Understanding Exposure – A Beginner’s Guide

One of the most important topics that any photographer should learn is exposure. Especially if you are just starting out in photography, the technical side of things will not always be intuitive. Your camera has dozens of buttons and hundreds of menu options — how do you even begin to set everything correctly? But it is not as bad as you might think. There are only two camera settings that affect exposure: shutter speed and aperture. These are also the two most important camera settings in all of photography. In this article, we will introduce shutter speed and aperture (as well as a third variable, ISO) and explain in depth how to use them properly. Once you fully understand exposure, you will see your photos will skyrocket in quality.

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New Sony Compatibility for Nine Sigma Art Lenses

Along with the two new Art lenses that Sigma just announced, they also introduced something that will make Sony users especially happy: native compatibility for nine prime lenses from Sigma’s Art lineup, including the two new lenses and seven older designs. Sony is really pushing things forward with their efforts to offer a large native lens lineup, and, with the excellent quality of Sigma’s Art lenses, this is an excellent step to take!

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Sigma Announces Two New Art Lenses

The CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show starts Thursday, which means it is announcement time across the photography world. Next on the list of new products is Sigma, and they’re debuting some very interesting gear – chief among them, two new lenses for Canon, Nikon, and now Sony mounts (more on that in another article). Introducing the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro Art and the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art! The macro lens is Sigma’s first Art macro lens, going up to 1:1 (life-size) magnification. Sigma touts the 105mm f/1.4 as simply “The Bokeh Master.” Prices have not yet been announced.

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Sony Announces the a7 III: Fully Featured at $2000

Sony just announced the newest camera in their a7 series: the a7 III. It has a 24.2 megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, a 693-point autofocus system, and the longest battery life of any Sony full-frame mirrorless camera. The rest of the specifications, which we will cover below, are equally impressive – especially considering the launch price of just $1998.

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Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Review

This is an in-depth review of the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens that was announced in February of 2015. Being a professional-grade wide-angle lens, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art was made to challenge similar offerings from both Nikon and Canon, but at a much lower price point. Previously, Sigma had a lot of success with its Art-series lenses such as the 35mm f/1.4 Art, so it made sense that the company would continue to make similar class lenses as great, budget-friendly third party alternatives. Without a doubt, Sigma did succeed with making the 24mm f/1.4 Art a remarkable lens with very impressive sharpness characteristics, something lenses like the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G struggle with when shooting at the wide apertures on high-resolution cameras. And with its MSRP of $850, it simply makes other similar-class lenses look expensive in comparison. However, the lens does have its weaknesses that are worth looking into, which is something we will explore in detail in this review.

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Lightroom Classic vs Alien Skin Exposure X3

In the coming weeks, we are planning to review many Lightroom alternatives at Photography Life and figure out which ones are potential replacements. The first on our list is Alien Skin Exposure X3. This software, originally a film simulation plugin for Lightroom and Photoshop, has grown to a standalone software that mimics Lightroom’s post-processing and organization options in many ways. This article covers the differences and similarities between Adobe Lightroom CC Classic and Alien Skin Exposure X3, including which one you might want to choose for your own photography.

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Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR AF-P Review

In this in-depth field review, we are going to have a look at the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-P VR, the latest Nikon basic DX standard kit lens launched in September of 2016. It is an all-plastic lens featuring the newest stepping motor, which focuses faster and quieter than the traditional silent wave motor used on most standard Nikon lenses. The optical design features two aspherical elements for better sharpness and chromatic aberration control.

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