Last week was a very interesting week for those who want to shoot video professionally. We saw the launch of 3 cinema cameras. Well, four if you count the new iPhones. At IBC in the Netherlands, Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm announced their new cinema cameras. For Canon, it was a new form factor and price point for their cinema lineup, and for Nikon and Fujifilm it was their first entry into this space.

Today, Nikon announced their new retro styled camera, the Nikon Zfc, which wasn’t much of a surprise as it had been rumoured for weeks now, and pictures of it had been leaked for the last little while. I don’t know what it is about camera companies these days, but they can’t seem to keep any product much of a secret before its launch. Even so, it’s nice to see the official details, and for the reactions from the lucky people (who are important enough) to get their hands on it. I have to say, I really like what Nikon has done here, and I would absolutely consider putting this on my shopping list.

If you’re looking at getting Capture One, you may be confused by all of the different versions. There is Capture One Pro, Capture One Express, Capture One, Fuji, Sony and so on. On top of that, there are subscription options and perpetual licences. I get a lot of questions about some of these versions, and so, in this post, I will attempt to break down the differences and offer advice on which version you should get.

With all of the announcements from Capture One yesterday, I missed a couple of points about Capture One for Nikon. In addition to the new Nikon pro version, there is also now a version of Capture One Express for Nikon. They have also added new colour profiles for selected Nikon Cameras.

Capture One has just announced a new version of the software specifically for Nikon users. Just like the versions available for Sony and Fujifilm users, the new Capture One Pro Nikon version will have all the features of the full version, but will be at a reduced price, and will only open Nikon RAW files. This release will also bring tailored profiles for selected Nikon cameras to Capture One.

In this video I went for a wander with my camera around Dublin City to show that you don’t need to go to the countryside to photograph the wonders of Autumn. If you live in a city there’s plenty of Autumn colours and scenes all around you. If you liked my “Street Photo Diary” series, this is basically the same formulae only without the street photography!

While there’s no doubt that working with photo workflow software such as Lightroom or Capture One has changed the way most people work with photos, there are still people who prefer the old fashioned way of doing most of their processing in Photoshop. For some, the Bridge/Photoshop workflow is still their preferred method of work. Another method that is sometimes used is to work with the software supplied with your camera as a starting point, and then finish in Photoshop. For those used to working in Lightroom, this approach may appear clunky, but it does have some advantages. Lately I’ve been giving this workflow a try, and here are my thoughts.

After the initial hype (and the corresponding outpouring of disappointment and scorn) lots of details have begun to emerge about Nikon’s new mirrorless cameras, and there are a couple of interesting tidbits that I came across. So here are a few notes in no particular order.

So today, Nikon finally announced the company’s new Mirrorless cameras, the Z7 and Z6. I say finally because the leaks and rumours seem to have been going on for months, not to mention Nikon’s own teasing of the new system. So now that they’re official, what do I think?

I’ve been plugging away at my YouTube channel for a while now, and I had this idea for something that I wanted to try, but it’s taken me some time to get it together. I have lots of different bits and pieces that I do, and I have a few different “series”, such as “Street Photo Diary”. Instead of all these disparate threads, I wanted to try and create one good video a week. With that in mind, here is the first episode of that new series. For the moment I’m calling it “The Photography Geek Show” although that may change. I’m open to suggestions!

Autumn is now in full flow and it really is my favourite time of the year for photography. The Autumn light in Ireland is beautiful. The slow change of the seasons starts to bring a warm and golden light to the country as the sun is lower and lower in the sky. Throughout the season this effect becomes more and more profound. Combined with the colours this can make for some great Photography. 

When Nikon pre-announced the D850 a little while ago, I was filled with a mix of excitement and a sense of trying not to get my hopes up. I have long been an owner of the Nikon D700, which was Nikon’s first model in this style of full frame smaller body cameras. I love the D700 and I still use it all the time, but it’s starting to show its age. I really want a high resolution camera for landscape and nature work, but I also want one that does video. I had hoped when the rumours started of the D850, that Nikon would come out with something similar to the Sony A7RII. I was not disappointed.

I happened to be in the right place at the right time the other day to capture an amazing sunset. While travelling back on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, the sea was calm and the sky was beautiful, and as we reached the middle of the journey the sun set on the horizon, in a beautiful display of reds and golds.

As I mentioned last week, I had recently borrowed a friends Nikon D800 to try it out. I’ve long had a D700 and it is one of my favourite cameras of all time. While the D800 is getting old now, and a generation behind, I was still curious to use it. Shooting it was an interesting experience and I thought I would share a few random thoughts on using it. So, in no particular order, here are some of my findings. 

I recently had the opportunity to borrow a friend’s Nikon D800. While the D800 is an older camera now at this stage, I was keen to try it out, as I love my D700 and I wanted to see how it performed. I had borrowed it before, but not for as long. The lat time I had it I had shot a very short sequence of video, and I was impressed. This time I wanted to shoot a bit more video and see how good it was, more for curiosity than anything.

With Photokina just around the corner, and with most of the major manufacturers probably going to announce new cameras, I’ve been thinking about what my ideal camera would be. Without getting into brand wars and camera maker loyalty, I am particularly keen to see what Nikon will announce. They’ve been on a roll lately with the D500 and the D5 and considering that the D810 and D750 starting to look a little old, an announcement might be on the cards.

(From the Photography Geek)

As I only have a limited set of lenses for my X-Pro 2 at the moment, so I have been keen to try some of my other glass on the camera via adaptors. The X-Pro 2 has some nice focusing aids, and I have some interesting lenses, so I wanted to see what kind of results I could get. Lens adaptors can actually be quite expensive, depending on the brand, but there are cheaper options available. As this was more of an experiment than anything, I went with some of the cheaper adaptors that available. 

I had thought that I didn't really have any new street photography shots for the last little while, until I was going through my library in Lightroom and discovered a whole shoot that I had forgotten about. With all my travel in December I hadn't fully gone through the shots from a photo walk I took through Dublin in November and I'd completely forgotten about it.