applied to other cameras. Cameras like those which can record 3D video in a package that easily fits in your pocket. The Weeview SID 3D is one such camera, and I’ve had one for the last few weeks....

My Rode Reel 2021 is over and the winners have been announced, with the overall Judge’s Prize winner being the video above; Two Halves by Chen Wei Choon, based in Malaysia, who walks away with a cool $250,000 in cash as well as a bunch of gear from the competition’s sponsors; Zhuyin, Insta360, Nanlite, Adobe, Arri, DZOFilm, Pelican, MZed, Musicbed and Rode themselves. It’s interesting to see an animated film winning this year, but it’s extremely well shot and edited with a great story....

If the Zhiyun WEEBILL was not a boy enough for you, how about the bigger brother, the Zhiyun Crane 3 LAB? We took this gimbal through the paces, and if you only have ten seconds for this review, here is the verdict: it’s the best gimbal we’ve used to date. Is it perfect, no? but it currently has a set of features that no other gimbal at this price point (or probably higher) provides....

When it comes to gimbals, there’s no shortage of them on the market these days. So, why has the Zhiyun Weebill 2 become my favourite over the last few weeks? Well, mostly because it makes my life a million times easier when shooting on my own or filming myself. The Zhiyun Weebill 2 is the follow up to the popular Zhiyun Weebill-S. It’s grown a little in size and weight over its predecessor but comes with some new unique extras....

Most of us don’t see anything particularly interesting in the environment that surrounds us every day. But if we change the perspective, we can suddenly turn ordinary into extraordinary. And what changes perspective better than aerial photography? So, photographer Milan Radisics took his drone and turned Spanish farmlands into abstract images that look like they were painted by Picasso, Miró or Dalí. Perhaps you remember Milan Radisics’ project Water.Shapes.Earth, a collection of images showing how water has shaped our beautiful planet....

Each year, gear rental company Lensrentals likes to pool their data and see which was the most popular kit of the year. It’s quite an interesting list, showing some of the trends of the previous 12 months or so. They’ve just posted this year’s list, which covers from January 1st until December 12th, 2019, and there are one or two surprising products in there. First up, Lensrentals’ top five new products of 2019....

It’s always interesting to see what products people are renting for their productions. Probably more so than the gear people are actually buying. Many filmmakers and photographers buy stuff because they want it, not necessarily because they need it. But to justify the cost of a rental, the gear typically has to offer features you do actually need and can justify spending the cash on (because you typically have to justify it to a client, too)....

We all get stuck in a creative rut from time to time. And when that happens, there are many different ways to spark our creativity again. Inspiracles presents you a really fun one, and it’s called Photography Inspiration Cards. It’s a set of 56 flashcards that will help you learn photography, be creative, and find lots of shooting inspiration. Inspiracles Photography Inspiration Cards are colorful card decks full of creative ideas and exercises to help you learn photography....

I’m a big fan of cheap lenses. I don’t care even care if they mostly suck. Sometimes, a really cheap terrible lens can offer you exactly the look you’re going for – and it can get you there much more quickly than trying to degrade your image manually in post. But in this case… Tommy, Stephen and Mitchell at TMS Productions decided to order some cheap filmmaking gear from Wish to see how well it actually worked....

I recently watched a movie with my kids about the Cottingley Fairies. The film was a bit of a snoozer but it was my introduction to the true story of two little girls who, between 1917 and 1920 took beautiful b&w glass plate photographs of one another interacting with fairies in the forest behind their home in Cottingley, England. A century later, we don’t give a second thought to any notion that what these children photographed were real elfin creatures....

Muhammad Idrus Arsyad (A.K.A Idrus Ids), from Makassar Indonesia, has won himself a name in photography because of his beautiful and moody composites. He usually spends four hours or more before he is happy with an image. Idrus tells DIYP: Idrus started out photographing with a compact camera back in 2002. In 2012 he got his first DSLR, and is now using both a Canon 600D and a Canon 6D....

In Wuppertal, Germany in 1902 the “flying train” was about to open. Of course, the train didn’t really fly, it is suspended from above. construction of the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn began in 1898 but it didn’t begin to open until in 1901. It’s actually still in operation today, despite having shut down briefly after damage during World War II. This video was shot during 1902 and shows an incredibly high level of detail and quality, even by relatively recent standards....