AI, Godox, My Agent and some Camera Gear, - Episode 3

In this photography podcast episode, we talk about AI, Godox lighting, and camera gear. Tune in for some valuable insights and tips for your photography journey!
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[@TinHouseStudioUK]

If you want to see what I can't share on socials head here www.patreon.com/tinhouse

[@UnitasPhotography]

To differentiate these from your regular content you should call these episodes something like, "Tin House Talks". 👍

[@PhotoArtBrussels]

Hi Scott, I use the Fuji 100S as studio portrait camera. Lens I use is the GF 45-100 f4, it has in lens stabilization and linear fast focus system; flexible to use for portraits. Keep in mind the 50S & R versions do not have phase detect auto-focus. The auto-focus on the 100S is good enough to nail focus on moving subjects, and it has eye auto-focus. Depending on what you are aiming for; the little GF 35-70mm is also a great lens. (You can buy most of the GF lenses at MPB or other second hand outlets)

[@jpgrignon1]

The reviewers are valid because most of them cater to hobbyists and KZbinrs. You don't need to be a high-end photography or cinema professional to review cameras since most viewers are not professionals themselves. Reviews aimed at professionals often don't serve the general public well.

[@000CloudStrife]

If we change the culture the culture will improve

[@colintraveller]

Lololol ... You must be watchin entirely different reviews of gear . I've still yet to watch a brutally honest review of Camera Gear . ... And i've watched a multitude of shockingly badly done reviews of gear . No point praising gear and brand only to make a later video to complain about an issue with the camera ...

[@neeyal]

The ones I see are from people who rarely review gear, and don't live or die off manufacturer sponsorships

[@jpgrignon1]

@@000CloudStrife A professional can't influence a culture they aren't part of, because the niche is different. I really like this channel and find it more valuable for me personally than many others. However, that doesn't mean those other channels are invalid; they just aren't made for me. Complaining about creators of consumer content feels like punching down and isn't a good look.

[@000CloudStrife]

@@jpgrignon1 so you can do both commercial and regular work. You can bring commercial quality to regular consumers.

[@JeffBourke]

That was my sarcastic question about the new autofocus on the canon! It’s ridiculous. My point was that the gear pushing is out of control. Thanks!

[@thebelly925]

I really enjoyed seeing the throw-back to the 5Dii with a missing eye cup and a gold lens. I’m fortunate to be able to use L glass, but the 5Dii remains, and I have no reason to ‘upgrade’, absent the intentional toss out the window of a moving car. 😅

[@ashamafro7531]

I love those podcasts keep them up! Could you maybe enable chapters in those videos, so people can find topics easily when they rewatch them? :)

[@robertruffo2134]

Why do people insist on buying laptops for graphically intensive work!? Get a desktop PC - it will give you 20X the performance value

[@kiwimike2330]

If you’re tethering on-site, you can’t take your desktop PC.

[@definedphotography]

A minor nitpick, the Canon R1 hasn't been released yet. They've made a development announcement to say they're making one, but its not available to the general public.

[@TenAfterTen]

Great talk! As a learner myself the only reason I use Godox continuous LED lights is the price (I have 2 60W lights). I don't make money from photos, well almost nothing. I would love to work with good light setup, but they are costly for me. One day...

[@mikaele1509]

It's not AI that puts the hurt on product photographers, it's 3D. Especially for very easy to do materials in 3D (non translucent, non organic structure). And even easier to recreate in 3D - highly stylized looks like ultra sharp shadows, colorful - I doubt even the most pro photographers can tell the difference anymore.

[@maortizjr80]

I use Flashpoint, the Adorama rebranded Godox, and have a minor investment in them, but I reached a point where I needed to decide whether to buy into the brand or invest in a higher-level system that would withstand the harshness of regular transport that I could rent in case I needed it. The two options to rent in my local market are Profoto & Westcott. Although I own and mostly use Westcott modifiers, I don't find their lights a step up from Godox. So, Profoto was the primary option. After a recent project where I needed extra lighting, I was able to borrow from my circle of friends at the last minute to meet the requirements of the gig. Most of my local knowledge base is in Godox, and most professional photographers in my circles use Godox. For a similar reason to what you mentioned, I decided to stay with Flashpoint and add to my kit.

[@andrewcroft2570]

Another outstanding podcast, regarding older gear and your 5D Mark II, I use a Canon 40D quite a lot for portraits the colours are incredible. Talking of alcohol adverts I loved the Joan Collins & Leonard Rossiter Cinzano ad series these were classic adverts and due to our stupid, present day political correctness we are not going to see such great advertising again.

[@IOSARBX]

Tin House Studio, This made me laugh so much! Thanks for sharing!

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@NoxDiurna]

I use a 100s with M1 maxbook. It works fine. You sure about the need for faster computer?

[@declanscammell]

As someone with a large portfolio of nude and boudoir photography, the is nothing worse than the creepy photographers! I went to one meeting at my local camera club to see what it was like and to try and do some networking, and it was a competition night for fine art nudes. The things that the mainly older guys were saying was just revolting, and I haven’t been back since!

[@johnhagen31]

Your beer is the opposite of your photography - thin, weedy and uninteresting

[@johnkorth8599]

I’m not worried about having the latest and greatest. My camera is a used R6 and my newest lens was made in 2008 and using the cheapest EF/RF adapter everything works great and my pictures turn out how I want them to

[@makalu69]

Interesting conversation. The reason I stopped watching TV (and therefor any adverts to be found on there) is because very little of it is actually created to appeal to my demographic. Thankfully I can find far more interesting stuff online.

[@martinph7812]

Have you looked at the Fuji X-H2? Would be a great addition for portrait work. I went for it over the GFX 100 because of file sizes. Very pleased with it.

[@benharris3949]

I’d love to see you talk with Kai W about gear pushing on KZbin

[@BronzeHarbour]

This lack of productivity and money is something only happening in the west. Asia, middle east and Russia are thriving. Everything outside of the anglo-gayxonic sphere of influence is better than ever. The decadence is setting in. As it become norm: China Innovates, US replicates, EU regulates.

[@CMElliotte]

The gear pushing hit a strange turn recently when a tech youtuber gave an honest review of a poor product. There was legit discussion about whether or not reviews should be honest because a bad review could sink a whole company. Maybe make a product that works first before release 🤷‍♀

[@fanjan7527]

I think A.I. will wreck a lot of careers, but for those who can manage to hold on after the initial shock and novelty, plus those who stuck with AI and have pushed AI away from being cheaper "photography", photographers will become valuable cause authenticity will rise again.

[@chrisbeschi4818]

I had exactly the same thoughts visiting the photo & video show earlier this year. The use of ‘hot young girls’ to sell gear is creepy af! It felt like stepping back in time. But photography has always (literally always) attracted creepy men.

[@koltureshack7993]

I feel like your 'create something cool --> check the boxes you need to tick' starts further up in the process/chain of command. Brands need to be open to creatives taking risks and trust that the output will be interesting, fresh *and* socially relevant. In my experience, as creatives we create these crazy ideas but eventually they get shut down not necessarily because of tickboxes, but because of bureaucracy... which then kind of makes you apathetic to the entire thing...

[@Cotictimmy]

When I go to studio group shoots with Godox, it invariably happens that the modelling lights go out or the studio owner turns it off to save battery. Later one of lights will stop firing because the battery has died. I roll my eyes and think to myself 'This wouldn't be happening with my Elinchrom mains strobes at home.'

[@DrZeeple]

@6:37 Buying anything from the PRC is like buying them weapons for the upcoming war --- at some point you have to ask what type of stupid are you?

[@andrewf.7813]

I understand what you are saying (budgets under pressure/they want it all for nothing/only day rates/etc). I am experiencing the same. Gen Z can copy all they want, but that might be the only thing they bring to the table. I honestly think doing a national or global campaign needs more than that. Art directors need to have the faith that their campaign is in good hands, that the photographer can delivery even if the going gets tough. I think many gen Z’s will struggle even if they have the ‘lighting trick’ down to a tee.

[@fanjan7527]

I have usually gotten better search results to include "long term review" however that is also dying cause now 3 months seems to be "long term"...or when you see videos asking if last year's camera is still worth it in 2024.

[@jonjanson8021]

I have Godox because for location they're cheap , disposable and battery. Although If I can plug in I prefer my 25 year old Bowens and Bronnies..

[@TheChidmas]

I was hoping Pete would answer "yeah the industries totally screwed so I'm moving to Benidorm and taking naked pictures of women"

[@dangilmore9724]

DEI/PC constraints are beginning to go out the window, especially in the US, because of the unintended side effect of 'if you set out not to offend anyone you'll end up offending everyone.' I predict that advertising will begin to follow the principle of 'advertising becomes ineffective once people realize it's advertising.' This is not a new principle - movies and entertainment are in effect full length adverts for products aimed at children. Essentially, I'm of the opinion that we are experiencing a brief period of photographic technology driving the way advertising is constructed.

[@jensgaethje8555]

Is this available as an audio podcast somewhere ? Would be nice ... but couldn't find it ??

[@fanjan7527]

If you aren't changing the situation where you offend someone, you aren't saying anything.

[@Sea0fTime]

If things are just picking up from a baseline of the worst year ever, things are still pretty awful.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

As much as I like Fuji cameras myself, I suspect that tethering will be even slower with their older 50mp cameras. Depending somewhat on which exact model you get. And you probably will need a new cable for the right connector.

[@kiwimike2330]

There’s been downward pressure on the rates for commercial photography and traditional advertising because of the rise of influencer advertising, which comes out of the advertising budget so the advertising budget pie is just getting split into more pieces.

[@000CloudStrife]

I agree with so much said in this. So much so that when I start talking about this I get blacklisted and kicked out of communities as the “pros” see it as a threat to their livelihoods because I’m educating the public to want better than the garbage they are given. Change the culture to a better one. Also no to dei.

[@TheNiteinjail]

So long as a reviewer doesnt misrepresent themselves i find reviews from experts and enthusiasts useful... But if an enthusiast represents themselves as an expert, that uaually bothers me.

[@Jeremy_Akes]

For your medium format camera you should be able to adjust the file size so it doesn’t slow your computer down so much. No need to get a new camera just to do that. Should be in your menu settings.

[@bloodmoney88]

are CCCD camera's in vogue again, if they are I have a couple of pannies in a draw... pristine, offers?

[@317Media_Indy]

Regarding the Fuji, the GF 110 f/2 is significantly faster focusing than the GF 80. I know from your video's you won't likely buy a new body, but the GFX 100 II is much better on focusing and the EVF is actually solid. I tether to the iPad Pro for live portrait review using Area 51 cable and Capture One. Transfer speeds are quite good, filter for JPG shooting Normal/Raw.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

About the EVF, I don’t know how good / bad the EVF is on the GFX100s? But I still wonder if perhaps Scott has his EVF configured correctly for his shooting? (Manual exposure with flash, so the EVF will be dark unless you set it to preview whitebalance only, or exposure preview off).

[@317Media_Indy]

@@TimvanderLeeuw the EVF on the 100s is decent at best. But, that's been a significant issue on many mirrorless systems. The 100 II has, I think, 3x the pixels. You can actually check focus well using it.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

@@317Media_Indy I checked the specs, indeed the resolution of that EVF is not very high indeed for the resolution of the sensor. The 9mp EVF of the newer GFX models is indeed much better. For usability it is also important that they are bright, and don’t dim too soon / drop frame rate too soon when the camera thinks you’re not doing anything (but you are actually busy focusing through the non-electronic lenses). These are all ways that can make the EVF experience worse than the optical viewfinder, that don’t really affect a lot of the people using these cameras with “regular” lenses for landscape photography etc.

[@liveinaweorg]

Truly enjoyable and informative. Thanks gents.

[@Popa_Bogdan_Light_Drawing]

thank you! 40min very good invested

[@arjuna207]

Thumbs up for mentioning Phillip Bloom

[@brunof.6452]

Ironic how Photographers aren't taking AI seriously. It's almost psychological, like a denial phase. There are some really in depth, thoughtful ideias of artists and tech people on the industry, diving deep into the impact of this revolution we are passing through at this very moment.

[@sidbrun_]

Completely agree. I've seen so many photographers dismissing AI, using images where it's generated strange results like missing hands or clipping objects, things which just don't make sense. But that's because a lot of what we're seeing is still somewhat in its infancy and tech will continue to advance (I'm going to contradict this in a minute). I remember seeing some of Nvidia's early generative work back in 2018, and they were generating weird looking cars which were somewhat promising, but more importantly generating faces which were almost completely photorealistic and could easily fool you into thinking they were real people. Back then, I knew this would be a huge concern for photographers, but nobody really paid attention and it seemed like only a few people took an interest in those videos. To be honest, 6 years later I feel like we haven't seen it affect photography *that* much and I mean, Photoshop's AI can be incredibly helpful for a photographer. But any photographer who isn't keeping a close eye on it is going to shoot themselves in the foot. That said, this is where I contradict that, there's also a lot of research showing that AI is hitting a "ceiling" in advancement and beginning to plateau. Most people would say it'll continue advancing, but some research is showing that we're reaching diminishing returns and the level we're at right now is about as good as it gets for the coming years. And if you've used Photoshop's AI, you know just how hard it can be to get things right and it requires a lot of trial and error before you get a result close to what you want. So, two sides to this, where we're at right now is phenomenal but questionable for actual campaign work; where we're going with it may not be much better anyway, so any affect we're saying right now might be all we see. Then you've got the deeper question of the wider economical affect, seeing as AI will pretty much change every single industry and put billions out of work. So, it's not just photographers who need to be questioning it, everyone needs to wonder how they'll be "doomed" by AI. And if everybody's out of work, there won't even be an economy for AI to run 🤷‍♂

[@brunof.6452]

@@sidbrun_ well said, thanks for sharing your opinion. To be honest I'm trying to educate myself on this. I heard it may be hitting it's peak, but it's hard to tell because companies aren't much open about it. It's a revolution we are not prepared for, comparing to 3D modeling is just childish.

[@sidbrun_]

@@brunof.6452 Yeah companies are keeping their developments somewhat secret, and only providing the public some tools which will help them to develop things further as opposed to actually being completely useful tools. So, it may be that some big advancements are about to come that have simply been kept behind very closed doors. You've also got a lot of talk about how some ML models have been getting nerfed/degraded to the point that they're just not that useful anymore. I've seen so many people complain that ChatGPT isn't nearly as effective as it used to be, and you've got people conspiring that companies are beginning to lower the quality so that they can make distribution less even and make it exclusive to big companies with big budgets. In other words, they don't want the average person to have access to such powerful tools and make it so only few people can actually use them.

[@TimvanderLeeuw]

Some photography can be replaced by AI, but the AI we have now and for the foreseeable future, is entirely derivative. It is not creative. Being derivative, it cannot be guaranteed to come up with an accurate picture of your product. And if your product is new, you need a photographer to take that picutre -- the AI cannot know what it looks like. So I think that for the type of product photography that Scott does, AI can provide tools that speed up the editing workflow but not tools to replace him as the photographer.

[@raytaylor4199]

I'd say there's a bit of niavety on the advancement of AI and its uses.

[@Twobarpsi]

I have a 5D MKII with the same battery grip!

[@BroInJapan]

yet again another great episode with the two of you. Good balance. Like.

[@thomaspinder1596]

I use older phase cameras and the batteries struggle to hold charge now so thats something to consider

[@RollinLeonard]

tethering the fuji is bullshit

[@robertleeimages]

Yep 1 of these a week or even 2, is very good viewing 👌

[@rstebnicki]

DEI - is the stupidest idea come in past decade.

[@trancer03]

What kind of camera would you use to make moving images? Seems like most photographers won't be able to make moving images because video camera's are insanely expensive.

[@jamescorner-qb9gv]

Hi, where in Shoreditch do you service your cameras? thanks in advance..

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

Not sure as I post in, quick google shoudl find it though

[@poolv]

Thanks guys, i am enjoying these.

[@richardbierman9856]

Yeah, Philip Bloom is the man!

[@notjustanygeorge]

Hey, great video! I would love to hear your thoughts on Aputure lighting for video/stills.

[@doughowell3171]

Nice show I like it. Very informative I personally think that AI is just an adjunct to motion and stilll photography. I think AI images generated by themselves look sorta fake.

[@afzalshaikhshahmahammad]

Your videos are excellent because you give real-world practical advice on what to do, how to do things and importantly, things to avoid doing. You know your photographic world and you demonstrate your skills perfectly. You are a success and your journey in itself is inspirational. Your success allows you to work with the 'best' kit because that is what the Industry requires and expects of you. So, for you to promote 'lesser' brands is irrelevant and unnecessary - you know what works for you and why. -- I have bought and I use Godox -AD300pro, for my limited purposes, this works well enough. When I watch your videos, I try to learn the techniques demonstrated using what I have. Sure, should I become extremely successful (that will never happen), then of course, upgrading to better gear is an inevitability!

[@kudobeats]

This episode was brilliant. Love the phone call very insightful stuff

[@sidestreetvideoproduction7278]

I would like to see some more on using Broncolor. I just got a Broncolor Scoro A1600S. I would like to have you demonstrate the menu's and features as well as how to use modifiers. Thanks.

[@JonClempner]

Rules and constraints suppressing creativity? - I give you Haiku as an art form. As you you point out sometimes the 'rules' can spur on creativity in a different way.

[@stasgavrilovru]

Beardy men🤘🏻

[@louisepaige9461]

He was creepy, like your blogs, but seriously Mario, Did you work with him?

[@danielboulton922]

have the new capture one updates sorted out tethering problems? or they more focused on fixing tethering issues with the latest GFX

[@buranagel7827]

definetly get the p65+(or p45+) for portraits, best sensor ever imo. still regret selling mine

[@garonkiesel1646]

This may be a question for your guest Rob. Will CAD renderings replace photos? I worked for a company that designed lamps. We occasionally rendered the 3D CAD design into a photo, which was very good. Do you see this happening more in the future?

[@digimechanic]

It won't replace photo's, rather compliment, they are very different things.

[@jamesstone5768]

The DEI box checking is getting less frequent these days in the US, especially outside California. Many companies here in the states have eliminated or greatly reduced their DEI departments as many think it got pushed too far. Love the Beer drinking during the podcast... really. Keep doing you. Thanks for all your efforts at Tin House