DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

Yongnuo launch budget 100mm f/2 lens with an 85mm on the way

by 10 Comments

Chinese manufacturer Yongnuo is well known for its inexpensive flash units and radio triggers. More recently, the company have turned their hand to lenses. Adding to their fairly small 50mm f/1.8 and 35mm f/2 lineup, Yongnuo have now announced a 100mm f/2 lens. Outwardly reminiscent of the Canon 100mm f/2 USM, the lens is initially available on Canon only. We can probably expect a Nikon version to come along at some point in the future.

The best thing about it, though, is the price. Costing around $170, this is a little over a third of the $499 Canon. At this price point, it could be a great option. A potentially ideal portrait lens on a very low budget. How well it stands up to scrutiny side-by-side with the original Canon remains to be seen.

[Read More…]

Yongnuo’s new 35mm f/2 for Nikon is kind of interesting

by 25 Comments

Recently, Yongnuo announced their 35mm f/2 lens for Nikon. It’s basically the YN 35mm f/2 for Canon but with a Nikon mount. What makes this interesting is that it’s different to both of Nikon’s similar offerings; the 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, and the 35mm f/2D AF.

Notably, it is both a full frame lens and appears to have a built in AF motor. Nikon’s 35mm f/1.8G features a built in AF motor, but designed for DX bodies. Nikon’s 35mm f/2D is full frame, but lacks the built in AF motor. If you want full frame with a built in AF motor and the Nikon name, you’ll have to get the 35mm f/1.4 which is significantly more expensive.

[Read More…]

Cheap Speedlight comparisons, which should you buy and why?

by 26 Comments

Venturing into the world of flash, and radio triggers can be a confusing, sometimes frightening and potentially expensive prospect for those who are very new to it.  So, where do you start?

Photographer and YouTuber Tim Oxton aims to help you figure this out in this video comparing some low budget flashes and triggers to see how they measure up, and we also offer some suggestions of our own.

[Read More…]

I’m Getting Rid of My Flash Gear and Here’s Why

by 22 Comments

People often ask me about the flash equipment I currently use, and what I would do differently if I were to start over today.

I also often see “What should I buy?!?!” posts on photography groups on Facebook, and the simple truth is, we don’t know.  We have no idea what you need. We only know what we need.

This two part series of posts is a way for me to provide some insight into how and why I buy new equipment, and hopefully it will help you to look at your gear choices more objectively, so that you buy new gear because you need to, and not because “so-and-so said I should get this”.

In this first part, I’m going to go over my current gear and explain some of the issues I feel I’m having, what walls I’m hitting, as well as the stuff that I’m absolutely not getting rid of (and why).

[Read More…]

Is Yongnuo An Enabler Or A Copycat?

by 18 Comments

Two days ago The Hong Kong based gear company Yongnuo announced their next product, the YN360, an LED lit bar of light. While different in form from the Westcott Icelight, some found the comparison unavoidable.

This was not the first time that Yongnuo has products that resemble other products in the market. The YN600EX-RT looks amazingly similar to Canon’s 600EX-RT Speedlite. Yongnuo’s nifty fifty looks very similar to Canon’s at about half the price. This is all not new.

But it does pose a question which I think is best illustrated by quoting two of the comments we got on the YN360 light wand. Is Yongnuo’s story one of enabling photography to the frugal photographer or bluntly copycatting other market innovations cutting down on costs.

[Read More…]

Watch out Ice Light: Yongnuo announces the YN360, a full color LED light wand

by Leave a Comment

If you’ve been eyeing a Westcott Ice Light for some time, but don’t care to drop the dough on it, Chinese light accessory manufacturer Yongnuo has a new product that might interest you.

It’s called the YN360 and it’s an LED light wand designed to spice up your work in ways traditional lights can’t.[Read More…]

Yongnuo Extends Their Lens Line with A 35mm f/2 Lens

by 5 Comments

When Yongnuo launched their nifty fifty, we knew it was likely that they will extend their lens line and start making more lenses. If you are making clone-ware it only makes sense that once you have the means to produce a product you will want to utilize those capabilities to create more similar product.

And so, Yongnuo  now announced their 35mm f/2 Lens, which looks incredibly similar to Canon’s 25 years old EF 35mm f/2 lens. (Canon since upgraded to a newer Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM lens)

While initial reports on Yongnuo’s nifty fifty were not that promising, we would love to see a comparison between those two lenses.

As for the striking resemblance to Canon’s Lens, aside from the fact that the Yongnuo lens has 7 blades rather than 5 (a difference we have seen in their nifty-fifty as well), the lenses bare striking resembles.

[Read More…]

The Pros and Cons of using Cheap China Brand Lights

by 22 Comments

My first ever off-camera flash was a Nikon sb-24 speedlight (1988), which I got. After a while I bought my first ever Nikon speedlight an sb-600 (it was around $250 back then). I was very happy with it until I wanted to get a studio strobe. There weren’t many choices to pick from here in the Philippines; it’s either you get one that cost around $300 per strobe or you can buy a “kit” with 3 off brand studio lights, light stands and softboxes for around $220. I got the latter.

(As a reference, a 400WS Broncolor Siros 400 which is one fine branded strobe – yet one of the cheaper branded strobes – will set you back $1000. A Cowboystudio 400WS strobe will only cost $150. A Square Perfect 400W/S strobe will only set you back a $100 or so. Those 3 are obviously not comparable strobe)

CHEAP doesn’t always mean bad, I have used these lights for more than 6 years now, and I want to share with you the pros and cons of using cheap off brand lights.

[Read More…]

The Battle of the Nifty Fifty: Canon’s 50mm1.8 vs. Yongnuo 50mm1.8

by 2 Comments

So, a while back Chinese flash maker Yongnuo stepped into the optics realm and started making a 50mm 1.8 (aka the Nifty Fifty, aka fantastic plastic, aka, your second lens).

The Nifty fifty was never an expensive lens, the Canon version is about $115, but if you are super frugal you may be tempted to check the $60 cheaper Yongnuo lens. Photographers Tony & Chelsea took the lens for a spin comparing it with the twice as expensive Canon version.

[Read More…]

Yongnuo Goes on B&H. Similarly Priced, Better Service (+lenses?)

by 12 Comments

Yongnuo has been the goto strobe brand for many off-camera-flashers (yea, I said it). Between the low price (it’s pretty hard to beat a $60 strobe, even if entry level), the plethora of features and the compatibility with major brands systems they are hard to say no to.

The only thing that kinda sucked on those strobes was their origin, they were shipping in from China. Shipping from China means hard to exercise warranty or returns. Don’t get me wrong, if you got 4 Yongnuo’s and one was a DOA, it was still a good deal price-wise, but you ended up with one dead strobe. Add to that the fact that many eBay sellers were selling those strobes with a lesser levels of Quality Assurance and you can see why there was a certain kind of risk involved in such purchases.

But this is changing as B&H are now adding the Yongnuo brand to their catalog. This means getting the same strobes with a significantly higher level of security. As for warranty, at least the items that I checked had a Limited 1-Year Warranty.

I was kinda expecting the B&H prices to be higher than the Amazon ones, but in fact they are not:

[Read More…]

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts