First Impressions: Tamron 35mm F2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Sony FE Mount)

The Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 is an affordable and lightweight lens many Sony Full Frame Mirrorless shooters will want to consider

Last week at the annual PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, Tamron unveiled a trio of compact and lightweight prime lenses designed from the ground up for Sony’s E Mount Full Frame Mirrorless cameras. One of the lenses in this prime trio is the Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Model F053). The newly announced Tamron 35mm f2.8 follows the same design philosophy of balancing a small footprint while maintaining portability that we’ve seen in the company’s excellent 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD and 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD zooms for Sony Full Frame Mirrorless. At just 7.4 oz, the Tamron 35mm f2.8 is remarkably lightweight. It’s also quite compact in size at only 2.5 inches in length (the 20mm and 24mm f2.8 primes also share the same exterior design and dimensions).

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Photography Cheat Sheet: How to Shoot the Northern Lights

Winter is one of the best times to view and photograph the Northern Lights. To help you prepare, here’s a quick photography cheat sheet.

The grandeur of the Northern Lights is high on the bucket list of travel and landscape photographers, so we’re not surprised if it’s already on your plans for the winter. Of course, you’ll want to bring home some stunning photos as keepsakes of the spectacular experience. However, it will certainly be a challenge to shoot. Today, we have just the photography cheat sheet you need to make it happen.

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Review: Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art (The Colors Are a Dream)

No, the Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN Art isn’t the same lens as the DSLR version.

If you were to spring for one wide-angle zoom lens with a fast aperture on the market, chances are you’d go for the Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN Art. Sigma is arguably the best lens maker of our time even if you need to lift weights to use them. And with the case of the Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN Art, you’re going to get fantastic image quality. The cityscape, landscape, event, and travel photographers who use this lens will appreciate that it can more or less stay mated to your camera while providing a lot of versatility. It’s not a portrait lens, so if you’re the type of photographer who avoids photographing people, then the Sigma 14-24mm f2.8 DG DN Art is probably your choice.

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The Best Wide Angle Zoom Lenses for Landscape Photography and More

fall landscape photography sony

Wide zoom lenses will have you covered when it comes to landscapes, documentary, environmental portraits, and so many more genres of photography.

While we love our prime lenses, there’s always space in our camera bags for versatile zooms as well. If you like to have just a few lenses to cover multiple focal lengths and multiple genres of photography, wide-angle zoom lenses have you covered. Want to shoot gorgeous landscapes? Wide-angle zooms will help with that. Do you like astrophotography, documentary photography, architectural photography, and environmental portraiture? You guessed it, wide-angle zoom lenses will help you with all of those genres and more. After the break, we list some of our favorite wide zoom lenses that cover multiple platforms. Come and check out what lenses we wouldn’t leave home without. Continue reading…

Here’s Proof a 50mm F1.8 Is All You Need for Portraits

New to shooting portraits and not sure which lens is best? The 50mm f1.8 would be a great choice for this, as these snaps will prove! 

Using the right lens matters for the kind of photography you want to do. For portrait photography, the 50mm f1.8 is one of the best and most recommended. If you’re still looking for a portrait lens to serve as your go-to glass for your shoots, this collection of photos may prove to you why the 50mm f1.8 makes a good choice. In one of their latest videos, Imogen and Mark of the Weekly Imogen channel on YouTube shared that the trusty 50mm f1.8 is their favorite lens. “When we first started working together 10 years ago, it was pretty much the only lens that we ever used for a good period of all the photos we took together,” said Imogen about it, which says a lot about how they’ve already mastered shooting with this lens. But, to show their viewers why, they shared a bunch of their favorite photos shot with this lens, and what qualities of the lens made the shots work for them.

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Tap and Dye Add a New Camera Bag, Three Straps to Their Legacy Line

Tap and Dye

If you’re looking for a timeless camera bag or strap, these new offerings from Tap and Dye may excite you.

If you’re in the market for high quality camera bag, or handmade camera straps, you may be interested to know that Tap and Dye have just announced they added four new items to their Legacy line of camera accessories. Each of these items (the Legacy Utility Tote, the Legacy Adjustable Camera Strap, the Legacy Slim Adjustable Camera Strap, and the Legacy Classic Slim Camera Strap) are made to order in Brooklyn, New York, and will add a classic look to your camera. Join us after the break for all the details. Continue reading…

Using Texture to Create Black and White Photography You’ll Want to Touch

Looking for more black and white photography tips and tricks? We recommend learning how to capture textures that will make your viewers want to reach in and touch your work!

We hear from master photographers time and time again that black and white photography has the power to bring greater attention to composition in the absence of color. That presents both a challenge and an opportunity for anyone who wants to shoot creatively in black and white. If that sounds like you, we have a video to help you get started, this time with some tips on how to work with textures for monochrome images.

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First Impressions: Tamron 24mm F2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 (Sony FE Mount)

The Tamron 24mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 is a reliable option for Sony Full Frame Mirrorless shooters in search of an affordable, lightweight ultra-wide angle.

Tamron’s philosophy of designing practical, lightweight, and compact lenses for Sony E Mount Full Frame Mirrorless lenses has proven to be extremely popular, as is the case with their 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD and 28-75mm f2.8 Di III RXD zooms. The Japanese lens manufacturer is now turning their attention toward prime lenses, unveiling a trio of primes designed from the ground up for Sony E Mount at the annual PhotoPlus Expo in New York City last week. The Tamron 24mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 joins the 20mm and 35mm as part of Tamron’s Full Frame E Mount prime lens lineup, which follows the same design philosophy of balancing a small footprint while maintaining portability. The Tamron 24mm f2.8 is exceptionally lightweight, weighing less than half a pound. At just 2.5 inches in length, it also won’t take up much room in your camera bag either. The 20mm and 35mm f2.8 primes weigh less than half a pound as well and share the same exterior dimensions as the 24mm.

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Photography Cheat Sheet: Quick Neutral Density Filter Chart

Still wondering how neutral density filters work and which one to choose for your next shoot? Let today’s photography cheat sheet serve as your handy guide.

If you’re just getting into landscape photography, among the tools of the trade that you must have heard about are neutral density filters (ND filters). These lens filters are particularly essential to landscape photography — or any shooting situation that requires a very wide aperture or long shutter speed — because they decrease the amount of light that hits the camera’s sensor. Today’s featured photography cheat sheet will introduce you to ND filters and what they do for your shots.

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Nolle Mason’s Series on Illegal Immigration Makes Digital X-Rays Analog

All image manipulations by Noelle Mason. Used with permission.

“I am an outsider using photography, a non-native, or immigrant to the medium,” explains Noelle Mason. At her core, Noelle is an artist with political motivations. Yet, through her manipulation of surveillance images, she has been making a statement in the world of photography, and people are listening. Her series, X-Ray Vision Vs. Instability, took first place at the Lens Culture Art Awards, giving her wide-spread recognition. In her work, she tackles the tough topic of immigration – humanizing people who tend to be stripped of their humanity. In a somewhat chilling set of manipulated photographs, Noelle opens up our eyes and allows us to look deep inside the truth. She holds a looking glass over a complex issue, delivering the topic to us in a complex way. For that reason alone, we had to speak to her to learn more about her method of working.

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The Konica Mermaid Is an Unexpectedly Rare Underwater Film Camera

Missing a rare underwater camera in your collection of rare goodies? This Konica Mermaid could be a rather unexpected addition!

A vintage or film camera collection may not be complete without a quirky underwater camera. If you feel like adding one to yours, we may have found an interesting choice. The Konica Mermaid has a name that fits the bill, but you probably wouldn’t expect to learn that it’s rare. Well, kind of.

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These 24mm Lenses Are Very Special, and Here’s Why You Need Them

24mm lenses are perfect for many photography genres, including street, weddings, environmental portraits, and more.

Here at The Phoblographer, we have a soft spot for 24mm lenses, and for good reason. These prime lenses are so handy they should have a permanent home in each and every camera bag around the globe. Need a lens for street photography? The 24mm has you covered. Need a solid performer for environmental portraits, landscapes, astrophotography, weddings, or documentary and photojournalism work? A trusty 24mm won’t let you down. Here’s a quick look at six of our favorite 24mm lenses that you should consider adding to your lens library. Continue reading…

Photographers in New York Now Have Access to Group Insurance Benefits

American Photographic Artists NY has partnered with Trupo, a freelancer benefits platform with curated benefits (including dental and accident insurance). Now photographers, photo agents, editors, photo assistants, producers and more can get benefits just like full-timers.

Photographers in NYC who work for themselves know how difficult it is to pay for health insurance. If you’re single, it’s not uncommon to pay in upwards of $700 a month for health insurance. To help photographers get a broader range of benefits and save them money, American Photographic Artists NY has partnered with Trupo. Trupo was started by the same folks who brought you the Freelancer’s Union and is designed to make things a little bit more affordable.

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The AI in the Pixel 4 Was Enhanced by Photogs Selling Secrets to Google

Your peers sold their secrets to help Google make the Pixel 4 better at retouching, and that’s not a good thing.

Whether you like it or not, computational photography is changing the face of photography as we know it. Right now, this breakthrough in technology and machine learning is limited to smartphones because, without it, the results from the cameras in the phones wouldn’t be impressive. Still, with their AI algorithms, we know that phones like the iPhone 11 Pro, the Galaxy Note 10, and the Pixel 4 can produce jaw-dropping images. It turns out that, though, that Google is paying photographers to divulge their secrets about retouching (and who knows what else) so that Google can feed this information into their algorithms. While this may make life easier for those who use phones, it will probably end up hurting many in the industry. Let’s talk about this after the break. Continue reading…

Five Ways to Use Shadows for Impressive Black and White Photography

Great black and white photography goes beyond just shooting photos in monochrome mode. This quick tutorial shows how to use shadows effectively to create great black and white photos.

If you find yourself drawn to the dreamy, dramatic quality of black and white photography and want to begin shooting your own, you have to tweak your mindset a little bit. It’s not as easy as merely shooting anything and everything with your camera set to monochrome mode: it involves looking at things a little differently so you can capture extraordinary images. Today’s featured tutorial shows us how to use shadows to achieve this goal when creating black and white photos.

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Photography Cheat Sheet: Shooting Manual Photography in Film

K1000

If you’ve decided to go the more challenging route of shooting manual when using film, you’ll definitely need today’s photography cheat sheet.

As if manual photography isn’t already challenging as is with digital cameras, believe it or not, some prefer doing it on film. If that sounds like a challenge you want to try, we have something to help make that a bit easier for you. Today’s manual photography cheat sheet, by The Studio at Zippi, is especially put together with tips to help film photographers get great results.

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Cheap Photo: The Versatile Panasonic G7 Two Lens Kit Is Just $497.99

If you’re looking for an affordable yet powerful camera for stills and video, the Panasonic G7 is a bargain.

The holiday deals are rolling in thick and fast, and the latest one involves the Panasonic G7. This Micro Four Thirds camera is the perfect starter camera, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s suitable only for beginners. For just $497.99, you’ll get the Panasonic G7 with two lenses (the 14-42mm and the 45-150mm), and a large accessory kit that includes a tripod, a mic, an extra battery, and an SD card. Find out more about the camera and this great deal after the break. Continue reading…

Now’s Your Chance to Grab an Extremely Rare Cosina 107-SW

If you’re looking for another rare camera to add to your collection of vintage goodies, we’re sure this gorgeous Cosina 107-SW fits the bill.

If unique cameras are your cup of tea, our latest vintage find is worth checking out. A rare collectible item in every way, this gorgeous Cosina 107-SW is one of the most interesting cameras that can be added to any collection. And now is your chance to grab one… or two.

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This Cool Zeiss Jena Aerial Survey System Uses Film

This Zeiss Jena LMK-2000 aerial survey camera is up for grabs for anyone with a serious passion for everything aerial photography.

Today’s vintage find is quite an unusual package, but we’re sure it’s something aerial photographers will appreciate. Drones have now replaced dedicated aerial camera systems that use analog imaging. But for those who still want to give analog a try, this Zeiss Jena LMK-2000 Aerial Survey Mapping Camera system up for grabs is an available option, provided they have the budget for it as it’s not exactly cheap even if it’s old technology!

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Photography Cheat Sheet: Which Camera Should You Take for Traveling?

New to photography and wondering which camera to take when traveling? Today’s photography cheat sheet should help you decide.

When you’re new to photography outside your smartphone, it can be either exciting or overwhelming to decide which camera to use, especially for travel. But, if you’re really serious about narrowing it down, you may want to get some tips from today’s photography cheat sheet.

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Cheap Photo: XPLOR 600 Pro w/Ext Head And The eVOLV 200 For $879!

This is the ultimate off-camera flash beginners kit in one package, for one ridiculously low price. 

Oh my gosh! Can you believe it right now? This off-camera flash deal will go down as one of the best of the holiday season for sure. For a limited time, you can pick up the incredibly powerful Flashpoint XPLOR 600 Pro TTL monolight with the extra extension head, as well as the eVOLV 200 with barn door kit for just $879! WHAT! That’s crazy! Join us after the break for all the details about this insane off-camera flash bundle that would usually cost $1,371.90. Continue reading…