I want to take a different approach to playing with the Canon 1D X in this First Impressions and in the final review to follow. You see, I did not have any professional shoots planned while I was loaned the camera and I’m not the type of guy to go take pictures of city streets just to test a camera. That works for some people, not for me.
What I want to do is talk about adapting to, and getting the most out of, the Canon 1D X if you are upgrading from a lesser model. Let’s face it, this First Impression is not going to give new info to the seasoned wedding or sports photographer. They already know what gear they will buy (or have their company buy for them). I want to answer the question, “Is it really worth the cash, if I were to stretch my budget and buy one?”
[click to continue…]
The Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC is an extremely popular lens amongst budget conscious users. With a constant f2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range and the added value of having vibration compensation it’s not hard to see why consumers spring for this lens. Designed for those with APS-C sized sensor cameras, the equivalent focal range on a Nikon DSLR such as the D5100 is around 25.5-75mm; making it an essential event and workhorse lens for many pros and semi-professionals.
But is all perfect with the lens?
[click to continue…]
I’ve encountered a lot of this recently amongst friends, readers, and the like: being asked to shoot a wedding but not having the experience. Everyone in said person’s family and immediate circle says, “Oh, you can shoot the wedding! You’ve got the gear! We won’t have to pay a pro!” Many times, even if you say no, you’re still pushed to do so. The reason for this is because most of said people don’t understand just how much thought, care and work goes int photographing a wedding.
While I recommend that you tell them, “Go find a professional,” here are some tips for the person that’s forced to shoot a wedding.
Editor’s Note: Though we’ve taken a recent turn catering to the street photography crowd, we’ve got loads of resources on shooting weddings. They are listed throughout this piece.
In Day 1 of our Olympus EPL-2 Field review, we started to get used to the camera and really begin to like it. Then in Day 2, we went around shooting in nothing else but JPEG and were quite pleased with the results. Today is the day that I write about the EPL-2 and realize that the vast majority of the images that I’ve been shooting for a while were in RAW and that Adobe Lightroom 3 doesn’t support the file at the time of writing this posting. Keep in mind though that this review is being done from the viewpoint of a professional that wants a small camera to use. With this said, most professionals wouldn’t want to go ahead and install the bundled Olympus software—they’d much rather just use what they have already. So here’s a demonstration of the camera’s video mode instead coupled with more commentary on the ergonomics and use over time and why I love it as a street photography camera.
[click to continue…]
With the Olympus E-5 review finished, the Olympus EPL-2 suddenly appeared at my doorstep. Now, do note that I raved about this camera during the announcement despite my total dislike (more than once) of the EPL-1. We’ve reviewed a number of Micro Four Thirds cameras here as well like the EP-2, GF-1, and the G2. This field review though will be a special one geared towards the professional and semi-professional looking for a carry around camera so that they don’t have to lug their DSLRs around. So is the latest addition to the bunch really worth purchasing for this segment of the market?
[click to continue…]
