CLICK HERE to pre-order the 24-70 from B&H

No doubt in anticipation of the forthcoming Canon 5D mk3, Canon has updated the last “mk1″ L lens in it’s lineup of pro-grade f/2.8 zooms: the venerable workhorse, 24-70 f/2.8 L USM.

Isn’t she a beauty?  Apparently this new version is even lighter than the old version, by a whole 5 oz! (YAY!!!)

It will probably set you back “only” $2300.  OUCH.  For a lens without stabilization, and a jump to 82mm filter threads, …this baby had better be FLAWLESSLY sharp, with super creamy bokeh!  We’ll find out soon enough; it will be available as early as April of this year.

Indeed, the new short-and-stubby design has brought us to the 82mm filter thread size, instead of the previous pro standard of 77mm.  This makes the THIRD 24-70 2.8 lens to hit 82mm filter threads, the two others being the latest  Sigma 24-70 and (also brand new) Tamron versions.  Currently the only other mainstream Canon lens with 82mm filter threads is the 16-35 f/2.8 L mk2.

Also,  I notice that it appears that the lens hood will mount on the moving part of the lens barrel; if the lens barrel moves at all.  If this is the case, then I fear the hood will be much smaller and less effective at both stopping flare, and protecting against bumps.  (The current 24-70 L has a nice beefy hood that acts as an airbag against any impact on that side of the lens.)  I guess it’s a good thing they’ve apparently improved the build quality, and included a zoom lock switch plus fluorine glass coatings to discourage finger smudges etc.

All in all, I’m sure the lens is sharp as a tack and (almost) worth every penny!  You can pre-order the new 24-70 L HERE from B&H…  :-)

You might be interested to know that the new Tamron 24-70 2.8 DOES have stabilization, though.  If the price is right, (sub-$1K?) …I’m sure that MOST hobbyists will prefer this option, even many professionals too!  Check out the Tamron press release HERE.

NOW, back to new Canon lenses!

The other two new Canon lenses, which I am actually quite excited about as an outdoor photographer and low-light photojournalist, are the 28mm and 24mm f/2.8′s, both with IS! (Image Stabilization)  This is a HUGE first for Canon, or ANY other company for that matter; to have full-frame primes with stabilization!   (Aside from Sony of course, which has sensor-based stabilization that works when using ANY lens!)

As much as I find myself often *requiring* a 24-70 2.8 to get a job accomplished, I do love primes.  They’re so small and light and sharp, …and now they’re stabilized!  Honestly if I were an outdoor photographer with a 5D mk2, I’d be jumping for Joy right now..  Now all Canon needs to do us update their aging 50mm f/1.4…  (with or without IS, I don’t care!)

The 24mm f/2.8 IS will retail for $850, and the 28mm f/2.8 IS will retail for $800.  You can Pre-order the 24mm HERE, and the 28mm HERE, from Adorama.   That’s pretty pricey, but again I’m betting that these are going to be some of the ONLY lenses capable of fully utilizing the next generation of high-resolution DSLR sensors!  With the megapixel race continuing, we are actually out-resolving our lenses quite often.  The Canon 50mm f/1.4 is a great example of this-  it just wasn’t made to resolve tons of megapixels in the extreme corners on a full-frame camera.  Canon will probably update the 50mm f/1.4 some time this year, maybe in tandem with the 5D mk3 announcement which should be coming in 2-3 weeks…  (Otherwise, honestly, I usually recommend the Sigma 50 f/1.4 to most Canon users.  It’s so sharp, and quality-built!)

Happy shooting,
=Matt=

(Get it HERE at Amazon, …when it becomes available!)

• $2999!!!  ($3299 for the version without an AA filter, for extreme-detail landscape photography)

• 36 Megapixel CMOS sensor (Pprobably made by Sony, but perfected by Nikon.  Don’t expect the Sony equivalent to come close in low-light performance, if the D3X vs A900 was any indication…)

• ISO 100-6400 native, with “LO” at 50 and “HI-HI-2″ at 25,600

• Same new AF design as the D4, same 51-point configuration but supposedly much improved over the previous generation. (It has face detection?)

• 4 FPS in FX mode without a battery grip, 6 FPS with DX crop mode with the battery pack (16 megapixels)

• 100% viewfinder, instead of 98% like on the D700

• 3.2″ LCD display (up from 3.0″ in previous generations)

• Built-in HDR function, like the D4 and the Canon 1DX.  Cool!

•  200,000 click shutter life (up from 150,000 clicks from most previous “semi-pro” bodies)

• Dual Card slots, CF + SD

• 1080p HD video at 30 FPS, 720p video at 60 FPS etc.

• Slightly re-organized control buttons, including a “REC” button near the exposure mode button, and a “Still / Video” switch where the Dynamic AF selector used to be.

• USB 3.0 connection  (Great for tethering, for those crazy peeps who want to shoot 14-bit un-compressed 36 megapixel RAW images!)

• New battery style, with a lower rating that the D700.  (HOWEVER, Nikon claims that it will last LONGER in fast-paced shooting environments, even though that’s not really what the D800 is made for lol)

• No word yet on a model without the AA filter, if such an option exists it will either e announced within a few minutes, or much later. (Days / Weeks / Months

…Finally, two and a half years after the release of Nikon’s highly successful D700, we have a successor.  …Or do we?  THIRTY SIX MEGAPIXELS?  To most, this isn’t so much of a D700 replacement as it is a D3X replacement.  Basically Nikon has replaced, in fact totally blown away, their $8,000 D3X flagship with a $3,000 camera.  Say WHAT?

Actually, Nikon has had a long history of  NOT being afraid to develop a more affordable camera that totally under-cuts it’s previous, more expensive model.  First, in 2003 the D70 versus the D100. Then, the D300 versus the D2X.  Then, the D700 and the D3.  Now, the D800 and the D3X.  This is one of the reasons why I like Nikon as a brand- they always outdo themselves, on a level that I can afford.

Either way, the difference between “upgrade” and “replacement” is becoming very clear:  Yes, the D800 is an upgrade from the D700 in almost every way.  But does such a quantum leap in resolution qualify as everyone’s concept of a “replacement”?  I guess it depends on how you shoot.

On the one hand, anyone who shoots JPG can simply turn the resolution way down, and be happy.  However for those who shoot RAW, and especially high-volume professional work, …well then the D800 will TRIPLE your workflow capacity requirements.  That, and it shoots at a slightly slower speed, (the D700 can reach 8 FPS when using a battery grip) …and will probably not be much (if any) of an improvement in the high ISO / low-light department.

Simply put, the D700 is a photojournalism /sports camera, a great backup to a D3 or D3s.  The D800 is a behemoth of a landscape / studio camera.  Could you still use it for weddings?  Certainly; I’m sure MANY will.  But personally?  I could go either way, since the improvements in video performance are not really important to me.  I could be just as happy with a used D3, or heck just a 2nd D700 to compliment the one I’ve already got.  The D800 looks like a sweet camera, and I’d love to have one.  But at least half of the features are things I either don’t need to get my work done, or simply don’t care about at all.  I’d rather have sheer speed, and absolute low-light capability.

So, who’s gonna buy one?  It does look pretty sweet, I must say…  Personally, I’m going to wait until later this month when Canon announces the 5D mk2 replacement, hopefully it gives Nikon a run for their money!!

If you’re still itching for more info on the Nikon D800, check out DP Review’s hands-on preview HERE.

Take care,
=Matt=

DVD Name: Fashion Photography Exposed
Cost: $300
Website/Purchase: http://www.fashionphotography.com/
Subject: Fashion Photography

As usual, we always start with the conclusion because let’s face it, if every online review started with one, we would all have at least 6 months of our lives back.

Fashion Photography Exposed is a great educational DVD. It contains a wealth of information. But, let’s be honest, general lighting, business and photography knowledge can be learned from a $20 book on Amazon. Fashion Photography Exposed’s value really lies in watching Melissa Rodwell at work. Seeing how she lights, shoots and interacts with her models on each set makes this DVD invaluable to anyone that is serious about a career in Fashion Photography. You not only get to watch Melissa on 4 different shoots, she also spends plenty of time walking you through some of the images in her body of work, talking about business and giving advice to new photographers. This is what makes Fashion Photography Exposed a wonderful way to kickstart your career as a fashion photographer.

You will learn more from this DVD than you would from any book on the subject, and in a much shorter time. Like most high quality educational DVDs, they carry a heavy price tag. Which means that we highly recommend this book to two groups of people. Those that are already professionals looking to break into or get more experience in fashion photography, and those that are serious about beginning careers in fashion photography. If you are looking for basic information just to feel out the subject, do that with a $20 book. This is a $300 DVD that you will want to use in your career, not just let sit on a shelf.

Fashion Photography Exposed is a wonderful DVD, and for those that are serious about careers in photography, it is worth every penny. However, that isn’t to say we don’t have any critique at all. But, I like to save the veggies for last, let’s first talk about what we loved in this fabulous DVD.

1)4 Shoots – Watching Melissa on 4 different shoots was amazingly insightful. This is by far the primary reason you will want to own this DVD. Seeing her select her wardrobe, light a scene, work with her models, and watching her shooting style is incredibly useful. There were 3 full shoots and 1 extra in the Bonus Footage on the DVD.

2)Lighting Education – The lighting education in this DVD was bar none the best I have seen on an educational DVD thus far. Every style of lighting was explained and shown to the audience w/ a 360 degree diagram showing light, model and camera position. After each scene was explained, it showed how these scenes looked in real life. This DVD has pretty much every major lighting technique you would need to have an extremely successful career as a fashion photographer.

3)Communication – I know this isn’t really something that the DVD boasts, but it is something I wanted to say was really useful. The photography industry has so many sub-industries, each with their own nuances when it comes to vocabulary and communication style. Watching Melissa talking in her interviews, as well as with her clients and models was something that was very educational from a communication standpoint. Not only in the specific industry terms being used, but also in the style of communication. Once again, these areas of communication are things that cannot be learned from books.

Now let’s bring out a few of the veggies:

1)Audio Sync Problems – Throughout the DVD the audio wasn’t correctly synced with the video. For the majority, it is only off by a couple frames and not too noticeable. However, during the equipment discussion, the audio syncing is off by 1-2 seconds and is rather distracting. For a $300 DVD, I would expect a basic production value like this to be addressed correctly.

2)GenLux Interview – The interview with the GenLux editor on the unhelpful and slightly depressing side. Essentially, that interview deals with how new photographers can break into the fashion scene. However, the answers and help provided from the GenLux editor was rather vague and in most cases just served to say something to the effect of it being “really difficult to get into the industry.” However, this was all made up for when Melissa provides the missing information on breaking into the industry during her interview. For me, I would have just rather had the GenLux interview cut from the DVD as it didn’t provide much insight.

3)Accessibility – This isn’t an issue with the DVD, but it is something that needs to be addressed. If you are new to photography and serious about your career as a fashion photography, don’t think that just because you watch this DVD you will have all the tools necessary to get Melissa’s results. You may gain a lot of the knowledge, but the tools you will have to grow into. Melissa is shooting with thousands of dollars of lighting gear, crazy expensive cameras/lenses, and working with top of the line pro models and makeup artists while shooting at awesome locations. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to have all of that to start a career as a fashion photographer. Melissa even teaches several techniques that are easier to pull off for those without access to all the goodies. I just want to remind you that you need to work up to the big shoots, just like Melissa and every other big time fashion photographer. Don’t expect a DVD will take you there overnight. Like Melissa says, the most important thing is to get out and shoot!

That being said, none of these areas of critique can really reduce the overall value of the DVD. Slightly annoying, perhaps, but overall the DVD is solid and is chalk full of wonderful information.

Once again, this DVD is not priced for hobbyists, unless you all have money to burn. This DVD is priced and designed for those that are truly serious about their careers as fashion photographers. For those that are serious, I can say wholeheartedly that this DVD will give your fashion photography education a kickstart that no book on the market could provide. Best of all, you can watch it over and over again.

So, congratulations Melissa on a fabulous DVD. Fashion Photography Exposed is chalk full of wonderful information. From the business side to the actual lighting and photography side of fashion photography, this DVD is a wonderful addition to your educational library and is fully SLR Lounge Approved! Check out more details at http://www.fashionphotography.com/

Post Production Pye
SLR Lounge Senior Editor
Partner of Lin and Jirsa Photography

Unfortunately we don’t yet know anything about the sharpness, (duh!) and neither do we know my other two favorite specs, the weight and price.  However, one spec that I *AM* excicted about is, the new autofocus system that is designed similarly to Canon’s USM and Nikon’s SWM.  (Ultrasonic, Hypersonic, whatever you wanna call it)

Tokina has made some killer lenses over the years, from the famous 12-24 DX that rivaled Nikon’s 12-24 DX but for way less $$, to the newer and equally if not MORE popular Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, the ONLY ultra-wide crop-sensor lens available, and a lens that rivals even full-frame ultra-wide sharpness! Last but not least, the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro is a great alternative macro lens, built solid like an L lens and bristling with corner-to-corner sharpness.  Oh, and my personal favorite, the Tokina 17mm f/3.5 ATX Pro- a classic, older lens that makes a great wide-angle prime on crop-sensors, or an even more awesome ultra-wide prime on full-frame cameras!  (The widest prime available that offers filter threads, by the way, and 77mm not 82mm!)

However, Tokina’s one downfall has been a lack of the newer style of autofocus, like Canon’s USM and Nikon’s SWM or Sigma’s HSM.  This isn’t really a big deal on the wider lenses since the older style of AF can totally handle it, but when you get to the longer focal lengths you start to notice a difference. That is why I didn’t mention the Tokina 16-50 2.8 or the 50-135 2.8, both which are still amazingly sharp and built to that rugged standard that Tokina prides themselves in.  For more telephoto third-party lenses, I usually recommend the Sigma EX alternatives…

So, that’s why this is big news.  Tokina is finally beginning to offer next-generation lens technology, in addition to their usual standards of amazing sharpness and rugged quality.  As usual time will tell whether or not the lens is actually sharp, and whether or not the new AF system actually works well.  But for now I’m at least excited to see how the lens turns out!

At the very least, the release of this lens is a VERY good sign that Nikon will soon be making a 70-200 f/4 VR of their own.  For those of you elitists who prefer only name-grand glass lol, this is at least a rumbling in the right direction!  Keep your eyes peeled in case Nikon (and Canon) have more pro or semi-pro lenses to announce at the upcoming CP+ trade show in Japan this next week.

BTW, I need to clarify one reason why this particular lens and aperture excites me-  As a landscape photographer by hobby, I just kinda don’t care for f/2.8.  All it does is add extra weight for an aperture that I’m never going to use.  Canon has already proven with their 70-200 f/4 that you can get FLAWLESS sharpness out of an f/4 zoom, even though f/4 is usually designated as “amateur” glass.  So, that’s why I’m interested in f/4 zooms.  Size, weight, and price but WITHOUT sacrificing sharpness.  For landscape and other types of photography.  HOWEVER, for my full-time job, (portraits and weddings) …I do still often need f/2.8 at my disposal.  If this is the case but you’re still on a ~$1000 budget, then you can try one of the un-stabilized f/2.8′s like the older Canon 70-200 2.8 L, or the Nikon 80-200 2.8…

Take care,
=Matt=

 Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 on a Canon 7D

100% crop from 11mm and f/5.6

Tokina 17mm f/3.5 on a Nikon D70

Product Name: Fashion Photography – A Complete Guide to the Tools and Techniques of the Trade
Cost: $19.51
Website/Purchase: Purchase Fashion Photography on Amazon

Let’s face it. The world of fashion photography can be both liberating and intimidating. You can really push the limit of your creativity, but you can also be overwhelmed by all the moving pieces involved in a fashion shoot. And just like wedding photography, fashion photography is certainly very competitive, if not more. The common challenges that many of my peers and I face range from organizing and producing a photoshoot to understanding the business side of fashion photography.

That is why this book, Fashion Photography, is an essential read and worthwhile investment for any budding photographers looking to make a career in the fashion industry.

The UK based photographer Bruce Smith has over 30 years of experience as a successful fashion, photographer and has particularly worked with some of the top couture and bridal wear designers, such as Lyn Ashworth, Eleni Costi, and Margaret Lee, as well as other clothing brands such as Silhouette, MissKini, and Panache.

There are eight chapters in the book, covering technical aspects such as equipment and lighting, photoshoot production and team building, post production, marketing, and a section dedicated to his inspirational photographers. The equipment chapter is fairly straightforward, covering industry-standard lighting equipment such as strobes. The post-production side is also pretty straightforward, as Bruce doesn’t intend to have this book to be about post-processing, and because, as he puts it, there are tons of resources for that already.

The real meat of the book really starts with the pre-production chapter, where Bruce talks about all the things that need to be done in organizing a shoot, from finding the right team of models, assistants, hairstylists, wardrobe stylists, and make-up artists, to all the research that needs to be done leading to the day of the shoot. The book talks a lot about how location and different types of natural and studio lighting will complement your creative objective and the clothes you’re shooting. A lot of attention is given on various lighting situations, including daylight studio with flash, interior shooting balancing daylight and flash, and even shooting in bad weather.

The production section talks a lot about the day of the shoot and what you need to look for as a photographer and a director/manager dealing with the models, crew, and clients. Knowing how to plan, anticipate and execute the workflow of a shooting day is critical in keeping everyone happy and making sure you can get top notch photos. On top of that, Bruce also talks about how you would approach the different types fashion photoshoots, including advertising, editorial, and catalog shoots.

I believe that one of the most important sections of the book is the marketing chapter. Although Bruce does talk about what you should do to market yourself, like your portfolio book, I do wish that he could have gone more in-depth in this section, perhaps bring in guest commentaries from creative directors and art directors.

All in all though, Bruce did an effective job breaking down most of the facets of fashion photography that the professionals and would-be professionals encounter in their career. It may not be the all-encompassing book to get your foot in the door with a client, but it will surely help you to make sure you can deliver when you do get your foot in.

You can check out the book at Amazon.com by clicking the link below:

Fashion Photography – A Complete Guide to the Tools and Techniques of the Trade

Bruce Smith’s photography website: Brucesmithphotographer.com
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Article by Joe Gunawan | Fotosiamo
Joe Gunawan is a commercial and fashion photographer based out of Los Angeles, California. Check out his work at fotosiamo.com