PhotographyBanzai.com

Hey, it’s been a while. I’ve been working intensely on my Photography Banzai Youtube channel since around August 2017. I’m trying to see if I can really make something special out of it. Partly because I haven’t had much contracted software development work lately (freeing up time), but also because it is one of those projects I’m passionate about improving on to see where it might go in the future. It’s one of my hopes it will expand in reach significantly. Since I started the channel in January 2011, it has had over 1.5 million views, though the public number is around 1.4 million due to me cleaning up the channel of past content I felt wasn’t that great, unrelated to the theme, or generated traffic in a negative way. The one thing about my effort on Youtube is that the work I’ve put in has consistently given back. I can’t say that about every passion project I’ve worked on. It isn’t a whole lot in the grand scheme of ...

I’ve done previous articles. A decent amount of the cards here will be the same. The goal was to round up as many cards as I had on-hand to do benchmark testing on. I also did a bracketed camera test with the Nikon D600. Here is the companion video on Youtube . I used a Transcend USB 3.0 card reader for this test. Here are the steps I took to setup the benchmark: Make a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu Desktop on it. In my case I used version 17.04. Download an ISO . Download the USB bootable drive tool . Run Rufus and have it create the bootable drive with the downloaded ISO image . At that point you can reboot your computer with the USB drive attached and get into Ubuntu. Once loaded, you have to find the Disk Utility. It wasn’t quite as easy for me as in past articles. Partly because I haven’t used Ubuntu for a long time and they also hid the utility for whatever reason. I was able to search the available programs and bring it up. They also hide the benchmark functionality inside a “b...

I recently made a video about firmware v1.03. There are improvements in auto-focus performance, especially in live-view mode. Here is a link to full sized example photos on Flickr: Flickr Gallery Link Here is a crop of one 100MM@f2 photo at 100% without additional editing: I’d personally consider that is producing a nice amount of detail, especially without any editing. There are a large number of factors involved from the distance to the subject to others like hand/shutter shake. The Youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_vb97yTjN0 Notes I wrote up while making the review: From the manual it lists the lens as having 9 aperture blades and a minimum aperture of f19, which is confusing because both of my cameras go to f22. Minimum focus distance is 0.9 meters or around 3 foot with a 0.14 times magnification. This isn’t a lens you will be getting close focus and high magnification with! The lens comes with caps but no lens hood. It does have a 58mm filter thread, which is a sta...

Hey, it’s been a while! I’ve still been taking photos as usual, but this website hasn’t seen updates in a long time. A lot of my photo updates go on my Cosplay Banzai Facebook page (recently rebranded) due to convenience. Personal websites, in my experience, don’t get much traffic with articles like this. Most of this site’s traffic are my old Pentax equipment reviews. Here are a few photos I took at a local cosplay photography meetup. The meetup is usually centered around photos with horses that we have available, but we still mostly just take photos of the cosplayers by themselves. It’s really just a big group of friends hanging out and enjoying a mutual hobby (while we also eat, drink, and have a bonfire). Stuff like this is what it’s all about! Now on to the equipment talk. The equipment I pull out when I’m serious is still Nikon DSLRs. Cameras and Lenses (use both at once most of the time): Nikon D600 with a 50mm f1.8g lens: This was attached to my backpack’s strap lugs directly ...

In this video I go over using a PS4 DualShock controller when reviewing and culling photos. It’s an ergonomic and quick way to go over large numbers of photos in your initial review process.  Using a game controller in Adobe Bridge! In my case I use Adobe Bridge CS5, which has limited support for keyboard shortcuts. The related video about using a controller to cull photos in Adobe Bridge. Get a Sony DualShock 4 Wireless PS4 Controller through my links: B&H Photo Video , Amazon , Best Buy , and eBay . As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!  You can use whatever controller you want as long as you have the ability to mimic keyboard inputs. The DS4Windows program I use has full macro support, which is great.  Configuring DS4 Windows to work with Bridge. The PS4 controller drivers: ds4windows ( github source ) Adobe Bridge shortcut list Here is how I have mine set up: – D-pad = The arrow keys on the keyboard so you can navigate through the...

I attended an event hosted by my convention/photographer/cosplayer friends “ Cosplayer With A Camera ” and Hikikomori Sama at the Chicago Botanic Gardens .  They have had the event there for a number of years, but this might be the last. The garden has some pretty restrictive policies on photography, which makes things difficult for us.  This year they tightened the policies even more and we had some aggressive staff on carts show up toward the end of the night. The garden itself is really large and beautiful, which is of course great for the pictures we take. Here are a few highlight photos from the event:  All I brought for the event was the Nikon D600 and 50mm f1.8g lens. It’s a nice combination that allows you do a decent amount without the extra bulk and hassles. Along with that, the overcast skies helped a lot with getting nice photos. Shade and uniform outdoor light are great for simple natural photos that don’t need much editing afterward.

My friend and fellow photographer Kings Cosplay set up a photoshoot at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. Though we had our fair share of issues such as part of the park flooding, we did manage to get a decent amount of time to take photos. Besides getting some photography in, I enjoyed the exercise and scenic views! I brought a pretty simple camera kit. The Nikon D600 along with a 28mm f1.8 and 70-210mm f4 lens. I also brought a single flash, but only used that for around 5 photos. My go-to for most of the event was the telephoto. I like the photos out of that ~$200 old used 1980s telephoto lens just as much as anything else. The lens is weirdly shaped, ugly, and with old school screw-drive AF, but does the job well. 

I recently joined in on a two-day photoshoot Kings Cosplay had scheduled with the local model Ari Jade. The theme was race queen with most of the secondary subject being motorcycles. Here are a few highlight photos: Day one equipment: Nikon 28mm f/1.8g lens Two flash with a stand, umbrella, and a 6×8″ diffuser. The first day was a bit rough photo wise. All we initially had to work with was a home garage and by the time we got out to a downtown parking garage later in the day it was really dark, so the background wasn’t usable.  The main issue I didn’t properly compensate for was the sodium vapor lamps the parking garage used, which produces monochromatic light. I also tried gels on my flash, which didn’t have a strong enough orange to match the garage lamps. The parking garage photos were best in monochrome. The garage lighting didn't work out well.  Day two equipment: 28mm f1.8 lens 70-210mm f4 lens Two flash with a stand and large 42″ brolly box softbox umbrella. I also had...

I attended Anime Central 2015 on May 15th and 16th. I have a few general hallway style photos as well as quite a few from photoshoots. Photo links: Facebook Gallery Here are a few highlight images from the convention: I tried to stay pretty mobile camera equipment wise as usual with conventions. I brought the Nikon D600, 50mm f1.8g, and two Yongnuo i-TTL flash with wireless triggers. I used the flash quite a bit, mostly when I had helpers to hold them.  Lightstands would have been helpful, but it’s added bulk I don’t want to carry around. In the future, I’d like the find something even smaller than those mini-lightstands, but so far I don’t see anything on the market that would fit the bill.  I think the photos turned out pretty decent considering the limited equipment and time. I hope everyone who attended ACEN had a fun time.