Category Archives: photography

Building a lens kit

Introduction

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Loxia 21mm 2.8 – Loxia 35mm 2.0 – Loxia 85mm 2.4

When you start getting more involved with photography – and especially when you prefer using prime lenses – at some point it makes sense to spend some thoughts on building a lens kit.
In this article we want to give you a few ideas of what to consider when building your own lens kit and show you some of ours in the end.

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The best lenses for Brenizer / Bokehpanoramas

Introduction

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Sony A7s | Canon EF 135mm 2.0L | 55m f/0.81 equivalent

Brenizer or Bokehpanorama is a panorama technique to get a wide angle shot with the much better bokeh of a longer tele lens. In this article I will show you what it is all about and which lenses work best.

What is a Brenizer/Bokehpanorama?

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4×9 single shots before stitching in Microsoft Image Composite Editor

By using longer lenses and taking a panorama you can simulate the look of fictional, wider, very fast lenses that are not even technically possible to build.

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RAW challenge 1- Icy Forest

First thank you all for participating!
It was really interesting to see all your images. For those who don’t know what we are talking about: We posted a Raw (shot with Loxia 21mm 2.8 on A7rII) on our FB page and asked for your interpretations of this scene:

There is certainly no right or wrong here, the question is always: what mood do you want to convey?
Another really important aspect: you haven’t been there when the shot was taken. So I might connect things to this image that you simply can’t (the smell of the forest, my cold feet, getting up early, watching the sunrise etc.).

So I will discuss your results and show you mine after that. But keep in mind: This is my perspective and other people would have a different perspective. To simplify things I grouped the images.

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The Fuji Experiment – A Sony A7ii user tries the X-T2

Those of you who read my Sony A7II vs. Sony A6500 comparison know that I have been curious about the Fujifilm X-T2 for quite some time, I am still looking for a reliable, handy and fast camera to take pictures of people, especially children. Neither of the cameras that I have used so far could satisfy me completely, therefore I decided to take a look over the fence.

The Fujifilm X system is to me the most obvious alternatives to the Sony FE system. The approach to offer as many manual controls as possible as well as the broad but reasonable lens lineup and fast AF are very appealing to me. So when I got the chance to give the system a try I jumped on it. I will use a Fujifilm X-T2 with four lenses for a month. Will it suit my needs?

Fujifilm X-T2 | XF 2/90 | f/5.6
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF 2/90 | f/8
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF 1.4/35 | f/1.6

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4 tips to improve your Astrophotography

Introduction

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Sony A7s | Voigtlander 35mm 1.7 + 5m PCX OptoSigma + NiSi Natural Night filter | panorama from 5 shots

The shot above can be found in higher resolution here.

With the increased High ISO capabilities of even entry level cameras astrophotography has become available to almost anyone. But if you want your files to show low noise and high dynamic range – or you want to print big – it might be worthwhile using some of the techniques I am going to show you in this article.

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