On this episode of the Photofocus #Mirrorless Show Scott and Marco will discuss these new products and mirrorless topics:

• We talk a bit about listener feedback that we have received on last months "mirrorless manufacturer repair service quality" topic. And we have found at least one official mirrorless pro service claim in one country.

• Hasselblad has just announced the first compact mirrorless medium format camera. It is called the Hasselblad X1D and has a 50 MPix CMOS sensor (44mm x 33mm) that works at a native ISO range from ISO 100- 25600. We discuss the cameras features, lens options and price. And we give our initial thoughts on the announcement of this camera.

• Panasonic has announced a new Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12mm f1.4 lens. The lens offers the classic 24mm field of view for m4/3 cameras. Scott has ordered this lens along with a new Panasonic GX8 and he'll talk about his experiences in a future Photofocus mirrorless show.

• We share some news regarding Olympus and Panasonic. There are potential supply shortages and product delays caused by the negative effects of the Kumamoto earthquake on April 14th, 2016.

• Fujifilm has released a bunch of new firmware updates for many of their X-cameras and lenses. These updates mainly fix bugs regarding manual focus errors and some improvements on OIS image stabilisation issues.

• Adobe has released an update to Lightroom 6.6 / CC 2015.6 that improves overall performance and added new cameras and lens profiles  for these mirrorless cameras: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II, Leica M-D (Typ 262), Nikon COOLPIX B700, Panasonic DMC-GX85 (DMC-GX80, DMC-GX7MK2). The CC version also received new features.

• Scott answers two listener question regarding the quality difference and usage situations of the mechanical- vs. the electronic shutter. And if the Lumix GX8 in-body image stabilisation needs to be turned off when used on a tripod?

• Marco answers a listener question regarding the choice of a wide angle lens for street photography and environmental street portraits. The listener asked specifically about the Fujinon XF 14mm f2.8 vs. the Fujinon XF 16mm f1.4 lens.

• We now have a Photofocus Mirrorless Flickr group that is open to our listeners and photos taken with all mirrorless camera brands. If you want to join just let us know through the "request invitation" button on the group and drop us a quick line there. We'll add you to the group then. And please ask for the invite via web browser and not via the Flickr App. The invite process via the app has not been working reliably.

• We have picked our monthly featured photographer and image from our Photofocus Mirrorless group. The image we picked this month was taken by Patrick Gorden and is called Lets rock!

Please share this podcast with your friends and subscribe via iTunes. We would also love to get your feedback. Is there anything that you want us to cover on the show in the future? And we would appreciate if you could take a short moment to rate or to post a quick review on iTunes for us.

For more information on Scott Bourne follow him on Twitter: @ScottBourne

For more information on Marco Larousse follow him on Twitter: @HamburgCam

About this show:

On the monthly #Mirrorless episode of the Photofocus podcast, Scott and Marco will discuss the news from the mirrorless camera world related to innovations, trends, gear and accessories. And they will introduce mirrorless camera manufacturers by interviewing the respective managers of those manufacturers. And they invite pro photographers who make their living working with mirrorless cameras to share some tips and tricks on their workflow.

This weeks show we here from Levi Sim who gets a chance to sit down with Mark Toal.

Levi and Mark discuss who is Mark and his background. How he got started. They then dive into the importance of practice and originality and even carrying your camera. The highlight is hearing Mark's experience photographing Muhammed Ali and they tie it all in by sharing what it means to take advantage of opportunities. 

Then Pamela sits down with Larry Tiefenbrunn who is behind the Platypod Pro and Platypod Max that has been getting rave reviews from every direction. Learn about the Kickstarter, the buzz, unique ways of using the product and much more.

• Get to know an inspirational photographer: This month Marco introduces you to the professional "socially engaged documentary photographer" Sebastião Salgado. Sebastião's documentary work has been published in many top-tier magazines and exhibited in some of the world's most famous photo galleries and museums. Many will know his photos of the firemen working on the oilfield fires in Kuwait. He has also published multiple books such as "Workers" or "Genesis". Sebastião has documented many conflict-torn regions in the world and over time changed his focus to look at the beauty of nature with his photography. He and his wife started a stunning environmental project to reforest the rainforest in his home region in Brazil about 20 years ago. There is also a fantastic documentary movie about Sebastião's life as a photographer that is called "The Salt of the Earth" and that is really worth watching.

• Marco explains why current events (a.k.a. tornado) changed the plans and topic for this episode of the inspiration podcast to "protecting your precious visual memories in today's digital world".

• Choosing and handling your memory cards in the field.

• Create a second layer of backup when on the road such as WD My Passport Wireless or Drobo Mini.

• Image management and drive strategy for safe storing your images at home / in your office (RAID, NAS, Time Machine etc.)

• More onsite and offsite backup options for redundancy and real backup. Remember, redundancy is not automatically backup!

• Protecting your onsite cloned drives from fire and water with a document safe like this.

• Offsite options via online backup services, a second NAS etc.

• Scott's photo book of the month pick is: America from 500 Feet II by Bill Fortney. Scott is still picking up this book regularly and is very impressed with the images that Bill took with an ultralight plane in the 1990's.

Please share this podcast with your friends and subscribe via iTunes. We would also love to get your feedback. Is there anything that you want us to cover on the show in the future? And we would appreciate if you could take a short moment to rate or to post a quick review on iTunes for us.

For more information on Scott Bourne follow him on Twitter: @ScottBourne

For more information on Marco Larousse follow him on Twitter: @HamburgCam

About this show:

On the monthly #Inspiration episode of the Photofocus podcast, Scott and Marco will discuss the art, history and motivation in photography that often gets lost in today's media rich world. Slow down, look closer and put more intent into photography to increase your creativity and final results. And simply spread the pure love of photography.

Problem solving podcast with Scott Bourne and Pepper

They go into depth on issues you have probably faced and used their knowledge and experience to get great images. 

Great location however, conditions aren’t ideal, what are your options? Pepper and Scott go into issues such as light, dynamic range, composition and post processing to help you utilize the less than ideal images to find great images. Then they follow up with a question from the last show regarding density filters and shooting the moon.

Several of your questions get answered on this months Q&A with Scott Bourne and Richard Harrington.

Q&A Podcast Questions

1. From Brian in Alberta, Canada

What is a stepping motor lens (Canon) and how is one of these different from Canon’s USM lenses?

2. From Ann in Seattle, WA

What are some of your favorite photography books?

3. From Mike in Tampa, FL

I know that this is easy for some people but I am new at photography and am interested in learning the best way to convert a color photo into B&W.

4. From Justin in Anchorage, AK

Have you ever used a monopod rather than a tripod and if so why and what are the advantages?

5. From Henry in London, UK

Are those panos you can make with your smartphone any good? Do I still need to use my DSLR and stitch or will the phone pics work?

6. From Chandler in Brooklyn, NY

What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying a battery grip for your camera?

7. From Jane in Evansville, IN

My father got into bird photography after attending a seminar with Scott Bourne. I know he doesn’t have a long enough lens and has talked about teleconverters. I also know they come in two sizes, 1.4 and 2X. Is there a reason to pick one over the other and can you use the two together at the same time?

8. From Elliot in Fayetteville, AR

I am interested in knowing if there are alternatives to Lightroom and/or Photoshop that you would consider good enough to use as a replacement for one or both. I am not necessarily thinking of switching but want to do some research just in case.

9. From Joe in Topeka, KS

I’ve heard you both talk about neutral density filters. I get that they are used to darken a scene but I guess I don’t know why you would want to do that.

10. From Oliver in Cheyenne, WY

What is the advantage of setting my DSLR’s backbutten focus to acquire AF over the half-press shutter method?

11. From Marvin in Pittsburgh, PA

I have seen some cool shots of cars at night with long trails from their headlights and tail lights. How do I get that effect and do I need any special gear for that?

12. From Jeff in Houston, TX

I want to photograph zoo animals and then possibly create paintings from those photographs. Do I need to get any special permission from the zoo to take pictures and then turn them into paintings?

In this renewed, reinvigorated episode of The Mind Your Own Business Podcast, Scott Bourne and Skip Cohen discuss marketing tips to improve your photography business. In particular, they discuss the following topics:

• Paying attention to detail allows you to create a great experience for your clients.

• Respect your work enough to package it well. Give your work the presentation it deserves. This communicates to your client how high end you are.

• Make it a point to go out to high end stores and observe how they package their product. Examples include stores like Tiffany & Co, and jewelry stores that sell Rolex watches.

• The little things absolutely count, such as dressing the part or wearing a tie. This applies to writing as well, such as emails and brochures. Proofread your work.

• Make everyone who walks into your studio feel like a rock star.

• Sending flowers to brides that book you is one example of treating a client like a rock star.

• It’s about relationship building. Do research on your clients and find out how you can make them happy.

• Disney and Nordstrom’s are great examples of companies that go above and beyond when pleasing their customers.

• Every detail you get right is another stepping stone towards closing the deal and helping your clients protect their memories.

• Your goal is to exceed client expectations, especially because photography is largely a word of mouth business.