REVIEW : Nikon's D5500 - Is This Your Best Choice for Your First DSLR?

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REVIEW : Nikon's D5500 - Is This Your Best Choice for Your First DSLR?

You want a camera.  Or you want to give someone a gift of a camera.  The decision is to go with a DSLR and now it's time to shop.  Then you go to the big box store, or the dedicated photo shop, or you sit in the kitchen shopping online, but in the end you come away frustrated because there are so many choices and when you find something that looks decent, you immediately find a review from someone who hates the thing.  Arrgghhh!   I cannot promise that this article will make your life easier, but if you are seeking a DSLR for the starting or growing photographer, you should take a look at the D5500 from Nikon.

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Canon and Mirrorless : Two Roads Seemingly Doomed Not to Meet

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Canon and Mirrorless : Two Roads Seemingly Doomed Not to Meet

The saga of Canon mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras is a sad one.  The M1 was not successful.  The M2 never came to North America.  The M3 made it here after long delays.  On October 13th, Canon announced the M10.  After looking at the specifications, and Canon's state target market, I really think that they have to stop dropping acid.

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REVIEW : Limelite Mosaic LED Panel by Bowens

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REVIEW : Limelite Mosaic LED Panel by Bowens

Over the last couple of years, some peers have started referring to me as the Light Whisperer.  I choose to take it as a compliment because I love working with light, be it the big source in the sky, flash or continuous light.  I started doing this stuff back when continuous light meant tungsten bulbs that were hot and somewhat unwieldy.  Later came fluorescents, either in the form of the big curlicue bulbs such as those used by Westcott in their excellent Spiderlite systems or the non-flickering perfectly balanced tubes in my beloved Kino Flo lights.  LED panels were initially super expensive and fairly dim so you needed a lot to get a little.  That's changed and a killer offering in the LED space comes from Bowens in the Limelite Mosaic.

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Quick Look : Canon 5DS - Current Megapixel King (35mm Full Frame at Least)

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Quick Look : Canon 5DS - Current Megapixel King (35mm Full Frame at Least)

Despite reasonable arguments to the contrary, there's still a very strong perception that more megapixels are better, even when comparing on the same size sensor.  It means that each individual photo receptor is smaller, and that means less light sensitive but the theory is that this is balanced out by increased detail and sharpness.  Canon, as of this article, currently rules the megapixel roost in 35mm full frame with the Canon 5Ds and Canon 5Dsr cameras.  The questions to ask are what does 50 megapixels bring you, and what do you give up?

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REVIEW : The Profoto B2 Off Camera Flash System

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REVIEW : The Profoto B2 Off Camera Flash System

When hot shoe flash just doesn't have enough oomph, photographers go to studio strobes.  The challenge with strobes has always been availability of power.  Most major strobe vendors have developed high output battery pack systems so AC is not always required, but these packs have been in most cases heavy and expensive.  Profoto released the self-contained B1 series a while back and they have been very successful.  Now available is the B2 system which uses an external generator pushing 250ws.  It's pricey so let's have a look.

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QUICK LOOK : Hahnel CAPTUR Remote Triggers and Timer

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QUICK LOOK : Hahnel CAPTUR Remote Triggers and Timer

For a number of years, my go to wireless remote system was a Hahnel Giga T Pro.  It worked very well, but I was often perturbed because the user interface was not very intuitive and I always had to go back to the manual when some time had passed without me using it.  The Giga T Pro has been replaced by the Captur system.  Let's see if it improves on things.

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Lenses for Sony Mirrorless Systems

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Lenses for Sony Mirrorless Systems

Let's cut to the chase here.  Sony makes brilliant sensors.  They understand video at a level not found in many other places.  While the company struggles in other lines of business, Sony's photo business continues to do well.  Despite false starts like the failed smart phone clip on lens/camera, Sony gets Compact System Cameras (CSC)  Continued evolution of their lines has produced a series of winners.  Recently they released the A7 Mk II, a mirrorless with high megapixels and superb dynamic range.  So why isn't the world going to Sony?

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Which REBEL are you? The Canon Rebel T6i vs the Canon Rebel T6s

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Which REBEL are you? The Canon Rebel T6i vs the Canon Rebel T6s

When it comes to consumer level DSLRs, no branding is better known than the Canon Rebel line.  Potential buyers still walk into stores and say "I want a Rebel".  Good on Canon for getting the marketing right and remaining consistent in their messaging.  With the latest release cycle, the Rebel lineup forks, so it's worthwhile to take a look at what's happening.

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The DXO ONE - has a great company lost their mind?

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The DXO ONE - has a great company lost their mind?

DXO is well respected for their lens analysis tools and their excellent DXO Optics post-processing software.  So I was quite interested when I started getting seed emails saying the DXO was going to change the face of photography.  Was it some new amazing software?  A new way to process RAW images?  A new way to correct for lens issues?  Umm.  No.  It's a camera that you stick to your smartphone...

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REVIEW : Canon 11-24 f/4 L - It is MAGNIFICENT!

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REVIEW : Canon 11-24 f/4 L - It is MAGNIFICENT!

When I think wide angle, I don't think 35mm or 28mm.  Heck I don't even think 20mm anymore, for me wide angle is something more.  I find that my 16-35/2.8 L spends a lot of time on the 1Dx.  My favourite wide angle for the last couple of years has been the 14/2.8 L from Canon.  It's ridiculously sharp, has near infinite depth of field and has very low distortion.  Who could want more?  Well as of right now, I do.

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REVIEW : Panasonic Lumix GH4

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REVIEW : Panasonic Lumix GH4

One of the fastest growth areas for mirror less cameras has been in video.  In fact many videographers who started out on traditional (read Canon) DSLRs have switched to mirrorless cameras from Sony and Lumix.  They understand that even at 4K resolution, you don't leverage full frame sensors or even what a good crop sensor pushes out so they take advantage of smaller size and great glass for richer video.

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A Most Underrated Accessory - The Teleconverter

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A Most Underrated Accessory - The Teleconverter

You've been in this situation.  You are out shooting and the longest lens you have with you, just doesn't have quite enough reach.  You can make the shot, but you will be cropping in a lot in post and you know that doing so is going to cost you image fidelity.  But, buying a super telephoto just isn't going to happen.  You don't have a business case, or even the funds for something really long, and you wouldn't use it all the time anyway.  Is there an option?  Yes, the option known as a teleconverter.  In this video, I explain how teleconverters work, where they make sense, when you cannot use one and both the upsides and downsides of these wonderful tools.

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REVIEW : Aputure V-Control UFC-1s USB Focus Controller

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REVIEW : Aputure V-Control UFC-1s USB Focus Controller

As more photographers look to leverage the power of video in the delivery of content and services, we start to encounter areas of challenge that we might face when it comes to working with manual focus, particularly on lenses designed to be used with autofocus systems.  There are tools out there that are designed to help resolve those problems, this Aputure unit may be one of them.

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