Until the release of the Fujifilm X-T3 I would have told you that my Fuji camera lineup was complete for a while. The release of the X-T2 two years ago wasn’t enough to make me part with my X-Pro2 and I’ve since picked up the X-H1 as well. But when the T3 was announced I found the new specs compelling enough that I decided to try it out. After shooting with it for a little more than a week, I…
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When Photographing Birds at 60 FPS Becomes the New Norm
As many owners of mirrorless cameras can attest, it can take some time to get used to some of the different shooting capabilities that our mirrorless camera gear provides. One of the things that seems odd to use to photograph birds in motion, is a frame rate of 60 frames-per-second. Especially when on many cameras, the first frame locks focus for the balance of the run. Most of us have been taught to use continuous auto-focus when photographing birds in…
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Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E, also known as PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED, a special purpose normal-angle lens designed for architecture, commercial, macro, and nature photography. “PC” stands for “Perspective Control”, but I will refer to this type of lens as “tilt-shift” in this article.
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Photographing Scale Model Cars
“It’s not photography; you’re just playing with toys. And Photoshop.” Well, it sure does look that way. This will either invite complete ridicule or slightly less than complete ridicule but it has been such a ton of fun to do that I could in fact not care less. And now I’m getting asked (and paid) to produce bespoke posters and prints so maybe I’m having the last laugh; who knows. Plenty will argue that unless you’re photographing a long exposure…
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Comparing 5 Top Wide-Angle Astrophotography Lenses
If you want to shoot sharp photos of stars, it helps to have the right lens for the job. After all, a good lens during the day might be a dud for resolving pinpoint stars in a photo’s corners at night. Here, I’ve tested five popular wide-angle lenses for astrophotography: the Laowa 12mm f/2.8, Rokinon 14mm f/2.4, Samyang 14mm f/2.8, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, and Irix 15mm f/2.4. How do they compare?
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The Refining Process: How Bad Photos Get Better
I suspect that many photographers have realized their best photos frequently come after several “getting there” images – scenes where something interesting stands out, and you gradually improve upon your early attempts, creating a composition that looks more and more refined by the end. The trend has been so clear in my personal photography that I thought it would be useful to show some examples, including how to apply this concept to your own work.
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7 Things All Photographers Need to Know About Copyright
Did you know that you are a copyright owner? If you’ve taken a photograph, then under US copyright law you own the copyright to that image. Copyright law is something that affects every photographer, not just those who are in business making money from their images. With the ease of sharing images online, understanding your rights under US copyright law is more important than ever. Let’s look at 7 things every photographer needs to know about copyright.
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Star Trail Photography Tutorial
In this article, I will demonstrate how to take photos of star trails when photographing the night sky. I will explain what type of camera, lens, and other gear is critical, as well as the importance of composition during dark nights; it is very important to know how the stars move on the sky to be able to visualize the final composition. I will also talk in detail about two main challenges: how to focus in darkness and how to…
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Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S Performance Overview
To follow up on yesterday’s post about my initial impressions of the Nikon Z7 and 24-70mm lens, I’m including a number of additional sample photos and image quality crops in this article to answer some reader questions about how well the 24-70mm performs with the Z7. This includes vignetting comparisons versus the Nikon 24-120mm f/4 for the F mount, as well as 100% crops to test sharpness for daytime and Milky Way photography.
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Nikon Z7 First Impressions and Sample Photos
I’m sure you already know that we’re going to test the Nikon Z7 camera to its limits here at Photography Life. We have six orders coming our way in total, and we plan to put each copy through its paces while we travel to Jordan and Turkey throughout October. So far, one copy has arrived, and I’ve shot with it in Colorado for the past couple days. Here, I wanted to share my first impressions and sample images.
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The “L Mount Alliance” – A Full-Frame Storm is Coming
This year is certainly going to be marked as one of the most important ones in the camera history. With both Nikon and Canon releasing their first mirrorless camera systems a few weeks ago, we now have another major competing system, and this time from three different manufacturers: Leica, Panasonic and Sigma. The trio decided to come together to form an “L Mount Alliance”, standardizing their cameras and lenses on Leica’s L mount. This essentially means that the three companies…
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Five Sigma Global Vision Lenses Announced
As part of a slew of Photokina-related announcements yesterday, Sigma has announced five new lenses. Four are for full-frame cameras, and one is compatible with Micro 4/3 and Sony E mount crop sensor cameras. The 28mm f/1.4 Art, 40mm f/1.4 Art, 70-200mm f/2.8 Sport, 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3, and 56mm f/1.4 (for crop sensor only) join Sigma’s growing lineup of “Global Vision” lenses. Pricing and shipping dates of most of the lenses have not yet been announced.
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Fuji GFX 50R Announcement
Fuji just announced their rumored (comparatively) affordable medium format mirrorless camera, the GFX 50R, a 51.4 megapixel camera with a rangefinder design, due in November 2018. The retail price is $4500, which, though not cheap, makes it the least expensive medium format digital camera ever upon launch. The GFX 50R’s specifications match those of the GFX 50S in many ways, with the biggest differences being the form factor – more similar to that of the Fuji crop-sensor cameras – and…
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Hoya Pro1 Digital Circular Polarizing Filter Review
This is a review of the Hoya Pro1 Digital Circular Polarizing Filter in both 72mm and 77mm filter thread sizes. Polarizing filters are designed to reduce glare and reflections of light while at the same time greatly enhancing the natural colors and saturation of an image. This filter is produced by Hoya which is one of the most respected producers of photographic filters, ocular lenses, and optical components in Japan.
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What is EXIF Data?
When viewing images on the Internet, you might have noticed that some websites provide valuable information related to those images, such as their exposure settings, camera brand, etc. This information known as “EXIF Data” can be an important source of knowledge in figuring out how photographers capture images and what tools they use in the process. In this article, we will take a look at what EXIF data is and how you can extract it from images.
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Recommended Fuji X100F Settings
The Fuji X100F is the fourth in Fuji’s line of X100 cameras – the X100, X100S, X100T, and X100F. Although it has a refined design and fairly intuitive menu, the camera’s large number of options and controls can make it overwhelming for new buyers. Hopefully, this guide will help clear up some confusion and explain how to use the Fuji X100F, including our recommended settings for each option in the menu.
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Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack Review
Carrying the right amount of camera equipment in a comfortable, accessible bag is an eternal problem for photographers, or at least for me. At this point, I’ve settled on a system of a technical hiking backpack with a camera insert for my longer landscape photography trips, but I haven’t yet found the perfect bag for more moderate travels. Enter the Peak Design 45L Travel backpack, advertised as Peak Design’s top travel bag. Does it fit the bill?
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Lens Mounts Explained
With Nikon and Canon having recently launched brand new mirrorless system mounts and talking about their benefits, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion among photographers in regards to camera lens mounts. This is especially true for things like “throat size” and “inner diameter”, where different measurements are used to wrongly quantify a mount’s potential. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding mounts and their exact sizes, which is why I decided to write a…
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The Most Stubborn Myths in Landscape Photography
Chances are good that you’ve run across plenty of inaccuracies and misinformation in the online world of photography, landscape or otherwise. Some myths, though, stand the test of time, outlasting years of diligent debunking. Below are four of the most common myths and misconceptions you’ll find in the field of landscape photography, including some which are prevalent even among advanced photographers.
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The Cats of Morocco
When doing travel photography in a particular location, I find it intriguing to document the lives of all of its inhabitants, not just people. As in the case of a number of countries (particularly in the Middle East), Morocco has a rather large population of stray cats and dogs that roam streets in pursuit of finding food and comfort among its people. Having written an article on What to Photograph in Morocco before, I wanted to add to the series…
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