Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Lens Review

By

Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Lens-3

The Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens is built for APS-C format cameras, providing a 27-52.5mm equivalent full frame field of view. At 1.78 lbs, the lens is not quite a bear; however, you’ll definitely notice an increase and size and weight from other variable aperture zoom lenses built for APS-C cameras (e.g., Canon’s EF-S 18-135mm IS STM and Nikon’s 18-105mm VR). I equate the feel close to the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. [Read more…]

How to Combine Multiple Nighttime Exposures in Photoshop

By

In the above video, Adobe’s Russell Brown shows us how to combine multiple nighttime exposures together with Dr. Brown’s Stack-O-Matic script using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CC. By automatically creating layers set to lighten the layers are stacked with star trails revealed as you import them into Photoshop.

You can download the Stack-O-Matic script here on Russell Brown’s website.

Sin City vs. Smartphones

By

DSC01104-2

Vegas is a visually captivating place in many different ways. From people to architecture to gardens and stunning fountains, there is so much to take in and plenty of things to capture with your camera.

I set out one night during CES 2014 to capture images around the Strip in Vegas with the Sony A7R and Sonnar T* 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens. After walking a short distance from my hotel room, I couldn’t get past the sheer number of people consumed by their smartphones. Some people were taking photos with their phones; however, there were so many others just locked into consuming Facebook, texting or whatever might be entertaining on their phones.

While you will see behavior like this nearly everywhere in the world, the juxtaposition against the backdrop of Vegas was too much to ignore. As a result, I spent a good bit of my evening capturing images of people in front of the magnificent scenes or highly social settings while engrossed in a small LCD screen in the palm of their hand. [Read more…]

Olympus Developing 2 New M.ZUIKO PRO Lenses

By

Olympus 300mm f4 PRO

Olympus has announced the development of a pair of new M.ZUIKO PRO lenses – the M.ZUIKO DIGTAL ED 7-14mm F2.8 PRO and M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 300mm F4 PRO.

The new 7-14mm f/2.8 lens (14-28mm equivalent) is a weather-sealed lens that’s dustproof and splashproof designed with the ruggedness of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 in mind. The 300mm f/4 lens will yield a 600mm equivalent field of view with the Micro Four Thirds sensor of the E-M1 and other MFT cameras.

Both new lenses are scheduled to launch in 2015. No word yet on pricing.

Possible Class Action Suit for Frustrated Nikon D600 Customers Churning

By

Nikon D600

We are all well aware of the sensor dust spot complaints generated by Nikon D600 users. Nikon has yet to acknowledge a problem with the D600 . . . even though it launched a Nikon D610 with the only real upgrade being an improved shutter. In a service advisory about the D600 sensor dust problem, Nikon simply stated that the problem was “generally attributed to the natural accumulation of dust.” Recently, some customers have even received Nikon D610 units as their “fix” for a problematic D600 model sent in for a sensor cleaning.

US law firm Lieff Cabraser has posted an inquiry form soliciting information from Nikon D600 customers, which cites the D600 as an allegedly defective product and notes further that consumer protection laws may afford D600 customers an opportunity to bring a class action suit against Nikon for their troubles.  [Read more…]