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Archive for the ‘equipment’ Category

Entry-Level Digital Medium Format and the $10k Hasselblad H3DII-31

In digital workflow, equipment, photography on August 12, 2010 at 3:21 am

The Mighty Hassleblad H3DII-31

[I want to offer a Huge thanks to Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto and Hasselblad genius Randy Hoffman for loaning my studio this camera and a couple lenses.  Be sure to stop by if you happen to be in the Palo Alto area, it's an awesome camera store!]

Once, long ago, the folks at Nikon announced the much anticipated high-resolution version of the flagship Nikon D3, the 24 MP Nikon D3X.  The D3 is an awesome camera with perhaps only lower-than-average resolution preventing it from being the ultimate all-around professional camera.  The D3X might have been the answer for many photographers, but for the un-anticipated $8,000 price tag.

Meanwhile, buy-in pricing to the ethereal ranks of Medium Format Digital has been sneaking down to within near-competition of high-end 35 mm cameras like the D3X.  The newly-released (in Japan, at least) Pentax 645D deserves credit for shaking up the market with a roughly $10,000 price tag.  Shortly after the announcement, Mamiya and Hasselblad, the only two medium format manufacturers to  have miraculously weathered the digital revolution, both announced offerings in the neighborhood of $10,000: the Mamiya DM22 and this Hasselblad H3DII-31.

[more after the jump..]

Read the rest of this entry »

The Future of Video/Still Capture; The New Sony Plan

In equipment, the state of things on July 23, 2010 at 9:09 pm

It’s been a weird process, the converging of photography and videography.  Fans of the Canon EOS system certainly were proud to learn that the season finale of the TV show, House, was filmed on a 5dII.  I’d venture to say, however, that video-shooting DSLR cameras like the 5DII are not the future of video.  It takes so much effort to record usable video on a device intended from it’s origins to record still 35mm frames, that a whole new industry is rising around it, with all manner of contraptions.

I think, in finding a compromise between still and video, that Sony has hit the mark, a quality set of lenses and both high-resolution still bodies like the A900 and dedicated video bodies like the inciting new NEX-VG10.  Indeed, it isn’t the fact that the 5DII shoots video that’s exciting, it’s that photographers who own $8,000 in Canon lenses can use them to shoot video.  Perhaps, also, the trend commercially valuing digital artists capable of both still and video capture will continue, fueled by tight economics, unity of vision, and simplicity of production.  If so, I think we’ll move past the compact, but compromised 5D model to something more like the 2-bodies-1-lens-set Sony Plan.

Picture a high-end shooter owning a complete set of Mamiya/Phase One lenses, a 645 body and a video camera capable of accepting the lenses (which is a claim of the future Epic from RED)  Or a wedding photographer owning a set of Sony and Zeiss lenses that would fit both an Alpha body like the A900 and a video camera like the NEX-VG10. Read the rest of this entry »

The Zeiss 21mm f2.8 (on a Nikon D3)

In equipment, photography on July 20, 2010 at 3:38 pm

Zeiss Distagon 2.8/21 ZF.2 (21mm f2.8)

The Wide Lens

I love my wide lenses, have loved my Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8 since day one several years ago.  A wide perspective offers unique atmosphere, spaciousness, and depth to an image.  Shooting with a wide pulls a photographer closer to the subject and creates a strong feeling of interaction when compared to longer focal lengths.  I think wide lenses, and I’m thinking of 35mm focal length or less, make us better shooters.

In the Nikon world, there are many options for professional quality, full-frame, wide glass, including the beefy zooms: 14-24mm f2.8 and 17-35mm f2.8, the prime 24mm f1.4, and a novel tilt-shift 24mm f3.5.  In fact, in the current Nikon catalog – counting only auto focus and full-frame offerings – there are 7 prime lenses and 7 zoom lenses capable of shooting between 14 and 35mm.  Does this Zeiss merit consideration for a Nikon shooter?  Oh yes.  And for those shooting FE-mount Canon and K-mount Pentax, take notice.  This is a hot wide. Read the rest of this entry »

The Speedotron 202VF Strobe Head

In equipment, photography on July 9, 2010 at 5:15 pm

I thought I’d take a time to share some of my experience with one of my favorite tools, the Speedotron 202VF.  I’ve had four of them for two years and have used them primarily for location photography though for a good deal of studio shooting too.  Speedotron sells a variety of heads and monolights, the 202VF being the most modern head for use with a separate pack.  Other Speedo heads offer multiple flash heads or more compact dimensions, but I would consider this the Standard Speedotron Head.

The 202 will work with any Black Line Speedo pack, from the super-cute 405 to the behemoth monster 4803CX to the batter-operated Explorer 1500.  It has a 2400 w/s flash tube and a 250 w modeling bulb.  It has a convenient, detachable cable, standard light stand mount (“baby pin” in the cine world), and a mounting ring that will accept a multitude of reflectors, soft boxes, and umbrellas, both from Speedotron and a huge number of third party companies. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II

In equipment, photography, the state of things on July 7, 2010 at 1:55 pm

The telephoto zoom, 80-200mm and, more recently 70-200mm, is a standard lens for most professional photographers.  It’s a standard go-to lens for wedding and portrait photographers and a useful tool for many commercial photographers too.  It’s a lens all 35mm camera manufacturers take seriously and update often, and they’re expensive.

Nikon’s newest version, the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 ED VR II, is awesome.  It’s bigger and better than any previous version with a useful upgrade to the anti-shake “VR” system.  Colors are deep and vivid, out-of-focus areas are smooth and beautiful, and in-focus areas are sharp and clean.  It sells for around $2200, which is no joke, but it’s sure to spend more time mounted than any previous telephoto zoom.  Read on for my take on this latest standard zoom: Read the rest of this entry »

The Zeiss 85mm f1.4 (on a Nikon D3)

In equipment, photography on June 30, 2010 at 12:24 pm

The Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/85 ZF.2, The newest, best classic prime for the Nikon D3

For a recent wedding in North Carolina, I was fortunate to have an opportunity to test a beautiful brand new 85mm lens, the Zeiss 85mm f1.4.  It’s an awesome lens, built like nothing I’ve ever seen from Nikon, all metal, beefy, and luxurious.  It’s front element looks like a giant robot eye, with an impressive chrome bezel.  It’s markings are pure business.  It’s rings turn like silky clockwork.  No plastic at all.  Very cool.

It’s a perfect fit for the D3, clicking firmly into place and integrating beautifully with the Nikon’s onboard computer.  Aperture and focal length are transfered for smooth shooting in any exposure mode, and a useful focus-confirming dot in the viewfinder.  Once in Lightroom, the lens info appears automatically right in line with other modern lenses.  It’s a joy – and a throwback – to use. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tethered Shooting Comes to Adobe Lightroom

In digital art, digital workflow, equipment, photography, technique on March 23, 2010 at 3:38 pm

Tethered Shooting Comes to Adobe Lightroom

At last Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta 2 is delivering tethered shooting.  Since Lightroom’s introduction, I have never been as pumped about a new feature.  So Long Nikon Camera Control!  So Long Auto-Import and Watched Folders!  Finally, like Phase One’s Capture One, Lightroom is now a full-featured piece of studio software.  In my humble opinion, Lightroom has arrived and is now complete.

Here is a quick step by step description of the new capability as it operates with my Nikon D3.  And, as a spoiler, let me preface this by saying that, after a brief initial test, it appears to work very quickly and flawlessly.  I am very impressed. Read the rest of this entry »


645 on the Rise

In digital art, digital workflow, equipment, photography, the state of things on March 9, 2010 at 1:49 am
sensor size comparison chart

Specified sensor sizes among a few popular "professional" cameras

At one point, in the history of photography, Medium Format ruled the professional world.  Cameras from Contax, Hasselblad, Rolei, Mamiya, Pentax, and others were king of the imaging world.  The digital revolution was unkind to the ranks, however, with few companies able to make the leap. Read the rest of this entry »

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Oakland Hip Hop Artist, Paris London

In equipment, photography, technique, the creative process on March 5, 2010 at 4:54 am

Paris London, by Matt Beardsley

I recently had the opportunity to shoot local Hip Hop artist, Paris London, in our Oakland studio.  Paris’s music is a very cool blend of influences.  He’s an Oakland rapper, but uses samples and beats that often draw on other genres, especially, to my ear, jazz.  I thought we’d set up a shot that depicted visually what his music sounds like to me, a blend of smooth hip hop and jazz. Read the rest of this entry »

An Exotic Telephoto, Perkin-Elmer 600mm Solid Cat

In equipment, photography on February 19, 2010 at 3:38 am

A unique telephoto lens from the makers of the Hubble Telescope

Recently, I got an e-mail from my grandfather, a former employee of the Perkin-Elmer company.  The company, while he was with them, developed the gold-colored masks astronauts wore on the moon and, later, developed the optical parts of the Hubble Space Telescope.

These days, the company has “re-aligned” to focus on “human and environmental health.”  Once, though, during less health-conscious times, the company designed unique lenses for 35mm cameras.  The e-mail from my grandfather was to let me know that one such lens was being sent to me and that it should be very interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

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