Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Corel has announced PaintShop Pro X8, which is the latest iteration of its professional grade photo editing software. Adobe recently announced Photoshop’s 25 year anniversary and, although they’ve taken different paths along the way, this is also the 25th anniversary of Corel’s PaintShop.
Highlighted by a one-time $80 price tag, PaintShop Pro X8 offers a plethora of new features as it takes aim at competing for Photoshop customers. Several of the new features include: [Read more…]
Apple has released Digital Camera RAW Update 6.06 for OS X Yosemite, which adds RAW file support for the following cameras:
You can download the update via the Mac App Store updates pane.
One of the things I do outside of this site is serve as the visual director at my church, which affords me plenty opportunities to experiment with different aspects of video production. I recently made a change to our video set that we use for announcement videos and created a diagram to answer some questions I’ve received about what the set looks like. [Read more…]
Yesterday, I shared a video from Profoto that discussed the benefits of high speed sync when shooting in high ambient light outdoors. In this video from Profoto, we get another look at the differences between shooting with ambient light only and adding layers of light using TTL lighting outdoors mixed with available ambient lighting.
Again, the video highlight’s Profoto’s high end AirTTL system using B2 and B1 lights but the same high speed sync can be achieved with smaller and more affordable speedlights from the likes of Canon and Nikon, or even cheaper third-party speedlights.
Blackmagic Design has dropped the prices on its Studio Camera HD and Studio Camera 4K models. The HD model will reduce in price by $300 and the Ultra HD model will reduce in price by $500.
The HD Blackmagic Studio Camera model is now $1,695 and the Ultra HD Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K model is now $2,495.
Blackmagic notes that the reason for the price drop is based on customer feedback regarding the lack of use of the fiber connection. Blackmagic has removed the connection from the cameras and made it an aftermarket accessory that can simply be plugged into the camera.
Personally, I think the biggest detraction from the studio cameras is the lack of lens options. Sure there are plenty of Micro Four Thirds cameras in the world and you can buy an adapter for virtually any other lens mount. However, many users would like to put studio B4 lenses on these cameras and that is just a clunky option.
If Blackmagic had built these cameras with a 2/3″ sensor and a native B4 lens mount, I don’t think they could make them fast enough. Sometimes, a bigger sensor is not always the best option.
The Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.1 lens has dropped in price from $999 to $899. It is available here at B&H Photo.
The Vanguard VEO 235AB tripod is a new part of the VEO travel line of tripods, monopods and camera bags. It is an ultra-compact tripod with 5 leg sections. [Read more…]
Syrp has updated the firmware for the original Genie to version 2.6. The new firmware adds teh ability to connect two Genies together for 2-axis control (pan and track).
This firmware update is also required for pairing the Genie with the Genie Mini for pan and track motion. In order to pair the devices together, you’ll also need to pic up the Syrp Sync Cable.
Also included in this update is enhanced preview accuracy, ‘non real-time’ preview and the ability to turn the LCD off during a recording, along with other bug fixes.
The new firmware can be downloaded from Syrp’s support page.
This short video from Profoto shows how shooting with high-speed sync flashes in daylight can help bring back details in the sky. The advantage of high-speed sync is that you can shoot at much higher shutter speeds than the x-sync rating of your camera. Most systems allow you to go up to 1/8000s, which means you can bring ambient light down without needing a ton of light from your flash.
In this case, they used a single B2 head in a softbox to balance the flash and ambient light. While the Profoto kits can be very expensive, the same effect can be achieved using smaller and more affordable speedlights. If name brand speedlight kits are still too expensive, third-party speedlights are available with the high-speed sync feature for less than $100.
The Lexar Professional Workflow HR2 Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 4-bay card reader hub is a solid and speedy solution for managing multiple media formats and multiple, simultaneous memory card imports.
The HR2 gives you four bays to mix and match however you want. If you shoot on only SD or CF cards, you can fill all the bays with SD card readers or CF card readers. This will allow you to import 4 cards simultaneously with a single Thunderbolt 2 (or Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 or USB 2.0) connection. [Read more…]