About three days ago, we started seeing a new gimmick on Facebook, images that appear to “move in 3D” when you scroll through them or move your mouse cursor over them. This is a parallax effect and it can be accomplished by providing Facebook with a depth map (e.g. “arches_depth.png”) along with the original image (“arches.png”). The two need to have the same resolution and the depth map needs to be generated in a way that close objects are white and far away objects are black....

ZY Optics has announced the release of their Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 lens for L mount. The fast aperture manual focus lens is designed for use with full-frame mirrorless cameras and is compatible with the complete line of L mount cameras from Sigma, Panasonic and Leica. The Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 was initially offered in full-frame format with Sony E mount in 2014. A Mark II came in 2017 and it was then refreshed in 2019 with a new Mark III version....

I love photographing animals. It’s great fun and they often come with a lot of personality, especially dogs. And who doesn’t have a dog or know somebody with a dog you can play with? If you’ve never tried photographing dogs before, though, it can be a bit of a learning curve. But to make life easier, here’s photographer Phil Harris with 10 tips in 100 seconds to get your creative juices flowing....

It’s rare that I actually see new ways to utilise a tripod. When these videos pop up, they’re invariably just a rehashing of somebody else’s tips and tricks. It’s not that I think I’ve seen or know them all already, but it’s just rare that I see something new. Maybe you have seen or even attempted these techniques before, but I haven’t. This video, though, from Cinecom, takes us through five great ways to use a tripod that you might not have considered before....

I find myself shooting from within cars, trains and other forms of transport quite regularly. When it comes to a car, you’ll be thankful to know I’m not the one doing the driving. And I wouldn’t suggest you try and of these things while you’re behind the wheel, either. Well, except perhaps hyperlapse where you can leave it locked off on some kind of mount doing its own thing. Then you can still concentrate on where you’re going and the other idiots on the road....