The July 4th holiday here in America is only a few days away...

8 Tips for Better Fireworks Photos

By: Rick Ohnsman 

If you’ve been to a great aerial fireworks display, I’m sure you’ve heard the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the crowd, captivated by the colorful spectacle. Here in the United States, the Independence Day holiday is when many of us try our hand at fireworks photography.  I’m sure if you live in other places in the world, you also have holidays celebrated with fireworks.  So how can you capture those moments in a photo and elicit those same “oohs” and “ahhs” from your viewers and achieve better fireworks photos?

Include a landmark, city skyline, or something in your fireworks photo to add interest, place, 

and story. This is a show over the Boise, Idaho Depot.

Great fireworks photos aren’t difficult, but you will not get them in Auto mode.  You will need to put a little thought into this and learn to take charge of your camera controls.  Try these simple tips, however, and I’ll bet you’ll come back with images that elicit “oohs,” “ahhs,” some likes, and maybe even “wows” from your viewers.
Here are the things we’ll cover for better fireworks photos:

1. Location
2. Equipment
3. Camera settings
4. Shutter speed choices
5. Using Bulb mode
6. Shooting technique
7. Boom Zoom Bloom FX
8. The “Black Hat trick”

After you’ve read this article, and made your fireworks photos, be sure to read Part Two – Creatively Editing your Fireworks Photos.

1. Location

You can make good fireworks photos with just an image of the colorful bursts in the sky. But great fireworks photos need something more – an interesting setting or foreground.
Think of displays you have seen taken with fireworks over the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Harbour, the Chicago city skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, or Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.  What makes those shots over the top?  A couple of things;  iconic city skylines and landmarks, and most often, water.
Not only are there interesting things in the shot besides the fireworks themselves, but often with water in the shot, there’s the benefit of colorful reflections.
If you are lucky, the spot where you plan to photograph your fireworks display will also have interesting foreground features and perhaps a body of water.  If so, scout the area ahead of time so you can find a location to best capture those things.

You can pretty much count on a crowd at a fireworks show. Get there early to stake out your 

spot. Then consider including the location in some of your shots.

You can count on a crowd when you go to a fireworks show.  Plan on getting to your spot early so you can “stake your turf.” Perhaps put out a blanket to ensure an unobstructed view of the show.  Then, if you have no other foreground elements, consider the possibility of making the crowd your foreground, their heads silhouetted against the sky and fireworks.
Another possibility might be to find a less obvious location, not right where the fireworks will be launched.  Perhaps there is a landmark, a tree-line, a high vantage point, or some other spot that will create an interesting foreground that while still including the fireworks, will give context, place, and “story” to your photos.  Doing some scouting long before the night of the show is a good idea.

The first few fireworks of the show will be in clearer sky conditions. As the show continues, 

smoke may be more of an issue and the sky won’t be as dark with the fireworks lighting
the smoke.

2. Equipment

What will you need to make good fireworks photos? Let’s break down the basic equipment needs:

Camera

You can make fireworks photos with a cellphone camera if that’s all you have. However, the techniques will be different and the results likely not as impressive.
We won’t get into that here, so let’s assume you have a better DSLR or mirrorless camera with the option for manual control. Be sure to have a good-sized storage card, as well as a spare battery or two, as you’ll usually take lots of shots at a fireworks show.

Tripod

Fireworks photography will require a steady camera as you’ll be shooting in low light and taking longer exposures. Consider a tripod pretty much mandatory for this kind of work.  An L-bracket on your camera or at least a tripod that will easily allow going from landscape to portrait mode easily is a good thing too. Often you will shoot in both aspects.

Lens Selection

Lens choice largely depends on how close you will be to the fireworks launch location.  If you are really close, you may need a wide-angle to keep the larger bursts in the frame. If, however, you are a long distance from the show or want to compress the apparent distance between your foreground object and the sky bursts, a telephoto might be in order.
I typically use my go-to lens; a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS as it covers a good range. You don’t need a particularly fast lens as you will be working with mid to small apertures and longer shutter speeds. Still, a sharp lens is always a good thing.

Cable Release/Remote trigger

The technique for photographing fireworks will be discussed in a minute, but trust that having a way to remotely trigger your camera will be a real help. One reason is you are presumably going to a fireworks show to enjoy the show.  Having your eye to the viewfinder and your finger on the shutter button the entire time will lessen  the enjoyment of “being there.” It will also introduce camera shake, something you don’t want.
A very basic remote release can be had for under $10.00 US. This is a great item to always have in your bag for many purposes.

The tree line at the bottom of the frame adds some additional interest.

3. Camera settings

If you’ve always worked in Program or one of the Auto modes with your camera, or even if you use Aperture (Av/A) or Shutter (Tv/S) mode, this will be the time to be brave and go to full Manual mode.
Here’s how you want to set up your camera for fireworks photography:

Raw Mode

Real photographers shoot in Raw mode. There are many articles why. If you never have done so before, here’s your chance to try it. You can work in Raw + Jpg if that makes you feel more secure. However, I’m betting you won’t use the .jpg versions.

Full Manual

As described. Be brave. You can do this.

White Balance

As you’re using Raw mode, (you are, yes?), white balance can be tweaked later so it doesn’t matter much what you set for shooting. I tend to leave my white balance in Faithful mode almost all the time.

Sometimes it’s fun to zoom in tighter and get the flurry of action.

Low ISO

Working in low light with dark or black backgrounds and long exposures will tend to introduce noise in your shots. Fortunately, the fireworks are bright, so higher ISO settings won’t be needed.  Instead, use the minimum (ISO 100 on many cameras), and you’ll be fine.

Noise Reduction Off

Many modern cameras have a noise reduction feature, which after the first exposure, takes a second “black frame” exposure, detecting the noise and then subtracting that from the initial exposure. It can work well, but…
The second exposure takes as long as the first, and if you’re making multi-second exposures (for example, that 6-second exposure now takes 12 seconds to finish), your camera will be busy working, and you’ll be missing subsequent fireworks.
Turn it off.  You’ll be using a low ISO with minimal noise anyway, and the delay in being able to make more shots isn’t worth it.

Aperture

There are two things to consider here:

1. How much depth-of-field do you need?
2. What is the “sweet-spot” of your lens?

First, because the fireworks will be a good distance from your camera, you will be focusing on something further away and likely have a pretty good depth of field. Working at wider focal lengths helps too. Plan on being at your location well before the show starts and have an idea where you’ll need to focus and how much depth of field you need.
Secondly, most lenses are at their sharpest between f/8 and f/16.  Learn where your lens performs best, the so-called “sweet spot,” and use that aperture if you can.

Most of the photos in this article were taken at the same show. Also, most were very close 

in their exposure settings such as this one at ISO 100, 10-seconds at f/8.

4. Making shutter speed choices

Your choice of shutter speed will be important in capturing good fireworks photos. You know when you hear the boom of the launched fireworks from its mortar that it trails up into the sky, explodes, and a beautiful shower of colorful sparks radiates out and trails down.
Often multiple fireworks are launched close together, each doing the same thing. What you’re after is to capture the entire event which can sometimes take several seconds.
You could pick a fixed shutter speed of, say, four seconds, but would that be too short? Too long? Of course, it depends on the individual firework duration or sequence you want to capture, and that will vary during the show.
So how do you choose?
The answer is, you don’t have to because there’s a better way.

Using bulb mode you will be able to hold the shutter open and capture multiple fireworks 

bursts, closing it when you like.  Note this shot is in portrait orientation.

5. Use Bulb mode

If you’ve seen pictures of early photographers with their view cameras, you might have noticed them holding a rubber “bulb” which when they squeezed, forced air through a rubber tube and tripped the shutter. As long as the photographer kept the bulb squeezed, the shutter stayed open, ending when they released it.
These were the first shutter remotes, and it was that rubber bulb that gave the mode its name.
Today we have wired, and sometimes wireless triggers that can do the same thing. Putting the camera in Bulb mode allows a variable shutter speed. As long as we press and hold the button, the shutter stays open.  Let it go, and the shutter closes, ending the exposure.
This is just the ticket for fireworks photography, a variable shutter speed.
So, let’s review our basic camera settings:

• Camera on tripod
• Raw Capture
• Manual Mode
• Noise Reduction Off
• Auto Focus Off – Focus on the anticipated fireworks spot and lock focus there
• Lens Vibration Reduction (VR/IS) Off
• ISO 100
• Approx. f/8 – f/16  (Use aperture and ISO to adjust if images are too bright or dark).
• Bulb mode
• No flash – I forgot to mention this one.  Rarely, (unless perhaps to light a foreground object), will you ever need to use flash when making fireworks photos.  Also, consider whether others are nearby watching the show.  Using flash is guaranteed to make you less-than-popular with other fireworks spectators.  Unless you are alone and have a good reason to use flash, (in which case I will assume you know what you’re doing), just don’t use it.

Set up like this, you’re good to go. Remember, once the show starts, you will be busy. If you are fooling with camera settings, you’ll be missing shots. You will want to try some variations, but you don’t want to have to struggle and miss the show.
Be ready, think it through beforehand, and when the show starts, start clicking.

6. Shooting Technique

You’ve set your camera up on a tripod, figured out where to point it, made sure to pre-focus on a distant spot and locked the focus by putting it in Manual Focus (MF) mode.
If you leave your camera’s Autofocus on it’s almost guaranteed to give you images that are a bust rather than a boom. Against the dark sky and the moving fireworks the focus will hunt, fail, and… it’ll just be bad. Don’t do it.
Often the best images can be made right when the show starts as later, smoke from the previous fireworks becomes thicker, and the fireworks more obscured. So, when you hear that boom of the first firework going up, click and hold the button on the remote. You’ll be in bulb mode so hold it open while the firework goes up, explodes, and radiates out.  Then release the trigger.
Now, quickly check your shot. Is it in focus and framed properly? Is it exposed correctly? If it’s too dark, increase the ISO a click or perhaps open the aperture a stop. Too light? Do the opposite.
Try not to spend too much time doing this as, of course, the show will continue without you.
If you’re in the ballpark, the ability to edit in raw gives you the tweaking room you need. The two unrecoverable mistakes you might make would be to have things out of focus or have the highlights so blown out as to be unrecoverable. Editing won’t save you if you do those things, so be sure the focus is good and if you’re not sure with exposure, underexpose a bit. Some fireworks will be much brighter than others – especially a multi-burst or the finale. So quickly check your histogram and be sure you’ve not clipped the right (highlights) side.
Make any tweaks you need and then keep clicking. Vary the zoom if you need to, but if anything, frame a little “loose.” You can always crop in tighter later. However, if that really big and spectacular burst is so big it goes out of the frame, you’ll have missed it. Try both some portrait and landscape orientation shots. Perhaps reframe to get different things in the shot, especially if you are including foreground elements.
If things are going well, it’s going to be a fairly long show.
And if you’re feeling frisky, you might be ready for some more advanced techniques.

Note how the bright pink burst appears here, thicker streaks at the base of each trail growing 

thinner at the tip. This uses what I describe as the “Boom Zoom Bloom” technique described.

7. “Boom Zoom Bloom” FX

You may have seen those photos where the bursting fireworks look more like a flower, fat blurry trails with sharp points.  How is that done?
Here’s the technique, which you can vary for different results.
Know this takes practice, and luck plays a big part. So decide if you have already got enough necessary shots before you try it and whether the show will last long enough for some experimentation.
If you’re game, here’s how you do it:

• You will need your hands free for this, and you’ll want to look through the viewfinder or perhaps use Live View, so using the remote release probably isn’t going to work. Instead, set your shutter speed for about 8-10 seconds, leaving all the other camera settings where they were.
• With your hand on the focus ring, remember your hand position there. Then turn the ring so things are out of focus.
• Just as the firework explodes, click the shutter and smoothly turn the focus right back to the focus point you memorized.  You have the time of the preset shutter speed to accomplish this.  If you finish early, that’s okay.

Two other images using the defocus-to-focus technique. Also note how some of the bursts, 

captured after the focus was performed but before the shutter closed, don’t show the same 

look combining two looks in one photo.

Now, try different things with subsequent shots. Go from focused to unfocused, zoom in or out during the exposure, or maybe take the camera off the tripod and move it during the exposure to make light trails. Play and see what you like.
Just remember, the duration of the show is limited, so try some experiments but also be sure you have some solid “keepers.”

8. The Black Hat Trick

I have to confess, I’ve not personally tried this but the concept is sound and could be fun. (I’ve always wanted to do a “hat trick.”)
Here’s how it’s supposed to work:

• Have a hat, a black one or preferably of something dark enough to be opaque. You will also need to be working in an area that is quite dark.
• Put the hat over the front of the lens.
• Have the camera in Bulb Mode and just before the firework launches, click open the shutter locking it open with the remote.
• Quickly, but gently so as not to bump the camera, remove the hat while the firework explodes.
• Leave the shutter open and carefully replace the hat. Repeat, removing and replacing the hat for multiple fireworks bursts. (You may need to have a smaller aperture or lower ISO to do this as you will be building up exposure brightness with each additional firework added).
• Unlock the remote and close the shutter when you’ve done all you want.

What you’re doing is making a multiple-exposure image in-camera. This should work. Of course, there’s also a way to do it in post-processing.  For that, and some other tips on how best to process you fireworks photo, come back for Part Two – Creatively Editing your Fireworks Photos.

There may be a frenzy of fireworks at the show finale. Keep the shutter open and capture it 

all if you can without overexposing.

Light the fuse

I hope you’ve decided that good fireworks photography is easy and go and have fun with it.  It’s one more way to enhance your camera skills and make some exciting images.
If there’s anything that’s a problem it’s that good aerial fireworks displays are seasonal in most places and if you really catch the bug, you may find there are not enough opportunities to practice.
So, find out when and where the shows will be near you, mark your calendar, do some scouting for the best locations, “light the fuse” and have fun!
Post your best shots as images in the comments – we’d love to see them.

Share this article.

P.S.  Want to learn more?  Copy and paste this link into your browser, then click "enter".
 https://resources.digital-photography-school.com/ref/937/

Think Differently in the World of Macro Photography

By Don Komarechka

Macro photographers learn over time that this genre of photography can break rules you’d always follow in other areas like landscape or portrait photography. It’s a different world to explore, and taking a different approach is an asset when mixing science with art.


As a landscape photographer, having a horizon line two degrees off is an annoyance, but for small-scale subjects where no horizon exists, it can be creatively freeing to rotate the camera arbitrarily to allow for the lines, shapes, and colors of the composition fit together better.
A flower stem or a blade of grass can be put to a diagonal line for stronger visual appeal. It’s completely believable for most insects to be seen at angles or completely upside down, as if gravity plays a far less important role in their lives.

I constantly have to make a mental note to play with odd angles as it doesn’t become instinctual. Something that easily becomes second nature with a bit of practice, however, is focusing by physically moving the camera. Autofocus can be hit-or-miss with many macro subjects, especially when you are aiming for maximum magnification – if your subject is a hair too close to the camera, it might never end up in focus.
Manual focus can work, but it’s often easier to physically move the camera forward and backward to make the subject pass through the focal plane. This might sound intimidating at first, or at least a foreign concept. It’s easier to focus this way on frolicking bees!

This is how focusing rails work, akin to adjusting a microscope: the optics stay the same, the distance between lens and subject becomes the variable. This technique is useful handheld as well as on a tripod with a focus rail, and I tend to shoot most of my images handheld – it provides a level of creative freedom where moving your forward and backward while simultaneously rotating it around your subject for the best composition allows for far more creative options than you would have “locked down”.
Using this technique, you set the focus on the lens based on the size of your subject (you’re effectively using it as a magnification ring) and then let the focal plane pass through your subject with physical movement. With the below example of a bee, everything is staged but the “actor” is an element you need to be flexible around.

Using this technique, it’s common to shoot a high-speed burst of images as you approach proper focus, and pass through the proper focus hoping that you nail exactly the focus you were after – applicable to insects and other moving subjects.
Adding an extra battery pack to your flash will help keep things illuminated – the Bolt CBP is a great inexpensive option. You’re hedging your bets by taking images likely to be out of focus in order to hit exactly the right focus point on a chaotic subject.
It’s not uncommon to take 100 images to end up with one photo where all the variables are aligned. You’re not using the images as a “spray and pray” concept, but rather as an attempt to overcome pandemonium.

Why can’t you overcome such a shallow depth of field by other means? If your aperture could go infinitely small, why couldn’t you just shoot at f/96 to get greater depth? Well, light doesn’t play nicely in such scenarios due to diffraction. What is diffraction? Essentially, when light passes through an opening (your aperture) it bends – just as water waves behave in ripple tank experiments. The smaller the opening, the more the light will bend off-course, eventually spilling onto neighboring photosites on the sensor. This coloring outside the lines problem can be easily seen when you push to these extremes.

One great example is the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1x-5x lens set to 5x magnification and f/16. The manual for this lens details a chart (page 8) that illustrates how your “dialed-in” aperture needs to be translated to your “effective” aperture since the lens magnification has an impact on this setting. You’ll actually be shooting at f/96 given the above variables, and diffraction makes a muddy mess out of your image.
There are a number of diffraction calculators online to see if you are limiting your resolving power, but remember this: increasing your depth of field becomes problematic the closer you are to your subject, as your aperture effectively becomes smaller with higher magnification.

If we cannot overcome the physics of light, we can at least work around it: focus stacking. By combining narrow slices of focus that slightly overlap, we can create a composite image with greater depth in post-processing. Remember those hundreds of images you shot earlier looking for perfect focus? If two or more of them are very close together, you’ve got a decent chance of combining them for even greater depth.
Some subjects such as water droplets might require 2-15 images, my work with smaller subjects such as snowflakes will average 40 images to get everything tack sharp. Remember that you don’t have to get everything in focus, but you have tools available to help you get the most of your efforts in post-processing. You don’t even need dedicated software to handle this: Photoshop works great and ON1 Photo RAW recently added focus stacking to their RAW processing workflow with a simple and easy to use interface.

As always, new technology allows for more options to overcome certain limitations. A fun example is using the sensor-shifting “high resolution” mode found on many mirrorless cameras. If I only need a 20MP image but I can shoot a 187MP image with the Lumix S1R, I can be farther away from my subject. This will inherently allow for a greater depth of field, and I can crop in heavily and still have great results. Only five images were needed for the below image, which would have otherwise required closer to 15:

Getting lost in all the technical information is easy, so let’s bring this back around to the artistry of macro photography: storytelling. Few people would disagree that an image is weaker when it contains a narrative of some sort, and the possibilities of creating fantasy fables in the macro realm are endless.
Often times I’ll just wander around our gardens looking for a story – some insect interacting with its environment, the progression of the season from bloom to dead flower head, or even just looking up from the ground to see the world from the perspective of a flower. Ask yourself “what if?” and try to see the world from a new perspective before picking up your camera and you’ll find a story worth shooting.

---

Blogger's note: Want to learn more photography techniques? Copy and paste the link below into your browser. Click "Enter" and enjoy the options.

https://resources.digital-photography-school.com/ref/937/

  I hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Here's another free Photography Ebook.



This weeks' Photography freebie is about Close-up and Macro Photography. Enjoy!  Just copy and paste the link provided into your browser, then click "Enter".

Here's the link for your book:
https://www.astrologysoftware.com/download/macro_closeup_v1.pdf

How to Get Foregrounds Right in Photography

By: Darren Rowse

After my last overseas trip I received emails from two fellow travelers from the tour group I shared two weeks with as I toured around Turkey. Both emails contained some of the ‘best’ photos that my two fellow travelers. Many of the photos that each of them took were in the same locations (mainly landscape photography) and I was fascinated to compare them because despite being taken in the same location – many of them were remarkably different in terms of quality.
One of my fellow travelers consistently had taken better shots and one of the reasons for this was that he’d obviously given some thought to the foregrounds in his shots and used them to really add depth to the shots he’d taken. His shots made you feel like you were standing right in the scene itself. The foregrounds added context, perspective and interest.
On the other hand – my other friend had quite obviously given the foreground in his images little, if any, thought at all. The resulting images were one dimensional and lacked a way into the shots.
I’ve looked previously at factors to think about in the background of images and now I’d like to raise a few to consider with foregrounds:

1. Check your Foreground Before Hitting the Shutter Release

Ok – so this was the same point that I made in the background article but it applies here too (I promise the rest of the points in this post will be more unique). Before you hit the shutter always run your eye around the viewfinder (all of it).
Check your foreground for distracting elements but also move your camera around a little to see what you’re missing from your foreground that could ADD something to your shot. You see good foregrounds don’t just happen. Sometimes you have to search them out and make them happen.

2. Get Down Low

One of the strategies that many landscape photographers use when trying to accentuate their foreground is to lower the height that they take their image from. Crouch down and/or lower your tripod and you’ll find the perspective of your shots can be changed quite remarkably.

3. Raise your Horizon

Similarly when you change the positioning of the horizon you change the influence that a foreground has on the image. Most people naturally place horizons in the middle of a frame but as we’ve discussed previously they tend to do better along one of the horizontal ‘thirds lines’. If you place it on the bottom third line you tend to emphasize the sky in your shot – however when you put the horizon on the top third line you accentuate the foreground. Either can work of course – depending upon what’s going on in the sky or foreground but if you have an interesting foreground you’ll generally want a higher horizon.

4. Use Leading Lines

Another very effective strategy with foregrounds is to look for ‘leading lines’ that will draw the viewer’s eyes into your image. They’re usually vertical lines (sometimes with a diagonal direction) of some kind.
Leading lines could be actual lines but they might also be objects, patterns or shapes that create flow from the bottom edge of the imaged up into the main part of the frame.

5. Aperture

Depending upon the type of image and the effect that you’re after – you’ll probably want to use a reasonably small aperture (a larger number) in order to have a large depth of field. This will keep as much of the image in focus as possible (from your foreground and into the background).

Share this article.

Darren Rowse 

How to Use Focal Lock

By: Darren Rowse

At a recent wedding I handed my camera over to a friend to take a shot of my little family and I. We posed for a few shots, looking forward to getting home to see how they turned out (it’s amazing how few shots we have with the three of us all in them).
I didn’t think to check how they came out on the LCD after my friend took the shots and it wasn’t until I got home and downloaded them on my computer that I realised we’d been victims to the old ‘focus between the heads on the background’ mistake. The shot was similar to the one to the left where the couple is out of focus but the lady in the background between them is pin sharp.
You can see what’s happened immediately when you look at the images – my friend quickly raised the camera to his eye – put us in the middle of the frame assuming that the camera would know where to focus and took the image.
The camera unfortunately didn’t know where to focus and decided that the it would focus upon the garden behind us. As a result we were treated as the foreground and thrown out of focus.
This is a common mistake that many digital camera owners make (I’m sure we’ve all done it). Digital Camera manufacturers are now making cameras with ‘face recognition’ technology to overcome it (where the cameras look for faces and make sure that they are the focal point) but most of us are stuck with cameras that don’t have this yet and need to learn about ‘focal lock’.
It’s a very simple technique and something that virtually every digital camera (and most film cameras) have the ability to do. Here’s what you do:

• Pose your subject.
• When framing your subject put the central point of your frame on the point that you want to focus upon (the face of a person is generally the best point).
• With the subject’s face in the centre of your image half press down on the shutter button (not fully). This will tell the camera to focus on that point.
• Without letting go of the shutter (it should still be half depressed) move your camera to frame your shot as you want it (ie the person’s face doesn’t need to be centred now).
• Once you’ve got the framing right press the shutter the rest of the way and the shot will be taken with the right focussing even though the centre of your image might not be the person’s face.

This technique is not just useful for taking photos of people when they’re not central in your shots but can also be used in many other types of photography. For example in Macro shots when you want to place the insect or flower that you’re photographing off centre (using the rule of thirds) you might want to use focal lock. Similarly if you were taking a landscape shot but wanted to focus upon a house in the foreground that was off centre rather than the horizon you’d use this technique.
This technique is one that most people know but it’s something that beginners should master in the early days of their photography as it’s something you’ll use constantly. It might take a little practice but after a while it will become second nature to you.

Share this article.

Canon vs. Nikon: Everything you need to know about the camera heavyweights

Canon vs. Nikon: Zooming in on a longstanding camera rivalry

 Hillary Grigonis/Digital Trends

 

Like Batman versus Superman, the Red Sox versus the Yankees, or paper versus plastic, the Canon versus Nikon debate has been raging for decades. Long two of the top-selling brands for professional and consumer cameras alike, the names are likely the first that come to mind when thinking about buying a new camera.

Once you’ve made a choice, you’re invested into a system — and switching becomes a huge expense, as you need to replace lenses, flashes, and potentially other accessories. Understandably, that puts a lot of pressure on the initial purchase decision. But photographers concerned about the name on the front of the camera are worrying about the wrong things.

Why? Because choosing between Canon and Nikon isn’t really like those other matchups above, where there’s an obviously correct answer — Batman, Red Sox, paper — and is more like, well, dating. It takes a while to get to know someone and to find that special person whose odd nuances you don’t mind putting up with for the rest of your life. Similarly, you might not know if you made the right choice between Canon and Nikon until long after you’ve made it.

But don’t worry; because unlike dating, there’s really no right or wrong answer to the Canon versus Nikon debate, partially because the differences between the two are a matter of personal preference, rather than objective performance statistics. What’s more, each company tends to leapfrog the other from one model to the next; if you’re feeling like you chose the wrong brand, maybe just bide your time until the next release comes out.

So what do photographers need to know before deciding whether to pick up a camera with that white Canon logo emblazoned on the front or one with Nikon’s characteristic red swoosh on the grip? While both Canon and Nikon have great cameras, you shouldn’t just flip a coin before investing in a system, either.

History

Canon launched in 1933 as the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Tokyo, producing its first camera, the Kwanon, in 1934 before trademarking the name Canon a year later. Throughout the company’s nearly century-long history, Canon is responsible for a number of industry firsts, including the first camera with a shutter synchronized to a flash, the first still camera with a video mode, and the first camera-to-lens electronic connection with the launch of the EOS line in 1987 (which stands for Electro-Optical System, not Every Other Shot as Nikon fans will tell you). Along with both still and video cameras, Canon also produces printers, calculators, broadcast equipment and even digital X-ray equipment.
Nikon is the older of the two companies, having celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017, but didn’t produce its first camera until more than a decade after Canon did, in 1948. The company started as an optical instrument and glass company, lunching its line of Nikkor lenses (which continues to this day) in 1932, before its first camera. Nikon even made lenses for early Canon cameras. The company’s history includes landmark cameras like the Nikon F, which introduced the F-mount still in use today; sending cameras into space with NASA; and technological achievements like developing Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass. Today, besides cameras, Nikon also produces products in the healthcare, precision equipment, and industrial industries.

Current camera series

What’s in a name? At least a few clues about the camera’s design and capability. 
Canon’s DSLRs start out with the Rebel series — these are the more basic camera bodies that are ideal for beginners. The company’s high-end DSLRs have single digit numbers followed by the letter D, with the lower numbers being more advanced, all the way up to the flagship EOS-1D X Mark II. Mid-level DSLRs have two digit numerals in the name.
Canon’s mirrorless line keeps the EOS designation, with the EOS R and EOS RP full-frame cameras. The company’s EOS M line use smaller APS-C sensors. Note that all three — EOS, EOS R, and EOS M — use different lens mounts, however. Canon’s point-and-shoot cameras use PowerShot name.
Nikon’s professional flagship DSLR is the D5, while the remaining full-frame DSLRs are designated by a three-digit number like the D850. Crop-sensor DSLRs use four-digit numbers in the name, with the exception of the D500. The D3000-series is the most basic, followed by the D5000 series for beginners and users on a budget, and the D7000 series for enthusiasts and more advanced users.
For mirrorless, Nikon has the Z 6 and Z 7, with the Z 7 being the more advanced of the two. (The Nikon 1 mirrorless series has been discontinued). Nikon’s point-and-shoot cameras use the Coolpix name.

For DSLRs, both Nikon and Canon have a good selection of high-end models, beginner options, and mid-range bodies. Our favorite DSLR tends to flip flop from one year to the next — on the high end, the Nikon D850 is our current favorite followed closely by the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, but the Canon EOS Rebel T7i is possibly the best entry-level DSLR we’ve ever tested.
While there’s usually a competing model for the two brands in DSLRs, mirrorless is a bit different due in part to the shorter history. Canon has an entire line of APS-C mirrorless cameras while Nikon only has two full-frame models. The companies’ full-frame mirrorless cameras don’t directly compete, either. Nikon has the 45-megapixel Z 7 at around $3,400 and the 24Mp Z 6 at $2,000 that both use the same, professional-level body and design. Canon has the 30MP, $2,300 EOS R targeted to professionals, and the the $1,300 EOS RP which uses a different design and control layout and targets beginners.

Innovation

Canon has been among the top five companies for the number of U.S. patents for 32 years in a row. A handful of those patents end up becoming features inside the company’s DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Dual Pixel autofocus (DPAF), for example, splits pixels into two halves to allow for on-sensor phase-detection — it’s a type of autofocus system that allows mirrorless cameras to perform as well as DSLRs (and sometimes better).
Nikon may not break records for patent filing, but the company is sometimes more willing to take a risk with new features. For example, Canon has been slow to add professional video features into its still cameras — probably in part wanting to avoid cannibalizing their own high-end cinema line — while Nikon has surged ahead with video features in its latest products.

Image quality

Can you tell which of the above images were shot on a Nikon, and which were taken with a Canon? Without digging into the files’ metadata, probably not. Professional photographers have been shooting both brands for decades and producing great results from each. Some photographers may prefer the straight-from-the-camera colors from one brand over the other, but there is little that truly separates them.
If you look at sensor performance measurements, like those from DxOMark, you’ll notice there are some objective differences — on average, Nikons tend to rate higher for dynamic range, for example — but these numbers can be misleading as they don’t necessarily translate into a noticeable real world difference. What matters more is the effort you put in to creating a good photograph.

Video

A few years ago, Canon was well out in front when it came to video. Now, that lead has disappeared — and in the case of mirrorless, Nikon has clearly sprinted to the front. Both Canons and Nikons will shoot some good video, but as Nikon has no competing cinema camera line, it is free to incorporate higher-end video features into its still cameras. Comparing the current full-frame mirrorless options, the Nikon Z 6 and Z 7 can use the full sensor for video, while the Canon EOS R uses a 1.7x cropped region for 4K. The Nikons will soon be able to output RAW video, as well, becoming the first hybrid mirrorless cameras to do so.

Design

Holding a Canon feels different than holding a Nikon, and ergonomics are a surprisingly important part of the photography equation. Again, this is something that comes down to personal preference. The grips each have their own distinct designs, and the placement of the command dials and buttons is quite different. If you’ve never shot with either one, heading to a store that has both on display will go a long way toward helping you choose the right camera for you.
The mode dials also look a little different. The four manual modes on a Nikon camera are called the exact same thing as the manual modes on a Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, or Olympus: Aperture Priority (denoted by an A on the mode dial), Shutter Priority (represented by S), Program Auto (P), and full Manual (M).
Canon had to go and be different, using Aperture Value (Av) rather than the standard aperture priority. Shutter priority instead becomes Time Value (Tv). The actual functionality of these modes is exactly the same. A/Av let you set the aperture manually while the camera adjusts shutter speed to compensate, while S/Tv let you set shutter speed and the camera compensates with the aperture automatically.

Lenses

Hillary Grigonis/Digital Trends

Both brands have pretty wide lens selections thanks to their long histories. The most popular focal lengths are available from both brands, but if you are looking for a very specific lens, you may want to make sure it’s available before committing to a brand. For example, for DSLRs, Canon doesn’t have an equivalent to Nikon’s 105mm f/1.4, but Nikon doesn’t have the 135mm f/4 tilt-shift macro that Canon has.
When it comes to the younger mirrorless systems, both Canon and Nikon have a lot of catching up to do. Canon started out on the high end with some very good — but very big and expensive — lenses, whereas Nikon started with more compact and relatively affordable options. Fortunately, each company offers an adapter that lets you mount its DSLR lenses on its mirrorless bodies without sacrificing any functionality.

Price

Is one brand more affordable than the other? Perhaps, though that’s largely dependent on factors like sales and what type of camera you’re eyeing.
Currently, Nikon has the cheapest current-model DSLR with the D3500 listing for $500 with a kit lens. The entry-level Canon, on the other hand, lists for $750 with a kit lens, but it offers a few more features, including 4K video. For full frame, both companies’ entry options, the D610 and 6D Mark II, list for $1,600 body only.
For full-frame mirrorless, however, the scenario is different. The Canon EOS RP is the cheapest, current-model, full-frame camera ever made, and a fair margin less than the Nikon Z 6, at just $1,300 compared to $2,000. The RP, however, is missing many features compared to the Z 6, and is meant for a different audience.
Lenses follow the same sort of variation. Canon’s 50mm f/1.8 is cheaper than Nikon’s, as is its 70-200mm f/2.8, but Nikon’s stabilized 70-300mm budget lens is $150 less than Canon’s. Sometimes, the price difference is indicative of a quality difference; other times, it may just be marketing at work.

So who wins?

Brand hopping is expensive once you’ve committed to an interchangeable lens system — but how much does choosing between Canon and Nikon really matter? For most people, the answer is very little. Both companies make great cameras and lenses, and the best DSLR on the market tends to favor one brand one year and the other brand the next. Simply put, the people viewing your images won’t care if those pixels came from a Canon or a Nikon.
While the brand doesn’t matter when it comes to taking great photos, each brand has some nuances that make a photographer favor one brand over the other. The grip and control schemes differ between the brands, and there’s slightly different terminology for some settings. 
Choosing between Canon and Nikon then, tends to come down to the smaller, more minor differences between the two. Some of us shoot Nikon, for example, because the photographer who taught us shot Nikon. Some us bought into Canon because there was a great deal at the time, and we’ve been happy with the system since.
The best thing to do before committing to a brand? At the very least, head to a store that has cameras on display. (No excuses, even Walmart does this). Hold a Nikon, adjust some controls and see how the camera feels in your hands. Then, do the same thing with a Canon. An even better option is two rent one of each and shoot with each camera for a few days — there’s a cost, of course, to renting, but it’s minimal considering the investment in lenses once you’ve committed to a brand.
The Canon versus Nikon debate is one without a definitive answer, but there is a right answer for your personal shooting style and preferences. And remember, more important than the brand on the front of the camera is the person behind it.

Editors' Recommendations

• Nikon Z 7 vs. Canon EOS R: Full-frame flagship mirrorless cameras compared
• Canon vs. Sony: Which camera brand belongs in your bag?
• Sony vs. Nikon: How to choose between two great camera brands
• Shoot like a Rebel (or a pro) with the best Canon cameras for 2019
• Light on price but rich on features, these are the best cameras for students

Share this article.

Hillary K. Grigonis

Organic sensors jump out of the lab and into Panasonic’s upcoming 8K camera

Panasonic Japan

Organic image sensors are no longer just an idea inside research labs — Panasonic just announced the world’s first 8K organic sensor in the AK-SHB 810. The camera realizes the potential of organic sensors by capturing a wider dynamic range and eliminating rolling shutter distortion by using a global shutter.

Organic doesn’t mean a GMO-free camera — this type of sensor uses two different layers. One is a photoconductive film that’s responsible for capturing the light. The second layer holds the circuits that turn that light into a digital image. The design allows for capturing a wider range of light and deeper colors.
That sensor also uses a global shutter, which exposes the entire image at once rather than moving up and down over the image, By exposing the whole image simultaneously, the shutter eliminates rolling shutter, a type of distortion that makes fast-moving objects appear to lean because they moved before the shutter finished exposing the rest of the scene. The camera requires a 1/120th shutter speed to use that global shutter. The global shutter can also help eliminate flash bands, Panasonic says.
Panasonic earlier this year announced the production of an organic sensor with a global shutter, but the AK-SHB 810 is the first time an organic sensor has been integrated into an actual camera. The camera, Panasonic says, is capable of 4K using a dynamic range wide enough to capture details in sun and shade. The camera also integrates an electronic neutral density filter, allowing for longer exposures or wider apertures in bright light.
The AK-SHB 810 isn’t actually a camera you’ll be able to just add to your cart on Amazon, though — it’s a box-type camera designed for broadcast and production-level video work. However, the camera marks the move from laboratory research into an existing camera, and with any luck, consumer cameras are next.
Panasonic isn’t alone in researching organic image sensors — Fujifilm has also published research on the topic. Besides the wider dynamic range, Panasonic researchers also demonstrated that adding a near-infrared layer would allow a single sensor to shoot both visible light and infrared.
The camera will be on display at the International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition next month before an expected launch sometime in the fall of 2019.

Editors' Recommendations

• The best point-and-shoot cameras for 2019
• The best digital cameras for 2019
• Panasonic Lumix S1 vs. Nikon Z 6: Entry-level camera comparison
• Ricoh GR III review
• The best external camera flashes for 2019

Share this article.

Digital photography begins its next chapter with radical changes

Computational photography remakes phone photos, while Canon and Nikon embrace the camera design of the future.

By Stephen Shankland

Digital photography has changed a lot over the past two decades, with clunky DSLRs giving way to sleek smartphones. Over the next 10 years, expect a similar evolution as the science behind the art changes.

Much of the technology in use today represents the breakthroughs of the first generation of digital cameras. Film was stripped away and digital image sensors took its place, but much of the rest of the camera -- things like lenses, shutters, autofocus systems -- often stayed largely the same. Manufacturers centered camera designs on the single, fleeting snap of the shutter.

Now two big trends are reshaping our expectations of digital photography. Computational photography, which uses computing technology to improve photos, vaults over the limits of smartphone camera hardware to produce impressive shots. And the "mirrorless" movement, which drops hardware once necessary for film and elevates the image sensor's importance, overhauls the mechanics of traditional cameras. Old assumptions about optics are being reconsidered -- or discarded -- as computer processing takes over.
"Cameras will change more in the next 10 years than in the past 10," said Lau Nørgaard, vice president of research and development at Phase One, a Danish company that makes ultra-premium 151-megapixel medium-format cameras costing $52,000 apiece.
 

The changes will matter to all of us, not simply professional photographers on fashion shoots. New technology will mean better everyday snapshots and new creative possibilities for enthusiasts. Everything -- selfies, landscapes and family portraits -- will simply look better.

Computational photography

For much of camera history, bigger meant better. A larger frame of film could capture more image detail, but that meant a bigger camera body. Bigger lenses offered more detail, but that meant more weight.
Computational photography, which runs on powerful processors, will change that paradigm. And that's good news because most of us rely on our phones for taking pictures.
Perhaps some of the most advanced computational photography available now is in Google's Pixel 3 phone, which arrived in October. Here's some of what it can do:

• Combine up to nine frames into a single shot with a technology called HDR+ that captures details in both dark shadows and bright highlights.
  
• Monitor how much your hands shake the photo so it can snap shots during fleeting moments of stillness.
  
• Compare multiple shots of photos to find the ones where people aren't blinking or suffering from awkward facial expressions.
  
• Brighten the parts of the image where it detects humans and slightly smooths skin to make subjects look better.
  
• Zoom in better by capturing more data about the scene from multiple shots and and using artificial intelligence technology that predicts how best to expand an image.
  
• Photograph in dim conditions by merging multiple shots through a technology called Night Sight.
  

Isaac Reynolds, Google's Pixel camera product manager, says his company's product underscores a fundamental change in what we think cameras are. Much of the Pixel 3's performance and features come not from the lens and sensor but from software running on the phone's chip that processes and combines multiple frames into one photo.

With a computational photography feature called Night Sight, Google's $900 Pixel 3 smartphone can take a photo that challenges a shot from a $4,000 Canon 5D Mark IV SLR, below. The Canon's larger sensor outperforms the phone's, but the phone combines several shots to reduce noise and improve color. Stephen Shankland/CNET

"You're seeing a redefinition of what a camera is," Reynolds said. "The Pixel 3 is one of the most software-based cameras in the world."

Seeing in 3D

It's all pretty radical compared with a shutter flipping open for a moment so photons can change the chemistry of film. And it's only the beginning.
Two years ago, the iPhone 7 started using two cameras side by side, which lets the phone judge just how far away each element of the scene is. The phone's computing hardware then constructs a 3D-infused layer of information called a "depth map" in which each pixel of a photo holds both color and spatial information.
Initially, Apple used the technology to re-create a style used in portrait photography that requires expensive camera lenses. Those lenses could shoot a shallow depth of field that focused on the subject but left the background an undistracting blur. Apple used software to do the blurring.
The depth map has more to offer. With Lightroom, Adobe's widely used photo editing and cataloging software, you now can adjust an iPhone photo based on that 3D information. For example, you can selectively brighten shadowed subjects in the foreground while leaving a bright background unchanged.
That's a manual process photo enthusiasts will appreciate, but it should help smartphones take photos automatically, said Google distinguished engineer Marc Levoy, who coined the term "computational photography" in 2004 when he was at Stanford University. A camera that could generate reliable depth maps means a camera app could fix problems with brightness and color balance so photos look more natural.
"We have just begun to scratch the surface with what computational photography and AI have done to improve the basic single-press picture taking," Levoy said.

Goodbye, SLRs

Generations of photographers grew up using SLRs -- short for single lens reflex. It's named after its reflex mirror that bounces light from the lens into a viewfinder so you can compose a shot. When you take the photo, the mirror flips out of the way and the shutter opens to let light reach the film.
The first serious digital cameras -- DSLRs -- replaced the film with an image sensor and memory card. But they left almost everything else the same -- the mirror and viewfinder, the autofocus system, the mount for interchangeable lenses.
Now mirrorless cameras are changing that setup, dumping the mirror and optical viewfinder. You compose your shots using a screen. It might be the screen on the back of the camera or a smaller electronic viewfinder you use like a film-era photographer.
With mirrorless cameras, the sensor is recording nonstop. It's essentially taking a video but throwing away most of the data, except when you push a button and pluck out a single frame. Indeed, this video-centric design makes mirrorless cameras adept at video.
What's so great about mirrorless designs? They offer smaller, lighter camera bodies that can shoot photos silently; use autofocus across the frame, not just in the central portion; make it easier to compose shots at night; shoot fast bursts of photos; and preview shots more accurately through an electronic viewfinder so you can do better dialing in exposure, focus and aperture.
"There's none of this dropping the camera down, looking at the image and seeing if it's too bright or dark," said wildlife photographer David Shaw, who sold his Canon gear to move to Panasonic's Lumix G9 camera, which is smaller and a quarter the weight. "I can see it all as I'm shooting."

Canon and Nikon embrace mirrorless

Mirrorless cameras have been gaining traction for years, but here's what changed in 2018: Canon and Nikon.
The two DSLR heavy hitters, still the top dogs of the traditional photography market, started selling high-end mirrorless models. Nikon's Z7 and Z6 and Canon's EOS R. Following Sony's lead, they come with large "full-frame" sensors that are best at capturing color and light data. Nikon and Canon aren't phasing out their traditional SLRs, but their mirrorless models will be peers. Meanwhile, mirrorless pioneer Panasonic joined in with plans for two full-frame models debuting in 2019.

Nikon's $3,400 Z7 looks similar to traditional DSLR cameras but dumps the internal mirror in a move to a more purely digital design. Nikon

Mirrorless is the future, says Stuart Palley, a Newport Beach, California, professional photographer whose specialty in wildfire photography appears in his new book Terra Flamma.
"DSLRs are going the way of medium formats and Speed Graphics," Palley said, referring to film-era camera designs that now are mostly footnotes in history. He's begun shooting with a Nikon Z7 and likes how it's lighter than his Nikon D850 DSLR.
"It's so liberating carrying around less," Palley said.
The Z7, like the Sony and Panasonic full-frame mirrorless models, also can move its image sensor to compensate for shaky hands -- something utterly impossible with film. "I can shoot a handheld image of the Milky Way now. It's crazy," Palley said.

Outpaced by phone innovation?

The traditional camera makers are adapting. But will they adapt fast enough? There's nothing in principle that stops them from using the same computational photography techniques that smartphone makers do, but so far that's been a secondary priority.
"The camera guys have to look at what's going on with handsets and computational photography and see what's' adaptable to traditional cameras," said Ed Lee, a Keypoint Intelligence analyst. He expects the pace of change in photography technology to increase.
The phone makers are moving fast, but Phase One's Nørgaard doesn't see any problem embracing their technology. Indeed, the company has begun embedding its Capture One editing software directly into the camera body.
"The cellphones make really good images from a small camera," Nørgaard said. "We can do the same on the other end, where we start with an absolutely fantastic image. The software approach will push that even further."
But smartphones have gobbled up the point-and-shoot camera market and each year pick up more high-end camera abilities. Phones that sell by the tens of millions offer a huge incentive for chipmakers like Qualcomm to push photography technology. The company's next-gen mobile chip, the Snapdragon 855, adds all kinds of photo smarts, like the ability to detect, identify and track objects in a scene, to create depth maps and to counteract shaky hands.
And that's just next year's chip, said P.J. Jacobowitz, Qualcomm's senior marketing manager for camera and computer vision.
"In this book, there are about 50 chapters," he said of digital photography tech. "We are in chapter two."

Share this article.

Why Black and White Photography?

By: Darren Rowse

One of the questions I’m being asked about more and more lately is about Black and White Digital Photography.
As I said yesterday in the post announcing our Black and White Assignment it seems as though Black and White images are making something of a comeback of late as digital camera owners rediscover the beauty of mono images.
If the big response to the assignment is anything to go by readers of this blog LOVE black and white photography too (I’ve used a few of the images submitted in the assignment on this post to whet your appetite).
I have a few friends who are into Black and White photography and I asked them what it was that attracted them to it. Here are a few of their reasons for getting a little obsessed with Black and White:

Versatility

“I love that it’s a format that suits almost any type of photography. Portraits, landscapes, urban landscapes, architecture. Not only that, it’s a medium that adapts really well to all lighting situations. Whereas color photography often works best on sunny days or in brightly lit studios – low light just makes a black and white image moody.’ – Sol
No Distractions
“I find that colors can be terribly distracting in some images and can take the focus away from your subject. I do portrait work and find that taking the color out of an image lets the subject speak for themselves. Its raw, it’s stripped back, it’s honest and it allows you to show the true person.” – Shane
Subtlety of Tones

“I love the subtlety of tones that black and white images can have. In a world that often boasts about how many millions of colors a TV or monitor is able to produce – I love that in ‘Mono’ there is such a variety of what can be achieved in a photo. Black and White sounds so boring – but the fact is that there are so many shades in between – I love the challenge of bringing them all out in an image!” – Jim


Variety

“I find the creative process with black and white images is so… artistic. It’s like molding clay – you can shape it into a myriad of shapes. Black and White images can be strong, high contrast and powerful – or they can be so soft, gentle and subtle.” – Belle
Of course the black and white vs color debate is a very personal one. For every person I ask who loves shooting mono there are others who much prefer the vibrancy of color photography.
Which do you prefer – Black and White or Color?
What do you like about your preference? Have you experimented much with Black and White digital photography? Interested to hear your thoughts in comments below.

Share this article.