Huawei Mate 10 Pro - Leica branded camera phone with Full Manual!

 [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON7YEv2WM0k[/embed]Huawei's affordable flagship? I try out the Huawei Mate 10 Pro - a Leica branded camera phone with full manual control, RAW capture and is quite affordable! Just $649 for 128GB, cheaper with the current sale, and the best controls I have ever seen! Even better than my daily use Pixel 2!

Pros

Cons

• 128GB is a ton of storage

• No headphone jack, wireless earbuds and usb-c adapter included

• Giant 4,000 mAh battery

• No wireless charging

• Dual Leica f/1.6 cameras

• No microSD

• Shoots DNG RAW

• Camera white balance can be mixed

• 2X lossless zoom

• Shoots a bit overexposed

• Up to 30-second shutter speeds

• Great manual shooting modes

• Nice shooting features such as light trails and portrait modes

• Water resistant

• It's cheap for the specs

Buy from Amazon(SALE ENDS 6/29) $250 OFF!!

Sample Images

Download RAW from MATE 10 Pro[gallery ids="18519,18520,18521,18522,18523,18524,18525"]

Specs

Mate 10 Pro

Galaxy S9

Pixel 2

Price

$649 for 128GB model

$720 for 64GB model

$649 for 64GB model

Network

GSM / HSPA / LTE

GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE

GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE

OS

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Storage

128GB (No card slot)

64GB (MicroSD up to 512GB)

64GB (No card slot)

Rear

Camera

27mm f/1.6 12MP RGB27mm f/1.6 20MP Monochrome

26mm f/1.5 - 2.4 12MP

27mm f/1.7 12.2MP

Video

2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps

2160p@60fps, 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps

2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@240fps

Front

Camera

26mm f/2.0 8MP, 1080p@60fps

25mm f/1.7 8MP, 1440p@30fps

27mm f/2.7 8MP

Screen

6" 1080x2160 AMOLED

5.8" 1440 x 2960 AMOLED

5" 1080 x 1920 AMOLED

Battery

4000 mAh

3000 mAh

2700 mAh

Weather

Proofing

IP67

IP68

IP67

Apps for Photography

Weather Underground

You are carrying a mini computer with you all the time, why not put it to use? Check out some of our favorite smartphone apps to get your photography going.

Weather Underground (Free)

Google Play

Apple App Store

I like weather undergrounds info and display and they let you set up smart forecasts that can quickly give you an idea of optimal times for various activities including astrophotography.

WU Storm

STORM by Weather Underground (Free)

Apple App Store

Along with weather underground, I use STORM for real-time radar that can be helpful to know exactly when that rain is going to stop at your location. I find watching the radar and the movement of the precip is more accurate in the short term than any forecasts.

NOAA Weather International

NOAA Weather International (Free, $2.99 Ad Free)

Google Play

Apple App Store

AND I sometimes want to know what the weather nerds are saying about the future and the NOAA app gives me a straightforward look at each day and provides an easy click to read the forecast discussion. You can also click to see the elevation of a location on the map. FREE or pay $2.99 to remove the adds.

Tide Charts Near Me

Tide Charts Near Me (Free, $1.99 Ad Free)

Google Play

Apple App Store

I live near the coast and we regularly run workshops on both coasts - knowing the tide is critical to knowing how much beach or rock will be exposed and if the tide is headed out giving you plenty of time to shoot or the tide is coming in when you need to be very careful about getting stranded, Tides- Charts near me is a simple representation of the tides near you - with automatic updating based on your location. FREE or $1.99 to remove the ads.

Photopills

PhotoPills ($9.99)

Google Play

Apple App Store

This is huge and I was pretty happy when they offered an Android app - First I love the widget - at a glance I know sunrise, sunset, moonrise and even the status of the galactic core for my location! Once you dive into the app your find tons of useful info from the planner to the AR that helps you line up for sunsets, sunrises and star trails. Additional calculators further help your planning- tons of useful info and well worth the $10 - you can find most of these items in other apps for free but I haven’t found any that bring them all together in one app.

Squarespace

Squarespace (Free)

Squarespace

The square space app makes it really easy to update your site with posts, photos and even video - The one way to get people to come back to your site again and again and that is to update the content and offer information behind the photos - Squarespace makes it incredibly easy to build a beautiful website and blog and the app makes it really easy to update on the go. Additional apps from Squarespace allow you to track your analytics, keep notes, update your store and more.

It’s fine to put your best work on Instagram but you should have a website where you control everything and display your work professional in a big beautiful way and Squarespace makes it easy to do that - with beautiful custom templates and 24/7 support along with easy custom domains- Get your own website today at

squarespace.com/photorectv

and save 10% off your purchase.

Snapseed

Snapseed (Free)

Google Play

Apple App Store

Still my favorite editor for quick edits of photos captured with the phone or transferred via wifi

Lightroom CC

Lightroom - Full version (Adobe Creative Cloud Required)

Google Play

Apple App Store

If you are smart about syncing Lightroom mobile can be powerful and recent upgrades have seriously improved the capabilities and stability of the app - almost making it my pick over Snapseed for editing... but go watch my Snapseed secrets it is just so quick and powerful once you know a few tricks. Sound good?

Click here to sign up for Adobe Creative Cloud.

Later.com

Later (Free)

Google Play

Apple App Store

I continue to love

Later

for an easy way to get images and captions to your phone - I hate writing captions and hashtags on my mobile device and recent updates to the paid plan give you the best times to post and suggest hashtags making new posts easy.

Sign up today and get started!

Miops

Miops ($30 Dongle or $125 Remote Required)

Google Play

Apple App Store

I talked about this on my recent Yosemite trip - with a small dongle you can trigger your camera in several different ways - really useful - I will be posting a separate video about this system soon.

Pick up the Dongle or Remote on Amazon

TrackR

TrackR (Free, TrackR Required)

Google Play

Apple App Store

This little Bluetooth tracker lets me ping my camera bag and set an alert if it moves outside of Bluetooth range - I have only started using this - certainly not a full proof way to protect your camera bag but at least gives me a little more piece of mind.

Buy a TrackR Today!

Instagram Update - Albums Now Available

Instagram Albums, a small but important update is rolling out today giving users access to a simple album feature finally. You'll now have the option to upload up to 10 photos and videos under one post. When you see an album icon on a post it will look somewhat the same as before but you'll now be able to swipe left and right to view other photos and video.The update technically means fewer posts, which means less reach. Important photos you want out should still be separate posts on Instagram to get more eyes on them. If you have a metric ton of photos from a shoot or have a few that go in a set it's a new way to share them out without spamming your feed but we wouldn't suggest this for everyday use. You now have the option to think out of the box for other creative ideas such as before and after editing.Watch the video below for a demo, you simply select the bottom right album symbol in the photo selection. You then have the option to choose multiple photos or videos. The post will have one caption for all the items, unlike Facebook for example, and you're limited to square aspect ratio. For those that use filters, you will have the option to apply one to the whole set or apply different filters to specific photos.https://player.vimeo.com/video/204951185 

Lightroom Mobile Android RAW Editing

UPDATE: Today only - $30 OFF year subscription to Lightroom and Photoshop CC including LR mobileAdobe has just released a technology preview that allows Android mobile users to directly import RAW files into your mobile device for editing - The list of supported cameras is impressive - most current models- Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony and more. See the complete list of supported cameras  iOS users got this update in July.You will need a USB On-The-Go adapter also called an OTG cable that will allow you to directly connect your camera to your android mobile device. Shop OTG cables at B&H or on Amazon OTG cable. -Those are standard micro USB cables. If you have a USB-C device you will need to purchase a USB-C OTG.   iOS users need the SD card adapter. Why do you need a cable/adapter, don't modern cameras offer WiFi transfer?  Yes! But none of those cameras will transfer RAW files via WiFi.Plug the OTG cable into your device and use your standard camera cable to connect to your camera and change to the PTP transfer mode in the Android Notification Center. Then, tap on the notification that indicates “Connected to USB PTP Camera. Tap to view files.” (note - When I connected to my Android LGv10 I did not have to click the notification) You will be presented with an import box. Select the photos you want to import, the collection you want to import the photos into, and tap transfer. Lightroom will transfer the photos and notify you once all of the photos have been imported.

You get all of the benefits of raw, such as the ability to change the white balance, being able to recover blown out highlights, access to the full range of color information, as well as editing an uncompressed file, all using the exact same technology that powers Lightroom on your desktop. An added benefit is that the raw file that you’ve imported into Lightroom for Android will be synced with Lightroom on your other devices, such as Lightroom for desktop or Lightroom on the web, along with any of the edits, star ratings, or flags that you’ve added.Lightroom for Android 2.2 is available now from the Google Play Store.  Will you be editing RAW files on the Go?Do you want to learn Lightroom - I am offering my 6+ hour video course on Lightroom Training for just $18.74 in November!!  More about Lightroom Mobile Editing  

Canon 5D Mark IV Articulating LCD Hack

In my 5D Mark IV Review I complained about the lack of articulating LCD screen - several of you commented with the suggestion that you can use your phone with the Canon Camera Connect app as an articulating screen.  Here I demonstrate what that might look like and ask if you think it is viable alternative to actually having an articulating screen on the Canon 5D Mark IV.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPEl_RUQaMUGear NeededPhone Holder Mefoto: http://amzn.to/2dTCn7kHotshoe Mount: http://amzn.to/2fno2W0 Want to travel with me and McKay Photography Academy? Learn more: http://bit.ly/MPA_toby

Lightroom Mobile Updates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQK2k6a1A-ALightroom Mobile has been updated on Android and iOS - Take a look at the new PRO camera built in that provides shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation and allows DNG(RAW) Capture and editing on your mobile device. Is it as buggy and slow as LRM has been in the past? How does Lightroom Mobile compare to Snapseed? And on iOS you can now edit any RAW file (coming soon with iOS 10 support)SUBSCRIBE for more contentYou can download Lightroom for Android 2.1 here now for free.Lightroom mobile 2.4 is available immediately for iPhone and iPad from the iOS App Store for free.Mobile Photos shot with the new Camera App in Lightroom Mobile 2.1 on Android (DNG Support)https://www.instagram.com/p/BH2pBkoDYO4/?taken-by=photorectobyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BH1EME7Du0U/?taken-by=photorectoby 

Lightroom 2.0 Release for Android

Lightroom 2.0 for Android has been released - Offering some nice improvements.

• An in-app camera, supporting the capture of images in DNG raw format
• Shoot-through presets, also available within the in-app camera, enabling previewing and capturing images with a series of built-in presets providing non-destructive editing
• Dehaze tool to adjust haze and fog in an image
• Split Toning enhancement, enabling the addition of a color cast to the highlights and shadows of an image, creating a uniquely stylized color image or replicating the look and feel of a traditional toned black and white image
• Target Adjustment Tool functionality in the Color/B&W editing tool, providing direct, on-image editing controls
• Point mode in Curve tool providing complete control over the tonality and contrast of an image
• Enhanced sharing with one-tap access to Adobe Premiere Clip for crafting video stories.

Open on the Play Store to Update Adobe Premiere Clip has also been updated. (my favorite Android video editor)

• Improved output quality -export at 1080p
• Support for files larger than 1GB
• Improved performance and stability - I have already found it to be very stable - more than any other android video editor I have tried.

Nexus 6P Camera Review (simple yet decent)

My Quick Thoughts on the Nexus 6PAs a professional photographer and Android user I want to comment mostly on the Nexus 6P camera and camera app.I am really happy we are at a place where flagship android phones offer some of the best image quality out there.The Nexus 6p offers a 12.3 MP camera with an f/2.0 lens and laser-assisted autofocus.   There is No Optical stabilization like we have from several of the other flagship android devices and the iPhone 6s plus.  Google says this lack of OIS is offset by their larger pixels allowing for better low light gathering.   The quick high ISO comparison I did between the Nexus 6P, Iphone 6S+ and the LG V10 shows the Nexus is a clear winner at the higher ISOs.The LGV10 produces the largest resolution file here and, as a result looks a bit noisier.  The detail in the LG V10 when you zoom is significantly greater than the other two.Back to the Nexus 6P- I have been shooting with the camera all weekend and have been impressed with the results, especially in low-light conditions; However, I am disappointed in the very basic camera controls and feel spoiled by the awesome manual camera interface provided by the LG G4 and LG v10.  With the Nexus you are limited to turning HDR on, off or automatic, flash on, off or automatic and setting a timer.   If you want greater control you will need to install a manual camera app.  (Click to Subscribe to be notified when I publish an upcoming video on the best manual photo app) You do have Photo Sphere, Panorama, and the gimmicky Lens Blur options.  Swipe across the screen in photo mode moves you to video - you have 120fps and 240fps for  slow mo (limited to 720p) and the camera is capable of 4k video.  Your standard 1080p is 30fps.  Digital stabilization of video is an option and in my limited testing works decently well. With regards to the High ISO test,  In some real world situations the optical image stabilization offered in the Iphone 6S+ and LG V10 can give those devices an advantage but overall I am really happy with the results from the Nexus 6P. 

I will be back with more sample videos and you can see additional full resolution photos.With the outdoor shots many of the Nexus 6P shots are more true to life than the LG v10 which often have a greenish cast when you compare the two. In the LG V10s defense, I often shoot manual mode and make quick adjustments to the White Balance and exposure compensation which gives me exactly the look I want. Not camera related but I want to mention- the fingerprint sensor in this phone is excellent and I love the back center placement for the sensor, it’s a natural location for my finger when I pick up and hold the phone and it reads my print quickly every time.  Overall This feels like a solid step forward for the Nexus line and anyone wanting excellent image quality would be very happy with this phone. However the photographers that like a bit of control and or those that plan to shoot often should consider something like the LG G4 or LG v10 both offering that microSD card slot for loads more room (missing on the Nexus 6p) replaceable batteries and that excellent manual control built-in.   

LG V10 Vs LG G4 - Video Manual Control

I have been using the LG G4 for much of the travel footage shot in the Iceland and Greece vlogs – I love the quality and ease of use. I don’t love the lack of manual control in video. The LG G4 made headlines by providing native  and seamless manual control when shooting still photos (watch my review) but annoyingly you lose all manual control when you switch to video – this can make some backlit scenes and other tricky exposures very difficult to film.  The LGV10 solves that and throws in a few extra features including:

• Additional Stabilization mode -Optical and Electronic
• Quick Video editing
• Stainless steel frame design
• Customizable audio capture from three in body mics

This is on top of the MicroSD card slot that supports up to 2TB for storage of all those 4k files. - Very quick unboxing and brief tour of the manual video interface below the gallery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRZq1Kn40qc&feature=youtu.be   Disclaimer- “I received a free device in exchange for my honest product evaluation.”

LG V10 -Full Manual Control for video

We live in exciting times.  I have been using the LG G4 for much of the travel footage shot in the Iceland and Greece vlogs - I love the quality and ease of use. I don't love the lack of manual control in video. The LG G4 made headlines w/ the full manual control when shooting still photos (watch my review) but annoyingly you lose all manual control when you switch to video - this can make some backlit scenes and other tricky exposures very difficult to film. The LG V10 looks to fix that- providing full manual control during video.

"The LG V10 offers users the ultimate in video capturing, editing and sharing. The V10 is the first smartphone to offer manual mode for video."

LG has added a few additional features that differentiate this phone from the lG G4, including:Two screens on the front of the device. There's the main, 5.7-inch display, and just above that is a smaller "always on" screen that can display different content. When the main screen is off, the second screen can display the weather, time and date, and battery level. When the main screen is on, the second screen can be used to for quick-launching apps, accessing favorite contacts, or changing camera settings.Two front facing cameras! Both are 5MP but each offers different fields of view- 120° and 80° The V10 will include software capable of stitching the shots together for a wider view? I am not exactly sure here.Customizable audio capture using the three microphones!Video editing software and the ability to use the Optical Image Stabilization or Electronic Image Stabilization.Available in only a 64GB storage variant and otherwise offering much of the same internals - including the 3,000 mAh battery (removable) and MicroSD card slot capable of supporting up to a 2TB Micro SD Card!! (largest I know of is this 200GB card from SanDisk)Body is a bit flatter with stainless steel and silicon construction and offers a fingerprint reader too.The promo video is. . well a bit cheesy, but doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for what could be a serious video tool.   Do you share my excitement? Let me know in the comments.https://youtu.be/ELD_6aeHGKQFull SpecsKey Specifications:*Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 808 ProcessorDisplay: Main) 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440 / 513ppi)Secondary) 2.1-inch IPS Quantum Display (160 x 1040 / 513ppi)Memory: 4GB LPDDR3 RAM / 64GB eMMC ROM / microSD (up to 2TB)Camera: Rear) 16MP with F1.8 Aperture / OIS 2.0Front) 5MP Dual Lens (80o Standard Angle / 120o Wide Angle)Battery: 3,000mAh (removable)OS: Android 5.1.1 LollipopSize: 159.6 x 79.3 x 8.6mmWeight: 192gNetwork: LTE-A Cat. 6Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.1 / NFC / USB 2.0Colors: Space Black / Luxe White / Modern Beige / Ocean Blue / Opal BlueQuick video of stabilization in actionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykPrvAK7UIs

Google Photos - Now Free Unlimited Storage & Easy Share

Google Photos was announced today- a NEW, standalone version that is being separated from Google+. https://youtu.be/DctybsuXBlYAlong with the split come several changes -

• Free unlimited photo and video storage, as long as those photos are under 16MP and videos 1080p or smaller. You can store larger, they will just count toward your storage limits.
• New organization system- a blend of automatic google smarts helping you stay organized and find what you want quickly

• Easy share system - public, private and a mix along with sharing to popular apps like Twitter and WhatsApp.

The App will be available now for Android and iOS and your photos will be accessible via the web too.

Editing Raw Files on an iPad (Lightroom lite?)

Today's on Kelby's Show, Tom Hogarty, a product manager for Adobe demoed a prototype/alpha/may-never-see-the-light-of-day app that provides photographers a way to edit RAW files with many of the develop modules we love in Lightroom and the ability to rate, sort, flag etc. Cool and then. . . all of this would be synced through the cloud to your master library!! That would be awesome. I now imagine myself relaxing, a high resolution tablet on my lap, swiping through photos, rating, pinching to zoom and check focus and quickly dealing with a large number of photos in a smooth, efficient and comfortable manner. I might be getting ahead of myself here - there was no release date and no mention that this was even definitively scheduled as a product that is coming to market.I queued the video to start where they begin discussing the app.In Related News - I get asked all the time for photo editing software options and my answer 90% of the time is Lightroom. It is approachable program though I wouldn't necessarily call it beginner friendly that offers a ton of power, maybe three tons! But there are times that people what a more photoshop like experience and Mac users have an option that was recently update and very affordable, Acorn- Until the end of this month it is being offered for $29, that is a lot easy to swallow than the hundreds Photoshop costs.  There are of course many things Photoshop can do that Acorn can't but I am betting for 90% of you photographers out there, Acorn combined with Lightroom will handle almost all your needs.Window's users feeling left out - I have been playing around with http://pixlr.com/ It is browser based but certainly capable and the interface doesn't look all that different from Acorn. And of course since it is browser based it is available to anyone.