Category: Technical Discussions
-
Effective Headshot Photography Techniques on Location
Creating a headshot is as simple as pointing your camera to a face and shooting. But creating an effective headshot is a much more complicated process. Lighting, expression, location and a million other variables come into play, and can drastically change the feeling of the image. And for many,…
-
Optical Quality Assurance
*Pinhole images from new, but optically decentered lens. Olaf Optical Testing, 2016* After we published a number of posts about copy-to-copy variation, people were quick to say that this company or that needs to ‘just’ improve quality control. I totally agree but realize most people don’t have a…
-
A Beginner’s Guide to V-Log on the Panasonic GH4
Back when it was released in April of last year, Panasonic’s GH4 seemed poised to lead the charge of the 4K mirrorless cameras. Since then, though, the Sony A7S and Sony A7SII have taken over much of that market, offering full-frame sensors, exceptional low-light performance, and higher dynamic…
-
LensRentals Staff to Participate in Reddit Ask Me Anything on Monday at 3pm ET
We’re excited to announce that Roger Cicala and Aaron Closz will be participating in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session of reddit’s /r/photography forum on Monday at 3 pm ET. Over the last few years, /r/photography has been a huge supporter of our blog, so we wanted to give back by inviting the users…
-
What Actually Happens When You Stop Down a Lens
I got an email the other day that got me thinking. A guy simply asked “How far do I have to stop down a lens to get maximum performance. I’ve heard two stops from wide open. I’ve heard down to f/8. Which is correct?” I asked him which lens he was referring to, and was he talking about the center…
-
How to Use AF Microadjustment on Your Camera
The most common questions and complaints I hear almost always have to do with AF accuracy, in one way or another, even if they don’t seem like it at first. “I’m trying to focus on this person’s eyes, but the ears are in focus instead,” or, “This lens is front focusing like crazy,” or, “This fast…
-
Proper Techniques for Using Shotgun and Lavalier Microphones for Video Interviews
The audio from an interview recording truly is the single most important piece of media you capture. Without a clean, quality recording of your interview subject’s testimonial, your story is lost. No amount of b-roll or text on screen will create the same amount of emotion, drama, or interest that…
-
Leica SL: A Hate/Love Story
I’ve been a mirrorless camera fan for a while now, starting back when the Olympus OM-D E-M5 first came on the scene and continuing now through the Sony a7RII and the new Leica SL. There are lots of things I love about them, and lots of things I wish were better, but every new body keeps improving…
-
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Teardown
Last week we did a tear down of the Canon 35mm f/1.4 Mk II, an expensive, large, weather-resistant lens. Then we did a tear down of the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens, and expensive, weather-resistant lens with very different technology. Today we’re going to tear down the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM A1…
-
Sony E Mount Lens Optical Bench Tests
It has taken a long time, the sacrifice of a couple of cameras and lenses, and a lot of soldering, but we have finally managed to rig up a powered Sony mount to our optical bench so that we can test the new full-frame Sony and Sony-Zeiss E-mount lenses. For those of you who haven’t understood why…
-
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…
-
Canon 100-400 IS II MTF and Variation Tests
When the Canon 100-400 f/4-5.6 IS L Mk II lens was first released we immediately did some testing. First we took one apart and were extremely impressed with the build quality. Then we compared it using Imatest to the original Canon 100-400 IS L and the new Canon 400mm DO L IS Mk II lenses at 400mm.…
