Instagram Winners - Out of Place

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This weeks challenge had your sights set on something out of place. Trying to find a stark contrast in subjects can make for a strong photo as you have elements that can contradict to tell a story or fit a theme.  Not too many entries this week but even then we still had shots that were funny, creepy, thoughtful, and even part fantasy.

Winners this week were chosen by Toby and Roy for this Patreon chosen challenge.  Find out more about becoming a Patreon member and the exclusive benefits at http://photorec.tv/support/.

You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s Instagram challenge #prtv_street. From out of place to a bit of normalcy, it's your chance to do a bit of street photography. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_street.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Toby's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJaqGLuA0Hb/?tagged=prtv_outofplaceLovely depth of field and such a crisp shot - that spider should NOT be on your pants.

Toby's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/50ZB4OIPS3/?tagged=prtv_outofplaceCreepy out of place doll with lovely tones to the image.https://www.instagram.com/p/BJirUD5jvvX/?tagged=prtv_outofplaceNice artsy shot  - how did that chair get there?!?

Roy's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJTL0GDgfuV/A start contrast of the animal and cage shows the captive, caged, part of zoos.

Roy's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJWFHTWBqpD/I don't think dogs belong "in" hats, but Angela made it work for an out of place shot!https://www.instagram.com/p/-rlkIhLOql/A bit more on the fantasy side of things this art installation definitely makes for a surreal photo.

Canon 5D Mark IV - Official

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Click for My Full Review of the Canon 5D Mark IV

Below is my earlier video based on specs.The Canon 5D Mark IV has been announced and after all the leaks the most surprising bit of info is how soon it will actually be released - in just two short weeks. Preorder NOW if you want this camera in the first few months as it will likely sell out.

Order from B&H Photo 

The Canon 5D Mark IV

Canon 5D Mark IV Specs

  • 30.4MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 6+ Image Processor
  • 3.2" 1.62m-Dot Touchscreen LCD Monitor
  • DCI 4K Video at 30 fps; 8.8MP Still Grab
  • 61-Point High Density Reticular AF
  • Native ISO 32000, Expanded to ISO 102400
  • Dual Pixel RAW; AF Area Select Button
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF
  • 7 fps Shooting; CF & SD Card Slots
  • Built-In GPS and Wi-Fi with NFC

Canon 5D Mark IV - What you need to know

One of the most anticipated and recently leaked cameras has been officially announced.  The 5D Mark IV follows the widely popular Canon 5D Mark III and looks to offer decent, evolutionary upgrades from its predecessor.

  • 30MP is a good balanced file size that provides plenty of resolution while still offering a responsive 7 frames a second.
  • High ISO of 32,000 with a mention of improved dynamic range - While the 80D, Canon's most recent camera, does offer dynamic range improvements they still appear to be behind the competitors, especially at the higher ISOs - I don't expect to be blown away by the improvements.
  • The LCD is now a touchscreen, this combined with the dual pixel AF will make for very easy video focus and the dual pixel AF is fast enough for use in still shots.  Additionally Movie Servo AF looks to track moving subjects smoothly and capably.  No other DSLR provides such easy and smooth live view focusing.  The LCD is not articulating or even tilting.
  • 4k with a catch - the 5D Mark IV will offer 4k but only at 1.74 crop factor. This means your 24-105 lens becomes a 42mm - 182mm lens, you lose the wide angle.  To be fair the very popular Panasonic GH4, which has been my go to camera for 4K for the last 18 months, offers 4k ONLY at a 2x crop factor BUT and here is the BUT- panasonic offers loads of lenses that make sense at that crop factor, Canon does not.  Also Sony's a7SII and A7RII around the same price point offer full frame 4K (no crop) with additional features the 5D Mark IV is missing (More about that in the Canon 5D Mark IV vs Sony A7R2 / A7S2 post)
  • The photo AF system borrows from the top of the line Canon 1DX Mark II which offers fantastic, mind blowingly fast focus and accuracy.   This is all good.
  • WIF and NFC- Finally. There was some worry that you would need a secondary device but they have included connectivity and remote control (hopefully as good as the 80D - you can focus, switch to MF and start and stop video) AND GPS is included too.  Time to finally sell my GP-E2
  • Dual Pixel RAW - I can't yet tell if this is going to be a gimmick or actually useful- When this feature is enabled you can shift focus slightly using Canon provided software Think of this like an after the fact micro focus adjustment.  as it currently will only work with the DPP software this might be more gimmick but I could certainly see fixing minor focus errors on critical pictures - a few other caveats  - your file size doubles and your frame rate and buffer will slow.
  • Still uses CF and SD card slots - great if you didn't want to buy new expensive cards like CFast or XQD but one of the major complaints about the 5D Mark III was the bottleneck provided by the SD card slot, even with the fastest card in there the write speed to the SD card slot is slow enough to slow the whole camera down - this looks to be true with the 5D Mark IV too.
  • Body styling and button placement is identical to the 5D Mark III with a slight change to the joystick.

Screenshot 2016-08-25 06.35.34Bottom line - the Canon 5D Mark IV offers some noticeable improvements over the 5D Mark III and will represent a decent upgrade for many still photographers and those hybrid shooters who are desperate for easy 4k video should be happy.   It is, however, a crowded market and Sony's year old A7RII may still be a better buy for those that want more serious 4K features - S-Log, focus peaking and better dynamic range. Preorder links - I do think this camera will sell well early on and be difficult to get in the first few weeks, maybe months if you do not preorder now.

  

Instagram Winners - Sports

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With the Olympics going on this weeks challenge was sports to fit the theme. Photographing sports is always its own monster as you have to catch the moment in a subject that tends to keep you on your toes to catch everything. Between zip lines, cars, and horses we had a bit of a mix this week as you guys thought out of the box.

Winners this week were chosen by Roy and our Patreon supporters.  Find out more about becoming a Patreon member and the exclusive benefits at http://photorec.tv/support/.

You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s Patreon chosen challenge #prtv_outofplace. Find something that doesn’t fit, something out of place with its environment, and take your shot! To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_outofplace.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Roy's Winner:

I like using the silhouette and sun for a monochrome shot. Using the rule of thirds while dropping low you get a lot of foreground draw focus to your subject and bokeh.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJBigqjgrkE/

Roy's Honorable Mentions:

One nice thing about sports is you get to practice your panning photography. Erwin was a nice crisp shot using a slower speed while not blurring out the background to the point you can’t tell what's going on in the scene.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJTU6gaDg-5/Justin has a nice sports shot of a sailing practice run. The nice thing to keep in mind for photos like these is the boat in the background balances the photos interest. Otherwise you’d have one boat and a lot of negative space in the background. https://www.instagram.com/p/BJRUcSrAbxx/

Patreon Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJBigqjgrkE/

Patreon Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCgHyulhOCo/https://www.instagram.com/p/BJNOgYbDT2h/

Canon 5D Mark IV Leaks, Announcements for Photokina

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With Photokina in a month we’re starting to hear about the LONG awaited 5d Mark IV. A lot of features we’ve expected after the release of the 1DX Mark II. Going along with previous news there' the "DSLR first" rumors that were floating around supported by the dual pixel raw file spec.Specifications via Digicame-info, Canon Rumors, and Nokishita. 

  • 30.4MP
  • 7 fps
  • 150,000 actuation rating for shutter
  • DIGIC 6+
  • 100% viewfinder
  • Magnification: 0.71
    • LCD tone adjustment (warm / standard / cool1 / cool2)LCD: 3.2 inches 1.62 million dot touch panel
  • Dual Pixel AF
  • Dual Pixel RAW File: Records one normal and one dual pixel file for post processing
    • Image Micro Adjustment to increase sharpness and resolution
    • Bokeh Shift to change position of foreground bokeh
    • Ghosting Reduction to reduce ghost and flare
  • Updated noise reduction
  • 61 Point AF, with 41 crosstype points
  • 150,000 pixel RGB + IR Sensor
  • EOS iSA system
  • EOS iTR system
  • Anti-flickr
  • ISO 100-102400
  • 24/30 fps video at 4K, while 60 fps at 1080p, and 120 fps at 720p
  • 8MP still images from 4K video
  • Full HD: ALL-I (For editing / I-only), IPB (Standard), IPB (Light)
  • HD: ALL-I (I-only)
  • Raw file sizes
    • Raw: 6270 x 4480, 36.8MB
    • DPRAW: 6270 x 4480, 66.9MB
    • M-RAW: 5040 x 3360, 27.7MB
    • S-RAW: 3360 x 2240, 18.9MB
  • Touchscreen LCD
  • New Picture Style “Fine Detail”
  • Dust and weather sealed
  • Mirror vibration control system (MVCS)
  • Time-lapse movie mode
  • Built-in interval timer and valve timer
  • Electronic Level, 2 axis
  • Built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, and NFC
  • FTP · FTPS can be transferred wirelessly also only in the body
  • SD, SDHC, SDXC and CompactFlash (not Cfast 2.0)
  • USB 3.0, HDMI, and microphone
  • Battery: LP-E6N / LP-E6
  • Estimated 900 shot battery life
  • Dimensions: 116.4mm x 150.7mm x 75.9mm and Weight 890g (1.96lbs)

 [gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="12066,12067,12068,12069,12070"]With the leak there's the unofficial Canon announcements for Photokina from Digicame-info. We’ll have Scott in Germany next month for the show so expect to hear more soon. We’ve still got rumors of that 24MP full-frame mirrorless from Canon but it’s still missing at this point. Coming with the new 5d is a refresh of the 24-105mm and 16-35mm lenses possibly with the new nano USM design.

  • EOS 5D Mark IV body
  • EOS 5D Mark IV + 24-70 lens kit
  • EOS 5D Mark IV + 24-105 lens kit
  • Battery grip Canon E20 BG
  • Wi-Fi adapter Canon W-E1
  • 7D Mark II with 18-135 USM lens kit
  • 7D Mark II with W-E1
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS II USM lens
  • Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM lens

How-to: Photographing the stars and star trails

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RELATED - Best Lenses for Star Photography and Astrophotography

The Basics -

1. Find a dark spot. I like https://darksitefinder.com/maps/ don't get discouraged if you don't have the darkest skies - your camera can capture stars that you won't be able to see with your eye.

2. Check the Moon Schedule - https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/ Anything above 30% will wash out many stars and the Milky Way but you can find a time when the moon is set or just before moonset or moonrise - some moonlight can be great to illuminate your landscape.

3. Make a plan and check the weather - https://www.cleardarksky.com/ is great for understanding if clouds will impact your visibility. Some clouds can actually look very interesting.

4. Gather your gear - Camera, your fastest & widest lens, and a tripod. A remote release is a bonus or just use 2-second timer. A small headlamp with the red mode is really helpful too.

5. Practice at home - make sure you can easily put your camera on the tripod and turn live view on(DSLR), magnify live view, & playback. Now do that all with your eyes closed. Seriously. The less you rely on lights when you are out in the field the better.

6. Camera settings - Manual (M), Manual AF, Shutter speed 10 seconds, Your lens on widest focal length and widest aperture (a lens with f/2.8 or better is great). ISO 3200.


7. Turn Live View on if DSLR or just look through the viewfinder on a mirrorless and point the camera at the brightest star you see, magnify to the max, and now move the focus ring carefully toward infinity - the star is most in focus when it is a small, sharp point of light.

8. Take a photo and magnify the resulting photo. Are the stars sharp? Repeat step 7, it may take some trial and error to get the stars as sharp as possible.

9. Once you have focus take some time to judge your composition. Once you have everything dialed in I usually end up around 13 seconds, ISO 2000 - 2500. Divide 300 by your focal length to get an idea of the max shutter speed. Longer and your stars will turn to streaks.

10. I'd love to see your favorite astrophotography pics. Tag me!

#stars #milkway #mtsthelens #wastate #westcoastbestcoast #volcano

Tips on capturing the stars and star trails.

Mt St Helens Milkyway
Star Photography in Moab

Older info below -  

When taking star photos you can end up with star trails or no star trails. It all depends on your focal length and shutter speed and whether or not you follow the 500 rule. Over view for Star Trails (or stars as points of light if you follow the 500 rule explained below)You need a camera with bulb mode - all modern DSLRS and mirrorless cameras offer this - Bulb mode lets you shoot as long as you are holding down the shutter button. that could be 31 seconds to 3 hours!! Now you don’t actually want to hold your shutter down so you need an intervalometer or even better - the Triggertrap dongle and app - I have separate videos about this but it has a mode specifically for star trails and the default settings work so well, plus it does so much more  I highly recommended it. You also need a lens - the kit lens at 18mm with f/3.5 will work but if you can get a hold of something wider with a faster aperture it will be even easier with better quality results. The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 is great. So is the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. And you need a sturdy tripod. Depending on the time of year or location you could also use hand-warmers and a rubber band - if you have dew on the grass in the morning it would be a good idea to rubber band the hand warmer to the end of your lens - it helps prevent your lens from fogging up during the shoot.So gather your gear and head out to your selected spot. Setup and decide your composition - if you have picked a nice dark spot it’s probably really hard to see -SO I RECOMMEND YOU DO A LITTLE TRIAL AND ERROR... EYEBALL THE COMPOSITION AS BEST YOU CAN AND RAISE THE ISO TO SOMETHING RIDICULOUS 4000, 8000  THE GOAL HERE IS NOT TO CREATE A NICE IMAGE BUT TO SIMPLY GET AN IMAGE QUICKLY AND JUDGE YOUR COMPOSITION.You typically want some of earth in the shot, trees, water, buildings can all add a nice balance to a big starry sky. Set 8-10 seconds on the shutter, ISO very high 4000, 8000 and fire a shot. Use the resulting noisy image to adjust your composition and repeat. You also should be checking focus at this time - setting your lens on infinity. Not all lenses focus marks line up perfectly with true infinity so it may also take some trial and error.  This can be something to figure out during the day - use AF on a distant object and make note of where the focus mark lines up.  Or at night find a distant light, radio tower, something you can see to focus on - either carefully by magnifying live view or using autofocus if it is a large enough and bright enough target.So you have focus and the desired composition- Now we need to test our actual settings. Plug in your intervalometer or triggertrap - The default in triggertrap is 2 minute exposures with a 5 second break - You can get decent start trails from just 40 minutes of shooting these 2 minute exposures. Why not just leave the shutter open for 40 minutes? You get heat build up and additional noise, light pollution builds up too and if anything goes wrong during that 40 minute exposure the whole thing is ruined. If something goes wrong during one of your 2 minute exposures it is likely salvageable.So 2 minute exposures, I usually set aperture as wide as possible and star at ISO 800. One more tip - set your WB to tungsten for a nice blue look to the night sky and you should be shooting RAW. Try one exposure at these settings. Wait 2 minutes and review - The stars won’t be points of light but short streaks - you should still be able to zoom in and judge focus but you are really looking at exposure - adjust ISO accordingly and review again if needed, otherwise start the app - as I said 20 frames at 2 minutes each will give you decent results- longer will be better so get comfortable - a great time to watch for meteors or just listen to the sounds of night. Be careful if you are out there with a flashlight you want to avoid splashing that light around and haphazardly lighting the landscape. I use a headlamp with a little red mode that doesn’t ruin my night vision and isn’t bright enough to light up the landscape but you still want to make sure you don’t shine it into or across the lens.  You can do some fun light painting or purposefully lighting cool buildings or trees too. At the end of your sequence take one shot with the lens cap on for a dark image reference - helps the StarStax program deal with hotpixels.So you should now have 20 or more images- import those into Lightroom and let’s do a little post processing - I don’t have any hard or fast rules about editing - I usually just play around until I see something I like. Some tips - Cooling the WB more, boosting exposure, contrast and clarity- adding more clarity really helps the stars pop! Once I have an image the way I want I will sync all of the images in the sequence. I also take a moment to inspect the images for annoying plane trails or anything else that you might want to fix/clone out. now export all of these at 90 JOEG, full resolution. We could take these into Photoshop but there is a free program for mac and windows called StarStaX that works even better. It’s linked above and while free you should donate a few bucks if you find yourself using it more than once. We have exported the shots, open StarStaX and import the images, import the one dark frame and leave everything set as default except the blending mode - change that to Gap Filling. Have fun and be sure to share any shots you get on my Facebook Page or tag me on Instagram.

500 Rule for Star-trail-less Photos

500 Rule Star Trail Chart

The 500 rule states that your shutter speed needs to be faster than your focal length divided by 500.  Some places you see 600 used but safer is 500.  So if you are shooting at 50mm you take 500/50 and get 10 seconds.  BUT that only applies to folks shooting with full frame cameras, if you have a crop sensor camera like the Canon Rebel Series of the Nikon Dxxx series you need to multiple your crop factor times your focal length and then divide that by 500.   Nikon crop factor is 1.5 and Canon is 1.6.Here is a handy chart to use as a starting guide- Numbers are your maximum shutter length in seconds before you will start to see the dots of the stars turn into streaks.Columns B through D give you the number of seconds before you will probably start seeing star trails. You can of course go shorter, longer and you will start to see star trailsFor a starry sky you often want to go as wide as possible. 18mm if using the kit lens but if you have access to anything wider- use it.  Starry skies look great with a wide angle lens like the 14mm Rokinon. You can go even wider if you want. See my Rokinon 14mm post for budget friendly suggestions of wide angle lenses.

A good starting point

8 second shutter

Aperture f/3.5 (wider if possible with your lens)

ISO 4000

The trick is focusing and composition.  It is often helpful to include some of the landscape in your composition but judging if you have a straight horizon and focus in pitch black is difficult. A solution is to take some test shots using a VERY high ISO and a shorter shutter speed - these will be very noisy images but you can, without waiting a full 10 seconds at a time, judge your composition and probably your focus.Focus Tip - If your lens has any type of distance indicator you want it set near infinity, that is not a guraguaranteet the stars will be in sharp focus but it is likely. Use the test shot suggestion to judge focus and make adjustments as needed.   If there is a silhouette or a building, anything in the distance you can use that to manually focus, radio towers with their little blinky red lights can also be helpful.  Anything further than a 1/2 mile away is going to give you a target that will set your camera on infinity focus and that should give you sharp stars.Keep warm and keep shooting.Recommended Gear-Sturdy Tripod: Dolica Proline Tripod |MeFoto Travel Tripod (Review of both Tripods)Intervalometer or TriggerTrap for using Bulb Mode or just firing your shutter without shaking the camera.Wide Angle Lens:  is one of the best and most affordable lenses for photographing stars. 

 Photographing Meteors

When photographing meteors you want to avoid any star trails, you want the little streaks left by the meteors to stand out so follow the chart.First task is to find a suitable location with a clear view of the source or radiant. In the case of the Perseids you want a dark sky to your north east, in the direction of the Perseids meteor shower.  I intent to use the the Google Sky App on Android | iOS options.   You really want to make sure the sky is dark, these longer exposures quickly pick up any light pollution and are going to blow out the bottom of your image.Picking a focal length and focusing - You want to go fairly wide here, under 50mm but not really wide as that will likely give you puny little streaks that take up a very small percentage of your image.    Focusing is tricking.  If you have a light tower or something contrasting against the sky, like a mountain, in the far distance you can use that. If you have a distance scale on your lens you can set it just shy of the infinity mark.   Neither of those work for you?  Raise your ISO to the highest possible and take a few shots, a very high ISO will allow you to take a shorter longer exposure so you aren't sitting around for 30 seconds wondering if you have focus.  Take a series of test photos until you are sure you have nailed focus.Camera settings - You have your shutter speed from the chart above, your aperture should be close to wide open and your ISO should be as low as possible.  You might be better off with even shorter exposures, longer exposures will dim any streaks you get. I hope to use my Triggertrap long exposure (star trail) feature to automatically take photo after photo, their star trail feature lets me specify a long exposure and the gap between images.  You can use a standard intervalometer too but that isn't quite as elegant. You could also use a remote and have the camera set for the desired shutter speed and least desirable you push the shutter button - if you use this method make sure you use the 2 second delay so that you pressing the button doesn't jiggle the camera creating blurry images.Your Camera must be sitting on a sturdy tripod.Sit back and enjoy the show.(this is one reason I am going to let Triggertrap do the work, I want to be looking at the sky, not the back of my camera all night. More about the PerseidsThe best budget lens for astrophotography.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TSrFKLzsrQShare your thoughts, tips and comments below.   

Instagram Winners - Motion

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Stars, sports, wildlife, and more this week with a challenge to catch the motion. It's a bit trickier this week as you had to slow or speed up your shutter to catch the action. It's a bit tricky if your starting out but a great way to learn your camera, especially if you need to switch to catch something quickly in the future. We had a bit of everything this week making it a bit tricky to pick winners again.

Winners this week were chosen by Scott and Roy.

You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_sports. Considering the Olympics going on at the moment it's fitting with hundreds of photographers covering the event you get to as well for the week. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_sports.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Scott's Winner: https://www.instagram.com/p/BI49EcMDFmW/I love that the only element frozen is the subject, Great shot!Scott's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BI5QMbmA-UH/Great panning cyclist! I love the framing and that you've given the subject that negative space.https://www.instagram.com/p/BI9LAEcDnhZ/Cute! Excellent capture of this dog, you got the shutter speed just right to freeze the frame and keep the motion in the dog shaking.Roy's Winner: https://www.instagram.com/p/BI0ZjNghYhi/Light painting with cars is a nice way to capture motion. Florian found a nice S curve to get a great composition for the shot!Roy's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BI0Pb_SBiCI/Gareth captured the motion with panning, another challenge we've had previously. It's a great way to show motion in your photo as your background will blur with your subject staying somewhat sharp giving it that sense of energy.https://www.instagram.com/p/BI5QMbmA-UH/A lot of people exclude panning at close ranges as its tricky but this worked well. Gergö has a nice crisp shot with a clean background giving the person a great composition and adding depth to the photo.

Instagram Winners - Dark

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No colors (or colours if you're Scott) anymore, I want them to turn black, and you guys did this week with our dark challenge.  From clever dark chocolate and a holocaust memorial to underwater cave snorkeling you guys didn't pull any punches this week. We had almost 200 photos to choose from making it a hard choice to pick our winners.

Winners this week were chosen by Scott and Roy.

You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_motion. Time to practice your slow shutter speeds. We're looking for a bit of motion in your photos! To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_motion.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Scott's Winner: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIpto8xBkWd/This jumped right off my feed - a fantastic self portrait.I love the way it's composed and lit. It's crunchy and sums up the dark and moody look. Well done!Scott's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BIeRLSth_fm/Beautifully composed abstract shot - this is very pleasing to the eye - I love the way the light get blocked and reflected by different elements of the object.https://www.instagram.com/p/BInj-38g0tD/Awesome Panorama! This really pops off the screen for me, I like the light creeping over the horizon leading you up to the stars.Roy's Winner: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIgWiadjmm1/Dark clouds and mountains contrast the tiny bit of light from the city making for a great moody dark photo. I like the red sunset as it adds a nice horizon peaking through the clouds.Roy's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BIvSvf8gveW/Heather's use of playing with marbles in a blacked out background make for a great dark shot. Using blue to go with the dark background makes for a great shot.https://www.instagram.com/p/BIlW_fcBvEV/Something I had in mind for the challenge was seeing silhouettes. Denae has a great location and subject with the dark theme giving it a great look. My one issue would be the light stand which could have been removed digitally or just held in place with gaffers tape.

Instagram Winners - Wide

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This weeks challenge had you going wide! Sometimes it helps to step back and get that entire scene in one shot. We had meteors, mermaids, melon, and many other great shots!Winners this week were chosen by Roy and Toby.You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_dark.  Going a bit more open this week it's time to go dark! Anything from lowkey to meteors is fair game. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_dark.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Toby's Winner:https://www.instagram.com/p/BIEKgQ1B0PV/Toby's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BIZl3eDjO_F/https://www.instagram.com/p/BHYFA07ASAN/Roy's Winner: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIcQ8TxgRJF/Less sunset and more blue hour, this cityscape shot wide and farther back really gives a nice scale to the impressive sky.Roy's Honorable Mentions:https://www.instagram.com/p/BIX-3tBB2K8/While the winner was all show this one leaves more to the imagination which I like. The massive bridge hidden by fog shows the depth while you can just start to see the coast on the bottom.https://www.instagram.com/p/BISLzm6gf95/Using The Bean's reflection to get a bit of a wider angle was a clever interpretation and a great way to think out of the box.

Instagram Winners - High Angle

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High angle just like low angle gives a better perspective for your photography. Getting high up for your shot or shooting directly above even gives you a perspective different from the standard. It gets your composition a different shot from your norm and makes it stand out in a set of photos. From baby photos, to plane window shots, to cafes, and cars you guys did great getting off the norm!Winners this week were chosen by Roy and Toby.You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_wide. After going down low and getting high it's time to get wide! Shooting at wider focal lengths allows you to get a image of everything in the shot, which can be hard at times. As always your welcome to get creative with this challenge if you've got any other wide ideas. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_wide.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Toby's Winner:

Toby's Honorable Mentions:

#tbt 2012 Flying over the Hoover Dam on the way to Las Vegas to crew for @scottnesss in the Badwater 135.A photo posted by Caleb Wilson (@calebwilsonphotos) on

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIBP2A2gpEm/

Toby’s Extra Mention Tilt-shift LOVE:

https://www.instagram.com/p/6FBSN-xA01/

Roy's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIBP2A2gpEm/

Roy's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDcoUhAxoh/https://www.instagram.com/p/BH8bYTFAe64/

Photo Critiques on Photorec.TV

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PhotoCritiqueBannerThe #1 way to improve as a photographer is to get out and take some photos, review your photos and repeat.Sometimes you need a fresh eye, a professional photographer's eye, to help you see what could be improved upon in future photos  - I am here to help!

Photo Critiques on Photorec.TV!

These will be videos shared each week over the next few months.  I know sometimes it can be daunting to put your work out there but as I said it is an awesome way to improve as a photographer and I really focus on constructive feedback and editing tips.At this time these critique submissions are only available to Photorec.tv members on the bronze plan or higher (a reminder that members  also gets access to my entire library of Lightroom Videos  - over 6 hours of how-to make your photos beautiful, keep your catalog organized and so much more.

  • You are limited to ONE (1) image- make sure you pick an image you want critiqued that you feel has merit and is more than a snapshot
  • The image must be at least 2400px on the short side. Larger files are encouraged.
  • The image must have metadata (focal length, aperture, shutter speed etc) - if there is no metadata (i.e. panorama or shot with manual lens) use the caption box to write out any info)
  • The filename must include your name.
  • Submission of RAW files is encouraged (make sure you submit the RAW and the XML file from Lightroom or I will not be able to see your edits) DNG files work too and will contain your edits without need of the XML file.
  • Images submitted will not be returned to you and although you retain all rights to your image, you are, by submitting photograph(s) giving us express permission to use this image in our critique show and possibly as the cover image for the video and the facebook page Photorec.TV

Click to submit a photo (and become a member)

Case Remote - Wifi Remote Control for your DSLR

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXQXXK3ViDc Back the CASE Remote AIR on indieGOGOThis is the Case Remote AIR - this tiny device allows you to remotely control your camera, download photos, including RAW files and adds several really sweet features to your otherwise dumb camera - now some of you might wonder why we need this when most current Nikon and Canon cameras  provide some sort of wifi control via an app - and my answer - have you actually used those apps? They are so barebones it is frustrating AND the case remote works with older Canon and NIkon cameras that don’t offer wifi control and even allow you to start and stop video remotely. 8338The Case Remote creates its own WIFI hotspot so you can use this anywhere, you don’t a data connection, you connect directly to the device.   The connection info is printed on the device and apps are provided for Android and iOS with desktop Mac and Windows software in development You connect the device to the camera, you can position it in the hotshoe or attach it with the strap connection if you need to put a flash in the hot shoe, it really is very light.IMG_8370 Turn it on, Turn the camera on and then connect to the wifi, launch the app.  And you should see the camera listed.  Click to launch the controls where you can then turn live view on or OFF, touch to focus and bring up the camera settings - adjusting them on the fly.IMG_9857if you have wanted GOOD wifi control of your camera with smart features - there is nothing else that provides this level of value. I’d love to see a few features added, like bramping but overall I appreciate the wifi control of older cameras and the ability to transfer RAW files from newer cameras. Back the CASE Remote AIR on indieGOGO

Looking for a New Lens? - Canon 55-250 STM

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EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS STM _no cap_FRA_tcm13-1086694The best budget telephoto lens! After getting your new camera and kit lens you may want to look for another lens. As lenses are the best investment one suggestion would be the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM. After the 18-55 or 18-135mm kit lenses this covers the other half of your range allowing you the focal length and distance you need to get your shot. For the price and sharpness it's the best in the market, and a far better choice than the older Canon 70-300mm usm that's still packaged with camera bundles. [gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="11917,11933,11915,11922,11920,11934,11931,11932,11929,11928,11919,11914"] amazon-logo_transparentBH-logo-480x250 

Buy it today at Amazon or B&H!

Optional lens hood ET-63 can be found on Amazon here or B&H here to prevent lens flare and glare from other lights.

Panasonic GX80/85 Review

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Dynamic MonochromeThe GX80 now includes a dynamic monochrome picture profile. I normally don't shoot monochrome but I decided to test it out.  Here was the result straight out of camera along with the raw image that I edited in Silver Efex Pro 4. I personally prefer editing my own B&W rather than leaving it up to the camera.P1010393P1010393-Bearbeitet AF SystemThe AF system now sports 49 AF areas – up from the GX7´s 23 area AF. Panasonic has also added Depth from Defocus technology to help it lock onto things with more speed and accuracy. It only works with specific Panasonic lenses however. Nevertheless I have still had it lock onto the background instead of the foreground subject several times. It utilises Contrast Detect Autofocus and is lightning fast in AF-Single.The GX80 now also comes with eye detect AF, which seems to be a very hit and miss affair and even when it works it never quite seems to hit the centre of the eye.  Pinpoint AF is probably going to be the more useful AF mode for portrait shooters.The AF system can focus down to -4 EV which is pretty impressive and the camera also comes with an AF assist lamp on the front.Post FocusPost focus allows you to take a photograph and then select the focus point after the fact. It is limited to 4K resolutions and works by taking a video of the subject and focussing quickly through the range whilst doing so. You can pick the photo you want to save via the camera on screen interface or by editing the 4k video file that is created on your SD card.4K Photo ModesThere are three 4K photo modes: 4K Burst, 4K Burst (S/S) and 4K Pre-Burst. 4K Burst shoots as long as your finger is held down on the shutter button. 4K Burst (S/S) starts and stops the recording when the shutter is pressed. 4K Pre-Burst records all the time and stores a seconds worth of video up until the shutter is pressed. The pre-burst mode comes with a warning that when the camera exceeds the temperature rating it will default to 4K burst!Roll over the image to see 4K Post Focus in action[himage]4k Post Focus 14k Post Focus 2[/himage]BracketingThe GX80 comes with several bracketing options. For focus bracketing (focus stacking) for example you can configure how many images you wish to have and the step size for the focus. This feature seems to work very well when importing into Adobe PhotoShop and using the stacking functionality. The GX80 also offers aperture bracketing and WB bracketing.Viewfinder/Touchscreen DisplayThe electronic viewfinder (EVF) is taken straight from the GX7, however on the GX80 it no longer tilts upwards. It has a diopter setting on the right hand side and is a 2764K high resolution unit with 16:9 aspect ratio and 0.7x magnification. Some people report seeing rainbow patterns due to the field-sequential LCD used in this viewfinder.The rear 3″ display is tiltable as per the GX7 – 90° looking down onto it and about 45° looking upwards. It is not fully articulated, which I personally prefer. It seems better than the one on the GX7, especially in sunlight. The GX80 has a 60 FPS refresh rate which makes LiveView look very smooth, but may come with the cost of reduced battery life.Wi-FiWi-Fi is pretty much unchanged from the GX7 implementation however, the GX80 lacks NFC capability. With Wi-Fi you can connect to your mobile phone, using the Panasonic Image App, or your computer. When using the app you can copy photographs locally to your phone or use it as a remote control for your camera. Performance is pretty good when I tested it with the iPhone 6s Plus. It is also possible to setup a share on your computer and send your photos to it. Using LightRoom it is then possible to monitor this share and emulate tethering functionality – however I found this to be incredibly slow, probably due to the USB 2.0 port on the camera.Battery/ChargingThe GX80 does not come with a charger. You have to charge the battery in camera via the supplied USB cable. If you were thinking of having an external battery pack plugged in then you will be disappointed as you cannot use the camera whilst it is being charged this way. I purchased a couple of extra third party batteries and a charging cradle for about 20€. Whilst I was shooting at this years Comic-Con in Germany I noticed that the camera body had gotten quite warm and the third party battery only lasted for about 50 shots. With the official Lumix battery it was considerably better, however after my previous experience I was being extremely careful and ensuring that I turned off the camera if I wasn´t shooting for any length of time. I also turned down the display brightness and changed its refresh rate to 30 instead of 60.ConclusionThis is a fun little camera with a micro four thirds sensor that has a few niggles, but nothing onerous. It offers really nice image quality for photos and 4K video as well as a whole host of interesting little extras for a very good price. The dual IS system is amazing, easily on par with Olympus´s system and probably a taste of things to come with the GH5. The GX8 has a few advantages over the GX80 – namely the 20MP sensor, weather sealing and a mic input. However in Europe the GX8 is still a fairly expensive camera coming in at over 1000€ body only. The GX80 is currently priced at 699€ with the 12-32mm kit lens and is far better value for money. For me the GX80 features easily make it a better choice over the GX8.Buy from B&H Photo Thanks Heidi for this thorough write up.  You can see more of Heidi's work atInstagram: heidi.harding.photos500px: 500px.com/adelheid_deWeb: http://adelheid.photography And Heidi has some real world samples from a recent Comic-Con

Instagram Winners - Low Angle

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Low angle gave the challenge of getting to a lower stance than normal for shooting. While not great on the back it keeps off the standard angle of shooting things for a different look. We had some great photos this week from street shooting to landscapes and you did great!Winners this week were chosen by Scott and Toby.You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_highangle. After going down low for shots it's time to get a bit higher angle on things. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_highangle.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Scott's Winner:

https://instagram.com/p/BH0Q08RDsMQ/

I love the way the angles of the antennas lead you to the centre, this is where the low angle perspective makes an image more interesting - great job

Scott's Honorable Mentions:

https://instagram.com/p/BHpu49VjmQ8/I love the scene, the app texture and the leading lines.https://instagram.com/p/BH2xTjug-7o/I low the capture of daily life from a low perspective. The cyclist really adds a lot to this image.

Toby's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFrNaijugum/The black and white treatment here really draws attention to the fantastic texture of the translucent petals.  Love the low angle that further allows the look UP through the petals.

Toby's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHrvcCdjHYX/Just a nice forest scene that really highlights the underside of the mushroom from the low angle.https://www.instagram.com/p/BHuiQgZB6xQ/Nice framing and balance with the horse in the empty space.

Lightroom Mobile Updates

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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 

$2600 Sony 70-200 and new 50mm f/1.4

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Sony has introduced a new full-frame FE 50mm F1.4 ZA prime lens for their E-mount camera system.Additionally, Sony has released pricing and ship timing for the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens, 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters plus their new wireless lighting control system. 

Full-frame FE 50mm F1.4 ZA

Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA LensKeeping track of Sony's 50mm-ish lenses?  We now have this 50mm f/1.4 (retailed $1500), 55mm f/1.8 (so sharp and $998) and the newish Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 Lens ($248.00)The new one does offer on lens aperture control and like the 85 G master f/1.4 I expect this to be very sharp even wide open. Interestingly that 55mm is VERY sharp wide open too and cheaper and lighter.   And finally the newish budget friendly 50mm f/1.8 that I personally haven't tested but also hear that most opinions are positive.   Which would you pick and why?Pricing and Availability – FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens. Teleconverters and Wireless Lighting Control SystemSony has also released pricing and ship timing for the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens, 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters plus their new wireless lighting control system.  All products were introduced earlier this year.The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens takes its place as the flagship telephoto zoom in the Sony lens lineup. Featuring built in Optical Stead Shot (OSS) and a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture across the zoom range-  This lens will ship this July for a retail price of $2,600 US and $3,300 CA.SEL7020GM_ADesigned exclusively to fit the 70-200mm F2.8 G Master lens, the new 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters (models SEL14TC and SEL20TC) will both be sold for the same retail price of about $550 US and $700 CA, and will ship this July.SEL14TC_B SEL20TC_B More info and Official Press release belowSony Releases Full-Frame FE 50mm F1.4 ZA Prime LensA quintessential wide-aperture 50mm “normal” lens, the new ZEISS® Planar F1.4 offers high resolution, high-contrast and overall exceptional performance SAN DIEGO, July 11, 2016 – Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, has today introduced a new full-frame lens for their E-mount camera system, the Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA (model SEL50F14Z).This 50mm prime lens features a large F1.4 maximum aperture that offers impressive contrast and outstanding resolution that are hallmarks of the ZEISS® brand.  It produces these consistently strong qualities throughout the entirety of the frame – from center to corner – and at all aperture settings, even while shooting wide open at F1.4. The cutting edge optical structure includes high-precision AA (Advanced Aspherical) and ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements that reduce spherical and chromatic aberration, as well as a ZEISS® T* Coating that minimizes flare and ghosting creating the classic ZEISS® clarity. Additionally, its Planar design ensures minimal distortion.The large F1.4 maximum aperture of the FE 50mm F1.4ZA lens provides a level of brightness and speed that are advantageous for dimly lit indoor shots, night scenes, and portraits, while its 11-bladed circular aperture allows for stunning “bokeh”, or background defocus, in images.  The lens also features an aperture ring with an adjustable ON/OFF switch, an AF/MF focus mode switch, and a dust and moisture resistant design¹, further increasing its functionality.The new lens is also equipped with a ring drive SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) system, which allows it to efficiently lock focus with speed, precision and in near silence, making it particularly useful for shooting movies.Pricing and Availability – FE 50mm F1.4 ZA LensThe new FE 50mm F1.4 ZA lens will ship this July for a retail price of $1,500 US and $1,950 CA.  The new FE interchangeable lens will be sold at a variety of Sony authorized dealers throughout North America.Pricing and Availability – New FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens. Teleconverters and Wireless Lighting Control SystemToday, Sony has also released pricing and ship timing for the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens, 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters plus their new wireless lighting control system.  All products were introduced earlier this year.One of the most eagerly anticipated lenses of the year, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens takes its place as the flagship telephoto zoom in the Sony lens lineup. Featuring built in Optical Stead Shot (OSS) and a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture across the zoom range, the lens will be an ideal fit for nature, sports, travel, fashion, beauty and wedding photographers.  This lens will ship this July for a retail price of $2,600 US and $3,300 CA.Designed exclusively to fit the 70-200mm F2.8 G Master lens, the new 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters (models SEL14TC and SEL20TC) will both be sold for the same retail price of about $550 US and $700 CA, and will ship this July.The versatile new wireless flash and control system – comprised of the FA-WRC1M wireless radio commander and the FA-WRR1 wireless radio receiver – was designed to meet the growing demands of professional Sony photographers.  With a maximum range of 30m (approx.. 98 feet) and the ability to control a maximum of 15 separate flash units in 5 different groups, it offers a flexible wireless flash shooting experience with exceptional performance.The FA-WRC1M commander will be sold for about $350 US and $480 CA.  The FA-WRR1 receiver will be sold for about $200 US and $280 CA.  Both products will ship this August.The new lenses, teleconverters and wireless lighting system will be sold at a variety of Sony authorized dealers throughout North America.   Direct links to their product home pages on sony.com can be found below:

o   SEL14TC 1.4x teleconvertero   SEL20TC 2.0x teleconverter

     

Hands-on Canon 80D Review vs the 70D, a6300 and more

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I have been using the 80D for the last 30 days and I am now ready to share my opinion of Canon's successor to the popular 70D. You want to know - what’s changed, do I recommend upgrading from the 70D to the 80D and how does this camera hold up in a crowded field of DSLRS and mirrorless cameras like the a6300, D7200, D500, GH4 - etc. Link for more informationhttps://youtu.be/tLQI_Jba3pMQuick reminder of my opinion on the Canon 70D- I loved the dual pixel AF, it tracked so well - even without STM lenses - that coupled with the very nice articulating touchscreen made this camera super easy to use for video and that articulating touchscreen is useful for photos as well. 70D Image and video quality are very good and at the time of release very similar to other cameras on the market.Buy the Canon 80D from B&H Photo and support this website.  Your use of these links allows me to continue to review gear (and have health insurance) Thanks!

What has changed with the Canon 80D vs the 70D

  • 24MP sensor vs 20MP in the 70D
  • 45 Cross type points vs 19 in the 70D, 27 of those AF points work at f/8 - this is important and helpful to photographers working with longer telephoto lenses and teleconverters and makes it even better than the 7D Mark II when using longer lenses with teleconverters.
  • Improved low light focusing capabilities
  • 100% viewfinder coverage vs 98%
  • A deeper buffer (70d buffer already was decent)
  • Flicker detection like the 7D mark II and D500 for more consistent exposures in gyms/arena etc
  • 1080p 60fps!!! The 70D only offered 60fps at 720 and you have Mp4 format now too
  • The ability to control the speed of auto focus in movies.
  • Intervalometer AND time lapse movie mode!
  • A headphone jack!! And it is positioned to not block the rotating screen
  • NFC AND WIFI while the 70D only had Wifi and the 80D wifi allows control during video - something not possible with the 70D - you also have the option of adding
  • Two custom modes on the dial

No other camera provides this level of performance while remaining so easy to use.

So what does all that translate to in real world use? The Canon 80D is a very good camera that is incredibly user friendly with an approachable menu system. No other camera provides this level of performance while remaining so easy to use. I am talking about really using the camera - not just leaving it on auto. Any camera is easy to use on auto. This sounds great? Right?  Frustratingly Canon sensor tech is still behind the competitors, despite all the buzz from the increased dynamic range. Yes it is better but still behind the competitors in dynamic range, high iso and overall image quality. The 80D just does not match up against the current Nikons (or even last years d7200) or the Sony a6300. And it lacks many of the more pro level video features you find in the Sony a6300 and Panasonic Gh4 like focus peaking, slog format and 4k video.  About 4k - some of you will be angry that it isn’t included in a camera that clearly is proud of it’s video features and some of you are angry that people are angry it wasn’t included, a few of you just don't care. Just recognize that not everyone uses cameras these days for just photos and despite the fact that you might not know anyone with a 4K TV - it can still be useful to have a camera that shoots 4K and many do mid-2016.

Who cares about 4k Video?

So I set you up - a great camera that is really easy to use BUT doesn't match the competition in image quality or features.  Just keep in mind that for the most part that quality difference isn’t huge and for the vast majority of us - the image or video quality provided by the Canon 80D isn’t going to hold us back. You can make fantastic images and video with this camera.  Another advantage of the 80D is the Canon ecosystem - your lens selection is HUGE with loads of affordable options. This is something Sony hasn’t matched yet and even Nikon doesn’t have quite the same affordable selection. Though at the pro level I will call them tied. I do want to give a special shoutout to the 55-250 STM, this really is such a nice lens and an awesome value. Not only a good telephoto, also useable as a macro!  I would recommend you pick up the Canon 80D with the 18-55 and 55-250 STM unless you want power zooming that the new 18-135 nano USM lens provides when paired with the PZ-E1 adapter and you can even zoom via the canon app.  And remember that vs Nikon - Canon's dual pixel AF provides smooth and silent autofocus during video.  Nikon has introduced some new lenses to try and match but the underlying tech still makes nikon DSLR focus slow and distracting when used during filming.

The perfect camera for...

I see the 80D really appealing to 

  • Wildlife photographers on a budget - if offers excellent AF performance with longer lenses - pair it with the 55-250 STM and you do have one of the best all around performers (see below for additional lens recommendations)
  • Youtubers/Amature videographers looking for good quality in an exceptionally easy to use package - Youtubers especially, this camera combined with the wifi app makes recording talking head videos like most of what is on my channel, extremely easy.
  • Photographers looking for a decent all around camera that offers plenty of room to grow as a photographer and cover a variety of photographic needs.

See below for recommended lenses and accessories forThose who want the absolute best performance in low light and image/video quality should consider the a6300 (my review of the a6300) or Nikon D7200 or Nikon D500 (My Review - current king of APS-C cameras in terms of performance and focusing power)Those that want more serious video options should choose the a6300 or GH4Should Canon 70D users upgrade? While there are certainly improvements, better dynamic range at lower ISOs and less noise at higher ISOs - the differences are not massive and your money is better spent on a nice lens, especially a prime lens or saving for a future model or full frame. Exceptions to this, if you want to start using teleconverters with longer focal lengths or want the better video features and wifi app control over video.The best Canon 80D Package - 18-55 + 55-250 STM | Buy from B&H PhotoCanon 80D best value Wildlife Photographers on a BudgetCanon 80D with 18-55 and 55-250 STM Or For massively more reach - Canon 80D with 18-55, Sigma 1.4x Converter and Sigma 150-600 C - Total potential zoom here is over 1300mm! YoutubersCanon 80D with Canon 10-18 for handheld, stabilized selfie video and a nice prime lens like the 40mm f/2.8 for pro looking videoGeneral PhotographyCanon 80D with 18-55 and 50mm f/1.8 STMRecommended Canon 80D Accessories

Would you like to have a detailed discussion about what gear is going to work best for you? I provide that in my support group.  Join for just $5/month - your contribution supports the work we do here and you get access to all the Lightroom videos, the support group and more. 

Instagram Winners - Kaboom

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Hopefully everyone had a great Independence Day, or just a nice weekend for those not in the United States like Scott. This week was Kaboom! You guys posted about 80 firework photos, even including focus ring adjustments and light painting. It looks like everyone had a great weekend and it's a bit of practice for something we don't always get to shoot.Winners this week were chosen by Scott and Toby.You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_lowangle. It's a good point for photography to learn to get low and get a new angle on life. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_lowangle.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Scott's Winner:

https://instagram.com/p/BHd9SpFjXx2/Beautifully framed - firework caught at its peak

Scott's Honorable Mentions:

https://instagram.com/p/BHgLAP4B0m-/I like the framing of the trees and going vertical https://instagram.com/p/BHcscJmjVbk/

This almost resembles a flower, great shot

Toby's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHe1ZrMADSU/Love that it includes the launch point, the entire trail and then the explosion of cool colors.  Because that is all so cool I can forgive that a few trails are cut off at the top.

Toby's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHcscJmjVbk/So sharp, so flower like - really nice!https://www.instagram.com/p/BHFWHN7A2ej/Lovely colors!https://www.instagram.com/p/BHgLAP4B0m-/Excellent image!

Merge Multiple Fireworks Using Photoshop

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IMG_0921Typically for smaller firework shows or shooting fireworks off at home you're going to run into having only one or two fireworks in a shot. Other times for larger shows you might run into that problem as the smoke builds up. Otherwise instead of flooding Facebook with 30 pictures you’d just like to have one photo that has a few of the best fireworks. Best part of this? If you took your photos right it’s super easy to do as well. normalThere is a function in Photoshop called blend modes. Typically this is how one layer effects the layers under it. In this case we need the brighter part of the photo to stay but to get rid of the darker background. This is done with lighten. Lighten takes whatever it’s layer has that is brighter than the layers under it and displays only that information. It can be found by clicking the normal blend mode in the layers panel and scrolling down.lightenIn a bit more of a basic example here is a white, 50% grey, and black firework. When turned to lighten blending mode on 30% grey the two darker colors disappear while the white stays. What we’re doing is the same to hide the background and only show the firework. While it's commonly skipped over blending modes can do a lot to improve a photo if you put the time in to learn them. Multiply for example combines the active layer with the layer under it and multiplies the colors. This results in a added contrast and/or color change making things darker. This is useful for example when you'd like to effect contrast in a photo or lower exposure. Screen is it's opposite adjusting colors to get their lightest between them making your photo lighter by multiplying the inverse of the color below. Useful for effecting exposure or dodging.  Click here for more info on blending modes in Photoshop.As for a practical example. Take a photo you have that you like and want to add more fireworks to as below. Typically I start with an early one as you still get a bit of sky in your photo. Copy your extra firework to the photo. Then apply the lighten blend mode. And your done. As for fireworks that have a lighter background than their host you can adjust the shadows and blacks before hand and it will transfer over fine. pasteOnce you get that down you can do something like below. This is actually 3 photos for a composite. One with a higher ISO and slower speed to get lit trees. A blank sky exposed correctly to level it out. And a decent firework overlaid as the subject with its background darkened significantly.  The same method as above with just a bit of cloning to remove any leaves that moved between the two shots. IMG_8795-Edit

Instagram Winners - Silhouette

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This week you guys honestly stepped it up a notch. It's the nice thing about silhouettes, by simplifying the photo it lets your mind fill in a bit. Raising an good photo to a top notch one with a level of mystery or emotion you wouldn't have otherwise. As much as we like to capture detail sometimes what isn't there can be the best yet for a photo.Winners this week were chosen by Scott and Toby.You can find all the past challenges on the PRTV page along with next week’s challenge #prtv_kaboom. A bit patriotic for fireworks, a bit creative for folks in other countries, and a fun challenge all around. To enter post your photos on Instagram before noon next Friday with the tags #prtv and #prtv_kaboom.

You can follow Photorec.TV on Instagram here: Photorec.tv

And the team!Toby – Photorectoby Scott – photoscott88 Roy – RoyMcKeeIII

Scott's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHSO6JOBj2Y

Scott's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHS1FDvhBbihttps://www.instagram.com/p/BHUcH6AhCRX/?taken-by=rmhphotographic 

Toby's Winner:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHSFvMKgH6F/

Toby's Honorable Mentions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHS1FDvhBbi/https://www.instagram.com/p/BHUcH6AhCRX/?taken-by=rmhphotographic