Photography Life

Zoom lenses are convenient, as everyone knows. I’d imagine that the vast majority of us started our photography with a simple 18-55 kit lens – […]

Astrophotography Tutorial

Astrophotography is a hobby rapidly gaining popularity thanks to the fast advancing CMOS sensor technology. Over a decade ago, the light recording material employed in […]

Sony A7 II Review

An in-depth review of the new Sony A7 II mirrorless camera with image samples and comparisons by Nasim Mansurov

Why 16 Megapixels, When I Could Have 50?

If there was a 100 MP DSLR announced tomorrow, I would pre-order it, then spend many sleepless nights waiting for it to arrive. I’d suffer […]

Camera Resolution Explained

Although the megapixel race has been going on since digital cameras had been invented, the last few years in particular have seen a huge increase […]

New Sony Lenses and Adapters Announced

March 4, 2015 By Romanas Naryškin7 Comments

Sony Distagon T FE 35mm F1.4 ZA Lens.4 ZA Lens

Someone at Sony must be finally realizing cameras don’t make a system. As numerous and capable (crippled RAW format notwithstanding) the A7-series cameras are, the real pull of any system is the lens lineup. And so the Japanese manufacturer has announced four new FE lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras. It is very much worth noting that just one of the lenses is a superzoom with a disappointingly slow aperture of f/6.3 at the long end – the other three are prime lenses of 28mm, 35mm and 90mm focal lengths. On top of that, Sony has also introduced two new lens converters, one for wider angle of view, the other – for fisheye effect. Let’s take a closer look at the new products.

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Using Telephoto Lenses for Landscape Photography

March 4, 2015 By Alex Mody31 Comments

When one thinks of landscape photography, one more often than not imagines dramatic, sweeping grand landscape scenes, which are almost exclusively taken with ultra wide-angle lenses. While these scenes can be quite stunning (and beautiful… and a lot of fun to shoot!), it is nice to make use of the drastically different perspective afforded by a telephoto lens. A telephoto lens, as you may know, is used to capture frame-filling images of faraway subject matter. This is because it has a much narrower angle of view than a wide-angle lens. While a wide-angle lens exaggerates differences in both the size of and the distance between near and far objects, a telephoto lens effectively reduces those differences. This means that a telephoto lens causes a close object to appear more similar in size relative to a further away object, even if the closer object would actually appear larger in person, and it means that a telephoto lens can cause the apparent distance between near and far objects to appear smaller, which creates a nice compression effect.

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Nikon D7200 vs Canon 7D Mark II

March 4, 2015 By Nasim Mansurov26 Comments

The D7200 is currently Nikon’s best DX camera for shooting action, but how does it compare to Canon’s speed demon, the 7D Mark II in features and specifications? The Nikon D7200 comes with a 24.2 MP sensor, 6 fps continuous shooting speed, 51-point AF system, 2x SD card slots and built-in Wi-Fi, whereas the 7D Mark II has a slightly smaller sensor with 20.2 MP of resolution, impressive 10 fps continuous shooting speed, 65-point all cross-type AF system, 1x CF + 1x SD card slots and a pro-quality build / ergonomics. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but which one of these would be more suitable for capturing fast action? In this comparison, we will go over both feature and specification differences between the two cameras. Please keep in mind that this comparison is purely based on preliminary data. Further details and comparisons will be provided in our upcoming Nikon D7200 review later this year.

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Nikon D7200 vs D7100

March 4, 2015 By Nasim Mansurov40 Comments

Some of our readers might be interested in seeing how the newly announced Nikon D7200 compares to its predecessor, the D7100 in terms of features and specifications. With a faster processor, improved AF system, much larger buffer, Wi-Fi and a few other tweaks, the D7200 is currently Nikon’s best DX camera for capturing fast action such as sports and wildlife photography. Although the D7100 is still an amazing camera, many found its buffer to be underwhelming for continuous shooting, as it sported a fairly small buffer that accommodated even less images than the first generation Nikon D7000. In this comparison, I will first go into specifications, then talk about specific features that differentiate the two cameras. Please keep in mind that this comparison is purely based on specifications. Further details, our impressions, ISO comparisons and other useful information will be provided in our upcoming Nikon D7200 Review later this year.

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Photographing the Milky Way – A Detailed Guide

March 4, 2015 By Aaron D. Priest31 Comments

I have been shooting the night sky since my grandfather gave me my first 35mm SLR in junior high. Today’s digital SLRs allow us to shoot amazing things that I could only dream of a couple decades ago! Below are some tips and suggestions that I teach at night photography workshops for shooting the Milky Way.

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The Versatility of Prime Lenses

March 3, 2015 By Guest Poster83 Comments

Zoom lenses are convenient, as everyone knows. I’d imagine that the vast majority of us started our photography with a simple 18-55 kit lens – I know I did, and I used it to take some of my favorite photos. However, it never seemed like a good fit for my style of photography. My first prime lens was the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G VR macro, a truly fantastic lens. At the time, I had never attempted macro photography. It is no exaggeration to say that the 105mm macro opened new worlds for me, and its sharpness was unbelievable. I had discovered the magical world of prime lenses.

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Astrophotography Tutorial

March 2, 2015 By Guest Poster55 Comments

Astrophotography is a hobby rapidly gaining popularity thanks to the fast advancing CMOS sensor technology. Over a decade ago, the light recording material employed in astrophotography was primarily chemical emulsion. Its low sensitivity makes it very hard to record the weak signal from deep space. In addition, the lack of real-time feedback is a huge source of frustration for beginners. Operational errors such as out-of-focus can only be realized after several nights of hard work after the film is developed. In the mid 90s, the advent of cooled CCD cameras provided solutions to both the sensitivity and real-time feedback problems. However, their high prices and miserably small sensor areas limited their uses to only a few kinds of astrophotography and to very enthusiastic astrophotographers. While CCDs revolutionized astronomical research, this technology has never really changed the landscape of amateur astrophotography. The true turning point took place in 2002. After Fujifilm announced its FinePix S2Pro DSLR and showcased amazing astronomical pictures taken by this camera, people started to seriously explore DSLRs for astrophotography. DSLRs can provide real-time feedback, which is very important for beginners. They have sensitivities not much worse than CCDs, and DSLRs with large sensors (APS-C) are quite affordable nowadays. Today’s landscape in astrophotography is shaped by a series of CMOS-based DSLRs from Canon, but DSLRs and mirrorless cameras based on Sony sensors are gaining popularity very quickly.

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Bolt VM-110 LED Macro Ring Light Review

March 2, 2015 By John Sherman6 Comments

It’s been bugging me that I only have a handful of decent insect photos, despite owning a macro lens primarily for that purpose. When they weren’t flying or running away from me, they were biting me, and when I tried the pop-them-in-the-fridge-to-cool-them-down trick – well, let’s just say Mr. Tarantula is still napping. I felt awful about that and vowed never to ice down a critter again unless it was a penguin with heat stroke. Still I’ve been seeing tons of great bug photos lately and it rekindled my interest. If I could just dial in the lighting, maybe I could start nailing some great macro wildlife shots.

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Nikon D7200 High Resolution Sample Images

March 2, 2015 By Nasim Mansurov23 Comments

The Nikon D7200 has been announced, but full resolution image samples are not yet available at NikonUSA or Nikon Imaging. Below are the images I was able to find through Nikon Japan. At this time there are only 5 full-resolution image samples available, but I will update this article if I find more this week. Sadly, all images below were captured at ISO 100 and there are no high ISO samples to look at yet. Nikon Asia and other regional sites do have more sample images, but none of them are at full size.

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Nikon Lens and Camera Rebates Extended

March 2, 2015 By Romanas Naryškin2 Comments

As many may have expected, Nikon has just extended the lens-only and camera rebates all the way to March 28th. And it is a good thing, too, as it gives more time for customers to get the lenses they’ve always wanted without having to purchase a camera body as well. But if you are looking for a new DSLR, the bundles are also available.

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