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The Hollywood Distagon at f/2: A Single Daffodil and the Contax Zeiss 28mm on the Sony A7RV
April 28, 2026
Hands-On Review: Did The Sony a7S Live Up To The Hype?
When the a7S was released just over a year ago, it completely shook up the photo-video industry. I was there at NAB 2014 for the surprise announcement. Artists like myself and my friends were now going to be able to record still photographs and video footage in almost complete darkness – even with kit lenses! The hype at the time was enormous. The camera became an almost overnight hit, long before the first one shipped from the Sony dock in Japan. Sony has just recently unveiled an update to the now year old venerable a7S, the a7S II. This updated version brings significant improvements in many
Read moreAn Open Letter To Performers
A number of the media industry’s biggest associations and organizations have published an open letter to performers on behalf of thousands of photographers and journalists in the United States. The letter is titled “An Open Letter to Performers Regarding Standard Terms and Conditions for Photographer and Reporter Credentials,” and it has been signed by 11 major groups so far, including the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), Poynter Institute, American Society of News Editors, Newspaper Association of America, and Society of Professional Journalists. Please consider this TheCameraForum.Com’s official statement of support in joining with this group. I would expect to see
Read moreThe 180 Degree Shutter Rule
Did you see yesterday’s article on the Exposure Triangle for still photography? It’s here: https://thecameraforum.com/exposure-triangle/ For video cameras, the same rules apply. There are 3 ways to control exposure internally on a camera, ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed or “Angle” as it is called on moving film cameras. For video, where movement is the rule vs the exception, the meanings of each control are a bit different however. For video, ISO affects noise performance, Aperture controls the depth of field and Shutter Speed sets the motion blur. You often see amateur videos shot at different shutter speeds with varying amount of motion blur. The question then becomes
Read moreThe Exposure Triangle
Understanding the three pillars of The Exposure Triangle, and how to use each of them to your advantage in concert, is one of the highest arts in photography. Up there with color and composition. Understanding the exposure triangle of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO is the first step in mastering photography. They are three of a photographer’s primary tools he will use the rest of his photographic life. To get your head around the concept, photographer Tony Catalano has created the Interactive Exposure Tool as an online tool for exploring how changing camera settings affects the resulting photo of a scene before actually going out and shooting with a physical
Read moreSony RX1R II 42.4 Megapixel PalmCam
Gone are the days of the low image quality but highly portable palm size camera. Those models have almost all be absorbed by the ever growing tidal wave of smartphone cams. Every smartphone made now comes with a decent built in camera. Some, like the latest iPhone 6S+, with state of the art features and 4k image quality. But what is missing with most of those offerings are where Sony comes in with the RX1R II. Following on the heals of the excellent RX1, this updated body is a fantastic improvement to an already nearly perfect camera. Full Sony Press
Read moreIt Moved Me: #ActOnClimate
I looked it up, the United States has faced 178 weather and climate disasters since 1980 according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. These 178 severe enough weather events to be classified as climate disasters have inflicted more than $1 trillion in directly measurable economic costs, and have been accompanied by incalculable costs in human suffering. Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, our two well known recent extreme weather events to hit the United States, together cost in excess of $200 billion dollars in addition to claiming more than 2,000 lives. Other less dramatic climate impacts can still be quite destructive. California’s now many-years-long drought, which scientists say has
Read moreSony Announces 14 Bit RAW Still Image Capture
UPDATE: Sony to Release α7R II Firmware Adding Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW on Monday, October 19th NEW YORK, Oct. 14, 2015 – Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, will release a firmware update on October 19th that adds uncompressed 14-Bit RAW image capture to the acclaimed α7R II full frame interchangeable lens camera. The new firmware, version 2.0, will be available for download through Sony’s e-support site www.esupport.sony.com on the product page for model “ILCE-7RM2”. In addition to uncompressed RAW capture, which will become a selectable feature (uncompressed/compressed RAW) within the menu system for updated cameras, the firmware
Read moreOlympus Upgrades Coming
Press Release: DOWNLOAD YOUR NEXT CAMERA: OLYMPUS UNVEILS TWO POWERFUL FIRMWARE UPDATES WITH ADVANCED MACRO SHOOTING AND VIDEO CAPABILITIES FOR THE OM-D New Performance Updates for the OM-D E-M1, E-M5 Mark II and Lenses Demonstrate Olympus’ Ongoing Commitment to Enhance the Existing Lineup CENTER VALLEY, Pa., September 15, 2015 — Today, Olympus announces a series of firmware upgrades that significantly enhance the performance of the OM-D line for professional and amateur shooters alike, including Version 4.0 for Olympus OM-D E-M1®, Version 2.0 for OM-D E-M5 Mark II updates to M.ZUIKO® PRO and PREMIUM lenses as well as Advanced Olympus Capture Version
Read moreA7S II Will Ship In October
Was there ever any doubt that sooner or later Sony Electronics would release the replacement for the A7S? Or that it would be called the A7S II? Last month they replaced the venerable A7R with the A7R II, a major upgrade in almost every way. Everything about the A7R II improved over the previous camera, admittedly at a substantially increased price. Today, at IBS 2015, Sony has announced the A7S II, scheduled presently to ship in the United States in October. Without actually testing one in my hands, it is hard to comment about new camera announcements. The best one can
Read moreCarl Zeiss Introduces Milvus
In an explosion of activity, Carl Zeiss introduced their new lineup of Professional quality manual focus DSLR prime lenses they are calling Milvus. The Milvus lens line will be sold in two full frame 35mm mounts, the Canon EOS and Nikon. Zeiss were quick to point out that both of these can easily be used on Sony A series cameras with a simple “E” mount adapter. Optimized for the high-resolution cameras emerging today, the line has 6 models for each mount at launch: a 21mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 50mm f/2, and 100mm f/2. So who are these lenses
Read moreI Just Assassinated My A7S – Atomos Ninja Assassin First Look
Out of the box, I am amazed. Plug it in, mount and format a new SSD cartridge, connect the cable. Fiddle a bit searching the nasty Sony Menu system to finally figure out the A7S will only output 4k UHD over the HDMI port if you have it set to MOVIE mode on the top dial. Manual doesn’t work, go figure… There were no instructions needed to get setup and going. For those not familiar with the Ninja family, there is Quick Start guide included as the only documentation onboard. The included AC Adapter was greatly appreciated while initial battery charging took place. With it,
Read moreSony A7R II: From The Experts At Samy’s
The Sony A7R II introduction at Samy’s Camera in Los Angeles, California on August 22, 2015 was a couple of weeks after the A7R II introduction launch held in New York City on August 5th. From what I saw of the postings, Brian Smith did his usual exemplary job of sharing what he knew about the camera with his audience in New York. Meanwhile out here in laid back California, we’ve had the long, hot, driest summer on record. While the temprature’s been hot the past four weeks, hot also has been Ladera Ranch professional Wedding & Portrait photographer Paul Gero. In Paul’s
Read moreThe Hollywood Arts Council Children’s Festival of the Arts 2015
Press Arrow Above To Play Video You think you have it tough as a freelancer bringing in enough money to cover your monthly bills? The life of a freelance artist looks easy when your name is Shauna McClure and your job is as the Executive Director of the Hollywood Arts Council. I’ve had the pleasure of working on a few projects the past couple of years with the Hollywood Arts Council. I’ve seen the events they put on for the children first hand. I’ve experienced the joy and unbridled excitement with the children as they got to try out something new in the
Read moreMicro Drone 3.0: Aerial Video in the Palm of Your Hand
It’s small, smart, streams HD footage to your phone, and that’s just the beginning of Micro Drone 3.0. I’ve been an avid follower of the “drone revolution” pretty much since its inception. In this relatively short period of time, the changes to the drone technology have taken place almost as rapidly as the users provided feedback to the designers. I’m talking about several generations of technology all coming in rapid succession. There is just no getting around it, drones are not only popular, they are here to stay. Inherent privacy, safety problems and all. Published on Jan 11, 2015, In this
Read moreThe Now – Ray Collins
Leave it to Ray Collins, a one time coal-miner turned fine art photographer to bringing some new and radically different angles to oceanic imagery. The coal-mining town of Bulli, south of Sydney, is not regarded as a repository of high art, nor as a vibrant and pulsing beehive of life and color, and yet there was Ray Collins. Seven years ago the idea of his new photography book, Found at Sea, would have seemed ludicrous to him; he was still working a mile down in the mines and hadn’t shot a single frame. Collins crawled out of the mines after blowing out a
Read morePaper Puppets Animation
Paper Puppets? Yep, 3D Animated 2D Cut-Out Paper Puppets mounted on sticks and animated into a great story. Expertly done, executed with perfection by a practiced group of artists intent upon telling their story. Go ahead and watch it. Nothing more needs be said. Work as good as this work strongly stands on its own legs. Here’s a NuMedia Direction for the Jim Henson Company! sasanomaly sasanomaly.com/ Producer : Hideyuki Matsui Director : Atsushi Makino Assistant : Kaori Munemura Production Manager : Narumi Kitagawa Yayoi Ozawa
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