Review of the Manfrotto 322RC2 Joystick Tripod Head

Manfrotto 322RC2 Joystick Tripod Head

I don’t use my tripod extensively in the same way a landscape shooter does, but I do consider a tripod an essential part of a photographer’s arsenal.

With regard to tripod heads, I have used a ball head for many years and they are extremely versatile. They’re very quick and easy to adjust. The most basic models having a single locking screw or lever; release it and you get a full range of pan, tilt, and swivel adjustments. Once you have the camera in position, you simply tighten the screw/lever to lock the head in place.

I use my tripod essentially in the following ways:

• When the shutter speed is too slow to hand hold my camera, and I want to get a tack sharp image (s), or shooting in low light conditions.
• Framing the shot through the viewfinder and then taking in the scene with my eyes without having to hold my camera, or having it on me. I like to see the shot I want to to take, rather than take the shot that I see through the viewfinder.
• Most simply to act as a perch for the camera, ready to go. I spend most of my time prepping the shot before taking it.

The ball head that I used was the Manfrotto 486RC2 compact ball head which has now been discontinued and replaced by the 496RC2.

Image courtesy of Manfrotto

Over recent months, I have found this system of loosening the screw/lever on the ball head to make small adjustments frustrating, due to the weight of the camera and lens. I had to hold the camera with one hand and move the lever with the other. This was cumbersome at times, as the lever was sometimes too tight.

This may sound fickle. But I like my gear to work efficiently, and for me not be conscious of it, or thwarted by it. I prefer to concentrate on the shot I am about to take.

It was time for me to purchase a new head but I was undecided over whether to stick with the ball head type, or try a different style head altogether. Recently, I was working on a job in tandem with another photographer. He had the joystick type head on his tripod. I gave it a go, and found it it incredibly intuitive to use.
Talk about being smitten. I just loved it. It turned out to be the Manfrotto 322RC2.

Build

The Manfrotto 322RC2 is built out of magnesium. It weighs 1.43 lbs (.70kg).

The 322RC2 is made of magnesium, and is designed to keep the weight of your kit as close as possible to the tripod’s centre of gravity, by way of its reduced height. It weighs 1.43 pounds (.70kg), and while it’s not lightweight, it doesn’t feel heavy either, and the accompanying literature states that it can accommodate up to 11 lb. (5kg).

I have my Nikon D750 with the 24-120mm f/4G ED VR attached which is roughly 1.510kg (just over 3 lb.).

Key Features

Let’s take a closer look at the key features:

• One single lever for quick control of all movements
• Quick release plate with built-in secondary safety pin
• Built-in bubble spirit level
• Friction control, adjustable for different camera weights
• Customizable for left or right handed use, in a vertical or horizontal position

Top view of the Manfrotto 322RC2. The trigger is big so that all your fingers rest against in when squeezing it.

Going from horizontal to vertical mode is so easy using this joystick head.

Straight out of the box, I was able to attach the head to my tripod. It does come assembled for right-hand users, but the 200PL quick release plate assembly can be removed and positioned for left-handed use. Uniquely, it can also be placed on the top of the grip in a vertical position like the traditional 222 design, but when used in this position the maximum load reverts to 2.5 kg capacity.

Top view of the end of the grip on the Manfrotto 322RC2, where you can attach the 200PL assembly plate, so that the camera sits on top, similar in deign of the 222 model by Manfrotto.

I was able to adjust the friction wheel by turning it either to the right or left. I then placed my camera and lens onto the quick release plate, and made further adjustments allowing for the weight of both. This friction control wheel lets you regulate the power of the blocking mechanism to match the weight of your camera/lens, which is key to its design.

The friction wheel scrolls to the right or left. The small red strip is the tension indicator which moves to the left or right as you adjust the friction wheel.

The built-in bubble spirit level is a nice touch. There wasn’t one on the ball head, so this feature just makes orientating your camera, horizontally or vertically, quick and easy.

The bubble spirit level is a handy feature, especially if you are adjusting your camera positions between landscape and portrait modes.

Observations

I’ve only had this joystick head a mere six weeks, so I can’t really comment on what the cons may be at this point. Obviously, this type of tripod head may not be to your liking, or suit your photography needs.

Although, this tripod head isn’t lightweight, I feel the weight justifies what it will be holding, especially when you combine the weight of a DSLR body and a large zoom lens. That said, from my experience, I only wish I had come across it sooner. The two areas I find it most useful are:

• It is easy and intuitive to use
• It offers very flexible camera positioning, using just one hand

In fact, the more I use it, the more I like it. Maybe over time, I will encounter some negative aspects, one thing I noticed is that it doesn’t fit into my existing tripod case with the head attached. By placing the head in a vertical position, this adds another nine inches to the total length.

I didn’t want to buy another dedicated camera tripod bag, as they can be expensive. So instead, I just bought a Hockey bag ($16.00) to store my tripod away when not in use, or to bring to location shoots. I now use my old tripod case for my small light stands and umbrellas.

There isn’t an independent pan lock. This doesn’t bother me, but I can see this being a necessary feature for some photographers who shoot panoramas, and so forth.

Conclusion

I would definitely recommend this tripod head, but I think the best advice is to test it out first. This type of tripod head is a matter of personal choice. Plus, this head is not new on the market, so check around for deals.

Disclaimer: I was not contacted or sponsored to test the above equipment. Opinions are purely by the author only.

The post Review of the Manfrotto 322RC2 Joystick Tripod Head by Sarah Hipwell appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School http://digital-photography-school.com/review-manfrotto-322rc2-joystick-tripod-head/

Photos of US Presidential Candidates in Their Teens

If you’re closely following the 2016 US presidential race, here’s a blast from the past that may be interesting to you: these are photos of the major candidates from their teen years.

Someone gathered together a set of early snapshots and yearbook photos of the presidential hopefuls and put together a “Class of 2016” grid:

Thanks to photography, we get to see how some of the candidates’ appearances have changed quite a bit, while others still look pretty much the same after so many years.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/30/photos-of-us-presidential-candidates-in-their-teens/

iPhone 7 Plus to Boast Dual Rear Cameras: Report

One of the world’s most popular cameras may be about to get a huge leap in tech and quality: a new report says that Apple is planning to introduce dual rear cameras in its upcoming iPhone 7 Plus.

AppleInsider reports that this news comes from KGI Securities’s Ming-Chi Kuo, one of the world’s top Apple analysts. Kuo says the technology is from Apple’s acquisition of LinX in April 2015. LinX was an Israeli startup that was developing multi-camera modules that promised to give phones DSLR-esque performance.

LinX was working on multi-camera modules to give smartphones “DSLR performance.”

In a report shared with investors earlier this week, Kuo says that he expects Apple to release an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus later in 2016. While the iPhone 7 will feature a standard single iSight camera in the back, Kuo says the iPhone 7 Plus will be offered in 2 versions: one with a single camera module, and a second with a dual-camera design.

Both cameras on the special iPhone 7 Plus will pack 12-megapixel sensors, Kuo says, but one camera will be dedicated to a wide-angle view while the other will have a 2-3x telephoto lens.

Combining the views and capabilities of the two cameras could provide benefits for things like resolution, zoom, and depth of field. Mac Rumors reports that we may also see improved low-light performance.

No word yet on when Apple will be announcing its latest wave of iPhones, so we may have to wait a while to see if Kuo’s information turns out to be true.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/30/iphone-7-plus-to-boast-dual-rear-cameras-report/

Facebook and Instagram Can Turn Your Photos Into ASCII Art

Did you know that Facebook and Instagram both have a “secret” feature that converts your photos into ASCII art? By doing a slight tweak to the URLs of photos, you view them as color black black and white versions that are made up of letters.

While the feature has reportedly been around for a while now, it started getting widespread attention this week after being shared by developer Mathias Bynens:

Take any Facebook/Instagram photo URL.

append `.txt` → ASCII art
append `.html` → colored ASCII art

E.g. https://t.co/GgnN8HJii4

— Mathias Bynens (@mathias) January 28, 2016

The side-by-side image above shows the example Bynens Tweeted. As he says, the trick itself is extremely simple. If this is your ordinary URL from Instagram or Facebook…

https://scontent-ams3-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/11906246_1700002456899911_1391970345_n.jpg

…simply tack on .txt to see the black and white ASCII version:

https://scontent-ams3-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/11906246_1700002456899911_1391970345_n.jpg.txt

…or tack on .html to see the color ASCII conversion:

https://scontent-ams3-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/11906246_1700002456899911_1391970345_n.jpg.html

The process is identical for Facebook photos (after all, Facebook owns Instagram). Here’s a before-and-after of the conversation done on Mark Zuckerberg’s profile picture:

Doing the conversion is the easy part. Obtaining the original image URL is more tricky. For Instagram, you can view the source code (or inspect) in your browser and look for it there. And on Facebook, right clicking images didn’t provide the correct URL format in our tests.

But if you’re able to figure out the URL side of things, this is a fun little feature you can play around with.

(via Mathias Bynens via The Verge)

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/30/facebook-and-instagram-can-turn-your-photos-into-ascii-art/

Should you Study Photography at College or are There Better Options Now?

If someone were to ask me whether it’s worth going to college or university to study for a degree in photography I would find that a difficult question to answer. I don’t think there is much value in studying photography at college, yet I don’t want to destroy anyone’s dreams (the good news is that there are plenty of other less expensive paths to a photography career).

If you are thinking about studying photography at tertiary level, these are the two most important questions to ask:

1. What will you learn during your course?
2. How much will it cost you?

You can learn a lot about photography by going to Amazon and spending a few hundred dollars on photography books, or purchase ebooks like on offer here on dPS. I’ve learned far more from books than I ever did from my photography degree.

What will you learn?

The first is important because, incredible as it may seem, you may not actually learn much while taking a photography degree. I know this is true because I studied photography at what was supposedly the UK’s top photography college, only to find that the level of teaching was so low, that I made my way through the three year degree learning next to nothing.

Let me give you an example. In our third year, the tutor gave a single one hour class per week. After a few weeks he gave up on doing that because only five or six students (out of a total of around 30) were turning up. The reason for the low turnout? Most of the others were so worried about writing the required thesis that they couldn’t concentrate on photography. And the reason they were so worried? The same tutor had spent weeks explaining how the thesis would be one of the most difficult things they had ever done, without giving any practical support or solutions to us.

Another example (bear in mind that I took my course between 1996 and 1999). We had one computer between 90 students, with an out of date version of Photoshop installed on it. The college had identified digital photography as an important trend – yet didn’t support the students enough to learn it.

By GotCredit

The truth is that degree courses are a tremendously inefficient way to learn. Whereas a typical working week is filled with 40 odd hours of work, a typical week in our course only had a few hours work. The rest of the time was wasted.

Plus, you may have the additional living costs of moving to another part of the country to study, and the loss of income from not being able to work a full time job while you are at college.

My theory is that our course was caught in bit of a time warp – the tutors probably came from an era when it was normal for arts courses to take a relaxed approach to education. University education was free in the UK at that time, and there was little concept of students paying for an education and expecting to receive value for money in return. Whether that has changed since then I have no way of knowing – I hope so.

The world of education has changed tremendously since I was at college. You can go online and learn by reading the blogs of some of the top names in the business. You can buy books, ebooks and video courses for just about any aspect of photography you care to learn about. Computers are much cheaper, and almost every student would have one.

You can also learn by taking workshops with some of the best photographers in your field. They may seem expensive, but it is a pittance in relation to the cost of obtaining a degree.

dPS writer Valerie Jardin runs photography workshops in the United States, Australia and Europe.

If you were going to study a photography degree today, the main question you have to ask is, what value does it give you over and above what you can learn from books, online resources, and workshops? Here are some ideas.

Interaction with other photography students: If you struggle to find like-minded people to talk about photography with, then this may be an attraction.

Industry experience: Does your course give you actual experience working in the area of photography that you want to get into?

Industry contacts: Very important, as these contacts will help you when you leave college to embark on your career.

Solid business training: Most photographers are self-employed, so it is essential to know the basics of self-employment and running a business. If your chosen course doesn’t teach these, then don’t even consider it. You won’t be prepared for the practical side of a career in photography.

An understanding of the newer ways of earning money from photography: Do the tutors on your course understand the emerging world of the business of workshops, and creating ebooks and video courses to sell online? This is important because these are all ways you can bring income into your business. One day there may be more money to be made from teaching photography, than from doing commercial photography assignments, and you need to be ready for that possibility.

The quality of your tutor:. Is there a highly regarded tutor at your college who can help you get started on your journey as a professional?

Another important factor is that drive and determination, combined with some innate creative talent, good business sense, and a willingness to learn are the primary characteristics you need for a successful career in photography. How many of these are taught at college?

Digital Photography School has a fine selection of photography ebooks for you to learn from.

How much will your course cost?

How much will your photography course cost you to study? The answer varies widely because it depends on where you live, and where you’d like to study. Bear in mind that graduating from college with lots of debt is a financial handicap that may hold you back for many years to come. Don’t forget to factor in living costs, and loss of income, as well as the cost of the course itself.

A good exercise is to calculate how much your course is going to cost you each week. Then, once you know how much you will learn during each week, you get a true idea of value.

In my opinion, the only reason that you should get into debt for an education is if you are studying something such as medicine, engineering or law which holds the promise of a lucrative career path at the end of it.

By GotCredit

Photography doesn’t have that lucrative career path. Some photographers make lots of money, some don’t. Lots of photography students (including some from my course) end up in careers other than photography. There are no guarantees in this business, and you need to be aware of that.

In the book The Millionaire Next Door the authors take in-depth look at the characteristics of the typical American millionaire. Most of them leave school early, start a successful business, and build it up. Very few millionaires have a college education. Why? The years spent studying (and therefore not working or building up a business) and the debt built up during that time prevents most people, regardless of qualifications or earning potential, from building up enough income or assets to become millionaires.

The solution

If you have a burning desire to make a living from photography, then look at these learning opportunities first.

• Books and ebooks
• Video courses provided by photographers and organizations like Lynda.com
  

  DPS has two video courses for photographers. There are countless others available online.

• Workshops (half-day and full-day)
• Longer workshops (two days to a fortnight)
• Part-time courses provided by local schools and colleges
• Online courses provided by organizations like the New York Institute of Photography (I have no experience of these courses and no idea whether they are any good, so do your research).

All of these will be significantly less expensive than a photography degree, and can be carried out in your spare time while you have a full-time job.

Another approach is to look for a job in the industry. While you might not immediately be able to get a position that you really want (such as an assistant for a prestigious advertising photographer) you may be able to work in a related position.

For example, you might get a job working for a picture agency, a job as a receptionist in a portrait studio, a position working for a photography magazine, a job as a picture editor somewhere – you get the idea. There are lots of possibilities, and working as closely as you can to the area you want to end up will give you the opportunity to learn from established professionals and make the contacts you need to develop your career.

Given my experiences I would never advise anyone to study photography at college or university. However, I appreciate that there must be courses that are far better than the one I took. If you had a positive experience studying photography at college I’d love to hear about it, please post your comments below and let’s discuss it.

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Mastering Photography

My ebook Mastering Photography: A Beginner’s Guide to Using Digital Cameras introduces you to photography and helps you make the most out of your digital camera. It’s aimed at beginners and will teach you how to take your camera off automatic and start creating the photos you see in your mind’s eye. Click the link to learn more or buy.

The post Should you Study Photography at College or are There Better Options Now? by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School http://digital-photography-school.com/should-you-study-photography-at-college-or-are-there-better-options-now/

Nikon Awards Prize to Badly ‘Shopped Photo, Hilarity Ensues

Nikon Singapore posted anannouncement on its Facebook page yesterday, congratulating a photographer named Chay Yu Wei for capturing a perfect shot of an airplane framed by a ladder in Chinatown.

Photographers quickly pointed out that the photo is clearly the result of editing, and sarcastic comments soon flooded the post.

“Yu Wei chanced upon a set of ladders while on a photowalk with his friends in Chinatown, and thought the view above would make an interesting perspective,” Nikon wrote. “Little did he expect to catch an airplane in mid-air. We’ll try looking up too, Yu Wei.”

For the photo, reportedly shot with a Nikon D90 at f/2.8 and 1/1600s, Chay was gifted with a Nikon-branded trolley bag.

Upon closer inspection, however, a white box can be seen around the airplane. One commenter points out that a simple levels adjustment reveals this box quite clearly:

Photographers were merciless in their witty responses. Here’s a sampling of other highest voted comments that were left on the post:

“Can I haz one Trolly Bag too?”

“Chanced upon a set of ladders while on a photowalk with my friends in Chinatown, and thought the view above would make an interesting perspective. Little did I expect to catch my Lao Peh’s head in mid-air.. And he said he’ll give me a Nikon D90 to practice the Force.”

“Such a poor copy and paste by Yu Wei can win a Nikon trolley bag, my entry can win the new Nikon D5 with AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR. “

“if you look closer, it’s actually an aeroplane from minecraft”

“Dear Yu Wei, you might like to know the feature called “Multiply” layer blending mode in Adobe Photoshop. This way, your white box will not be seen, and not become a laughing stock. Oh well… the organisers might have failed in selection stage too.”

“Yu Sheng chanced upon a set of ladders while on a photowalk with his friends in Chinatown, and thought the view above would make an interesting perspective. Little did he expect to catch a bride in mid-air aisle. We’ll try looking up too, Yu Sheng; your shot has won you a Nikon troll butt of all jokes bag. Congratulations!”

The photographer responded to one fan on Instagram, saying that he didn’t have to wait too long for the plane because he got “lucky”:

At the time of this post, the post and prize-winning photo are still up on Nikon Singapore’s page, and there has been no official response from the camera company.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/29/nikon-awards-prize-to-badly-shopped-photo-hilarity-ensues/