Well, not really postcards since the inclement weather didn’t allow for the most picturesque shots but I did what I could in the brief time that I drove around this spectacular part of the country. Visiting old friends was my primary objective over the Easter weekend and with that accomplished I decided to navigate my way through Snowdonia National Park, an understandably popular and stunning part of Wales. Having lived in Wales for a short time it is a beloved second home to me and after they put Alpha Whiskey out to pasture (not long now) I hope they sprinkle my ashes over this magnificent land of the red dragon.
Sony A9 Image Samples
Now that the Sony A9 is announced, it is a good time to take a closer look at the image samples produced by this amazing mirrorless camera. Sony has made a total of 12 full size JPEG images available that we can pixel peep at, so below are the same images presented in their full resolution at different focal lengths, apertures and ISOs. Since the A9 is a sports and wildlife camera, the most used lenses for the sample images were the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS and the new Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS.
Sony A9 Announcement
Step aside Canon 1D X Mark II and Nikon D5 – Sony has just announced its A9, a high-end, full-frame sports camera. With a 24 MP stacked CMOS sensor, a whopping 20 fps continuous shooting rate without blackouts, up to 1/32,000 shutter speed (electronic, mechanical up to 1/8000), a 241 RAW image buffer, 693 on-sensor phase detection autofocus points occupying 93% of the viewfinder, AF joystick, full-frame 4K video capture, in-body five-axis image stabilization, fully weather sealed body, larger battery capacity, a built-in Ethernet port and dual SD card slots, the Sony A9 is one serious monster aimed at directly competing with the top-tier DSLR cameras. It is a pricey camera at $4,500 MSRP, but it is still $2K cheaper than the Nikon D5 and offers features the D5 simply cannot compete with. The Sony A9 is a very exciting release for a number of reasons.
Synology DS1517+ and DS1817+ for Photography Needs
A couple of days ago, Synology announced its new DS1517+ and DS1817+ storage arrays that caught my attention. I have been using an 8-bay Synology Network Attached Storage (NAS) device for the past few years and as you have seen from my detailed Synology DS1815+ review, it is a very powerful and robust storage solution that allows me to use it not just as a backup device, but also as my primary storage. And when the DS1815+ is paired up with a fireproof and waterproof ioSafe, one can fully automate the backup process and alleviate the associated pains with potentially losing data due to hard drive or storage failure. However, one of the biggest bottlenecks I have been experiencing with any NAS device is network bottlenecks. Even when using link aggregation with several ports, it is impossible to achieve more than 1 Gbit throughput from the same machine, which means that I am always stuck at roughly 125 MB/sec storage speed, even if my storage unit is capable of handling more load (link aggregation can be very beneficial in a multi-user environment). So I have been anxiously waiting for storage companies to start releasing storage arrays that are capable of handling more network throughput, which is why it is exciting to see the new DS1517+ and DS1817+ units.
How to Get Enough Depth of Field for Landscapes at Night
One of the challenges of nighttime photography — particularly Milky Way and star photography — is to get enough depth of field. If you’re focused at the horizon, and you’re using the widest possible aperture on your lens, how could your foreground possibly be sharp? Yet, if you look at galleries online, you’ll see countless photographers capturing perfectly sharp photos of a landscape underneath the night sky. What techniques are they using? In this quick guide, I’ll lay out a few useful tips for capturing sharp landscape photos at night.
Nikon 19mm f/4E PC Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 19mm f/4E PC, also known as PC NIKKOR 19mm f/4E ED, a special purpose wide-angle lens designed for architecture, cityscape and landscape photography. “PC” stands for “Perspective Control”, but I will refer to this type of lens as “tilt-shift” in this article. Architecture and cityscape photographers often work with straight lines and tilt-shift lenses give the ability to avoid the convergence of vertical lines by shifting the lens upwards or downwards. Landscape photographers often want to keep everything in focus, especially when dealing with close foreground objects. Stopping down to very small apertures results in diffraction, which impedes sharpness. Tilt-shift lenses offer an alternative to stopping down by tilting the plane of focus, putting both closest and furthest objects in focus. Focus stacking in post-processing software is another way to achieve maximum focus without stopping down excessively, however, the technique also has its pros and cons, making tilt-shift lenses unique in their own ways. The ability to apply selective focus on a particular part of the image via lens tilting allows distant subjects to appear “miniaturized”, although this effect can be reproduced in image editing software, as well.
Common Cityscape Photo Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Cityscape photography has become increasingly popular in recent years as downtown revival and walkability have been prioritized by city governments. Humans are intrinsically attracted to the patterns, lines, and vivacity of urban landscape images. Additionally, photographing cityscapes requires only a modest investment in camera gear, with a sturdy tripod and a decent wide-to-normal zoom lens being the most critical. Having spent the past five years living close to bustling city centers I have come to love photographing cityscapes. Research and trial-and-error are my teachers. In this article, I will share some common mistakes made by cityscape photographers, including several tips on how to take better cityscape photos yourself.
The Relative Importance of Regional Camera Markets
There have been some interesting shifts in the relative importance of various segments of the camera market over the past number of years. I thought readers may like to view a few charts based on CIPA data as they relate to the relative importance of various regional camera markets.
Palette Gear Expert Kit Review
In this article, I’m going to review the Palette Gear Expert Kit. This is a control surface that consists of buttons, dials and sliders, all of which are meant to be used with a variety of photo and video editing programs. They can also be used with everyday computer operation such as web browsers and operating systems. Personally, I use it with Lightroom for working with photos, Premiere Pro for working with videos, and Chrome for web browsing.
Are Mirrorless Camera Sales Really Growing?
As a brief follow up to Nasim’s excellent post, Sony “Overtakes” Nikon in Full-Frame Sales, this brief article shares some recent CIPA statistics regarding the shipment of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. Depending on how a person interprets this data will determine whether the mirrorless interchangeable camera market is ‘growing’.