» Fro Knows Photo Blog
Canon EOS 5DS 5DS R Preview
Canon has just unleashed the beast on the entire world with the announcement(s) of the 5DS and 5DS R DSLR cameras. Clocking in at 50.6 MP, these cameras are poised to be in the hands of portrait and fashion photographers as soon as they are released.
Let’s jump into the specs first before I stick my two cents in:
50.6 MP CMOS sensor
Dual Digic 6 Processors
5 Frames Per Second
61 Point AF (41 Cross Type)
1.3 and 1.6 Crop Modes
ISO 100-6400 Native (expandable 50-12800)
Flicker Detection
100% Viewfinder
3.2 Inch Clear View II LCD
USB 3.0 Port (means faster transfer for tethering)
5DS R features a low pass cancellation filter
Video Features
1080 24/25/30
Mic Input
No Headphone Jack
No clean video out via HDMI
This camera sounds like it is going to be a power house of image quality. Think of a regular 5D Mark III, now rip out the current sensor and cram in a massive 50.6 megapixel one. The major question in my mind is who are these cameras for? Why didn’t they just release one camera without the low pass filter? Isn’t this what Nikon did with the D800 and D800e before settling on one camera without the low pass filter, the D810?
Who is this camera really for? The specs line up very well for someone who shoots portraits, does studio/product photography as well as fashion where every pixel counts. Would you use this on a wedding? Does it give you enough ISO to use at a wedding or are you better of with a lower megapixel, higher ISO camera? I personally would have no issue using this camera for portraits and candids, but if I was faced with a low light situation, I would be hesitant.
If anyone is wondering why the ISO range does not go higher, it has to be due to the amount of megapixels squeezed onto the sensor. My biggest question is why does it not natively go down to 50 or 64 ISO? If image quality is what matters and this is a studio / portrait camera, you would really want the lowest ISO possible. If I had to guess though, if they were able to get it to 64 on the low-end, the high-end may have only been able to reach 3200 and that would be a deal breaker for most people.
I am all for as many focus points possible with as many focus points being cross type. I was thinking about saying this is not needed in a portrait type camera but honestly why wouldn’t it be. If I can place the focus point wherever I want across 61 points, I would be extremely happy.
(more…)
How to make the eyes pop in Lightroom!
In this video, I share with you some advanced Lightroom editing tips and show you how to make the eyes pop in a portrait.
I use the brush tool to selectively paint adjustments in areas of the eyes to get them to pop, without going over the top. I show you the sliders I use to get the results for this image.
What is a Follow Focus Lever, do you need it?
As you know I get asked to review a lot of gear. I am not able to review everything myself so I pass certain items on to Todd Wolfe or DigiRichie to get their expert real world opinions.
This time around Cinevate sent their Follow Focus Lever for us to look at. You may say to yourself this is an expensive item to purchase from Cinevate when I can simply get a cheap lever from another company?
You may be right in some ways and wrong in others. Yes at around $75 for just the lever it is expensive. But as Todd shows in his video there are major pros to owning such an item over the cheaper model.
Can you get away with a $10 unit, absolutely. But when it comes to needing versatility and uniformity across your lenses you will see the benefit to investing in a system like this one day.
To check out more information about this lever go here.
(more…)
Sports Illustrated “The Hockey Book” : From My Bookshelf
As many of you know, I LOVE HOCKEY. Hockey was the first professional sport I ever photographed and had a credential to shoot. Starting at 17 years old I was a credentialed photographer shooting the Philadelphia Flyers for a local publication called “Fan Magazine”.
The Hockey Book is one of those books that Sports Illustrated cultivated with what I think is the best collection of hockey images ever. My favorite part of the book is not only reading about the history of the sport but seeing images from the early days of it. Seeing images from the 40s in Detroit and seeing chicken wire up instead of glass is mind blowing.
For more From My Bookshelf videos please click here.
If you can still find this book online or in stores and you love hockey or know someone who does, pick this up.
Book description from Amazon. To find out more about this book click here.
“From its earliest days on frozen ponds, hockey has been a sport of speed and elegance, but also one demanding courage and physical will. The Hockey Book goes deep into the heart of the game, celebrating with astounding photographs and insightful words the great players and the inspiring teams, as well as an ethos-robust and selfless-that defines the sport as much in its dynamic present as it did in hockey’s hardscrabble (and helmetless) past.”
I’ve NEGLECTED my Personal Photo Website for too long, so I made these simple updates
Click Here to get your FREE Trial of Squarespace. If you are a student go to that link first then go to squarespace.com/students to get a free trial and 50% OFF your first year.
I have been neglecting my personal photography website ever since my focus became FroKnowsPhoto.com. I really don’t have an excuse for this other than I am not actively seeking photo jobs like I was 10 years ago.
So this morning I decided to record me making a few gallery additions and other tweaks to my site. I’ve had these old portfolio folders on my desktop for a while and figured I might as well put them up in the meantime. I know they are older images but I can start to add new ones now to keep it fresh.
If you are looking for a simple, professional, affordable and easy to use solution for your photography portfolio I suggest you check out Squarespace and get your 14 day FREE Trial. If you like it please use my code FRO at checkout to get 10% OFF. Students can get 50% OFF.
I personally went to Squarespace to work out a partnership that would be mutually benificial for all of us. To me it has to be win win for everyone. In this case you get 10% Off your first year, I get something from Squarespace and Squarespace gets new quality users.
It think it’s a win all the way around and that’s what keeps my site FREE and allows me to continue to pump out more and more content.
