The Weekly Wrap-Up features articles from this week on Photofocus. This week, Michele Grenier continues her journey to mirrorless, Mykii Liu talks about the Samsung 860 QVO SSD, Bob Coates dives into gear for wildflower photography, Vanelli introduces us to Aircam event software and guest writer Jamie MacDonald dives into photographing in the rain. Enjoy!
Will I switch from DSLR to Mirrorless? My first photoshoot experience with the Olympus OM-D E-M1X - As I already mentioned in my very first article, that I am looking at upgrading my photography gear (my two Nikon D750 cameras). As this is a pretty expensive move, I am currently trying both the Sony a9 and Olympus OM-D E-M1X to see which one would best fit my sports photography needs. Now’s the time to experiment with the new top-of-the-line micro four-thirds camera — the E-M1X. What I am looking for in my new partner I have specific needs regarding my sports photography. Above all, I need high ISO capabilities and great autofocus. Good lookin’, high burst rate, well built … that’s icing on the cake. Ladies, you’ll certainly agree with me — that’s not too much to ask for, is it? The bar is high As you probably know by now, I’ve already been on a first date with Mr. A (aka the Sony a9), which has set the bar — and my expectations — pretty high. As I do lots of strength related sports, I thought Mr. X would be as excited as me to attend an Olympic Weightlifting event and to show me what he’s made of. And — as I also said in a previous article — I couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to hold him in my hands. His curves and ergonomics are perfectly balanced and at the right places (even more so than Mr. A’s). His built-in grip is a delight to work with for vertical portraits. Meeting in the gym As we started looking at the first event, women’s Snatches, I felt like his attention was going somewhere else from time to time. Even though I asked him to focus on the athlete’s face, he moved once in a while to the TV screen behind her or the bumper plates on her barbell. I set the Continuous Autofocus sensitivity at -2 (the least reactive one) but it didn’t seem to change Mr. X’s wandering ways. I might be the one doing it wrong here. It’s the first time we’ve met and I am still trying to figure out his character. Freaaaaaaaaaaaakin’ fast His 60 frames per second feature is no joke. The first time I used it, I wasn’t even sure if it even worked. I had to go back to view my images to realize he had indeed worked perfectly. Mr. X was perfectly silent with no blinking in the viewfinder. Almost like if nothing happened. Of course, I had to do a classical beginner’s mistake: I hadn’t thought about bringing a very high-speed SD card. With my shooting style, my buffer was filling up in a split second. This is definitely something to think about next time. When you have such a high frame rate — fast as in “the fastest on the market” — you better have a memory card that can keep up with it! Testing his limits: Level 1 Also known as the normal-high ISO test. To warm him up, I went for the same settings I would’ve used with my Nikon D750. Nothing crazy here, just the minimal requirement I need to properly freeze a Snatch. I used the 75mm f/1.8 at f/1.8, 1/640s and ISO 3200. Here is an example with the original image, a 100% crop and the final edited result (you can click on them to see a larger version). Testing his limits: Level 2 Also known as the highest ISO test. Well, the “highest” in this case without going into the extensions would’ve been ISO 6400, but I chose not to go there as I felt it made him uncomfortable. Here is an example of the result with the 75mm f/1.8 at f/1.8, 1/800s and ISO 5000. Testing his limits: I won’t push my luck As I didn’t want to ruin my chances on our very first date, I decided to slow things down a little bit and went for something a little more artistic. I backed things down to ISO 250, which was the lowest ISO I used that day and of course, it gave me the best image quality of all tests. His amazing 5-axis magnetic stabilization (providing 7 stops of image stabilization) made it possible for me to shoot handheld at 1/10s without creating any blur to the background. That would’ve never been possible to do with my D750. Big props for that! Here’s the result with the 75mm f/1.8 at f/3.5, 1/10s, ISO 250 A great player … at the wrong sport? Mr. X had all the features I was looking for: An extremely strong build and very fast burst rate with THE fastest electronic shutter speed in the game at 60 frames per second. It reminded me of a bodybuilder. Very strong and powerful. Have you ever tried to make a bodybuilder do a Snatch or a Clean and Jerk? He is indeed in very good shape and can move heavy weights … but his body and nervous system are not meant to work optimally that way. I also noticed he tends to lose stamina (read: battery life) faster than Mr. A for the equivalent amount of time. On a more affectionate note, I loved working all day with the 75mm f/1.8 lens. It’s so light and compact — it saved my back, arms and shoulders big time after many hours of shooting! A second date Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to bring a bodybuilder to an Olympic Weightlifting event. I’ll be fair to him: We’ll have a second date. Outdoors this time, where I’ll give him the opportunity to shine at his true value. On my next article, I’ll share my thoughts both on Mr. A and Mr. X for similar conditions. That will likely be our last date before my official and final choice. Stay tuned for the fifth episode of my “DSLR to Mirrorless” journey!
Getting Samsung’s 860 QVO solid state hard drive is a no brainer - Samsung had released the 860 QVO SSD line in the end of 2018 as their entry level and most affordable SSD. Samsung has been a leader of solid state storage for almost a decade and has brought much of that technology down to a price range that everyone should jump on. I’ve got my hands on the 1TB model, the lowest capacity that Samsung makes alongside a 2TB and 4TB model. The QVO is currently only available with the SATA III interface, and I haven’t heard of any plans to make it available in other interfaces, but I’d imagine that there would be a M.2 variant at some point down the line. The SATA interface makes it the most widely adaptable across the world, as most computers still utilize that interface and it is easily adaptable to USB to be used as an external hard drive. For this little test review, I’ve used an affordable Sabrent USB 3.0 to 2.5″ SATA adapter (roughly $9) along with the Samsung 1TB 860 QVO to compare to the more expensive 1TB Samsung 860 PRO while connected to my 2013 Mac Pro over USB 3.0. Benchmarking I used CrystalDiskMark or AmorphousDiskMark (basically runs CrystalDiskMark on a Mac) to run a benchmark on a couple different size files to help show any differences based off of a certain capacity or specification. The biggest difference with the QVO and the PRO is the amount of cache that each contains, with the PRO model having more. Because of that cache difference, you’ll be able to see a speed difference in longer sustained writes to the drives, with the top of the line PRO series being able to continuously write faster. But really that’s not going to matter if you compare the QVO to any sort of traditional hard drive, it’ll be exponentially faster. These drives are being limited by the USB bus on my system (there are a lot of other things running at the same time, but this makes the test reflect a little bit more of the real world scenario). When used internally, the speed will more than likely jump upward toward 500MB/s and higher for both sequential reading and writing. Traditional hard drives will transfer exceedingly slow in comparison. Just as a comparison, I’ve tested a 2.5″ WD Black 500GB 7200RPM Performance hard drive for laptops (one that is better than typical external hard drives you can purchase off the shelf) just to give you an idea as to what one of the best traditional hard drives can do… It is almost too easy to compare the numbers. The numbers can’t accurately reflect how fast your computer will load, but it’ll give you an idea that it’ll be BLAZING fast if you’re upgrading from one of these drives. Once you’ve used a machine with a SSD installed internally, it’s really hard to go back to anything that has a traditional hard drive. Most of the transactions that occur when booting a computer or starting up an app works around the 4K size– so you might even have a computer that is up to 130x faster than what you would have with a laptop or desktop with a traditional drive. Best uses for this Samsung 860 QVO drive Working Lightroom Catalog storage This drive is a good candidate for to be used as an external hard drive when paired one of those Sabrent USB adapters like the one I used for the benchmark. Putting the Lightroom Catalog and associated photos on one of these drives can really help with speeding up access to the pictures in Lightroom. It’ll also make it easier for you to tote around and open your catalogs on different computers. Since it doesn’t have any moving parts, it won’t suffer the same death and corruption that most external hard drives encounter due to drops and vibration — that doesn’t make it invincible though, so please have a good backup system in place (or just get another QVO just for backups)! Internal use Because of the low cost for this drive and more than adequate performance, one could utilize this as a primary replacement drive for their laptop or desktop, as long as the computer currently utilizes a SATA interface. This is what I recommend the most. While the drive is backwards compatible with SATA II and SATA I, it’ll perform as intended speed over SATA III allowing the computer to get close to that ~550MB/s ceiling. The roomy 1TB can hold just about everything that most people need on their main drives — and if you opt for the 2TB or 4TB, you’re probably not going to need anything else for quite a long time! I’ve lived off of 1TB on my main drive and haven’t come close to the max (I do have a Drobo to hold all my media though). Real life use against the PRO model? Well, I’ve put at least 200 Samsung 860 PRO SSDs into laptops and have upgraded 25% of those into larger QVO drives have heard that they haven’t noticed anything distinctly different — and they’re using the machines for video rendering and 3D modeling. If it is good enough for their intense use; it’s probably more than enough for us photographers and videographers as a main drive. If you’re copying large amounts of files back and forth, as its main purpose, it’ll be slower than the PRO series or the mid-tier EVO series. Still can’t beat the bang for the buck though. Video storage If you’ve shot any sort of video, you know that it takes up a lot of space — and often times, some of these 20GB video files can take an eternity to transfer. Storing your videos on one or several of these drives would be a wonderful solution. I’d definitely opt for a couple of the larger drives and still retain a good backup methodology. External storage for fun or games If you’ve already got a SSD in your drive
Hiking gear for wildflower photography, part one - Spring is in the air and depending upon where you are the bloom has begun or will be coming your way soon with the April showers. (or snow in some cases!!) I’m going to share my kit for getting out and capturing the botanical blooms. And show you a couple of results. Camera and lens choices My camera of choice is the Lumix G9, a micro four-thirds camera. The quality, feature set and very important to me, lightweight, make it a great tool for hiking photography. Just for kicks I also carry a Lumix GX85 with an f/3.5 8mm fisheye lens. It’s small enough to put in a very small Think Tank Mirrorless Mover bag which also holds extra batteries, cards and the 45mm f/2.8 Macro lens. The main lens I use is a Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3. You might think that a strange choice but I’ve found it to be handy with a macro-like look in isolating flowers. As an add on I also throw in a couple of Vello Extension tubes. Using extension tubes allow for getting the focusing distance closer to the subject than the four feet three inches on the Leica 100-400mm. I am a BIG fan of the Peak Design camera straps as the quick release system allows for quick switching of different straps to other cameras and easily remove the strap when mounting the camera on a tripod. Additional gear MeFOTO makes great, stiff and relatively lightweight tripods with solid ball heads that have an Arca-Swiss plate connection. The Backpacker is the smallest of their lineup it’s a little short for me. I find the next size up to be a better fit as it has some more height. To help control light I use a 20-inch Westcott 5-in-1 reflector. As an extra set of hands, I bring a Wimberley Plamp or two. The Plamp has a clamp on one end to grab the tripod and at the end of the articulating arm is a clip to hold the scrim or possibly steady a flower in the breeze. Using the gear on wildflowers The season is blossoming with subjects scattered across the hiking trails in Sedona. These trails are in what is called the Village of Oak Creek right where the red rocks start if you are coming north on Highway 179 from I-17. More on this wildflower/hiking photography using the other lens combinations coming soon. Let me know if you have any questions. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
First look at Aircam for event photographers - I met Aircam’s co-founder Evan Rufkin at the 2019 WPPI event in Las Vegas. I interviewed him about a unique tool his company created for event photographers. Imagine photographing an event — weddings, charity, sporting — and giving guests instant access to every image on their smartphone or the ability to create a permalink to share on social media. Now imagine once the event is over, you are DONE working for the day! Sounds too good to be true? That’s what I thought until I gave it a try on a special private event for Philip Labonte, lead singer for the band All That Remains. Here’s a first look video of Aircam. My experience Installing and setting up was easy Live help built into the app Shooting at the event was seamless Extra gems I found Ability to link a personal landing page Face recognizing Upload additional photos after the event The option to allow others to add photos It’s FREE I’ll have a follow-up article after we use Aircam at a horse show!
When the weather outside is frightful: Photography rain or shine - (Editor’s Note: We welcome Jamie MacDonald, an Olympus Visionary and Vanguard Pro living in Michigan. With a focus on nature and wildlife, Jamie says his motivations are to connect viewers to the emotional state he was in when his images were created. Learn more about Jamie and follow his adventures at jmacdonaldphoto.com or on Instagram). When my friends at Photofocus reached out to see if I’d be interested in writing about shooting when it is raining or storming I just couldn’t resist! Having spent the last couple years shooting landscapes in these conditions here in my home state of Michigan, I knew I was ready to share my experiences and some tips for making the best out of “bad weather.” Preparing Before we just run out the door to shoot in the weather that keeps everyone else inside we need to get a few things ready first! To start, let’s make sure the camera gear you are using is weather sealed. Many camera manufacturers offer some line of product that offers protection against rain, snow and dust. Just make sure that not only is your camera body weather sealed, but your lenses too! Without both being sealed, you are open to problems. If you do not own a weather sealed camera body and lenses you can always opt for a “rain coat” for your gear. There are many options available for all systems, and they can be found at your local camera store or favorite online retailer. Gear selection Now that we’ve determined your equipment will survive some time in the rain or snow, we need to figure out what gear you should be bringing. I find that as a landscape and nature photographer my “go to” lens is usually the M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO lens. This lens is an ultra wide rectilinear lens with a protruding front element. This front element can be tough to work with in the rain as keeping it free from raindrops is a constant battle due to the lack of lens hood for it. So if shooting landscapes, consider something with a lens hood to help mitigate rain on the front element. Or just be prepared with lots of lens cloths! Now all that is left is your camera body, but we’ve already made sure that is good to go so on to the next subject … and that is? Choosing your subject. Subjects As I mentioned above my primary focus when shooting in rainy or stormy weather is landscapes. There is something about that connection between weather and an open landscape that draws me in. But I don’t stop there. In my hunt for great landscape locations to shoot rain and storms, I often find myself looking for strong focal elements to work into the scenes as well. For me, here in Michigan it may be an old barn in the countryside, or a lighthouse and pier along the shores of Lake Michigan. The choice of places and subjects that you use will depend on factors such as the direction from which weather typically approaches your location, basic geography and ease of access to the locations you choose. Here in Michigan, inclement weather generally approaches from the west or southwest. Since I know this I have spent time scouting locations that I find interesting and have good geographic and man made features for me to use in my photos but also let me stay ahead of the weather and photograph it as it approaches my location. These locations are not just close to home either! Some are far away for when I know I have time to get into position as weather approaches. A little tip here is to download not just weather forecasting apps like Underground, but to also have a radar app or two on your phone as well. The ones I use are NOAA Hi-Def Radar and Radarscope. It’s great to be able to see the direction and intensity of weather, for both photographic and safety’s sake! Up till now we’ve covered most aspects necessary for shooting in the rain or other “bad” weather. But we’re missing one very critical step! Settings My settings for shooting in stormy weather fall into two camps. He first, and most common is to bracket my shots. Bracketing, or exposure bracketing involves shooting a sequence of images with varying exposure levels. For example, I will often set my camera to bracket three photos at +/- 3 EV. So what I end up with is a neutral exposure which is your typical exposure, one at +3 EV and a final shot at -3 EV. The +3 EV gives me an over-exposed image, which brings out the detail in the shadows. The -3 EV underexposed imaged ensures no areas have highlights overexposed and lost. These three images can then be combined or merged in Lightroom or other software to create a photo that has a much wider dynamic range. This is often referred to as HDR. But don’t worry! HDR doesn’t have to mean wildly over processed images. If you stay conservative in your processing you can easily get very realistic images like the one below. I said I typically shoot one of two ways in these conditions, and the second way is long exposures. I have a method of doing long exposures that is exclusive to Olympus cameras that allows for easy capture of lightning without overexposing the image, and it is called Live Composite. But if you are not an Olympus user it will be as simple as setting your camera to bulb mode and running exposures (there may be some trial and error to determine the proper exposure time) to capture lighting. One of the cool things about this approach is that you will get some great motion in the clouds, and lightning emanating from them. A few more settings to keep in mind for shooting in these conditions are going to be aperture, and ISO. I personally prefer to shoot stopped down just a little bit.
