The Phoblographer

The nifty 50 lens is wonderful for so many photographers out there.

The 50mm lens is a place where so many photographers start. They get one and figure out if they want to go wider, longer, or use a zoom. Most folks opt for APS-C cameras for a cost savings benefit. And if you’re going for one of those, then you’ll probably reach for a 50mm lens. So we’ve come up with a few tips to remember when shooting with a 50mm lens on an APS-C camera.

The 50mm Lens is Pretty Much a Perfect Portrait Lens.

A 50mm lens on APS-C cameras is nearly a perfect portrait pairing. On Canon cameras, it’s a 1.6x crop, which is around 80mm. But for the rest of the world, it’s a 75mm equivalent. 75mm lenses are a classic portrait focal length before 85mm came around. Plus, you’re only using the center of the 50mm lens. So you’re getting rid of any possible distortion. Pair this with a fast aperture, and you’ve got a winner in so many ways.

With all this said, let’s return to it being perfect. The lack of worrying about distortion means that you can go nuts with it as a portrait lens. You’re going to get a flat field of view no matter what.

Some of the latest portrait lenses are also almost flawless. The Fujifilm 50mm f1 R WR is absolutely perfect.

Remember, It’s Not an 85mm.

No matter what, you should remember that it’s not an 85mm lens. To that end, it’s not going to act like one. First off, it doesn’t render an 85mm field of view. A longer focal length is still a longer focal length no matter what. That brings with it the inherent properties of one lens vs. the other. It still means that you’re going to be moving back and forth to get the right framing. In fact, you’re going to be moving back and forth even a bit more.

More importantly, think of this in terms of the bokeh. An 85mm at any equivalent aperture will render a thinner depth of field than a 50mm lens. If you want more bokeh from your 50mm lens, you need to go for a faster lens. An f1.8 will probably be enough. F1.4 is the easiest to get. But an f1.0 or f1.2 is where you’ll see the most differences. According to the math, a 50mm f1.0 lens on a 1.5x crop APS-C sensor will be a 75mm f1.5 lens. If you’re an old school Voigtlander lover, this will be familiar. Realistically speaking, it’s also the best you’re going to get for a portrait lens.

You’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of sizing, of course. A Sony 50mm f1.4 Zeiss on an a6600 is probably a bit impractical. But you’ll get stunning photos!

The Perfect Street Photography Lens and Street Portrait Lens?

A 50mm lens on an APS-C camera body makes for a great street portrait, candid portrait, and street photography lens. This is especially true with social distancing. If you’re nervous about people looking at you and being confrontational, put more distance. And that’s where a 50mm lens works fantastic. You can capture candid moments safely out of people’s bubbles. And if you want to garner the courage to ask for a portrait, it will still work.

I’ve advocated for using longer focal lengths for a while now. You get a more cinematic look that’s tough to beat. The idea that you have to get close to a subject is a romanticized one. We don’t need to always follow the same rules that our predecessors did. But we indeed need to follow better ethics. Before you go shooting, always check your intentions.

If you’re having trouble shooting photos in low light and getting bad high ISO images, then consider the following.

Since the inception of digital photography, manufacturers have turned high ISO capabilities into a war. It’s typically those weird specks, grain, or discolored images that you see. Getting rid of it arguably started many years ago when Canon introduced the Canon 40D and the Canon 5D. Nikon took it further with the Nikon D300, D3, and the D700. Then everyone else jumped into the game. And as megapixel counts have gone up, the problem with high ISO noise has continued. We’ve compiled our expertise from shooting for over a decade into this one blog post to tell you folks really clearly how you can get better high ISO images.

Overexpose the Scene

On your phone or your camera, simply just set the exposure slider to the “+” side of things, and you’ll get a better photo most of the time in the dark. You, of course, also lose stability when doing this. But you’ll get a much better and often cleaner image. The science behind overexposing your photo is that digital sensors, just like film, need more light to take better photographs. So if you feed it more light, it’s going to give you a better photo. Additionally, when you overexpose a scene, it makes the ISO noise less apparent. The best way to do the overexposure method is to either grab a tripod or make yourself really, really still.

Here are a few more tips on how to make yourself super still:

Hold the camera close to you.

Control your breathing. Ideally, shoot at the top of your breath when you’re full.

Tuck your elbows into your body

Use the delay shooting mode

If you follow these tips, you’ll be able to successfully overexpose without using a tripod or any other stabilizing system. It works. But it’s also a bit riskier. Believe it or not, sometimes you just have to accept that you’re not going to get the shot. So spend that time soaking in the moment.

Noise Reduction: But is it Worth it?

Most cameras and phones have a noise reduction option. What this will do is get rid of that grain, the color specks, etc. But you’re trading that cleaner image for less detail. If you’re using a proper camera with interchangeable lenses, check if your sensor has a Low Pass filter. If it doesn’t, then you can turn on noise reduction and still expect a whole lot of details from the image. We did this with the Leica SL2, and the digital files were jaw-droppingly sharp. In fact, we printed an image at ISO 6400 to 17×22 inches and were floored by the details visible.

Phones apply their own type of artificial sharpening using the software. You can see this with Night mode on many of the more modern phones. And overall, the images are pretty good. But they’re not going to beat a dedicated camera.

Pro Tip: Sometimes, it’s very worth it to embrace the image noise and use a filter.

Black and White

You don’t always have to fight high ISO image noise. Instead, you can embrace it in the look! The best way to do that is to use a black and white filter preset. Our favorite app is RNI Films. But your phone’s dedicated Black and White settings can work too. Even better, a dedicated camera lets you shoot in black and white and then tweak parameters like contrast, sharpness, etc. With newer cameras, you can even add clarity. You don’t have to do it in post-production. Instead, just shoot RAW and JPEG, and you’ll most likely be delighted with what the JPEGs look like. There’s no point in then booting up Lightroom or Capture One and editing the photo for you to get the same look. That’s just silly.

Give it a shot! Instead of trying to fight a problem, use the features of the problem as a solution!

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My name is Panaitescu Stefan, and I never used Photoshop in my life. And I’m not even going to give you time to recover from the shock and keep going with it. More than 90% of the pictures I’ve used on my social media, site, published articles, social media features were jpeg edits. Not until recently (September) did I ever use filters, masks, brushes in my pictures, and even though I am starting to use how to learn them, what I post on the internet are still tweaked jpegs.

I’ve never merged photos in any software, and the closest I came to stacking is done in-camera using two different focus points blended together in one jpeg(my cameras don’t allow this kind of picture to be saved in raw format)

I never used HDR functions.

Under 0.5% of my photos were taken using polarizers (I don’t own one), ND filters, or night filters (I do own a few cheap ones, but I almost never use them). I can find other “never have I ever” things, but I guess the list is pretty decent as it is now, so we can move further.

And since I started with such a long list of NO’s, I guess it would be a shame to use anything else but straight out of camera jpegs in this article. Yes, that is right. No alterations, no changes, no cropping, nothing. Jpegs directly from my cameras.

If I have to describe myself in one word, I will use “scholar.”

I think that amateur or professional sound a bit limited, and even though there are amazing “pro” photographers out there, if you ask them, they would certainly agree that photography is a thing that constantly evolves, where you constantly need to push yourself more, to create more, to learn new things and so on.

Already knowing my appetite for not editing photos, it would not come as a surprise to find out that my gear list is rather small. I have two cheap Fuji bodies, two cheap lenses, one tripod, and a couple of filters.

This covers about 99% of what I am shooting.

During the pandemic, I have acquired a few things for studio work, but since I am still new at this, I will not spend so much time talking about them now as opposed to the gear I am regularly using.

Why did you get into photography?

This is rather simple, actually. All my life, I have worked in an office. Regardless of the job title I had, I was confined to a small place, sometimes with no windows, in which I spent hours playing with excel documents or Powerpoint presentations. I had no room for building, for being creative, for doing something different.

I use photography to create memories. I use photography to catch happy moments. I use photography to make me think more and open my eyes and brain to new possibilities.

I use photography to teach myself patience (you’ll need huge amounts of that as a landscape photographer), and I use photography to teach me to react fast(shooting sports, cars, planes).

I got into photography to capture the beautiful world around me and try to create.

Which photographers are your biggest influencers?

I don’t follow many photographers, but the few I chose inspire me and help me up to my game in the last years.

I guess that number one place goes to Sean Tucker, who does not feel like a teacher but feels to me as a friend trying to push you, make you aware of things, help you learn and be better.

My list is small, and it comprises Andy Mumford, Ian Worth, Nigel Danson, and Craig Roberts.

Lately, I have been watching Alister Benn, and I really enjoy his work and teachings, so I guess he will stay with me for a long time also.

I guess the most important thing I learned from all these amazing photographers is that I should stop stressing about my gear and its limitations and rather try to use the pros, the advantages, build upon them and advance in my knowledge.

I won’t lie and say that I don’t often dream of a full-frame mirrorless but watching them create art with anything from a toy cam...

All images by Matthew James. Used with permission.

Matthew James is a passionate photographer based in the UK. Like many of us, he’s been bored in the pandemic. But he’s found a lot of joy in taking photos. For Matt, all he needs is his Sony Xperia 1 II. Sony has gifted photographers with a smartphone that can do almost everything. With roots in their Alpha camera lineup, it’s a potent tool. In fact, it’s so powerful that Astrophotography is possible with the device.

This post is presented by Sony. Experience the power of the Sony Xperia 1 II from Amazon, Adorama, or the Sony Store. Learn more about Xperia Trade-In offers.

Photographing the Night Sky With the Sony Xperia 1 II

“The specs of the Xperia 1 II sold me straight away, and the announcement of the triple-lens excited me,” Matt tells the Phoblographer. “I could not wait to get out and try the phone out. Sure there were other flagships on the market which boasted more megapixels at a cheaper price, however, after having Sony after Sony, nothing could persuade me to make the change.” Matt says that he was sold by the 4K OLED screen and the features for passionate photographers like him.

Matt is representative of a base of photographers who’ve embraced their passions seriously in the pandemic. He doesn’t want to carry around a large camera. So instead, he reaches for his phone. For him, he was blown away by all the settings. The Sony Xperia 1 II’s Pro Camera Mode presents photography’s essence in a completely different way. And with some trial and error, he got exactly what he wanted. He started with sunsets and the forest. But eventually, he tackled the night sky. Suddenly, Matt needed a tripod for his 30-second long exposures of the Milky Way.

“The Xperia 1ii is very quick and responsive, with the recent release of Android 11 I can see this device being one of, if not the best smartphone around for the next few years and I cannot wait to see what Sony has In the bag for future releases.”

Capturing Life with the Sony Xperia 1 II

Like most folks, Matt goes to Instagram for inspiration. But he’s also an avid Redditor. He loves the community’s feedback and upvotes on his images. But most of all, Matt is inspired by life around him.

Take, for example, the lead image of this article. It’s a long exposure that Matt shot with a tripod. Matt tells us he did it in August of 2020 around midnight. “...the sky was clear, so I took my tripod out with me to a low light area on the Isle Of Wight in the UK,” he explains. “...As this spot was near the coast, it was quite windy, resulting in me moving slightly. However, I think it adds more action to the photo. I’ve had people compare it to a Sci-Fi movie poster!” Matt used various settings to get the image using the Photo Pro mode on the Sony Xperia 1 II. He praises the long exposure settings and the high ISO ability.

But Matt doesn’t only shoot at night. He’s in love with the sunset and everything in the sky. So with his Sony Xperia 1 II in tow, he shoots everything around him. Matt loves the fact that such a powerful camera is in his pocket. What’s more, Matt loves editing RAW files!

“...the RAW image format is also great as you get full control when editing your captured moments, another thing that other flagships lack.”

How Matt Caught the Photo Bug

“My hobby of mobile photography started during my teen years with the Sony Ericsson K790 Cybershot,” says Matt. “I would take photos of anything and everything, from cars to country landscapes. As I grew up and technology advanced, I stuck with Sony throughout the years.” Matt is truly a Sony fanboy! Starting with the Z1, he adored what the camera could do. He felt it was really ahead of the time with its 20.7MP imaging sensor. To him, everything else looked dated.

Like many other millennials, Matt got into photography by what his phone could do.

“I stuck with the Z1 until the Z5 was released, which really upped its game with the 720p 120fps video recording...

In Pro Camera Reviews, we recently discussed our requests from Camera Manufacturers

There’s been something missing from modern photography for a long time. It’s way too sterile. There’s little character. We need life and some sprucing. And that’s why we’re so happy to be playing with the Prism FX lens filters. They basically bring the life back to photography in many ways. And we discussed that in our recent episode of Pro Camera Reviews.

In This Episode:

A Closer Look at the Prism FX filters

We’re bored in the pandemic. So, EIC Chris Gampat decided to purchase a number of these filters. On recommendation from a friend, he spent a lot of money on them. He’s finding that they deliver a whole lot so far. These filters give the look Chris has wanted for a very long time from his lenses. It’s easy and very fun to play with them. In this episode, we’re going to go over a few of them and show what they’re capable of doing. Who knows, you’ll probably find a way to spice up your photos!

On the Next Episode

Which Do You Prefer? Modern Lenses or Vintage Glass? Last week we had a great discussion about our favorite cameras to use for fun. As great as cameras are though, we all know that they are nothing without lenses. Many photographers today prefer to use modern lenses on their cameras because of their ability to create blemish-free images, while some photographers prefer to use vintage glass to create unique images. Join us as we talk about our favorite lenses to use on our personal cameras. We’ll also talk about some of our favorite lenses from the past year.

Is The Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN Contemporary Worth It?: We’ve spent the last month or so testing the Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN Contemporary lens. This is Sigma’s third 35mm lens. It’s also their most affordable of the bunch. While being stuck mostly inside with the pandemic, we found ways to be creative with the lens. We’re going to talk about our findings with the L mount version of the lens. And in the end, we’re going to decide whether or not it’s right for you. Will this be your next 35mm lens?

About Pro Camera Reviews

Pro Camera Reviews happens every Sunday. Sign up to join us! Please Register here.

Pro Camera Reviews is a web show by the Reviews Team of The Phoblographer. Join them as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.

Please register here.

If you’re looking for a fun time while staying safe, we strongly recommend that you tune in for Pro Camera Reviews. It’s a weekly show where the staff tackles a couple of issues in the Photo World. They mostly pertain to cameras and lenses, but sometimes things get a bit more serious. This is partly because we still feel that we need to be educators and leaders in this space. Additionally, we also need to be responsible. Episodes are done on Zoom and are recorded. They’re Live Streamed to our Facebook Page, then shared on Flipboard TV and YouTube. We recommend that you subscribe to us on Youtube to keep up.

We’re not going anywhere for a long time, so try these.

We know you’re quarantined for the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t mean you need to put the camera down. Instead, this is a great time to shoot and embrace all the fun you can have with it. Trying something new helps us grow. So we came up with a few photography project ideas on what to do while quarantined. Check this out!

Daily Documentary Photography

The Idea

With this idea, you’re just documenting yourself doing mundane tasks. But you’ll find a way to make the most of it and make it unique.

You’ll Need

A tripod

Your camera

How to Do it

Set the camera down on a tripod. Focus it out to a certain distance or set the camera to wide focus and continuous. Tell the camera to shoot a timelapse of one photo every two or five seconds. You can do this one of two ways. You can set a fast shutter speed and just have it capture you crystal clear. But to me, that’s boring. I prefer to shoot at a slower shutter speed, stop the aperture down, and lower the ISO a bit. Shooting at a slower shutter speed lets you document a lot of what you’re doing. You’ll get some really, really cool effects too.

Adding motion to an image gives it drama.

Food Preparation Photography

The Idea

With this, you’re photographing yourself making food. It’s a variation of the previous idea but more focused on the idea of color, details, and telling a photography story.

You’ll Need

A camera

Strong window light or an off-camera light

A tripod

How to Do it

Do this as a variation of the previous idea, but bounce the light off the window to amplify the look of the natural light. And go for those cheesy angles that you see in all the food videos. (Pun totally intended, so don’t judge me.)

Rembrandt Lighting Portraiture Photography

The Idea

With this project, you’re going to shoot portraits at home using the Rembrandt lighting technique. It’s fun to do at home by yourself or with someone you’re quarantining with.

You’ll Need

An off-camera light

Ideally an umbrella

Your camera

How to Do it

Here’s a quote from a previous piece:

“Rembrandt lighting is all about angles. As annoying as that sounds, it’s true. The big things:

Your light has to be to the side of your subject though still in front of them. With the subject facing you, place the light between a 45 degree to 90 degree angle.

Have your subject turn their face towards you at a 0 and 30 degree angle.

Fire the light”

Double Exposure Photogrpahy

The Idea

With this, things will get a lot more complicated. There are tons of ways to do multiple exposures. The way we’re showing above is a very creative way to do it, but not the only way. Multiple exposure photography isn’t at all easy.

You’ll Need

A tripod

A camera with multiple exposure mode. Sorry, Sony.

How to Do it

Set the camera down and shoot multiple exposures. Each camera manufacturer has variants on metering, but they’re not consistent. Find a way to tell a story in a single image. It’s going to take a lot of trial and error, but you’ve got time.

Re-Edit Older Images

The Idea

With this, you don’t need to shoot anything. Instead, you’re applying new editing techniques to old images.

You’ll Need

Your photos

Your favorite photo editing software.

How to Do it

Literally, just sit down and edit. Mess around.

In-Camera Painting Photography

The Idea

With this, you’re playing with slow shutter speeds and slapping sharpness in the face. The result is some fun photography!

You’ll Need

A camera

A wide lens

How to Do it

Here’s a quote from a previous tutorial:

“Keep pulling the camera and then shoot. The combination of the low ISO, the slow shutter speed, and the narrow aperture should provide a lot of motion blur and camera shake. If you’ve ever seen the panning effect done with sports and wildlife shooting, you’ll realize it’s very similar.”

These Mirrorless cameras are built tough and have tracking capabilities that make them ideal for wildlife photography.

Birding and wildlife photography have both increased in popularity over the last year. The pandemic can be thanked for that. With so many photographers stuck at home, looking outside and capturing wildlife has become a nice way to pass the time and scratch our creative itches. However, birding and wildlife photography is not as easy as you may think. Thankfully, there are now cameras on the market with incredibly sophisticated autofocus systems that can track animals with ease. The best part is that there are cameras available for every budget. After the break, we have rounded up four of our favorite Mirrorless cameras for wildlife photography that will fit into every budget.

Canon EOS R6

In our review, we said:

“There are 6,072 selectable positions for stills, 4,968 focus points for video, and 1,053 zones that the AF system can choose from. This is one of the best autofocusing systems I have used. My keeper rates, even in challenging conditions, have never been higher. The AF works equally as well in low light as it does in good light too.”

Brett Day – Gear Editor

Buy now: $2,499

Olympus OMD EM1X

In our review, we said:

“The Olympus OMD EM1X, hands down, is the single best damn digital mirrorless camera I’ve held and used thus far. During my testing, I shot with it in the snow, in the dirt, and even after purposely getting dirt on it, I ran a hose over it, and I’ve got the videos to prove it.”

Chris Gampat – Editor In Chief

Buy now: $1,999

Pro Tip: Wildlife and bird photography may appear to be easy on the surface. However, it’s a lot more complex than you might think. Getting your camera set up correctly is vital, and knowing where to place yourself is incredibly important too. You can go out and experiment and take some time getting to grips with wildlife photography, or you can pick up a tutorial. This tutorial will teach you everything you need to know. You’ll be capturing images of birds in flight in no time.

Sony A9 II

In our review, we said:

“In a word, the AF system is magic: pure, unadulterated magic. Put the Sony a9 II into C-AF and select wide-area focusing, and you won’t miss a beat. The same thing goes for tracking. The Sony a9 II locks on and doesn’t let go, no matter what might get in between you and your subject. Then there’s the real-time eye AF and animal eye AF; it’s just crazy impressive.”

Brett Day – Gear Editor

Buy now: $4,498

Sony a6100

In our review, we said:

“Sony claims the Sony a6100 features the fastest autofocus system in the world and that the camera can find focus in just 0.02 seconds. I have to say that they may just be right. While the AF system is nowhere near as advanced as the systems found in the a7 III, a7r IV, or the a9 II, this little camera has seriously impressed me. Having autofocus as good as this in a camera that costs less than $800 is unheard of.

Brett Day – Gear Editor

Buy now: $748

I don’t think I’m ever going to go back to the toxicity that’s Instagram.

Back in March of 2020, I made a pledge to leave Instagram for a year. The platform can be incredibly toxic on many levels. It’s designed to do just that, in fact. Now, you could say that it’s all about the way you use it, but Instagram is a very invasive platform. The ads creep into your life and it can often make you way too anxious. So, inspired by many other photographers’ stories that continue to get work without Instagram, I did the same thing.

Behance

Behance is what I feel is Adobe’s best gift to photographers. It’s a fantastic place that’s well keyworded and easy to find work to be inspired by. You can also message other creators to collaborate, find gigs, etc. For years, we’ve used Behance to find photographers around the web. Best of all, there’s no riff-raff on there. The platform is genuine: truly made for people who are serious about being creative. All the work there is from people who care more about creating great photography and not about posing models to gain followers on Instagram.

Seriously, give it a shot.

Tumblr

No, I’m not crazy. The new Tumblr is a much more polished and grown-up version of the older platform. The hashtag curation there is always on point. It’s a place to discover the work of photographers in bite-sized portions. Then, if you’re interested, you can easily delve into a whole history pretty easily.

Further, if you want to communicate and talk to the photographers, you can choose to do so. The new Tumblr has ads, but it’s nowhere as chaotic as the version before the WordPress purchase.

We used to use Tumblr all the time to find and feature photographers. These days, I use it to find some of the most creative ones. It’s arguably the best platform to find work from photographers that’s far different than most of what you’re fed daily. And that can lead to new ideas of your own.

Organic Networking Through Contacts

Did you forget how to talk to people? Well, maybe you should change that. When people say something like, “I hope you’re well,” it starts to sound monotonous. How about changing to something like, “How’s life?” It fosters genuine conversations, and people become more interested in talking to you. Better yet, asking your colleagues for introductions to other people is usually safer too. When your current network vets someone else, you’re bound to have a better time working with that person.

Emails

During the pandemic and in my time away from Instagram, I sent a lot more emails. I checked in with photographers we haven’t interviewed in a while. We saw what they were up to, and we saw how they evolved. The key is to keep things on a schedule; follow up with intent and try to carve out time for everyone. Sometimes it means you respond slower, but at least you respond!

Phone Calls

Lots of us forgot how to talk to one another on the phone too. One of my excellent friends is photographer Brooke DiDonato. And I’ve tried to call her and other photographers that I’ve known for years. Most of the time, you’d follow up with your friends and colleagues by using Instagram. But it’s nice to dip in very quickly, see what they’re doing, and then actually talk to them about it. If you do that, they will speak in a totally different way than they do on the platform. It’s the same thing as interviewing people in person.

Zooms and Hangouts

This is the same idea as the phone calls. But somehow or another, phone calls still feel a million times more genuine.

Still Using Facebook

Facebook is a great way for me to connect and talk to my network of friends and colleagues. I’ve gotten rid of lots of folks who are toxic on that platform. Purging is huge. And it feels like the impact is a lot larger on Facebook than it is with Instagram. I personally unfollowed everyone on Instagram except for under 100 people. When I did that, it felt a bit liberating. Then I decided to just take a break.

Reddit

...

In Pro Camera Reviews, we recently discussed what cameras we use for fun

We test cameras every month. But there are some that really, truly stand out to us more than others. These are the ones that we jive with. They’re our favorites. And specifically, we use them for fun. Being a professional camera tester isn’t easy. But we continue to love photography. So when we just want to have a bit of fun, we use a few key cameras. In this latest episode of Pro Camera Reviews, we show you what we’re smitten with right now.

In This Episode:

A Closer Look at The Cameras We Use for Fun

We get to test, use, and review lots of different cameras and lenses here at The Phoblographer. And while it may look like fun, it’s hard work. We’re analyzing and focused on the camera more so than the fun side of photography. We do all of this on top of our own professional photoshoots too. How do we unwind from doing what we do and what cameras do we use in our personal lives for fun? Join us on our live show to see what members of the review team use when we want to go out and just have fun with photography. You might be surprised by our choices.

On the Next Episode

Which Do You Prefer? Modern Lenses or Vintage Glass? Last week we had a great discussion about our favorite cameras to use for fun. As great as cameras are though, we all know that they are nothing without lenses. Many photographers today prefer to use modern lenses on their cameras because of their ability to create blemish-free images, while some photographers prefer to use vintage glass to create unique images. Join us as we talk about our favorite lenses to use on our personal cameras. We’ll also talk about some of our favorite lenses from the past year.

Is The Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN Contemporary Worth It?: We’ve spent the last month or so testing the Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN Contemporary lens. This is Sigma’s third 35mm lens. It’s also their most affordable of the bunch. While being stuck mostly inside with the pandemic, we found ways to be creative with the lens. We’re going to talk about our findings with the L mount version of the lens. And in the end, we’re going to decide whether or not it’s right for you. Will this be your next 35mm lens?

About Pro Camera Reviews

Pro Camera Reviews happens every Sunday. Sign up to join us! Please Register here.

Pro Camera Reviews is a web show by the Reviews Team of The Phoblographer. Join them as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.

Please register here.

If you’re looking for a fun time while staying safe, we strongly recommend that you tune in for Pro Camera Reviews. It’s a weekly show where the staff tackles a couple of issues in the Photo World. They mostly pertain to cameras and lenses, but sometimes things get a bit more serious. This is partly because we still feel that we need to be educators and leaders in this space. Additionally, we also need to be responsible. Episodes are done on Zoom and are recorded. They’re Live Streamed to our Facebook Page, then shared on Flipboard TV and YouTube. We recommend that you subscribe to us on Youtube to keep up.

Light stands are essential for photographers, but so too are the support items.

Years ago, I had a roommate that asked me to shoot portraits for him. Typically, this is just fine. He’s a friend. He’s not a bad guy. It’s fine. “Hey Chris, I need a new photo right now,” he said. After I questioned why he explained that a ton of women was on the dating apps at the time. Mind you, it was a few days after Hurricane Sandy ended. It was very windy too. So my roommate and I walked across the street to take a specific photo of him. We chose a wardrobe beforehand, planned it out, and set to work. I didn’t think it would end up costing me a trip to the hospital. Photographers, don’t make the same mistake.

We went outside. It was supposed to be routine. A quick pose. One light. One lens. One camera. Quick and simple. We went to shoot a few portraits, and then it happened. A light fell on my head and cracked the skin open a bit. I was bleeding a whole lot. Thankfully there was no concussion. But this could’ve been avoided.

The light had an umbrella to spread it out more evenly. The shot looked great. But after that, I needed to go to the hospital. After waiting for a few hours, I got the painful staples put in my head. Those really, really hurt.

This all could’ve been avoided in a few ways.

Always Use Sandbags, Photographers

I’ve seen tons of new photographers doing shoots that sometimes irk me a bit. As much as possible, I urge everyone to always use sandbags. They’ll keep nightstands down and everyone safe. If I was using a sandbag, my light stand and light probably wouldn’t have fallen on my head. This would’ve avoided a trip to the hospital too.

And if you don’t have a sandbag, find another way to secure your gear. Use sailing rope and tie it down to a specific area. Have an assistant hold it. Just do something!

Always Properly and Fully Secure the Lights and Modifiers

Umbrellas are wonderful. But they can cause a lot of problems. Think of them as sails on a boat. In fact, the same applies to beauty dishes, softboxes, etc. They’re going to catch the air and move your light. The larger the light modifier is, the more air it will capture. And the more dangerous your shoot can be when you’re on location.

Even if you’re using a fan to blow a model’s hair, it can be dangerous. Take the safety precautions. You don’t need you or your subject getting hurt.

Tighten every single part of the light stand, the male/female connectors, etc. This is a big vouch to not use the cheap stuff either. The cheap stuff may probably snap in half because it’s not designed to handle tougher conditions. It’s instead designed to just do a standard job and to get a no-brainer sale. But solid light stands, arms, and grip gear are very worth the investment.

Don’t Shoot in the Wind and Take Risks.

Lastly, really don’t ever shoot in high winds. Some shoots require it. And those should really be worth the risk. Don’t do it just for fun or as a favor to someone. You’re probably going to get hurt.