Canon vs Nikon

Canon vs Nikon

One of the questions that turns the world and no solution is ” Which is better , Canon or Nikon ? The Canon vs Nikon debate itself has been occurring since the world began, or , in all honesty , about 20 years ago over now.

The fight actually is not absurd but the motivations of the discussion are. It would be reasonable if they might claim to really know if one is better than another, but overall this is a sterile debate on forums and bars where people try to justify because it is in either system .

Canon vs Nikon

Everyone who makes a decision about Canon or Nikon has to choose before knowing if he really prefers one or the other . When one has spent many years with either brand has probably acquired a series of lenses and maybe a flash that are incompatible with the rival brand.

In my case , I’m a big fan of Canon because in my years of doing photography reflex brand it has worked splendidly . I had a Nikon , not a reflex , and it was great, but when I decided to acquire a digital DSLR preferred to take advantage of the optical I had my old EOS 300 (which I retain and use occasionally ) so I could save a reasonable amount of money on lenses.

I found out later that the Canon cameras allow use by adapters, many manual lenses, while Nikon and other brands for a mechanical issue are allowed to use some less . But then again, that was a factor I discovered later and that it is only marginally interesting , because 99 % of people will not touch  a manual lens even with a stick .

Canon vs Nikon

NIKON OR CANON ? ?

Years later, while Nikon was doing some slightly better cameras, and then Canon released the EOS 5D MarkII , a DSLR that provided significant advantages in matters of value and , above all, a better video . Obviously, if all your gear is Canon you , you are happy and you buy one. And when Nikon camera then shows some improvement on these  same cresults, or that matches them but is more affordable , you feel so sorry because, of course , you cannot “undo your position ” without incurring significant losses.

Finally , the answer to whether it is better Canon or Nikon has an answer out on a tangent : does not matter . The differences are extremely small and often and has almost always been biased by the  the most striking  offer you can access to.

Now, both brands have an interesting advantage SLRs ( also called DSLRs ) but neither has maintained that remarkable advantage in the market for EVIL ( mirrorless cameras ), where Olympus Sony or Samsung seem to later. Experiments like the EOS M and Nikon 1 series do not have the full potential than other brands.

10 headshots I did in 2006:

Sometimes it is interesting taking a look back to what you were doing some time ago. I don’t think they are my best pieces of work, but there’s some life in the looks of the people I do like especially. Less process, less shots, less quality lenses and cameras but, however, portraits done with the gear I had in 2006. It seemed enough in that moment :)

Some of them are shot with Fujifilm S9500, some with a Nikon Coolpix 5000 and they determine partially the style I had to take: both of them have a noticeable shutter lag (especially the Coolpix 5000), so you will see the pics are mainly calmed, still. When I moved to DSLRs all I wanted was capturing movement in the right moment, but that’d be in later pictures. It’s very curious because I have had SLRs (a Mamiya ZE  and a Canon EOS 300), so when I moved to digital, I felt terribly frustrated about shutter lag.

10 headshots I did in 2006

Nadia and the blanket - Archerphoto, professional photographer

Nadia and the blanket

Isabel Bayonas - Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain
Isabel Bayonas
Lucía. Archerphoto, commercial photographer
Lucía
Nuria. Archerphoto, professional photographer
Nuria
Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain
África
Archerphoto, commercial photographer in Spain
Marta
Nadia in a Black Dress - Archerphoto, professional photographer
Nadia in a Black Dress
Professional photographer Spain, Archerphoto
Joana
Commercial photographer in Spain, Archerphoto
Kristynka
Professional photographer, Archerphoto
Lola

You can find all that pics (and more) in my Flickr page: http://flickr.com/photos/archerphoto. If you need pictures you can contact me in sergi@archerphoto.eu

XV Valencia Fashion Week: 2013

Valencia has a fashion show that began with a huge boost when major events were regional government policy but, with the economic cutbacks, it has been losing a lot of thrust. Currently the concept is rethought to survive the crisis and having a a low budget  profile while promoting less known designers. The location seems to be permanently (kind of , you know) in the Agora of the City of Sciences Valencia.

The catwalk had, in previous years, names like Hannibal Laguna, Ion Fiz and the organizer, Alex Vidal, and there were discovered some designers that after dramatically projected: Maya Hansen and Juan Vidal, for example. There were also shining moments with the presence of Assaad Awad, Fidel David or Higinio Mateu.

XV Valencia Fashion Week by Archerphoto

XV Valencia Fashion Week

Currently, the , Valencia Fashion Week live on less glamorous but interesting moments: Alejandro Resta, Siemprevivas or Anillarte are outstanding values ​​right now, although it is expected that the level of the newcomers is adequate .

Here are some galleries of this edition of the Valencia Fashion Week Spring Summer 2014.

Alejandro Resta

Alejandro Resta - Archerphoto, fashion photographer Spain

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Juana Martín

Juana Martín - Archerphoto. professional photographer Spain

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Esther Noriega

XV Valencia Fashion Week

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María Cózar Couture

María Cozar backstage - Archerphoto, professional fashion photographer

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Siemprevivas

Valencia Fashion Week 2013 desfile Siemprevivas

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Patricia Adam

Patricia Adam - Archerphoto, professional fashion photographer Valencia Spain

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Guillermo del Mar

Valencia Fashion Week Guillermo del Mar

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Anillarte

Violeta en Anillarte, Valencia Fashion Week Primavera Verano 2014

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Javier y Javier

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Lucía Botella para Pepe Botella

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You can find the pictures from this edition- and also from former editions- on my Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/archerphoto) if you have an account on that network and you want to follow me in a regular way. I am Sergi Albir, professional photographer. If you want fashion pictures, or you want to improve your portfolio, please contact me sergi@archerphoto.eu

Free Facebook Backgrounds by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain

Yeah, that’s it. I shoot a lot and some pics are not in my main line of work but some people likes them, so I decided to have them available in my Facebook page for using them. You don’t HAVE to do a single thing, but I would love if you add a Like to my page in Facebook (just in case you liked the pictures) and you can tag ArcherphotoinEnglish in the pic. But it’s not compulsory, of course. So, here you have Free Facebook Backgrounds by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain. All of the pictures I uploaded were taken in Spain, and I will be uploading more pictures, so keep an eye on me if you want to have more of them.

The link for Free Facebook Backgrounds

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.271076739660123.44140.263728650394932&type=3

Most of them are just landscapes or details, and you have them in the exact resolution for Facebook. Of course, you can’t sell them or transfer them in any way different to use. If you would like to have some of those pictures in high resolution, please mail me and describe me the use you want and I will send you the fee and the conditions. Just remember I am a professional photographer, a commercial photographer who lives in the same planet that you and need money to buy gear and eat daily.

Some of these pictures were taken while I was doing something else: waiting during a portfolio session, or just taking a walk with my camera, and most of them are not modified, just cropped and resized for Facebook.  Just 851×315 as recommended. Perhaps you are thinking if I am going to do something like that for Twitter. Well, I don’t know yet. Do you think it would be interesting?

Free Facebook Backgrounds by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain
Free Facebook Backgrounds by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Spain

Flickr Blog: Selected pictures of Flickr.

Flickr Blog: Flickr best selected photos.
One of the photography blogs I do follow is Flickr Blog. In this Flickr page, which is the most important page photograph in the world, they are conducting thematic selections or focuses attention on a photographer or group of photographers. The result is often spectacularly good.

FLICKR BLOG: WHY IS INTERESTING?

Grace, of course, is in the excellent selection Flickr people do. Flickr also provides a daily “Explore”, which is a complicated selection-by-programming algorithm of the 500 most interesting photos that have been uploaded in the last hours. I’ve been lucky enough to see my photos in Explore on many occasions, but the truth is that I have appeared on the blog. Yes, you can take a look at my photos on http://flickr.com/photos/archerphoto

Screenshot of Flickr Blog. The rights belong to the author of each photograph.
Screenshot of Flickr Blog. The rights belong to the author of each photograph.

In any case, the blog is chosen by direct human intervention using a computer valuing  many factors, and the result of personal touch is much better and more interesting. Whether you’re a professional photographer or just an amateur photographer you love photography, I recommend it.

And one more thing, Free Flickr accounts now have 1 GB of free storage, so if you liked your blog, you might want to join the page and have chances to appear on your blog. It’s not impossible :) This also should join one of their groups, Flickr Friday, where calls for photographs related to the theme each week.

Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi. A bad experience.

Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi

I usually write longer reviews, but in this case, with a brief comment will suffice because this is not a detailed analysis but a simple note discussing a bad experience with a Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi I bought in late July 2013.

Having taken a look at the options available (Sandisk Eye-Fi, Toshiba Transcend AirFlash and Wi-Fi), the best option seemed Transcend, so I decided to get myself one.

Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi. A bad experience.

The first moments were a bit disappointing: the card works as a Wi-Fi server and can connect up to three devices, very intuitive to set up, but a few minutes later I could see the photos shot on my Nexus 7 and mobile, thanks to the Android application. In a few minutes, I could see them on the laptop with Windows 7 but here came the first major problem: not only does not transfer RAW files with ease, but to photos download to the computer has to be ONE by ONE. There is a web interface that connects to the card, but you can not automatically download the pictures to your computer. This would streamline the work flow when we are shooting in the studio. I contacted the technical support team to confirm this software flaw and they did.

Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Valencia, Spain
Transcend 16GB Wi-Fi

However, the card was relatively affordable (about 45 €, shipping included) so the profitability could come by the card capacity to transfer directly photos to the cell phone. I was mistaken. That evening I took my EOS 5D Mark III and the card to a beauty event, and suddenly, the card locked my camera. It could not read the pictures and I couldn’t shoot. I had to restart the camera and remove the SD card. Photos are not lost and did not lose the work done that day, but if it was not because I had a second memory card, I’d had not been able to work. In any case, when I got back home, the SD remained unable to work, so I decided that my new SD Class 10 would be returned.

As a commercial photographer I rule out the use of this card and I do not recommended neither for amateur use. The odds that this is only one point of failure are high, but if a professional photographer can not rely on his memory card and this one not only does not permit significant function  (Wi-Fi transmission) but also did not you allow view photos in the camera, those are determining factors to qualify as a bad product.

Valencia Dreamhack 2013

Valencia Dreamhack 2013

My first time in Dreamhack is a LAN party with focus in gaming. Valencia (Spain, UE) has had its second edition with 20,000 people, about three times the number of participants last year. 500 professional players and about 40,000 € in prizes. And popular casters such as Shaun ‘Apollo’ Clark and Dan ‘Artosis’ Stemkoski.

There’s been competitions in Starcraft II, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Counter Strike Global Offensive and Dota 2, you can check results here. http://www.dreamhack.es/news/dreamhack-valencia12-esports-resultados/

Dreamhack -world’s largest computer festival, apparently- is replacing, somehow, the Campus Party events, but the interest of the gaming is undoubtedly less than all the science, design and entertainment Campus Party offered. Valencia had Campus Party for 15 years, so people in the city is very familiar with LAN parties and similar, but the limited gaming experience lacks of the most valuable innovation and thinking that Campus had. The event is placed in Valencia Fair, the same where Campus was during years.

As a matter of fact, there hasn’t been a very wide reportage: I was recording some video for a website, so I had very little time for shooting photos. However, here it is the result.

 

Dreamhack 2013 by Archerphoto
Dreamhack 2013 by Archerphoto

 

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Landscapes

LANDSCAPES

Almost sunset, by Archerphoto
Almost sunset, by Archerphoto

I am not a specialist in landscapes. But sometimes I can’t help to shoot some of them. I suppose it’s most common reaction when you have a camera in hands and feel compelled to capture the moment. I am just a commercial photographer, I don’t feel like an artist, but eventually the situation is claiming for a picture. So, there I am, having lots of time working just for having the pic. And I don’t even print them! The big pic was shot in Xativa, Valencia, Spain, while I was walking down a mountain.
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If you prefer taking a look to the same gallery in Flickr, https://secure.flickr.com/photos/archerphoto/sets/72157633098999305/

 

Sigma 35 1.4 Review and gallery

Sigma 35 1.4 Review and gallery

Sigma 35 1.4 is a really interesting lens I reviewed recently for a Spanish online magazine. Here you can find the English version.

It’s obvious that a good camera helps to make good pictures, but any photographer will tell you that the most important part of the pack is always the human element. Now, we photographers have a weakness for a particular part of the stuff that come with us: lenses. A good lens allows you to work on better, gives better results and even, sometimes, a good lens gets a mediocre camera make a great job. At the end of the day, we will see through the lens, so it is very important to choose the right equipment. In addition, lenses can be used longer than camera bodies. They do not so easily become obsolete. Using adapters, you can use lenses from the 50’s or 60’s with great results in our current DSLR.

Choosing a lens is usually complicated, but we can talk about a standard that is giving great results and has appeared less than a year: the Sigma 35 1.4. With a similar angle of view to human vision, the 35mm has been, in addition to 50mm, a classic in many cameras with fixed lens and a safe for many photographers. It becomes a wide angle and, if placed in a camera with an APS-C sensor (almost all SLR cameras that you can see in the street) it is equivalent to a 56mm, very close to the absolute standard, the 50mm. By the way, the front of the lens does not rotate when focusing, so if you want to use optical filters, no problem: 67mm thread.

Sigma 35 1,4 review by Archerphoto, professional photographer in Valencia, Spain
Sigma 35 1,4 review by Archerphoto

The attributes of the Sigma 35 1.4 are easy to point out: amazing optical quality at a reasonable price. The disadvantages are much less obvious, and always relative. It’s better if we explain this particular matter: this lens competes in the same focal length with three Canon lenses: 35 f2, 35 f2 and 35 f1.4 IS. The first two have a lower optical quality. 35 f2 is, however, considerably unexpensive. The 35 f2 IS features a stabilizer that can be useful in certain situations, but it is not essential, and with a price slightly below the target of Sigma. The 35 f1.4 Canon lens is a professional grade sealed against water and dust and similar to Sigma quality but at a price that it’s almost twice the Sigma. Also competes with two lenses without autofocus: the Zeiss 35 1.4, with higher price all previous epic and manufacturing optical quality, and Samyang 35 1.4, with good overall quality, and lower price than the Sigma. Nikon and Sony have similar lenses to professional Canon (AF-S Nikkor 35 1.4 and Sony 35 1.4G) which have very similar characteristics and the comparison terms would be equivalent.

After trying a couple of weeks the Sigma are some things that I can say is somewhat bulkier and heavier than expected, but its autofocus is fast, accurate and quiet. The optical quality is undisputed with a spectacular bokeh and is almost impossible to find aberrations like purple fringe. The biggest problem you could charge against the Sigma during the test result is it results highly addictive. The reserves I have regarding this lens are related with opinions of other people, including a camera mechanic I trust deeply and told me he had in his hands a broken unit that he had opened to repair and confirmed the comments I had read: construction is fragile. The toll paid by a lens and at a competitive price is which is less robust than a professional photographer would like, but probably for a careful amateur will not be a problem. In daily use certainly caused no problem, as we have said, beyond the farewell. This is a lens which one catches you love very easily.

Weight: 665g
Size: 77mm in diameter x 94 mm long
Mounts: Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Sigma.
Approximate price: € 900.

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