The Phoblographer

The Rokinon D900AFZ-OP is a TTL flash designed for budget level users that don’t want the hassle of having to figure out calculations in terms of flash output, exposure, etc. The one I tested was designed for Four Thirds cameras, but the TTL algorithms translate right over the Micro Four Thirds language (and therefore, both Panasonic and Olympus.)

Read one to see why this flash was recently chosen in our best budget flash post.

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Many people are already intimidated enough by off-camera lighting that isn’t ambient or natural. But the truth of the matter is that you really don’t have to be if you’re willing to experiment a bit, analyze your mistakes and then re-evaluate your approach. In no time, you can actually learn to master the flash quite well. Then there is the issue of cost: which can be settled quite easily.

Here is a list of some of the best flashes, monolights and constant lights from a guy that has experimented and own three different camera systems and has played with lots of different lighting units. Note that all units named in this round up have been tested by me.

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When Leica announced their new V-LUX 3 (or VLUX3) digital camera, I had thought to myself that the camera perhaps incorporates all of the standard changes that their Panasonic clones have. For those of you that are confused, when Leica clones a Panasonic camera (in this case, the Panasonic FZ-150), they usually update the firmware, menu system and lens coatings to differentiate it a bit. Otherwise though, the camera functions and acts the same. This time around though, there seems to be absolutely no change except for the outside cosmetic appearance.

So does this superzoom camera meet your standards?

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You’ve got a micro four thirds camera, and you want to move up to something better. Luckily, there are ways to move up in the system without having to completely switch to whole nother camera system. That saves you lots of money and time when it comes to selling and buying lenses. Like many of you reading this, I’m invested in the Micro four thirds camera system and so are many of my friends. We all started out with one camera and one lens and then moved on up depending on our own specific needs and wants.

This guide will assess the needs of those wanting to stay in a budget, shoot video, shoot stills, use the cameras as flair and for those that want to make the absolute best of the system.

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We’ve finally got our hands on the Panasonic GH2 but only for a short amount of time. With a SLR-style body and considered by many to be the best Micro Four Thirds camera currently out there on the market, the GH2 is a feature packed little beast. As soon as I got my hands on it, I decided to shoot a couple of portraits with it and my Zeiss Biotar 58mm f2 lens. Unfortunately, the Gary Fong Puffer didn’t want to play nice with the pop-up flash, so that was a no-go and so, we went right into some natural diffused light.

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Boredom = the creation of the awesomest photography hack ever. Ring flashes are items that I’m extremely smitten with for the particular look they give off. People see them all over in ads, and when I recently invested into a Micro Four Thirds camera, I tried to figure out a way to use a ring flash with it. Here’s a story of trial, error, frustration, boredom, and success.

And in the end, it proved effective in being extremely fun for me.

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