NEC is synonymous with high-end displays. Everyone knows they produce great monitors for professional imaging applications. But if they know that much, they also know they’re quite expensive. So why should you pay thousands of dollars for the PA301W 30” monitor when you can get one for a few hundred? What’s the difference? And is it worth it? Let’s find out...
There have been a few really great lenses released in the past couple months hogging the spotlight, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the newly released upgraded Tamron 90mm f/2.8 VC Macro passed under your radar. I’ve had a few weeks with it and have mixed feelings on Tamron’s latest prime.
Ok, you're probably pretty skeptical right now reading that title alone. I hear ya, so was I. Really Right Stuff is known for extremely high quality carbon fiber tripods, not cases, and definitely not something in mobile computing. After hearing my surprise, the guys at Really Right Stuff laughed and made me think of it this way: the iPhone is the most popular camera on the market. It would be weird if they didn't support it, as they are one of the best camera support companies out there. Hearing that, I was ready to give this thing a look.
Creative lenses have become a popular way to do things “in camera.” Sure, there are hundreds of options for numerous editing programs that can do creative effects in post, but there is something to be said about getting everything in camera as it’s happening, including tilt shift effects. Unfortunately for most of us, tilt shift lenses are just not in the budget. That’s where Lensbaby’s modular lens system comes into play.
From lifestyle to celebrities, Quavondo is a photographer that has a wide range of talent. He has a great ability to shoot many genres and do exceedingly well at it. Even prior to meeting him, everyone who knew of him would ask him how he would light his subjects, no matter what he shot. It seemed so effortless in execution but very appealing as an end result. Recently, he released a book with these answers.
Fewer things get me as excited and enthusiastic about gear in my studio than something reliable. I just want it to work. Part of the reason I haven’t shot much on a Nikon is that it takes too much thinking for me. Having shot on Canon for 10 years, I just like using something that my hands just understand. The same goes for tripods, lights, and most definitely applies to lenses. For me, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens just works, and might be have the best combination of speed and sharpness in and auto focus-enabled lens I have ever had the pleasure of shooting.
Many of you are familiar with Scott Hargis, who has made his living as both a successful architectural photographer and in recent years, teacher. Scott has cris-crossed the world to teach his methods, including a recent trip to Dubai to teach at Gulf Photo Plus. Scott recently released a multi-part video tutorial that teaches his methods for shooting high-quality photos for real estate photography using off-camera flashes, and Scott was kind enough to send us a copy to review.
When I test products, I like to have a plan. I put together what I think the product should handle and then carefully execute and document the situation. It's the easiest and best way for me to give a fair assessment of the gear. A relatively straightforward and planned review was on my schedule for the C-Loop and Glide Strap but instead, I found myself in the midst of a natural disaster and the desire to capture the moment as best I could. This required the cooperation of this camera strap, and inadvertantly, resulted in this review.
Fstoppers Mirrorless Month really got me rethinking the entire small-camera strategy. I’m normally someone who doesn’t mind lugging a camera mounted to an 18th-century cannon, so long as it can take better photographs than the thing before it. But holding so many small cameras every day gets me thinking, is there another, better way to do this? And if so, what’s the best...?
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 is a fine camera, if unassuming. But that quality might make it something you’d really enjoy using -- it’s a certain stealthy quality. At the very least, you’ll want to give this one a second look.
The Olympus OM-D E-M5 might have a complicated name, but it shouldn’t put you off in any way from considering it as a serious option for your mirrorless camera arsenal.
The Fuji X-Pro1 is an amazing piece of imaging equipment, hands down. Apart from the professional build and lens offerings, there are certainly other features to consider that set this one apart from the rest of the crowd.
Nikon is one of the big names in the camera business. And they do have some competitors in the mirrorless market: the 1 series V1 and J1. We’ll be reviewing the V1, as it’s priced and featured as a more ‘professional’ or ‘prosumer’ line and will provide us results from the best of what Nikon now offers in the mirrorless market.
Most photographers and videographers have felt the need to slow down their shutter speeds on more than one occasion: whether you're a landscape photographer looking to get scintillating blurry water and clouds, a portrait photographer trying to slow down a shutter speed to use shallow depth of field with a wide aperture, or a videographer in search of that cinema-like look. While there are a number of solutions, one of the most well-known and most flexible is the Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter.
The Pentax K-01 is certainly the most unique system I’ll be reviewing this month in terms of aesthetics. But I’m not a form over function kind of guy. So what does that mean for the performance of this mirrorless camera?
Reviewing this lens has not been a simple task. As is the case with, say, a new Apple product, many can argue that the original 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens is so good that any improvement would or should simply be a minor enhancement or fix. A new version should just address what little quibbles we all have had over the past several years. Little things. And with little changes should come minor price adjustments, if at all. This did not happen with the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L II, and thus I am hit with the daunting task of wrangling in this new piece of hardware.
From the start, the Pentax Q has one thing going for it: it’s the smallest interchangeable lens camera in the world. At first glance, this little guy seems like the photojournalist’s dream. But does it do better than your average point and shoot?
These cameras are incredibly similar. In fact, I’m going to treat this as the same camera review while pointing out differences as we go along. So why the $200 difference between the NX1000 and NX210? Let’s see if what's up and how these systems compare with the competition.
The Ricoh GXR is an oddball. It’s different than any other mirrorless camera out there -- with the GXR, you use the same base body, but switch out sensor/lens combinations. This format has some serious advantages and disadvantages compared to its competition.
Hop on a sightseeing tour in your local town, and undoubtedly, at least one person probably has a camera in Sony's NEX line. The mirrorless line has been wildly successful, and the Sony NEX-7 represents its top-notch contender. Let's see if the NEX-7 can stand its ground -- after all, comparing to the Leica we reviewed a few days back is quite the challenge...
The Leica M-series has long been the standard for rangefinder photography -- or so I've heard. Since the Leica M9 is a rangefinder, we know it's also mirrorless. And thus, this will be the introduction of the camera to 'look up to' throughout this month's reviews. If you're interested in a mirrorless system, despite whether or not this fits your idea of what's possible, I highly recommend you read on, as there are some great introductory explanations here.
In an attempt to create the best camera review video the interweb has ever seen, FCTN (Fiction) put the Phantom Miro up against Gallagher, 80's icon and nemesis to watermelons the world over. There's enough 80's power, shirtless old men, whacky hair, glitter and splattering in this video that some of you may confuse this for a Richard Simon's workout tape. But be certain, Phantom Miro + Gallagher = you're all going to watch this, love it and share it.
With just under a week left for our Blackmagic Cinema Camera giveaway here at Fstoppers, we figured this would be a great opportunity to show you how impressive this camera is in comparison to the Canon 5D Mark III. This video, produced by One River Media, really shows how well the Blackmagic performs in every aspect. With 13 stops of dynamic range along with many of its other features, the difference is quite apparent in this video.
This past week we have seen a lot of gear come out, including a brand new outdoorsman-style bag in the Lowepro Rover Pro series. We got our hands on both versions of the bag, the 35L and the larger 45L and sent Mike Kelley and Mike Wilkinson off on separate excursions to put the bag to the test. Mike Kelley reviewed the 45L, while Mike Wilkinson reviewed the 35L.
John Dooley from the Leica Akademie Mayfair demonstrates all of the cool features you knew about, as well as those that you didn't, in this six minute hands-on review with the new M. I have to say that it looks like an incredible piece of craftsmanship and technology, and the amount of power that this small rangefinder packs is really quite something.
The new Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II is supposed to be in stock on September 13th, but YouTube user ThatNikonGuy (kind of ironic) already got his hands on one and did a comparison review between the new 24-70 and the old 24-70.
About a month ago, you might recall my bitter disappointment with Canon’s new 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens. Aside from being light, it presented very little else that I could see as a positive. So my search for a great pancake lens continued, eventually leading me to the Voigtländer Ultron 40mm f/2 SL II Aspherical lens.
Even as a self-admitted prime lens lover, I can’t deny the allure of a telephoto zoom lens. A couple of my personal favorite tele-zoom lenses include the 24-70mm and the 24-105mm from Canon, which are touted by many as capable of "doing it all" if necessary. A bold statement, but you wouldn't find me arguing. But what other options are there? Though it may not be as recognizable, there certainly is a lot to love in Sigma’s 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM APO Lens.
Specialized lenses are tricky things. Since they are built for a set of specific purposes in mind, they really need to follow through on that small list of tasks lest they be discarded as an unnecessary expenditure. That is a lot of pressure to make an outstanding lens, so how did Sigma fare with their new 180mm f/2.8 macro? Is it a good addition to your lens collection?
When the Canon 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens was announced a couple weeks ago, Canon fans all over were squealing with joy- myself included. This tiny lens would be great for life on the go, had a brand new AF engine called the Stepping Motor (or STM), and looked to be extremely versatile. But does it live up to the expectations?
If you are into studio lighting at all you have probably heard about the D1 Monolight by Profoto. These lights are known for their size, flash consistency, and of course the wireless Air Remote system. In this video I'll take you through each of my favorite and least favorite features of this flash. If you are on the fence you may want to try renting these lights first.
The Sony NEX FS700 is probably one of the most anticipated video camera releases of the year, and with a price point of $8,000 it's not very hard to see why. Legendary Cinematographer, Philip Bloom, recently got his hands on a pre-production version of the Sony NEX FS700 for review.
If you’re a regular user of small flashes, you know how overwhelming it can be when it comes time to purchase modifiers for your lights. One of the more popular systems is David Honl’s line of accessories, based around his Speed Strap concept. I’ve reviewed and tested every piece in the line, and I’ve got all the info you could possibly want.
There is no doubt that Nikon and Canon are putting a lot of effort in creating better video features in their flagship DSLR cameras. One of the most talked about new features has been Nikon's clean, uncompressed 1080p output from the camera's HDMI connector. Both the Nikon D800 and Nikon D4 DSLR cameras allow for this feature, but we've wondered just how useful are these new uncompressed files? We decided to test the new Atomos Ninja 1080p external recorder to see if these 12x larger files gave us better image quality for our own video projects.
![[Review] The Clever, Durable, And Simple Honl Lighting System Is A Must For Any Small-Flash User](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/med-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Honl-review-strobe-flash.jpg)
![[FStoppers Review] Atomos Ninja External Recorder With Nikon D800](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/med-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/atomos-ninja-nikon-d800-test1.jpg)
