Photography News

Over the last few years, there just haven't been that many massive updates to DJI's Phantom drone lineup. The biggest was perhaps the inclusion of its own camera when it ditched the need to add a GoPro to the bundle. But just looking at today's Phantom 4 design is enough to indicate the major steps DJI took to step into an entirely new generation of autonomy. Featuring class-leading obstacle avoidance and autonomous flying modes, the Phantom 4 is so good that people are afraid of the implications of never actually having to learn to pilot a drone.

Phase One released its new camera body last year, the XF. However, it was not clear if it would ever be compatible with the Leaf Credo backs. It was first said that it would be, and then, months later, the support told everyone who'd ask about it that they could not give any answer. Well, today we finally have one: Leaf Credo backs are compatible with the XF body.

The Phantom 3 is the best drone for the money today by far, and I would say that even at its original retail price of $999 for the "standard" version. For the next 3 days you can buy one for 56% off. That's right, you can get a new Phantom 3 Standard for just $439.

Sigma has announced their follow up to the EF-610 Flash, the EF-630 and It will be available on B&H very soon. Yesterday Sigma announced the new flash with models available for Nikon, Canon, and of course Sigma. The new flash will pack a little more fire power than its predecessor, and will automatically adjust for focal lengths from 24mm through 200mm.

Cell phone cameras are getting better and better each year as sensor technology improves, but zooming still doesn't really work. Yes, you can "zoom in" with your iPhone, but it's not a real optical zoom. Really, you are just cropping into your picture or video, which means the further you "zoom," the lower resolution you will end up with.

DJI should have called me and made me the face of their new drone insurance policy. I've crashed many of their drones, destroyed one, and lost another. Sadly, I didn't have the luxury of buying insurance, but now, you do... but it's probably too expensive.

I have no idea where this request came from, but here we have it: views will now be added for videos on Instagram. Starting this week, view counts will appear below videos instead of likes, which we have been seeing for years. The shift will likely happen within the week for most users and be a change of pace for what we usually see on the platform.

Perhaps a perfect followup to Nikon's D500, Canon's 80D, and even Sony's A7-series releases, Sigma's two new lenses aren't built for full-frame coverage, but instead include a fast, Art-series portrait zoom for APS-C cameras and a fast, f/1.4 normal lens specifically designed for mirrorless cameras that is supposed to offer superb image quality at a reasonable price. In addition, Sony E-Mount users will enjoy the availability of Sigma's new MC-11 Sony E-Mount converter that will allow the use of 19 of Sigma's Global Vision series lenses on many Sony APS-C and full-frame mirrorless bodies.

Tamron has fired a serious shot across the bows of Canon, Sony, and Nikon, announcing the release of the world's first 85mm fast-aperture lens with image stabilization for DSLRs, a new macro lens, and a lens console that allows for updating and customization of certain lenses.

Great news for Lightroom users on Android: Adobe has just updated the app to version 2.0, introducing an in-app camera with DNG raw file capture, shoot-through non-destructive presets, split toning, and more.

G-Technology updated its lineup today with the introduction of two eight-bay storage arrays made to be easily transportable. From enterprise-class hard drives for robust performance to handles on top of the units that let them be more easily moved from studio to car, to set, and back, the G-Speed Shuttle XLs are the ultimate on-the-go editor's dream direct-attached-storage system.

Before CP+ kicks off next week, Canon just announced the successor to the 70D, the Canon 80D. Featuring multiple improvements, especially in areas surrounding autofocus, the 80D provides a more professional standing for Canon's representation in the advanced APS-C DSLR segment. Additionally, Canon introduced a new PZ-E1 power zoom adapter for a new lens, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. Finally, the PowerShot G7 X was updated with a Mark II version along with a new compact superzoom, the PowerShot SX720 HS.

Today, Pentax has announced their entry into the full-frame market, the K-1. Slotting in-between the company's APS-C and medium format offerings, the K-1 aims to be the do-it-all solution for working photographers. In addition, the company has also announced two lenses to complement the new system.

In a quaint suburban neighborhood south of Sydney, Australia stands a three bedroom brick home that looks like any other at first glance. It is sharp and modern. The image is bright and vibrant and definitely eye catching. At a quick first look, it is a pretty standard image of the facade of a home. The detail that isn't featured in this image is what has the entire real estate industry buzzing. A simple Google search of the home brings up a much different representation of the property. Which begs the immediate question; how far is 'too far' when using photo editing software to edit real estate imagery?

For an instant, she stares blankly out into the distance as she would for any photograph. But almost immediately, she takes notice. You're there. She turns her head, looks over, and then slowly turns back, looking down at her outstretched legs. Her eyes move slowly, looking down, as her chin lifts her gaze from the top of her legs to her feet. She's admiring herself — for you. She even starts crawling toward you. You turn your head to look around ("Toward me?," you think, but no one else is there). You turn back to her. The clip is over. You can take off your Google Cardboard viewer and go back to flipping channels on your living room TV.

A bug in a recent Adobe Creative Cloud update is currently deleting a folder on the root drive (Macintosh HD, by default) of Macs upon installation. This issue is affecting Backblaze users disproportionately due to the fact that the bug results in the deletion of the contents of the alphabetically first hidden folder on the root drive, which is often the folder ".bzbol" for Backblaze users.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), based in Pasadena, CA, recently released a 360-degree video of a vista of Mars' Namib Dune from their rover, Curiosity. On one hand, it's an all-encompassing, but static, noiseless video. Yet, on the other hand, it's the most realistic, hands-on, feels-like-you-were-there video of another planet that we have. If you think about it for a moment while you're watching, it suddenly hits you: we're really there. We have a presence on Martian land.

When Pixellu came out with its too easy to believe drag and drop album creator that synced with every popular album company's layouts, those who were not Mac users were certainly bummed to hear they would be missing out. But today, after Pixellu released SmartAlbums 2 for Mac, the SmartAlbums version for Windows is here and it comes at a generous $50 discount for those who have waited so patiently.

Users of Adobe Bridge will be pleased to learn that the latest release of the software includes several performance enhancements and new features. Available today for Creative Cloud subscribers, Adobe notes that this release "will lay the foundation for future development."

The day has come; Instagam will finally add support for switching between multiple accounts this week! Yes, you heard that right. After almost five years in the social game, they have come to their senses and added the ability to flip through accounts quickly and easily.

Adobe Stock has been around for a short while now, featuring useful, deep integration into Creative Cloud products, as well as a more traditional online portal through which to purchase content. Through a blog post on its website, Adobe recently announced these platforms will now benefit from native 4K video content in addition to the photos and standard high-definition videos previously offered.

One of the primary reasons many have given for stalling in making the switch to mirrorless is the lack of solid fast aperture zooms. With the newly announced Sony G Master series and initial debut of a FE 24-70mm f/2.8, FE 70-200mm f/2.8 OSS, and FE 85mm f/1.4 lenses, not only are we getting the highly requested fast zooms, but we are getting some of the best precision optics overall for the Sony Alpha system.

Today Sony has announced a follow-up to the insanely successful Sony a6000. The new 24.2-megapixel Sony a6300 with internal 4K video recording once again pushes autofocus capabilities into uncharted territory. Take a closer look at all the specs of this prosumer beast and tell me you aren’t impressed.

We fell head-over-heels when we saw CineStill’s 35mm 800T film, repackaged from Kodak cinema film. Beautiful golden skin tones, cool shadows, and that ever-difficult-to-explain magic glow, brought the beauty of true filmmaking to the still format. It’s been a long wait since the 35mm format was introduced in 2012, but today, CineStill launches their high-speed, tungsten-balanced cinema film in the 120 format.

Just behind Nikon's announcement of the D5, Canon comes with their own anxiously-awaited update to their flagship DSLR: the new EOS-1D X Mark II. Building on the experience of both the 1D X and the 1D C, the 1D X Mark II features a modest increase in resolution to 20 megapixels, instead counting its improvements mostly in the areas of image quality, autofocus, and speed.

Flash meters are often seen as archaic and of no use anymore. However, good flash meters such as the L-478DR can make photographers and assistants lives much easier. Even more so with the two new products Sekonic releases today.

Drones are great, but they also pose a huge threat to general safety and national security if in the hands of the wrong people. The Secret Service has even said they don't yet have an effective method of defending against drones, although they recently began testing drone flights in their own backyard to defend against them. While some turn to strictly technological methods of bringing drones to the ground, the Dutch police are evaluating the effectiveness of a new program that trains eagles to grab drones from the sky with their talons.

Today, Adobe released version 2015.4/6.4 of Lightroom, which adds support for many new cameras and lenses, speeds up performance, and introduces an intriguing new feature: Boundary Warp.

Adobe launched a new YouTube series through their Lightroom channel to give Lightroom users some extra tips on features they may not have come across yet. While some highlighted features such as viewing masking for the sharpening tool are a little better known, others are more tucked away and might come as a surprise, like this feature that allows you to update the overall effect of a local adjustment with multiple sliders in effect.

We all know it's a little bit more competitive for females to "make it" in the photography and film industries. Yes, it is. The gender gap is real, and I'm not being a feminazi. There are studies about this — science. Even women who are the main characters in films don't get paid as much as their male counterparts (Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games, anyone?). It's even worse for women who are behind the screen, the creators of these big projects. The team over at Vimeo isn't having it anymore, so they are doing something about it.

Young photographers often don't have a great budget to buy a lot of equipment when starting out, let alone high-end lighting gear such as Broncolor's flashes and light shapers. Unless the equipment in question is given away, which is exactly what Broncolor offers to talented photographers under 30.

After the drowning death of an 18-year-old girl and a man who tried to save her last week, authorities in Mumbai, India have taken drastic steps by banning selfies from being taken at 15 sites, including many popular tourist attractions.

The X-Pro1 started it all as it cemented its place while paving the way for its segment — the mirrorless rangefinder-style APS-C camera — as the way of the future. But until today, Fuji’s focus has been on further diversifying the segment with other high-end, mid-range, and budget mirrorless systems. Today’s announcement brings a new, true compact flagship to XF platform in the form of the 24-megapixel, professional-level X-Pro2.

In addition to the X-Pro2 announcement, Fujifilm also announced the release of the X-E2S, X70, and XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, each helping to further refine and round out Fuji's mirrorless lineup. The X-E2S is largely similar to it's predecessor (the X-E2), but improves ISO performance and offers several software enhancements. The X70 offers the same 16-megapixel X-Trans II CMOS sensor as the X-E2S in an appropriate update to Fuji's more affordable, fixed-lens XF line-up with an 18.5mm f/2.8 (28mm in 35mm equivalent) lens. And the 100-400mm lens fills out a part of Fuji's XF platform that has historically been in sore need of bolstering: it's lens selection.

Finding just the right music for your video project can be an overwhelming process in filmmaking. You may have spent weeks, months, or even years tirelessly capturing footage and now it comes down to music track selection which can make or break all the film work you already put in. Musicbed, the popular music licensing website, has just launched a new “Discover” page which they hope will make the track selection process faster and easier by giving you a much more personalized experience.

CameraLends has been letting gear owners rent out their gear to peers when it's not in use since its inception three years ago. Until now, everything has been done through their website. The new CameraLends iPhone app, however, lets users manage the entire rental process from the ease and mobility of their iPhones. Making money on your gear when you're not using it is now easier than ever.

Love it or hate it, mobile photography is the king right now. So what’s a world-renowned lens manufacturer for “traditional” system cameras to do when a large majority of photos these days are coming from smartphones? You adapt. Today Zeiss has announced, in partnership with Fellowes Brands, plans to ship a macro, wide-angle, and telephoto lens for iPhone in Q2 2016.

Did you catch the news today? Nikon went on a spree, releasing flagship FX and DX cameras, as well as some exciting new accessories. Pre-orders are now available; use the links in this post to grab your gear as soon as possible, as these are likely to be some highly popular items!

2016 is going to be an exciting year for gear-lovers. Both Canon and Nikon will be updating multiple camera bodies and lenses, while Sony, Fujifilm, and Pentax are all continuing their charge against the big two. Today, Nikon kicked off the new year with the announcement of their new flagship cameras, the D5 and D500.

Samsung's Portable SSD T1, has been a fantastically tiny and handy external drive since its inception. Yesterday, for CES 2016, Samsung announced its successor, the Portable SSD T3, sharing many of the same features with the T1, such as the claimed 450MB/s transfer rate, 850 EVO-based NAND flash memory, and AES 256-bit encryption that won't slow the drive down. Meanwhile, a new shockproof design almost doubles the weight and adds to its bulk a bit, but protects the drive in up to 1500 g drops. Also new to the line is the 2 TB capacity and USB-C connection.

Those eagerly awaiting the upcoming release of Pentax's new full-frame DSLR will be pleased to know that the company recently updated the teaser page for the camera, introducing an intriguing feature that will make current users of their DSLRs very happy.

Sony's 50-megapixel sensor found in the latest 645 medium format digital CMOS bodies brought such cameras down in price considerably for the first time while extending ISO usability to the more DSLR-normal ISO 6,400. Today's announcement brings a new iteration of that technology in the form of the IQ3 100MP, also in a CMOS flavor. Although the resolution is doubled (and file size is quadrupled), Phase One also managed to pull out an extra stop of ISO performance on both ends of the spectrum, which now goes from ISO 50–12,800. Dynamic range also increases a stop over other models to 15 stops.

You have probably seen these already swirling around Facebook and Instagram. The "Best Nine of 2015" has gone viral and like me, if you were a little bit late to the party, you can head over to 2015 best nine to have your best nine Instagram posts of 2015 curated for you. The site will then let you share directly to your Facebook profile, business page, or directly to Twitter.

If you've been saving up your holiday money for some new gear, check out this opportunity. In a big year end bash, Canon and Nikon are both offering some pretty big discounts on a bunch of different cameras and lenses. The best deal Nikon is offering gives you $1,000 off a D750 and lens while Canon is offering $650 off a 7D Mk II with various lens options. Not only do Canon deals include some of their best bodies and lenses, the award winning Canon 600EX-RT speedlite is also on sale. These discounts will only last until January 2 so check out your options below.

When looking for new creative ideas, it seems like everything has already been done by someone. But there are still people, like Jay Philbrick, that manage to create pictures never seen or even never thought of before.

When Austrian Alpine Skier Marcel Hirscher made his way down the course during the World Cup Slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, gates weren't his only obstacle. In a miraculous near miss, what looks to be a very expensive drone made an explosive appearance only ten seconds into the run. As the drone shattered into tiny pieces, a very loud message about the dangers of drone use in professional sports was exemplified on the world stage.

The countdown to mandatory drone registration with the Federal Aviation Administration has begun here in the United States. But there is one major privacy issue that has recently come to light. Personal information from drone owners, including names and addresses, will eventually be publicly available, according to a report from Forbes.

Leave it to a German drone company to create the world's first light painting by drone with a fully programmed flight path, all to create one fantastic holiday time-lapse of Santa Claus delivering presents. Perhaps the most unique part of the project isn't the world-first of programming a drone to complete a multi-colored light painting, but is instead the reimagining of Santa Claus' method of delivery, as something more similar to that of your neighborhood newspaper boy with perfect accuracy.

Today's airspace is more and more crowded with drones that, for the most part, all do the same thing. This lack of product diversity is the reason Lily, with its unique combination of features including landing and taking off in water or on your hand, awed thousands when its promo video launched. Its incredibly good pre-order deal undoubtedly helped spread it further at a low price of $499. The best part: this wasn't a crowd-funding campaign. Lily had financing. This was happening. Until it wasn't.

An annual award that TIME magazine started three years ago has chosen it's official 2015 winner. Stacy Kranitz is an Instagram photographer who is most famous for her work in the Appalachia area. The poverty stricken, drug and alcohol filled area is certainly an eye opening subject. But why her in particular?