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Nikon 50mm f/1.8G for Wedding Photography

As promised in my Nikon D800 for Wedding Photography article that I wrote a couple of days ago, I am continuing the series and this time with the … [Continue Reading]

Nikon 50mm f/1.8G Weddings (10)

Which Nikon DSLR to Buy First?

Even though quite a few of our readers are beginner photographers, we often talk about things that, while simple to us, are much more difficult to … [Continue Reading]

Which Nikon DSLR to Buy First

Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?

Buying a DSLR often means having several accessories to go with it, among which are lenses. But choosing your first lens isn't easy - there are so … [Continue Reading]

Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?

Nikon D7100 Review

This is an in-depth review of the Nikon D7100 DSLR that was announced on February 20, 2013, along with the Nikon WR-1 wireless remote controller. … [Continue Reading]

Nikon D7100

How to Read MTF Charts

When my article on field curvature was published a while ago, where I talked about how one could do a quick analysis of lens MTF data and determine if … [Continue Reading]

How to Read MTF Charts

Nikon D800 / D800E for Wedding Photography

While I had talked about my plan to use the Nikon D800 / D800E for wedding photography on our site a few times before, I never had a chance to post … [Continue Reading]

Nikon D800E Sample (21)

Mirrorless – The Quest for the Best

Nov
15
2012
November 15, 2012
By 56 Comments

It is no secret that the mirrorless camera market has been growing rapidly during the last several years. With all the major camera manufacturers in the game, the competition has been fierce, especially during the last year. Each player wants a reputable position in the market, so they are developing lots of near cameras, lenses and accessories to complement their unique systems. Personally, I have been patiently waiting for a good mirrorless system that I can invest in and stay with. Exactly one year after my first evaluation of mirrorless cameras, I decided to give another try and see if I can find something I really like, something that I can take with me anywhere I go. I am extremely happy with my high-end Nikon DSLR system, but I have been craving for something smaller and lighter that I can take with me everywhere I go. And while waiting for my right hand to recover from a recent carpal tunnel release surgery, I thought that this would be a great time to re-evaluate small cameras.

Here is what I will be playing with for the next few months:

Mirrorless Cameras and Lenses

  1. Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 12-50mm kit lens
  2. Olympus 45mm f/1.8
  3. Olympus 12mm f/2
  4. Panasonic 25mm f/1.4
  5. Canon EOS M with 22mm f/2 + 90EX Speedlite
  6. Nikon 1 V2 with 10-30mm & 30-110mm
  7. Sony NEX-7 with 18-55mm
  8. Sony NEX-6 with 16-50mm
  9. Sony NEX-5R
  10. Sony NEX-F3
  11. Sony 50mm f/1.8
  12. Sony 24mm f/1.4

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , , , ,

Lifepixel Adds Anti-Alias Filter Removal Service

Nov
14
2012
November 14, 2012
By 29 Comments

Lifepixel, perhaps best known for its high quality infrared digital camera conversions, recently added a new service to its list – removing your DSLR’s anti-aliasing filter. The price varies between $400-500 depending on your specific camera model. The notion of removing a DSLR’s anti-aliasing feature is not new. Maxmax.com has been doing this for years. Anti-alias filter removal, in the digital camera arena, has been thought of in a similar manner to overclocking your PC (before some manufacturers eliminated this capability) or perhaps souping up your car’s engine via a special engine conversion kit – a bit risky but capable of producing good effects. Why is this “risky” with respect to your DSLR? Voiding the warranty for one. Benefits? A sharper image.

With the non-stop onslaught of higher megapixel sensors and technology price reductions, I suspect many people lost interest in the idea of removing their DSLR’s anti-aliasing filter, if they ever contemplated it to begin with. As you may recall from some of the D800 articles on Photography Life, the anti-aliasing filter was introduced to reduce the effects of moire created when photographing subjects with fine, repeating patterns. The anti-aliasing filter accomplished this by slightly diffusing the image, which also slightly reduced sharpness. With the introduction of the Nikon D800E, however, Nikon once again raised this issue to the forefront by offering a camera model with the anti-aliasing filter removed as a product – not as a after-market service. Lifepixel, being one of the premier camera modification service providers, saw an opportunity to capitalize on the new-found interest and market for an anti-aliasing filter removal service. So for a mere $400-$500, you can have your DSLR’s anti-aliasing filter removed and be assured of maximizing your sensor’s resolution. Below is an example discussed by Nasim in his review of the D800 and D800E.

Nikon D800 vs D800E Low-Pass Filter

Chasing Sharpness

I know what some of you may be thinking, “Gee, that seems like a lot of money to gain a bit of sharpness.” Perhaps. But if life has taught me one lesson, it is this – never, ever underestimate people’s willingness to spend money to get a bit of an edge, however slight. That is not a criticism of my fellow man, but merely an observation regarding human nature. I recall when some of us found out about the ability to overclock our PCs. Despite the warnings about “frying” our machines, many of us marched ahead anyway. We were determined to soak up every speed advantage we could find. And while I never ended up turning my PC into a smoldering hunk of silicon and metal, quite a few of my DIY colleagues that were not so lucky!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , , ,

Email Subscriptions and RSS – Please Read!

Nov
13
2012
November 13, 2012
By 5 Comments

Looks like Google will soon discontinue its Feedburner service, which we have been using for several years now to deliver email messages to those who subscribed to our blog. Since we want to phase away from Feedburner before it officially shuts down (there is no ETA from Google as of today), we want to make sure that all email and RSS subscribers are transitioned over smoothly back to us. As of now, there are two methods to subscribe to our website, as pointed out in our “Subscription” page:

  1. Via Email – you can subscribe to our site to receive email messages every time fresh content is posted via the widget on the right hand side of the page, which says “Subscribe via Email”. The window looks like this:
    Subscribe via Email

    Simply put your email address in the field, then click “Subscribe”. You will then receive an email that will request you to confirm your subscription. You can change the delivery time and frequency of emails at the same time.

  2. Via RSS – if you have an RSS reader that you are using to receive updates from our site, then please remove the old feed and add the new one at the following URL: http://photographylife.com/feed

We will not disconnect Feedburner for a while, so if you do not want to receive two email messages, then it would be best to unsubscribe from the Feedburner email list. In order to unsubscribe, just locate the last email from us, then scroll all the way to the bottom of the email and find the link that says “To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now”. Just click the link and follow the process. We have close to 4,000 email subscribers on Feedburner, so I hope this transition will work out for most of our readers.

Please let us know if you have any questions and we apologize for the inconvenience!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

How to Eliminate Background Distractions in Photographs

Nov
12
2012
November 12, 2012
By 29 Comments

In continuing the excellent guest posts that we have previously posted, we are introducing a local landscape and wildlife photographer, Russ Burden. Russ is an excellent photographer and loves to teach as you can tell from his article. We would like to thank Russ for taking the time to share with us ideas to consider as we strive to improve our photography. Enjoy.

Guest Post by Russ Burden

As I sit back and relax, I can still hear mama’s words, “Watch out what you do today because someday your background may come back to haunt you.” Was mama psychic? Did she peer into a crystal ball knowing of my passion for photography? Was she a closet photographer versed with knowledge about how important a background check is?

You see, learning how to eliminate background distractions in a photograph is imperative. As meticulous as one can be in composing a perfect subject, if the background isn’t treated with equal care, the end result will not be successful.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Photography Techniques Tagged With: , , , ,

Mamiya RZ67 Pro Review

Nov
11
2012
November 11, 2012
By 112 Comments

A Very Personal Mamiya RZ67 Pro ReviewIn one of my recent articles I talked about the beginning of the digital age and the consequences it brought to our understanding of photography. With all its greatness, with all the speed and quality and versatility, it became irreplaceable in our everyday lives and businesses. Along with that, however, digital photography also brought up a few problems, likely the biggest of which was the growing interest in new technologies rather than photography itself. This problem seemed to push the very goal of having a camera and a lens completely out of our minds. New gear was the thrilling, fun part. Comparing one to another has become our everyday activity. And yet, if we manage to get past that, if we manage to actually get out there and shoot rather than just read and read and read about new lenses and cameras day after day, we get the point of digital. We get to enjoy it as we should. We get to see digital, in a way, how we see the 18-200 or 28-300 class lenses – the do-everything, good enough for anything, the daily choice. But here lies another potential problem – with all the great all-round lenses, why do we love those boring 50mm f1.4 primes so much? I find myself shooting, and shooting, and shooting again. I find myself having hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs, and I like them. But a super-zoom is no prime lens. There’s always something vital missing. I may have just found out what it was for me. Before we dive into my very personal and subjective Mamiya RZ67 Pro review, lets talk film for a minute.

1) A Couple of Thoughts on Film

Where digital is about speed, you had to take it slow, sometimes even painfully so, with film. Where you had the shot with digital the second you pressed that shutter, you had to carefully store, develop and enlarge the photograph back in the day. Fiddle with the chemistry and red light in complete darkness. And you had, at best, 36 shots before you take a break and change film, whereas with digital, you have hundreds and hundreds before you swap that SD/CF/XQD card and shoot away again, ten frames per second. And every shot had to count. For every exposure, you pay money. You had manual focusing and manual exposure (I’m not talking about automated SLRs – I find them a little too boring, and we’ll talk about it further on) and you never knew if you’d screwed something up in the process. With digital, you can just shoot, adjust, and shoot again. I’m not even going to start on dust and scratches and archiving and having copies and making sure you don’t expose that precious roll to light before you had the chance to develop it.

Kodak BW400CN

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , ,

New Canon Lenses

Nov
10
2012
November 10, 2012
By 4 Comments

In this article, I will talk about new Canon lenses – the 24-70mm f/4L IS and 35mm f/2 IS – and compare them both to most direct alternatives within Canon lens lineup. Both lenses have been very recently introduced and are best on full-frame cameras, such as the 5D series and the 6D, but will work well with APS-C sized sensors, too. By further implementing IS into new lenses, Canon is making them very tempting for photographers and aspiring videographers, but are advantages of new optics and IS worth the high asking price? A difficult question to answer, as Sigma and Tamron are now offering very well priced and high quality alternatives for both lenses. Lets see what Canon has released for its DSLR customers.

1) 24-70mm f/4L IS Lens

New Canon LensesThis lens was a huge surprise for me. The first thing I thought when it was announced – would I like a 24-105mm f/4L IS lens, but with a shorter focal length at the long end and for a lot more money? $1499, to be precise. I doubt first answer to come to your mind is “Yes, please!”. Obviously, it will have stellar optical performance with Canon’s latest Hybrid IS on top, but the old 24-105mm F/4L IS is no slouch, either. It is also a very popular lens and can be had for about $850 in the used market, brand new. Professionals use it for PJ work, as well as weddings. It’s also great for street photography and as a very versatile, lightweight travel lens. So what exactly does this new and, I must say, expensive addition to Canon L optics lineup offer? In a word – macro.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , ,

Efficient Aperture Workflow for High Resolution Images

Nov
9
2012
November 9, 2012
By 7 Comments

After I posted an article on Efficient Lightroom Workflow for High Resolution Images, Jason Schultz posted a video tutorial over on his blog on efficient aperture workflow. While I personally do not use Aperture (I don’t own a Mac), I liked Aperture’s ability to first import JPEG images, then only import matching RAW images after all the sorting and deleting is done.

To do this though, you have to set your camera to shoot RAW + JPEG, which will use more space on your memory card. Jason recommends to use JPEG Basic to have smaller images, but he does not mention the image size. You need to make sure that the image size is set to “Large”, or the images will be down-sampled to lower resolution by the camera, which means that you will not be able to view them at 100% zoom. So if the idea is to delete images that have even slight blur or softness at 100%, for example, then you need to make sure that you are looking at the largest image.

This method wastes about 6-8 MB per image for JPEG Basic (on the D800) and your camera will slow down a little when shooting bursts. But given how cheap memory cards are today, it is really not that bad of an argument anymore. And cameras like D800 are not fast anyway in terms of fps. So if you use Apple’s Aperture, check the below video out – this might be a great solution for you!

Filed Under: Post Processing Tagged With:

Any Camera Will Do

Nov
8
2012
November 8, 2012
By 11 Comments

It doesn’t happen often, this. Water was everywhere, dripping, flowing, consuming anyone who dared take even the smallest step under that pitch-black sky. Not many did, too. Stores were crowded not with mothers holding their vegetables and sweets for unsuspecting children. Not with children and their ice cream, chips or, sadly, energy drinks. No, they were crowded with those who weren’t ready for the rain. And you should always be ready for rain in Lithuania in Autumn. I guess we’re not as pessimistic a nation as we think we are.

And then, surprisingly, there was silence. For a moment, the rain stopped, and with it everyone else did. A brief moment that was. Now, mothers were running, children were running, and everything came back to chaotic life. It was more peaceful with the rain.

It doesn’t happen often, this. Clouds split and, before they could cover all the blue again, sun shone through. It was both dark and immensely bright all at the same time. I could barely see where I was going, could barely hear people rushing by urgently, hands covering their eyes. Everyone was rushing, no one saw where. Natural order of things, I thought, and looked for a camera I didn’t have with me. Or didn’t I?

Any Camera Will Do

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Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With:

New Sigma Lenses

Nov
8
2012
By 18 Comments

During Photokina 2012, Sigma announced three new rather exciting lenses – the fast 35mm f/1.4 prime lens, 17-70mm f/2.8-4 standard zoom for APS-C cameras and the still-unique 120-300mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom for sports and wildlife photographers. Two of the three seem to be mildly refreshed versions of their predecessors, but the 35mm f/1.4 has been highly anticipated and may prove to be very popular. Very recently, it’s price has been revealed and stands at a mere (in comparison with brand 35mm f/1.4′s) $899. Interestingly, it doesn’t feel right to say these new lenses will join Sigma’s lineup. In fact, it seems more like they are starting a new lineup, fresh. If you ever found yourself thinking Sigma was always about cheaply priced, cheaply built and cheaply performing lenses, well, they seem to have had an epiphany.

New Sigma Lenses

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , ,

Nikon D5200 vs D5100

Nov
8
2012
By 47 Comments

In this article, I will show feature differences between the new Nikon D5200 the previous generation D5100 (see our Nikon D5100 Review). What does the updated D5200 bring to the table and what are the key differences? Let’s take a look! Please keep in mind that this Nikon D5200 vs D5100 comparison is purely based on specifications. A detailed comparison with image samples and ISO comparisons will be provided in the upcoming Nikon D5200 review.

Nikon D5200 vs D5100

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: , , , ,