I admire birth photographers. I don’t engage in birth photography myself, but I marvel at those who do it well. The emotional climate is always changing at a birth, and so a photographer must not only be prepared in their own heart and mind, but also bring to the birth a level of patience, compassion, and skill that allows them to adapt to any and all changing conditions. The photographer is there to document what is in front of them and has very little to no control over the situation....

Are you sitting comfortably? Great! Now, think back 12 years ago. Yes, that would be pre-multiple political upheavals, pre-pandemic and pre-full frame mirrorless cameras. It was a much simpler time, we were all so innocent then…but I digress. Take a look at this Buffalo Wings commercial from 2010 that hilariously pokes fun at sports photographers using on-camera flash. The results of which, have a disasterous effect on the athletes....

It’s not really much of a surprise that with the official announcement expected tomorrow we’re seeing leaks. This time, though, it doesn’t come from Nokishita. Well, it sort of does, but not directly. This time they’re just the messenger. British retailer Campkins Cameras and Dutch retailer Foto Konijnenberg both published complete product listings for the upcoming Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art series lens for L & E mounts a day early....

In a previous article, I wrote about why I sometimes use V-mount batteries as they allow me to run multiple devices shooting 4K and sometimes even 4K RAW for an entire day on two or three batteries. I decided to go with two different models from CORESWX. I initially went with two models from SWIT. The smaller SWIT-8320S and the larger SWIT S-8192S. The smaller ones are pretty cool as they are water resistant and shock resistant....

Ricoh has introduced WG-50, their new rugged compact camera. It’s a durable little point-and-shoot: it’s freeze-, crush-, water-, dust- and shockproof. It features a 5x optical zoom lens (35 mm equivalent 28-140mm), and it’s equipped with six LED lights around it. With these features, this camera has you covered in all kinds of adventures and allows versatility in shooting. And, it costs only $280. Let’s take a peek at the rest of the features and full specs....

One of the big benefits of both the Rode VideoMic NTG and the Rode Wireless GO II is that you can use them as digital audio devices, plugged straight into a USB port on your computer or the Type-C or Lightning sockets on your smartphones. And this isn’t just the standard analogue pin reassignment like the headphone adapter that comes with your iPhone. It’s true digital audio. Well, Rode has now put this tech into a new little box called the Rode AI-Micro....

Snap isn’t only behind the popular app Snapchat. The company has launched three versions of Spectacles so far, and rumor has it that something new is cooking in the hardware department. According to recent reports, Snap is working on brand new Spectacles that will support augmented reality effects. Also, we might also see the first Snap selfie drone. According to The Information, the next Spectacles will be more advanced than its predecessors....

As if the facial recognition news coming out of Russia wasn’t creepy enough already, it’s now available in App form to users of popular Russian social media network, Vkontakte. FindFace, which launched only two months ago, allows users to photograph people in a crowd and discover their identities with 70% reliability and could be the final nail in the coffin for privacy as we know it. The site works by comparing photographs to profile photos on Vkontakte, so assuming the person you photographed has a profile on the Russian social media site, then there’s a 70% chance that the software will be able to find them in less than a second....

Leica is something like Ferrari in the world of cameras. And just like the famous Italian supercar – not everyone can afford one. So, how do photographers justify the extra buck they paid for it? And why do they love their Leicas so much? In this parody video, Samuel Lintaro Hopf and his friends sum up all the sh*t things Leica photographers say, so let’s see if you’re familiar with any of them....

There are plenty of functions for masking in Photoshop, and each of them is useful in its own way. Whether it’s color selection, focus masks, the new and kinda annoying mask-and-select dialogue or my beloved channel selection. If you are following our blog, you should be familiar with my love for channels. Channel selection is always based on the contrast between red, green and blue, and I am manipulating them after duplicating the channel with the highest contrast....

Have you ever tried to take a photo or video only to have someone photobomb you and ruin the moment? This happened to a couple in Australia, but rather than having their annoying friends ruin the shot, it was two seagulls. And instead of ruining it, they actually made it a lot better and completely hilarious. Jace Spicer was watching the sunset with his girlfriend at Dampier Beach in Western Australia....

Like tiny crystal balls, water droplets can add a magical element to macro photographs. There are a number of moving parts to consider, but the basic concept is simple: a spherical droplet can act like a lens, refracting light from whatever is behind it. Getting good droplets can be problematic, as most surfaces will cause water to spread out rather than to bead up nicely. Using just plain water (no glycerine or other additives), one of the easiest foreground objects to use is a dandelion seed:...

Sigma has officially announced the two newest lenses in their Global Vision Lenses lineup for Sony E Mount and Leica L mount. As expected, they’re the Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG DN Art and the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art series lenses. Both lenses are primarily aimed at astrophotographers, although the 24mm is also targeted towards general photography use. Both lenses come with some features advantageous to astrophotographers, with the introduction of a manual focus lock and a rear filter holder as well as front filter threads....

Well, after a few days of leaks and excitement, Sigma’s new 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens for Sony E and Leica L mount has officially been announced. It might not quite be the “half the size and half the weight” of the DSLR-modified 85mm f/1.4 Art for Sony E, but it’s pretty close! The new lens isn’t just for Sony E mount, though. It’s for mirrorless systems in general....

Whenever a new camera is released, the first company to produce cages and accessories for them is usually SmallRig. We use a lot of SmallRig kit here at DIYP, too. We caught up with them on their booth at NAB 2019 to find out about their latest offerings for the Sony A6400, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and the Zhiyun Weebill LAB gimbal. This is SmallRig’s first time attending a big show like NAB, so we took the time to have a chat with them about the company and their philosophy towards product development....

Popular photo hosting service, SmugMug, has just launched a new feature that photographers have wanted for a long time. SmugMug Source is a new add-on service for your regular SmugMug subscription that lets you upload and manage your raw files with integration into its desktop and mobile apps, as well as Lightroom. The new feature lets you backup and manage your raw files online with AI-driven search tools while providing you to access your raw files from anywhere at any time....

Japanese website Nokishita says that Sony has begun editing product pages for an “ILCE-7RM4” camera (the expected product code for a future Sony A7R IV). There’s an official announcement expected from Sony later today, in just a couple of hours, in fact via Alpha Universe, where we may expect to hear that the Sony A7R IV is on the way. And possibly other cameras, too. https://twitter.com/nokishita_c/status/1151035618950025217 The Google translated version of the tweet reads… They’ve also confirmed that a battery grip titled “VG-C4EM” is also on the way....

People have been waiting a long time for a high-end APS-C model from Sony, and there’s been a lot of talk about a mythical “A7000”. It looks like that camera might finally now be here, although it’s not called the A7000, it’s the Sony A6600. Yes, Sony has announced a new APS-C mirrorless camera, but they’ve not just announced one. They’ve announced two. Alongside the A6600, there’s also a new Sony A6100, a replacement for the ageing A6000....

Sony’s much anticipated A6300 was finally released in March this year. An eagerly awaited update to 2014’s A6000. Now, a mere 8 months later, Sony have announced the new Alpha A6500 at a Sony event in NYC. It contains a 24MP APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor and like its predecessor shoots 4K video. Let’s hope it doesn’t overheat like the A6300, too. The big news with the A6500 is the new built in 5-axis in-camera stabilisation....

The Godox A1 flash trigger for mobile devices is now available for pre-order. The price actually isn’t that bad, either. It’s about where I was hoping it would be, but lower than I expected. At $69.90, it is a little more expensive pricey than the X1T for DSLRs & Mirrorless cameras. But, the A1 does also include a built in flash and continuous light. First up, the good news is that the Godox A1 going to be compatible with both Android and iPhone....