Rolling Shutter is the way that most DSLR are shooting video. (and point and shoots and iPhones too). For 95% of the time it does not really matter what type of shutter is used for capturing video, in the other 5% it matters a lot. Following is a break down and explanation of what is Rolling Shutter why it is being used and what are its quarks.[Read More…]
Poll: What Batteries Are You Using?
A while back we did a piece about how to manage your batteries on location. It turned out we left an important bit out of the equation.
We left the actual batteries :) So this is what this poll is about. What batteries go into your strobe? We wanna hear in the comments.
While this question may seem trivial, there is a huge difference in some aspects of the batteries you use:[Read More…]
Focal Length Matters When Shooting Faces
How often did you hear that Zooming with your legs is not like zooming with your lens? They were right!
This video demonstrates how different focal lengths control the distortion of the human face, assuming of course that the face take the same amount of space in the frame.
It is quite an interesting and experiment, and really easy to replicate at home, if you don’t believe the stuff you see on the internet.[Read More…]
Quick Tip: Use Silica Gel To Protect Your Lenses From Fungi
If you ever bought a second hand lens you probably know that one of the first things to do is to look through the lens and check for fungi.
See that image above, it’s a fungi infested lens! It is there to serve the same purpose as the picture of the decaying tooth lady in the dentist’s office – Don’t let this happen to you.[Read More…]
Pixel Peeping Octodomes
I know the title says something about lighting modifiers, but after seeing the last installment of the slanted lens I figured I’d mess around with their timing and start the show where they make camera cookies. (did someone say mother’s day?)
Of course, they also pixel peep the heck out of photoflex Octadomes, and showing how to build several simple lighting setups using them. I guess you are here for the lighting, right? so go the beginning of the vid for the octa lessons.
Quick Tip – Use a Power Bar While Traveling Abroad
The awesome Benjamin Von Wong is here on a visit and we gave my new video setup a quick run.
Since Ben comes from Canada all his devices has weird Canadian no good plugs. The solution, use one all-in-one pongs adapter and a “bought at home country” power bar. This configuration has a small foot print and can be reused around the world.
(Side note: expect more videos here, one of the first ones will be on how to create that “white” look on a budget).[Read More…]
Poll: Are You Using Protection?
There is an ongoing debate in the photography community, if one should use UV filters (or similar “zero effect” filters). I was never a big advocate for any of the camps, but slid a UV filter on all my lenses just in case.
As of this now, I am a firm member of the first camp.
Earlier this month I shot an event and had my D300 + 24-70/2.8 heavily shoved slightly brush against a poll. Luckily I had a B+W haze filter on.
The filter broke completely. I removed it and using a blower made sure that all the small and sharp glass was removed.
While I hate losing an ~$80 filter, I love not losing a ~$1600 lens. And think it is worth paying that little performance degradation.
What do you think? Are you Using protection filters?[Read More…]
Poll: What’s Your Favorite Lens
Following yesterday’s post about using prime lenses as a compositional tool, we had an interesting discussion in the comments, about Primes Vs. Zooms.
I thought it would be interesting to ask DIYP readers about their favorite lens. Please also let us know why what you’re using it for. Please leave your answers as comments.
I’ll go first:
My dearest is the Nifty Fifty (50mm 1.8), which is one of the first lenses I bought waaaaay back. I still think it is the best value-for-money lens out there, and I find it perfect for portraiture.
[image by Dr. RawheaD][Read More…]
Poll: My Next Gear Purchase Will Be …
On our last poll, we asked a general (yet hard) question – what would you need to do in order to improve your photography.
There are some great responses there and thanks for everyone who opened up and answered this not-so-easy-to-expose question.
Our of that question a few main groups were identified
1. I need more time
2. I need better skills
3. I need better equipment
I have and will tackle all those issues on the blog, however this time I would like to focus on the third item – Gear.
This poll has a simple question – What is the next piece of gear on your shopping list, and I am not talking fantasy list here, I am talking about items that you can actually afford to buy and plan on using in the short term period.
It may be an item at the core of photography – a camera or a lens; A lighting aid like a strobe, flash or modifier, or something completely peripheral like a new computer or a new piece of software. Props, Straps, place, really anything that you feel will give you that push.
While you can form the answers in any way you’d like see if you can answer those two questions: what is the exact item (bad: a new lens / good: a Nikkor 85mm 1.8 lens) and how it will help your photography. Please be as specific as you can.
I’ll go first: I am planning on getting a set of pocket wizards. I have had enough of misfires from my cheapo RF slaves and I feel that the price is worth removing the hustle annoyance and embarrassment of having the flash not pop when I need it too.
(If you are reading this via RSS, you may want to click through to read/share your thoughts) [(cc) Image credit fensterbme][Read More…]
Poll: What Is The Most Important Item In Your Photo Bag?
Many of us are carrying gear bags (Or gear trucks). It would be interesting to find our what are we using those bags for.
So This poll is about understanding what is in your photo bag. To exclude the obvious answer, cameras and lenses are a given. And to make it a bit more interesting, please choose only a single item you consider to be most important.
I did not include pre-loaded options on this one, so you can get as creative as you want.
All the polls I ran gave really interesting results in the open text box, and I expect this one to be no different. Especially that “Other” is only option now.[Read More…]
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!