Sony has announced the newest version of its Visual Story mobile application, bringing the software to version 2.0, adding compatibility with video content and more.

The mobile app is designed for professional event photographers, allowing them to deliver content to clients immediately following an event. Visual Story includes gallery creation tools, artificial intelligence (AI) assistance to select the best images from a set easily, and web delivery. With the latest update, photographers can now deliver video content in addition to still images. Sony writes, ‘Visual Story is the perfect tool to deliver an excellent experience for all types of clients and use cases that require immediate delivery, including weddings, corporate events, school activities, sports, and family gatherings.’

Within Visual Story 2.0, users can transfer video files from Sony A7S III, A1 and FX3 cameras to the app, where the video files can easily be trimmed and then uploaded. Even during the event, people can view an expanding gallery in real-time. Of course, after the event, a client can view the gallery, too.

There’s more to version 2.0 than video compatibility. The new version now lets users select and import photos via an SD card reader and USB mass storage connection if the network connection at the event is not strong enough. Photographers can connect directly to an Apple SD card reader, allowing for quick and easy image selection and import to the Visual Story app.

Another connectivity improvement is automatic reconnection if the connection between your smartphone and camera is temporarily lost. Further, the number of setting options that users can copy from the smartphone to the camera via Bluetooth has been expanded.

Taking into consideration user feedback, Sony has made additional improvements, including optimized import destination settings, reducing the required steps to create a Story Gallery, displaying an original file name in a Story Gallery, supporting individual photo and video downloads in a Story Gallery, increasing Live Gallery expiration time for up to 24 hours, and adding background color options to a Story Gallery.

Of course, Visual Story 2.0 includes many of the same features as the app’s original release. Visual Story allows photographers to automatically apply their own edit presets or fixed presets, reducing the time required to edit images on the fly. Visual Story includes numerous basic editing functions, including exposure, white balance, contrast, and H/S/L adjustments.

To make final processing and delivery easier, ratings and selections made when creating a gallery within Visual Story can be downloaded to your computer as an XMP file. Photographers can also embed a logo, social media information and more directly onto their images within the gallery, allowing for easier branding and marketing at an event. You can view an overview video of the original Visual Story release below.

Sony Visual Story version 2.0 is available to download now for free from the Apple App Store. Visual Story is compatible with select Sony cameras, including the A7C, A7 III, A7R IV, A7S III, A9, A9 II, A1 and FX3. Cameras from other manufacturers may also be compatible if they support the FTP transfer function.

While Visual Story is free to download and use, additional options are available for paid subscribers. There are Free, Basic ($20/month) and Power ($50/month) tiers available, all of which are free for the first month. The paid tiers include additional cloud storage, more maximum projects, additional gallery deliveries, additional gallery images and videos and more Live Gallery creation options. For full details, click here.

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Sony has announced a free virtual event for content creators. The #BeAlpha Live online event is on February 28, which is this Sunday, and registration is open now. The event is free to attend and includes exclusive workshops, live Q&A sessions, interactive shooting opportunities and the chance to connect with Sony experts to discuss its latest products, including the new Sony Alpha 1, the FX3, Xperia PRO and more.

By registering and joining the event on February 28, you will also be eligible to win a Sony A1 camera. The $6,500 camera is Sony’s new flagship full-frame mirrorless camera and includes a new 50.1-megapixel image sensor, continuous shooting at up to 30 frames per second, 8K video and much more.

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Of #BeAlpha Live, Sony says, ‘The mission of our #BeAlpha events has always been opening up access to the best. The best gear, the best creators, the best knowledge, the best community. In our first #BeAlpha online event of 2021, we’ll bring you a wealth of knowledge and inspiration from some of the best creators around, via classes and live Q&A sessions.’

There are 10 workshops this Sunday, including a creativity chat with numerous creators at 7:00 p.m. EST. Workshops start at 11:30 a.m. EST and cover a wide range of topics, including using the Alpha 1 underwater, tips on creativity, making iconic sports photographs, the art of 8K and more. In total, there will be

There are four live shoots, with the first one beginning at noon EST. All four will be live portraiture shoots, and the included photographers are Scott Robert Lim, Kesha Lambert, Brooke Shaden and Miguel Quiles. Lim and Quiles will focus on using the Sony A1 as part of a portraiture workflow.

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Sony PRO Support experts will be on hand throughout the day. You can ask technical questions about the full line of Sony Alpha cameras, lenses, and accessories and ask about the cinema line and Xperia products. Even if you’re not a Sony PRO Support member, you can participate.

The Sony #BeAlpha Live event this Sunday is a great opportunity to learn and ask questions without needing to pay or even leave your home. For more information and to register, click here.

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In anticipation of the upcoming release of Luminar AI, Skylum has announced a new event to showcase the AI-powered tools in the upcoming software. Luminar Live will feature world-renowned photographers and aims to provide education for photographers so they can hit the ground running when Luminar AI releases on December 15.

Of Luminar Live, Skylum CEO Alex Tsepko says, ‘With Luminar AI, we want people to be empowered to create cool images without spending hours and hours to create it. We’ve been giving previews of Luminar AI a lot lately, and during Luminar Live, attendees will see a full hands-on presentation and demo, showcasing all the creative tools present in Luminar AI.’

Luminar Live is scheduled for December 10, beginning at 10 a.m. EST. Luminar Live will include presentations from Elia Locardi, Pierre Lambert, Lucy Martin, Richard Harrington, Alex Tsepko and many Luminar users. Registration is free and you can sign up to join by clicking here.

As mentioned earlier, Skylum has announced that Luminar AI will be releasing on December 15. If you have missed previous coverage of Luminar AI, the upcoming all-in-one editor is designed to further integrate AI into the photo editing experience and speed up your workflow. As Skylum puts it, ‘Gone are the days of manually masking and dealing with hundreds of layers – Luminar AI makes it easy for anyone to get started and create impactful photographs.’

Luminar AI heavily emphasizes Templates. After analyzing your image, the software recommends different Templates. You can then edit a selected Template or opt to create a totally customized look for your image. Featured image credit: Elia Locardi

Templates are at the core of Luminar AI. The software analyzes your image and then recommends different styles and editing options via Templates. You can then select a Template and call it a day, or tweak every aspect of your image for a custom look.

Additional AI-powered tools include Composition AI, a new feature aiming to automate cropping, Accent AI, Sky Enhancer AI, Atmosphere AI, iris AI, Body AI, Face AI, Skin AI and more. These tools allow photographers to perform tasks quickly and easily such as adding fog to an image, replacing the sky in a photo, automatically enhancing a portrait’s subjects eyes or retouching skin.

To learn more about Luminar AI, click here. If you’re interested in seeing the software in action and learning about its tools from creative professionals who use it daily, be sure to sign up for Luminar Live.

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Fujifilm has announced the Fujifilm Festival in New York City. The Festival will take place on September 16 and 17 and the two-day experience is limited to 80 attendees. The immersive photography event includes numerous workshops, hands-on activities, elective courses and networking opportunities. Attendees will have the chance to go hands-on with Fujifilm X Series equipment and the new medium format GFX system.

Workshops last from 9:40 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. and include lunch. The workshops offered include “An Introduction to Off-Camera Lighting” with David Hobby, “Explore Documentary and Street Photography” with Xyza Cruz Bacani, “The Power of Post-Processing in Travel Photography” with Elia Locardi and “Wedding Photojournalism and Documentary Family Photography” with Kevin Mullins.

There are shorter elective courses available from 3:00 p.m. to 6:20 p.m. on each day as well. These one-hour courses include “Creating Cinemagraphs” with Gareth Pon, “Visual Storytelling: Documentary Filmmaking and the Creative Process Behind” with Karam Gill, “More Than a Postcard: Photographing ‘The Unique’ in Travel Destinations” with Dan Westergren, “Imaginarium: The Process Behind the Pictures” with Claire Rosen and “Creating a Strong Aesthetic That Speaks to You and Your Dream Clients” with Kara Mercer.

Further, you can have your X Series camera and a lens checked and cleaned for free on either day and also make up to three prints per day. There are also demos of X Series and GFX gear each day. Early bird bookings are $799 and you can book your spot by clicking here.

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If you’ve read our first Field Test of the Panasonic GH5 and want to learn even more about the flagship successor to the GH4, then you should mark your calendars. B&H will be hosting a special live stream on Wednesday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, and we will be live streaming the B&H GH5 event on our Panasonic GH5 overview page.

The livestream panel includes filmmakers Jacki Huntington and Griffin Hammond in addition to photographer and filmmaker David Flores and popular photographer and YouTube personality Lok Cheung, formerly of DigitalRev TV. The panel will also includes Panasonic LUMIX Luminary Team member Sean Robinson. The panel will be discussing the camera and its features in addition to answering user-submitted questions. If you submit a question on Twitter, you will be entered for a chance to win a GH5 camera of your own! Don’t forget the hashtag “#BHPhotoLive.”

B&H is currently offering a special Panasonic GH5 Filmmaking Kit, which includes a microphone adapter, battery grip, AC adapter and DC coupler in addition to a free $100 B&H gift card and a special offer to extend the standard 1-year warranty to a 3-year warranty for free. The latter off ends March 31, so don’t wait too long!

– View the GH5 livestream here on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. EDT –

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The Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany is just around the corner, and we don’t want our readers to miss a thing! The show itself starts Tuesday, but Monday is press day, and we expect to see some significant announcements. Photokina comes around only every other year, so companies often hold back at least a few important product announcements specifically for the event.

Our publisher, Dave Etchells, as well as one of our senior editors, William Brawley, will be attending several of the press conferences Monday, to bring you all of the exciting announcements first hand. And during the week they’ll also be meeting with executives, product planners and engineers, to get the low-down on the latest gear and technology. They’ll also have hands-on time with some of the new gear during the week, so Monday is just the beginning!

Below are the scheduled times for each manufacturer’s press conference, all taking place Monday, September 19th. We’ll be bringing you information in real time for a number of these, and for at least one event (possibly more) we’ll be live-streaming, so check in with us early and often throughout the day!

As always, we encourage readers to leave questions for the various manufacturers in the comments below. There usually isn’t much chance to ask detailed questions at press conferences, but we may be able to get some reader questions answered in the interviews later in the week.

Photokina 2016 press conference times

(Times are listed in East Coast USA time followed by Cologne, Germany time):

6:30am/12:30pm: Panasonic press conference

8:00am/2:00pm: Canon press conference (German only)

9:00am/3:00pm: Sony press conference

10:00am/4:00pm: Nikon press conference

11:00am/5:00pm: Fuji press conference

1:00pm/7:00pm: Olympus press conference

To catch up on all the announcements already made leading up to the event, just click here!

Photokina 2016

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The Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive Camera Backpack is a very well designed backpack that can comfortably carry a lot of gear. It’s the largest in Think Tank’s StreetWalker series with interior dimensions of 11″ W x 19″ H x 6-7″ D. Despite its large interior space, the backpack only weighs between 3.8 and 4.6 lbs depending on what is attached to the bag, such as the included detachable tripod straps and interior dividers.

While the backpack has a lot of interior space, it still maintains a surprisingly slim profile. The HardDrive backpack can also hold a 15″ laptop (or a 17″ laptop when not holding a camera body with a battery pack or vertical grip). There are also some accessories available for the backpack, such as special camera straps that can attach to metal rings on the shoulder straps of the backpack to allow quick access to your camera when out in the field.

Pockets:

There are several zippered pockets on the Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive camera backpack. On the exterior of the backpack, there are two pockets on the front and two pockets on the sides. The top front pocket can fit a lot of items and has various smaller pockets inside of it which works well for carrying extra memory cards, batteries, and other small items. The lower front pocket can extend further out than the top front pocket, but does not have any smaller pockets or slots inside. The two side pockets are quite tall and stretch out from the backpack quite a bit. They both also have a cup holder that stretches and will hold most bottles. Inside the backpack, there are two large, clear plastic pockets on the interior of the main flap. These pockets are ideal for carrying thinner items, such as filters and filter holders, as well as something like a cable release or a small booklet.

Interior:

Where the Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive backpack really shines is in its interior customizability. The backpack arrives with lots of padded Velcro dividers distributed fairly evenly throughout the interior. Depending on the gear that you want to fit into the backpack and how you want to organize it, you can reposition or remove dividers. The Velcro is strong and securely maintains its positioning. The material inside the backpack is soft, but repositioning the Velcro doesn’t pull pieces of the material from the backpack. You can fit a wide variety of lenses of various sizes as well as additional camera bodies, flashes, and more inside the backpack. The backpack comes with a rain cover as well, which folds down nicely and fits easily inside a small divided section.

Comfort:

The StreetWalker HardDrive backpack is very comfortable to wear. The straps have cushioning and are breathable. Adjusting the fit of the straps is fast and easy to do while wearing the backpack and the strap length does not shift as you put the backpack on and off. When properly fitted, the straps did not slip off my shoulders even when wearing a rain jacket. The chest strap and waist straps are both comfortable and are easy to adjust. The backpack sat well on my back and did not shift when walking, climbing, and hiking, even when fully-packed. The back of the backpack also has a breathable cushion to increase comfort when wearing it for an extended period of time.

Out in the Field:

The backpack fits well, is comfortable to wear, distributes weight nicely, and is just generally excellent to use. Being able to strap my tripod to the backpack is great as well and the process of strapping it down and removing it for use is quick and easy. For longer tripods, there is an attached pouch for the legs of the tripod that can be pulled from the underneath area of the backpack and flipped down. All of the zippers are heavy-duty and never got stuck. The material used for construction is excellent.

Conclusion:

The Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive backpack looks good, feels great to wear, and offers a lot of flexibility. If you’re looking for a backpack that can carry a lot of gear while remaining comfortable to wear, you can’t go wrong with the Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive backpack. You can pick up a Think Tank StreetWalker HardDrive backpack for $229.75 on B&H.

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