fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

The Nanlite T8-7X tube light is the perfect replacement for annoying fluorescents

by Leave a Comment

If you have been a photographer or videographer in the last 40 years or so, you probably hate fluorescents. Fluorescent tubes are such a crude way of lighting. They flicker, give our horrible (and unpredictable) color casts, and they can not be dimmed. Just horrible.

We previously reviewed the Nanlite Pavotube 30X as a replacement for some fluorescents, but what about those other fluorescent bulbs? Those thin, easy-to-break, really annoying, enlengthen tubes? The T8 type… For those, Nanlite came up with the Nanlite PavoTube T8-7X RGBWW LED Pixel Tube. And they are an interesting lighting solution indeed.

[Read More…]

TTArtisan releases new 11mm f/2.8 full-frame 180° fisheye lens for Nikon F and Canon EF mounts

TTArtisan has announced a new 11mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens for full-frame Nikon F mount and Canon EF mount DSLRs. Yeah, I know, a DSLR lens in 2022! What are they thinking? Well, it looks like might be bringing out some dedicated mirrorless versions, too, although so far, it only appears to be Nikon F and Canon EF mount ones that are available – although they can be easily adapted!

The new lens offers a wide 180° field of view with an also wide f/2.8 aperture. It has a built-in lens hood and a minimum focus distance of only 17 centimetres. It contains 12 elements in 10 groups, including 4 high refractive index elements to help control distortion and spherical aberrations for improved sharpness. An extra-low dispersion element helps to reduce colour fringing and chromatic aberration.

[Read More…]

First images leak of upcoming non-Pro DJI Mini 3 drone show no obstacle avoidance sensors

Just over a week ago, word came that DJI had registered an upcoming cut-down DJI Mini 3 non-Pro version with the FCC. Now, we’re getting our first proper look at the drone according to reliable DJI leaker, DealsDrone, on Twitter.

From looking at the images, the design looks like a bit of a cross between the DJI Mini 2 and the more recent DJI Mini 3 Pro. But it’s pretty clear that the obstacle avoidance sensors are gone, bringing it more in line with the Mini 2, but with the Mini 2 and Mini 3 Pro having similar capabilities already, aside from the obstacle avoidance, how is this not just a slightly redesigned Mini 2?

[Read More…]

RED has been granted a new patent covering Compressed RAW in all video-capable devices including smartphones

by 6 Comments

The words “RED” and “patent” are pretty familiar bedfellows. They’ve used their raw video patents to strongarm every other camera manufacturer from being able to implement raw video in their camera without RED’s approval (and a hefty fee), even if those companies have developed their own raw video technologies. Now, they’ve filed – and been granted – a new patent over compressed raw video.

The new US patent number 11,503,294, joints three other RED patents relating to compressed raw video (8,872,933, 9,479,749 and 9,787,878), but this new one seems to encompass devices other than just cinema cameras. In fact, pretty much any device that’s potentially capable of capturing compressed raw video, including smartphones and even sensor technologies they don’t own or use – like Sigma’s Foveon.

[Read More…]

Nikon suspends sales of Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S due to orders that “exceed our expectations”

by 2 Comments

I don’t know how long camera manufacturers will continue to think that we believe their “we didn’t know it was going to be so popular!” excuse. Of course, they knew it was going to be popular. because its predecessor was also extremely popular. Still, Nikon has posted an announcement stating that demand “exceeds our expectations”, so they’ve suspended sales of the new Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S lens.

All I hear when companies claim they “didn’t anticipate the demand” is Homer Simpson saying, “It’s my first day“. Fortunately, some sellers still have them in stock for now. But once they sell out, it might be a while before they get more. It’s not even a new lens, either. It was announced last October. Here’s what Nikon has to say…

[Read More…]

These mesmerizing extreme macro images of eyes are like windows to other worlds

by 4 Comments

They almost look like aerial photographs of glacial meltwater flowing into Icelandic lakes. But these are no fluvial waters. These are extreme macro close-ups of the human eye, taken by portrait photographer Markus Hofstätter.

The abstract nature and varied colors and textures are all part of the beauty of these images. Markus has been fascinated by eyes for many years but devised a method to capture even more close-up images. Markus tells DIYP that he started this project around 4 years ago and is finally ready to unveil it.

[Read More…]

Mystical portrait of Helena’s tree frog wins Capturing Ecology 2022 contest

by 1 Comment

British Ecological Society has published the 2022 winners of its annual photo contest, Capturing Ecology. And like every year, the selected images feature different subjects and convey different emotions: from the thrilling chase of a hungry leopard, to the blissful calm of a bird floating on water.

This year’s overall winner is a portrait of a Helena’s tree frog and its glowing golden eyes of piercing through the darkness. Other than this incredibly artistic frog close-up, the contest showcases plenty more stunning images, so let’s check them out!

[Read More…]

Grim photo of dead flamingos wins 2022 Environmental Photographer of the Year

by 1 Comment

The Environmental Photographer of the Year contest has announced its 2022 winners. Like every year, some images show the beauty of both natural and man-made worlds. However, most photos show the grim reality that we live in. But if nothing else, they will make you care about the environment more than you already are. And it’s a good thing, right?

[Read More…]

Watch: How to get super clean images when shooting high ISO raw files

The ISO capabilities in DSLRs and mirrorless cameras today is pretty amazing. But it’s not perfect. You’re still going to see an increase in noise as you ramp up the ISO, even if it’s not quite as bad as it used to be. But we all love clean, noiseless images, don’t we? Along with the improvements in ISO performance, we’ve also seen big leaps in noise reduction technology. But many of them still aren’t perfect, often eliminating noise at the expense of detail.

For some images, you really do need to keep that detail and in this video from Scott Walker at Walks on the Wild Side, we learn three different methods of noise reduction. These methods include simple Lightroom Edits, Topaz Denoise AI and a pretty complex method that’s very involved but “fixes everything”. He also covers a “Pre-noise reduction” process you can do before you bring your photo into 3rd party software.

[Read More…]

FoCal goes mobile with their new iPhone and Android app for lens autofocus calibration anywhere

by 1 Comment

The shift to mirrorless has largely helped to eliminate one of the biggest issues of DSLRs; Focus calibration. And although mirrorless is now selling at a higher rate than DSLRs, there are still a lot of them out there. For example, even though I bought half a dozen Panasonic mirrorless cameras for video a couple of years ago, I still have 14 or so Nikon DSLRs. Every time I get a new autofocus lens, I need to calibrate it to each body I plan to use it with.

One of the leading products to help with calibrating your DSLR autofocus lenses is Reikan FoCal. This software makes you shoot a bunch of images and dial various settings in your camera in order to give you a result that ensures sharp focus every time. Well, now, FoCal’s gone mobile with a new app for iOS, iPadOS and Android.

[Read More…]

Recent Posts