Nikon Blog
Updated: Sigma fp L review – Raw video comes with trade-offs
Product shots by Dan Bracaglia Updated July 15, 2021 with video quality analysis The Sigma fp L is a high-resolution development of the company’s compact full-frame interchangeable lens camera. It gains a 61MP BSI CMOS sensor, providing a more stills-focused platform than the original fp 24MP L-mount mirrorless camera. Rather than looking at existing categories of cameras, Sigma says it’s aimed to make a user-oriented camera that’s designed to be flexible, adaptable and fun to use. The fp L certainly isn’t readily...
read moreCosina unveils $700 Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.2 for Fujifilm X system cameras
Cosina has announced its new Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.2 lens for Fujifilm X series camera systems. While this lens features the same focal length and aperture as its M-mount equivalent, it features a different optical design and construction specifically for Fujifilm’s X mount cameras. The fully-manual lens features an electronic chip for transferring EXIF data to the camera body from the lens, which should enable focus verification, parallax correction and in-body image stabilization for compatible cameras. Below is a pair of charts...
read moreDPReview TV behind the scenes: The gear we use to make DPReview TV
Published Jul 15, 2021 | dpreview staff [embedded content] Want to know what it takes to film a typical DPReview TV episode? Jordan walks through his complete kit – at least until the camera they’re shooting this week’s episode with overheats. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week. Don’t be fooled by its colorful, family-friendly design – the new 24-inch iMac is capable of serious photo and video editing performance. The EOS M50 Mark II is a compact, likable interchangeable lens...
read moreA photographer’s guide to buying a smartphone
For many of us, smartphones have arguably become just as much cameras as they communication devices. While some companies put more emphasis on photography features than others, there are dozens of options out there and a lot of jargon, making picking the right one a challenge. In this guide, we’ll be explaining the key technologies of smartphone photography to help you make the right buying decision. Whether you’re new to the world of photography and want to start your artistic endeavors with your smartphone or you’re a full-time...
read moreRicoh announces HD Pentax-DA* 16-50mm F2.8 lens, set to go on sale in August for $1,400
Ricoh Imaging has announced the HD Pentax-DA* 16–50mm F2.8 ED PLM AW lens, the latest lens in its Pentax Star (*) lineup that’s designed for APS-C Pentax K-mount DSLRs. The all-weather (AW) lens offers a 24.5-76.5mm full-frame equiv. focal length and is constructed of 16 elements in 10 groups, including one extra-low dispersion (ED) element, one anomalous dispersion optical element, two ED aspherical elements and Ricoh Imaging’s HD Coating, designed to reduce ghosting and flaring. Ricoh Imaging says the lens is ‘dustproof’ and...
read moreRazer announces new Blade 15 and 17 with most powerful Intel processor ever in a Razer laptop
Razer has announced a refresh to its Razer Blade 15 and Blade 17 laptop line. The new notebooks include Intel’s latest processor family, the 11th-generation Core H. The new Blade models also have improved GPUs, with an optional upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. With enhanced CPU and GPU performance, Razer states that the new laptops offer more speed, plus more storage and Thunderbolt 4. Razer’s Blade 15 and 17 may be aimed primarily at gamers, but the same performance gains that serve gamers also appeal to creators. The...
read moreJPEG XL image format promises smaller files, backwards compatibility and more
JPEG, the lossy compression standard for images used on the Internet and digital cameras, might receive a much-needed upgrade by year’s end. The creators of JPEG XL claim their free open-source format offers up improvements that will result in a significant reduction in global bandwidth and storage costs. The JPEG image format was first developed by researchers at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the 1980s. Over the years, due to its many advantages over other formats of the time, it became the go-to format...
read more2021 Apple M1 iMac (24-inch) Review: The best ‘starter’ Mac for creators
Introduction The new M1 iMac is a sleek, stylish and surprisingly affordable photo and video editing machine.Photo by DL Cade First, the elephant in the room: the redesigned 24-inch iMac was not created for photographers and video editors. It’s a family-friendly Mac that’s much more concerned with aesthetic sensibility than Adobe Premiere Pro performance. Despite this, it’s arguably the best starter Mac for anybody who is interested in exploring their creative side. In terms of photo and video editing performance, the new...
read moreHow to Change Colors in Photoshop
Today we’re going to look at three ways to change colors in Adobe Photoshop. These tools are used to change the color of an object in a photograph or recolor a portion of an image. Although Photoshop offers countless tools for correcting color or subtly toning an image, the techniques in this article are designed for the more specific and dramatic artistic effect of completely changing the color of an object. These three methods are fairly distinct and which technique is best is going to be completely dependent on the image you are working...
read moreSony Semiconductor reveals 21MP stacked CMOS Four Thirds sensor capable of 120 fps full-width readout
Sony Semiconductor Solutions has published a product information sheet detailing the specifications for the IMX472-AAJK, a 21.46MP Four Thirds stacked CMOS image sensor. As it stands, this is the first known instance of a stacked CMOS sensor for Four Thirds-sized cameras and the accompanying readout speeds makes for some impressive imaging capabilities. However, despite speed that could underpin impressive video (and AF) capabilities, the pixel count appears to be too low to deliver the ‘5.7K’ output promised of the forthcoming...
read moreApple granted patent for periscope camera module that would give future iPhones 3x optical ‘zoom’
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Apple a patent relating to a periscope camera system that we could one day see inside an iPhone. UPSTO patent number 11,061,213 lays out the framework for a folded camera system that uses a pair of prisms, a lens array and an image sensor to create a telephoto-style camera system, complete with autofocus and/or optical image stabilization. This kind of ‘periscope’ camera module is nothing new in the smartphone world as Samsumg, Xiaomi, Vivo and others have developed similar...
read moreSmugMug Source is a new, AI-powered RAW file management service from SmugMug
SmugMug has announced a new addition to its platform, SmugMug Source. The new add-on is a RAW file management service, allowing photographers to store and access their entire photo library from any device anywhere in the world. With the addition of Source, SmugMug now promises a full shot-to-sale, end-to-end photography platform. ‘This is much more than simple cloud storage,’ says Scott Kinzie, VP of Marketing and Business Development for SmugMug. ‘This is AI-driven photo management. It’s more than never losing an...
read moreVideo: What it’s like shooting Sigma’s $26K 200-500mm F2.8 ‘bazooka’ lens on a Sony a7 III
[embedded content] Editor’s note: There may be a few sections of the video that are considered NSFW, but there is no nudity or swearing. Keep this in mind before watching the video (you can skip to the 42-second mark to bypass the questionable segment). One of the most unique (and expensive) lenses in existence is Sigma’s 200–500mm F2.8 APO EX DG ‘Bazooka’ lens. While few have had the opportunity to shoot with this lens, photographer and YouTuber Tom Calton was able to get one on loan from Sigma and has shared a video showing what it’s like...
read moreCanon EOS M50 Mark II Review
Introduction The EOS M50 Mark II is a compact and easy to use mirrorless camera with a 24MP APS-C sensor. It features only modest upgrades compared to its predecessor, but it comes in at an attractive price point with pleasing ergonomics and solid image quality. Upgrades include autofocus refinements, vertical video shooting and the ability to livestream to YouTube directly from the camera, given a strong-enough Wi-Fi signal. Key Specifications 24 megapixel APS-C sensor Digic 8 image processor Dual pixel autofocus with eye tracking Fully...
read morePhoto agency refuses to return copyright to photographer, claims journalists don’t have copyright protection
Do photographers own the rights to their images? This is the question at the center of a legal battle between photographer Francisco Leong and his former employer, Agence France-Press (AFP). Leong, a Lisbon, Portugal-based photojournalist, had worked under contract for AFP. He first joined AFP in 2005 as a stringer and became a staff photographer in 2010 before leaving the agency in 2019. The agency in France claims that it owns Leong’s images. However, Portugal’s Journalist Statute and Code of Copyright appear to give ultimate...
read moreNew FTC rule will penalize companies making false ‘Made in USA’ claims on their products
On July 1st, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new rule that will penalize companies making false or misleading claims about where their products are manufactured. As a result, marketing departments slapping the ‘Made in USA’ label on their products, and advertising them as so, will need to prove that they are ‘all or virtually all’ made in the United States. This change could affect certain brands in the photography world, including drone manufacturer Autel, who proudly claims certain drones of theirs are...
read moreNikon NIKKOR Z MC 50mm F2.8 sample gallery
The Nikon NIKKOR Z MC 50mm F2.8 is a standard prime lens for Nikon’s Z-system, offering true macro reproduction of 1:1 at its shortest focus distance. As well as being a capable macro tool, given its focal length and light weight (260g or 9.2oz), the Z 50mm F2.8 also lends itself well to being a standard ‘walk-around’ lens on a full-frame Z-mount body. Despite not belonging to Nikon’s premium ‘S’ line, it’s well-built, and offers dust and drip resistance. We’ve been shooting with a sample of the...
read moreApple still hasn’t made a truly ‘Pro’ M1 Mac – so what’s the holdup?
The in-house developed M1 architecture that powers Apple’s latest machines allows them to be sleek and power-efficient, but there are still some things it can’t offer professional users.Photo by DL Cade Ever since Apple unveiled the M1 System on a Chip (SOC)—the CPU/GPU/RAM combo pack that powers the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and the redesigned 24-inch iMac – the creative world has been buzzing. It’s fast, it’s power efficient, it barely needs to be cooled, and since it was designed by Apple...
read moreYongnuo’s new Android 10-powered MFT camera features 20MP sensor, 5” touchscreen display
Yongnuo has announced yet another intriguing mirrorless camera option, the YN455. This Android-based, Snapdragon-powered Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera is currently only available in the Chinese market, but it’s possible we could begin to see it elsewhere, as was the case with the company’s YN450 Android camera. The device features a rather compact form factor, measuring only 16.2cm (6.4″) wide by 8.5cm (3.4″) tall by 5.6cm (2.2″) deep and weighing just 670g (1.48lbs). At the heart of the device is a 20MP MFT image sensor...
read moreSlideshow: Winners of All About Photo’s AAP Magazine #18 B&W competition
Winners of All About Photo’s AAP Magazine #18 B&W competition All About Photo’s AAP Magazine recently announced the winners for their #18 – B&W competition. The 25 winners come from 13 countries. Amongst the winners and merited images are portraits, landscapes, and visual narratives. ‘When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls,’ famous Canadian photojournalist, who is not affiliated with the competition,...
read moreWhat Are Your Favorite Photography Moments?
Every once in a while, conditions and circumstances align perfectly and some unexpected, amazing sight happens while I’m taking pictures. It rarely happens more than once a year, but it’s always memorable. Below, I’ll share some of my favorites and invite you to do the same. Table of Contents Deer in Yosemite I just got back from my second ever trip to Yosemite National Park in California, and although I’m still processing my photos, I wanted to write about the amazing moment that I saw during my first morning there. As I took some pictures...
read morePanasonic Leica DG 25-50mm F1.7 sample gallery (DPReview TV)
Published Jul 11, 2021 | dpreview staff Chris and Jordan have spent a few days with a pre-production sample of the new Panasonic Leica DG 25-50mm F1.7 up in Canada. They’ve taken it out and about everywhere from the streets of downtown Calgary to more intimate social gatherings. Jordan loves this lens for video, but take a look at their collection of still images to find out why Chris recommends it for photography, too. Check out Chris and Jordan’s sample images from the Panasonic Leica 25-50mm F1.7 Gear in this story The...
read moreDPReview TV: Choosing the right large tripod – Gitzo, Manfrotto, Leofoto and Sirui tripods compared
Published Jul 10, 2021 | dpreview staff [embedded content] Chris and Jordan review four large tripods: the Gitzo GT2532, Sirui W2204, Leofoto LQ-284C, and Chris’ battle-worn Manfrotto 055MF4. What if you don’t want one of the models in this review? In addition to detailed overviews of the models mentioned above, Chris and Jordan also explain what to look for in a good tripod, to help you choose the best one for your needs – even if it’s not included in our roundup. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of...
read moreHD Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited sample gallery
Published Jul 10, 2021 | dpreview staff Back in February, Ricoh released three HD Pentax-FA Limited lenses for K-mount DSLR cameras: the HD Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 Limited, HD Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited and HD Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited. These three lenses feature the same optical construction as their respective non-HD predecessors, but have been updated with a new aperture diaphragm and Ricoh’s High-Definition (HD) coating. Ricoh says the HD coating ‘assures higher light transmittance and lower reflectance to deliver sharp, clear images...
read moreNorway passes law requiring influencers to label retouched photos on social media
Legislators in Norway’s Parliament have passed a new law, by a 72-15 vote, that will require content creators to disclose when they have retouched or added a filter to a photo. Yahoo News reports that the law will apply to influencers and advertisers alike, to address ‘body pressure in society.’ After garnering overwhelming support in parliament, the law will go into effect when directed by Harald V, the current King of Norway. Youth advocacy groups and Norway’s Ministry of Children and Family Affairs have called for...
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Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.