APERTURE (a recap w/ goodies)

Before I move on to Shutter Speed next week I wanna recap Aperture for the understanding of exposure and composition. Hopefully the selected infographs I pulled from the internet should be of assistance. Next week: Shutter Speed in Understanding Exposure. Until then, please save these as useful tools to help you start your photography journey and on that note I’d call Aperture done and dusted.

Understanding Exposure : Aperture 101

The series of Understanding Exposure trucks on with this installment: Aperture. As an appetizer let’s take a quiz. I have three questions, answers below (no cheating), you get them right… you pass the quiz and read no more. You get so much as one wrong, you go back and read this entry. Deal? Deal. Let’s go!

1. What is the f-stop number when stopping down two full stops from f/5.6?
   a. f/2.8
   b. f/8
   c. f/11
   d. f/7.2

2. The near and far points from the fixation point encapsulate an area called “The ___________________ .
   a. Depth of Focus”
   b. Circle of Confusion”
   c. Depth of Field”
   d. Fixation Point Distance”

3. The creamy silky background blur behind your subject is pronounced _________.
   a. Bo-Kuh
   b. Bo-Kah
   c. Bo-Keh
   d. Boke…like Coke

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Let’s get down to the lesson shall we….

Stops , F-Stops , Stopping Up, and Stopping Down

To begin with, the “f” in “f/8” stands for “focal length”. If you replace this f in the fraction with the value of the focal length of the lens you’re using, you will get the diameter of your aperture. Let’s say, you’re now using an 80mm lens. If the f-stop you want to choose is f/8, you will get the fraction 80/8. 80 divided by 8 is 10. So the opening in your lens is exactly 10 millimeters across. If we had a 50mm lens and an f-stop of f/1.0, our aperture would be 50 millimeters across. In other words, its diameter would be equal in length to the focal length of the lens.

Here, though, it’s important to distinguish between the diameter of the aperture (measured in millimeters) and its area (measured in square millimeters). If we choose f/1.4 on that same 50mm lens, the diameter of the aperture will get smaller by a factor of 1.4 but its area will be reduced by a factor of 2. This might sound complicated but you don’t really need to think about it. What you should know, however, is that by changing the aperture by one stop we either reduce or increase the amount of light by a factor of two. So, if we stop DOWN the lens from f/4 to f/5.6, we allow twice as little light. If we stop UP the aperture from f/5.6 to f/4, we double the amount of light.

The range of f-stops a lens supports is f/1 – f/32, consisting of the following f-stops:

f/1,f/1.4,f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8. f/11, f/16, f/22,f/32

Depth of Field and Aperture

In short, depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the near point and the far point of the fixation point were objects in your image are acceptably sharp. It’s measured in feet or meters.

The depth of field can be shallow (narrow) or large. When it’s shallow, just a small part of your photograph appears sharp. When it’s large, a great area of your image is in focus.

How does aperture affect depth of field? The chosen aperture value (or f-stop number, as it’s called) directly affects the depth of field in your image. The lower your f-stop number, the shallower the depth of field. At f/1.8 for example, only a part of your object of interest will appear sharp. The rest of the photograph will be blurred.

Bo-Bok… Background Blur

I threw this in the lesson because there seems to be a misunderstanding on the proper way to pronounce the name used for background blur. The name itself originates from Japan and the syllables, consonants, and vowels offers some confusion hence why people say Bo-Kay or Bo-Kah when Bokeh is actually pronounced Boh-Keh. Good Bokeh is soft silky background when using a shallow depth of field on a wide aperture (f/2.8 on up).

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ANSWERS: Confucius say; in multiple choice always choose “C”. 1.C 2.C 3.C

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In Closing

I want to thank you for swinging by the week. Today, tomorrow, and Saturday are going to be a little hectic as I’m going on vacation. I’ll say now that I make no guarantee of a blog this next week, but I’ll do my best to get one out. Flickr Friday happen regardless as I have some shoots planned for Project 116*3. At any rate, see you all tomorrow for Flickr Friday. Cheers!

Memory Cards & You (understanding types, speeds, and capacity)

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The digital equivalent to the film rolls of the analog days can offer more confusion than simplicity. What was a simple ISO, ASA, or DIN rating on the film to tell you what the limitations were of the film, are now rife with so many symbols and numbers. It’s enough to just pick one at random and see if it fits your workflow. Let’s take the guesswork out and make some sense of all these symbols and hieroglyphics.

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Types

The first thing we need to establish is what type of memory card your device needs. This is understood in the product description of the device on the website, or the owners manual. Worst case scenario leave you to ask a sales associate or a simple Google search on what your device requires. Save that info as we will go back to it towards the end of this. The more common memory cards as of late are micro SD and SD cards. SD stands for Secure Digital, and the obvious difference is the micro is much smaller SD card, but it does usually come with an SD adapter. Slip the micro SD card into the adapter and now you can use this in a device that only accepts SD cards. Though it can be done I consider the vessel approach to only be used as a bridge from a device that only accepts micro SD to a laptop or PC that only take an SD card and not to be used as a memory card soley. In addition to micro SD and SD cards there’s a less common card called the CF or Compact Flash cards. Up to and including 2012 CF cards had the speed and capacity people needed for photos and videos. Now that SD card technology has grown so quickly, CF card hold no advantage and are being phased out slowly from dSLRs and video cameras.

Mirco SD card (right) and SD adapter (left)

SD (Secure Digital) card

CF (compact Flash) card

The rise of SD cards and the advancement has brought out many different types of SD cards. There’s SDSC (Standard Capacity), SDHC (High Capacity), SDXC (eXtended Capacity), and the soon to be in the limelight SDUC (Ultra Capacity). Each one of these types were labeled for their specific generation’s limitation of capacity. SDSC defines a card that starts at 128MB and maxes out at 2GB. SDHC stands for cards’ capacity is from 2GB to 32GB. SDXC can go from 32GB to 2TB. Lastly SDUC will have a capacity from 2TB to a massive 128TB.

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Speeds

A read/write speed is as important as having the correct generation of memory card and capacity. Obviously this is crucial in video capture with the standard of Full HD and 4K, but more so with the advent of 8K. In photography, moreso while shooting RAW, the writing speed was crucial to the CF cards’ specs as well as the SD. If you shot sports, wedding, fashion, or action in general the buffer between shots made or broke you. Much like the types the writing speed of the cards were “classed” to classify what to expect performance speaking.

Going from left to right (above) we have Class 2, Class 4, Class 6, Class 10, Class 1 UHS (Ultra High Speed), and Class 3 UHS (Ultra High Speed). Again the technology in writing speed scaled up with the numbers which represents the minimum sequential writing speed offered. Class 2 can do any SD video resolution, but can’t do Full HD video at minimum 2MB/s. Class 4 can do any Full HD resolution, but cannot do 4k at minimum 4MB/s. Class 6 can do 4K as can Class 10 and Class 1 UHS, however all three are unable to keep up with 8K’s writing speed needs. The minimum writing speeds of Class 6 is 6MB/s and 10MB/s for both Class 10 and Class 1 UHS respectively. Lastly there’s Class 3 UHS that can do it all 8K, 4K, Full HD, and SD with a minimum write speed of 30MB/s

If deciphering all that didn’t cross your eyes, then hold that dial. Recently it wasn’t confusing enough so companies started putting a video speed class on the SD cards. The symbol is a weird fancy ‘V’ (shown below) and range from V6, V10, V30, V60, and V90.

A quick summary is V6 and V10 cannot do 8K, but can do 4K on down in resolution. V30, V60, and V90 can do 8K video and every resolution under that as well with ease. Lastly, and this is more brand specific, there may be a rating of speed like 667x or 1066x. This is speed rating, from brands like Lexar, Kingston, PNY, and Transcend, is superfluous and really unnecessary since the above “classed” classification of cards. That #x speed was to inform you that it was “x” times faster than a traditional CD-Rom’s speed for writing. Again 667X 90210x 420x for all I care is obsolete, and frankly needs to be removed from memory cards label as it just adds more confusion.

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Capacity

Lastly, there’s capacity. Largest capacity can hold the most media (like Hard Drive technology). Your typical low end SD cards are about 1-2GB and go up to 512GB currently with capacity doubling in advancement (1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB). CF cards were and are no different in capacity, and following the same technological leaps by doubling in capacity.

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Suggestions

I’ll make this short and sweet; memory cards will fail on you, get multiples. As far as brand goes, while they don’t pay me to say this ….SanDisk is a brand that doesn’t do the 667x speed labeling (and if they ever did, they dropped it when the classing of the different cards were introduced) and hasn’t failed on me majorly….yet. Their branding scales in word salad like Lexar is riddled with unnecessary numbers and symbols. SanDisk started with Ultra, then Ultra Plus, then Extreme, Extreme Plus, and lastly the current line of “Extreme Pro” cards. I seldomly stray away from a brand that gives me constant and stable products, so if you are looking for a nod I’ll give it towards SanDisk (how so ever results may vary so if you have nothing but trouble with your SanDisk cards, don’t blame me).

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Conclusion

In summation, I hope this crash course in memory cards help and while there is Sony’s Memory Stick format xD Picture Cards, and MMC (MultiMediaCard)…they are all dead or dying formats of memory cards that nobody is or will be using. I could go more into this, but my head is spinning with all this info (as I’m sure yours is) and after having to write this a second time I’m gonna quit while I’m ahead. Thank you all for stopping by again, and I’ll see you all tomorrow for the first upload of Project 116*3….for real this time.

Pssst…..

Hey you.

Yes you!

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Exposure and the Human Eye + Project 116*3 (Intro for the uninitiated)

I want to start with the absolute basics for those of you reading with no prior or any knowledge of photography. Sit right down there and hopefully (if I explain things correctly and thoroughly enough) by the end of “Understanding Exposure”, an off and on series, you’ll understand exposure and the key components that go into exposure thus creating a photo. By extension, with no guarantee, you will most likely take better photos knowing these components.; at the very least experiment more thus creating more engaging photos. So, let’s get into the basics!

Exposure has three key components to it; Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Film Speed. All three components factor light coming in; the aperture for the amount through the lens, shutter speed for how long the light comes into the camera, and the film speed (going forward it will be called ISO) which measures the sensitivity of that specific film or sensitivity of the sensor at that measured setting. So let’s use this idea in practice, and many of you may not have a camera on had but you don’t need one for this example, you just need to understand you own eye.

If you shine a bright light at an eye, though I don’t suggest doing this to a random person’s eye, you’ll notice how the pupil contracts limiting the newly added amount of light in. If our eyes didn’t contract, the amount of light would blind us by bathing the entire vision in whiteness.

Our eye can and do compensate however and so our pupil contracts and the vision isn’t whited out very long. The same can be said for the opposite, when wondering around in the dark with no or low lighting our eyes will compensate for the lack of light and let in as much light as possible to create a visible scene. If our eyes didn’t adjust ever we would, for example, walk into a dark theater from the lobby or outside and constantly bump into things it would be too dark to give vision.

The camera’s lens functions the exact same way. Sure it has some advantages and hurdles when dealing with a wide or narrow aperture but dealing with the amount of light and having the lens control it is the same as the involuntary action of the pupil. You can even know what happens if the aperture is too narrow or wide, given the shutter speed and ISO are all set properly. Too wide? Then the exposure will be too light. Is the image too dark? then the aperture is too narrow. All these are, again, if the shutter speed and ISO are set properly. The shutter speed simply is the blinking of the “camera’s eye”. The faster the camera “blinks” the darker the image is, and the longer the cameras blink stay open, the brighter the image will be. Like the Aperture the shutter speed is dependent in the Aperture and the ISO. I’ll get more into the ISO in the blog entry for “Film Speed” but for understanding purposes of the human eye and understanding exposure, think of the ISO as the retina in the back of the eye. It is a light sensitive sensor that needs the eyelids for “shutter Speed” and the pupils for the “Aperture” to best make a visible image. I’ll get more into each topic, trust me I couldn’t scratch the surface in one blog if I tried, but for now you have a better understanding of why an image would be to dark/light. Keep in mind it’s sometimes just one of the three factors but a general dark image is a combo of all three. So join me in future posts as we dive into these subjects, and you too can learn photography…

Now on to another topic.
Project 116.

A photographer I followed for the first couple years of learning photography wrote in a website she made about the first camera she ever owned:

”I spent almost a year shooting exclusively with the 50mm f/1.4. I couldn’t afford another lens, so I just had to make do with what I had. I think this forced me to learn the basics of photography (exposure, light & composition) and really know how to use my camera.” - Lisa “Mostly Lisa” Bettany

It made me think about the constant influx of gear I’ve had come and go with little work to speak of other than the work I brought it for (this was before the popular rise of lens rental sites"). I needed a way to celebrate what gear I bought and why I loved these specific lenses or cameras. So, project 116 ( 1 camera, 1 lens, 6 months) started with my first lens I ever bought “50mm f/1.8”. Now in this third installment I have decided to go with another zoom lens (116/2 was the 17-40mm Super Wide Zoom lens) the “Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L” lens. What better way to celebrate this than with a camera fresh from the Canon repair wing, the EOS 5D mk II. Now I know for a fact that I won’t be using the 5D mk II won’t be brought on my trip in a month, so while Project 116 has been very flexible, with the one exception, I want to be a little more strict with just the 1 camera. Previous installments bounced the same lens on two to three different bodies, but this time will be a little different, and I’m excited to show you all next Flickr Friday the inaugural post. this will go on once a week every Friday for the next 6 months, so see you all then. Until next Thursday, thanks for swinging by!

Websites every photographer needs to visit and bookmark

Comin’ at you on a beautiful Thursday…..I mean Sunday—UPDATE——— SCRATCH ALL THAT WE BACK ON THURSDAYS NOW——— (because my hay fever/sinus infection got the better of me). I want to reveal some of my tricks over time and in this edition of the Bendersama Blog I want to focus on some websites I personally still use or value greatly. These site started me on my photography path, but moreover they are great tools to use in tandem with your learning from experience, workshops, or schooling. Let’s crank these out, however I’ll state this now; while they are/were useful to me, results may vary for you.

Photography Social Social Media Sites

FLICKR

Some will tell you that this site WAS a great source of fellow photographers talking shop about gear, tech issues, clients, and composition. the same would tell you that this site is dead and should be written off. I’ll tell you now that with the recent Flickr buyout by SmugMug, and the Verizon buyout of Yahoo, no long will statements like:

"There's really no such thing as professional photographers anymore." - Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer 2013

..will no longer be tolerated. Make no bones about it, as this site was crashing and burning to knowingly subpar photographers and Second Life fursonas (don’t ask…), 500px picked up where Flickr dropped the ball. How so ever why I will never back a site like 500px, despite the pretty little site’s polish, is because of the privacy issues I’ve had in the past to stalkers and harassers. I’ll tolerate harsh criticism, but in the past I’ve had a couple people knowingly imitate, fervently follow, and unapologetically go over many personal lines. To that end I’ve had a back and forth with admins of 500px and their response is “Sorry, nothing we can do.”. Not even a block button coded for a profile; but over on Flickr you can not only do everything with a community of users and if you ever have a problem with one of them you CAN block them.

Now I said this before, but it bears worth repeating, I stand by Flick and the new wave of REAL PHOTOGRAPHERS that come in hungry to share and socialize. It will take time, but when Flickr returns to greatness I’ll still be there, and I suggest you to go there, post your work, and make some friends.

Informative Equipment Reviews

When I started out I looked at sites like fredmiranda.com and thought the users smugness towards a lens being slightly soft or heavier than they cared for. That was when I didn’t know that weight over time would be an issue, or the fact that a certain zoom lens extended and how this would cause issues. It find it now that FREDMIRANDA.COM is a valuable resource of boards in a time and place photography boards of “quality” are in short supply. One that I did and still do respect and admire is DPREVIW.COM. It has grown exponentially, but it still keeps up with their “lens data” review which is my bread and butter. Every lens has a “sweet spot” and DPReview’s lens data helps illustrate it in cool graphs and colors easy to understand. For example (popping out in a new window) you can see that the “lens data” on Canon’s 40mm pancake lens, on a Canon EOS 7D body, will show that while the vignette on the lens @ f/2.8 on the corners is a little soft, it goes away at f/4 and beyond. Also, the optimal sharpness of the lens tends to side on f/8 and anything under, while useable, tends to be soft under f/8. That would leads someone to understand the optimal setting for the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens is f/8 (which is kinda rough as on average sweet spots tend to be one stop under the fastest setting). Beyond me explaining this you can see it on the graphs and come to that conclusion yourself, which is why I’m so big on dpreview.com! Another great site is Photons to Photos! This site is new to my bookmarks but it’s really rising up the charts as a data reviewer. The niche behind this site, beyond auditing the next site I’ll mention, is to offering a clear representation of the data gathered on each camera’s dynamic range at any specific film speed (ISO). The line graph shows points where the dynamic range also falls off at a specific ISO. This offers you the best range to use your camera, and where to expect the IQ (image quality) dip at higher ISOs. Of course you can compare cameras’ dynamic range when deciding on upgrades or brand transition. The site that this needs to audit occasionally is DXOMark. Now I would have kinder things to say about the site, but with the rating system, their slow-to-lab-review new lenses and camera bodies, and their disconnect from solid photographer gear to cell phone sensors MAY be ahead of the times, but does nothing for me as a resource.

News, Creative, and Educational Sites

If you waltz away from this blog with anything, let it be STROBIST. Strobist is the BEST site on how to learn lighting, types of lighting, and lighting gear, and set-ups… to those new to photography the etymology of “Photo Graphy” is literally “Light Drawing” so learning light is paramount. Short of this site another fun site to visit is ThePhotoblogger. It’s articles on creative photography may be what you need to jog the creative juices. Another creative and newsworthy site is fStoppers. This site, in the beginning was the buzzfeed of photography sites (which I don’t rank personally very high). I’ve been back and forth over a few years and while there are a handful of millennial hipster authors, the quality has gotten better with time and should be, at its core an interesting readthrough. Lastly I want to touch on the rumor mill sites. Canon Rumors and Nikon Rumors really help give you a peak at what’s on the horizon for their respective company’s tech.

Now that should cover all my DIGITAL photography resources, my film adds a few more vintage lens reviewers, and the addition of 4chan’s /p/ board (if you can tread through the flamewars and smug), reddit’s r/photography and r/analog subbreddits. Sites like the ones just listed aren’t really MY recommendations as they don’t cater entirely to the new photographer or those not savvy with the ways of internet culture. I would finish this off by saying that a resources value is relative to the person using it, and while there is other sites and communities you could go with or mention, the ones I just listed will take you far if you delve and only if you delve into each site. Best of luck, and I hope these links help!

dSLR Camera Buyers Guide [So you wanna buy a mirrorless camera (part 4)]

In this final installment of a mirrorless camera buyer’s guide, Im exploring the option to just NOT go mirrorless. To be fair, if in going through these posts you’ve come to any realization it’s that if you were to ask what to buy (mirrorless or an SLR) let’s say three years ago, I’d laugh and say “ go SLR”. Now though, the lines have blurred, and maybe because of people’s early adoption to this slimmed down and streamlined technology and design this could usher a new camera “shape”. How so ever, let’s say you don’t mind the bulk, the mirror, or the pentaprism. Let’s also say money might be tight. Well, with mirrorless technology relatively new it can also be a premium in some cases of buying new or even slightly used. In addition, with mirrorless cameras, unless you want to add the cost of a decent to great lens converter for your camera, SLR cameras (Sony, Nikon, and Canon for starters) have a library of hundreds of different lenses that can work natively… if you choose the same brand lens.

Speaking of which before we dive in I need to stress that glass should be your first concern. In a addition the camera you choose (mirrorless or SLR) no matter the brand and model doesn’t make the photographer. The photographer makes the camera, so use the camera knowledgeable (as the camera can only take you so far with “talent”) and often…go out and snap those picks.

…but Bender…. I need a camera to snap photos.

Well then, let’s get you that SLR camera.

The Big Three…?

Canon, Nikon, …Pentax? …no, Sony?…not unless you want a mirrorless. I should rephrase that, Sony DOES have SLR cameras, but the extent of what I’ve experienced shows Sony has pour all their money into making mirrorless a household name with their brand, and when Nikon and Canon finally made a more than sufficient attempt this year and late last the two “big dogs” were try to punch up on Sony’s lead in the marketshare.

The vari-angle screen is a godsend! Selfies, vlogging, and general odd-angle framing for photography will really benefit.

This brings me to just two brands to suggest confidently: Canon and Nikon. This also should be very telling as to which road you go down: neither is wrong and both take you to greatness when eventually upgrading to a professional body (if or when you are ready). That being said there’s some shades of grey when dealing with these two companies. BOTH have APS-C sensors (a crop factor of x1.6 for Canon and x1.5 for Nikon) which aren’t too different just proprietary to those companies. Both companies chose to incorporate the “vari-angle screen” technology in most all of their entry level cameras. Lastly, while it’s a single slot both companies support SD card technology. the similarities kinda stop there and I’ll be splitting hairs, giving a score and a price with all of these, but in all honesty other than some severe differences all these cameras are great to start photography and work into a higher grade camera.

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Nikon

Nikon D3500

+ Very user friend with controls
+ Very nice Image Sensor

- No Vari-angle screen or touch screen
- SnapBridge syncing is awful

24.2 MP APS-C sensor

1080p video

5fps in burst mode

$400
7.5 / 10

Nikon D5600

+ Var-angle touchscreen
+ Great Image Quality (especially in low light)

- SnapBridge is terrible
- Live Focusing is slow to focus vs through the eyepiece

24.2 MP APS-C sensor

1080p video

5 fps in burst mode

$700
8.5 / 10

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Canon

Canon SL2

+ Var-angle touchscreen
+ Smaller build

- 9 AF points
- Battery Life is that is a mirrorless camera

24.2 MP APS-C sensor

1080p video

5 fps in burst mode

$600
9 / 10

Canon T7i

+ Var-angle touchscreen
+ 45 AF points w/ Dual Pixel AF

- 3 fps burst mode
- Live Focusing is slow to focus vs through the eyepiece

24.2 MP APS-C sensor

1080p video

3 fps in burst mode

$700
8 / 10

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There you have it. Options to choose in this “current year” that will undoubtedly change next year or as early as late this year, 2019. I hope this helped even a little in your decision for a quality beginner camera whether it be for school, a vacation, to walk around, a capture the big game. If you are serious about photography, which I hope you are, I’ll be offering some lessons on understanding photography. Please use this only in tandem to you learning through shooting and any classes you may be taking in photography as some key words may be lost on you. If you have any questions in my wordage going forward leave me a comment, or drop me an email : bender@bendersama.com. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for Next Week’s blog as they return to their regularly scheduled Thursdays. Cheers!

Mirrorless Camera Buyers Guide [So you wanna buy a mirrorless camera (part 3)]

Before we begin…

I should state now that a lot of these features and stats my go over your head, please bear with me as I’m highlighting a lot of stats within the camera itself that I enjoy and look for in a camera. Owning your first mirrorless camera is a pretty neat event as it sets you on the path of photography. What it can handle as a workload should be directly in line with what you are doing. For example if you aren’t doing sporting events let’s say you would necessarily need a camera that can do a high speed of burst shots over another camera, possibly saving money in the process. Yes as the last piece of the “three pieces of photography gear” you need, the camera should be an important decision but the last decision. That being said, and I cant stress this enough; from hobbyist to serious minded photographer… Get Quality Glass First.

Lastly, I want to state the obvious. While the camera takes in the light to make a photo, it is you and you along who pushes that button. The cameras sensor can make the image tack sharp, and the quality glass (you purchased first, no I won’t stop harping on this) will give you wonderful bokeh and clear details, but it is you who points the lens where it needs to go. I talk a lot about gear (to a fault really, which personally I’m breaking myself on) and I don’t stress enough that the photographer needs to be as mindful and knowledgeable as the camera is decked with features. Gear only will get you so far, but it is not a substitute for talent, so please… Work on you photographic eye, and be happy with the gear you have. Rather than constantly upgrading to keep up, examine if you talent has been unoriginal and stagnate or hindered by the limitation of your gear.

Let’s Go Store Shopping

Like anything in life you need to shop around and find the best deals/savings. That being the case I have a few suggestions of shops to check out that you may or may not know about already;

eBay

This little storefront is where I got a good amount of my gear I still use. Shop around here and the best advice I have for those that aren’t sure about the reliability of the site, I can say for certain I have never been cheated on eBay, but I’m also mindful of who sells me these things. You should stay away from the following.

• low seller scores (like if the seller has a 0 or >15) next to their name

• things that originally come from China (nothing against China, you just want to buy initially within North America). save the knock-off brands for other things later,

• Hot Items. Some less savory characters don’t know how much a lens or camera is worth so they low ball by a lot. In that case never buy a $3000 latest model camera for $500 . You’ll know more on the average price of a camera as you do a little research into the one you want

• “As-Is” listing. Just read carefully through the description of what you want and spare the snap purchase reflex you may have. You may be purchasing that “non-operable camera to be used for parts only” in error.

I know that’s a lot of caveats to add, but if you scoop a camera or lens you want for $100 or so less than it normally goes for then I saved you money.

Few “feed back ratings” and the Positive Feedback >95%…. No thanks

Amazon

I have mixed feelings about this place, but I love its price competition more than the harm it did forcing businesses to low ball or go out of business. One of the biggest killers when shopping online is shipping, but if you have Amazon Prime you get shipping free for 2-day shipping… so there’s that. The only other thing is that since Amazon was the first to be a popular price cutting online store, it has to constantly stay competitive making a great place to start gauging prices under the suggested MSRP for many other online stores. Heavy is the site that wears the crown of lowest prices, so look around and if Amazon is the best price that day, scoop up the gear you are looking for.

B&H / Adorama / 42nd Street Photo / Samy’s Camera

I bothered to just lump the photography eStores into one category, as they are all shades of grey. In short:

• They all offer credit

• They all have physical stores (either East or West Coast stores)

• They all sell the latest gear under MSRP

• They all offer refurbished older gear

• They all offer bundles for starting gear when buying a camera

• If in the physical store and can wheel and deal they will throw in some extras here and there, which is nice if starting out but mostly pointless if well established in gear.

The Mirrorless Cameras

I’ve prefaced some sage like advice, I’ve given you options on where to shop….

So, you wanna buy a mirrorless camera. Here are some suggestions.

Sony a6300

I gotta respect a company that continues to show up on the photography radar with some of their crazy innovations. My first camera in the digital realm even was a Sony CyberShot point-and-shoot camera w/ whopping 2.1 megapixels…ahem...as I was saying. The Sony a6300 is an APS-C cropped 24.2 MP CMOS sensor. Able to shoot a burst 11fps continuous at RAW this small camera packs a punch. For the model photographer this little monster has Eye-AF, tracking your subject no matter the movement and with 425 AF points, you are assured that every image will be in tack sharp focus. If you are looking for a camera that can take video as well, this is your swiss army knife, as it can do 4K at 30fps and 120fps in full HD. Allow me to splash some cold water on your face here as everything is not wine and roses here. Last I saw the camera has a little bit of a rolling shutter issue when filming video, so buyer be aware. Also the starting camera price of ~$900 can be a bit of a knee jerk reaction to this camera as it is pricey… and that not including the price(s) of any glass you attach to it. Take comfort in knowing that your limitations are what you make of it in the camera, as even using other lenses like all of these cameras are just a third party adapter away.

8.5/10

Canon M50

As I am a Canon user, believe when I say I won’t be biased on this product. I originally was looking at this list kinda surprised the Canon and Nikon had nothing really of value to offer, and then this came along. If 4K were a cuss word, Canon would be a PG movie. Offering literally NOTHING on a beginner/hobbyist level for 4K video options (w/ Canon’s 1D X and 5D mk IV being the only other cameras to do this) is unforgivable. Only now does it start to dab its toe in the 4K pool only so far thought as this isn’t true 4K as the sensor is a APS-C cropped 24.1 MP CMOS sensor. This also wouldn’t even be on the list unless it made up for its shortcomings, and it does. First, price. At $650 w/ kit lens, and the availability of a first party adapter ($150) that has the ability to connect all EF / EF-s lenses, this is a great starting point for beginners to Canon, photography, or Canon mirrorless cameras. The option is out there with a third party adapter to lessen the crop factor significantly. This is a x.71 adapter that also increases your lens’s light in by one full stop, which can make the difference in low light situations. If this is canon’s first entry level attempt at delivering 4K in one of their cameras it fell slightly flat since its 4K cropped, but I give an A for effort. Thanks for joining the rest of us Canon, better late than never I suppose.

7/10

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III 

Coming from outside of my expertise wheelhouse I consulted a few sites, bloggers, and message boards; this and the next camera come recommended, but I have no clue of outside lenses that would be great for it or where its limitations start/end. This camera has a tiny cropped 16.1 MP Micro 4/3 CMOS sensor, but don’t let that rule it out as this has 121 Auto Focus points w/ In Body Image Stabilization. It films in full 4K, but can only do 120fps in 720p. The other attractive feature is of course, the price. this comes in at $649! Real talk, this is a stepping off point for beginners. It is incredibly affordable, and as I’ve witnessed, has amazing image quality. That being said, I strongly feel this is for a hobbyist or vacationer, but who am I to tell you what and when you can use this.

7.5/10

Fujifilm X-E3

Fujifilm. I have had extensive experience in their film, and short of the rerelease of Kodak’s Ektachrome or the ever hopeful return of Kodakrome, would take Fujifilm’s film quality over ever other color film out there, period. So when I expect to see image quality and get blown away with its color logic inside the amazing 24.3 MP cropped APS-C CMOS sensor, then I know photography speaking this is where it starts. If you a looking for brands to follow up the product ladder until you get that Pro-level camera and shoot at a Pro-level, then the labels go Canon Nikon Sony and Fujifilm. Fujifilm, sadly has no real horse in the race of sporting photography in a sea of Yellow and Red (Nikon and Canon). This fact is not a detractor for you to stay away from Fujifilm, when a rising amount of Mirrorless users use Fujifilm and do street photography, photojournalism, modeling, wedding, and landscape photography. This, if you are strictly going mirrorless and not deviating from Fujifilm, should be your starting point and as other entry level mirrorless cameras go, should be The Bar at which every other camera is judged by its abilities and drawbacks. Of course it films in 4K, do you think all this praise would be given if it couldn’t? Coming in, with 23mm (effective 35mm equivalent @37mm) lens, the total comes to $950. It is the most expensive camera of the group I can suggest, but the quality far outweighs any shortcomings I know.

9/10

A few words to wrap up my review right now. Most all these cameras have a third party adapter that allows you to use any lens with that camera, sometimes even with the Auto Focus. That being the case, it blurs the lines you may have, when set on a specific brand. How so ever, I will say that nothing works better than an EF mounted camera to and EF lens, if you get what I’m saying.

… but what if you don’t like what mirrorless has to offer?

Well then, stay tuned next Sunday (before I start going Thursdays again for my regularly scheduled blogging time) for a buyers guide to dSLR cameras. For now, I hope this was some help in deciding a mirrorless camera, and thanks for stopping by.

DSLR VS MIRRORLESS [So you wanna buy a mirrorless camera (part 2)]

When discussing these cameras a few years ago I could confidently say “Hey, let’s do a blog title “Which is better”, and confidently come up with a winner. What a difference a handful of years make… Now I answer the question “Which is better” by giving the answer “ That is dependent on what your preference is and your workflow”. I’ll go in depth on the minutia for my reasoning but for those that want a TL;DR I’ll break it down like this.

Remove the pentaprism and the mirror from the DSLR; you start to streamline to a smaller size and a lighter weight.

• AMATEUR

  ~ [looking to understand or get into photography]

  BUY 35mm FILM CAMERA

  ~ [don’t wanna do film] dSLR entry level
  ~ [younger/older photographer] mirrorless

• PROSUMER ~ [vacationer] mirrorless
  ~ [vlogger/blogger] mirrorless
  ~ [younger / older shooter] dSLR

• PROFESSIONAL ~ [self employed photographer] dSLR

So why would you want a mirrorless camera? When considering how long you’d be holding on to the camera shooting, and with certain heavier lenses, the much needed break in size and weight is a godsend. I would recommend going mirrorless if you are going “lighter” on photography gear. Perfect for the upcoming vacation/ convention seasons, you’ll travel lighter and won’t sacrifice the image quality if you did think of going mirrorless. Also, the younger and older photographers out there should think of going mirrorless as the size and weight won’t tire you out physically when going out shooting. To not overstate the weight and size a vlogger or blogger will struggle less with a nice light lens and a mirrorless camera on a mini tripod like the Joby GorillaPod. Lastly I wanna touch on this cautionary warning. A dSLR has a mirror and a shutter screen that blocks the sensor and acts as a protector from any dust or damage to the sensor, with the mirrorless camera…you don’t have that protection. Essentially any dust, dirt, scratches, or splashes that would get into a mirrorless camera would effect the sensor, and any damage to the sensor could very well ruin the camera. I don’t want to deter you from getting what technologically speaking is a “as-good or better than dSLR” camera, and extreme instances of carelessness would be the only cause damage that bad.

Your back and camera bag will thank you for switching or choosing mirrorless cameras as your photography choice.

The difference to (left) Canon 80D with lens and (right) Canon M5 w/ adapter and same lens is non-existent.

Now, on the flip side… Let’s say you are deterred by the sensor being exposed when changing lenses and what have you. Let’s also say that you’ve been using film SLRs of a certain brand that work with dSLRs without the need for adapters (more on this later). Let’s also say that comparatively you want a longer battery life (500+ shots on average), the weight difference isn’t important (on average the weight difference is 2-3lbs), and price is of some concern. Well then, welcome to dSLRs where almost 30 years of digital technology have been developed inside SLR bodies. The glass in almost every instance has a 30+ year timeline which is usable with AF (auto focus) on dSLR cameras today, without adapters. Nothing against mirrorless cameras, but the added weight for the ability to use legacy or vintage cameras almost mitigates the size and weight advantage mirrorless cameras have. Lastly there’s every serious and professional photographer’s nightmare: Disk Error & Data Corruption. The mirrorless option has a few answers to this issue, offering dual SD or CF slots, but dual slots is almost a standard on profession dSLRS. You the reader must be asking “with all these advantages, why even go mirrorless”. Here’s where, beyond the facts given, my opinion comes in.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Canon is the company I chose. I have few reservations after choosing the brand after learning photography on my old Canon AE-1 camera. I was familiar with Canon’s product lingo so I wasn’t lost in trying to determine if an EF-S lens would work on a specific body, or vice versa. Over the years I’ve seen Canon really innovate their AF game while losing the fight to certain Nikon cameras. When mirrorless came out swinging I paid attention to Sony (though Fujifilm was not taken for granted) and the a7 series of mirrorless cameras. Their color science and image quality was amazing. I’m on the precipice of, adapting another brand of cameras, and with my trip coming up I just may, but currently mirrorless cameras of any brand just isn’t justified YET for me….is it for you?

Next week, if you are going mirrorless I’ll have a list of cameras both current and a generation or two behind that are real workhorses and should be considered if you are buying a mirrorless camera. The following week will be a buyers guide for dSLR cameras, to give each “type” their own spotlight. I will preface two thing each week as I wrap up now.

1. GET GLASS FIRST! I cannot stress getting high quality lenses in your brand’s wheelhouse before the camera. Pick up a cheap body or an older body, or snag a deal…but get GLASS first!

2. The gear does not make the photographer. If you have THE camera and lens to end all cameras and lenses it does nothing if you can’t understand proper exposure and composition. The gear can “cover up” shortcomings but peers will notice and you’ll be a better photographer starting small.

3. None of what I write, show, or vlog will matter a damn if you…yes you, do not break from the internet and go out shooting and experimenting yourself. You will be a tenfold better photographer by learning from your mistakes and stumbling upon happy accidents before learning from me or anybody else.

   So go snap pics and be active, always learning from each shot and less concerned with gear; just concerned that the next photograph you make will be better than the last. Cheers!

So you wanna buy a mirrorless camera (part 1)

The year is 2012 and a few photographer colleagues are asking me what I think about mirrorless cameras, to which I say “A flash in the pan, mark my words and don’t spend anymore money than you have on them. Focus on glass!” I would end up eating my words on half that statement, owning up to the fact that this May, for a vacation with my wife, I’ll be packing a mirrorless camera for the first time. But how did I get to this point that I’m eating crow? Was it the constant bombardment of photographer bloggers and YouTubers showing off their cool new gear, or rather…was it time “going mirrorless” should be looked at as an option having lasted as long as they have with huge leaps in advancement from what they were…I’ll let you decide in this series. We will take a look at first what this technology is, compare and contrast with dSLR (digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras, and finally give examples of both brands and certain makes of cameras to look for if you yourself are going to make the plunge. So let’s answer the first question:

What is a mirrorless camera?

To answer what it is, I gotta explain what it isn’t. To explain what it isn’t I have to go back, back, back in time to show how it evolved into the camera it became. Cameras for the longest time had no way of showing you want you were shooting. you would aim the camera at the subject and unless you planned out the shot and where to frame it there was a good chance the subject would be out of focus or out of where you had composed the subject. Cameras with viewfinders helped (if you knew how to combat parallax error) but would wouldn’t show what the lens saw and put on film, until Twin-Lens Reflex cameras.

Twin-Lens Reflex as the name would suggest was a camera with two lenses. one game you a better approximation of where your subject was and how it would show up on film with again roughly the same field of view as what the film would record. Through the top lens and bounced off a mirror (I think you know where this is going) within the camera the photographer could see the subject. This would be the first leap forward in seeing what the end product would be before taking the shot, allowing recomposing the subject and focusing without botching the photograph. Life was good, and then the new upstart SLR cameras came in to change the game.

SLR, as stated previously, stands for Single Lens Reflex. This new innovation would be the standard for how the contemporary cameras would function into the digital age. The mirror pulls double duty offering a TTL (through the lens) view to compose, and when ready flipping up to imprint the subject on film or sensor depending on the technology.

Glossing over the history you get the idea of where the next stage in camera technology would move to. In the name mirrorless cameras remove the flip up mirror to offer a more lens to sensor connection..Your viewfinder is an electric viewfinder (viewable only when the camera has power) giving you exactly what the sensor will pick up and read. Certain functions like AF (auto focus) and exposure were bounced around through the mirror previously, but now the direct lens to sensor offers a more condensed A - B communication connection. There is no inherit advantage to this over the dSLR, in fact when the technology of mirrorless first came out dSLRs were the better choice for focusing. Currently however certain flagship dSLRs are getting a run for their money from many competent mirrorless cameras. I suppose to compare and contrast one needs to ask..

Which is better dSLR or mirrorless ?

Which I’ll handily answer next week in part 2. Thanks for being so patient the past year and change, but I plan on being more consistent and will have my work back my mouth…

See you then!