If you have been looking to learn about Studio Lighting for your portraits then this full day workshop with professional photographer, Emil Wessels, is for you. Space is limited so be sure to contact him. Details in the poster above.

The NEX-7 is Sony’s latest mirrorless camera and it sits at the top of their NEX range. It’s an all metal, APS-C sized sensor equipped machine, intended for professionals. It features the same 24 megapixel sensor and OLED viewfinder from the Alpha 77 and Alpha 65. Essentially, the NEX 7 is almost identical in specification and performance to the Alpha 77, but packaged in a far smaller body.

What truly separates the NEX-7 from the other models in the NEX range is the use of Sony’s dedicated hotshoe mount (the same mount used in their SLR/SLT range), instead of the accessory shoe for use on the NEX-5N for little flashes, microphones etc (to name one example). This allows the NEX-7 to be used with Sony’s entire range of flashes for the Alpha system. Other differentiators of the NEX-7 to the rest of the NEX range is the OLED viewfinder and built in flash; all of which make this NEX more versatile for advanced users. For the first time, I have been able to connect a Sony mirrorless camera to my studio lights via the hotshoe mount, allowing me to shoot whatever my conventional SLR can do.

First Impressions

Sony’s NEX range is well regarded for its great build quality. They use metal in the construction of most of the models, making the NEX-5N better built than most competitors in its price bracket. All the E-mount  lenses have smooth and solid construction as well, rounding out the system rather nicely. The NEX-7, however, surpasses even the standards of the NEX-5N. It has an extremely solid build, combined with buttery smooth control dials. Speaking of dials; one of the criticisms (mine included) of the NEX-C3 and NEX-5N is the lack of dials and buttons. The NEX-7 solves this issue with the addition of two customisable dials on top and a customisable function button, allowing one to work faster and change settings quicker.  But more on that later… Despite the addition of a viewfinder, hotshoe mount, built in flash, swivel screen and extra external controls, the NEX-7 still manages to remain a small camera; not much bigger in fact than the NEX-5N. Considering it has the largest sensor size in any mirrorless camera available (sharing the APS-C size sensor with only the Samsung NX range, Pentax’s recently launched and very large K-01, as well as the yet unavailable Fujifilm X-Pro 1), this is quite a remarkable feat. The overall design is modern and simple. It has neat lines and a hard black paint finish over the thick metal body which is rather comfortable to hold, despite its small size. This is due to the well defined hand grip/battery compartment.

In use

I have had rather disappointing results with mirrorless cameras of late and I think that this has dampened my opinion of mirrorless cameras somewhat. So when I started shooting with the NEX-7, I wasn’t quite expecting the enjoyable experience that I have had. It was simple and fast to use. The added dials make a world of difference to changing settings with haste. There are two dials on the top of the body, placed next to each other. One controls shutter and the other the aperture and they are placed within perfect reach of your right thumb. The rotating directional wheel controls ISO. One does have some options to customise the functions of these dials as well. The NEX-7 has no dedicated physical mode dial. Instead, when the centre button in the middle of the directional wheel is pressed once, an on screen mode dial is instantly displayed and rotating the directional wheel also changes modes quickly. It might not be as good as a physical mode dial, but I didn’t find this hampering or annoying, since changing modes was still effortless and rapid. Unlike some other mirrorless cameras I have recently tested, there is no dabbling in the menu to try and find the mode function hidden somewhere.

The OLED viewfinder is identical to the one used in the Sony Alpha 77 and 65. It is an extremely bright, smooth, sharp and responsive viewfinder and is one of the best in the industry. As near as makes no impact, I cannot tell the difference between it and Nikon’s V1 viewfinder. It is truly a usable alternative to optical viewfinders, but has a few more benefits. The viewfinder can be set up so that it shows how the camera will record the exposure, making reviewing a taken image less necessary since you are already seeing what the shot will look like at your selected exposure settings. This made me spend less time in playing back or reviewing pictures, leaving me to just carry on with the task of shooting. However, there are certain times when having the viewfinder set up this way is not ideal. For instance: when shooting with studio lights where the exposure of what the camera sees during composition, compared to the actual exposure when the flashes will fire is not the same. This can lead to the viewfinder being very dark, often to the point where nothing can be seen through it; making it impossible to compose. In this case, it’s best to switch off the live view display effect. In effect, this makes the electronic viewfinder behave the same way as an optical viewfinder. There are other benefits to the electronic viewfinder as well, such as shooting in low light. When composing and manually focusing, one needs a lot of detail in order to be accurate. In low light, optical viewfinders can only show what is there in terms of light coming through the lens.This means that you won’t get much because of the darkness. Having a digital viewfinder that previews the image at your desired exposure settings allows you to increase the sensitivity of the viewfinder so that you can see what is normally too dark for the human eye to register. In bright sunlight, viewing the screen on the back of your camera can be difficult; making navigating the menus, or even reviewing a picture difficult as well. An electronic viewfinder allows you to do all this in the actual viewfinder which is a feature I found myself using a lot. The ability to toggle between image preview and review without taking my eye away from the viewfinder became invaluable when shooting a model. If I was not completely happy with a change in the model’s pose upon review of the images, I could toggle between live view and reviewing the image where the pose was right; allowing me to recreate the same angle I was shooting from as before and make sure that she was positioning her body exactly as needed. It’s like having the ability to place reality over an image so that the two can be perfectly aligned and corrected as desired.

The sensor is an APS-C sized 24 megapixel sensor and is, to date, the highest resolution in that size. I found images to be extremely sharp (largely due to the 24mm 1.8 Zeiss lens used.) The low light image quality is not the best as far as crop sensor standards are concerned. I suspect that it is a result of the extremely high resolution. A lower resolution sensor would help to decrease grain (noise) at high ISO’s, but that said, the NEX-7 doesn’t perform badly; especially considering how high the pixel count is. Due to the NEX-7 sharing the same sensor as the Sony Alpha 77 and Alpha 65, image quality is identical and so further opinions can be found by reading reviews on those two cameras.

Conclusion

In my view, mirrorless cameras are designed to be compact versions of SLR’s. Despite there being some great mirrorless cameras out there, few can be true alternatives to SLR’s for working professionals. They simply can’t do everything that an SLR can. Though they do come close, they usually lack a vital function or two, or even more. The NEX-7 is one of the few mirrorless cameras that can be a true alternative to an SLR, without any drawbacks. While the system, or lens range is currently smaller than most SLRs, when used with Sony’s LA-EA2 adapter, the NEX becomes compatible with all of Sony’s Alpha mount and Konica Minolta mount lenses. It is even compatible with the screw drive autofocus lenses. The LA-EA2 is essentially a mirror box featuring Sony’s Translucent Mirror and offers phase detect autofocus (as found in practically all SLR cameras) on any NEX camera in the range.When used with the NEX-7, it practically turns it into an Alpha A77, albeit a smaller one.

Controls are well laid out and comprehensive without being cluttered and it features all of the needed controls for a demanding professional (such as an exposure lock/focus lock button). The function button next to the shutter trigger toggles through advanced settings like saturation and contrast control, from focus point selector and scene magnification, to fine tune manual focusing.

Overall, the NEX-7 exudes quality and is clearly designed for demanding photographers. With the price tag being in the region of many high-end SLR’s such as Canon’s 7D, it is priced for pro’s as well and would be a worthy consideration if SLR performance is the utmost requirement out of a compact camera. Even though that small package comes at a cost, it is worthwhile if size is important.

Carl Zeiss Sonnar E 24mm 1.8

The Carls Zeiss 24 1.8 is a perfect companion to the NEX-7. It has probably the best build quality of all of the E mount lenses. It is weighty in the hand, showing its strong build. Simply put, it is extremely sharp and has the creamiest out of focus boket I have seen in a lens in a long while. Even at wide open apertures, it is still a remarkably sharp lens. It has a great minimum focusing distance of 0.16m, making close up photography easily possible. I am a huge fan of prime lenses, but since I shoot mostly portraits, I personally tend to prefer longer focal lengths such as 50mm or 85mm. For my requirements, 24mm is too wide, but the quality of the 24 1.8 was so great that I could not help but love this lens and, in fact, never took it off the camera and used it entirely instead of the standard 18-55 kit zoom that came with the NEX-7 as it performs beautifully with the 24 megapixel sensor. The 24mm Zeiss turned out to be quite a surprise to me.

Thanks to the great support from Foto First, we are pleased to announce our involvement once again with Photos For Hope. This great initiative by the Sunflower Foundation raises funds to grow and maintain the bone marrow registry in South Africa. The registry is the first place people who are diagnosed with Leukaemia turn to when they need to find a match. Once again, images submitted to Photos For Hope will be exhibited and sold to raise funds for this fantastic cause.

You can upload your images here at PhotoComment. Foto First are sponsoring the printing of the first 1000 images as A4 enlargements. You also have the option when entering our Photo Decathlon competition to add your entry into the Photos For Hope submissions. This year there will be two Photos For Hope exhibitions. This first one is on 26 May 2012 at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg. You can submit an image and buy it back in print with the funds going to a great cause.

We apologize for the error in the image accompanying this article in our print edition

I admit that when the Canon EOS 5D Mark III was announced, I figured – for the price difference – one would be better off getting the older Mark II. On paper, sure there are some differences, but I doubt it would justify upgrading if you already have a Mark II. Then, last week, during a brief stop at Canon’s offices, I was given the Mark III to play with for a few minutes. I quickly realized that my thinking could be very wrong.

Disclaimer

The EOS 5D Mk III currently in the country is still a beta sample and – as such – I was not allowed to even remove a memory card from my wallet. I therefore cannot comment on image quality in this article. I can say that Roger Machin (the product manager for EOS in South Africa) said that he sees an improvement on the beta sample and that the final production units are likely to be even better.

Refinement

If I have not seen the image quality, how can I say that the Mark III warrants an upgrade for Mark II owners? Simply put: there is a great deal of refinement.

In many ways, the new EOS 5D Mk III has taken the EOS 7D DNA and improved upon it. Remember that the 5D Mk II is nearly four years old and – with that – there is actually a fair amount of room for improvement. The lockable mode dial, for example, is something which many people I know want. The Mark III has it. The controls are smoother and quieter for video users. The LCD screen on the back is a little larger and crisper. Video users will find the inclusion of a headphone jack to monitor your sound whilst shooting to be a very welcome new feature.

The Autofocus system is the same as that of the EOS 1Dx and that is noticeably quicker than the old Mark II. The body is made more durable and is better sealed against dust and moisture. With 6 frames per second, the Mark III offers a large speed improvement over its older brother; opening it up to more users and in fact, possibly making it a rival even for some potential EOS 1Dx buyers.

Another trick up the EOS 5D Mark III’s sleeve is the in camera HDR (High Dynamic Range). It offers the user the ability to set it up to a 3 stop range manually, which does not make it better than any other camera out there. In fact, there are cameras with a wider range. What Canon do differently is that they let you choose how you want the image to be processed. Must it be a vibrant HDR, or more neutral tone? (For an example).

All of the above is great, but there is one other reason – more important to me – as to why the EOS 5D Mark III should be worth your consideration. It just feels right in your hands. I think that it may be one of the most well balanced cameras I have ever held. Of course, this is all based on a 5-10 minute brief hands on. We hope to have a production sample to review in the next few weeks, but you know what they say about first impressions… the Mark III will start off its review on a very good footing when it passes through the office soon.

Our April 2012 issue of PhotoComment Magazine is out on shelves and is also live on the site. It has a great mix of informative and perhaps controversial content. Kicking off with Armani’s Editor’s Comment that tackles the issue of using a professional model over willing relatives, friends etc. Then you can dive into some examples of the entries in the “Scapes” theme of our Photo Decathlon. Remember, entries close for this theme at the end of this month. We have a Pro Portfolio by Shayne Robinson before diving into the techniques to better cellphone photographs (the May theme in the Decathlon). Cast your eyes on a new Koos van der Lende panoramic and the story behind it. We look at a handful of the top smart phone apps for your photographic pleasure before being taken on a game drive with the fantastic images of Darred Joubert in our Reader’s Portfolio. In the review section, you will find a group review of some of the top smart phones we have played with, as well as the Sony NEX-7 with Zeiss 24mm f/1.8. We also share our first impressions of the Canon EOS 5D Mk III (our apologies for publishing it with an incorrect image). The Final Comment looks at the use of smart phones with apps like Instagram in photo journalism.

Remember to give us your feedback on the magazine. If you are looking for a print stockist, check the list here. We are working on something special for subscribers which, if you wish to be a part of, you can subscribe here. Lastly, read the magazine online. We are using a new reader which should be better for mobile phone and tablet use. Let us know what you think. Also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

We have just seen details of the new Sony Alpha A900 replacement. In a move to make the ultimate modular camera system, the new camera (possibly to be called the Alpha AX1) is a merging of the NEX-7 concept with a full frame A77. Even that description does not truly do it justice.

The main unit looks like an NEX-7, however, the grip is more Alpha like. It features the rumoured square sensor we saw in the past week or so with a whopping 40 megapixels. The size is 36x36mm.

Using the main unit as it comes out of the box, the camera utilizes the E-mount from the rest of the NEX range. In this mode it will offer a 28mp square image or a 24mp APS-C sized image if you want to be more traditional. The magic happens, however, when you mount the battery grip and revised LA-EA2 adapter. With this conversion, the camera morphs into the powerful ‘beast’ that is the A900’s replacement.

Capable of taking all Alpha mount lenses, the camera can now offer the full 40mp square image, or 36mp conventional full frame. The battery grip will allow it to shoot at 15 frames per second with the second generation Electronic shutter system (launched in the A77). The camera is said to be near silent and capable of flash sync speeds of 1/8000th of a second without needing to use the High Speed sync feature; thereby keeping your guide number at maximum strength.

The autofocus system is said to be 102 cross sensors and should be the fastest AF on the market when the camera hits shelves.
What about the video mode, you ask? Let’s just say that HD is ‘so yesterday’. 4K is the term being used here.

It appears that the camera was intended to launch on 30 Feb 2012, but following the earthquake, tsunami and then floods of last year, the production was pushed back. It is expected that the camera will be announced soon and ship on the 31st of April 2012.

The talk is that the second sister camera being launched later this year to run alongside it will feature the ability to clip an upcoming Sony Xperia phone in the back and run the camera on the Android OS.

(If by now you have not noticed the flaws in this article, we wish to wish you a happy April Fools.)

The paragraph below is simply the introduction from a larger article on sister site SA Review. To get the full article please head over there. A more photographic orientated summary of Samsung Africa Forum 2012 is coming soon.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Samsung Africa Forum 2012. It was, for me, a rather enlightening experience. In my not so distant past is a brief one year history, working at one of the big electronic companies that compete with Samsung in the space of televisions, imaging, laptops, etc. Perhaps because of my time there, my perception of Samsung was tainted for the worse. I had been fed stories that perhaps served one purpose: to discourage my leaving to join the competition. (Read the rest at SA Review here)

The deadline for the very first theme – Expressions –  in our Photo Decathlon is just 4 days away (31 March 2012). That means you have only got 4 days left to upload your entries here and stand a chance to win.

The Photo Decathlon is only made possible through the fantastic sponsorship offered by some of our great advertising partners including Foto First, Vega, Lexar and Graham Robertson Photographic. We will bring you details of the grand prize that will be going to the photographer who gains the most points from all the themes combined at the end of the Decathlon as the competition progresses. At this time however we can share the prize bundle available for the winner of the Expressions theme. These prizes will be up for grabs in other themes as well.

1st: A Lexar Premium 8GB SD or Compact Flash Card (depending on you requirement) and a Foto First Voucher for 10x A4 prints valued at R298,00

2nd: A Foto First Voucher for 60x Jumbo Prints Valued at R195,00

3rd: A Foto First Voucher for 5x A4 prints valued at R149,00

Warning: Clients Can See You ©Lisa Solonynko

Social media and photography make an awesome coupling.  Getting the word out about your business is easier now than ever.

Every day articles are written encouraging business owners to jump on the social media band wagon, and to use it to its fullest potential.

But, danger lurks if users are not very careful.

In an attempt to streamline workflows, many social media users are incorporating services such as Twitter to multi-task and keep family, friends, peers, and clients up to date; all with one click.

The only problem with this type of multi-tasking is that we communicate very differently with each group. Here lies the pitfalls of using social media to communicate with all.

I recently received an email from a woman looking to hire a photographer. Instead of just looking at their portfolios, she also chose to find them on Twitter and Facebook. She wanted to get a better sense of how they do business.

With this in mind, she only sought out Twitter and Facebook accounts that were directly connected with the photographer’s business. To paraphrase her email, she was aghast at the way many photographers presented themselves on social media under their business name. She passed on the Twitter account for a wedding and portrait photographer she was considering hiring, but decided against it after reading their Twitter stream.

I went onto Twitter to have a look. Every so often this photographer would tweet, “Just got back from shooting a precious couple. Congrats Jim and Nancy”, or similar. That is pretty typical and is designed to be seen by the couple themselves as well as potential clients. But, in between these types of tweets was an abundance of profanity, insults, complaining, and general TMI. By the time I had reviewed 50 tweets, I drew the following conclusions:

• She is disorganized, exhausted, and unable to manage her time
• She experiences a lot of road rage
• Most children she comes across in public irritate her
• She has spread her time too thin
• She loves to gossip about people she sees in public
• She is tired of shooting weddings

The reality is that I would not hire someone who gave me this impression.

I decided to do a little experiment and check out twitter streams of some photographers I follow. I looked at their latest 20+ tweets and decided on the impression I got from their one-sided tweet conversation. I have to say, there were a lot that concerned me.

The biggest thing to consider when using social media is that clients are more savvy than you think. Instead of just judging a photographer’s art, they are investigating their social media presence. In many cases, this is the deciding factor.

If you are incorporating social media tools such as Twitter, go to your stream and read your tweets. Pretend you are a client walking into your studio storefront and you can hear yourself on the phone reading the tweets out loud. How do you come across? Do you sound personable and professional or harried and disorganized?

Let’s be realistic. Twitter and Facebook accounts are there to act like a storefront or connection to your business. If your doors are open (or tweets are readable), you must consider the impression you are leaving those popping in for more information.

If you are not happy with how you are presenting yourself, perhaps you need to set up separate accounts for your personal and business needs.

Using social media is critical to success in this Internet age. But, it must be used responsibly.

Last week we announced the latest release in the Craft & Vision eBook range, “Forget Mugshots”. We asked fashion and portrait photographer, Natalie Field, to review and share her thoughts on it.

Title: Forget Mugshots: 10 steps to better portraits by David Duchemin

Format: eBook

Available at Craft and Vision, www.craftandvision.com

This 35 page eBook is a quick overview of ten important factors to consider when photographing portraiture. Set out sequentially, these factors are illustrated with anecdotes and accompanying images from the author’s personal experience, referred to as “Picture Profiles”, as well as references to iconic images. There are also creative exercises to encourage the reader to participate in the practical experience of portraiture.

In his introduction, Duchemin places focus on the portraits’ power to reveal something of not only the sitter, but also the photographer and their relationship. He reveals that a “snapshot is a photograph of something, a portrait is a photograph about something” and proceeds to provide various tools the photographer may utilize to capture this revelation and preserve a moment in time.

The first and most significant of these factors is how to relate to the subject matter and so make them feel more comfortable. He encourages the portraitist to look beyond the smile for true emotions and suggests that patience plays a key role in unveiling real character. Duchemin follows this with a look at “the decisive moment”.

Another aspect Duchemin asks the photographer to consider is the choice of lens. He suggests breaking away from pre-conceived ideas that certain lenses should be used on certain subjects and to rather contemplate how one can creatively assign the different lens qualities to impact the mood of the portraiture one wishes to create.

Other aspects to consider include: shooting numerous frames to complete the story you wish to portray, reading the sitter by understanding the smile’s sincerity and creating catch lights in the subject’s eyes to bring attention to the most expressive part of the face. The author also emphasizes the importance of playing with both natural and artificial light to achieve a good portrait and stresses the various uses of the 5-in-1 reflector.

Control over the background is also discussed as the author feels that a good portrait can be ruined by a poor background and recommendations on this topic include the use of a larger depth of field, compression through a longer focal length, or the obvious option of moving your position, or that of the subject. He follows on the topic of physical positioning in the next sector which deals with perspective and shooting portraits at eye level. The final factor he touches on is posing.

In conclusion, Duchemin reveals portraiture to be a collaboration between photographer and subject. With this eBook the author wishes to “recalibrate you a little… remind you of something you probably already knew but may not have considered in the specific discipline of portraiture”.

Review by Natalie Field