| Canon G1X II review Jun 23rd 2014, 08:45, by jmeyer Canon G1X II review: Canon’s new premium compact camera is a triumphant return to form. Find out why in our testing team’s new Canon G1X II review video. 
The premium compact camera market used to be pretty much owned by Canon. The much-lauded G series was the ultimate in functionality for those who wanted high image quality but didn’t want to lug around a heavy DSLR. However, in recent times other manufacturers have overtaken Canon’s once unquestionable dominance. The Sony RX100 II is currently the biggest seller in this area of the market, while products like the Fuji X100S offer something a little more unusual. But could the Canon G1X II upset the current balance? In her Canon G1X II review video, Amy Davies of our testing team puts this new Canon camera through its paces to see how it performs. SEE MORE: 49 seriously good Canon DSLR tips, tricks, shortcuts and time-savers Canon G1X II script Hi I’m Amy Davies from Future Publishing’s Photography Testing Team and I’m here to take a look at the Canon G1X II. The Mark II version of this camera is a replacement for the original G1X, which entered the market to mixed reviews back in 2012. Since then, Canon has made a number of notable improvements to the camera to make it a much more appealing prospect. Compared with its predecessor, the G1X Mark II has a more modern appearance. However, it’s a lot heavier, and bulkier, than some of the other high-end compact cameras currently on the market, such as the Sony RX100 II, but then it has a significantly larger sensor. This grip on the side of the camera here is found on European models only – Canon says that Japanese and American audiences prefer the flatter look of the camera. I find the grip makes the camera sit comfortably in the hand, but I’m sure it would also sit well if this was missing. These two rings around the front of the lens are used to change certain shooting parameters. They can be customised to a particular function, for instance you might want to set this one here to control aperture, and this one to shutter speed – if you’re shooting in manual mode.
SEE MORE: Canon metering modes: how to get perfectly exposed images As you can see, a good proportion of the back of the camera is taken up by the three inch screen. Happily, Canon has chosen to include a touchscreen for the Mark II – and it’s a capacitive device which means it’s very responsive. It’s easy to change the autofocus point using this screen, you just tap the area of the scene you want to focus on. It’s also useful during playback, allowing you to swipe through images, or pinch to zoom to check critical focus for example. While the G1X’s screen was fully articulating, the G1X II’s device only tilts, to face downwards, or it can face all the way forwards, which is useful for self-portraits. Another difference is the lack of a viewfinder. The G1X had an optical finder, which was basically just a hole in the top of the camera. Instead of replacing it with an inbuilt electronic version , Canon has decided to offer it as a separate, optional purchase to slot into the hotshoe here. While, it’s not disappointing to lose the optical version, it adds additional expense if you prefer to work with a viewfinder rather than a screen. There’s also a decent array of physical buttons, most of which can be found on the back here. Pressing this function button in the middle of the four way navigational pad gives you access to the most commonly used settings, such as white balance and time. All of the directional keys, also have their own function, here we can see that left accesses macro focusing, while down brings up the sensitivity settings. This button here is a customisable shortcut button, to which you can assign one of 24 different settings.
SEE MORE: Canon EOS 1200D vs Nikon D3300 vs Pentax K-500 – which is the best entry-level DSLR? Two different modes are available which allows you to get creative. First of all, there’s Creative Shot – found here on the mode dial – which will apply five different random effects to an image and save them all along with an unfiltered version of the image. Secondly, there’s also this filters mode, also found on on the mode dial, which gives you specific control over a range of different filter effects, such as fish-eye or toy camera. This dedicated button accesses the camera’s Wi-Fi functionality, another one of the camera’s improvements from its predecessor. Whereas previous Wi-Fi enabled Canon compact cameras only allowed you to send across images and videos to a smartphone or tablet, the latest version of the app allows you to remotely control the camera. Once the camera is connected to the smartphone or tablet, it’s a pretty quick and responsive app to use, although you can’t control a great deal from the app – all you can do is zoom the lens in and out and hit the shutter release, which is a shame. One of the biggest problems with the original G1X was its macro focusing capability – as it’s nearest focus point is 30cm. This has been vastly improved to 5cm for the Mark II, which helps with general everyday shooting. The G1X II uses the same sensor as the original G1X, so we were pretty sure that image quality would be good. It now includes a Digic 6 processor though, which has helped to boost the camera’s performance when it comes to low light, high sensitivity shooting. Images are also bright and punchy directly from the camera, contain lots of detail and are generally well exposed.
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Canon EOS 6D vs 7D: which camera is best for you? |  | Lightroom Web Gallery: how to create a virtual photo collection in the Web module Jun 22nd 2014, 23:01, by jmeyer Discover how to create a customised, virtual photo gallery, which you can then export or upload to a website using the Lightroom Web Gallery feature. 
It's all very well spending ages editing, enhancing and sharpening your images, but it counts for nothing unless you mean to show them off afterwards. You could go the old-fashioned way and make prints. But why not build a web gallery instead? It's an opportunity to select your best shots and display them in a polished, professional way, and it opens up your images to an audience of millions. Adobe Lightroom has a dedicated Web Module that allows you to produce customised image galleries, which you can then export or upload to a website server. It's simple to use and comes with a good selection of templates to start you off. The great thing about the templates is that you can choose a style of gallery to suit your images. So for a set of moody portraits a dark minimalist gallery might work, while for wedding photos a light, breezy style might be more suited. It's entirely up to you, and it's very easy to get started. Here's how it's done… SEE MORE: Lightroom effects – how to use the virtual copies feature to test different looks How to use the Lightroom Web Gallery: steps 1-3 
01 Choose your images
The easiest way to manage groups of images in Lightroom is with Collections, so begin in the Library Module by clicking the plus icon next to 'Collections'. Give your collection a name, like 'Web Gallery', then simply hit ok and drag photos into it to add them to the collection. SEE MORE: How to fine-tune colour in Lightroom – 6 tricks for stronger, bolder images 
02 Select a gallery template
Head to the Web Module, then click through the list in the Template Panel to choose a gallery template. Notice how the preview box shows an 'f' or 'html' in the corner as you hover over them. We've gone for Charcoal. You can rearrange the image order by dragging frames in the filmstrip. SEE MORE: How to use Lightroom – 8 mistakes everyone always makes (and how to avoid them) 
03 Add site info
Go to the Site Info panel and type in your site title (after this, it'll appear in the dropdown list for future use). Add a collection title and description, or clear the boxes to remove the sections. Add a contact name and type mailto:[your email address] to generate a contact link. Quick Tip
To add photos quickly to a collection, right-click the collection, choose 'Set as Target Collection',
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Rim lighting: simple Photoshop effects to enhance your landscapes | | This Week in Photography – News from 16-22 June Jun 22nd 2014, 13:26, by jmeyer Welcome to our new weekly news section, with the stories that matter to serious photographers, along with pithy comment and insightful analysis 
Adobe Creative Cloud refresh Adobe has released the Creative Cloud Photography Plan, which combines Photoshop CC, Lightroom 5 and Lightroom mobile apps for iPad and iPhone. You can get the whole package for £8.78 a month, which seems a pretty good deal to us. There are some extra tools in the bundled version of Photoshop, including Path Blur and Spin Blur, which add motion effects to images. New telephoto lens for Canon EOS M Canon came late – some would say reluctantly – to the system camera party, but its EOS M camera now has a loyal user base. The big C has just announced the first telephoto lens for the EOS M, the EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM, making it the fourth lens in the EF-M line-up. This is equivalent to 88-320mm focal length, and features include a 3.5 stop image stabilizer, seven diaphragm blades and what Canon claims is "near silent" focusing. The new telephoto is released in July and costs £329.99. First weatherproof Fujifilm XF lens Owners of the Fujifilm X-T1, the company’s first weather and dust proof system camera, will be laughing off the rain with the release of the first weatherproof XF lens. The Fujinon XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR has a 1.5x focal length magnification factor, making it useful for a range of applications including landscape, portraiture and travel photography. Fujifilm also claims that the new lens has the most advanced stabilisation system available to date. The lens goes on sale next month for £749. Lightroom Preset summer offer Totally Rad, a maker of Lightroom Presets, Photoshop Actions and other image-editing time savers, is giving 30% off its products in a special summer sale. Particularly popular are its Replichome II Lightroom presets, which includes presets for Fuj, Agfa and Kodak slide films. This set contains multiple versions of each slide film, using both Noritsu and Epson scanners. "Slide films are known for their exceptional colour quality and high contrast and are particularly well-suited for landscape, fashion and reportage photography," says the company. It’s certainly an alternative to the ubiquitous VSCO presets. 
Leica M trial offer Fancy test-driving a Leica M? The company is allowing prospective purchasers to try out the M Type 240 digital rangefinder for two days. It will cost £80 to hire the camera, but you get the money back if you decide to buy one (yours for a mere £5000). You can choose from either a Summicron-M 35mm f/2 or a Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5. The offer runs until September 27. Call 0207 629 1351 or email welcome@leica-camera.co.uk but you will need to collect the camera from Leica’s flagship store in Mayfair or Burlington Arcade in central London. New entry level iMac Apple has announced a new entry level iMac with a big, bright 21.5-inch screen for photo editing. Highlight specifications include a 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 2.7 GHz, Intel HD 5000 graphics, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. You can also upgrade to a 1TB hard drive, a 1TB Fusion Drive, and up to 256Gb flash storage. The new iMac retails from £899. READ MORE Best camera focus techniques: 10 surefire ways to get sharp photos
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