It’s no more secret that Sony, the probably most innovative and aggressive camera manufacturer these days, aims for the top spot in the digital imaging world. And boy are they on track, poised to steal more photographers’ hearts, first and foremost with their full-frame formula making photographers’ longed for dream of compact digital full-frame come […]
Was taken aback by this first Facebook commercial released at the same time the social media giant got its one billionth user. Every 7th mortal a Facebooker, can you imagine? Well the ad is surprisingly philosophical, poetic and emotional, that’s quite a feat and unlike anything Facebook stands for or is perceived as. The video’s […]
Lovely piece in the New York Times on the latest fad in Hollywood: Click if You Can Afford It. You won’t read it in the Technology, but Fashion & Style section, as the article is about Leica cameras favored by celebrities: The latest status symbol in Hollywood, it seems, is not the 8 p.m. reservation […]
Canon and Nikon, world’s biggest, most powerful camera makers, tried to avoid the inevitable since the birth of system cameras. With the recent launch of own lines of compact system cameras they finally gave in to reality: After 70 years of SLR rule, a changing of the guard takes place in the camera market. The […]
Digital photography is not only a boon to camera makers, but also for us who are so lusting after ever new gear. Back in the days when you bought a film camera, the model’s next series could only have minor improvements. That’s the nature of film photography. Autofocusing was about the biggest revolution in decades. […]
Everyone is a photographer these days, everyone has a camera. There’s hardly anything left in the world that doesn’t yet exist as a photographed clone. The world is full of little HCBs and countless casual shooters aiming their camera at everything — even at the most private or meaningless stuff. It is estimated that last […]
By HANK FAN Consider this list of the most famous photographers in history: Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, William Eggleston. I know I missed quite a few. Talent aside, do you know what they all had in common? They all came from wealthy families. This is a theme […]
This post gonna be a bit longish, so let’s get on with it. At the recent Alpbach Forum, U.S. technology lobbyist Robert Atkinson did not haver. “The Asian economy is essentially based on the copying and stealing of intellectual property,” Atkinson said according to futurezone.at. “If you’re good at it and, as the Chinese, don’t […]
Not too much to disclose yet, but expect two major Fujifilm announcements for Photokina 2012. Models in question? It’s highly likely that two new X series models will be launched. One low-end, one high-end. It’s not that difficult to guess which one(s). My money’s first on the X100. Stocks run low and we had the […]
By MING THEIN What do cameras, watches and handbags have in common? Easy: for the most part, they’re luxury items. The most basic entry-level models have long past the point of sufficiency; if you can’t get a good image out of a Nikon D3200, then you should be examining your technique, not your camera body. […]
A few years ago, when the Sony Alpha lineup was still more concept than reality, a good photographer friend of mine who was the sole importer and distributor of Olympus E-System gear gave up on Olympus and switched over to Sony’s nascent DSLRs. Not that he didn’t like Olympus. The potential and future he saw […]
So you love photography. How about your gear? Are you pampering your camera more than your partner? One might come to think that the perfect condition of gear can be more important than images. There are other unhelpful photography habits, such as the camera without strap — doomed to drop — or lots of post-processing […]
There is no true photography. And that’s the beauty of it. Styles change. Remember the Group f/64. With one of the masters of 20th century photography, Edward Weston. Everything should be altogether sharp. Group f/64 was more than a club of artists. It was photography as a socio-political movement. The late 1920s and early 1930s […]
Am not saying I’m a good photographer. Just average. Newer cameras — and older ones for that — easily surpass my and many photographers’ capabilities. BTW, what’s about to follow is pure heresy for some, asking that I’m hanged, drawn and quartered. Still, in dubio pro reo… There are the basic rules though no one […]
By JAMES DIGIORGIO There was a time, not too long ago in fact, when my camera was a money machine. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never made Annie Leibovitz money, not even remotely close, but my camera(s) afforded me a pretty decent living. Unfortunately, that was then. As for now? Well, let’s just say I […]
By STEVE GIRALT Unlike most photographers, I hate my camera. I have read hundreds of stories on the Internet where photographers argue about which cameras are the best and why. There are stories trying to prove Canon is better than Nikon, or that 4×5 film is better than medium format digital. Camera review websites show […]
It’s an easy way out to add that certain je ne sais quoi to images: bokeh. What looked flat and lost in an unattractive background suddenly looks nicer. Now here’s the challenge: Do you ever try, intentionally, to avoid bokeh altogether? Look at the world’s most famous photographers. They’re not after nice bokeh. Especially if […]
At least they give their cameras different names. But in principle they’re releasing very similar products at very similar times. Copycats. Just take the recent release of the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800. They were announced within not even a month. Now the next battle of similar market targets is looming. We […]
The recent spate of smaller and smaller and more and more powerful cameras has brought forth new talk about sensor sizes. Let’s assume sensor size does matter — or doesn’t it? Or only conditionally? The bigger the better? Greetings from Dr. Freud. The whole crowd will just stand back to make way for you with […]
Just when digital photography makes the life of a photographer easier than ever there is this new trend: film is back. Noisy, grainy, less convenient film. Not only is it more and more difficult and time-consuming to develop a role of film as compared to just uploading digital images. You’re limited to the 36 shots […]
There’s this ingenious marketing campaign by ingeniously named IT’SUGAR. The campaign is more than an eye-catcher. It’s a liberation theory. With one core phrase that looks like a variation of a good photographer’s mantra: “Shoot First. Ask later.” IT’SUGAR loudly suggests: Asking for forgiveness instead of permission. A kind of like Nike’s “Just Do It” […]
(Update: Well yes, digital full-frame cameras do become part of mainstream, as the Nikon D600 and Sony RX1 suggest…) Rumor has it that Canon does not just have any other digital full-frame camera on the horizon, as CanonRumors reports. According to CanonWatch the market leader will soon announce an entry-level full-frame camera with a price […]
Granted, I’m in love with cheap point-and-shoot cameras — confessions right here. They’ve become so powerful, for desktop and Web publishing their output is good enough. On a recent U.S. trip we resisted the temptation of dragging along the big gear and were shooting exclusively with another Fujifilm FinePix F — love those cams. They’re […]
By RONN ALDAMAN Many people say today’s digital imaging sensors deliver quality comparable to film. Two of today’s questions on many a photographer’s mind are: 1) The difference between digital and film photography, and; 2) Would Henri Cartier-Bresson have used a digital camera today? Of course, we will never know. The master died in 2004, […]
So you need to buy new gear. Or rather: want new gear. Best is to make it look like that’s what your woman wants: “Honey, these new presets and filters, that sensor, the glass! You’ll look amazing, you’ll love what I must have…” It’s not that easy, isn’t it. A woman has generally no clue […]
Mortgage the house? Make that trip around the world? Or instead buy a single (!) camera body with a single (!) lens?! To buy a Leica or not… There’s hardly a photographer who has never fought with this question. The issue has been beaten to death. There’s no common ground between the yeasayers and naysayers, […]
