Category: camera equipment reviews

Category for all reviews of camera equipment like flashes, diffusers, cases, modifiers, straps bags, battery chargers.

Street Strap: retro style camera straps

Street Strap: retro style camera straps

Introduction

I stumbled upon the Street Strap camera straps via Facebook. Besides the fact that they look beautiful, if found the 52 inch version very interesting. As I do a lot of street photography while traveling, and always carry two cameras, a strap this of length would prevent the two from bumping together.

So I decided to give the 52 inch version a try. Pretty soon, my Street Strap arrived safely from the States in an excellent zip lock plastic bag. As the connector is made to be connected straight to the strap hole, you’ll have to remove the little triangle connector typically used to connect a traditional strap. Olympus cameras do often include a nifty tool to do this, but if you don’t have one, a small coin will come in handy to open up the ring connector.

Quality and usability

I was at first a bit worried that the round nylon woven strap would offer less support than a strap band. As long as you’re not trying to hang a heavy DSLR around your neck, this straps provides enough support and comfort for long photography trips without any worries.

Because the 52 inch version is a bit longer than the earlier 46 inch one, you can just leave your camera dangling on your hip, whilst (in my case) keeping your second camera rested on your chest. Works great, and my camera bumping problem is solved.

Conclusion

It’s worth noting that the Street Strap is a quality item, all hand-stitched with leather end-wraps to prevent fraying. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now, and I am considering getting a second 46 inch version. Highly recommended for mirror-less camera owners. Available via their website and Amazon.

July 22, 2014
Roundflash collapsible ringflash diffusor
Roundflash collapsible ring flash diffusor

Introduction

The Roundflash collapsible ring diffuser allows you to light your subject with a smooth ring light using a standard flash. The light from your hot-shoe flash bounces of the mirrors and surfaces inside to create an evenly lit front panel.

The diffusor weighs only 299 gr (11oz), and you can fold it into a neat little package, ideal for transportation.

One of the magnetic support sticks

Installing the Roundflash

Setup is very easy:
1. Stretch out the ring flash along the five foldable magnetic sticks until they click together
2. Place the lens in the central hole using the stretchy rope and tighten
3. Insert your hot shoe flash at the top and fasten the top with the velcro fastener
Any hot shoe flash will work as long as the distance between lens and flash top is within the range possible. There is another velcro strap underneath the flash unit that allows for adjustment, so you do have some leeway.

Sony A77II on the Roundflash

You will need a pretty powerful flash to get the best results though. I tried the Sony A77II, A7r and Niko with HVL-43M, and this combo worked great.

Any flash with a lower guide number would be a bit underpowered though, so I’d suggest a minimum GN of 43 (105mm, Iso100).

Roundflash suggests setting your flash manually to 85 mm and a +1 1/5 EV to compensate for the diffusion of the ring. This is a good start setting, but experimenting with different flash compensation setting is useful to get the best results.

Your subject should be less than 1m or 3ft away. The even diffused light created by the Roundflash gives pleasing results on faces. You can easily get that ‘beauty shot’ effect, and as there are no shadows accentuating wrinkles or other blemishes, everyone looks at their best.

Conclusion

If you are into portrait photography, the Roundflash is a must-have. It’s easy to carry around with you, and it achieves high-quality results very quickly. The easily best thing is that it is available for around 100 Euro/ 125$, so it won’t break the bank either.
July 19, 2014
DXO Optics Pro: superior results if your equipment is supported
DXO Optics Pro: superior results if your equipment is supported

Introduction

I tried DXO optics pro a couple of years ago and was not impressed. It did have some interesting features, but the stand-alone nature of this photo editing suite didn’t really fit into my Lightroom workflow, and the fact that not all my cameras where supported, meant it was left gathering virtual dust on my hard drive.

But it seems the French company has stepped up their game: the latest version DXO Optics Pro 9 allows you to export directly from Adobe Lightroom and back again. So I decided to give it a second try.

Another aspect that mades it more appealing to me is the fact that lens manufacturers seem to rely more and more on software corrections. As cameras and are getting smaller and smaller (think of the Full Frame Sony A7 range), lenses have to follow suit. You don’t always want to put a 1 kg lens on a 500 gr body as it does not handle well, and the miniaturisation of lenses seems to have run into some technical limits. This means that even manufacturers like Zeiss (who were actively opposed to software corrections in the past) are now relying more and more on software corrections for at least some products (like the Touit) in their range.

Now whether DXO Optics Pro 9 could be useful to you depends largely on their support of your camera and lens combination. They work with modules that can be downloaded separately in the program itself. It automatically reads EXIF data from your pictures, and if your lens camera combo it is available, you can download it from the DXO modules tab. They support most major camera manufacturers now, and even offer support for lenses with adapters on certain camera bodies. One major omittance is the lack of Fuji X-support. As you might know, Fuji uses a non-Bayer sensor layout, this means a lot of code re-writing, and it seems DXO development has stopped with the X100.

Now if your camera and lens are supported, DXO Optics Pro 9 can achieve superior results compared to any other software editing suite. DXO is most known for their testing benchmarks for cameras and lenses, and their corrections are excellent (and more easily applied) than any other that I’ve tried at least.

The ironic thing is that I decided to give them a second try because of the new Lightroom integration, and I have now started using it mostly as a stand-alone application.

An example:

I was photographing a wedding last weekend with a Sony A6000 and A7R, the Zeiss Touit 32mm and 12mm and the Sony FE 70-200. All possible combinations of these have optics modules, and I finished editing about 400 images in half the time it would usually take me. I had the additional problem that the dinner was in a dark crypt, the clients insisted on have as many pictures as possible and it would have been too intrusive to flash all the time. This meant going up to higher ISO, with the inherent noise problem. Well, DXO’s PRIME noise reduction saved many pictures I thought would be unusable.

OK, so let’s go over all the features and functions of this software suite:

DXO Optics Pro Features

Chromatic Aberration

Chromatic Aberrations lets you correct color artefacts that appear especially in transitions between dark and bright zones. Controls include intensity that allows you to adjust the strength of the correction, size that gives you control over the width of the suppressed coloured fringe and a purple fringe button that removes that annoying ghost-like purple fringing. Yes, press the magic wand if you prefer to let the program make these decisions.

Essential Tools

White balance

selector with a colour picker

Exposure compensation:

– Correction
- smart: is DXO’s proprietary compensation algorithm that works best if you use their Smart Lighting (see next)
- Highlight Priority: for recovering clipped highlights
- Center Weighted Average: for when you have a clear center subject
– Exposure slider: tweaking of the overall brightness of the entire image

DXO Smart Lighting

This module optimises the Dynamic range by automatically unblocking shadows and recovering highlights. Choose between Slight, Medium, Strong or Custom depending on the scene. There is an intensity slider for further tweaking.

Contrast

You have a general contrast and also a micro contrast slider that enhances small details in the image. Micro contrast is an excellent tool to give your image some extra bite, but be careful on faces because it will exaggerate blemishes and faults.

Color Accentuation
- Vibrancy slider increases/decreases color saturation while preserving skin tones and enhancing blue skies.
- Saturation slider increases/decreases color saturation in the traditional way, affecting all colours equally.
Selective Tone
- Highlight slider recovers highlights with negative values or makes them brighter
- Midtones slider controls the brightness of the levels located in the middle of the histogram
- Shadows controls the brightness of dark areas, shadow recovery
- Blacks set the black point
Noise reduction

The noise reduction module has a magnifier window that previews the amount at 100%.

High and Prime noise reduction is available. Prime noise reduction is probably one of the best NR out there, it is fantastic, but does add some processing time when exporting images later on.

Luminance slider can be used to reduce fine grain

Crop

All standard cropping tools are available and an attractive Auto setting that takes horizon and perspective (after corrections have been applied) into account.

Light and color advanced

Color Rendering

Color rendering simulates the rendering of a particular camera or film, or lets you use an ICC profile generated by a calibration device.
- Intensity slider: tweak the amount of effect
- Protect saturated colors: slider recovers details in very saturated areas (has an auto button)
Style and Toning

Lets you apply a particular predefined effect. If you also own DXO film pack, these presets will also be available here. These styling effects are pretty powerful and can give a selection of images a uniform look.

Intensity can be adjusted by a slider.

Tone Curve

The tone curve is something you will be familiar with from other editing programs. It allows you to modify the brightness of pixels globally or per colour channel through separate curves.

Hue, Saturation and Lightness

Another function you’ll be familiar with if you have any experience in this field. These 3 sliders can be adjusted globally or channel-by-channel.

Multi-Point Color balance

A nice tool that lets you pick and modify colour balance at multiple points in your image through a visual colour picker.

Details and Geometry Advanced

Besides the basic corrections DXO Optics pro will apply to your pictures using the optics module, this module lets you fine-tune them even further.

Unsharpen Mask

This tool lets you increase the sharpness of your images
- Intensity: sets the amount of sharpening to be applied to the whole image
- Radius: sets the thickness of the edges to be sharpened
- Threshold: sets the level above which details will be sharpened. Low values give a sharper image but may amplify noise
- Edge offset: applies additional sharpening towards the edges of the image. Useful on lenses with soft corners when there are no Optics modules available.
- Dust: remove spects of dust with a spot tool
Volume Deformation

Allows you to correct distorted elements in the corners of wide-angle shots that are image specific. 2 types are available:
- Diagonal: will fix these distorted elements in most situations but may introduce a slight curvature on straight lines
- Horizontal/Vertical: best for group portraits when bodies are stretched horizontally
Optical Corrections

Focal Length

Lets you actually change the focal length recorded in the EXIF data. As this information is used to do all automatic corrections, if you feel that it was wrongly recored, you can change this here.

Distortion

This module lets you correct curved straight lines by the lens.
- Correction: either automatic where it will use the DXO optics module or manual
- Type: specify Barrel, Pincushion or Fish-Eye for manual corrections
- Intensity: lets you adjust the strength of correction applied
- Keep aspect ratio: maintains original aspect ratio (or not) after correction
Focussing Distance

Lets you change the focussing distance recorded in the EXIF data. As this information is used to do all automatic corrections, if you feel that it was wrongly recored, you can change this here.

Vignetting
- Corrects lens vignetting, either manually or automatic via the DXO module
- intensity slider lets you adjust the strength of the correction
- Middle: when manually correcting vignetting, this lets you specify how far towards the centre of the image the correction will be applied
- Preservation: In Automatic mode this will prevent highlights from being clipped and noise appearing in the shadows
Chromatic Aberration

Corrects color artefacts introduced by the lens.
- Intensity: adjust the strength of the correction with the slider
- Size: adjusts the width of the color fringe
- Purple fringing: removes purple ghost fringing
DXO Lens Softness

This module lets you increase the sharpness of of your lens automatically when a DXO module is available.
- Global: adjusts overall strength of the sharpening
- Details: enhances fine detail
- Bokeh: reduces artefacts in the bokeh that can appear when applying strong sharpening. DXO is the only software suite that offers a solution to this problem (as far as I know)
DXO Filmpack

Certain functionality of this module will only be available when you’ve separately purchased DXO filmpack (elite). I’m not a really big fan of their filmpack, as I find it a bit limited in choice of emulated films.

But if you need to work in DXO as a standalone suite, something that is really handy for certain kinds of photography, it is an invaluable tool.

You can select borders, toning, cooling.warming filters right from this module, make a preset and optimise your workflow really quickly.

Color Rendering

Film and Camera simulations, intensity and protect saturated color sliders available.

Style and Toning

Apply certain pre-defined effects like B&W, portrait or landscape presets.

Filter

This module lets you simulate front-of-lens photographic color filters. I find this module very useful for lenses that render somewhat saturated colours like the Sony FE 70-200. A really nice lens by the way, but when I’m doing a shoot with different lenses, I want to get color consistency, and for this purpose, this module works like a charm.

Grain

Apply Silver Halide grain from the DXO filmpack. Can help with blocked-up shadows or colors.
- Category and Film: kets you choose which grain to apply from DXO filmpack.
- Size: adjust size of the grain. Auto mode takes into account photo size to simulate grain obtained from different camera formats.
- Adjust size to current crop: takes current crop into account to compute current grain size
Channel Mixer

Lets you fine-tune your black and white conversion by increasing or decreasing brightness of specific color areas. A most if you want to do any descent B&W conversion.

Creative Vignetting

Lets you add and fine-tune the DXO filmpack vignetting effects
- Intensity: adjust intensity of selected vignette
- Midpoint: defines how far from the center the effect starts to be visible
- Set Center: useful for putting an emphasis on an off-center subject
- Transition: Determines the sharpness of the transition between the 2 zones
- Roundness: Defines vignette shape
Creative Blur Vignetting

Lets you blur the edges of the image with an intensity/radius slider and a center spot selector.

Frame

Yes, one of my favourite quick-wedding-work modules. All DXO Filmpack frames are available, and rotate, size and position can be tweaked.

Apply toning is really nice, as you can apply the toning from the Style module to the frame to, giving you a polished result.

Texture

Texture lets you simulate scratches and tears on film from their Filmpack Expert edition.

Different textures, intensity, randomisation are selectable and again toning can be applied to the textures too.

Light Leak

Simulate the problems that occur along the edges of photos due to ageing or accidental exposure of the film to light.

A choice of Leaks are available, and intensity, randomisation, position and toning can be altered/added.

Conclusion

It seems that French company DXO have stepped up their game recently, modules for new products are released more quickly and frequently. You can often purchase their software at discounted prices through their website and with the new Lightroom integration and PRIME noise reduction algortimn, they now offer a very appealing and high quality solution for your workflow.

2 problems that still persist are very strict software protection and a descent support desk. I do understand that software companies have problems with pirated versions being used, but DXO is very strict, even worse than Adobe. And I feel that the legal users often get the bad end of the stick here. And that leads to my issue with their support desk… I upgraded my mac, reinstalled Mavericks on the old one and forgot to de-authorise DXO. They did sort me out without any problems, but it always takes at least 24 hours for them to respond…

But now te good:

rediscovering DXO Optics pro is like getting back together with an old girlfriend. You wonder why you ever broke up in te first place, and after a while you realise again that you have to play be her rules in order to make it work. And if you do that, you’ll have a great marriage with the improved, ironed-out-the-flaws, older and more mature version.

By DXO’s rules I mean camera and lens support with Optics modules. If your camera(s) and lenses are supported, you’ll get fantastic results with DXO Optics Pro 9. If you’re an unfortunate Fuji X owner, you’d better look elsewhere (and my suggestion would be Capture One).

Adorama is offering a deal on DXO Optics Pro elite until Aug 8th you can get it at a discounted price of $179,95 (normal price is $299), you can buy it here.
July 16, 2014
Expert Shield screen protectors: easy, durable and transparent
Expert Shield screen protectors

I recently discovered Expert Shield screen protectors. Expert Shield is a small UK based company that make screen protectors for a broad range of devices from smartphones to top-of-the-line DSLRs.

Most camera screens scratch easily nowadays, something that annoys me immensely. It fact the only camera I’ve tested in the last few years that uses reinforced glass is the Fuji X-T1, and I’d use a screen protector on that one just to be safe too.

I’ve tried several screen protectors over the years, from generic ( like JJC) to brand specific (Sony). I’ve always found that they decrease visibility (especially in bright sunlight) and are not worth the money.

Not so with these protectors:
- None of the functionality is lost (touch screen still feels smooth and crisp)
- highly transparent
- durable protection
- you hardly notice that you have applied a screen protector
The technology

All Expert Shield screen protectors have three layers:
1. a silicone gel layer, which allows you to apply your shield with ease and stops it peeling up over time
2. an ultra-hard mask to stop deeper scratches
3. a top layer that absorbs any other damage
Application

Now I never had much success applying screen protectors to my cameras, there always seem to be an air bubble or small spec of dust stuck under the protector somewhere.

The special silicone gel on the Expert Shield screen protectors does not leave air bubbles, but any persistent bubbles that can’t be squeezed out to the edges are caused by trapped dust. So you should take extra care during application.

The best strategy I’ve come up with is:
1. Make sure I have a screen protector ready when the camera is delivered
2. Move to your bathroom, generate some steam by turning on a hot shower for a few minutes
3. The increased moisture level will decrease the amount of dust particles in the air
4. Take the new camera out of the box and remove the plastic cover from the LCD
5. Immediately apply the screen protector
How to buy

You can buy Expert Shield screen protectors on Amazon or direct via their website. The protectors for digital cameras cost between 8.95$-£5.95 and 13.95$-£7.95, a real steal if you consider replacing a screen would cost you much more. They also offer a lifetime guarantee on their protectors and will most likely send you a replacement even if you have a problem during installation, just ask nicely.
July 10, 2014
Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330
Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330

Introduction

Protecting my cameras from damage and theft is a top priority for me, so my eyes fell on the Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330.

In my enthusiasm to start using the A77II, I forgot to install my screen protector, so now I have a scratch in the display (why do they scratch so easily). Anyway, I decided to be extra safe from now on!

I already have a DSLR bag-pack, but that is mainly for keeping my equipment safe during long flights. Not handy for street photography. I needed something smaller, which could hold a DSLR camera and extra lenses.

Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330

The Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330 has some very handy and unique features:
1. inconspicuous, modern messenger bag, that doesn’t yell “camera bag.”
2. 2 integrated side flaps on the inside to prevent any equipment falling out
3. adjustable velcro padding to customise it for different size cameras and equipment
4. room for the Sony A77II and about two additional lenses
5. a padded, length adjustable shoulder strap, important if you are carrying it around all day
6. high quality, waterproof material
7. two additional pockets with zipper, one rear, one inside, great for your SD cards, cable, phone,…
Conclusion

We had a beautiful and sunny day yesterday, great light, so I took a trip to the seaside to try out the Cullmann Madrid Maxima 330. I’m still struggling a bit with getting the velcro padding to sit right together with the camera, but they stick well. If you’re planning on taking two lenses, they’d better be small because 2 A-mount zooms would be stretching it. Besides that, I’m very happy with this bag, it’s very comfortable to wear and use.
June 24, 2014
sony vertical grip for A7, A7r and A7s
Sony vertical grip for A7, A7r and A7s

Introduction

Testing the new Sony A77II made me realise a few things:
1. There is no beating the image quality of the A7r
2. It is sometimes useful to have a solid grip like VG-C1EM Sony vertical grip.
Why?
- It easier to stabilise heavier manual lenses like the ZY Optics 50mm F/0.95
- you can shoot longer with the two battery system
- a second shutter button, ideal for portrait mode
- As I have the C1 button configured to focus zoom, it’s right next to the shutter on the Sony vertical grip
In use

What I also like about this modular system is that you can pick and choose the parts you need for your intended purpose.
- Do you need a light and portable setup for travel or street photography? Just take the camera body and one of the FE lenses
- Is quality and battery life important? Just add the grip with 2 NP-FW50 batteries, the LA-EA4 and a better quality Zeiss A-mount lens
The Sony vertical grip has some other smart features:
- the remaining battery power is displayed as a percentage on the screen
- batteries can be replaced without turning off the camera
- front/back control dials and Auto Exposure Lock button
- A strap hole allows you to attach a grip belt or a tripod
- just like the Sony A7 body, it is sealed for dust and moisture protection
Conclusion

The VG-C1EM Sony vertical grip for the A7, A7r and A7s turned out to be more useful than I thought. Build quality is excellent and although it does add some weight to the system, this is kept down to a minimum.
June 8, 2014
C1Styles: presets for Lightroom 5 and Capture One

C1Styles presets for Lightroom 5 and Capture One

Introduction

C1Styles is a team of professional photographers and assistants who develop presets for Lightroom 5, Capture One and Apple Aperture.

They share the presets they make amongst each other and select the ones they end up using most. These are sold as styles collections on their website.

I’ve been using some of their presets for Lightroom 5 and Capture One for about a year now. They have the feel of lomo/vintage-style pictures, only much better quality. The camera that seems to pair best is the Fuji X100s.

The three packs I mainly use are Spring Drops, Hot Summer and Italy 1970. Each contains nine main styles and six variants per style.

You often need to do some adjusting, depending on the material, to achieve the best look for your pictures.

The following example presets for Lightroom 5 and Capture One show the nine main styles, without any tweaking, just to show you what you’d get straight out of the box.

Hot Summer presets

Color treatments for atmospheric and magical looks.

original

C1styles Hot Summer 1

C1styles Hot Summer 2

C1styles Hot Summer 3

C1styles Hot Summer 4

C1styles Hot Summer 5

C1styles Hot Summer 6

C1styles Hot Summer7

C1styles Hot Summer 8

C1styles Hot Summer 9

Italy 1970 styles

This preset pack is inspired by the look of Italy in the 70′s.

original

C1styles Italy 1970 1

C1styles Italy 1970 2

C1styles Italy 1970 3

C1styles Italy 1970 4

C1styles Italy 1970 5

C1styles Italy 1970 6

C1styles Italy 1970 7

C1styles Italy 1970 8

C1styles Italy 1970 9

Spring Drops

Color treatments for portraits, but they seem to work well on landscapes too.

original

C1styles Spring Drops 1

C1styles Spring Drops 2

C1styles Spring Drops 3

C1styles Spring Drops 4

C1styles Spring Drops 5

C1styles Spring Drops 6

C1styles Spring Drops 7

C1styles Spring Drops 8

C1styles Spring Drops 9

You can find the C1Styles presets for Lightroom 5 and Capture One facebook here.

June 6, 2014
On1 Photo RAW review
On1 Photo RAW review

Introduction

ON1 Photo RAW from OnOne Software might not be as well known as Adobe Photoshop, but has steadily been growing into a formidable photo editing suite in the last few years. The latest 8.5 update brings a significant improvement in the browser engine, which is now finally responsive enough to work in stand-alone mode.

Although ON1 Photo RAW does support some RAW types, most of us will be using it as a plug-in from Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture. In Lightroom, it’s easy to find plug-ins when you right-click the mouse on a selected image. After this, you’ll get a dialogue where you can select the export settings. I choose to export a copy with adjustments, PSD, 16 bit and 300dpi), and the selected programme module will open for further processing.

Perfect Photo Suite consists of 8 modules including the browser module. Most of them are available as plug-ins from Lightroom except the layers and masking functions.

I’ll be going over all the modules in a series of posts as this is software suite is vast.

Perfect Effects module

The Perfect Effects module presets is divided into no less than 23 categories ranging from easy adjustment brushes and enhancers to cross processing, HDR styles and Vintage styles.

Filter Categories

Adjustment Gradient
- The first category is called Adjustment Gradient. You can add more detail, vibrance, darken or lighten with nine customizable presets.
- Gradients are mainly used for landscape photography, where you’d want to apply different processing to the sky as opposed to the view.
- A user definable centre point (on your horizon) and a range of where the gradient fades in and out is set and brightness, contrast, compression, detail, warmth, vibrancy and glow can be further adjusted.
Adjustment Brush
- Adjustment Brush has the same functionality as the gradient presets, except here in the form of a brush.
- Useful if your horizon is more complex than a straight line, or you just want to apply an effect to certain parts of the scene.
- In my example, I’ve recovered some highlights in the sky and used a HDR effect on the wooden fence.
Antique
- The Antique presets feature a range of autochrome filters, which will add some age to your pictures.
- You can add some haze (fading) and grain of you want to go for a more realistic approach.
Black & White
- Black & White offers a range of colour to black and white conversions with colour adjustable filters.
- Detail, highlight, shadows and detail can be tweaked to your liking.
- The Perfect Effects module is a nice way of checking what would work on a particular image, but I prefer using the B&W module if you decide to go with a black and white conversion after going through the effects presets, it generates better results.
Bleach bypass
- Bleach bypass is a processing effect from colour film development, where the bleaching function was skipped during the processing stage.
- This resulted in a black and white image of a colour picture.
- Usually, the images would have reduced saturation and exposure and increased contrast and graininess.
Blur
- Blur is useful in some situations to emphasise your subject or create the feeling of motion.
- Normal, radial, motion and surface blur are selectable.
- A user-defined centre point with gradient up and down is used, and the amount, distance, angle and smoothing sliders allow for optimal tweak-ability.
Borders
- On1 Photo RAW has some nice borders, from clean and simple white or black to more retro looking Ground Glass and 8mm styles.
- All tastes and styles are catered for, and I often edit images in this module just for the borders, they’re that good.
- I usually set the size to 7, and a great feature is that you can adjust the size of your image in relation to the border, so in essence move the edge out of your picture frame.
Colour Enhancer
- Colour Enhancer is an excellent tool if you find your images to be a bit dull, or you just want to boost the colours in a scene.
- This is a picture it took in the African savannah, where the mid-day sun and dust made my pictures turn out a bit flat, so I boosted the greens a bit using the supplied preset.
Cross Process
- Cross Process is the deliberate processing of photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film.
- Colour cross processed photographs often have unnatural colours and high contrast.
- Blue, green and yellow filters are available, with contrast and saturation sliders.
Dynamic contrast
- Dynamic contrast presets are a great toolbox for editing high contrast scenes.
- You can firstly choose primary natural, surreal or soft processing, and then select the amount of detail, highlights, shadows and whites/blacks.
Glow
- Glow, an effect mostly used it beauty shots, adds a dreamy, glossy dimension to your images.
- I never like this effect, so I don’t use it.
Grunge
- Grunge adds some dirt for those of us who are more into creative picture editing.
- It’s like a dirty version of a HDR look, with exaggerated edges and details.
HDR look
- HDR look: High-dynamic-range pictures are achieved by capturing multiple images using exposure bracketing, and then merging them into an HDR image.
- The HDR presets try to reach a similar result be recovering shadows/darks and underexposing highlights.
- How well this works depends much on your, camera, and it’s dynamic range.
Lens Blur
- Lens Blur gives tilt-shift and Bokeh style effects with the now familiar customizable centre line and top/bottom gradients.
- I never like any of these effects, and don’t see any use for them. But perhaps it might suit you.
Photo Filter
- Four different filter types are available in the Photo Filter presets Solid, Graduated, Bi-Color and Center.
- The filter colour is selectable, and saturation and polariser sliders are provided. These can be useful if your images are screaming out for some warming, for some warming, although there are many other ways of achieving this.
Portrait Enhancer
- Portrait Enhancer is a basic tool for removing blemishes, shine and adjusting skin colour on faces.
- If you want to get into portrait editing, go straight to the portrait module. But for a quick fix, this might suit your needs.
Sharpening
- Sharpening: On1 Photo RAW has a decent fix focus sharpening engine but don’t expect any miracles here.
- It does an excellent job of finding hidden detail in your images, or if you want to apply some sharpening before going to print.
- Be careful though, as too much sharpening does not look pleasing at all.
Split tone
- Split tone is the process of adding colour into either the shadows or the highlights of a photo or both.
- Blue-orange, blue-yellow, green yellow and red-cyan combinations are available, with amount and balance sliders.
Sunshine
- The Sunshine presets: nice to use on your tropical destination holiday pics, adding some warmth, glow and radiance to further enhance the scene.
- Neutral, strong and glow variants are available
- Amount, warmth, saturation and glow can be fine-tuned with sliders
Texturizer
- Texturizer adds some interesting and unique textured layers.
- These are for the more creative photographer, and compliment the aged presets well.
- You can choose from about 2 dozen categories, each having a selection of textures.
- All have opacity, hue, saturation brightness and scale sliders.
Tone Enhancer
- Tone Enhancer has a range of contrast and clarity presets
- allows for easy fixes in images with contrast issues
- Brightness, contrast, shadow/highlights, compression, levels and detail sliders
Vignette
- Vignette is a reduction of an image’s brightness and/or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center
- pulls viewers attention towards the center of the image
- brightness, size, feather and roundness can be adjusted
Vintage
- Vintage presets allow for some colour processing to achieve 1960-1970’s style pictures
- 4 main filter presets: Blue-yellow, cool, red-yellow and warm filters
- amount and saturation sliders provide further control
- film grain can be added to make a more realistic emulation
Presets

On1 Photo RAWs Perfect Effects module has much of the functionality of the other modules, but in a simplified version. It is a very handy module to go to if you don’t really know what the problem is in you image, and just flip through the presets until you find one that generates the best results. In the next tab, called presets, you can find interesting combinations of these filters that OnOne software has made for you. These presets are also highly customisable, and are often a nice starting point for creative picture editing. The Grunge and Landscape presets are 2 of my personal favourites, but I find many others fast and useful.

B&W module

The Black and White module presets are divided into eight categories ranging from early film to modern emulations and some more creative styles.

Different preset categories

The first group is called Basic Fundamentals. Here you’ll find some basic colour to black and white conversions, including coloured filters that let you control how tones are converted to shades of grey.

In 19th century presets, you can find a range of filters and borders that emulate the earliest cameras and printing techniques. Personally, not my cup of tea, but they are excellent none the less if you need to emulate weathered pictures from that era for some reason.

The 20th-century classic silver collection moves us to the hay-days of black and white photography. This set contains a extensive collection of emulations from iconic photographers of the 20th century, and also many suitable borders to choose from.

21st Century Modern has some presets that emulate what you’d see in an art gallery down the street. While none of these emulations are intended to be exact copies of a particular type of film or developing procedure, they do often give beautiful results.

High-Speed Documentary had a more edgy feel, intended to look like prints from vintage film frames. I haven’t found much use for this selection, but different users have different needs so it might suit your style.

Hint Of colour reduces the amount of pigments up to the point where it’s almost black and white.

Hollywood portrait is based on the glamorous portrait photography of the 1930’s. Think of the pictures you know of Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman…

True film is Perfect Photo Suite’s attempt to emulate the most highly regarded Fuji, Kodak and Ilford films. There are better emulations out there, like DXO’s Perfect Film pack or VSCO’s presets for Lightroom. But these are good starting points if you have a film in mind that you love and expand on it using the customizable settings.

Customization and tweaks

All presets are customizable in the right-hand window.

Tone: brightness and contrast, blacks and whites, shadow, highlights and details all have dedicated sliders for fine tuning your black and white conversion.

Colour response: As discussed earlier, this module allows for further adjustment on red, yellow, green, aqua, blue and magenta how are converted to greyscale.

Tone Curve: this allows for an easy multi-point vector style adjustment of blacks and whites

Glow: this module will already be turned on in some presets, but is still fully customisable if you want to add or change the amount and halo of the glow or blur effect

Film Grain: film grain is a good way of adding depth and grit to your pictures. A large selection of modelled grain from Fuji, Agfa and Ilford film is available, as well as an amount and size slider.

Toner: is good for aged film effects. You can choose different preset ageing method, number and balance. There is also a colour selectable slider for shadows

Vignette: a vignette is a good way of highlighting your subject in photography, a bit like putting a spot on something. Brightness, size, feather and roundness all have their slider. There is also a choice between subtle and typical.

Borders: I like to use borders, but I hate the fact that there is no easy way of adding edges in Lightroom. Not so in Perfect photo suite, lots and lots of borders available. I tend to set the size always at 7, looks best that way.

Sharpening: PFS has a nice sharpening algorithm

Blending: you can blend between the original image and the black and white image

Next time, we’ll be looking at the Perfect Photo Suite Effects engine. This module features colour filters and effects that are easy to use and give character to your images.
June 5, 2014
Lastolite HiLite Illuminated White Background

Lastolite HiLite Illuminated White Background

The Lastolite HiLite Illuminated White Background is an affordable and easy way to achieve hi key photographs. This system collapses to one-third of the original size and comes with a handy bag.

Setup & portability

The setup itself is easy once you get the hang of it, as it folds and unfolds in the same way as throw pop-up tents do. That just leaves you to insert the steel rims, and you have a self-supporting white illuminable background. It is compatible with flashguns and studio heads, and I even found that adding a bright photography portable LED inside the Lastolite HiLite filled it with white light. No more worrying about ‘spill’ or having to test to see if the background light is positioned correctly since the background will be evenly lit. And as the background itself is illuminated, the subject can stand virtually right in front of it without casting a shadow. Note: There is some heavy vignetting apparent on these pictures. That is due to the ZY Optics 50mm F/0.95 used.

Craftsmanship and Cleaning

Craftsmanship is excellent, with over 30 stitches per inch on the sides where the removable steel rims support the frame. The manufacturer claims the Lastolite HiLite is easy to clean, and I found it is easy to clean off smudges and dirt with just water and a magic sponge. These individual sponges you see advertised on tell-sell and are now available everywhere. I would not advise any other form of cleaning that involves solvents though, as this would probably make things worse. One disadvantage I found is that this background itself creases easily, especially when you frequently fold and unfold it for transport. It’s easy to clean this up in editing, but still something you might want to be aware of. And I do wonder what it will look like after a year of intensive use. You’d probably have just to buy a new lastolite hilite.

June 3, 2014
Leather Explorer or Gariz half case for Sony A7

Leather Explorer or Gariz camera half case

Introduction

The rangefinder camera revival seems to have spurred the emergence of a new 3rd party accessory: the camera half case. Besides brand products from camera manufacturers, many smaller companies have jumped on what is undoubtedly a lucrative business. South-Korean Gariz is one of the best known 3rd party manufacturers, producing high-quality cases for a large selection of new cameras. Leather Explorer is a relatively new Chinese manufacturer making similar, high-quality design half cases and accessories like straps and lens caps.

Gariz half case

Their products are made by professional craftsmen, and only high-quality leather is used. There is a range of colours available, from brown to black, red, green and white. These different tones allow you to customise your precious camera and keep it safe from scratches and, to a certain degree, impact damage.

I’ve tried and reviewed the Gariz half case for the Olympus E-P5. I accidentally dropped my EP5 last summer before I purchased this case, and had some damage to the battery door. So buying one is a great investment to keep your precious camera safe if you ask me.

Leather Explorer half case

I like the Gariz a lot, so I was eager to see how the Leather Explorer equivalent that costs about 40% less, would measure up. I went for the leather bottom black Sony A7 version, as it looks nice and is a bit less expensive. Although there is a screw filter in the bottom, it’s hard to get a tripod plate to screw in firmly. This attachment is a lot easier with a metal base and does not involve the use of a screwdriver. It does work well if you just want to use something like a Gorilla tripod that does not use a plate.

There is a cut-out in the bottom to facilitate on-the-fly battery changes, something all Sony A7 users have gotten used too. The memory card compartment is also easily accessible without removing the case, and the screen retains all tilting functionality. Excellent design.

A bit of a flaw that the Leather Explorer fortified front does not follow the contours of the Sony A7 grip perfectly, although I had no issues with less grip in use.

Conclusion

The Leather Explorer half case is a quality product and looks beautiful on the camera. I’d recommend buying a metal bottom version if you regularly use a tripod with plate. Quality wise, Gariz and Leather Explorer are just as good, so it all depends on what design you favour, the price you’re willing to pay and which one is easily available in your region.

May 15, 2014