This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: Is the U.S. Ready for the Canon EOS M3?, Be Kind to DSLR Shooters, 39 MP Jpegs with the Sigma DP1 Quattro, Is Apple the Most Important Camera Company? - all of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Weekly Update - "Thinking Outside the Square: Support for Landscape and Portrait Formats on Instagram" Instagram reports: "Today, we're excited to announce that -- in addition to square posts -- you can now share photos and videos in both portrait and landscape orientation on Instagram. Square format has been and always will be part of who we are. That said, the visual story you're trying to tell should always come first, and we want to make it simple and fun for you to share moments just the way you want to. It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren't in the square format, and we know that it hasn't been easy to share this type of content on Instagram."

In other news, PetaPixel posts: The One Thing Apple Understands is Photography - "Photos and video are the currency of social media. The iPhone prints this currency. There are better smartphone cameras, but not a better ecosystem. And if the rumors are true, the iPhone 6s will continue to trailblaze with a 12MP camera, 4K video, and who knows what other behind-the-scenes improvements to its processing algorithm.

Traditional camera manufacturers can try to evolve, but they are at a distinct disadvantage by not being Internet-enabled devices. Imagine if your Nikon or Canon point and shoot could run Instagram and wirelessly connect to the Internet. Would a material percentage of 2014's 1.5 billion smartphone purchasers choose these dedicated cameras? Very possibly enough to alter the downward growth trajectory."

Story #1 - Is the U.S. Ready for the Canon EOS M3?

Earlier this year, when Canon released the EOS M3 mirrorless camera in Europe and Asia, some wondered why not a worldwide rollout including the United States? Well, in October, that changes. The EOS M3 is coming to the U.S. Now the question is, is the U.S. ready for the M3? I explore this topic in the first feature of today's show.

Story #2 - "39 MP Jpegs with the Sigma DP1 Quattro"

I've been testing the Sigma DP1 Quattro that has a 28mm equivalent with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, 9 blades, and 9 elements in 8 groups. The DP1 features a 14-bit, 19.6 MP X3 APS-C Foveon sensor that captures its information using a three-layer design. This is a different approach than the mosaic Bayer filter other cameras use to interpolate the color. And when I look at the processed RAW files from the DP Quattros, I do notice a film-like difference in color and gradation.

Because of the 3-layer Foveon design, you can create 39.3 MP Jpegs at a crazy resolution of 7680 x 5120. If you want to capture in RAW, then the DP1 allows in-camera processing to make 39.3 MP Jpegs from those RAW files. I explain more in today's second feature story.

Story #3 - From the Screening Room - Up and Running with Google Photos with Nick Brazzi.

You can watch Nick in action by visiting the TDS Screening Room at lynda.com. While you're there, you can start your 7 day free trial to watch all of Nick's movies, plus every other title in the library.

Story #4 - Mastering the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II - A new 528-page guide by Darrell Young and James Johnson cover every feature of this superb mirrorless camera by Olympus. You can get 40 percent off the eBook price by using discount code: omdm540 at www.rockynook.com.

Virtual Camera Club News

Notice from Red River Paper - For years, 60lb. Pecos River Gloss has been your best choice for glossy inkjet printable card stock. Its smooth glossy surface and plain paper back make it uniquely suited for printing greeting, note, and thank you cards.

Due to issues with the source paper mill - base stock and coating inconsistency - we have chosen to discontinue 60lb. Pecos River Gloss. We feel you deserve the best in terms of quality and consistency. Therefore, the current stock of 60lb. Pecos River Gloss will be the last available.

Because 60lb. Pecos River Gloss is such an important product, a replacement is on the way.

Fall Color with Safari West: October 23-25, 2015 - Sonoma County has rolling hills covered in vineyards, beautiful trees, and gorgeous blue skies. What a prefect place to shoot Fall color and bolster your landscape library. But there's more. We include environmental portraiture with a professional model, and an exclusive African wildlife photo adventure at Safari West, led by a professional photographer, plus a few surprises. This is our longest running workshop of the season, and for good reason. Two full days plus pre-workshop reception, breakfast and lunch, excellent swag, professional model, private Safari West adventure with a pro photographer guide - all included for just $599.

Thanks to everyone who recently reviewed the TDS Podcast in iTunes!

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

Download the Show

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (34 minutes). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - New 5k Ultra High Definition SizzlPix output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com.

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If you like a nice, big screen for composing your images, but don't like holding an iPad up to eye level to take the shot, here's a super high quality alternative.

I've attached a DxO ONE 20 MP RAW shooting camera to the iPad mini. Because you can rotate the camera in both directions, I typically hold the tandem at waist or chest level to compose the shots. It feels very natural, I have the benefits of the big screen to work with, yet I don't look like a tourist on vacation.

The DxO ONE app, now available in the iTunes App Store, provides all of the camera controls I need. I have it set up to send the Jpegs directly to the iPad's Camera Roll for immediate use. At the same time, the high quality RAW files are stored on the memory card in the ONE for processing at a later date. BTW: the image quality of the RAWs when edited in DxO Optics Pro 10 (included with the ONE) are gorgeous.

I've always wanted to take advantage of that beautiful Retina Display on my mini for capturing photos. Now I can, and I can do so in style.

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NASA astronauts shooting with Hasselblad cameras created many iconic space photographs. And now we can read the same training manual NASA used to help them capture the best images possible.

I just read a terrific post on www.ephotozine.com titled Take A Look At A NASA Astronaut Photography Manual where they share some of the tips from the manual and even provide a link to download it.

I'm having a blast reading it. And I'll probably even pull out my 500C this weekend just for fun.

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My view of Dropbox has expanded over the time that I've been using it. Initially, I just wanted offsite storage to protect my content. And it's great for that. But I've noticed that I have many shared folders, often containing that very content I've backed up, with just about every client and collaborator whom I work with. And I would say at this point in time, that I would miss the sharing aspect of the service just about as much as the storage.

That's not to say that protection of my images isn't still the top priority. And to highlight that point, that's what I talk about in this movie: basic backup that can integrate with Lightroom, Photos for OS X, your mobile devices, and just about anything else.

But once that need has been met, sharing becomes just as important. That's a real need today: finding an easy way to collaborate in the business environment. And as I work through the lynda.com title on "Dropbox for Photographers," I show how to integrate these two features - both of which are valuable for the modern digital photographer.

More Dropbox Tips and Techniques

If you want to dig into Dropbox, take a look at my lynda.com training, Dropbox for Photographers. For those who want to learn more about Photos for OS X, I also have the title, Up and Running with Photos for OS X.

Previous articles on The Digital Story about Dropbox include:

• Why Photographers Should Consider Dropbox
• Using Dropbox and Photos for OS X Together
• Exploring Dropbox's Carousel on an iPhone
• Dropbox for Photographers Debuts on lynda.com

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Canon releases an update to one of the most useful prime lenses for DSLR photographers: the 35mm f/1.4. The optic features Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics with a fast maximum aperture for shooting in low-light situations and controlling depth of field.

Full time manual focus override, two aspherical elements, and one Ultra Low Dispersion element highlight this well-specified optic.

Other noteworthy features include:

• Works with both full frame and APS-C bodies.
• A minimum focus distance of 11" with a 0.21x maximum magnification benefits working with close-up subjects.
• Fluorine coatings on the front and rear surfaces help reduce fingerprints and smudging.
• Featuring the L-series designation, this lens is also dust and moisture-resistant.
• A nine-blade aperture provides smooth out-of-focus areas in selective focus images.

The Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens can be preordered for $1,799.

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Olympus has packed a lot of technology into its smallest OM-D. But what's improved over its award-winning predecessor? Let's take a look.

• Upgraded image stabilization: 3-axis to 5-axis, 4 EV compared to 3.5 EV (the E-M5 Mark II has 5 EV steps).
• Added electronic shutter to complement the mechanical shutter.
• 8.5 fps sequencial shooting compared to 8 fps.
• Upgraded EVF to 2,360K dots with OLED compared to 1,440K dots in previous model.
• Full HD upgrade to 60P/50P/30P/25P/24P from straight 30P.
• Two new Art Filters bringing the total to 14.
• New AF Targeting Pad.
• Improved time lapse movie mode to output to 4K, compared to HD previously.
• Added Keystone Compensation like on the E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II

This Micro Four Thirds camera looks like a great value at $649. You can hear more about this robust entry into the mirrorless market by listening to this week's TDS podcast.

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This week on The Digital Story Photography Podcast: The Inside Scoop on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II, Eye-Fi for WiFi Cameras? Apple RAW Update - all of this and more on today's show with Derrick Story.

Weekly Update - "Modulo Camera Promises Unlimited Dynamic Range" The Photography Blog reports: "The new solution, developed by MIT researchers, gets around the limited well capacity of conventional sensors by resetting the sensor capacitors whenever the 'well' gets full, and uses an inverse modulo algorithm to calculate how much light the reset sensors took in. This algorithm recovers a much larger dynamic range. For example, if a certain camera sensor can record eight bits of information, then when those eight bits are filled, the capacitor will be reset to zero. The number of resets is recovered by the algorithm, which then calculates the relative brightness of each area of the photo. Interested readers are encouraged to visit the project's website and read the technical paper published by the researchers."

In other news, the Phoblographer posts: Reports of Sony's New APS-C E Mount Camera Boast 4K 30fps Stills - "The Sony A6000 is a great camera, but apparently there is something coming that won't succeed the camera but instead live above it as the company's flagship APS-C E mount camera. Mirrorless Rumors states even more beyond what they were telling us, and this time around these reports claim that the camera will have a 2.8 million dot EVF and many more video-centric features. Besides mic input support, the camera is said to have a 30 fps 4K photo mode similar to what Panasonic offers with their latest cameras. Plus, even more video-centric features will be added according to what the reports state."

Story #1 - The Inside Scoop on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II

Olympus has upgraded both the interior and exterior of the very popular OM-D E-M10. The new model still retains the 16MP Four Thirds sensor and very compact body. Beyond that, however, the dials and body have been upgraded with premium components. And under the hood, we see better image stabilization and more versatile movie options. Here's an overview of the improvements.

How is it different than the original?

• Upgraded image stabilization: 3-axis to 5-axis, 4 EV compared to 3.5 EV (the E-M5 Mark II has 5 EV steps).
• Added electronic shutter to complement the mechanical shutter.
• 8.5 fps sequencial shooting compared to 8 fps.
• Upgraded EVF to 2,360K dots with OLED compared to 1,440K dots in previous model.
• Full HD upgrade to 60P/50P/30P/25P/24P from straight 30P.
• Two new Art Filters bringing the total to 14.
• New AF Targeting Pad.
• Improved time lapse movie mode to output to 4K, compared to HD previously.
• Added Keystone Compensation like on the E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II

Fairly Incredible Feat of Technology

Olympus was able to squeeze 5-axis image stabilization into a super compact body while still keeping the popup flash. I think the flash is important, not only for spontaneous fill light, but to serve as the wireless controller for off-camera lighting.

Additionally, the sequential frame rate is now a very respectable 8.5 fps. And Olympus has added the clever AF Targeting Pad that allows you to use the LCD to control AF functionality.

What the E-M10 Mark II Doesn't Have

The new model doesn't include weather sealing or 40MP High Rez Shot. Also, movie recording is staying at HD - no 4K video. But the price tag is also $649 compared to more than a thousand for its big brothers. In my estimation, that's a lot of camera for the money.

Story #2 - "Even if You Have WiFi, Eye-Fi Can be Useful"

Here's why I sometimes use Eye-Fi cards in my cameras that have built-in WiFi. You can read more about this by visiting c't Digital Photography Magazine.

Story #3 - Apple adds support for 6 new cameras in its latest Digital Camera RAW update (via Imaging-Resource.com)

Apple has released the latest version of Digital Camera RAW for OS X Yosemite, adding support for half a dozen cameras. The 6.06 update now supports RAW photos from the following cameras:

• Canon PowerShot G3 X
• Leica Q (Typ 116)
• Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX8
• Sony Alpha A7R II
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 II
• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV

The update can be downloaded by visiting the 'Update' tab in the Mac App Store.

Virtual Camera Club News

New Article from Red River Paper - Epson SureColor P800 Reviewed. The Epson SureColor P800 became available in June, 2015. It is the successor to the Epson Stylus Pro 3880. The P800 is a 17" wide professional and prosumer level photo and fine art inkjet printer featuring nine individual ink cartridges with the "UltraChrome HD" pigment ink system. Like the venerable UltraChrome K3 system, the new inkset uses five color ink cartridges along with three black ones.

Fall Color with Safari West: October 23-25, 2015 - Sonoma County has rolling hills covered in vineyards, beautiful trees, and gorgeous blue skies. What a prefect place to shoot Fall color and bolster your landscape library. But there's more. We include environmental portraiture with a professional model, and an exclusive African wildlife photo adventure at Safari West, led by a professional photographer, plus a few surprises. This is our longest running workshop of the season, and for good reason. Two full days plus pre-workshop reception, breakfast and lunch, excellent swag, professional model, private Safari West adventure with a pro photographer guide - all included for just $599.

Thanks to everyone who recently reviewed the TDS Podcast in iTunes!

BTW: If you're ordering through B&H or Amazon, please click on the respective ad tile under the Products header in the box half way down the 2nd column on thedigitalstory.com. That helps support the site.

Download the Show

In addition to subscribing in iTunes, you can also download the podcast file here (28 minutes - MP3 version). You can support this podcast by purchasing the TDS iPhone App for only $2.99 from the Apple App Store.

More Ways to Participate

Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. And from those images, I choose the TDS Member Photo of the Day.

Podcast Sponsors

lynda.com - Learn lighting, portraiture, Photoshop skills, and more from expert-taught videos at lynda.com/thedigitalstory.

Red River Paper -- Keep up with the world of inkjet printing, and win free paper, by liking Red River Paper on Facebook.

SizzlPix! - New 5k Ultra High Definition SizzlPix output for your photography. You've never seen your imagery look so good. SizzlPix.com.

Want to Comment on this Post?

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.

Photography is as much about remembering what we've already learned, as it is about trying new techniques. One of the first compositional tips most of us were taught is framing the shot. It's not appropriate for every photo, obviously, but sometimes it really helps transform a rather bland scene into something a bit more interesting.

For example, if you need to take a picture for real estate work, or just to show someone a location, this is the perfect time for framing. Chances are the subject isn't that scintillating, and a nearby tree can spice up the shot.

Just something to keep in your back pocket as you're out exploring the world with your camera.

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My assistant Leah had been hired to photograph one of those challenging midday backyard weddings. She was very nervous about the contrasty lighting.

I told her, "Worry not." We'll get you fixed up with a flash rig that I've used since the film days, and it's still amazing today. I use a Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 Flash Bracket ($20), with a Nissin Digital i40 Speedlite Flash ($269), and a Canon OC-E3 Off Camera Shoe Cord 3 ($69) - although you can get third party versions for as little as $19.

Here are the basic components shown as individual pieces. The Quick Flip bracket works for both horizontal and vertical shots. When you turn the camera to portrait position, just "flip" the bracket arm. The flash is always positioned over the lens.

I set the flash to TTL, dial down Flash Exposure Compensation 2/3rds of a stop or so, and connect all the parts. I told Leah to use the flash outside and in. In the backyard it helped tame nasty shadows. Inside, it helped illuminate the happy couple. And because the flash is away from the lens on a bracket, she never had to worry about red eye or unsightly shadows cast on the wall.

Here's a before and after comparison. The image on the left is with fill flash, and on the right, without. Quite a difference!

Photos by Leah Gerber.

Regardless of the type of cameras we have, photography is photography. And taming contrasty light is essential for weddings and events.

More Photo Technique

You can see this technique, and more, in action by watching my Fill Flash Portraits title on lynda.com.

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I need lighting for product shots, macro work, video interviews, and gosh-knows-what when I'm on the go. But my camera bag has only inches of space to spare. So I've devised a kit using the Ikan iLED-MS Micro Spot On-Camera Light, a film can diffuser, and a Joby GorillaPod Tripod. The entire kit weighs less than 7 ounces, yet provides powerful, flexible, diffused lighting.

The Ikan LED light with DIY film can diffuser and Joby Tripod. Photos by Derrick Story.

The Ikan light by itself is a nifty unit. It's a lightweight, cool-to-the touch, daylight-balanced, LED about the size of a small flashlight (5" long). The front of the light incorporates a lens system that creates a 30 Degree beam angle providing a directional light well suited for on-camera use or also as a kicker light.

The unit features a discrete on/off switch and is dimmable from 100 to 10 percent on using an integrated thumb wheel on the side. It also includes a built-in diffuser panel, CTO filter for balancing with ambient indoor lighting, and a set of barn doors. Everything folds up neatly. You can recharge it via any USB charger you already have in your bag.

I was impressed with the built-in diffuser panel that simply flips over the LED bulb. But there were instances when I wanted even a softer light. So I retrofitted a FujiFilm 35mm canister to create a gentle light for macro and product photography.

FujiFilm 35mm canister with white gaffer's tape for a snug fit.

The film can mounted pretty well in the LED light, but it was just a tad loose. So I wrapped a few strips of white gaffer's tape to create a snug fit.

The modified light with the film can diffuser works great for close up work. And since I can adjust the output from 10-100 percent, I can get just the look I want. The entire kit weighs just ounces and fits nearly anywhere in my camera bag. In fact, it's so nimble, I may set up a second kit so I can use two-light schemes.

The Ikan iLED-MS Micro Spot On-Camera Light kit has a high Nimbleosity Rating. What does that mean? You can learn about Nimbleosity and more by visiting TheNimblePhotographer.com.

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