Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera Setup 2.6. The new camera software adds support in the Blackmagic URSA for the new URSA Viewfinder that was announced back at NAB 2015.
Additionally, the URSA gets an option to display timecode input by tapping on the timecode display, along with various other performance enhancements and improvements that are not itemized.
More details available here on Blackmagic’s website.
A couple minutes into this video, you see teenager Erynn Johns and her dad, Derrick Johns, get pulled out from the shore in a riptide. As they struggled to make it back to shore, a good samaritan swam out to Erynn and towed her to shore with her selfie stick. [Read more…]
When Nikon announced its new AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR lens earlier this month, it was supposed to ship by late August. Now, Nikon Japan is saying that the lens is being delayed with an official released date in October 2015.
No real details for the cause of the delay were released other than the expected comments about “final adjustments” in the lead up to the launch. You can still pre-order the new lens here at B&H Photo.
Looking to make your drone footage a little less like consumerish video and a little more cinematic? Check out this video with 15 great tips on making your drone footage more cinematic.
[via Tuts+]
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.