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Sony A7 III: A9 Tech Meets Basic Full-Frame Model

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Focus Camera
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At about half the price, the Sony A7 III transforms A9 tech into a “basic full-frame model” that punches well above its weight class. It features a new back-illuminated 24.2MP sensor with 5-axis image stabilization, 4K video, and a world class autofocus system.

The ISO range of 100 – 51200 (expandable to ISO 50 – 204800 for still images) is enviable with a 15-stop dynamic range at low sensitivities, which should thrill low light enthusiasts.  Meanwhile, the improved autofocus includes eye-locking to follow faces (even when the eye is obscured) with the 693-point focal-plane phase-detection AF system inherited from the A9, which covers 93% of the frame.

Another place the A7 III shines is speed. The updated image processing system captures full res shots at up to 10 fps for 177 Standard JPEG images, 89 compressed RAW images or 40 uncompressed RAW images. Plus, the high speed mode offers completely silent shooting.

With all this tech, you might expect a shorter battery life – but at 710 shots per charge, it’s actually the longest rated battery life of any mirrorless! There’s even a bunch of nice little features like a joystick to adjust autofocus points, two SD card slots, and SuperSpeed USB capabilities.

Click here to view Sony A7 III product highlights.

Food Photography Tips for Beginners

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Focus Camera
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If you use Instagram, you’ve probably tried to compose some food photography. And it’s harder than it looks! Just like every kind of photography, there are a few rules we recommend to get started. Whether it’s choosing the right angle, avoiding hard shadows, or putting together the best background, here are some easy food photography tips for beginners that will make you say #yum.

Use Natural Light

There is one very simple rule when it comes to lighting for food photography. No flash! Flash creates harsh shadows, and makes your whole picture appear flat. Using natural light gives your subject(s) an appealing, soft look. At the same time, you want to avoid shooting in direct sunlight. Instead, we recommend shooting near a window with a sheer curtain or bounce card to balance harsh light.

Know Your Angle

We’ve all seen them – the bird’s eye food photography shots. Don’t get us wrong, we love a bird’s eye view of something delicious, but it isn’t your only angle choice. Especially with drinks, parfaits, and other vertical food items, shooting from the side offers a more appealing image.  If you want to split the difference, taking a picture at an angle (from a side and a bit up) offers some beautiful depth and realism.food photography

Consider Texture & Color

Texture and color are super important in food photography. Differentiating textures (like crunchy nuts in a silky smoothie or crisp julienned carrots in a chunky pumpkin soup) give your still life some dimension. For color, consider using the same pallet or tone. Bright, colorful desserts look great with pastels.  Meanwhile, soft browns and blues can accompany grey shells in seafood.  You might also electrify your image using opposite colors on the color wheel, like red and green.

Arrange Your Food

Don’t be afraid to experiment with how you arrange your food. While messy-chic is super cool, you might also consider spacing neatly. Vegetables and fruit, in particular, are fun to cut into similar shapes for visually appealing patterns. However, make sure to clean up any spills if you go this route, as patterns combined with messy-chic just looks chaotic. Leave some negative space in the image, too, to give your composition room to breathe.best food photography

Decorate Around the Food

Create a story! Adding props to your scene helps draw the audience into the image with a narrative. Fabric table clothes, marble counter tops, or repurposed wood tables are all good backgrounds to set. Spices, garnishes, and additional fruits or vegetables around the primary still life also make great decorations. Flowers or leaves, depending on the season, are another gentle touch. If you’re daring, you might also try silverware, aesthetically appealing books, or a human hand (attached to a body, of course).

Pick Your Lens

While 50mm lenses technically work well for anything, we actually recommend using a workhorse lens (we like this Canon 70-200mm zoom). This gives you the option of shifting between a classic 85mm portrait shot (because, let’s face it, a lot of food photography is basically food portraiture) and a macro shot. Get up nice and close to capture those details!

Be the envy of all your Instagram friends with delicious food photography. Be sure to consider color, texture, light, and arrangement when planning your edible still life. Plus, experiment with decorations and creative angles! While none of these techniques guarantee that your food will taste great, at least it will look like it does.

How to Build Your Own Photo Studio

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Focus Camera
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You’re finally ready. You’ve put it off for years, but it’s time to build your own photo studio. Whether in the spare bedroom or a joint space (or even your own actual studio – oh la la!), there are a few things you need to know about putting it all together.

Table of Contents

The Space

When it comes to finding the right space, think: privacy, room, and access to light. Especially at home, it’s hard to set up a studio space in the middle of everything. Nobody, not even your family, will appreciate tripping over wires and cables. If you are working in a shared or group space, make sure that you at least have room to zoom around. If you want to take full body shots, you typically want at least 20 feet to pull back.harprit-bola-239056-unsplash

Light

Consider the light, too. Do you want to use flash? For some beginner photographers, flash is intimidating. You have the option to work with big windows for soft, even light. However, if you want to work with flash, then you need to know what to do with ambient light. A windowless basement with high ceilings works well. (Remember, low ceilings will bounce light.) Otherwise, think about getting good, thick curtains – even blackout curtains.

Gear

You need a good backdrop, which means something seamless that creates a clean look (usually white or black). You can, in all truth, use a roll of white paper. For non-flash users, you can also get cheap foam core to use as bounce boards. Bounce boards help diffuse light to fill the dark side of a subject (or object). Consider a table for objects, too. Then, get clamps to hold your paper to the table.

If you’re going the natural light route, then all you need is a free window for light. However, for flash users, you need – erm, a flash – but also some sort of umbrella. Lasolite makes a silk one that we like. Or, use a soft box. Broncolor produces some really nice ones, too. You might even consider both and umbrella and a soft box, depending on what you shoot.

Between a large enough space, bright light, and the right gear, you’ve got your work cut out for you. While it takes a while to build your perfect photo studio, it’s a huge boon to work in your own space. Once complete, feel free to adapt and redesign as needed!

 

Better Product Photography Tutorial

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Focus Camera
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It’s no secret that better product photography translates to better sales. Customers interpret photographs as representations of overall product quality and brand reputability. However, hiring product photographers is expensive. If you already own the gear, learning to shoot better product photography yourself saves money and improves your website. We’ll tell you what you need to know to achieve professional looking product photography without the professional price tag.

What You’ll Need

A camera, obviously – but you also need a tripod, white background, bounce cards, and a table at minimum. The white background helps give your products a clean, detailed look – as opposed to look book images, which incorporate products into a styled setting. The tripod, as always, steadies your shot. (There is no way around it! You need a tripod.) As for the camera, most DSLRs or mirrorless cameras will do. You only need around 20MP without expensive ISO abilities.  Whatever you have – it’s probably fine. You might consider a macro lens for shooting smaller products, but something like a regular portrait lens also works for regular sized items.

If you plan to use window light as opposed to flash, we also recommend foam board to make bounce cards (or buying them separately). Set them up across from the window to decrease the shadowy side. Without bounce cards, the shadow side will likely render one part of the image too dark to use. We know it sounds like an easy hack to skip it, but the bounce card really is necessary!

Plan Your Shots

Create a shot list. Yes, even for items! Many photographers are familiar with shots lists for say, weddings, but knowing which items to shoot in which order makes a big difference. Each item gets its own ‘call time’ to keep on schedule. Your call sheet should include which angles and features to hit for each product. (For example, any special patterns or accents are good attributes to feature.) At the very least, you should take a picture of the back and the front of every item.

How to Shoot

Start by setting up your white background (which, frankly, might as well be white background paper), and position it on your table with tape. Secure your tripod and DSLR or mirrorless, and set your bounce cards up on the opposite side of the product. Since you don’t want direct sunlight hitting your product, it’s a good idea to situate the table adjacent to the window. Larger windows produce softer light. Next, set your white balance with a grey card, and turn off your flash settings.  We recommend also photographing in RAW format to give you better versatility and control in post-production. From there, it’s all about the test shots. We recommend shooting with ISO 100 and positioning yourself as close as possible to the product – but it’s up to you.

Give yourself some credit. You’re learning a new skill! It’s likely to start out a little rough around the edges, but better product photography is really just a matter of patience, practice, and planning. Take a picture and assess. Move the bounce cards around to experiment with light. Heck, move the table around. Check your histogram! Switch out your lenses. You’ll find something you like.

 

3 NYC African American Photographers to Watch for Black History Month

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Focus Camera
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This Black History Month, we’re all about celebrating the African American and African Diaspora photographers who contribute to New York’s thriving artistic community. From commercial to street photography, to music and travel, we’re excited to showcase three of our favorite photographers to follow this February and beyond.

William Ruben Helms

The mind behind The Joy of Violent Movement, William Ruben Helms is an independent blogger and photographer who covers, among other things, the musical “styles of Africa, hip-hop, punk rock, post punk, heavy metal, psych rock, indie rock, folk, country, Latin music, [and] soul.” A photographer for over 15 years, his eclectic tastes (partially influenced by growing up in Queens, “arguably one of the most diverse places in the entire world”) drive him to document a wide variety of artists. After working with various editors on stories ranging from nightlife to literature, Helms went live with The Joy of Violent Movement in June 2010 to cover a greater swath of musical talent from across the U.S – and in New York’s music scene, specifically. “I had a falling out with an editor over covering someone, who I thought was worthy [of being covered] – and that the editor, for some reason, didn’t get or appreciate,” he says. “And I realized that personally, I never wanted to have that conversation or argument ever again; that it was time for me to go out on my own and cover whatever I wanted with my own take.” Full of grace, beauty, and (yes) some violent movement, Helms’ stills and video are evocative, emotive portraits of artists in motion.

Gear of Choice: “I’m currently shooting with a brand new Canon 77D, which I’m still learning, and admittedly, it’s a massive upgrade from the Canon T1i I had been shooting with for the bulk of The Joy of Violent Movement’s history. In terms of lenses, I’m shooting primarily with a Canon 28-70mm f/2.8 – and while it doesn’t give me the type of zoom of my old 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6, it’s a pretty good all purpose, all conditions lens with a decent aperture size. I’ll use a 50mm whenever I’m in some extremely dark or smoke machine-filled room. I have a beaten up 70-300mm that I’ll use to create some great close ups with a gentle blurred background – or when I’m far away from my subject for some reason.”

Cheryl Bowers

For Cheryl Bowers, photography is in her blood. “My father, Harold Lee Bowers, was a freelance photographer way before I was born,” she says. “I feel like it was installed in me. I began shooting about 5 years ago when I was laid off from a job that I held for more than 4 years [–] painting theatrical and prescription contact lenses.” Not sure what to do next, Bowers started driving home. She noticed crowds gathering in Marietta Square in Marietta, Georgia. “As I got a little closer, I realized that they were filming for Dumb and Dumber To. So I felt like that was my moment and opportunity to get some great shots of some of the characters on set, including Jim Carrey. I did so, and I went home to edit them and […] received great feedback.” From there, she started answering requests to photograph parties and special events. Bowers also photographs beautifully intimate portraits. “I am interested in getting to know who I’m photographing. I want to know their future goals, favorite colors,” she says. “I want to get to know their soul.” And it shows. She shoots in black and white because “it tells a deeper story.” Living in Brooklyn, too, affects her process. “Photography here is endless,” she says. “Brooklyn is such a photographic place…it’s almost magical. I am inspired by the history and the people of Brooklyn [—] especially the ones on the subway. Just to know that Jackie Robinson played baseball at Ebbets Field, [or that] Spike Lee filmed some great films here.”

Gear of Choice: “I keep it simple. I am a huge fan of Canon. Currently I shoot with a Canon 77D. The Canon 77D has better resolution than my Canon T5 did. Also, it is very light. No one wants to carry around a heavy camera around. The battery life is dope.  I can roughly get about 600 shots out of the battery life. I also shoot with an iPhone 6. I do a lot of my street and black and white shots along with the VSCO camera.”

Justin Carter

While he shoots digital as well, Justin Carter prefers to think of himself as film photographer first. “I honestly don’t think my digital photographs compare to the ones I had to really sit down and think about,” he says. Film limits his ability to edit in post-production, which Carter finds challenging and thrilling. “I started in the darkroom.” These days, his passion for film includes instant film. “I really love the peel apart Polaroids because you get a print and a negative,” he says. “And the Polaroid Sx-70 is just an instant classic. You feel that you’ve put a border around an old world, actively shaping a new frontier with your images.”

Through his website, Expanding Westward, Carter spends a lot of time chasing that frontier. “Traveling is an exhaustive process but in the best kind of way,” he says. “You’re subject to anything imaginable. All of the sights, smells, colors, and atmosphere really brings you out of your own element and you’re forced to observe and adapt.” Whether trekking through Brazil or hanging out of fire escapes in Brooklyn, travel “really open[s] my eye. Have you ever been to a location that just feels charged with a new energy? You can open the doors and shatter your old perceptions to create new work and establish meaning.”Gear of Choice: “These days I’m shooting with a Mamiya RB67, a Leica M6 and a Sony a7II. I switch it off depending on the project. I’m going to be in love with film forever and the more mechanical the process for me—the better. I honestly don’t think my digital photographs compare to the ones I had to really sit down and think about. […] When I’m in the darkroom or even get color negatives back it still feels like magic. I love the Sony interface and sensor. It helps to have a nice reliable tool to make images, especially the night sky.”

Featured image by Justin Carter. 

 

Why We Love Pancake Lenses

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Focus Camera
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A pancake lens is exactly what it sounds like: a thin, flat lens with a short barrel. Compact with fewer lens elements, these pocketable accessories nevertheless provide quality optics. They even make a nice alternative to point and shoots when placed on compact DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Traditionally, pancake lenses are wide angle primes, but today’s selection is a bit more diverse – some even come in short telephotos! Suffice to say, there’s a lot to love about these under sung lenses.

Table of Contents

Compact

Most obviously, pancake lenses are compact, which makes them great travel companions, whether that travel is through the streets of New York or the mountains of Colorado. In fact, their unobtrusive nature lends pancake lenses to intimate encounters. If you’re in a situation where a big lens seems flashy or flagrant, then a pancake lens is a better bet.

Lightweight

As a related factor, pancake lenses are lightweight. Not only do they take up less physical space, but they’re less to lug around. If you’re going into the wilderness, you’re in luck as most pancake lenses offer wide angles. You’ll get lots of beautiful, sweeping nature shots with extra space and weight in your pack for necessities. You might consider a pancake lens as an alternative to a nice point and shoot while hiking for this reason.

Price

For what you get, pancake lenses are usually pretty inexpensive! You can get a pancake lens for as little as $150, when a regular lens of the same angle can run you almost $2K. When it comes to expanding your lens arsenal, pancake lenses are an inexpensive way to move forward.

Pancake lenses are typically wide-ish prime lenses for mirrorless or DSLR cameras. They’re extremely useful due to their small size, lack of heft, and compact frame. Plus, pancake lenses retain the enhanced optics of larger lenses, so you’re still getting a nice piece of equipment!

Overview: Panasonic Lumix GH5S is a Videographer’s Dream

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Focus Camera
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To say at the GH5S is the GH5 for videographers is a bit of a generalization, but not untrue. It’s certainly a niche model that, at $500 extra, won’t necessarily appeal to a wider swath of photographers – which is a shame, as it’s a great camera. Yet for documentarists, videographers, indie directors and the like, this is the Panasonic they’ve been waiting for.

To start, the GH5S actually has a REC button (a bright red one)! Videographers have been begging for a REC button on mirrorless cameras for a while now, so it’s an especially welcome addition. The rest of the design is super lightweight, which comes at the cost of internal image stabilization. There’s also the option to charge over USB, which makes longer shoots easier with an external battery.

What you’re likely to notice from specs is the lack of megapixels: the GH5S has half the number of megapixels (10.2) as the GH5. But it’s actually good news! Since there aren’t so many pixels crowding the sensor, each pixel is larger. Larger pixels mean better light sensitivity and a boost to low light performance. It still shoots 4K (actually, above 4K: DCI 4K). That wider aspect ratio is extra nice in that can film slow-mo video without reducing resolution.

Like the GH5, the GH5S films 4:2:2 10 bit video for better control over color in post-production. Plus, Panasonic uses something called dual native ISO to produce the same dynamic range performance at two different ISO settings (in this case, 400 and 2,500). It ensures higher sensitivity without increased noise. Ultimately, this translates to more flexibility when shooting – what’s not to like?

We love that Panasonic put out this camera, which may not suit everyone but will thrill its fan base. From good design to great low light capture, we adamantly recommend this little beaut of a mirrorless. If you’re professional videographer or an enthusiast looking for the next step up, this is your camera.

Our Top 4 Best Cameras for Videographers

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Focus Camera
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best videographer camera

We get asked about the best cameras for videographers pretty regularly (because it ain’t just camcorders anymore) – so we made a list of our favorites! As a rule, DSLR and mirrorless models with fast autofocuses double as great video cameras. Sony, in particular, makes wonderful videographer-centric mirrorless cameras. (After all, they crafted camcorders for years before transitioning over to mirrorless cameras for digital video.) Plus, Panasonic and Nikon both deliver pretty exceptional video models.

Panasonic Lumix GH5S

The newest of the four, the Panasonic Lumix GH5S is a video-focused Micro Four Thirds mirrorless. It lowers the sensor resolution all the way down to 10.2MP (but you know how we feel about uselessly big megapixel counts). By decreasing the number of megapixels, Panasonic transforms their base GH5 into a GH5S with super increased light sensitivity. Low light shooting possibilities! Plus, it films DCI 4K at up to 60p for more detailed motion capture. 

Sony a7SII

Rumor has it that Sony will announce the a7SIII at NAB this year, handing off the torch from the a7SII. However, until we have that camera in our hands, it’s all just speculation. The Sony a7SII is king of video, at least for now.  Consistently the best seller of mirrorless video cameras, the Sony a7SII features internal 4K and 5-Axis SteadyShot for stabilization with fewer overheating issues than its competitors. Plus, it’s cleaner in low light (the case with a7s cameras) and features improved noise reduction – always great for video recording! Ultimately, the a7SII is very much a little ‘all in one’ device for videographers.best video cameras

Sony a6500

At around $1.4K, the Sony a6500 is a deeply affordable option for photographers with an eye for video. Complete with zebra warnings to help set ISO, the a6500 is super quick to focus and dependable with subject tracking – even when focusing wide-aperture lenses. The impressive 4K shooting features excellent image quality and detail retention that’s at least as good as anything else in class. Additionally, 5-axis in-body image stabilization, while pretty standard these days, is still very useful. It uses phase detection autofocus in video mode, which means that the camera doesn’t disrupt footage during captures.best camera video

Nikon D810

Four years old at this point, the Nikon D810 is still a videographer’s friend. The biggest jump between the D800 and the D810 was with video features (like the flat video file, which improves adaptability in post). Plus, the D810 films with zebra stripes to show whether or not the shot is exposed correctly. Meanwhile, auto ISO mode with manual aperture and shutter speed modes helps the camera adjust to lighting changes during video. Power aperture, on the other hand, changes aperture while rolling video. If you’re a DSLR user, the D810 is probably your best bet!videographer camera

Both Sony cameras and the new Panasonic are great mirrorless options for video. If you’ve got your heart set on a DSLR, then the Nikon D810 is the way to go. For the least expensive model, we recommend the Sony a6500, while Sony a7SII makes the most sense if you want work with the least gear. For the best low light shooting, the Panasonic Lumix GH5S puts them all to shame.

Overview: Pentax K-1, Our Longtime Favorite

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Focus Camera
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The sturdy Pentax K-1 is one of our longtime favorites. A few years old, sure, but still a great full frame option for Pentax users – and non-Pentax users! The excellent image quality, combined with ergonomic and compact build, wide sensitivity range, and bright viewfinder are all serious pros. (And it’s under 2K!)

We’re still big fans of its CMOS sensor, which comes in at a respectable 36.2 megapixels. One of our favorite features is the 5-axis image stabilization, which lets you stop down 5 stops; meaning you can leave the shutter open for quite a long time in low light before it blurs the image.  Additionally, the anti-aliasing filter simulation safeguards against unpleasant moiré by vibrating the sensor during exposure to blur high frequency detail.  Meanwhile, Pentax’s highly praised Pixel Shift Resolution processes four rapid succession images (at different exposures) to combine for one better color resolution image.

Similarly, the dynamic range is very good. Fstoppers went as far as to call it “close to being ISO invariant,” which means that there is little penalty noise of you brighten a photograph in post. You can underexpose images without losing a whole lot of quality later on, which offers a ton of versatility.

As for design and handling, the Pentax K-1 is still hard to beat. For a full frame DSLR, it’s super light and comfortable. Plus, this is a rugged machine – 87 points of weather sealing and all. You can count on it out in the wilderness with light rain showers. The menu system, moreover, is customizable to display info. And, in addition to standard dial modes, there are five (count ‘em) customizable slots to select specific aperture and shutter speeds.

If you’re a Pentax user looking to go full frame, then this is your camera. (It’s, er, your only Pentax full frame option – but it’s genuinely really good!) At over 36MP with great dynamic range and near ISO invariance, there’s plenty of room to play around.  Don’t discount it just because it’s a bit old! The right camera doesn’t necessarily mean the newest.

 

 

Looking Forward with Photography Releases 2018

By
Keith Rodman
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With CES behind us, we’re excited to talk shop about some of our favorite cameras and accessories to expect for 2018. Camera brands played their cards close to their chests this year at CES, so there is nothing mind-blowing like a full framed Mirrorless from Nikon or Canon to report. But there are a few fun announcements. Moreover, we’ve kept our eyes peeled on rumor boards, and we’re ready to give a rundown of what to look for in 2018!

GoPro Fusion

While we’ve known about the GoPro Fusion 360 for a minute, it’s still worth the mention. It was a big hit at CES (360 cameras like the Ricoh Theta are the current darlings of photography world). The Fusion delivers 5.2K video – a bit better than its competitors – and is waterproof up to 5 meters.  Plus, it captures more traditional windows within the spherical footage with OverCapture software.

Panasonic GH5S

The Panasonic GH5S was announced at CES. As with most of the GH series, the GH5S was created with videographers in mind. Where it shines newly, however, is with low light video capture. By decreasing the number of megapixels, Panasonic transitions from a 20MP GH5 to a 10.2MP Four Thirds camera with super increased light sensitivity. Its Dual Native ISO Technology generates bimodal noise distribution, which according to CNET, “creates a bimodal noise distribution (around ISO 400 and ISO 2500) to reduce the ranges across which it has to apply noise suppression.”

Polaroid OneStep 2

This CES announcement takes us back. A new spin on the original 1977 Polaroid OneStep, it’s an easy to use instant camera for under $100. (We’re suckers for the nostalgic instant film revival!) The USB rechargeable battery offers an up to 60 day lifespan with powerful flash and self-timer option.

Sony A6700

Sadly, while there was no official announcement for the A6700, there are quite a few healthy rumors about it. This upcoming Sony APS-C flagship Mirrorless is supposedly slated for release in 2018 (probably the second half). According to the rumor boards, we can expect an improved electronic shutter, greater reactivity, adjustable touchscreen monitor, double exposure and other goodies.

Nikon Full Frame Mirrorless

Another favorite rumor: a Nikon Full Frame Mirrorless. Nikon and Canon have notoriously shunned Full Frame Mirrorless cameras to prevent inter-brand competition with their DSLRs. However, we hear that Nikon is slated to announce a camera at CP+ in March this year. We don’t have a lot of information on what to expect, but suffice to say, we’re excited to find out!

Moving into 2018, it appears camera brands aren’t looking to divulge too much too soon. CES might not have been the whirlwind of photography releases we were hoping for, but we’re excited for CP+. From instant film to Mirrorless systems, we’re thrilled to see what new releases and surprises 2018 brings.

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