Category: Equipment
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Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II Teardown
As soon as we optically tested the Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II lens we couldn’t wait to tear into one for a couple of reasons. One was that Canon has been making a lot of interesting advances in lens mechanics lately, so we’re always excited to look inside their new lenses. Another was that Canon…
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The Challenges of Transitioning into Video with your DSLR
Over the past couple years, video has become a major player in the photography world. Just a few years ago, the two markets were separated, where cameras largely either shoot video or stills, but rarely both. Since the announcement of the Canon 5d Mark II and the Nikon D90, video has become a…
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A Comprehensive Guide to Getting Started in Automotive Photography
Automotive photography has reached a broader audience over the past several years with car enthusiasts on social media showing off tastefully modified cars. It seems car photographers are a dime a dozen nowadays, but the good ones have a certain style about their images that can be spotted a mile…
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LensRentals Reviews the Canon 35mm f/1.4L II Lens
A few weeks ago, Roger was able to get his hands on a few copies of the brand new Canon 35mm f/1.4L II lens, and ran it through a series of tests comparing it to the competitors. He found, that the new lens from Canon is among the sharpest and most consistent in its class, beating the beloved Sigma…
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A Look into the Video Quality of the Sony A7sII
Well, we didn’t see the Sony a7sII coming. Just kidding, yes we did, from a long way off in fact. That’s OK though because it turns out it’s everything we wanted. As a recent Sony convert and a photographer that dabbles in the video world, this was an easy camera for me to get excited about. On…
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The DxO ONE Real World Test
Recently I had the opportunity to travel light to Seattle with the DxO ONE. The DxO ONE is a tiny camera designed for use with your iPhone or iPad. The ONE allows you to attach a 20.2MP 1″ BSI-CMOS sensor to your apple device via an integrated Lightning connector. Using the phone as a viewfinder,…
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Lenses I Love: The Canon 200mm f/2L IS
As a photographer who has used nearly every lens in Canon’s repertoire, it’s rare to find one that truly impresses me beyond the ones I own and love. For the longest time, I’ve grown content with my current lineup (which is an overwhelming collection of prime glass), and haven’t had much gear lust…
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Canon C300 Mark II First Impressions
This weekend, I had the opportunity to take the eagerly anticipated Canon C300 Mark II out for a test shoot in downtown Memphis. Here are some of my initial impressions. ## Design The original Canon C300 has always been one of my favorite products in our inventory. I do a lot of short documentary…
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A Comprehensive Guide to Aerial Photography
In the last few years, the price of renting a helicopter has decreased dramatically. Coupled with the advent of DSLRs that perform very well in low light, this has created a wonderful opportunity for photographers to charter helicopters in numbers never seen before. Over the past two years, I’ve…
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Light Painting with the Pixelstick LED Lightpainting Tool
Once in a while a product will come out that looks so fun everyone wants to try it. I never knew I wanted to try light painting until I saw this video for the Pixelstick, and it took several tries before I could pry it out of the hands of my coworkers. The Pixelstick LED Lightpainting Tool is an…
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Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art MTF Curves and Sample Variation
For years now, I’ve been telling people to always take the results of tests done on one copy of a lens with a serious grain of salt. Not matter how carefully it was tested, it’s still just one copy. Others will be worse. Others will be better. Because I’m so aware of copy variation, I (in theory at…
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Sony a7R II Vs a7S Video Field Comparison
The amazing low-light performance and ability to shoot in 4k has made the Sony a7S a definite favorite for our customers and the LensRentals team. We have been very excited over the release of the a7R II with new features such as 5-axis in-body image stabilization, a 42.4MP back-illuminated…