Why Manual Focus is better than Auto Focus

May 1st, 2012

Manual Focus with LiveView on a D-SLR camera with Marek MularczykMost digital cameras nowadays offer a photographer many automatic options for taking photographs and less reasons for using Manual in many cases (not in cases of real photographers).

This makes many photographers to rely on Auto Focus on their cameras/lenses and never use Manual Focus. I remember when I started in photography with my first SLR camera – Zenit 12XP, and all focusing was done manually.

I still use Manual Focus on my current digital SLR camera, but that often. One of the situations when I use Manual Focus almost exclusively is when I shoot macro. This gives me the ability to focus precisely how I want it and make sure that everything  want in focus is in focus.

Very narrow depth of field you get with macro shots means that you need to be very precise while focusing, and it happened to me in the past that the image that looked sharp on the camera, wasn’t that sharp in reality when I opened it on  my computer.

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Lightroom 4.1 RC2 Now Available

April 27th, 2012

Lightroom 4Adobe announced a new version – Release Candidate – of Lightroom 4 – Lightroom 4.1 RC2.

Release Candidate means that this version has already been tested, but may need some feedback from the community testing before it’s submitted as a final version. When Lightroom 4.1 update comes out as a final update, they may be some new features or additional cameras supported.

Here are the new cameras supported in this release – Lightroom 4.1:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark III*
  • Canon EOS 60Da
  • Fuji FinePix F770EXR
  • Fuji FinePix F775EXR
  • Nikon D3200
  • Olympus OM-D E-5M
  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5
  • Pentax K-01
  • RICOH LENS A16 24-85mm F3.5-5.5
  • Samsung NX20
  • Samsung NX210
  • Samsung NX1000
  • Sony Alpha NEX-VG20
  • Sony SLT-A57

Some of the bugs have been corrected in this release as well.

For more information visit adobe labs website:

Lightroom 4.1 RC2 on Adobe Labs.

Creative use of Marquee and Crop Tools in Photoshop CS6

April 26th, 2012

Creative use of Marquee and Crop Tools in Photoshop CS6 by Marek MularczykAre you using Marquee and Crop tools in Photoshop to their fullest? Are you using their potential.

There is so much you can do with the Marquee Tool and with the Crop Tool and that’s why I recorded a video for you on using these tools in creative ways.

So, let me share the video with you.

Enjoy! :-)

Could this be the Biggest Lens Ever?

April 25th, 2012

Say hello to Nikkor 1200-1700mm lens!

Can you imagine such a massive lens?! And you thought, Sigma 120-500mm was a monster, didn’t you?  ;-)

Nikkorr 1200-2400mm lens

The spec of the lens:

  • Nikkor 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8.0,
  • lens construction – 18 elements in 13 groups,
  • aperture scale – F5.6 – F22,
  • weight – ca.20kg,
  • length – ca. 1m.

As far as I have managed to find out on the Internet, this lens has actually been introduced back in 1993 and at that time it cost $60,000…

Here’s another image of the lens:

Nikkor 1200-2400mm lens

Enjoy! ;-)

Creative Suite 6 is here

April 24th, 2012

It is official, Adobe Creative Suite 6 is here!

Adobe Creative Suite 6

Adobe has officially announced Creative Suite 6. At the same time Adobe announced Creative Cloud subscription service.

Creative Cloud is $75(£70.32) a month (or $50(£46.88) a month on a yearly subscription). With a subscription you get access to all Adobe applications including Lightroom 4 and you get access to all Adobe Touch Apps introduced last year. With the subscription you also get 20GB of cloud-based storage to access your files from any devices with internet access. If you are an existing user of Creative Suite 3, 4, or 5, you are getting an introductory discount and you can get a subscription for $30 a month.

If you’re not into subscription system, you can still buy the “boxed” products as usual. This time there are only 4 Creative Suite editions:

  • Design Standard – £1200 ($1300)
  • Design & Web Premium – £1800 ($1900)
  • Production Premium – £1800 ($1900)
  • Master Collection – £2670 ($2600)

Adobe is currently taking pre-orders on CS6 and Creative Cloud, which should become available within 30 days.

Official announcement of Nikon D3200!

April 23rd, 2012

Nikon has officially announced a new camera – Nikon D3200!

Nikon D3200

Nikon D3200 is an entry-level camera with a high-resolution 24.2 MP sensor. Despite being an entry-level camera, Nikon D3200 offers Full HD 1080p video recording(!) which is a great feature for an entry-level camera in my opinion. D3200 comes in not as a replacement for D3100, but as another camera in a line of Nikon D-SLR cameras.

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Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite 6 Launch

April 21st, 2012

Join Adobe for an exclusive event – a live webcast to experience Adobe Creative Suite 6!

Adobe Creative Suite 6 webcast

The live webcast starts on 23rd of April. Join all of us!

Here’s a link for you:

Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite 6 Launch.

See you there! ;-)

Episode 72 of Photoshop Lightroom TV

April 20th, 2012

Photoshop Lightroom TV - Episode 72I cannot believe that it’s been another week since the last episode of Photoshop Lightroom TV. It’s time for another one! :-)

If you have been following Photoshop Lightroom TV, then you know that I’m always trying to bring something new, new tips, tricks, and tutorials.

This time, I’m bringing you a photography tutorial on using the LiveView and focusing with magnification, great tip!

In case, you’re not interested in photography, I have a tutorial on using Marquee Tool for selecting/cropping images in Photoshop CS6.

I hope you’ll enjoy it. ;-)

Here’s a link for you:

Photoshop Lightroom TV – Episode 72.

Photoshop CS6 New Features – No.10 – Redesigned Print UI – Video

April 17th, 2012

New Print UI in Adobe Photoshop CS5 by Marek Mularczyk - SaiTraining.co.uk

You may have read my post about the new Print UI in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

As promised yesterday, I am sharing a video that I have created on the redesigned Print UI (User Interface) in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

I hope you will enjoy watching it.

Photoshop CS6 New Features – No.10 – Redesigned Print UI

April 16th, 2012

Photoshop CS6Adobe redesigned the Print dialogue box with the Photoshop CS6 release.

The functionality of the Print User Interface is the same, but some of the options moved a bit. It does look slightly different as well.

All the controls now appear on the right side of the window and the left side displays the image only as shown on the screenshot here:

New Print UI in Adobe Photoshop CS6 by Marek Mularczyk - SaiTraining.co.uk

All panels inside the window can be expanded by clicking on the name of the panel, not just on the triangle next to it (New!).

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