Review Digital Camera World 08-02-2013

Digital Camera World

Surf Photography: tips for shooting watersports like a seasoned professional Aug 1st 2013, 23:01, by jmeyer In our latest Professional Photographer to the Rescue post our pro shows our apprentice how to photograph watersports to capture both dramatic action and stunning scenery. Meet our professional photographer Roger Sharp is a professional surfing photographer and editor of Carve, the UK's biggest and best-selling surfing magazine. Originally from Somerset, he's been into surfing since he was 15 years old, and a pro photographer for the past 13 years. Roger is now based in London, and regularly travels around the world to photograph the big surf. Meet our apprentice Richard Owen is a magazine editor and keen amateur photographer and surfer. Born in North Wales, Richard did a photography foundation course in Wrexham back in the late '80s, and he's more recently rediscovered his love for photography after investing in a new DSLR. His love of surfing has inspired him to ask for our help to capture more dynamic surf photography with his camera. Technique Assessment After fitting Richard's EOS 7D inside his spare underwater housing, Roger explained how to lock his exposure and focus so he didn't have to worry about camera setting when swimming and shooting in the big waves… Manual exposure "Once I've taken a meter reading off my hand (as it's the same tone as the surfer), I'll lock my exposure in Manual mode," says Roger, "In sunny conditions, I want a fast exposure to keep up with the action, as well as good depth of field for sharpness across the frame, so around 1/1600 sec at f/8. For this I got Richard to up his ISO to 400; on 7D cameras, this will result in minimal noise issues."   Manual focus "Using an ultra-wide-angle lens means you'll obtain lots of depth of field anyway, and even when shooting with a middle aperture of f/8, shots will be sharp from foreground waves to background waves behind the surfer," says Roger. "To make sure, I got Richard to lock his focus just inside infinity to make sure his surf shots would be sharp, from the front to the back of the scene." PAGE 1: Meet our professional photographer and apprentice PAGE 2: Surf photography tips for during the shoot PAGE 3: Final surf photography advice from our professional photographer PAGE 4: Our professional photographer’s recommended gear PAGE 5: Shot of the Day READ MORE Free action photography cheat sheet The best lenses for sports photography (and ideal focal lengths to use) Sports photography: tips for setting up your camera to shoot anything Famous Photographers: 100 things we wish we knew starting out Sigma Mount Conversion Service: switch cameras but keep using your old lenses! Aug 1st 2013, 10:27, by jmeyer Sigma has introduced a new Mount Conversion Service that will allow photographers to swap their lenses over to a new camera system should they decide to switch brands – whether you shoot with DSLR or a CSC. The third-party lens manufacturer has unveiled a solution that will shatter photographers’ long-held allegiance to their lens mount by enabling them to convert the mount of their current lenses by changing the relevant parts for a different mount and internal core system. To use Sigma’s new Mount Conversion Service, your lenses will need to be a part of the company’s three new Art, Contemporary and Sports product lines – which currently include two full-frame DSLR lenses, three crop-sensor DSLR lenses and three mirrorless lenses. DSLR photographers will be able to switch their lenses to Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax or Sigma mounts, while mirrorless camera owners will be able to switch from Micro Four Thirds to Sony NEX. The lenses for DSLR cameras include 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM, 30mm F1.4 DC HSM, 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM / DC MACRO HSM. 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM. Eligible lenses for mirrorless cameras include 19mm F2.8 DN, 30mm F2.8 DN, 60mm F2.8 DN. What’s more, the lens you want to have converted must also be available for purchase in your chosen mount. US prices for Sigma’s Mount Conversion Service range from $80-$250 depending on your focal length. UK prices were not available at the time of writing. What’s more, Sigma has announced it is also extending the warranties of all its products purchased after 1 July 2013 to four years. The Sigma Mount Conversion Service is due to start from September 2013. READ MORE 11 common lens errors (and how you can avoid them) 10 reasons your pictures aren’t sharp (and how to fix them) Master your camera’s autofocus: which AF points to use and when to use them DSLR Lenses: 7 questions photographers must ask about their next piece of glass Panasonic GX7 adds world's first 90-degree tilt-able Live View Finder Aug 1st 2013, 06:00, by jmeyer Panasonic has announced a replacement to the Lumix GX1, introducing the 16-megapixel Panasonic GX7 which incorporates the world’s first built-in 90-degree tilt-able Live View Finder. Key among the Panasonic GX7′s features is what the company says is the world’s first built-in 90-degree tilt-able Live View Finder (LVF) on a DSLM body, which allows photographers to compose images through the viewfinder at any angle. The newly built-in 90-degree tilt-able Live View Finder boasts what Panasonic says is the highest resolution available, with over 2.7m dots, and achieves a high colour reproduction of approximately 100% using AdobeRGB as a reference. What’s more, sitting alongside the new LVF is a 3in, 1040K-dot touchscreen LCD screen. An Eye Sensor AF feature starts auto focusing when you begin looking into the LVF. The Panasonic GX7 also incorporates a newly developed 16-megapixel Digital Live MOS Sensor, which affords “significant low-light shooting capabilities compared to its predecessor the LUMIX DMC-GX1,” according to Panasonic. Another signature feature of the new Lumix camera is the GX7's Contrast Auto Focus system, which includes “Light Speed AF” at around 0.06secs. You can also set the focus and exposure settings directly on your subject in the monitor with one touch using the Full-area Touch AF and Touch AE settings, while Pin-point AF allows you you to set magnification from 3x to 10x enlargement in 0.1x gradients. One-shot AF allows photographers to use AF even in Manual Focus mode to set a rough focus on the subject and then go back to MF for fine adjustments. For more practical control over focusing, the Panasonic GX7 adds a Focus Peaking function that shows the peak of focus in MF and AF+MF mode. The detection level can be set to ‘High’ or 'Low' and then a colour can be selected to stand out from the shooting environment. In 'High' these are light blue, yellow or green, and in ‘Low’ blue, orange or white can be selected. Using the Panasonic GX7′s Low Light AF mode photographers can focus on subjects even in very low light situations such as under starlight with industry leading -4EV, the company says. Panasonic also claims the GX7 achieves a higher saturation of light than previous Lumix models due to the enhanced pixel architecture of its new sensor, producing better sensitivity and dynamic range. The camera’s Venus Engine image processor’s advanced noise reduction system also makes it possible to remove large blocks of noise that were previously harder to detect, Panasonic says. A Silent Shooting mode has been added for street photographers, which eliminates AF and shutter sounds. Along with Wi-Fi capability, a 1/8000sec shutter speed, 5fps burst shooting and a range of 22 creative filter effects, other key specs of the Panasonic GX7 include: Image Sensor 16.0 MP LIVE MOS Engine Venus Engine ISO setting Auto / Intelligent ISO 125(Extended) / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400 / 12800 / 25600 AF mode: Face detection / AF Tracking / 23-area-focusing / 1-area-focusing / Pinpoint / Touch AF Movie recording: Full HD 1920 x 1080 50p smooth, high quality video recording in AVCHD Progressive and MP4 with stereo sound LCD Monitor: 3.0inch (7.5cm)/ 3:2 Aspect / Wide-viewing angle /Approx. 1040K dots LVF: Approx.1.39x / 0.7x (35mm camera equiv.) magnification, high color reproduction of approximately 100% using AdobeRGB, 100% field of view and eyepoint of approximately 17.5 mm Size: 122.60 x 70.7 x 43.3 mm (excluding protrusions) Weight: Approx. 402g (body, battery and SD card) Interface: USB 2.0 High Speed Multi, miniHDMI, TypeC / VIERA Link, internal stereo microphone, monaural speaker The Panasonic GX7 price and release date were not known at the time of writing. READ MORE Famous Photographers: 100 things we wish we knew starting out Camera angles: 5 ways to add impact with unusual perspectives Best camera focus techniques: 10 surefire ways to get sharp photos 44 essential digital camera tips and tricks

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