Equipment

After reading the great reviews of the Fuji X100S, I decided to take the leap and buy one. I’ve been getting more interested in street photography lately, and this camera seemed like a good fit. Plus, it's supposed to sync at all shutter speeds, which is great for flash photography outside in bright sun. David Hobby and Zack Arias both have nice in-depth reviews.

But, things are rarely perfect. It turns out that the X100S can’t sync at f/2 unless you’re at around 1/1000 or slower on the shutter. Nice, but still, I was curious why that is. So I decided to run some tests to figure it out.

David Hobby over at Strobist uncovered an intriguing new type of parabolic umbrella by B2Pro Lighting last week that has some people intrigued, even as many others are calling BS. The umbrella sports a patent pending pattern of RGB photo sites that, according to B2Pro, will "bring lighting for digital photography and motion picture into the 21st century."

Originally produced for the US military in WW2, the Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm f/2.5 is a large-format monster of a lens. Mounted in bombers, facing down at Europe, this lens was sold to the US government for the price of a family car. It found its way into military surplus after the war, and was widely used in journalism and by professional photographers.

Late last year, we shared a video in which a photographer tested the radioactivity of an old Pentax 50mm f/1.4 lens that is really popular with film photographers. But that is far from the only lens you have to worry about when it comes to radioactivity.

Camerapedia lists 54 lenses that have been reported as radioactive and that, if you use them often enough, you may want to take note of.

The rumor mill is churning regarding Canon's tilt-shift lens lineup. The company will reportedly be announcing replacements to its two oldest TS-E lenses by the end of this year, and the lenses are likely already floating around in the wild for real world field tests.

Wireless connectivity is one of the hot features in the camera world these days, and many (if not most) new cameras either have built-in wireless connectivity or an optional wireless adapter that provides the feature. Unfortunately, the wireless adapters are often quite pricey, especially for higher-end cameras.

Here's something neat that you might be interested in knowing if you shoot with a Canon 1D X: you can connect a cheap WiFi adapter designed for homes and offices to give your camera wireless tethering!

A couple of weeks ago, it was discovered that Google Glass has wink detection features baked into the device that could allow users to stealthily snap photographs of anything just by winking at it. Today, the first wink-to-shoot app was launched.

Samsung today announced its new NX2000 mirrorless camera, a system camera that features a large sensor, a touchscreen, and wireless connectivity. This is the camera that was leaked by an FCC filing a couple of weeks ago, and which people thought might be Android-powered (it's not).

At Photokina 2012 last September, Zeiss announced that it was working on a new family of lenses for mirrorless cameras. This past March, we got a closer look at the lenses, which were outed as a 12mm f/2.8, 32mm f/1.8, and 50mm f/2.8 for Fuji's X mount and Sony's E mount.

Today, the company revealed even more details about the lenses, which are branded "Touit," publishing specs, product pages, and sample photographs.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada-based photographer Chris McVeigh is incredibly good at building camera replicas with LEGO pieces. Last month we featured his LEGO recreation of the Leico M9-P Hermes rangefinder camera.

Now McVeigh (who goes by the name "Powerpig" online), is back with a beautiful new camera creation. This time he has built a Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Rainbow instant camera.

Less than a week after first photos of the upcoming Olympus E-5 leaked onto the web, new photos have emerged showing additional views of the flagship Micro Four Thirds camera.

Lytro is seeing more and more competition these days, as more and more companies are jumping into the "snap now, focus later" game. There are now apps that mimic the technology, and companies like Toshiba are working on building Lytro-style smartphone camera modules.

Lytro's latest challenger may be quite a formidable foe: it appears that Nokia has invested in Pelican Imaging, another startup that's working on building Lytro-style smartphone camera arrays.

Canon today officially launched a new firmware update (version 1.2.1) for the 5D Mark III that brings two notable improvements to the camera: uncompressed HDMI output and the ability to use cross-type autofocus at f/8.

Back in August 2010, Sony shook up the camera industry by announcing the first pellicle mirror DSLRs, the A33 and the A55. Rather than being called SLRs, the new cameras were labeled SLT, or "single lens translucent", cameras.

Now, less than three years later, we may be seeing Sony's big SLT experiment coming to an end. Sony's A58 announced back in February may be the company's last APS-C camera to feature pellicle mirror technology.

On the same day that Kodak announced the sale of its camera film business, Hasselblad had big "ending" news of its own. The company today announced that it will no longer be producing the 503CW medium format camera. This teams the V System line is officially coming to an end.

Last month, a rumor emerged saying that Olympus' upcoming E-P5 flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera would have a design inspired by the old Olympus PEN F. Today the first photograph of the camera leaked on the web, confirming that it will indeed carry a sleek new retro styling.

Lebanese photographer Alexy Joffre Frangieh is a professional time-lapse creator, and often puts his camera gear in extremely hot environments to create his shots. In order to help dissipate heat, he decided to give one of his kits a custom paint job. The resulting kit looks like something a military might officially assign its combat photographers.

Older Sigma lenses that were designed for Canon EOS film cameras often don't work correctly when mounted onto a new EOS digital SLR, even though the newer bodies still use Canon's EF mount. If you're an owner of such a lens, you might have heard that you can send it in to Sigma's service center for them to rechip it in order to make it compatible again.

Did you know that those of you who are handy with electronics can actually do the rechipping yourself at home? Photographer Martin Melchior recently did this with his Sigma 70-210 f/2.8 APO lens, and says that anyone with basic soldering skills can do the same.

Somewhere in-between the point-and-shoot and ILC categories falls the superzoom, and it doesn't get much love. Often nearly as bulky as an entry-level DSLR, superzooms present a mix of features that only endear them to certain consumers. Sony's newly announced Cyber-shot aims to expand that market by shrinking down the traditional superzoom to tiny proportions.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based camera store The Camera Store just released this review in which Chris Niccolls takes a look at the new Canon Rebel T5i (also known as the 700D and Kiss X7i). The 1-minute-long video may be the most honest review of the camera yet.

Panasonic this morning announced two new cameras: a Lumix G6 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera and a Lumix LF1 high-end compact camera. Both cameras offer some pretty solid specs for photography enthusiasts.

If you thought ordinary iPad photographers looked silly, wait till you spot someone in public with a telephoto lens strapped to the front (er... or back?) of their tablet. The iPad Telephoto Lens is a new external lens attachment for iPad users who would like to squeeze a little extra reach from their tablet camera.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how you can make a pretty nice flash diffuser for your macro setup for just a little time and a little money.

This will probably be of limited interest to most of you, but we like to know how things work, not just how well they work. We thought we’d take a couple of pictures when we disassembled a ballhead in case any of you were interested. Our demonstration partner today was a Benro B1 ballhead that had a stripped tension adjustment knob, but all ballheads work basically the same way.

One of the big gripes people have with the idea of taking pictures with Google Glass camera glasses is that the device requires you to say "ok, glass, take a picture" in order to snap a shot. While this is great for situations when you need hands-free photography and don't mind saying a voice command, it would be highly inconvenient in situations in which you would rather not (or can't) talk.

It looks like Google has been one step ahead of us the whole time: it appears that the company has built "wink to snap" functionality into Google Glass' camera.

Update: It seems that this rumor was off base. The latest word is that there is indeed a 2/3 sensor coming, but it will appear in a new XS2 fixed lens camera. The upcoming entry-level X-Series camera will continue to feature a APS-C-sized sensor. That makes a lot more sense.

We've heard that Fujifilm is primed to make some camera announcements this summer, and according to Digicame-Info one of those announcements may be a new entry-level X-mount mirrorless camera. The camera is expected to be announced in the summer (possibly June, according to PhotoRumors) and made available in the fall for anywhere between $550 and $700.

But it's not the price, release date, or even the existence of a potential entry-level mirrorless ILC from Fujifilm that has people talking. Instead, it's the rumor that the camera will come to market sporting a tiny 2/3-inch X-Trans CMOS sensor.

What would it look like if the retro filters found in smartphone camera apps were turned into a real filter you could slap onto the front of your lens? A couple of Stanford product design students think they have an answer.

Olivia Vagelos and Martin Bush have started a new camera filter brand called Mount July, which features the world's first multi-color, radially graduated filters.

Wow. The rumor of a new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens we shared earlier today has just been confirmed by Sigma. The company has just officially announced the lens, which is the world's first lens that offers a fixed f/1.8 aperture throughout its zoom range. That's a pretty big deal.

Update: Sigma has officially announced the lens!

Could an f/1.8 fixed aperture appear inside an 18-35mm zoom lens? That's what photographers on the web are now debating after the emergence of a pair of photos that appear to show a not-yet-announced Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens.

Apple's next iPhone release may come with enticing upgrades to the phone's camera, including a 12-megapixel sensor, improved low-light capabilities, and HDR photography.

One of the big trends in the digital camera industry right now is the stuffing of large sensors into tiny cameras. Today Ricoh became the latest camera company to join in on the action. It has officially announced the Ricoh GR, a compact camera that features a beastly APS-C-sized sensor at its core.

Hey Canon: get ready to have your toes stepped on. Nokia is reportedly prepping two new flagship smartphones for launch, and the two devices are rumored to have 'EOS' branding and a huge focus on high-quality photography.

Google has officially announced the specs for its Glass wearable computer/camera. Of interest to readers of this blog is the fact that the camera will be able to capture decent photographs -- at least resolution-wise. It'll be a 5-megapixel camera that has WiFi capabilities. The camera will also be able to capture 720p video and audio.

Back in January, we reported that Ricoh's upcoming GR Digital V camera will be the first in the series to feature a large APS-C sensor. Now, a video has leaked that not only confirms that sensor size, but reveals much more about the camera as well.

I recently sat down with the founders of Hink, the British startup that wants to take the photographic lighting industry by storm. The company — based in Bedford — has been running a teaser campaign since March for their mysterious first product, the “Spacefish” flashgun, which is due to be unveiled and released this summer.

Announced near the end of last year, Lomography's Belair X 6-12 is the world’s first 6x12 auto-exposure medium format camera.

If you love the idea of shooting medium format in a point-and-shoot manner but find the cost of buying the film prohibitive, Lomography now has a "fix" for you. The company has announced a new 35mm back for the Belair X 6-12 that turns it into a 35mm camera when you'd like to take breaks from 120 film.

Samsung is a pioneering the smartcamera market with its Android-powered Galaxy Camera, and the company may soon be introducing the "smart" concept to its mirrorless cameras.

After springing several significant leaks in which full specs and even press photos made it onto the Internet before the announcement date, Panasonic has finally taken whatever veil was left off of the Lumix GF6 -- and wireless connectivity seems to be the camera's top priority.

In the past, if you wanted to carry a high-end cinema camera in your pocket ... well ... lets just say you'd have to have really big pockets. But that's not the case anymore now that Blackmagic Design has debuted its new Pocket Cinema Camera: a RAW 1920x1080 powerhouse in a fun-sized package.

Flect is a simple device I developed to take photos through glass without reflections or glare from the surrounding environment. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to make one for yourself.

Panasonic is expected to officially announce its new GF6 Micro Four Thirds camera tomorrow, but the camera has pretty much been outed already thanks to major leaks. Last week a review of the camera made a brief appearance on the Web, and today official press photos and specs were leaked as well.

Recently published patent applications filed by Nikon offer a glimpse into what the company may be working on for future DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. The three technologies spotted are: illuminated lens mounts, dual lens contacts, and a hybrid viewfinder.

Panasonic had quite a leaky day today. New details of its upcoming GF6 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera hit the Interwebs via separate sources, giving us a better idea of what should be expecting very shortly. The camera will reportedly be announced on April 9th, so we're less than a week away from hearing about this camera straight from the horses mouth.

Last week Anthony Jacobs of Perspective Aerials reached out to tell me that he had become the first person to fly a Canon 1D C with a drone rig. The 1D C is a camera I have a very mixed relationship with, but when you see the way someone like Anthony puts it to work you can only imagine what the 1D C's ability to capture 4K in such a small package could make possible.

Samsung did a lot to advance the idea of a "smartcamera" late last year by announcing the Galaxy Camera -- an Android-powered compact camera that looks and feels more like a giant smartphone than an traditional point-and-shoot. However, some smiles turned to frowns when people learned that it would be sold through mobile carriers such as AT&T with 3G or 4G data plans.

If you're one of the frowning photographers, get ready to turn it back into a smile: Samsung has announced the pricing and availability of the new WiFi-only version that it unveiled back in February.

Canadian photographer and DIY enthusiast Matt Bechberger wanted to improve the ergonomics of his Mamiya 645 medium format camera without shelling out money for an "expensive, hard to find, and ugly" grip, so he decided to make his own. He ended up creating a beautiful custom wooden grip that attaches to the bottom of the camera and features a shutter release at the top.

Many photographers want to give large format a shot, but carrying a massive 4x5 camera around with you isn't always practical or realistic. Fortunately for those people, the folks of Wanderlust Cameras have hit Kickstarter with a new invention: the Travelwide 4x5. It's an affordable, ultralight large-format camera that you can take with you anywhere.

London-based photographer Kelly Angood has had quite a tumultuous year so far in 2013. Last month she announced that she would be turning her popular cardboard medium format camera design into a proper do-it-yourself kit. After launching a Kickstarter campaign to take preorders, she quickly raised over £23,000 (~$34,000) from over 600 supporters.

However, the fact that her camera was based on Hasselblad's famous design turned out to be a dealbreaker. After being informed that she was putting herself at risk of a lawsuit, Angood decided to cancel the project and turn her back on the money. Now, one month later, she's at it again with a different (original) camera design and a new camera kit Kickstarter campaign.

Remember that tiny Lomo-inspired fisheye camera we featured back in February? It turns out there's actually a market for that camera, and the gadget's creator is now reaping the rewards as orders for the gadget have been pouring in.

Cosina-Voigtländer’s Bessaflex TM is one of my favorite cameras. It’s an incredibly beautiful and refined camera that was discontinued (2007) as suddenly as it was put on the market (2003). There are but a handful of in-depth articles on it online, and I felt compelled to publish my thoughts on it.

Voigtländer (pronounced ‘voihkt-lehnder’) is a loaded name in photography. Founded in 1756, it is essentially the oldest name in camera history. Its tradition of innovation is rich, including being the first to introduce the photographic zoom lens as well as the first 35mm film camera with built-in flash. Like many aging titans it was overtaken by more eager young companies and eventually closed its doors, the brand name being sold and used between various companies before end up at Cosina, a Japanese camera company.