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About Nasim Mansurov

is a professional photographer based out of Denver, Colorado. He is the author and founder of The Mansurovs, along with a number of other online resources. Read more about Nasim here.

Fuji X-Pro1 Review

May
18
2012
May 18, 2012
By 35 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the Fujifilm X-Pro1, a highly anticipated mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. Built on the success of the Fujifilm X100 and aimed at pros and photo enthusiasts that need a lightweight camera alternative to a DSLR with amazing image quality, the Fuji X-Pro1 is the first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera from Fuji. Along with the X-Pro1, Fuji simultaneously introduced three prime lenses – Fujinon 18mm f/2.0 XF R, Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 XF R and Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 XF Macro, all specifically designed to be used for the new Fuji X mount. In this review, I will not only provide detailed information about the Fuji X-Pro1, but will also try to answer the many questions that we have gotten so far on the camera from our readers, along with comparisons to Nikon and Canon DSLRs.

Fuji X-Pro1

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Filed Under: Cameras, Digital Photography, Gear, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Sharing Lightroom Catalog with Multiple Computers

May
11
2012
May 11, 2012
By 9 Comments
Lightroom Icon

If you have more than one computer at your home to work on your photos with Lightroom, you might be wondering if there is a way to share your Lightroom catalog, so that you can work on the same images with the same catalog on multiple computers at once. Unfortunately, the database system that Lightroom runs on (SQLite) limits the catalog to be used on a single computer, on a locally attached drive. Hence, simultaneously accessing a single catalog with multiple machines is not supported and will not work. On top of that, Adobe strictly forbids placing catalogs on network volumes, because it can result in all kinds of Lightroom database corruption issues (placing photographs on a network share is supported). In short, Lightroom is a “single-user” application with no support for multi-user access. While some people have been requesting a “multi-user” edition of Lightroom, Adobe currently has no plans to make such Lightroom version due to potential complexities of such software. True multi-user applications require a server and client infrastructure, which can be too complex for most photographers to set up and use.

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Filed Under: Lightroom, Photography Articles, Post Processing Tagged With: , , ,

Fuji X-Pro1 Image Samples

May
8
2012
May 8, 2012
By 36 Comments

I am currently working on the Fuji X-Pro1 review, although I will be honest that I have been delaying the review for quite a while now, since I am still waiting for Adobe to release a version of Camera RAW / Lightroom 4 that will support X-Pro1 RAW files. While the JPEG images produced by the X-Pro1 are superb, I know that I can get much more from each image if I use a good RAW image processor. The RAW converter that Fuji has for the X-Pro1 is definitely not my thing…

Here are some sample images from the camera that I will be using in my upcoming review, all taken in England. As always, EXIF data is embedded to each image with exposure, lens and other information.

Fuji X-Pro1 Sample (20)

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Filed Under: Cameras, Digital Photography, Gear Tagged With: , ,

Canon 5D Mark III Light Leak Issue Fix

May
2
2012
May 2, 2012
By 32 Comments

As you may already know, the very first batches of the Canon 5D Mark III had a manufacturing defect, where light would leak through the top LCD panel as shown in this and this videos. After a thorough investigation, Canon confirmed that the camera indeed had a problem, so it issued an official statement that it would fix the issue if you send the camera to Canon (free of charge).

Original 5D Mark III

Folks at LensRentals.com had a chance to disassemble both an original and a “fixed” Canon 5D Mark III and they discovered that Canon used a black tape over the camera components, which essentially takes care of the problem completely. Here is a picture of the black tape covering the components:

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Filed Under: Cameras, Digital Photography, Gear Tagged With: ,

Nikon D3200 Camera Kit Giveaway

May
1
2012
May 1, 2012
By 1,318 Comments

Mansurovs and B&H are giving away a Nikon D3200 DSLR camera kit with the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G Lens in a Facebook contest to one lucky person. The giveaway is open for everyone and we will ship the camera worldwide to the winner (some restrictions apply, see below). This is done to promote our Facebook pages and to increase the number of Facebook followers.

Mansurovs and B&H Nikon D3200 Giveaway

Here is what you need to do to enter the giveaway

1) “Like” the Mansurovs Facebook Page:

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: ,

Lightroom 4.1 RC2 and Camera RAW 6.7

Apr
30
2012
April 30, 2012
By 12 Comments
Lightroom Icon

Adobe has released an update to Lightroom 4 and Camera RAW that fixes some bugs and adds support for some new cameras and lenses. Lightroom has been updated to 4.1 Release Candidate 2, while Camera RAW 6.7 is now final and stable.

It is always a good idea to update to the latest versions of both Lightroom and Camera RAW, so that you work with the latest and greatest software with the fewer bugs, RAW support for more cameras and more lens profiles so that you could fix optical issues such as distortion and chromatic aberration with a single click using the Lightroom “Lens Corrections” module. Every once in a while a beta release might contain bugs, but if it is anything serious, Adobe will typically pull it out quickly and replace it with a better version.

Here is the list of cameras and lenses that are added with the Lightroom 4.1 RC2 release:

  1. Canon EOS 5D Mark III
  2. Canon EOS 60Da
  3. Fuji FinePix F770EXR
  4. Fuji FinePix F775EXR
  5. Nikon D3200
  6. Olympus OM-D EM-5
  7. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
  8. Pentax K-01
  9. RICOH LENS A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5
  10. Samsung NX20
  11. Samsung NX210
  12. Samsung NX1000
  13. Sony Alpha NEX-VG20
  14. Sony SLT-A57

Note that the Nikon D3200 is now officially supported.
See this page for a full list of bug fixes.

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Filed Under: Digital Photography, Lightroom, Photoshop, Post Processing Tagged With: ,

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G Review

Apr
19
2012
April 19, 2012
By 71 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the new, much anticipated Nikon 85mm f/1.8G prime lens that was announced in January of 2012. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I use more than any other to buy my photography gear.

Nikon 85mm f/1.8G

The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G is a consumer-grade portrait lens for enthusiasts and seasonal pros that need quality optics of a fixed portrait lens at an affordable price point. Its large aperture of f/1.8 is great for low-light photography and the shallow depth of field helps isolate subjects from the background, beautifully rendering the background highlights, also known as bokeh. The Nikon 85mm f/1.8G replaces the older Nikon 85mm f/1.8D lens that had been in production since 1994. Compared to the AF-D version that has 6 optical elements in 6 groups, the new 85mm f/1.8G has a very different optical design with 9 optical elements in 9 groups. You would think with so much glass inside the new 85mm f/1.8G would weigh more than its predecessor, but in reality it actually weighs 30 grams less. The lens is designed to work on both DX (cropped-sensor) and FX (full-frame) cameras from Nikon. On DX sensors, the lens is equivalent to a 128mm lens, which is a good range for portraiture, but may be a little too long for most other types of photography.

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Filed Under: Digital Photography, Gear, Lenses, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Nikon D3200, 28mm f/1.8G and WU-1a Pre-Order Links

Apr
18
2012
April 18, 2012
By 2 Comments

B&H Photo Video and Adorama are now taking pre-orders for the new Nikon D3200, Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and Nikon WU-1a wireless adapter. While D3200 is surely going to be popular among new photographers and the WT-1a is likely to be compatible with some future Nikon DSLRs, we expect the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G to be the hot seller. Just like the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G and the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lenses, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G should have a superb price/performance ratio.

Nikon 28mm f/1.8G Pre-order Links

  1. B&H Photo Video – Nikon 28mm f/1.8G for $699.95

Nikon D3200 Pre-order Links

  1. B&H Photo Video – Nikon D3200 kit with 18-55mm lens for $699.95

Nikon WU-1a Wireless Adapter Pre-order Links

  1. B&H Photo Video – Nikon WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter for $59.00
Filed Under: Cameras, Digital Photography, Gear, Lenses Tagged With: , , , , ,

And the Winner Is…

Apr
15
2012
April 15, 2012
By 29 Comments

Yesterday’s Nikon vs Canon vs Fuji in a studio post was a fun one. We have received close to 100 responses from our readers (with the Facebook fan page combined), most of whom gave a wrong answer! Well, granted the game was totally random and there was just no way to tell for sure which one is which. Except for the Fuji, I think, which I kind of gave away a little talking about its great skin colors.

We had a total of 6 readers that gave the right answer and I had to pick one random winner among the six – the person will receive the Westcott 43″ Collapsible Umbrella Flash Kit with Stand, a great off-camera flash photography kit!

Westcott 43" Collapsible Umbrella Kit

So, which image was shot with which camera? Here is the answer:

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: , ,

Nikon vs Canon vs Fuji in a Studio

Apr
14
2012
April 14, 2012
By 116 Comments

I have been super busy working on a couple of big projects lately and this weekend I helped out Lola with her bridal work. While setting up the lights, I decided to try out and shoot with three different cameras – the Nikon D800 (see the recently published Nikon D800 Review), the Canon 5D Mark III (a full review is coming up in a couple of weeks) and the Fuji X-Pro 1 (also coming up for a review soon).

The Nikon and the Canon experience was very similar, both were stellar in terms of color, sharpness and autofocus accuracy. The Fuji X-Pro 1 produced beautiful images with great-looking skin tones, but was rather disappointing in terms of autofocus – it just could not seem to lock well to my subject in indoors environment. I will be writing about my overall impressions of the Fuji X-Pro 1 soon, but to give you a short version, I am rather disappointed by it. To be honest, I was more excited about the Fuji X-Pro 1 than I was with the Canon and Nikon cameras, because I was really hoping for a mirrorless camera that could be a great alternative to the higher-end APS-C sensor DSLRs. The Fuji X-Pro 1 just seemed to have so much potential… I guess it will be a while until we see something that good. Perhaps the second or third generation of the X-Pro? Or the upcoming Canon mirrorless?

Here is a fun game for you – all three of the below images were shot with either the Nikon D800, the Canon 5D Mark III or the Fuji X-Pro 1. Care to guess which one is which?

Nikon vs Canon vs Fuji #1

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Filed Under: Cameras, Digital Photography, Flash Photography, Gear, Portrait Photography, Wedding Photography Tagged With: , , , , , ,