Fuji Launches New X10 Camera – The X100’s Little Brother!

Hot on the heels of their success with the X100 (which I reviewed and loved!), Fuji has today officially launched the X10.  Where the X100 looked to redefine large sensor, compact prime lens market with it’s APS-C sensor and 24mm f2.0 lens, the X10 seeks to redefine the premium point and shoot market with a 28-112mm zoom lens and a 12MP 2/3″ sensor.  To be honest it’s caught me a little bit by surprise because we knew about the X100 for many months before it’s launch and this one seems to have come out of the blue apart from a

Panasonic Launches New Line of Lumix G X Pro Lenses For Micro 4/3

With the quality of Micro Four Thirds cameras improving it was only a matter of time before Panasonic and Olympus began to target professional photographers with higher quality lenses.  A short while ago Panasonic launched a Leica branded 25mm f1.4 , Olympus released the M. Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 which was well received and now Panasonic has also announced a new Pro line of lenses called the Lumix G X- Series.  The lenses feature image stabilization and a power zoom function that will be popular with those who like to shoot video with these lenses.  With strong rumors of a pro

Fuji X10 Vs. X100

The Fuji x100 is a phenomenally successful camera, even 6 months after it hit store shelves it’s still in short supply. I reviewed it myself and fell in love with it but the price tag isn’t for everyone, neither is the fixed 24mm prime lens. In September 2011 Fujifilm announced the X10 which addresses both of these considerations so I figured I would write up a comparison to help people choose between the two. At first glance they look fairly similar as both are based around the same rear screen and controls and a similar magnesium chassis but in fact

Comparing Canon’s MKII and MKIII Extenders

In the Fall of 2010 Canon announced the introduction of new MKIII extenders to replace the previous MKII versions.  Super Spectra coatings were introduced to help reduce ghosting and flare as well as fluorine coating to make water spots and finer prints easier to remove.  I’ve always fond the MKII extenders to be extremely useful when used in the right circumstances so I was eager to try out the MKIII versions to see if there was an improvement. Physical differences Since the introduction of the 800mm f5.6, Canon changed their off-white color of their telephoto lenses.  All the new MKII

RED To Begin Shipping Canon Epic Mounts On Sept. 9th

Red announced today that the long awaited Canon mount for their EPIC cameras will begin shipping on September 9th to the first people who pre-ordered them.  Further orders are being taken now for a price of $2000.  The mount itself is machined out of solid titanium and features a safe locking ring to further solidify the connection between camera and lens.  Right out of the gate it looks as though they have firmware programmed to work with a majority of Canon lenses, with more to be added very shortly (and some third party ones like Sigma). When a supported lens

New Elinchrom Zoom Heads , More To Come ?

A few new products have appeared on the Elinchrom website today.  As a bit of an Elinchrom fan myself I like to see what they are up to.  I use a Ranger system at the moment and I have rented their mains powered pack systems in the past for a few shoots.  I find their stuff to be very well built and reliable.  It often gets compared to Pro Photo equipment but Pro Photo is more expensive and I’m constantly hearing my fellow photogs sending their Pro Photo stuff in for servicing. When I first saw this pop up in

Canon’s new 300mm and 400mm F2.8 L IS II lenses now shipping to dealers.

Canon have announced today that the brand new Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II  and Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II are now shipping to dealers !  I expect these to be very popular, the 400mm in particular so if you’ve been waiting for one I’d urge yo to place an order pretty quickly!  Initial reports of the 400mm performance have been glowing, particularly with regards to the performance with the new MKIII extenders (incidentally I will be posting my review of these this coming Monday).  As I noted a few weeks back, the new cases for the 400mm lens

Sony’s New NEX-7 Packs 24MP Sensor Into Tiny Mirrorless Body

The mirror less camera market is a fierce battlefield this year with a seemingly endless stream of new products from Panasonic, Sony and Olympus.  This kind of rivalry is only a good thing for consumers though as the top players fight for the spotlight with new features and impressive price points.  Today Sony unveiled a new top of the line NEX-7 camera ( as well as an NEX-5N) that packs a staggering 24 MP APS-C sensor in an incredibly small package.  Not only does this make it the largest sensor in the mirror less field, but also the largest APS-C

Sony Launches New A77 Camera

As I mentioned in a previous posts this has been Sony’s worst kept secret.  In fact there have been so many leaks about it that I have a hard time believing it to be anything other than intentional on Sony’s part. Regardless it’s a very interesting camera and Sony have every right to create some buzz and fanfare! Lets take a look at the major specs: Video function and OLED Viewfinder The A77 will be the first DSLR to feature 1080p video at a full 60p for beautiful slow motion footage.  Current cameras like the Canon 7d or Nikon D3100

Lightroom Tutorial: Managing Catalogs On The Road

I’m going to start a series of Adobe Lightroom tips and tutorials because it has become such an integral part of my workflow these days.  The first one I want to tackle is a common scenario for those of us who travel to shoot photos somewhere.  So here’s the scenario; you keep a main Lighroom library that you work off when you are in the office using a desktop computer but you travel with a laptop to shoot an event or a specific project.  While you are away you want to use Lightroom to import your photos from the camera,

Shooting Les 24 Heures Du Mans 2011

In June 2011 I got to fulfill a lifelong ambition and head to France to shoot the worlds greatest motor race, the 24 hours of Le Mans.  I’ve followed many forms of motorsports since I was young and before I discovered photography I was all set to work in the industry with an engineering degree.  Having attended the race at Le Mans in a spectating capacity several times I’ve always wanted to be on the other side of the fence with my camera and 2011 was my opportunity.  This race is unlike any other that I have ever been to

Should you be running a UPS in your studio or office?

Today I installed a UPS in my office for the first time.  UPS stands for uninterpretable power supply and essentially it acts as a battery backup for your computer (or other electronics) should there be a power outage.  It had honestly never occurred to me that this is something you should think about, until something went very very wrong.  More on that in a bit…. but when I came to do a little research on the most popular UPS’ I was surprised as to how reasonably price they were. Why would you want to have one of these then ?