FroKnowsPhoto RAWtalk 215: Popular Photo Is DEAD, Meeting Super Heroes In LA and Flying First Class
First things first, welcome to another episode of RAWtalk. This week I discuss why I was in LA, the guys bust my balls for saying “first class” a bunch of times and I talk about how I met a super hero. On top of that I an proud to introduce you to my partner in MyGearVault Steve Bellosi.
This weeks show is brought to you by RODE and the 2017 MyRodeReel competition. This year there’s $500,000 in prizes, all you need to do is try. For the full rules Click Here.
There’s a TON of photo news, flying solo, gear of the week, the wheel of FRO and meme’s.
Oh yea, next week there will be a SPECIAL EDITION OF RAW talk being released with an amazing interview with Shane Hurlbut who is HUGE in the hollywood film making scene. It was so good that it needed its own episode.
00:00:16 Hopefully Dan Doesn’t Mess Up
00:02:41 Fro Team Updates
00:06:38 Plug of the Week
00:10:19 Why Was I In LA?
00:15:03 Did I Mention First Class?
00:18:06 My Personal Project
00:23:08 Don’t Do It Kitty!!!
00:25:45 Photo News Lightroom Mobile Update
00:29:50 UHS 3
00:35:22 Video Game Camera
00:39:39 First Photo Of A Black Hole
00:42:09 LEGO Mosaic Maker Camera!
00:44:38 Popular Photography RIP 1937-2017
00:48:32 DIY Digital Back For Nikon Film Camera
00:51:34 Nikon Limited Edition 100 Year Anniversary Gear
00:53:26 Fully Robotic Fashion Studio
00:54:43 Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro
00:56:23 Interview With MyGearVault’s Steve Bellosi
01:11:03 Gears of the Week
01:17:41 Flying Solo
01:47:27 Wheel of Fro
01:51:28 Memes of the Week
01:59:29 Special Edition RawTalk Next Week?
Here’s the meme video that we couldn’t include in RAWtalk:
Here’s all of Stephen’s photo news stories in detail:
Lightroom Mobile Adds Desktop-Quality HDR-Bracketing in New Update
Lightroom Mobile has released a major update, adding the ability to capture actual RAW-bracketed HDR images in the app. Adobe notes that it’s nearly fully automatic too: “The new HDR mode works by automatically scanning the scene to determine the correct exposure range and then capturing three DNG files which are then automatically aligned, merged, deghosted, and tonemapped in the app. You get a 32bit floating point DNG, with all of the benefits of both an HDR and a RAW photo, which is processed by the same algorithms with the same quality as the HDR technology built into Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom.” Here’s how it works: when you launch the camera inside of LR Mobile, you have the option of shooting Auto, Manual (AKA “professional”) or High Dynamic Range. You simply select the HDR mode, take the photo, and it takes a few seconds to process the three DNG images in the background and then you’re left with an already merged HDR image with 10 stops of information to play with. This new update currently only works with DNG-capable iPhone and Android devices and you can see some sample HDR images taken inside the app here.
SD Card Association Announces UHS-III Card Standard at 624 MB/s
The SD Card Association has announced the latest “world’s fastest” SD card standard: introducing UHS-III SD cards. With most manufacturers barely even supporting UHS-II these days, it will probably take a few years to get this to become the actual new industry standard, but it has now caught up with CFast 2.0 and XQD speeds, with now having “ultra high speeds” of up to 624 MB/s. SDA President Brian Kumagai says, “SD memory card capabilities continue to expand, paving the way for new and highly anticipated imaging and video features, from virtual reality to 8K video.” In terms of design, it will have the same card pins as UHS-II and will be backwards compatible with all current SD cards. Does this pave the way for less compression in-camera and faster framerates? I hope!
New PS4 Game Has Incredible Virtual Camera Built-In
PS4’s latest video game ‘Horizon: Zero Dawn’ sports a new photo mode inside that gamers are going nuts over. At any point in the game you can bust out the virtual camera and start taking photos of your environment. It’s fully manual too, you can set the position of the camera, the field of view, aperture, focus, play god and even change the time of day, and more. Once you’ve framed your photo how you want it, you can also apply color filters and even add a custom vignette. Check out a preview video of it being used inside the game below: (vs PS)
The First-Ever Photo of a Black Hole to be Taken this Year
Scientists are planning to capture the first ever photo of a black hole later this year. Dubbed the Event Horizon Telescope, the project will use 9 radio telescopes that will all be pointed at Sagittarious A*–the black hole that is 25,000 light years away. The scientists say all the calculations and prep work is complete and that they’re very close to making it happen. They note that capturing an actual photo of a black hole will further the study of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The scientists say, “There are quite a few challenges that need to be overcome to take a picture of a black hole – it’s something that’s extremely small in the sky.” Petapixel writes that the black hole has an event horizon–which has a diameter of nearly 15 million miles, or about 17 times that of our Sun. Since it’s so far away, from the earth, it looks about the relative size of a CD on the surface of the moon; whoa.
“Print” a Photo of Your Face with LEGO
LEGO’s flagship UK store in London that was recently built has a new LEGO camera called the “Mosaic Maker” that will take your portrait and build the resulting image with LEGO bricks. It’s not cheap though: costing about $121, you can have the mosaic kit made which contains the LEGO bricks that will make up the pieces of your face. The Mosaic Maker mimics that of a typical photo booth, except its got tubes of LEGO bricks feeding down into it. Taking only about 10 minutes for the process to complete, you’ll get an actual print of what the final brick layout will look like along with a 48×48 brick gray base and 4,502 1×1 LEGO pieces in up to five different brick colors. This will all come in you own custom LEGO box. Check out a behind-the-scenes video of the whole process below: (via CNET)
RIP: Popular Photography
Popular Photography, aka PopPhoto.com, is officially dead. After 80 years in print circulation, the magazine that began in 1937 is no more. Usually the online version lives on when a print magazine closes, however that’s not the case this time; PopPhoto.com will also shut down. Just last year, they attempted to save the magazine by combining monthly issues and releasing new issues bi-monthly, but that obviously didn’t work. CEO Eric Zinczenko says, “In our most recent Town Hall, I spoke of how the pace of disruption through digital and technological advancements is unprecedented. Unfortunately, the photo industry is an example of where this disruption has forever altered the market. The rise of smartphone-camera technology and its increasing ability to capture quality photos and video and instantly share them socially has dealt the photo industry formidable challenges. For our brands, these industry challenges have left us with insurmountable losses in advertising and audience support.” RIP. (via PP)
Photographer Turns Sony NEX-3 Into Digital Back For His Nikon Film Camera
Photographer Robin Guymer converted his Sony NEX-3 into a digital back for his Nikon FE film camera. Here’s how he did it, he stripped down the NEX-3 to its bare essentials, exposing the sensor. He then simply fused the camera to the Nikon’s film door, which allows the sensor to sit at the same plane as the 35mm film. He then set the NEX-3 digital back to only capture 5 second exposures. Meanwhile, he sets the same ISO on both the film and digital camera. This way, no matter the exposure, the Sony camera is only capturing as much or as little light that the film camera lets through. He says the hard part is getting used to triggering both cameras, being the Sony first then the Nikon. If he ever wants to use the Nikon as a film camera again, he simply removes the Sony from the back and reinstalls the original film door. Check out a 15-minute video where he demonstrates how he made it and how it works below: (via PP)
Nikon Celebrates 100th Anniversary with Custom D500, D5 and Lenses
Nikon has responded to their user base after the announcement of their “extraordinary loss,” noting that they will focus on medium to high end DSLRs and lenses from now on. Their “aggressive approach” also still includes the release of a high-end compact camera down the road, however they say they will pare down how many models they release. Nikon also note that they will focus their resources on mirrorless cameras as well. On the opposite end, Nikon also released some decked-out limited edition models of their Nikon D500, D5 and a few lenses. The limited edition gear mark the camera manufacturer’s 100th anniversary with special lens caps, straps and they even sport a gunmetal gray finish instead of the traditional matte black. The special edition lenses include the “holy” trinity which are also grey and black with a 100th anniversary marking. There will only be 100 of these kits made which will be available for purchase eventually, but no pricing has been announced just yet. I wish they just sold the body caps and straps, we already own the D5 and D500!
This “All-In-One” Fashion Studio Is Fully Robotic
A company called StyleShoots have designed a new fully-robotic all-in-one fashion studio that they’re calling ‘Live”. The “smart studio” has its own depth sensor, a built-in 1DX Mark II and a few CRI LED panels, which can all be controlled via an iPad Pro. StyleShoots goal is for companies to have content in both video and stills, in an all-in-one package, on the same day. It will even spit out various video formats for every type of social media, whether it be Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook or in 4K or 1080P resolutions. No word on price, the company simply asks you to “request a quote” if you’re interested, which means it’s probably insanely expensive. You can lease it with a 2-year contract as well. Check out the introduction video below: (via Engadget)
Blackmagic Announces the Ursa Mini Pro: 3 Cameras in 1
Moving on to cinema news: Blackmagic has announced the 4.6K Ursa Mini Pro, which is essentially the Ursa Mini 4.6K with pro features, as the name clearly suggests. Blackmagic says it’s basically 3 cameras in one, a high-end digital film, broadcast and live production camera all-in-one. Notable specs include a Super 35mm Sensor with 15 stops of dynamic range, a built-in 2, 4 and 6 stop ND filter, a 4″ touchscreen LCD, an interchangeable lens mount, and dual C-Fast 2.0 and UHS-II SD slots. Resolution wise, it’ll shoot up to 4.6K CinemaDNG RAW at 513 MB/s at 60fps, 1080p & 4KUHD in ProRes up to 444 XQ at 250MB/sec. It’s available now for about $6,000 and it also includes a free copy of DaVinci Resolve Studio which is usually $1000.
