Sigma 60mm f2.8 DN Art Lens for Nex 7 Portraiture

My friends at Sigma hooked me up with one of the first samples of their new 60mm f/2.8 DN Art Lens in Sony E mount for the Nex 7. With the lens in hand on Friday I called Lauren who occasionally models for the photo classes I produce at Samy’s Camera and we were able to schedule a 2 hour test session at my downtown loft for Saturday. I’ve been anxiously waiting for this lens because 60mm on APS-C sensors is a nice telephoto focal length which translates to a 90mm full frame equivalent. I really like the SEL 50mm 1.8 but find myself wishing for a little more compression when shooting portraits. The Sigma 60 should fit the bill nicely. … Continue Reading

Voigtlander 75mm on Sony Nex 7

Continuing my search for portrait lenses on the Sony Nex 7, I found a mint condition Voigtlander 75mm f/2.5 LTM on ebay for around $400. This lens is in Leica Thread Mount (LTM) and was designed for rangefinder cameras. I already owned a LTM to Sony Nex adapter so I bought the lens. There are also Leica M mount versions of this lens if you have a M to Nex adapter. I imagine resell value will be a little higher for a more current lens mount like the M over the old screw mount.

Voigtlander has been making lenses for over 250 years. It is now owned by a Japanese company Cosina which has started to reinvigorate the lineup with new lenses aimed not only at rangefinders but the mirrorless segment as well. They recently released an update to the 75mm with a 1.8 aperture but because of the larger glass needed for this design it’s significantly bigger than the older 75 f/2.5 and it sells for around $700. I decided that the weight and price ratio added to the compression of an approximate 110mm (35 full frame equivalent) the older f/2.5 was the better choice for me. … Continue Reading

A Little Nudity Durring to Illustrate Lens Comparison

An epic comparison of the Canon Cinema Primes and the L Series.

Like my friend Greg Watermann said when he sent this to me; why can’t all gear tests be this creative. … Continue Reading

Your TV Ruins Movies

Stu Maschwitz with the best piece I’ve ever read on why you can’t judge a TV on the showroom floor and how to fix the crappy factory settings that are ruining your movie watching experience on your TV.

Maybe you got a new TV for Christmas. Or maybe you just got one recently. Maybe you are thinking of buying one. Whichever is the case, take heed: your TV will try very, very hard to make whatever movies you watch on it look not just bad, but aggressively, satanically, puppy-drowningly bad.

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These days, any TV you are likely to buy, will, by default, have technology enabled that completely changes the emotional quality of the movies you watch. This is a cinematic disaster.

The iFly Hand Held Camera Crane

This is an interesting project. A hand held crane for iPhone and GoPro cameras from Steve Worthington. The idea is compelling and if he can sort out how to make the kit break down for travel, he may have something big here.

He’s set an ambitious deadline for his Kickstarter appeal. I hope it gets there, this could be a nice tool for fast and easy crane shots. The Kickstarter video and the prototype walk through are below. Both are worth watching.

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Inexpensive Fluorescent Ring Light

A ring light is good to have around when shooting beauty or fashion videos. I’ve used this 18″ one from Stellar Lighting on a couple of quick video shoots recently and I’m liking the results, especially for the $200 price. I really don’t expect much from such an inexpensive light but after two months of using it in studio and on location it’s proved itself as a capable piece of gear.

This is a great light to have around when you’re shooting stills and want to grab a bit of DSLR video. Just pop the light into the scene and start shooting without having to relight. It comes with two sets of bulbs, 5500K and 3200K. Below is a profile/beauty video I shot with the Stellar Ring Light. … Continue Reading