Category: Photography

A brief update regarding Capture One Pro

I’ve been using Capture One Pro for a while now and I love it more and more. For anyone who’s wanting to try it there is a monthly trial available.

The more you use something, the more you get a feel for its speed compared to trying it for ten minutes. It is incredibly fast software, and it has great customisation options which Adobe Lightroom simply doesn’t have. For example, you can set the entire file structure when you import a photograph. At this point, I’d actually like to see Adobe issue a Photoshop only plan for 65% of the cost of the Photography Plan. I don’t need Lightroom any longer.

This isn’t a long review or anything as I’m not ready for that, but I do urge you to try it for a few minutes each day. If you’re a busy professional, it will be slower at first because you’re not used to it. That’s why I think trying it a few minutes each day and watching a video here and there will be good enough to give you a feel for it. The colours are really really good with Sony and I think it quashes the idea Sony cameras have bad colour science.

Capture One Pro & Adobe Software Workflow

I’ve recently been talking to more and more professional photographers about various parts of their business and workflow, and Capture One Pro has rapidly become an industry standard — rightfully so. With Sony and Fujifilm (Adobe has severe bugs when dealing with Fujifilm files) users especially, they should take a strong look at the software as it has many key benefits compared to its competition.

Capture One Pro vs Adobe Lightroom

Over the upcoming days, I will compare the software to Adobe Lightroom and why I think you should use this as part of your photography workflow.

I am not suggesting it replaces the complicated tools found within Adobe Photoshop, but rather that you should have a Capture One Pro & Adobe Photoshop workflow rather than an Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop workflow.

There are three striking differences which stand out to me in particular compared to Adobe Lightroom:

  • Colours and contrast are handled much better with Capture One Pro
  • Capture One Pro is considerably faster
  • Tethering works flawlessly with Sony mirrorless cameras e.g. the Sony a7r IV unlike Adobe Lightroom which is terribleThere are far more differences than those listed above but these features alone make a massive difference. I will make a more comprehensive post in the future, but please give the software a go. You can use it for free for up to a month.
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Nikon Z8 Rumours using the Sony a7r IV sensor

I am not a nikon shooter, but there are rumours of a Nikon Z6 / Nikon Z7 replacement using the Sony a7r IV sensor. I really hope this will lower the price of the Sony a7r IV somewhat! I have learned with Sony that it’s silly to buy their products as soon as they are released. There isn’t really incentive to do so i.e. they don’t reward their customer. Usually within a few months the prices drop and I end up feeling bad, haha. Does anyone else feel this way?

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Lens aperture, f-stop and why it’s intuitive

There are a lot of beginners in photography who don’t fully understand lens basics. It’s a lot to take in, especially if you aren’t mathematically inclined, so there’s no shame in that. I also think experts in photography get a little confused by the digits and pass that along to beginners. As a demonstration, I typed “explain lenses to me” in Google and one of the top articles I was linked to is published at masterclass.com. It’s a great article, and the majority of it is accurate but I spotted a mistake.

You’ve probably read or seen a million and one articles/videos about lens basics, but I think the way I view it is different to those. Please let me know what you think in the comments below as I don’t want to churn out content exactly the same as everyone else :).

F-stops are counterintuitive, because the larger the number, the smaller the opening

This is a quote from the article, and you might think it’s accurate, right? That’s actually wrong; the bigger the aperture, the bigger the number. Aperture values aren’t expressed like ISO with a simple number e.g. 100, 200, 400, etc. They’re a calculation/ratio/equation: f/x. F (the focal length of the lens you have mounted e.g. 100mm) divided by (the slash) a value (e.g. 1.4). If you don’t complete the calculation and you only take digits from an equation, it will seem counter-intuitive.

Aperture values are expressed as a calculation/ratio/equation

A bigger aperture gives you more background blur when all else is equal; consequently, a bigger aperture number gives you more background blur as well. They are one and the same but not if you misunderstand the calculation. It’s intuitive when you realise you’re given a calculation and not a number.

Using two example apertures, both with a 100mm lens, we can calculate dimensions… For my first two examples, I will use f/1.4 and f/2.8, where f = 100mm:

  • 100mm / 1.4 = 71.4285714286mm (this is your aperture when expressed as a number i.e. a dimension, NOT 1.4; 1.4 is simply a VALUE from the equation).
  • 100mm / 2.8 = 35.7142857143mm.

As you can see, the bigger diameter/number (71.4285714286mm) is the wider aperture and gives more background blur (all else being equal).

Why have aperture expressed as an equation rather than a dimension/number?

A number on its own would soon become confusing. Let’s pretend we have a 35mm lens mounted; f = 35mm:

  • 35mm / 1.4 = 25mm.
  • 35mm / 2.8 = 12.5mm.

A 12.5mm aperture on a 35mm lens is the same as 35.7142857143mm on a 100mm lens. As you can see, it’s awfully confusing. So it’s a lot easier to have f/2.8 shown in camera. The bigger number is f/1.4 — not f/2.8.

Canadian Trip, Models, & Photography Stuff

Hey,

Recently a photographer in the YouTube community has been accused of various nefarious deeds. It’s made me wonder about certain things and where I should go with photography :).

I want my website to offer the odd bit of information for people, in the future. And eventually I think I’d like to travel blog more with it — that was its original intention.

The theme itself kind of sucks. I’ve been patching it here and there but it’s kind of like putting duck tape on an axe wound — if anyone knows of any good themes, let me know! In some ways, I can see why people go towards sites like squarespace because they make things simple. They’re quite expensive though.

Last year I regretted not buying a keyboard and writing a kind of travel diary. I should have taken more photographs too. That said, it was a bit of a learning experience for me and now I am really excited for next year! I’d go this year, but to be blunt, I cannot afford it.

And on the topic of money… I’m thinking of selling my Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 lens. It is an incredible lens, so it’s not that I have anything against it. The Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens I own covers the focal length and aperture. It’s not as nice feeling, the sunstars aren’t as good and its flaring control isn’t as good but I have to be realistic, I think that money could be better spent on a 70-200mm f/2.8 GM lens or even a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM lens. That way, I’d be able to photograph lots of wildlife when I travel next year.

Lastly, also somewhat related to the Jason Lanier controversy is shooting models. I guess it’s made me think that there are a lot of questionable characters taking photographs of people even if he, himself might be innocent. I think I’d like to try it more, and I have some friends in Canada who said they’d let me photograph them :). So I’m kind of undecided if I’ll get an 85mm, 135mm, 70-200mm or the 100-400mm. I’ll see how funding goes, I guess. I still have a year to decide, so there’s no rush.

Basically this is a post about nothing really, haha. It’s just some thoughts running through my head.

 

 

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