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About John Aldred

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs people in the wild and animals in the studio. You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.

Samyang parfocal AF 24-70mm f/2.8 for Sony FE has now been announced globally

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Samyang (AKA Rokinon and Bower) has launched their first zoom lens with the new Samyang AF 24-70mm f/2.8 FE, a wide-angle to short telephoto lens with a constant f/2.8 aperture for full-frame Sony E-Mount cameras. The lens had previously been announced only in Thailand, but now the announcement appears to be global.

Autofocus lenses have been part of Samyang’s lineup for a while now, although they were primarily specialising in manual focus lenses. But Samyang says that after five years of “in-depth research and communications” with its customers, they now want to target more of the mass market to better meet photographers needs.

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Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max processors boast better performance and support more than 16GB RAM

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Apple has announced “supercharged” versions of its M1 processor. Perhaps not surprisingly, they’re called the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Apple says they’re the first Apple Silicon chips designed specifically for professionals with “groundbreaking performance” and “amazing battery life”.

Apple claims that the new MacBook Pro models offer up to 13x faster graphics performance, 3.7x faster CPU performance, 11x faster machine learning and 21 hours of battery life. The specs seem significantly upgraded over the original M1, and the memory limit has finally been increased.

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Nikon promises up to 8 new Z mount lenses despite $262 million loss

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Well, Nikon’s latest annual report is out and it shows a $262 million write off in losses. The report says that Nikon has been facing challenges from the declining demand for camera gear from professionals and hobbyists, increased competition, the global silicon shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, Nikon will soon be releasing their new Z9 flagship mirrorless camera and according to Nikon president Toshikazu Umatate, they’ll be increasing their Z mount lens lineup from its current 22 up to “nearly 30”.

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Sony teases new camera (Sony A7 IV?) to be announced on October 21st

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Well, after a blurry photo of what was claimed to be the Sony A7 IV was apparently posted and then deleted by Sony China over the weekend, now it seems that Sony might be finally ready to announce the Sony A7 III successor – and not a minute too soon. The A7 III is a great camera, but it’s been fraught with shutter problems that Sony seems to have thus far evaded.

Still, Sony has today teased a new camera to be announced on Thursday, October 21st and it’s expected to be the Sony A7 IV. Obviously, Sony hasn’t confirmed what the camera is – because they never do – but all signs seem to point towards it.

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Spotted in the wild – Godox is releasing a 600W Bowens mount LED light

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At the P&I Shanghai International Wedding Photographic Equipment Exhibition Godox were showing off some new toys, including a powerful 600 Watt Bowens mount LED light with external ballast. The show was actually in July, although the photos from the show seem to have only just come to light.

The images were posted as part of a series to the website Wakwb, which appears to be some kind of blog or social network based in China. Most of the images show the Godox stand and the usual equipment we’re familiar with, but two of them showed a Godox M600D light and what appears to be an M600D-CL ballast and controller.

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This simple camera strap trick helps you get steadier handheld photos and video

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DIYP’s own resident travel photographer Dave Williams has taken to the road, travelling (for now) the UK for some off-grid living in a van to explore and photograph as much of it as he can. On his entry into Scotland, Dave came to visit me so I could take him to explore the local river and woodland.

While out, Dave showed me an excellent camera strap tip to help you get steadier videos and photos when shooting handheld. We’ve all seen the trick of holding the camera out right in front of us and bracing the strap against the back of our neck, but this technique is very different and still gives you a lot of freedom of movement. Naturally, I forced him to give me his phone so I could film it to show the rest of you!

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Three beginner off-camera flash mistakes you really need to avoid

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When you’re first starting out photographing people with flash, it can be a bit overwhelming. Even if you’re used to shooting with natural light, the pieces don’t all click into place right away and it’s easy to make mistakes and not be entirely sure how to rectify the problem. So, here’s Francisco Hernandez with three of the mistakes he sees new off-camera flash photographers making and how to resolve them.

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Fuji goes back to killing off film – Goodbye Pro 160NS 120 and Velvia 50 sheet film

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After it looked like Fujifilm was starting to take a reverse stance on film and were in fact looking to bring more back, they’ve announced that they’re killing off some more, including a very old and popular favourite. Fuji Velvia 50 in 4×5 and 8×10 large format sheet film. They’re also getting rid of 160NS Professional medium format 120 roll film.

Back in 2016, Fujifilm announced price increases for both film types in the formats included in this announcement but now it looks like they’re going for good. It won’t happen right away, though. At least, not for all formats.

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Nikon files patents for two crazy f/1.2 zooms that will probably never be made

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Well, if this isn’t a bit of humble-bragging, I’m not sure what is. Nikon has filed a new patent that describes Nikkor Z 35-50mm f/1.2 and Nikkor Z 50-70mm f/1.2 lenses. Yes, that’s right, zoom lenses. With a constant f/1.2 aperture. But it’s unlikely that Nikon will ever actually make them. If they did, they’d be insanely expensive.

According to Asobinet, the patent was first filed back in January 2019, but it’s only just been issued this week. It feels like they’ve filed the patents just because they can. To show off what the Z mount is hypothetically capable of rather than as a real genuine product that they plan to bring to market. But oh boy, I wish they would!

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How to use speedlights when shooting live music performances

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There seems to be a popular conception out there that you don’t use flash under any circumstances during musical performances. While good manners and etiquette might suggest that this should be the default position to take when not told otherwise, there are times when flash is allowed and can bring you some fantastic results that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve.

Like, if you’re there specifically to photograph the band. But how do you use the lights? How do you know where to put them for a live event when you don’t know what your subject’s going to do and where they’re going to do it? Well, this video from professional music photographer Todd Owyoung via Creative Live is going to tell and show you how.

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