Ask Bill & Dan

Allan recently bought a Sony A7RII, but is feeling that it might not be quite the right camera for a guy with some Canon glass who shoots video on a Canon C100. The boys help him tease out whether to bring it back and find a body that's a better fit.And then Shane wants to find a want to automate import and backup in a way that takes the question marks out of the process. Though Bill & Dan show that sometimes the best intentions often lead to even more questions and complexity.Sony A7RII on AmazonCanon 5D Mark III Body on AmazonPhoto MechanicAdobe Lightroom on AmazonCapture One on AmazonHazel for MacChronosyncSuperDuperBackblaze online backup

After a long absence, the boys are back with another two great photography questions.First up, Greg wants to do some street photography with this iPhone but feels limited by the focal length and wants to know the skinny on add-on lenses like Olloclip and Moment.Next up, friend of the show Kent is traveling a lot with big lithium-ion battery packs and wants to know what the rules are for bringing them on the airplane as well as best practices to keeping them in tip-top shape.OlloClipMoment LensesExoLensesOlloClip Active LensesExoLens ReviewFAA Battery FAQ - Straight from the sourceHow to Travel Smart with Battery-Powered StrobesFlying with Photography Gear 

Brad in Brooklyn wants to know if we worry too much about specs when it comes to modern lenses and whether using more vintage glass on our modern cameras might give us the looks we crave.And Johann from Austria has a 2011 MacBook Pro running Lightroom that's taking too damn long to process his giant 36MP files. He's looking to buy some new hardware, but where should he put his money? CPU, RAM, faster storage? Bill & Dan tease out the trade-offs.Vintage Lenses for Video10 Tips for Shooting Vintage LensesBetter Lenses for the MoneyCanon 24-70/2.8 Zoom EF mount on AmazonApple 27" iMac 5k - Pretty much tricked out on Amazon 

Tim isn't happy with the sharpness of his new wide-angle Sigma zoom wide open at f/2.8. Is it a problem with the specific lens, his technique, or a flawed design?For the second half of this show, we're trying something a little different. Dan regales us with a story of his thought process while trying to feed video to puppeteers during a photoshoot in this first edition of 'Tales From the Studio' (cue 50's horror music).Sigma 17-50/2.8 on AmazonNikon D610Serial Digital Interface (SDI)Video Devices PIX-E5HooToo Travel RouterCapture Pilot 

Dave in Michigan wants to know what makes his OG Canon 5D and similarly remembered camera bodies so special. This leads Bill & Dan to reminisce.And Chris in NJ is back, worried that the lenses he uses with his Nikon D700 aren't up to the task of feeding the D810 he's considering renting for a once in a lifetime trip out west. Canon 5D review on DP ReviewNikon D3 review on DP ReviewDoes Pixel Size MatterNikon D810 on AmazonNikon Lens Family Differences

Dave in New Jersey wants to know if he can print a billboard from his D800, which leads to a discussion about resolution requirements and when all pixels are not created equal.Next Bruce down in Texas is considering dipping his toe into wet plate photography, but doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars for the fancy lights his heroes use. Bill & Dan give him some technical advice as well as a few less expensive options to try.Nikon D810 on AmazonVictoria Will BTS at SundanceShooting Wet Plate with 12,000ws of LightWet Plate Collodion and the Joys of Being a BeginnerPaul C Buff White Lightning x3200

Maarten in Amsterdam is looking to get more depth of field out of his Canon 6D, but his lens only stops down to f/22. Will lenses with even smaller apertures help? Where might he find some?And Reena wants to use her existing lenses to photo scan negatives and heard extension tubes might be the answer. Bill & Dan explore the options with her.Canon Lens Spec ChartNikon Lens Spec ChartCanon 70-300mm IS Zoom Lens on AmazonKenko Extension Tubes for Nikon MountFotodiox Bellows for Nikon MountKEH Used Gear Online Store

A monster show for our tenth episode. Rachel has 40,000 black and white negatives from her late grandfather that she'd like to go through and pull selects from for possible sale as silver gelatin prints. A film scanner would work, but maybe there's an easier and faster way to get organizedAnd Jason from Episode #1 is back with a question of how high-speed sync works with little speedlights and larger monolights. Bill & Dan do a survey of a number of ways to break the sync speed barrier and explain how there's really no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to light.How to scan film negatives with your dSLRHelmut Film Scanner for AndroidNegative MeWirecutter reviews the best film scanning sitesWhy Speedlights are usually faster than big flashesProFoto HSS  on the B1PocketWizard HyperSyncHyperSync Compatibility ChartStrobist

Computer heavy episode this week. Tom in Brooklyn wants to know the best way to use his iPad as a second screen when he's on the road or on set. Maybe there's even a way to use it as a poor man's Wacom Cintiq?Next up, friend of the show Molly is back with a question about what computer she should buy to edit video on Adobe Premiere. What are the advantages to buying a Mac versus getting a Windows workstation or even building one? Apple iPad Air 2 on AmazonApple iPad ProBest Second Display AppsDuet DisplayCapture PilotNine-Volt - The Ultimate Client MonitorLifehacker - Best PCs You Can Build for $1200Boxx WorkstationsDell Precision WorkstationsApple 5k iMac on Amazon

Stuart in sunny Miami is not getting what he wants out of his Nikon D610 for fashion photography and wants to know which direction he should go for the upgrade. Pro speed or straight megapixels?And Lewis over in NJ almost lost his entire image library to a corrupt hard drive structure. He got them back, but they're a mess. Bill & Dan help him figure out the best way to get back on track.Nikon D610Nikon D810Nikon D5Nikon 35mm/1.4 GNikon 50mm/1.4 GNikon 85mm/1.4 G

Freddy wants to know if he's going to get rainbows and unicorns if he spends five times as much on his next monolight flash. There are reasons to hand over the platinum card, but they may not be what you think.Next up, Molly's friend is selling a used dSLR and some of the potential buyers are asking about it's shutter actuation count. Is that really something to think about? Paul C. Buff Profoto B2 on AmazonElinchrom Deep Octa on AmazonPhotek Softlighter II on AmazonCamera Shutter CountCamera Shutter Life Expectancy Database 

Is it a good idea to build a camera system based on the plan to use adapters with your next body purchase or should you try to stay native when possible? Are we at the point where we're lens mount agnostic? Not quite, but Bill & Dan have thoughts.Next we tackle the question of whether it's worth using SSD drives in your network backup system. Speed, capacity, and price all factor in. Sony LA-EA4 A-Mount to E-Mount FF Lens Adapter with TMTSony Alpha A6300 Camera BodyMetabones Canon EF Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera Speed Booster ULTRADrobo Gen 3 USB 3 4 Bay Drive EnclosureSeagate 4TB Internal DriveSamsung 850EVO SSD

It's a display question bonanza. We've got questions from two guys named Nick today from opposite sides of the world. Nick in Australia has a old semi-broken 27" iMac that he would love to use as a secondary display for his MacBook Pro, but needs some help making that happen.And Nick from New York has just built a shiny new photo editing computer for himself and now needs to decide on a new under-$1000 monitor to go with it. Don't worry, we've got some ideas for him.Some things mentioned in this episode include:The Ins and Outs of Your iMac’s Target Display ModeHow to Boot a Mac from External DriveTarget Disk ModeSamsung 850 EVO Internal SSD on AmazonSanDisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 Thumbdrive on Amazon Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire Adapter on AmazonApple 15" Retina MacBook Pro on AmazonDell 24" P2415Q on AmazonX-Rite i1 Display Pro on AmazonSamsung 28" UHD Monitor on Amazon

Our first question this week is about the double-edged sword of tethering your camera to a computer during a shoot and how it might create as many problems as it solves.Then we tackle what kind of lighting kit to build if you want to use it for both stills and video, and you only have a budget of a thousand bucks.Some of the items mention in this episode include:15ft USB to MiniUSB Cable for TetheringPyle Laptop Projector Stand, Heavy Duty TripodColor Rendering IndexTLCI Rendering by Alan RobertsLowell Tota LightWestcott Flex Daylight LED 

Our first question is about putting together a lighting kit to take yearbook-like headshots for your office, but to do so with just a little something extra.Then we help listener Ellen navigate the shadowy world of selling some of her father's unused Leica gear in order to reinvest in her own kit needs.Some of the items mentioned in this episode include:YONGNUO YN560 IV Wireless Flash Speedlite Master + Slave Flash + Built-in Trigger System for Canon Nikon Pentax Olympus Fujifilm Panasonic Digital CamerasManfrotto 5001B 74-Inch Nano Stand Replaces Manfrotto 001B - BlackPhotek Softlighter II, 46 inch Umbrella with Diffuser.Leica 10773 M-P (Typ 240) 24MP SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)Leica 10771 M 24MP RangeFinder Camera with 3-Inch TFT LCD Screen - Body Only (Silver/Black)Leica 90mm f/2.0 Apo Summicron M Aspherical Manual Focus Lens (11884)Leica 28mm f/2.0 Aspherical M Manual Focus Lens (11604)

First up is a question about third party lenses. Is it really worth spending all that money on the name brand? What should you be thinking about before making a decision?Next up is a question about online backup. How does it really work? We also touch on backup strategy in general, which is always an important discussion.Some of the items mentioned in this episode include:Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon CamerasZeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Apo Planar T* ZE Manual Focus Lens (Canon EOS-Mount)Tamron SP 24-70mm Di VC USD Canon Mount AFA007C-700 (Model A007E)Lensrentals BlogBackBlaze online backupCrashplan online backup4TB Seagate USB 3 External Hard Drive