I am a father, husband, skier, sailor and photographer, just about in that order! I’ve been interested in photography ever since I was a little kid. My interest developed in high school when I took my first course. From there I went on to get a degree in photography just to get access to the darkroom! I’ve been shooting what I love doing the entire time. I’m constantly outside making landscape and travel photography my primary subjects. I love getting out in the mornings before the sun is up, finding an amazing location and watching Mother Nature put on her best show. Exploring new places and sharing them is why I do this. For me landscape photography is about capturing the right light in the right location.
I love teaching people about photography. Feel free to ask me any questions you’d like or take a workshop. I try not to be too obsessive about gear, but it’s hard not to talk about it when you’re using it as often as I am. I review gear of products I own myself. All of the images you see on this site are available for purchase. Please visit my pricing page for more information.
hi there, loving your photos, especially lansdcape shots, the lee filter system you’re using for the 72mm thread of the 10-24mm, is it standard 72mm adapter or ultra wide or anything?
I’m using the wide Lee adapter. Not sure if it’s needed but I prefer them. I’m also using a xume setup on top of that so it’s magnetized and can come on/off easily in order to make it easy to stash the smaller lens in a bag.
Ben
regarding above question for the adapter ring for the fuji 10-24 lens, exactly what do you use?
I’m using Xume magnetic rings on the lens at 72mm and then a Lee 72mm wide angle adapter. You get a tiny bit of vignetting in the top corners only (which is weird and suggests the lens isn’t centered…) with the xume setup, but the Lee ring is so massive on the smaller fuji lens that the trade off is worth it. The vignette is gone by ~11mm.
Hi Ben,
I am a serious amateur who has also migrated from Canon to Sony (having recently purchased the a7rii). I hope you do not mind offering your best recommendation for a specific astrophotography lens for this camera as I am somewhat confused and bewildered by the plethora of contradictory information on the subject. My main interest is in wide-field astro and nightscape photography and am keen to secure the best lens for this camera, so any information you can provide will be valued and much appreciated. Thanking You in Anticipation, Tony.
Tony,
I’m not hugely into astro so I can only offer suggestions w/o much real world experience. I’ve used both my 10-18mm (yes on full frame, it works from 12-16mm) and 16-35mm f/4s @ f/4 with decent results. The a7rii has great high ISOs so you can compensate for the slower aperture by increasing the ISO. This also means you get more in focus which is a nice benefit in my opinion. If you want faster, you’ll have to adapter a f/2.8 zoom from A-mount. Sony has a 16-35mm 2.8 and tamron makes a 15-30mm 2.8. If you want to go to primes there’s the samyang 14mm f/2.8 as well as the samyang 24mm 1.4. Those are both available in FE mount so you won’t need an adapter.
Good Luck!
Ben
Thank You Ben,
I do appreciate you taking the time to reply and will look into the options you suggested…
Cheers, Tony
Ben you did a review of an L bracket for OMD EM5. I cannot find the link to that website of the man you mentioned to look at their L brackets. Could you please e-mail the website? Thank you for you help.
Jarine,
Thanks for the comment. This is the only review I found with an OMD L-bracket in it and I can’t find the brand/name of the bracket anywhere in there: http://www.benjacobsenphoto.com/2012/gear/arca-compatible-holster-solution/
A quick search of amazon shows a bunch of new and better options there though, I’d go with one of those if I were you.
Ben
Hi Ben,
I noticed on the Arca Swiss Instagram page that you are happy with your purchase of the L60 leveler and are using it with a ballhead for architectural photography.
May I ask if you’re using it with the Arca Swiss P0 ballhead?
Do you feel it would have any issues mounted on a P0 (making it very tall) vs a P0 hybrid?
Can you offer an opinion as to how well the L60 would work for macro photography (mounted on a tripod with or without ballhead)?
Many thanks,
Larry
Larry,
I’m using mine on a RRS BH-30 and BH-25. It does make the total height taller but the way I use it it’s fine. Set the level roughly with the ball head and lock it. Then use the L60 to level things perfectly. It’s tall but it’s no taller than the geared head I was using (manfrotto 405). I’ve had the cube as well and I just hate swapping heads all the time so it’s the best compromise for me. Ballhead for scapes then add the L60 for arch work.
Good Luck!
Ben