Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
I’ve been keeping an eye on portable power options for probably about a decade now. Most of my work is on location, I’m often away for several days at a time, and much of my equipment requires power or some kind or another.
Recently, I was asked if I wanted to check out the Novoo AC Power Bank. It looked an intriguing little unit so I agreed to have a look. While I waited for it to arrive I was expecting to be entirely underwhelmed, but it’s actually really impressed me.
Yongnuo has been coming pretty thick and fast with lenses over the last couple of years. Sure, they’re generally copies of somebody else’s lens, but they’re cheap and, for the most part, seem to perform fairly well considering the price. Announced last month, the Yongnuo 50mm f/1.4, though, looks to be of their own design.
The first review of the new lens has now been posted to YouTube by Christopher Frost, and it appears to be pretty favourable. It not only keeps up, for the most part, with Canon’s 65% more expensive 50mm f/1.4 USM, but it even seems to beat it in some aspects.
In the world of photography, water droplets are something of a rite of passage. It’s the perfect rainy day photography project and one that many of us try at some point or another – to varying degrees of success.
You can increase the chances of that success with a bit of DIY tinkering. Some kind of computer-controlled Arduino based system, perhaps, which times everything perfectly. Or, you can save yourself a lot of build time and hassle and get the MIOPS Splash.
Fujifilm X-H1 was announced in February, and we had the first look at this camera at The Photography Show in March. And now, Chris and Jordan of DPReview (formerly known from The Camera Store TV) bring you a more detailed hands-on review of Fujifilm’s X-H1. As usual, they test it both for photography and videography, and they’ll show you some upsides and downsides of Fujifilm’s latest camera.
Ever since I got to play with the original Zhiyun Crane at Photokina 2016 I’ve wanted to put one of these things to work and see how it handles. I’ve used a number of smaller gimbals for phones, but the ability to load up a DSLR or mirrorless camera offers huge benefits. I almost never invest in the first generation of anything, but then they released the Zhiyun Crane 2.
GearBest got in touch with us to see if we wanted to check one out for ourselves and how it might help with the content we create here on DIYP. With The Photography Show and other events coming up where we need to shoot video, it seemed like a great opportunity to give it a good workout and really put it through its paces. But it’s quickly become one of my favourite video creation tools.
Along with the iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel range of smartphones are the generally considered the top picks when it comes to their cameras. All three companies are pushing the boundaries of what phone cameras can do to edge out the competition.
It doesn’t seem that there’s a single clear winner, though, when it comes to everything. Despite what DxOMark might have you believe. In this in-depth comparison from YouTuber, SuperSaf we see just how well the new Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus and the Pixel 2 XL stack up against each other.
Since its announcement at WPPI recently, the Sony A7III has been the hot topic around the camera body water cooler. A lot of people had a something to say in the day or two that followed after having tried it for a little while. But now we’re starting to see some proper hands-on reviews with tests to see just how it performs in the real world.
In this in-depth video review, Jay P Morgan takes the Sony A7III for a spin around Vegas. He gives it a pretty thorough workout to test the limits of Sony’s new “basic” mirrorless camera. Looking at it on paper, it certainly seems to set the bar rather high now for entry level full frame cameras. With high ISO, video, burst mode and autofocus tests we get to see if it stands up to those specs.
Recently, I’ve been researching 3D printers while considering how one might make my photographic & video life easier. In my search, I discovered that our friends at Dobot were just about to release a new 3D printer, the Dobot Mooz. What intrigued me abouyt it was that it’s not just a 3D printer, but also a laser engraver and CNC milling machine, thanks to interchangeable heads. It’s also modular so you can configure it several different ways.
When I found out that Dobot were going to be attending the BETT Show in London recently and bringing the Mooz with them, I had to go and see it for myself. So, I went to go have a chat with the folks from Dobot, and then tell you guys a bit more about it.
The Manfrotto Element series of aluminum travel tripods have become quite popular since their initial release. Now they’ve updated the line with the new Element Carbon. I’ve had one for the last few weeks, so here are some of my thoughts.
I’m not typically one to go for small tripods. Well, with the exception of the Manfrotto Pixi, those things are awesome. But sometimes I need my camera a little higher up. On location, when I need it to clear ground clutter or foliage, the little Pixi just doesn’t always cut it.
People have been waiting a long time for this one. Originally announced way back in April for release in June, the YI 360 VR has faced some delays. This was primarily down to the fact that YI felt they could get a little more performance out of the camera. Now, though, the YI 360 VR finally sees its official launch and is available to buy.
YI have teamed up with Microsoft to make it available in the Microsoft store for only $399, the same as the pre-order price. It was rumoured that the price would increase at launch, but thankfully, this has not happened. We’ve had the YI 360 VR at DIYP for a little while now. You can see our full review here to find out what we think.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
