In a not too shocking announcement, Nikon has announced two new lenses to be added to their line-up of FX-compatible lenses. The Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.4G ED prime lens is will surely become a favorite among wedding photographers and other low-light photographers. This lens will now finally offer Nikon photographers a fast, wide-angle, and affordable prime compared to the much fabled Nikkor AF 28mm f/1.4D, at a fraction of the price. Canon has longed had a 24mm f/1.4 (now a version II) in their line-up. This lens, with it’s 9-blade diaphragm, will no doubt be a great performer as the Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED already is. The estimated cost will be around $2,199.95 and won’t be available until late March 2010.
On the other spectrum, Nikon has released a more *affordable* wide-angle zoom, also for FX-format, and billed as a “general photography” lens, the Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR will offer some nice wide-angle and zoom in a lighter package than the current Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED and the Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED. Personally I favor fast lenses, but having Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization is quite nice for this lens and will aid in hand-holding slower shutter speeds, but VR/IS will not stop action. This lens will retail for $1,259.95 and be available in late February 2010.
Both lenses are professional grade quality and will stand-up to repeated rugged use. You can read Nikon’s full press-release here (PDF). You can also find more details at DPReview.com for the 24mm and the 16-35mm, respectively.
Tags: Nikon, photography
Posted in Product Review |
Anime on Display (AOD) is a yearly event that takes places in San Francisco. It’s a smaller local Japanese Animation convention compared to FAnime or WonderCon, but still draws an impressive crowd. Held this year at the beautiful Hotel Kabuki, we at Bui Photography was fortunate enough to receive media passes courtesy of AOD and you can see some samples of what we got below. You can also view all the photos in our gallery here. Thank you to all the wonderful and amazing cosplayers who we photographed!
Some people have wondered why we didn’t take any shots inside the beautiful Hotel Kabuki and the gorgeous garden they have inside is because we saw and knew there would be lots of other photographers photographing in those locations and we always pride ourselves on the challenge of doing things differently, so we selected parts around Japantown. You can also see behind-the-scene photos on our Facebook page here and here.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes video that you can also find on our Facebook page:
Tags: Anime on Display, AOD, AODSF.org, Bekalou, cosplay, event, Hotel Kabuki, Naxul, San Francisco, Yukai Shinobi
Posted in Event Photography, Photo Shoots |
With the new year, Canon has released a new professional “L” zoom lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. This is a very popular lens among sports, journalist, and wedding photographers for many reasons. I currently own the Version I of this lens and love it. Nikon released their Version II follow-up to their 70-200mm with a few new improvements including a 4-stop VR and better optics. The reviews I’ve seen have been very positive.
So what is Canon offering in their latest 70-200mm? Here’s a simple comparison chart:
| SLR Lens |
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM |
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM |
Winner |
| Year Introduced |
October 20, 2009 |
September 2001 |
Mark II |
| Cost |
$1,849 |
TBD |
- |
| Image Stabilization |
Yes, 4 stops (3th generation) |
Yes, 3 stops (2nd generation) |
Mark II |
| Weight |
1,490g (3.3lbs) |
1,470g (3.2lbs) |
- |
| Max Diameter |
89mm (3.5in) |
86mm (3.4in) |
- |
| Length |
197mm (7.8in) |
197mm (7.8 |
- |
| Groups/Elements |
19/23, 1 fluorite and 5 UD elements |
18/23, 5 UD elements |
Mark II |
| Minimum Focusing Distance |
1.2m (3.9ft) |
1.4m (4.6ft) |
Mark II |
| Filter |
77mm |
77mm |
- |
Clearly Canon has made some very nice changes such as an extra-IS stop (4 vs. 3), the addition of the fluorite element will make this lens as sharp as its little brother the f/4-version, and the minimum focusing distance has been reduced by 8 inches. I’m a bit shocked as I was expecting Canon to incorporate their new Hybrid IS system or at least the 4-generation IS system that is used on the Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM lens (5-stop IS!).
I see a lot of nice features, but nothing ground breaking enough that I would upgrade to. If you are in the market for a professional 70-200mm, I would definitely recommend holding out until April and getting the Mark II version. Otherwise, the Mark I version should drop some in price and become a great alternative.
You can also read Canon’s press release here.
Tags: Canon, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, Nikon
Posted in General News, Product Review |
Just got a call from the good ‘ole folks down at B&H Photo Video mega store in New York and they wanted to share information with me about some of the holiday specials they are having and in turn, I want to share them with you.
Many of you may know, but I buy just about all of my camera equipment and gear from B&H. Why? Many reasons. If I ever have a problem with my order such as I ordered the wrong thing, the fix is a phone call or email away. They’re customer service is top-notch and I have no complaints. I can place an order today, the order is processed the same day or next, and I have my package at my doorstep before I know it with the standard ground shipping.
So if you’re looking for electronic gifts for dad or possibly even mom or for yourself, before you go out and buy it at a local brick & mortar store, why not price-check the item with B&H Photo Video? In 99% of the time, they have the lowest price, and with the money you saved, you can treat yourself to something nice this season.
Looking for a new digital SLR to replace the one that’s broken or looking to upgrade for yourself or your parents? Check out all the SLR deals at B&H here. Looking for something smaller and easy to carry around or just not quite ready for all the complicated features of a SLR? They also have deals on all the latest and great point-and-shoot digital cameras here. And finally, for those videographers out there, B&H has a host of deals for you also. Icing on the cake, they have a special extended return policy in addition to their already excellent return policy.
Tags: B&H Photo Video
Posted in General News |
© Coal Miki. Found on Flickr.com.
The Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 is a portable infrared wireless transmitter designed to wirelessly trigger Canon Speedlites. For the most part, it does that well. But unfortunately, there some severe limitations that makes it a waste of money. If you’re in the market to purchase a ST-E2, wait and read this post first before making your purchase, you won’t regret it. Read More »
Tags: Canon, Canon 550EX, Canon 580, Canon 580EX II, Canon EOS 7D, Canon Wireless Flash System, CWFS, Nikon, OC-E3, Sto-Fen, SU-800
Posted in Product Review, Tips and Tricks |
Lighting, when it comes to flash, is a whole different language for photography. You can speak it (on-camera flash) or be fluent in it (off-camera flash) and even then there are varying levels of proficiency. By no means am I an expect or profess to know everything, but rather I’m a lifelong student who wishes to share what I’ve learned so far. For the most part I’ll be focusing on the Canon Wireless Flash system, in other words, triggering your Canon Speedlites using the built-in Canon flash trigger. I’m going to assume that you have a basic, intermediate, or even advanced understanding of off-camera flash, why you are or should be using flash that way and the general concepts of lighting. If not, I suggest that you check out David Hobby, better known in the photography world as Strobist, and his amazing blog on off-camera lighting here. You can start the Lighting 101 lesson here.
In order to get the full benefit out of this series of posts, you must use Canon and also use Canon Speedlites. For those who use Nikon and Nikon Speedlights, go buy Joe McNally’s The Hot Shoe Diaries
or attend one of his workshops. You guys are fortunate, you have Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System), which is phenomenal. For the rest of us who are already using PocketWizards, Elinchrom Skyports, Quantum FreeXWire, RadioPoppers, and/or a host of eBay wireless transmitters, let me introduce you to the world of E-TTL wireless flash and offer reasons of why you should add this to your arsenal of tools.
Read More »
Tags: Canon 550EX, Canon 580EX, Canon 580EX II, Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, Canon Professional Network, Canon Wireless Flash System, CLS, CPN, Creative Lighting System, CWFS, David Hobby, Elinchrom, Flex, Joe McNally, L-358, Nikon, OC-E3, PocketWizards, Quantum, RadioPoppers, Sekonic, Skyports, Speedlite, Sto-Fen, Strobist, The Hot Shot Diaries
Posted in Tips and Tricks |
This past Saturday, the crew got together and did two photo shoots with two amazing models, Jane and Stacey, on Treasure Island. Some of you might recognize Jane, as she was a contestant for Miss Asian American (MAA), winning Miss Photogenic for the 2009 MAA. Stacey on the other hand, has a ballet background that we most definitely will be putting to use in the next photo shoot with her. Treasure Island, named after Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of the same name, is an artificial island in California that sits in the Bay between San Francisco and Oakland accessed via the Interstate 80 freeway. It is home to some 1,453 residents, and is a popular tourist attraction as you can see sea lions on the shoreline and also get a very nice view of San Francisco along with the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge (Interstate 80).
There are many condemned and decrepit buildings with warning signs of asbestos strewn upon boarded up doors and broken windows making for an urban explorer’s wet dream and, in our case, a great site for urban portraits. Read More »
Tags: Bay Bridge, Canon 580EX II, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, CLS, Creative Lighting System, Eric Lee, EzyBox, Golden Gate Bridge, Jane Hwang, Joe McNally, Lastolite, Lastolite EzyBox, Lynn Truong, Nikon, Rendy Lai, Robert Louis Stevenson, San Francisco, Speedlite, Stacey Madamba, The Hot Shoe Diaries, Tibor Duliskovich, Treasure Island, urban explorer
Posted in Photo Shoots, Portraits, Tips and Tricks |
For the photographers, this video will give you a great laugh! Joey Lawrence (or JoeyL) is the 19-year old photographer wonder-kid who did the Twilight movie posters. You can read his interview with David Hobby (Strobist) here and the MTV interview here.
But check out this hilarious video he made:
Tags: Canon, David Hobby, Joey Lawrence, Nikon, Pentax, Strobist, Twilight, YouTube
Posted in General News |
Having never heard of this Japanese manga: NANA, I did some research online by reading the Wikipedia entry and even reading a few chapters of the English translated manga to get some insight. Nadia and Steff taking some pity on me, explained their respective characters:
It’s about two rival bands, one is a punk band and the other is a rock band. Nana [Osakai] and Layla “Reira” Serizawa (Nadia) are the respective vocalists. Shinichi “Shin” Okazaki is a bassist from Nana’s band. He kept the fact that he was underage a secret from everyone, and was actually sleeping around with women for money. When he met Reira, it started out to be like that, but they ended up falling in love. One of the things that these two have in common is that they’re half Caucasian and have had a hard time with it when they were younger. They were always hiding their relationship though, due to their age difference and their band’s reputation.
Certainly sounds interesting. Sounds like if they were Facebook buddies, their relationship status would be “It’s complicated.” Read More »
Tags: Anime, Anti-Ai-Chan, cosplay, Eric Lee, Fort Point, Layla Serizawa, Nadia, NANA, Pho3nix, Reira, Rendy Lai, San Francisco, Shin, Shinichi Okazaki, Steff
Posted in Photo Shoots, Portraits |
© Robert Gumpert
Documentary photographer, Robert “Bob” Gumpert, is a good friend who produce some amazing and telling photographs. Since 1994, he’s been working on several self-funded projects, documenting the criminal justice system. With unfettered access to the jails in San Francisco, Bob is able to get up close and personal and interview many condemned souls as they tell him their story and struggles, in essence humanizing the institution that is often dehumanized in the media and society.
His latest project, Take A Picture, Tell A Story, Bob:
There is now a website for the latest segment of “Lost Promise: The Criminal Justice System.” ”Take A Picture, Tell A Story” (http://takeapicturetellastory.com/) is where you can find portraits and recorded stories from the two major projects of my 35 years in documentary photography. In “Locked and Found” prisoners in the county jails of San Francisco tell stories of their circumstances, hopes and sorrows. In “Tales of Work” workers tell of their lives and their jobs.
Visit the website and hear the stories.
Tags: documentary, Robert Gumpert, San Francisco
Posted in Photojournalism |
or attend one of his workshops. You guys are fortunate, you have Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System), which is phenomenal. For the rest of us who are already using
by Richard T. Bui
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