I’d been looking forward to getting my hands on the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art lens ever since it was announced. I got to have a brief look at one during The Photography Show back in March, but didn’t really have the chance to play with it properly. Fortunately, one of my closest friends is Sigma UK Ambassador, Paul Monaghan. So, when they sent him one to play with, we decided to get together....
In March 2018, Huawei is bringing something new to the world of smartphone cameras. The Chinese company is launching the world’s first smartphone with three rear cameras. The triple-cam technology will offer a total resolution of 40 MP and 5x hybrid (optical and digital) zoom. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we discussed dual-camera systems and their future. But, it looks like Huawei wants to take it a step further....
It’s not every day that NASA sends a $300 million spacecraft to smash deliberately into an asteroid. But that is exactly what happened this week with the DART mission. Allegedly the mission was successful and we now know that science-fiction end of the world by asteroid scenarios could potentially be avoided in real life. And we don’t even need Bruce Willis. Another first was made as well during the mission....
In 2009, underwater photographer and (at the time) Nauticam USA Sales Manager Chris Parsons planted an idea in my head. It was the concept of using filters with artificial lighting when shooting photos underwater. Up until then, I had always thought that tinted filters on your camera in conjunction with strobes were a big no-no. My own personal experience had shown, that with a filter applied to your camera, any artificial light would appear very red, and ruin your image....
After a popular post last week on Reddit, I decided to check the cost of prints on Flickr. I want to build a physical portfolio, and was unhappy with the quality of prints from local shops; I expected to get what I paid for (not a ton) and even then was disappointed. I ordered two prints from Flickr, both 8×10″, both black and white. I only did this because I can’t afford to print my entire (current) portfolio at once, and these two were the images I was most displeased with from local shops....
Instagram has finally added a pinch to zoom feature to their app. A feature so underwhelming that they didn’t even mention it on their blog (although, they did post to Instagram, heh). Ok, so perhaps I’m being a little harsh. It’s a feature that has been asked for ever since Instagram first launched. At least, people asked for it until they just got bored of waiting for it. You can now do it, but it’s not really all that useful....
Earlier this year, a leaked design prototype showed us that Instagram could start hiding like counts from your followers. The feature is now being tested and it hides the total number of likes and video views for some people in seven countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, and Japan. Just as it was shown in the leaked prototype, you can see how many likes your photos get, but your followers can’t see this like count....
According to a report on 9to5Mac, it looks like Apple might be starting to loosen their grip on external storage with iOS devices. New details shared from the Worldwide Developers Conference, seems like apps will be able to access external storage directly, just like Android, rather than having to import through the photos app and store on the camera roll. Their brief description of a new API that allows developers to read photos straight from external devices doesn’t go into too much detail....
Hitting the news recently has been the story about the YouTube family “DaddyoFive” losing custody of two of their children due to an ongoing series of prank videos. I haven’t watched any of the DaddyoFive videos, nor do I intend to, so I am not going to comment on that particular situation, but as a stock photographer I routinely sell images of my children, so this raises a serious bigger question: is it OK to use your kids for profit?...
Like all industries, photography has its jargon, and most photographers don’t even think about the words they use on a daily basis. Photographers Tony and Chelsea Northrup discuss some of the most common photography-related terms and suggest that they are “stupid.” They suggest replacement terms which would sound more logical. When you think about it, some terms we use every day indeed sound illogical. But, would you change them?Advertisements...
Embarrassingly a few years ago I was very vocal about how disappointed I was about some of the Nikon lenses. I’ve been using Nikon cameras and lenses for decades and although I was very pleased with the image quality and colour rendition their cameras produced, I strongly considered jumping the Nikon ship in search of crisper, cleaner looking lenses. In fact I was so close to leaving Nikon a couple of years ago that I went through the process of hiring and testing other brands to see if other manufacturers could deliver what Nikon could not....
The king of ultra wides just stepped into the ring of cine-line lenses with a very bold claim. The Venus Optics Laowa 12mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine Lens is the newest lens to come out of Laowa. The “Zero-D” supposedly stands for zero-distortion, but at 12mm how is that even possible!? After playing around with the lens for a while, I can officially say, I’m blown away by this lens....
Earlier this month, Reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong discovered that Facebook was about to start hiding like counts. And now it’s happening: the social media giant is testing hiding like counts in Australia, and the experiment could expand to more countries soon. The test officially started on 27 September in Australia. Just like Instagram, Facebook allows the author of the post to see how many reactions they got, but it hides this number from everyone else....
One of the things common to all creatives, even the most successful ones, is that we all have doubts. Doubts in about our abilities, that we can’t stand up to the job people expect of us. And those doubts can often turn into an inner monologue something of the lines of “You suck. You should just quit and get a real job”. But getting over it is easy. You just have to let yourself suck, as this video from Peter McKinnon and the amazingly talented Stefan Kunz illustrates....
We often forget that most camera companies don’t just make cameras and lenses. Take Fujifilm, for example, whose subsidiaries include Fujifilm Pharmaceutical. A subsidiary which, according to a report, has helped to raise Fujifilm’s share value by 8.8% over the weekend after Japan’s Health Minister mentioned the country’s plans to recommend Fujifilm’s Avigan drug to treat coronavirus. According to the at Fujifilm press release from 2016, Avigan is an antiviral and primarily an anti-influenza drug that has proven to be effected for other viruses, such as Ebola – having been administered to Ebola patients as an emergency measure dowing 2014 and 2015....
If you’re into photojournalism, movies, and are a fan of Johnny Depp, a real treat is coming to movies soon. Johnny Depp plays photographer William Eugene Smith in Andrew Levitas movie Minamata. It’s due to premiere in February 2021, and after watching the trailer – I must admit that I’m really looking forward to it. W. Eugene Smith was one of the most notable American photojournalists. The movie follows his journey and all the dangers of creating a photo essay of Minamata, where he lived with his wife between 1971 and 1973....
This one’s been a long time in the making, but according to a teaser image, it seems that Venus Optics is finally getting ready to announce their Laowa 20mm f/4 C-Dreamer shift lens next week. The lens was first shown off way back in July 2021 at a photography show in Shanghai, China. It sure has been a wait but now it looks like the lens might finally be upon us....
New leaked videos suggest that DJI’s finally stepping up to the plate to bring more advanced features like obstacle avoidance to its <250g product line, the DJI Mini. It’s not much of a surprise considering that Autel recently released their Evo Nano/Nano+ (review here), which are currently the only <250g drones on the market to feature it. The DJI Mini 3 is also expected to come with improved camera performance and video stabilisation and longer flight time....
Quite a lot of news is coming from Leica ahead of Photokina 2018. Other than revealing a new medium format camera and collaboration with Panasonic and Sigma, Leica has finally decided to launch Fotos: an app that lets you control your camera with your smartphone. As Engadget writes, the Fotos app will work with “Leica S, SL, M10, TL2, CL and other recent cameras.” As for the features, you will be able to control different shooting parameters remotely through your smartphone....
Lensbaby has announced Velvet 85mm f/1.8, a lens inspired by classic portrait lenses from the mid-20th century. With smooth and soft glow, it’s especially aimed at portrait photography. But, it’s good noting there’s the ability to reduce the softness by stopping the lens down. With 1:2 magnification and 9.5″ working distance, this lens can also be used for close-up shots. Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f/1.8 features a 12-blade diaphragm which produces soft and creamy bokeh....
