Adam Parker Photography Blog - Product Reviews

Reviews of camera gear from bodies and lenses to filters and flashes. My personal take on worth and usefulness of the camera gear you might buy.

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Monday, February 9th, 2009

My new Savage FT-150 monolight is here - review

In an effort to increase my photography flexibility I ordered a monolight. If you don't know what a monolight is, think of it as a extra powerful flash that operates off of your camera. Monolights help you achieve ideal lighting in situations with little or now light sources.

There are a lot of monolights out there that vary on features and power. The Savage FT-150 is not the most powerful or the fanciest unit, but it is a great value for the price.

This unit puts out 150 watt/seconds of light. That is not much compared to the units that put out 10 times light, but it is a great benefit to a dark scene. The effective range is over 100 feet. Plus the unit has a 150 watt modeling lamp that can help you focus and see in dark environment.

And, as icing on the cake, the unit has the ability to be a slave unit to other flashes. This is done via infra red signal (IR). IR is line of sight, so there are some limitations, but it is nice to have a built in remote trigger ability.

All this in a unit that costs $120. Expand your abilities and pick up one of these low cost units on amazon.

Continue reading My new Savage FT-150 monolight is here - review →

Posted by Adam Parker @ 11:51 PM [No Comments]

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3 Review

For my shoot of Stephen Whitfield I decided to pick up an off camera hot shoe cable. That way I could bounce light however I wanted without the need for a monolight and battery.

Continue reading Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3 Review →

Posted by Adam Parker @ 9:36 PM [No Comments]

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 mk II Lens Review

Today I thought I would do a review of a common prime lens, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 mk ii.

I bought a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 on amazon.com for $70. Full lens details can be found on canon's lens page, but I'll give you my thoughts on the lens after having used it for a while.

Why did I get this lens? Why I needed a lower f-stop? Well here's the thing, after going to the georgia aquarium, I was dissapointed that most of my shots were either too dark or the fish were too blury. Even with full control over camera settings, I couldn't get settings to match the low lighting of the aquarium. The only solution was to get a lens that would let in more light. That's where the low f-stop comes in.

The f-stop indicates the area of the opening in the lens that allows light through, [f-stop detalis can be found here]. By adjusting from a 3.5 (or even 5.6) f-stop to a 1.8 f-stop, that would allow 6.3 times more light into my camera letting me bump up the shutter speed and get the shots I wanted.

Due to lens optics, zoom lenses are less able to have low f-stops and it is most common to find low f-stops in prime lenses with fixed focal lengths. The 50mm f/1.8 is the cheapest lens in the sub-f/2 range. When you get to the f/1.4 and f/1.2 range, lens prices can get into the hundreds and even thousands of dollars.