It’s that time of year again. Can you feel it? Camera companies have launched shiny new, “must-have” trinkets. Your GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is raging like an inferno at an all-time high. And– of course– nothing celebrates the birth of a savior or the rededication of a holy temple quite like upgrading your camera. It’s a simple, unavoidable fact-of-photography-life. It’s the holiday season and you want a new camera. So do I. It doesn’t matter how pristine or properly functioning my cameras are at the end of the year. Without fail, I always want a new one. Every year. And this is why I’m engaged in my annual Battle of the Voices. I’ve got the devil from one shoulder talking about new cameras in my ear, while the angel from the other shoulder is trying to give him a serious beat-down.
Photos Of X-Rayed Lenses [Collection]
Some people get off from watching naked ____ (fill as you desire). Photographer Guy Viner gets his fix by watching naked lenses. Just his luck that he is also a talented X-Ray technician giving him access to the special camera needed to fulfill his desire.
While we’ve all see illustrations of the internals of lenses, Guy’s work shows the internal glass elements, gears, levers and CPUs that make up a lens.
Guy has worked over recent years and collected a nice collection of both classic and new lens p0rn:
The Lollipod Is The Cutest Light Stand / Tripod Combo Around
There are two “issues” with your casual light stand – A) chances are it is pretty boring. Most are pro black (with a minor percent being silver to break the uniformity). B) while they would be perfect as a tripod for a small digital camera (or even a smartphone), they lack the tilt/pan head to make them useful.
Enter The Lollipod – a somewhat of a hybrid between a light stand and a tripod. It has a narrow base with a mechanism that resembles a light stand and a top with a light-duty tilt-pan head.
Got GAS?
I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s copyright, so in an abundance of caution and professional deference, I’ll just tell you what the graphic said, rather than posting it. “Phew! I have all the gear I will ever need. Said no photographer EVER.” Now, we can all sit around and have a good laugh about it, but it does merit a conversation about a terrible, insidious affliction, the very mention of which elicits vehement denial from those who fall prey to the addiction. It may not be drugs or alcohol, but it is still a societal menace affecting a frightening percentage of the world’s creative population.
That’s right. I’m talking about GAS.
Challenge: Tilt-Shift – SOOC Or Shopped?
Here is a challenge for the sharp of eyes among you. Below you will find two tilt-shift photographs courtesy of Maciej Pietuszynski. Those are called tilt/shift or miniature effect photographs.
One of those photos is SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera). Maybe a little curves and minor crop, but it is basically as is. Maciej used his own Shower Head Tilt Shift lens to take it.
The other photo is Shopped (as in Photoshopped), with a method similar to the one in this tutorial.
So, which one is real and which one is fake? if the 512px across are not good enough for your peaking eyes, click the photos for a larger version.
Apparently 70-200mm Lenses Are *Not* Built Like Tanks – Actually Tend To Break More
Every once in a while Roger Cicala of LensRentals.com publishes their repair data. Being a fairly big rental house, it is quite interesting to look at his observations.
Rental houses are usually a pretty good source of data as far as how items take abuse since rented gear goes through more abuse than owned gear. That said, Roger has an eloquent non inflammatory way of describing the data making dry and sharp observations.
On their last report, LR shares that the 70-200mm lenses that they rent out need servicing more that other lenses. And they take up 4 of the top 16 places in LR’s most serviced lenses chart. Starting with the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR II @7th place with an average of 39 weeks, Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 OS @9th place, Canon’s 70-200 f/2.8 IS II @13th and Sony 70-200 f/2.8 @ 16th.
The Quickest Workflow To Change a DSLR Camera Lens
Usually we share Jasmine Star‘s wedding photography tips, but today we are sharing something a bit different from her. A quick and relatively fireproof way to change the lens on a DSLR. Timed at about six seconds per swap, here is how she does it.
If you look, you’ll notice that the system is build on two parts:
Poll: If I Was A Camera Maker I Would Focus On…
Imagine if you were head of the camera division at Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji or any of the other big (or small) brands. You now have the power to invest in the features you would like to see coming on the next version of the camera where would you put the research money?
We’ve seen some interesting news from Magic Lantern, who pushes for better video. We know that that is huge. We’ve seen the low light/high ISO battle between Nikon’s D800 and Canon’s 5DmkIII so that must matter to some. Nikon’s D800 36MP behemoth is now rumored eat megapixel dust from Canon’s new 75MP monster.
Which aspect do you think matters most, or is it something else altogether? This is your chance to decide on the future of cameras. Vote and have your say or leave a comment with your thoughts.
7 Photographers – Each Take A Different Angle On The Same Light Modifier
It is always interesting to see how different people respond differently to the same raw material. Specifically for this post, how seven different photographers interacted with the same lighting modifier.
When I first built the Light Blaster, I gave several photographers a copy of it during various phases of development. Some got an almost finished product, while some got a 3D printed prototype held together with spit, epoxy glue and rubber bands.
The Light Blaster™ Is A Reality Altering Strobe Based Projector
We are very excited today to announce a brand new light modifier done by our sister company – Spiffy Gear. It is called The Light Blaster™.
The Light Blaster (or Blaster for short) is a unique light modifier that enables you to project an image onto a subject or a background. Imagine that, the ability to create a new world at the click of a shutter.
It is small, portable and and only requires a speedlight and any SLR lens to work. Things you already probably have. We’ve designed a high quality product specifically built to keep costs at a minimum while pushing the creative potential to the maximum! The advantage of having an interchangeable lens means that you can simply switch up the focal length to achieve different results: 35mm to blast an entire wall, 200mm to paint a heart on a chest.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!