Book Review by Natalie Field
Title: Shoot and Share by Stuart Sipahigil
Format: eBook
Available at Craft and Vision, www.craftandvision.com
As photographers, we are constantly capturing the world around us; be it for personal pleasure, or commercial projects. But how do we follow through and make our art accessible to the general public? Too often, great images are left forgotten in shoe boxes and on hard drives. Stuart Sipahigil’s eBook “Shoot + Share” sheds light on this dilemma.
The NEX-7 is Sony’s latest mirrorless camera and it sits at the top of their NEX range. It’s an all metal, APS-C sized sensor equipped machine, intended for professionals. It features the same 24 megapixel sensor and OLED viewfinder from the Alpha 77 and Alpha 65. Essentially, the NEX 7 is almost identical in specification and performance to the Alpha 77, but packaged in a far smaller body.
We apologize for the error in the image accompanying this article in our print edition
I admit that when the Canon EOS 5D Mark III was announced, I figured – for the price difference – one would be better off getting the older Mark II. On paper, sure there are some differences, but I doubt it would justify upgrading if you already have a Mark II. Then, last week, during a brief stop at Canon’s offices, I was given the Mark III to play with for a few minutes. I quickly realized that my thinking could be very wrong.
Last week we announced the latest release in the Craft & Vision eBook range, “Forget Mugshots”. We asked fashion and portrait photographer, Natalie Field, to review and share her thoughts on it.
Title: Forget Mugshots: 10 steps to better portraits by David Duchemin
Format: eBook
Available at Craft and Vision, www.craftandvision.com
This is a guest post by Robbie Aspeling. A fellow photographer and Minolta/Sony shooter from many years.
As happens every now and again, I manage to get my grubby little paws on some new kit. In this case it was the newly announced Sony A57 DSLT (Digital Single Lens Translucent) camera. This is one of the new technology cameras that Sony are now making which have a translucent mirror instead of the traditional DSLR, whose mirror flaps out of the way when an exposure is made. Much has been said about the pros and cons of DSLT technology, but I find that the pros far outweigh any cons. This coming from my using traditional DSLR’s for far longer than I care to remember. Some main differences are that the mirror no longer has to move out of the way when an exposure is made. This gives the ability of a much faster frame per second (fps) vs traditional DSLR’s, as well as having an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The EVF can now show additional information such as the actual value of settings, as well as the real effect of these different settings that the photographer has selected. The live view is direct and covers 100% of the frame. In other words, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).
‘Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It’ is another brilliant addition to the Scott Kelby book collection. Those who are familiar with the acclaimed author know that his books are always detailed, informative, and useful.
My first impression (when I looked at the caption on the cover: “Learn Step By Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image”) was: “This is going to take me forever to get through!” I was mistaken. There are plenty of pictures! After all; what use is a book if there are no pictures in it?
(Review by Natalie Field)
As the title indicates, this eBook by Frye is all about exposure for outdoor photography.
This read is a short introduction to the fundamentals of photography: exposure, sharpness and ultimately, the message. Referred to by Frye as the “Exposure Triangle”, he covers the basic controls of exposure: shutter speed, aperture and ISO. He also teaches the reader how to select from the camera’s various metering and exposure modes, and to make educated decisions using digital tools like the histogram.
Article by Scott Hutchison
Tristan Hall asked me last week if I would like to give my thoughts and feelings on the Leica M9. He told me that I would have free reign on length, but that I should write an article – and include some pictures – that I would be interested in reading.
“Wonderful!” I thought. “A chance to have my feelings about the pinnacle of German consumer photographic technology be read by the fine fans of PhotoComment.net and by people all around the planet!” Little did Tristan know that he had just requested work by an illiterate Canadian massage therapist/photographer who likes to shoot Sony DSLRs, film rangefinders, iPhones, and has a tendency to have his sentences run on and on… So don’t be surprised if car crashes, explosions, and full-frontal nudity find their way into my Leica M9 camera review, or – at the very least – some spelling and grammatical errors. And “review” might also be too strong of a word… Perhaps a word such as “confession” would be better suited.
The Nikon 1 system of cameras and lenses marks quite a radical leap of change for Nikon. Having used the F-mount on their SLR’s for 55 years, spanning both the film and digital age, the Nikon 1 marks many firsts for the brand.
On paper, many things about the Nikon 1 system are simply mind blowing. To me though, on the flip side of the coin, many specs defy logic. And I suspect that I’m not the only one who sees it that way. As a result, it has taken a lot of global criticism since it’s launch, but I’ll speak more about its negative attributes later.
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Recently Armani posted his review of the Olympus TG-810. A few weeks prior to his chilling experience in an icy winter pool we decided to put the smaller Olympus TG-610 through a Tough Test – pun intended – and see if it could survive being strapped to a rugby ball at Pirates Rugby Club practice. The result, better than us or any of the rugby team expected, not even a scratch. Check it out or read on for my thoughts on the camera further.
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We have just returned from the South African launch of the Nikon 1 series and got to go hands on with the new J1 and V1. Nikon claim this is the most important announcement they have made in 14 years when they first announced their entry to digital cameras, but is it all they hope it to be? Read on for our first impressions.
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We have a confession to make, this camera came into our hands almost right after it was announced. So why the delay in getting the review out? Firstly it came with firmware that was not final. Two days later, just moments after updating to firmware version 1.00, we got a message that there was another update and we have only been able to get that update done in the last few days. So, without further delay, let us dive into the Sony Alpha A77.
Ring flashes are different to regular flashes in that they offer nearly shadowless on camera images . The light surrounds the lens meaning there is no single shadow but instead a slightly dark but diffused shadow that goes around the subject. You’ll often see these lights used in music videos on MTV or in high glamour fashion shoots in glossy magazines as they create quite a dramatic and glamorous style of lighting, partially because they create very attractive catch lights in the eyes of the model. Continue reading »
The NEX-C3 is the third Sony mirrorless camera to hit the market and replaces the NEX-3. If you are not familiar with what mirrorless cameras are all about let us briefly explain. Part of the reason DSLR cameras are as big as they are is the mirror that allows light coming through the lens to bounce into a prism and out a viewfinder so that we can see what the lens is seeing. By removing the mirror and prism, the camera can be a lot smaller. The question now is, how does the NEX-C3 compare against it’s predecessor?
Look, up there on top that Canon! Is it a flash? Is it a video? No its the Canon Speedlite 320EX. More powerful than your pop up flash gun. Able to shed a little video light on an otherwise dark subject. Capable of firing your camera like a remote control trigger. That’t right, this little flash has a built in remote control for your camera. The question is, does this Swiss Army like flash gun really work or does it have the potential to “go go gadget failure”.
Picking up the Canon EOS 600D for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting much from the 600D, it being just a step up from entry level in the Canon range. The camera is comfortable to hold and will be familiar to anyone who has used Canon before.
A while ago we brought you a review of the GoldenPic Lite App for Android. Last week we received the link to the new iPhone version of this app, which is now available on the App Store for $4.99.
The concept of the app is still the same, pick a location and the app will tell you when the golden hour for photography is. ie When is the best time to take photos at that location. Continue reading »
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