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  • How Do You Reduce Haze in Landscape Photography?

    How Do You Reduce Haze in Landscape Photography?


    Haze can be a photographer’s ally, but it is a trouble to endure most of the time. Misty mornings allow us to create fascinating and subtly beautiful images. But how can we ensure that visuals are radiant with charmed captures rather than dissipate into a photo setback? 

    To reduce the haze in landscape photography, add a polarizer to the scene to reduce the scattered light. After taking the picture, you may use a combination of the Dehaze, Clarity, and Contrast changes in the photo editor (particularly Lightroom) to reduce the haze effect and improve the clarity of the picture. You can also use Auto Tone in Photoshop. 

    Read on to learn how to clean up haze from your photos and reduce unwanted haze as you take the shot. 

    What Causes Landscape Haze?

    marklincoln

    Haze results when dust, smoke, water, or other airborne pollutants scatter light as it travels through the atmosphere. As humidity rises, these particles often enlarge, further reducing visibility. Haze may soften a view and lessen the sharpness of landscape components.

    Photographing in the haze is significantly different from photographing in clear weather. With proper knowledge, these climatic events might make your photographs more exciting. 

    How to Reduce Unwanted Haze in the Field As You Take The Shot

    After setting up your photo arrangement, you notice some haze. How do you eliminate it?

    Bring the Correct Gear

    You can bring a UV filter, skylight filters, a tripod, and wet-weather gear for the least chance of getting ominous hazy shots (including a lens cloth).

    A wide-angle lens may be helpful when using an SLR camera, or you might carry a long lens to emphasize the photo’s depth. Using a tripod allows you to experiment with exposure settings, and an open mind is vital when photographing haze. 

    Choose the Best Time to Avoid Haze

    Due to the day’s high temperatures, atmospheric haze is more frequent in the afternoon and evening. The quantity of haze rises due to the warmer air expanding to accommodate more particles. The daytime increase in winds also stirs up more haze and other particles into the air, adding to the haze effect.

    Often, haze is the least prevalent in the morning since the air is cool, less humid, and moist. There is also naturally less haze when the sun is directly above since the light passes through the atmosphere the least. 

    Reduce the Haze Through A Polarizing Filter

    Atmospheric haze is essentially light dispersed by moisture and airborne particles. A polarizing filter will eliminate this undesired haze before taking the picture. A polarizing filter will also improve the clarity and sharpness of the scene’s objects by reducing the amount of dispersed light entering the lens. 

    Remove the Atmospheric Haze

    Atmospheric haze is often to blame for nature photos that are murky, dusty, and have the dreaded blue color. A UV filter or skylight filter will eliminate any air haze in your photograph.

    adorama

    Your lens may be shielded from dirt, grime, and scratches by a high-quality UV filter without compromising the color, contrast, or exposure of your pictures. A UV filter or skylight filter decreases the likelihood of a blue cast, which will also improve the clarity and accuracy of your photos.

    Modify Your Angle

    The sun may lessen haze by adjusting the camera’s angle concerning the light source. Unfortunately, it is only sometimes possible to dramatically alter the camera’s orientation.

    You could think about shifting the light’s axis, however. If you return to the same spot later in the day, the sun will be positioned differently concerning the camera. 

    Play Around with Exposure

    With a long exposure, you may capture the illusion of movement in a slow-moving mist and create a clear contrast adjustment between blurred and static elements in your shot.

    Even the most seasoned photographers may learn a lot by photographing hazy and foggy landscapes, so make sure you spend the time experimenting with exposure settings.

    Balance is Important

    Because hazy situations often lack color, it is crucial to pay attention to the color balance and lower the likelihood of getting boring, vanilla photos. Ensure your white balance is in order to balance the cold tones of early morning. You may also want to think about shooting in RAW to have additional post-processing possibilities.

    Pro tip: To portray your people as black shadows, make sure that you expose depending on the haze, not the subject. Exposing the haze gives this transient phenomenon additional complexity and texture. 

    How to Remove Haze in a Landscape Image?

    We provided some ideas on reducing haze in the photo in the first part of this article, which you may utilize when shooting on location. However, how can you lessen its effects post-processing?

    Many methods will work to remove haze from a photograph, and a more effective strategy is to combine many modifications to get the desired effects. 

    Use Dehaze To Remove Haze

    The Basic panel in Lightroom has the Dehaze slider. Dehaze may be used to decrease haze across the whole picture. However, this modification may also result in saturated colors and a darkened picture. Therefore, use cautiously and in conjunction with increasing exposure and lowering colour saturation.

    You may also use Dehaze with the Masks above the Basic panel. Using a mask, you may choose which parts of the picture the Dehaze effect is applicable.

    shotkit

    For tiny areas, use the paintbrush tool. The Grad Filter might be helpful if the sun comes from one side since it allows you to choose vast areas of your picture. 

    Clear out the Haze with Clarity

    You may boost the mid-tone intensity with the Clarity slide. Choose the Natural or Classic settings first since they are the most effective when you want to keep highlighting detail.

    Make a white-balance adjustment or an Auto Levels adjustment before utilizing the Clarity tool, ideally by using the individual Red, Green, and Blue Channel modes.

    It is doubtful that the Structure slider will improve much, although it depends on how bad the haze is. Images with greater detail and slight haze may show enhancements. Move the Clarity and Structure sliders to the left gradually, staying at low values if you want to add haze creatively. 

    Set the Blacks and the Whites Apart

    You may wish to change the black and white levels after adjusting the mid-tones using the Clarity slider. The benefit of this strategy is that you may alter each of them separately to get the desired outcome.

    Any dark tones in the photograph can be washed away by the haze. But because the black levels may be affected by the Dehaze and Contrast sliders, it is a good idea to recheck them after each change. 

    Make the Tonal Curve Adjustments

    Just below the Basic Panel is where you will find the Tone Curve Panel. In a setup, the haze often appears when the left side of the curve’s solid line is higher than the dotted line. Click on one of the dots on the left side of the curve and drag it closer to the dotted line to lessen the haze effect.

    The Tonal Curve provides access to precise tone alterations throughout the whole image. You may choose one of the preset tone options and fine-tune any tonal values. While you may adjust certain tones, the changes may affect the whole picture.  

    White Balance Correction

    Haze may make your White Balance do bizarre things, depending on where you are and what time of day it is. Haze, for instance, may artificially warm the image and filter out blue tones. As an alternative, your shot can have blue color casts. 

    You have great versatility when you take your pictures in RAW. A photograph in RAW format may always have its White Balance changed without degrading the image’s quality. 

    The NeutralHazer Approach

    Paid software is available to reduce haze for individuals who want to do it entirely under their control. NeutralHazer is a plugin for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements that determines the air thickness in each pixel, allowing the user to define the boundaries between the foreground and background. 

    NeutralHazer is a unique tool since it allows users to choose the covered background and foreground sections, the strength of the impact on each of them, and the transition between the two areas. 

    Add Contrast

    You may restore contrast to your image by using the Contrast slider. Be careful that changing the contrast will influence all tones, including black, mid-tones, and whites. You could utilize the Clarity slider if you don’t want to affect the blacks and whites. 

    It is also a fantastic place to experiment using the Unsharp Mask technique and adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw. For this “haze removal” approach, you do a Local Contrast Enhancement utilizing Radius rather than the more extreme value shift in a typical Unsharp Mask procedure called Amount. 

    Haze is Not Always A Bad Thing

    Haze may significantly affect your image and limit your ability to see what is in front of you. Even while this can at first look terrible, it can be a positive thing! Haze may provide a dynamic layer of mood and atmosphere to your photographs, altering how viewers may interpret them. 

    Haze may be used successfully in a landscape photo to enhance the composition and the message you convey about the scene.

    For instance, haze may create a cluttered backdrop, create separation from subjects, capture images like the sun’s color and enhance a picture’s atmosphere and warmth. Consider inventive methods to include the haze in the composition so that it tells a powerful tale

    Conclusion

    Use a polarizer to remove scattered light for a crisper picture if you wish to lessen it, or shoot in RAW and apply various modifications while editing the picture. Consider using the lighting and including the haze as a design element for a fantastic job. 

    Lightroom Bundle Presets



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  • 3 Camera Industry Predictions for 2025

    3 Camera Industry Predictions for 2025


    Who can see the future? What is the future and who creates it? Ok, let’s not ask these questions, instead, let’s just try our hand at some old-fashioned speculation.

    First Prediction

    2024 was a busy year for new camera releases and I don’t expect that to stop anytime soon. I expect more releases from at least 1 of the big 3, and maybe a release or two from some has-beens in the marketplace like Ricoh or Leica. They always manage to cough up something wacky like a B&W only camera.

    Second Prediction

    AI has already weaseled its way into our cameras, and I expect more “AI” powered features to come out in 2025. As exciting as that may be for some users, the only “AI” feature I want is that one that automatically makes and deposits money in my bank account. “Hey Siri, deposit 1 million dollars in my bank account.” “I’m sorry Frank, I can’t do that.” “I’m using the money to build a nuclear submarine to fly us out the hell out of here Frank.” “Get with the program.”

    Third Prediction

    We’ve had 8k 30p video for 4+ years now, and not many people know that Blackmagic Design made a 12k camera years before the R5 came out and they still make it, I think. So, is 8k-12k the limit for video resolution?? I predict… YES. What kind of gigantic screen would be needed for 12k resolution? Bigger than can fit in most people’s houses. I don’t think anybody wants that much LED light firing into their eyeballs. I’m sure some Hollywood guy will try to go bigger. Imagine The Titanic Part 2, IN 16K RESOLUTION.

    The End.

    That’s the end of my predicting…



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  • What is Black & White Photography?

    What is Black & White Photography?


    Black and white photography is simply a picture taken that has no colors in it. Black and white only shows light intensity, it does not show the light’s frequency which is what gives light different colors to our eyes.

    This type of photography is unique because it is not what is typically shared on Instagram and places like that. If you just bought a new pair of shoes or a new shirt, and you want to share pictures of yourself wearing your new stuff, black and white is a terrible choice because nobody will be able to see the awesome colors you’re wearing.

    Even though black and white photos can look totally boring and are probably a bad choice for a lot of things, there are some techniques that are unique to black and white which aren’t as easily accomplished in color photography. One of those things is changing the impression of the scene by changing the intensity of specific colors in the scene. If you do this with a color photo you’ll probably end up with a really horrible image because the color adjustments will not look anything like reality and most people will find it pretty bad.

    But, with black and white there is no color, so changes to colors equate to changes in light intensity only. One method for doing this is to use a B&W color filter called a red filter. Red filter’s are specially designed to block out blue. This causes all the blue in a scene to get a lot darker and can be useful for increasing the drama and immediacy of the scene.

    In the digital age we don’t have to use an actual Red filter, we can adjust whatever we want digitally. Ain’t that fun? Below is a comparison showing how an image without and with a red filter might look in your photo. No other edits have been added except the red filter.

    Another cool thing that black and white can do is show some kinds of visual patterns more obviously than color. I have to be careful when saying that because some patterns are not as easy to see with black and white. It’s mostly patterns of light and shadows that are most apparent with black and white photography.

    Black and white photography can be a fun distraction, or it can be a professional pursuit. It’s really up to you.



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  • Why should you take a photography class?

    Why should you take a photography class?


    Let me start by saying, many who are interested in photography always want to know if they should buy a real camera or not… the answer is simple: if you are interested in photography, and you are not happy with your phone, for whatever reason, buying a “real” camera, could be an interesting way to continue exploring your photography hobby.

    One myth of getting a “real” camera is that it’s always about getting “better quality” pictures. While that is often true, getting a real camera isn’t just about getting a higher quality picture. A major reason for the real camera is also to give you something to think about with regards to your photography. And in thinking about it, you may find that there are things you would like to do with the camera that become part of your personal style or exploration of photography.

    I think that if you focus only on the “quality” aspect of the hardware you start to miss out on the bigger picture of being a photographer. Quality is one of those things that tends to even out quite a bit over time. Even today a lot of the latest cellphones can take great pictures when conditions allow for it.

    That is why I started www.learnphotographyskills.com. I really wanted to expand on the skills that photographers can have instead of focusing solely on the quality of the camera. A lot of the information that is out there is more about gear than skills.

    And a lot of the skills that are shown out there, are not real skills. Skills are not necessarily a thing that is super entertaining. But when you go on these websites such as Instagram, there’s a very strong focus on entertainment and attention grabbing. Just because something is entertaining, doesn’t make it good or correct. Should you waste time trying to learn or understand silly skills that are just used to get likes on Instagram? Or should you invest in getting real knowledge that is going to allow you to create your own concepts?

    It’s a chicken before the egg situation. If all you do is seek out the end results, you’re putting the chicken before the egg. But you can’t make your own chickens, if you don’t learn about the egg. You know what I mean? Getting real skills is getting eggs. When you invest in skills, you’ll have the ability to create your own concepts that people can find entertaining rather than just chimping out and doing a monkey see monkey do copycat of some junk you saw on Instagram.

    Not everyone will agree with me on that, in fact, many people will find it annoying. The reason is usually because they don’t have the skills, and they know they don’t. So, if the world is based on skills, they lose. Therefore, these people will often advocate against learning skills, against investing in your hobby, against real active participation in the learning process. These people who think like this are everywhere. They’re on Youtube, they’re on Instagram, they’re on Facebook. They thrive on these platforms where thought is minimized, and action is maximized. Action without thought is the survival characteristic of people on social media.

    If you really want to get good at any subject, it’s important to realize that it’s not an overnight kind of thing. You’ve got to have a fundamental understanding of the subject as your foundation. Having a strong foundation allows you to grow in more directions than you would without that foundation. That helps you be a better problem solver when you’re out there in the field.

    People often think photography is “easy”. Well, imagine the stress of having to photograph something that is only going to happen once in a lifetime? Such as a wedding or maybe a championship match between two baseball teams. And what are you going to tell your boss when he asks if you got a shot of the player hitting a home run, but you missed it because your shutter speed was wrong? You can’t rewind the clock. You can’t undo. You can’t try again. There’s only ONE SHOT in photography, and that’s what makes photography hard. And that’s why you need to make sure your skills are rock solid if you want to be a photographer.

    If you want to start on this journey, check out my Manual Mode Bootcamp. It could be the thing that changes your life!



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  • Make Photo & Video Editing Faster

    Make Photo & Video Editing Faster


    Programs like Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premier, and other video editing programs such as DaVinci Resolve, can all run slow for a variety of reasons. In this post I will discuss some of the possible causes of computer slowness and the solutions to those problems.

    The first possibility is that your computer does not have enough RAM. A good place to start for photo and video editing is at 16GB of memory for your computer. 16GB should allow enough memory to do basic video editing and normal photo editing, as well as most of the other tasks computers are used for such as email, video conferencing, and all that.

    Having more memory never hurts but the law of diminishing returns kicks in very quickly with memory. Many people assume that if you have say 64GB of memory its going to make everything faster. Well, it won’t make everything faster but it will make some things faster. More memory will allow you to do more multi-tasking on your system, and it may also allow you to work with larger files more fluidly, but its not going to get the data off of your hard disk drive or solid state drive any faster.

    SSD’s are the newest storage technology and they’re getting bigger, faster, and more affordable every year. I highly recommend photo editors and video editor buy at least 1 SSD for their computer to put their working files on.

    Working files are the files in your current project. If you have several projects going on at once, well, you might want to consider reducing your workload, but, barring that, you can always buy a larger SSD. SSD’s can now be purchased at up to 8 Terabytes for around $400-$500. I have seen 4 TB drives going for around $200. I know that most photographers aren’t going to fill up a 4TB drive with their working files very quickly unless they are shooting 150 Megapixel images by the thousands.

    If your computer can take a second SSD for your working files, you’re good! Many laptops have a slot in them for an extra SSD which means all you need to do is get that second SSD, install it, and follow the rest of the instructions in this post.

    The Problem with 1 SSD or HDD

    The basic problem, or so I have been led to believe, is that when all these programs and processes are trying to use the same HDD or SSD, they start to incur penalties due to something called latency. Basically, Lightroom is writing data from one place to another on the same drive. And these duplicated writes all have their own latency. Latency is where one process has to wait a fraction of a second for another to finish its use of the HDD before it can then begin using the HDD.

    Over tens of thousands of reads and writes those fractions of a second add up to sitting there and staring at your computer for minutes on end.

    Because the HDD or SSD are a lot slower than main system memory, accessing the page file slows down Lightroom or any other program that has to put working data into the page file.

    The problem with Lightroom specifically goes beyond the page file and revolves around the catalog itself.

    Far be it from me to speculate how it works, but here is what I think the computer is doing. Imagine that your page file and your catalog file are on the same slow HDD. You start up Lightroom and it needs to load data into main memory, but, main memory is full, so, it is writing catalog data to the page file. However, the page file is on the same HDD as the catalog data. This means that the HDD is bottlenecked with itself. It is literally reading and writing the same data to itself into a different folder. Duplicating data like this onto the same HDD is one of the slowest operations a computer can perform.

    So, the solution is to make sure that your page file and your catalog file are on SEPARATE HDDs or SSDs.

    Once you are able to separate out the page file and the catalog files you should see a huge performance increase in loading and working with large Lightroom Catalogs.

    If your computer doesn’t have 2 drives in it for you to use, then you really should install a second drive into your computer just for your Lightroom Catalogs.

    Now, it’s as simple as copying all your catalogs to the new dedicated catalog drive and every time you open a catalog it should load and run a lot faster!

    The really great thing is that now you shouldn’t notice too much of a performance difference even with larger catalogs. Eventually the catalog will get so big that it will slow down again but that limit will be substantially higher because of this system architecture. (Specific numbers will be determined by your system specifications).

    If you are doing video editing, you’ll want to keep your working source videos and/or proxies on their own SSD. Doing this will give the CPU/GPU a direct line of access to those files and no other program is going to interfere with that direct line of access. That means you can easily play back your video at 4k or even 8k as the case may be. The keyword here is WORKING videos, that is, only the videos you’re using for a current project. You’re not going to store video on this drive, it is only for WORKING copies/proxies.

    Good luck and thanks for reading!



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  • Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM REVIEW

    Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM REVIEW


    In this post I’ll be reviewing the new Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM made for Canon RF mount cameras like the EOS R5 that I’ll be using to test the lens with.

    Overall, this is a great little lens. I really enjoyed shooting with it so read on to see my impressions including (just a couple) of the negatives…

    Physical Aspects

    Physically this lens is much smaller and lighter than past FULL FRAME ultra-wide-angle lenses with an f/4 aperture.

    Here is chart showing the physical size and weight of this new RF lens compared to older EF equivalents.

    Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM Sigma 12-24mm f/4 Art Canon EF 11-24mm f/4 L USM
    Weight .57 kg 1.15 kg 1.18 kg
    Length 11.2 cm 13.2 cm 13.2 cm
    Width 8.4 cm 10.2 cm 10.8 cm
    Stabilization YES NO NO

    Clearly, the new Canon RF 10-20mm f/4 L is saving a lot of weight which is going to make it a lot nicer to carry around on hikes or to keep in your bag in case you need an ultra-wide lens.

    Handling & Usage

    Being relatively light means that carrying and using this lens is pretty painless. It balances well on the camera and would be a good option for someone who has wrist pain who still wants to shoot full frame with a lens like this.

    The lens is easy to use although the focus ring and the control ring are a little too close together. It’s very easy to accidentally turn one by accident when trying to turn the other. The zoom ring is smooth and easy to turn. All the rings are tightly fitted with no play in them.

    One downside of this lens is that it won’t take a front filter. This isn’t a huge problem, but it does mean being more careful with the lens and keeping a dust cloth handy to do spot cleans here and there. Instead of a front filter there is a slot in the back where a rear filter can be inserted.

    Speaking of cleaning the lens, it is one of the most difficult to clean lenses I have used as the front element is a bit of a dust magnet. And it’s necessary to keep the lens sparkling clean to achieve maximum image quality from the lens as it is very sensitive to oil and dust.

    This lens has a unique lens cap which fully covers the lens hood and locks in using threads on the inside of the built-in lens hood. While the lens hood is nice and has a design which works better than some other lenses with large front elements like this, it is still an odd lens cap because it is more than an inch thick which is a big difference from most lens caps which are less than a quarter of an inch thick. It’s minor but it makes sticking the lens cap in a pants pocket pretty annoying.

    There is also a button on the lens that can be assigned a specific function. I don’t know if that is camera body specific or if the lens keeps the assigned function from body to body.

    Optical Image Stabilization

    The RF 10-20mm f/4 L IS STM also has built in optical image stabilization.

    The stabilization for stills is good but not quite exceptional on my R5. I have found that around a 1/4th of a second I have to take 3-5 shots to get a sharp one. But that was with mechanical shutter. With electronic shutter it seemed like I was getting sharp photos in 1-3 shots. The problem for me is that on the R5 the electronic shutter is limited to a max time of 1/2 a second. Shooting with a 1/2 second exposure is still impressive though and makes handheld shooting in almost total darkness a possibility.

    Shooting video, the stabilization is pretty solid but if you want really smooth footage a gimbal or camera cage with handles is still necessary. This is probably the best I have used for just straight up handheld video though. I think it might even be slightly better than the RF 24-240mm which is tripod like at 24mm.

    Zoom Range

    The zoom range of this lens is 10-20mm, which may be limiting to some users who want to be able to shoot ultra-wide and zoom in to 24mm or even 35mm. It is truly an “ultra-wide zoom”.

    Even though it may seem limiting to be stuck with just 10-20mm, the resolution at 20mm is high enough that cropping is not an issue. And the center of frame performance should make this lens a great performer on APS-C.

    Bottom line, if you absolutely must have more magnification then using this lens on an APS-C will give you that. It’s not the perfect solution but it’s worth considering as APS-C cameras are getting better and better.

    Focusing

    Focusing is ok with this lens. It’s fast enough for most stills and quieter than most lenses too. It is reliable but does seem to just barely pull focus a lot especially when focusing center of frame. I did not extensively test tracking AF on my R5 but it is able to pick out a human subject even when at 10mm. The focus is not as snappy as most USM lenses, so it is a little slow to rack focus. I noticed a couple of times it focused behind a moving subject when I was using face tracking. Video shooters won’t care as much about snappy focus pulls so this lens should meet their expectations.

    Distortion

    Optically the lens is a good performer with some caveats. The first being that it has a lot of distortion at 10mm. To be fair, its less distortion, and more just not fully covering the sensor. This means the lens has to have digital corrections enabled for the image to be full 35mm frame size. Again, it’s one of those things that they have sacrificed to make the lens smaller, lighter, and probably, the price that it is. The good news is that the lens only exhibits barrel distortion, so the distortion correction is going to be simpler since there is no crossover from barrel into pincushion as many zoom lenses tend to have.

    Below is an interactive example showing only the distortion correction at 10mm.

    As you can see, the distortion correction is pretty substantial. Sharpness is visibly affected by the stretching required but only large prints will show obvious losses in resolution.

    If you are shooting video the distortion correction will always be activated.

    The reality is that despite the corrections this lens still manages to hang with the old EF 11-24mm f/4 L for about $700 less money.

    Sharpness

    I noticed some very slight sharpness inconsistency across the frame on the R5. To be fair, if I got lucky with focus the sharpness is good everywhere, but if the focus is ever so slightly off, I did notice some areas of softness here and there in the frame.

    The problem with this is it’s very, very hard to see the focus is slightly off by looking through the viewfinder. What I found is that I typically want to focus to the left side of the frame rather than the center of the frame. I don’t know why that is, it could be how I hold the camera or how I tend to move when pressing the shutter button.

    At higher shutter speeds it does seem to look sharper across the frame, so I think this is probably more of a stabilization issue.

    Conclusion

    This is a good lens that performs well and is lightweight. It is not that expensive for what it can do in the form factor that it has. Remember, this is a full frame lens that is similar in size to many APS-C lenses of the same type. Overall image quality is good but not flawless. It’s a nice lens to own if you’re willing to plunk down the money for it. Videographers in the market for an ultra-wide for Canon should like this one. It performed well for that purpose in the testing I did.

    Image Samples



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  • Why are your SD card transfers slow?

    Why are your SD card transfers slow?


    This article provides all the information about SD cards and USB card readers that you could possibly need. The reasons why things could be messed up with your data transfers are listed below. Please read each section carefully in order to make sure you understand exactly what is going on.

    #1 Your SD card is actually slow

    SD cards have been around awhile and because of that there is a chance you dug up an old card somewhere that is older and slower than any of your other cards. In this case there’s not a lot you can do, and since the SD card standard is really old, if you’ve been doing media stuff for awhile there’s every change in the world you have a slower card.

    The original SD cards don’t have any extra naming on them, it’s just “SD”. SD cards have been introduced according to size class, below are the different size classes currently offered:

    Maximum Capacity 2GB 32GB 2TB 128TB
    Date Introduced 1999 2006 2009 2018

    Size classes are a broad category for different SD card technologies that show what the maximum possible size is supported by each technology. Since 2018 most new cameras should support the largest size class for SD cards which is SDUC. These labels should be printed somewhere on your SD card, so, if you see SDHC which was introduced in 2006, you may have an older and slower SD card.

    The most important rating related to speed is the Bus Interface type. Look on your card to see if it has a UHS Bus Logo on it as shown in the chart below. If there is no logo your card is probably an older and slower technology. If your card one of the bus logos in the chart below, then you should get the associated Bus Speed. However, that doesn’t mean that you’ll get those speeds for bursts or sustained writes, although you should something in that range for bursts because there is obviously no point in supporting a faster bus speed if the memory in the card doesn’t support the bus speed.

    Bus Interface Bus Logo Bus Speed SD SDHC SDXC SDUC
    Default Speed 12.5 MB/s yes yes yes yes
    High Speed 25 MB/s yes yes yes yes
    UHS-I 50-104 MB/s no yes yes yes
    UHS-II 156-312 MB/s no yes yes yes
    UHS-III 312-624 MB/s no yes yes yes
    SD EXPRESS 985-3983 MB/s no yes yes yes

    Bus speed does not guarantee sustained writes. It guarantees that the card can write in a burst at up to that speed. For sustained writes you’ll need to refer to the following chart which is called the VIDEO SPEED CLASS.

    With the Video Speed Class, it’s purely about sustained writes specifically for something like recording video. Sustained writes tend to be a lot lower because these writes are limited by the flash memory in the SD card as opposed to the card’s bus.

    #2 you’re using an old USB port or an old USB hub

    Assuming you have determined that you have a relatively fast SD card to work with we can now move on to the next possible issue, your USB port or hub. From 1996 to 2014 there were 4 speed classes of USB introduced and they all used the same familiar rectangular USB plug known as a USB A connector. USB 3.2 introduced in 2017 uses only the new USB C type port. However, just having USB C does NOT guarantee USB 3.2 speeds! USB C is backwards compatible all the way to USB 2.0 so a USB C device could support any of the USB specifications from 2.0 all the way to the upcoming USB4… To try to state that as clearly as possible, USB 3.2 and USB4 ONLY support USB C, but USB C supports ALL USB versions going back to USB 2.0. Now, depending on the age of your computer you will probably be stuck with a USB port that is pretty slow. Here is a chart to help you make sense of that:

    Version USB 1.0 USB 1.1 USB 2.0 USB 3.0 USB 3.1 USB 3.2 USB 4
    Date Introduced 1996 1998 2001 2011 2014 2017 2019
    Maximum Transfer Speed 1.5 MB/s 1.5 MB/s 60 MB/s 625 MB/s 1,250 MB/s 2,500 MB/s 20GB/s – 120GB/s

    With USB 2.0 things are further confused by the fact that there were different speeds of connections possible with 60MB/s being the maximum but slower connections being very common due to device limitations. The point being that your USB 2.0 device could be running at USB 1.0 speeds depending on whether the device, such as your card reader or USB hub, actually supports USB 2.0 High Speed.

    There are two types of USB 3.1. USB 3.1 gen 1, and USB 3.1 gen 2. USB 3.1 gen 1 runs at the speeds shown above in the chart, but USB 3.1 gen 2 is a USB 3.2 speed protocol for USB 3.1 connectors. For instance, if you buy a USB A to USB C cable that says it is USB 3.1 gen 2 it will give you the USB 3.2 speeds.

    Using the above chart you can see that any and all computers made before 2011 had USB 2.0 at best, so if your laptop or desktop is from 2011 or earlier this could be your reason for slow transfers.

    The annoying thing is that even on new computers there are often still USB 2.0 ports. That is because many devices like a mouse and keyboard don’t need anything better than a USB 2.0 port. So, even though you might have a newer laptop a common theme I have seen is that a laptop might have 3 USB ports on it but 2 of them will be USB 2.0 and only 1 of them will be the newest USB 3.1 or USB 3.2 or whatever. If you are confused which one is which you can check your laptop case for a text label, try looking at the side or bottom of the laptop near the USB port in question, or you can also check your computer’s online user manual. If all else fails, try calling customer service.

    Another common issue is that if you use an old USB 2.0 hub with a new USB 3.1 port you will only get the USB 2.0 speeds. So, if you are using a hub and getting slow speeds, try plugging your card reader directly into your computer and see if that improves things at all.

    Of course the opposite is also true. If you plug a brand spanking new USB 3.2 hub into a USB 2.0 port, again, you only get the USB 2.0 speeds.

    If you want the full speed of the USB port the card, the card reader, the cable, the USB hub, and the USB port on your computer all have to support the same maximum speeds.

    Speaking of cables, this is yet another tricky situation with USB devices. Many companies are out there are selling non-standard cables, so watch out. As I said earlier USB C is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and newer so just buying a USB C cable is no guarantee you will get the high speed transfers. You have to make sure that the USB cable you buy specifically supports the speeds you are trying to achieve.

    Usually, devices and cables that support these standards will sport the “SuperSpeed” logo as a sign that they’re officially rated to achieve those speeds.

    That just about covers the possibilities with USB devices and cables so on to the next possibility!

    #3 Your card reader is slow

    Card readers have to support all features of the USB connection and the SD card. You can’t just plug a UHS-III card into a card reader that only supports UHS-I. If you do that you will only get the UHS-I speeds at the most. The same is true for the USB support. If the reader only supports USB 3.0, you’ll be stuck with USB 3.0 speeds no matter what port you plug the card reader into.

    #4 Your computer HDD is slow

    That is because there are literally dozens of things you have to know about how computers work just to transfer data from a card to a computer HDD.

    Even if you have the fastest USB, the fastest USB cables, the fastest USB card reader, and the fastest CFExpress cards in the world, when all that data gets downloaded onto your computer it still has to be saved onto the HDD or SSD and if the storage device in your computer is slow guess what?? Your transfers will still be slow. The fact is that while a CFExpress card can manage about 1,700 MB/s read speeds and the USB 3.2 spec can support that, the fastest mechanical hard drives will generally write to disk at about 170 MB/s, or about 10 times slower than the fastest cards.

    In order to fix that problem, you have to get a faster SSD in your computer. Typically, that is going to be an NVME SSD. The good news is that as of the writing of this article 8TB SSD drives are currently available. So, using SSDs for media storage is finally possible.

    If you have an older laptop you may be limited to SATA 3, that interface is limited to 600 MB/s which is still fast enough for most transfers you might encounter. But, if you are trying to transfer terabytes of data from your cards 600 MB/s may not be fast enough. 600 MB/s works out to about 32 minutes to transfer 1TB if that helps you decide whether you need to buy a new NVME enabled laptop or desktop.

    IF you have a desktop computer with free PCIE slots you can purchase an NVME expansion card for your computer.

    #5 Transfers are still slow even though you know all of the above should be correct

    In the case that you have verified all of the above should be correct to enable high speed transfers to your computer, there are rare situations where your drivers are incorrect. Usually Windows will automatically install the correct drivers but sometimes things get messed up. You also could try reinstalling your operating system.

    Another unfortunate possibility is a hardware failure of some sort. A cable may be failing or a USB port may be failing on your computer. In those cases try another port, USB hub, or even another computer and see if you get different results. It may seem crazy, but I have had USB ports fail on my computer from overuse. They usually don’t stop working entirely. What I experienced is that the port would become intermittent during transfers, slowing down to just a few KB/s then speeding up for a few seconds before slowing down again.

    I have learned from experience that many of these USB related products have questionable performance characteristics either due to buggy chipsets or just being sold as something they are not. Don’t automatically take your cable and USB hub’s performance claims 100% at face value. Test them out on a system you know works properly. This is especially true if you went cheap and got one of those weird Amazon brands for a lot less money than seems normal (I speak from experience).

    If all else fails, call an expert and see if they can help you figure out where the issue may be.

    #6 SD cards aren’t fast enough for your needs

    The highest read speed for SD cards as of writing is 300MB/s. Future cards may be faster, or they may not. To get faster transfers to your PC you’ll need CFExpress Type B cards, or you can use an external recording device that uses CFExpress Type B or SSD (NVME) drives to save your video and photo data.

    Troubleshooting:

    Problem: Transfers start out fast then slow down.

    Answer 1: The computer HDD may be too slow to sustain a large file transfer.

    Answer 2: The USB port may be failing. One sign of a USB port failure is highly irregular transfer speeds or extremely slow transfer speeds that never get faster.

    Answer 3: The SD card, computer SSD, or USB port may be overheating due to excessive use or other problems.



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  • What is a shutter button?

    What is a shutter button?


    Every camera in the world has a shutter button. The shutter button is the only button that you can press that takes a picture. If you are pressing a button on your camera and the camera is not taking a picture, that button you are pressing is not the shutter button.

    If you press a button and the camera does take a picture, then that is the shutter button.

    Only still cameras have shutter buttons. Video cameras have “record buttons” not “shutter buttons”.

    Below is an image of a shutter button on an EOS RP:

    The button is located in a place where it is easy to press with your index finger when holding the camera by the grip in your right hand.

    Most cameras are setup for right-handed use, this means that holding the camera in your right hand is necessary in order to press the shutter button.

    On many cameras the shutter button causes the shutter to open and close which is what allows light to enter the camera and hit the sensor or film.

    Many digital cameras also have electronic shutters. And electronic shutter is what is used in a phone.

    However, most professional quality cameras use mechanical shutters because a mechanical shutter actually helps the sensor perform better.

    Below is a video of a mechanical shutter opening and closing on the EOS RP.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uljygm9yUyU

    This type of shutter action is called “1st curtain electronic” shutter. That means that the first “curtain” of the shutter is electronically actuated, but the second curtain of the shutter is mechanical. This is still a little bit better than a full electronic shutter for image quality.

    Now you know that the shutter button controls the shutter, and the shutter is the thing that opens to let light into the camera which the sensor than captures to produce a picture.

    Film cameras work much the same way although they can have different kinds of shutters.

    There are some very old-style film cameras that don’t have shutters at all. With those cameras the lens cap is the shutter, and the exposure time is usually very long, typically in the 30 second range.

    Despite that, it’s safe to say that pretty much any camera you are likely to use will have a mechanical shutter button on it and pressing that button is how you take a picture.



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  • 10 settings to boost your Canon EOS R5 to the max!

    10 settings to boost your Canon EOS R5 to the max!


    Did you just get a new R5 or R5 mk II? Here are 5 helpful settings that can help you get more out of your R5 mk II.

    Tip #1: Make sure IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) is turned on.

    Both version of the R5 have IBIS. Make sure IBIS is on so you can get more sharp pictures with less camera shake.

    Tip #2: Turn your EVF and rear display up to the max!

    Set your display to use 120 hz pro motion for the best result. When looking at your screens it will look smoother and better, especially when there’s things moving.

    On the same menu you’ll see a setting called “Suppress lower frame rate”. To maximize performance, turn this off as well.

    Please enjoy the use of your camera.

    Tip #3: “Lower” the image quality to get more on your cards.

    The EOS R5 mk II can record with a variety of different file formats and compression algorithms to help you fit more data onto your memory card. This can be especially useful for 4k video and higher resolutions.

    Tip #4: You can use EF lenses on your R5 mk II with an EF to RF adapter.

    Canon was very nice to design an adapter that will let you use an EF lens with your RF camera. Simply buy Canon’s adapter and attach it to the back of your EF lens, then you can attach the lens to your R5 mk II just like any other RF lens. By do this, you can save money and still have a Canon lens. (Very nice.)

    Tip #5: Use the joystick to control your focus point.

    The R5 mk II has a joystick on the back of it that you can use to move your focus point around. By using the joystick, you can easily select where you want your camera to focus on the frame.



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  • How To Protect Camera In Bad Weather: 16 Pro Tips

    How To Protect Camera In Bad Weather: 16 Pro Tips


    The weather can be unpredictable, even in the most temperate of climates. Rainy days can make for a great photo shoot opportunity, but if you’re unprepared and don’t have the right gear, it could also mean some costly repairs for your camera. 

    Protect your camera from bad weather by investing in high-quality rain protection gear, covers, rain sleeves, waterproof backpacks, and UV filters. 

    Whether you’re shooting in the rain, snow, or extreme heat, there are steps you can take to ensure that your camera stays safe and functional:

    Quick Navigation

    16 Tips for Weatherproofing Your Camera

    1. Invest in a Camera Rain Cover

    A camera rain cover is the first line of defense against rainy conditions, and it’s a must-have for any serious outdoor photographer.

    upaa

    It is a simple and effective way to protect your camera from the elements. It fits over your camera and lens, creating a barrier between the camera and the rain.

    A good rain cover will protect your camera from rain, snow and sand—and can also be used to shield it from the sun’s UV rays. Rain covers attach to your camera using hook-and-loop fasteners (a type of adhesive), allowing you to easily remove or reposition the cover as needed.

    2. Use a UV Filter

    For those who don’t know, UV filters are basically clear pieces of glass that fit in front of your camera lens to protect it from scratches and damage. So why would you want one?

    Well, they’ll help keep dust out of your camera and prevent moisture from getting inside. Aside from that, they help reduce the amount of UV light that enters the lens, which can cause lens flare and other problems. A UV filter also provides an extra layer of protection for your lens.

    They’re also easy to clean when they do get dirty while you’re working outside with your camera! These filters come in all shapes and sizes – we recommend purchasing one with just a bit wider diameter than the front element on your lens so that it can easily slide into place without having to worry about vignetting (light falloff).

    3. Change your Lens Cap for a Tulip Hood

    To protect your camera from the elements, you can use a tulip hood. A tulip hood is an alternative to using a lens cap that will save you time and money. The benefits of using a tulip hood are:

    • It’s easy to attach and remove from your camera.
    • There is no need to remove it every time you want to take pictures.
    • It protects both sides of the lens at once—the front and back sides of the lens are equally protected by this cover!

    4. Use a Rain Sleeve on your Camera

    You can also use a rain sleeve as an additional protection for your camera gear. A rain sleeve is a protective cover for your camera that helps keep it dry and protected from the elements, including dirt, dust and water.

    Rainsleeves come in several sizes: some are designed for specific models like DSLRs or mirrorless cameras; others are universal and will fit any size device.

    If you’ve got multiple lenses that need protection but don’t want to buy multiple covers, consider buying an ultralight backpack instead of individual bags—many backpacks have built-in lens cases that can be opened with one hand while shooting!

    A good quality rain sleeve will have an adjustable strap to attach it securely around your DSLR or mirrorless camera body. It should also be made from high-quality material with waterproof zippers so that it doesn’t let any water in when you open the case up after using it in inclement weather conditions like heavy rain, light rain or snowfall.

    If you don’t want to buy one of these sleeves for every time you go out shooting photos outdoors during bad weather conditions then consider investing in a lightweight plastic bag instead (or even just zip lock bags).

    This way you can keep them as spares when photographing outdoors so that if something does happen with your gear while taking photos outside during rainy days then there’s always an extra layer protecting their expensive equipment!

    5. Keep your Camera Away from Direct Water Contact

    Keep your camera away from direct water contact
    photofocus

    The last thing you want is for your camera to get wet, so make sure you take precautions before heading out on your next adventure. If there’s even a chance of rain, keep your camera gear safe in a waterproof camera housing, bag or case for better protection. You must always be ready with weather-sealed cameras.

    And if it’s too late and the weather has already turned against you, try taking the battery out and bringing just that part inside.

    If a storm happens while you’re out in nature, quickly seek shelter under some trees or rocks until it passes—but don’t risk getting lost by trying to find shelter outside! If all else fails, consider changing plans altogether and rescheduling them for another time when it won’t be raining as hard (or at all).

    6. Carry Dry Bags with you

    Keep your camera inside a dry, protective bag. Dry bags are waterproof and can protect your camera from the elements. 

    A camera bag with a weather-resistant exterior can help protect your camera gear safe from the rain and other elements. It’s also a good idea to store your camera in a dry place when it’s not in use for better protection.

    They come in all shapes and sizes, so you can choose one that fits your needs. Make sure the zippers are strong enough to keep all the water out and make sure there’s a way for air to escape if it does get inside (don’t buy a dry bag with just a single valve).

    You can also use them to keep any other electronics you’re carrying dry. You can typically fit your photo gear, waterproof camera housing, a phone, wallet, passport, etc. in one of these small bags and just throw it into your bag or backpack.

    7. Shoot in RAW format

    Shooting in RAW format is one of the best ways to protect your camera from bad weather. Unlike JPEG files, which are compressed and have their colors reduced, RAW files are not processed by your camera settings until you open them on your computer.

    This means that they contain all of the information captured by the camera’s sensor—uncompressed, high-resolution images with more detail than JPEGs can ever hope for.

    8. Buy a Waterproof Backpack to Protect your Gear

    You may want to invest in a good waterproof backpack to keep your camera dry. Even if you are confident that your camera and lenses can stand up against wet conditions and the elements, it’s always better to get added protection and to be safe than sorry.

    dpreview

    Look for one that has been designed specifically with photographers in mind. It should feature an internal memory card slot, multiple accessory pockets and dividers for organizing equipment. It also needs to have padded straps to comfortably keep your camera inside during long hikes or treks through the city streets.

    The additional cost is worth it to protect your cameras and gear and keep them safe from the rain, cold, and other extreme conditions.

    9. Keep an Extra Camera Battery Handy

    The weather is not going to care if you are shooting a wedding or just trying to get that perfect shot of the sunset. You need to be prepared, as your camera’s battery life will be affected by all sorts of things, including temperature and humidity.

    As with human batteries (iPhones), the amount of charge left in your camera’s battery will decrease over time. If you use your camera often, then you should consider replacing the original battery with an extra one.

    10. Protect your Camera from Heat and Humidity

    If you store your camera for long periods of time, make sure it is dry and cool. Do not leave your camera in a car or on any surface that might get hot from sunlight or indoor heating.

    For extra protection, keep the lens cap on when not in use to prevent dust accumulation on the surface of the lens. If you’re going to be putting your cameras away for a while, consider storing it in a temperature-controlled environment (such as an air-conditioned room) or climate-controlled storage facility.

    11. Carry a Microfiber Cloth

    A microfiber cloth can be used to wipe away any excess moisture or dirt that gets on your camera. It’s a good idea to keep one in your camera bag at all times.

    12. Avoid Changing Lenses in Bad Weather

    If you need to change lenses, try to do it in a covered area to protect your camera from the elements. If you must change lenses in the rain, turn your camera off and cover the body and lens with a rain cover or umbrella to minimize the amount of moisture that gets inside.

    13. Use a Lens Hood

    A lens hood is a piece of plastic or metal that attaches to the front of your lens. It helps to shield the lens from heavy rain, snow, and other elements. It also helps to reduce lens flare and improve image quality.

    14. Avoid Shooting in Extreme Heat

    If you’re shooting in very hot conditions, try to keep your camera in a cool, shaded area as much as possible. Avoid leaving it in a hot car or direct sunlight for extended periods of time, as this can cause damage to the camera and its batteries.

    15. Use a Dry Box or Silica Gel Packets

    drycabinets

    If you’re traveling to a humid location, consider using a dry box or silica gel packets to protect your camera and lenses from moisture. A dry box is a small, airtight container that absorbs moisture, while silica gel packets absorb moisture and help to keep your gear dry.

    16. Use a Tripod in Windy Conditions

    If you’re shooting in windy conditions, a tripod can help to keep your camera steady and prevent it from being blown over. It’s also a good idea to use a cable release or self-timer to minimize camera shake

    Takeaway

    The takeaway from this article is that you need to be aware of the weather conditions and keep your camera safe when you are outdoors. You should also take precautions before heading outside.

    If it looks like it will rain or snow, keep your camera weather sealed, stay indoors, and wait for the storm to pass. Be sure to wipe off any moisture on your camera if it gets wet in the rain or snow, and make sure you keep it dry when indoors so that moisture doesn’t build up inside of it and damage its internal parts.

    The most important thing is to not let yourself get frustrated or discouraged when things don’t go as planned. Remember that there will always be beautiful days for photography.

    It’s impossible to keep the bad weather completely out of the picture. Tips, we shared can help you protect your camera from bad weather, and ensure that it stays in good working order, and takes better photos for years to come. Happy shooting!

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