PhotographyBanzai.com

With very little information to go on about the rumored announcement on September 5th, I’m going to talk about some of the ideas pointed out in regard to a Canon mirrorless full-frame camera.  Me and a camera. Not too long ago I transitioned to a pair of Canon EOS M50 camera bodies with the 22mm f2, 11-22mm, and 15-45mm kit lens primarily for solo video work. The M50 is such a nice little camera that I’ve been using it for photos a lot as well. EF-M is now a solid system thanks to DPAF, though the M50 lacks a few things I’d like to have, and also hasn’t had great lens release support from Canon. Overall I’m happy with the setup given the great DPAF in video, fully articulating screen, and solid Android app. I did own the original EOS-M camera… what a huge improvement the M50 is in every regard! Anyways… First off let’s talk about the most well known rumors... The frequently mentioned quote about a “sexy” solution to mirrorless full-frame with Canon is odd. I’ve never seen this inte...

Now that the Nikon Z7 and Z6 have been announced, let’s talk about them and Nikon’s expected path moving forward based on their live presentation. Will I consider buying a Z6?  The Nikon Z6. Just to give a bit of history on my perspective… My first DSLR was a Pentax *ist DS that I started using in November 2005. Eventually, I made the switch to Nikon when they released the D600. I had wanted to get into full-frame and that camera hit a viable price-point. Overall, the change was pretty successful. Since then I’ve been limited in lens selection compared to when I was using Pentax. A lot of the value of my Pentax kit went into the cost of the camera bodies rather than lenses. I’ve learned to make effective use of the lens I had on hand at any given point and bought/sold lenses based on how frequently I used them or if they did something particular I needed. I’ve had a lot of success with the D600 and the D750. I’ve also used many Nikon APS-C DSLRS as my second body. The bodies I can...

The Canon EOS M50 vlogging. Dear Canon and related individuals,  I have two firmware requests for the Canon EOS M50 (“Canon EOS Kiss M” in other areas of the world). I own two of these cameras and have been using them to make Youtube videos mostly. I’ve run into two usability issues. Both issues could be solved in firmware. I’m primarily a computer software developer and it is my opinion that both of these requests would not be especially significant in regard to development resources to implement. That said, I don’t consider these two requests as outlandish or extreme given the camera’s price point and existing feature set. 1. Please add an audio levels display to the actual video preview (it needs to stay visible while recording) , not just the black info screen! This is a key feature to making videos reliably. Seeing levels while recording mitigates issues like a loose mic cable or a battery going out in an external microphone. I don’t understand why it is only on the textual i...

The Nikon D750 Digital SLR. A video review of the Nikon D750 DSLR. Photos from the ISO test. Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera: Used on KEH: https://shrsl.com/286k1 B&H: https://bhpho.to/2Gm7712 Adorama: https://adorama.rfvk.net/75bN9y Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KwoTi0 ebay: https://ebay.us/guEce2 As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!  Important aspects of the D750: This camera is a step up from the D600 and D610. I had bought D600 new but I bought the D750 used. The D750 is still a great value at the new camera price if you want a traditional DSLR. A lot more feature and advances features for a lower price. There was a service advisory for the darkened frames shutter thing. From a camera body and design, its similar to D7000 series as is the D600 and D610. Dual SD memory card slots that I like. Great for backup or splitting types of files between cards. The command dial has u1/u2 custom user modes that save all settings for a given base mode you push to them. I use...

The SL2 signified a large change in my Youtube channel. Features like dual pixel auto-focus, the fully articulating vari-angle screen, and the solid phone application have made a huge difference to my effectiveness and efficiency when producing online videos at 1080p. This camera is low cost and simply works for my intended uses with very few quirks. Now that it’s older, it’s an even better deal!  Canon Rebel SL2. In this video I go over ergonomics and general thoughts on the camera. I used to struggle a lot with video production tasks on old cameras like pre-focusing for clips where I needed to talk to the camera. Other filming styles like vlogging were nearly impossible for me to manage without the solid auto-focus system this camera has in video and liveview photo mode. It’s all possible to do with manual focus, but you need to built up specific skills that I didn’t have at the time. Sample Photos and videos: In this video I show sample photos and video clips at 4k quality. Here are...

Wide angle lens decent for vlogging. Here is my Youtube video review: It’s an ultra-wide lens for APS-C sensor cameras. Under $300 new and even less used. There is a 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 that is also exclusively for APS-C cameras, but it’s around twice the price. The 35mm film equivalent focal length of this lens is 16-29mm. Equipment in this video and accessory suggestions for this lens (affiliated): https://kit.co/photographybanzai/canon-ef-s-10-18mm-f4-5-5-6-is-stm-review-gear My photos you can look at on Flickr (100% jpegs unedited): https://www.flickr.com/photos/photographybanzai/albums/72157695007325992 Physical features: * 67mm filter thread, which a standard size and nice to have. I use ND filters with this lens when I’m doing videos, so having a wide angle lens with a filter thread is extremely useful. * It has switches for AF/MF and OIS On/Off. * Plastic mount, but the benefit is low cost. You can find it even cheaper used, which is what I did. * 7 aperture blades (demonstrate if...

This is a free event photographers from the Midwest have been hosting at Anime Central since 2015. Vontography is the person that has been handling all of the details and administration of the event. A special thanks to him for all of his work managing this event.  Video still frames from the event. We just had the 2018 event and it went well! Here is a link to my behind-the-scenes photos of the event. Here is the BTS video I put together: Here is a quick description of the event from his event page : The Acen open shoot is returning for its fourth year! For those of you who haven’t attended any of the previous shoots, here’s the lowdown. We photographers would love to be able to work with as many cosplayers as we can at a con, but obviously, there is only so much we can do given the limited time we have. Likewise, for cosplayers there are a plethora of limitations. The aim of the open shoot is to try and fix some of these problems, all while making new connections in the process....

I had hands-on time with the Nikon D500.  It's currently Nikon's most advanced APS-C sized sensor DSLR. For the crop sensor, you gain a huge amount of features such as an extremely robust build, an extremely advanced phase detection auto-focus system, and  Nikon's high-end control scheme. There are a few drawbacks such as an additional crop in 4k video, but from a still photographer standpoint, it is hard to go wrong with this DSLR. If you do sports or nature work and have Nikon glass, this is your best lowest cost option for a new camera.  The Nikon D500 camera. I've got two versions of this video. is a better edit made later or you can watch the original .  The tilting back screen. Features of note: The first thing I noticed was how robust it feels compared to my D750. It’s certainly another level above. The layout is in the style of Nikon’s most advanced line of cameras. Memory cards are XQD and SD, I understand the XQD support, but I’m glad they have a simple SD ca...

I had some quality hands-on time with the Sony DSC-HX80 digital camera. With improvements in smart phone cameras, manufacturers have been trying to differentiate between them. In this case, Sony has a tiny camera that has an EVF, huge zoom range, and a flip-up screen. The camera has a small 1/2.3″ sensor but they try to make up for that in features. Front of the  Sony DSC-HX80. Get the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX80 Digital Camera through my links: eBay:  http://ebay.us/P0MKum KEH: https://shrsl.com/25jbt Amazon: https://amzn.to/2L5iMpb As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!  Features of note: This is a compact 1/2.3 inch sensor camera with a 24-720mm equivalent lens with an 18.2mp lens. It’s solid in the hands, very compact for what it includes. A flip-up screen for selfie photos and videos. The battery is a NP-BX1 X-Type rated at 1240 mAh. Not too bad for a small camera like this with an estimated ~390 photos per charge. It has optical stabilization. WIFI and NF...

Nikon D3400 (Red): An entry level APS-C camera for everyday photography at an entry level price. Features of note: A lower cost traditional DSLR with an APS-C sensor. The red color is pretty neat. It has a nice reflective sheen. It should be consistent and reliable. This line of camera has been offered a long time. I’ve used them in the past without issues. Ergonomics are solid considering the level of this camera. They have spent a long time revising this series of camera. Battery life is solid. Features I’d like to see improved on: One control dial. You have to rely on the camera’s back screen a lot more than more expensive cameras in Nikon’s lineup. This is a standard omission in the D3000 series. No aperture control while recording video. No auto-focus motor for older D-type lenses. No high speed sync. Pentamirror viewfinder instead of Pentaprism. No MIC port. A downgrade over the D3300. Wireless is only bluetooth, so it will be slow and they limit uploads to 2mp in size. Final tho...