M1 Macbook Air for Photographers and Videographers

As all know M1 macs have turned the tables everywhere. When comes to photographers, we use Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop up to 90 percent of the time. These two software work very well on the M1 macs.

M1 MacBook Air Specifications

Processor: M1 Apple Silicon with 8 core CPU and 7 core GPU

RAM: 8GB/16GB

Storage : 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB

Screen: Retina display

Rest is all unimportant for photographers and videographers

M1 MacBook Air for Photographers

Lightroom and Photoshop Performance

As a photographer, we look for better performance in Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe RAW. This M1 Macbook Air performs in a different level. I have used Intel macs for more than 10 years and this M1 Macbook Air gave an outstanding performance on all these photo editing software.

Phenomenal Retina Display

The Retina Display is phenomenal and gorgeous. every picture is displayed with the most accurate colors as shot. This makes editing look more natural and outstanding. I have been using these M1 Macbook Air for more than a month and have edited around 500 pictures in Lightroom like a breeze.

Lasting Battery

For the normal daily Lightroom edits, I was able to work for 8 hours with around 50% brightness in a bright day-lit room. The battery life is outstanding because of the M1 chip that uses RISC and it consumes very less power.

Noiseless

For a deep level of concentration, noise is the primary enemy. This M1 MacBook Air makes ZERO noise because it has NO Fan, it has passive cooling which makes it completely silent. This silence supports you in a big way while you are trying to concentrate. My Intel-mac sounds like Vaccum cleaners when I start Lightroom.

Other Features

Price

With all the above-said features and improvements the base model comes with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB Storage at £999, which is very reasonable for the apple brand value.

M1 MacBook Air on Video Editing

I tried to install DaVinci resolve and Blackmagic has released ver.17, it works like butter smooth. Blackmagic has released the DaVinci Resolve for M1 macs. I tried editing a 4K footage in M1 MacBook Air, its unbelievable that the M1 chip handles it very smoothly.

I edited a 5 min video with 15 tracks of video and 12 tracks of audio, the m1 MacBook Air handled it very smoothly and there were no skip frames. 

Video exporting was also great, it did not lack anywhere. I exported a 4K Video and it took 3 min to export a 6 min 4K video with multiple layers of Colour grade, Noise reduction, and Effects.

Recommended External Storage SSD Options

1. Samsung T5 1 TB USB 3.1 Gen 2

2. SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB Portable SSD

3. Crucial CT1000X8SSD9 X8 1 TB Portable SSD

4. RAVPower Portable External SSD Pro, 1TB 

5. Sabrent Rocket Pro 1TB USB 3.2

Limitation

It does not throttle but brings down the clock speed of the processor when the temperature reaches 95-degree celsius, of course, what do you expect a fanless machine to do? Apple has done this to prevent the processor from toasting, but the expected performance is delivered while maintaining the CPU temperature below 100 degrees celsius. This is brilliant Apple.

Features to IMPROVE APPLE

1. The keyboard backlight is not working unless you login, so you cannot see the keys in the dark before login.
2. Only 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports are available, A USB 3.1 / HDMI / SD Card slot could be more helpful.
3. 512 GB could be a minimum storage option
4. Upgradable m.2 slot could be another good addition at least. - Cannot carry an external SSD always.

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I will also share my...

- Best accessories for M1 MacBook Air

- Best SSDs for M1 MacBook Air

- Best Dongles for M1 MacBook Air for more ports

What frame rate to use when shooting videos

It depends on the shoot and the purpose of the shoot I can share my experience as I do video portfolios.

Depending on sound

If you're going to use a piece of background music then you don't need to worry about the framerate you can shoot in 24 frames for a cinematic cinematic look you can shoot in 60 frames and slow it down to 24 frames or 30 frames depending on the shot and depending on the way you wanted to look.

If there is a human wise in the world in the picture I would prefer to shoot in 24 frames per second as that is the standard and it gives you the Cinematic look after you colour grade it.

24 FPS

30 FPS

60 FPS

120 FPS

This gives you the freedom in the post-production to play either in 30 frames per second or 60 frames per second or 90 FPS as you decide and depending on the content or the way you want it to be played. 

Remember most of the cameras do not record audio you in 120 frames per second so you need to add the audio in all the 120 FPS footage you shoot and please remember to speed the audio according to the playing speed of the the the footage.

There are new professional cameras from Sony, Panasonic and Canon which can shoot 240 frames per second, of course, it comes with an additional cost and memory consumption and more computing power in the post-production or editing table.

There are two disadvantages if you shoot in 4k 

1. it takes more memory or space in the memory card when you shoot in 4K so you need 4K so you need need to plan accordingly for an extra memory card 

2. In the post-production or in the Edit table do you need a powerful computer to edit the 4K footage you need a processor with at least 8 cores and 16 threads, I would recommend at least using Ryzen 7 2700.

I would advise you to have a shooting plan with the proper frames per second second second for every shot.

Keeping focus while shooting videos with DSLR 

How to keep everything in focus on DSLR video, keeping the subject in focus is an ultimate challenge while shooting videos, this becomes easy in photography as the subject is mostly in a constant distance. This completely changes when it comes to video shooting, it's a different game. Many have asked me do you use manual focus for video?

DSLR video focus tracking can be achieved either m manual focus or by autofocus. A new video camera focus technique has come into the market called the 'Remote focus puller', a focus puller helps you by focusing your camera through a wireless controller. Best focus mode for video is neither manual focus nor autofocus, both works in different situations and also based on the abilities of your camera.

Many have asked me how to keep the focus on a moving subject in focus, I have tried a few methods and those have worked successfully for me.

I have shared my experience and all methods I follow when I do a video shoot.

1.Wide angel Lens

Try to use the wide-angle lens as much as possible, always shoot with a more closed aperture. I use 5.6 to F8 in moderately lit areas. Higher the aperture [higher number], more the focus. 

2. Constant Distance 

For moving subjects always keep a constant distance between the camera and the subject, of course, you have a little freedom based on the aperture, use higher aperture more range of focus will help you keep the subject in focus.

3. Autofocus

Autofocus is available in many cameras nowadays but autofocus works properly only when you have one subject in the field-of-view, one human in the frame if you have more than one person in the frame, it is better to use manual focus else the camera decides on which face focusing rather than the planned face[subject] to focus

4. Remote Focus Puller

Having a Focus puller is a good idea if you have the budget. A focus puller will help to do the focusing from a remote monitor or a tablet, you can have the Focus puller remotely operating the focus so the camera can move freely and also capture the subject in their quiet Focus. We get remote focus puller kit available like the Zhiyun focussing kit, comes as an addition to their awesome gimbals.

5. Fixing a Meeting point for Focus

When capturing a subject moving in the opposite direction, mark a point on the floor, where the subject has to come in focus and then work backwards so that when the camera is moving in the opposite direction to the subject there is a particular marked point where the subject comes into focus and then moves away, remember the camera should be shooting in the manual focus mode.

This kind of shot is commonly used in dance videos come on music videos and commercials.

In the below videos, I have used all these techniques I have shared with you, there are 3 more techniques following below...

6. Back-up plan

Take the same shot with manual focus and with autofocus if required, so if either of it goes wrong the other could help you as a backup

7. Multiple takes

To cover up the risk in the focus, I always advise taking multiple shots or repeated shots so that if one goes away at least you have a few to back you up

8. Shoot the rehearsal

If you can shoot the rehearsal that is really good as it will be a backup for you and you could also check the camera angle, camera focus the lighting everything on the monitor and adjust before the real shot.

The above video is completely shot with manual focus in a DSLR camera, I have managed to keep everything in focus. Keep practising and you will understand the techniques better.

Thank you for reading all my experience, if you have better ideas please do write them in the comments so I could learn from you as everybody who reads this blog.

Should I buy a Sony A7C?

Is an upgrade to Sony A7C worth the money I pay? Is a good question that came to me when I saw this camera when it was released.

What does Youtube say about Sony A7C?

I went down looking on all the reviews and videos on youtube, most of them are talking on the positive side of this camera and only very few have spoken the real challenges this camera could give the photographer of the videographer. 

I thought all these bloggers and YouTube reviewers who took mostly the positive on the products are trying to sell the products to their viewers for a small commission and this is like playing with the money of the customer or the YouTube followers who are following them with a lot of confidence on their reviews. I don't want to do that, I want to share my real opinion on this camera and of course, a few reviews were real reviews, from a couple of Youtube channels as well.

I want my readers to know the real fact that will come as a shock when you start shooting with the new Sony a7c, I'm not here to sell this camera to you, my readers, I'm here to tell talk openly on this camera.

Price?

$1800 USD [Body only] and $2100 USD with the kit-lens, for this camera, seems not worthy, instead, you can buy a much cheaper camera that is way better than this one.

I love Sony for the technology and brilliant features that they offer in their cameras, providing a full-frame sensor on a compact body like this his extraordinary of course it comes with a caveat, it does not provide the expected in Body Image stabilization [IBIS] as that of other Sony cameras.

Its very good from Sony to provide us with the full-frame sensor on a very compact camera but I feel that it has not come with the correct pricing. To me, $1800 USD is really expensive for this camera body.

Questions in my mind for that $1800 USD

Can it shoot 4K videos in 60fps / 120fps?: No

- but for $200 USD more, Panasonic’s full-frame S5 shoots 4K at 60 fps and has a 10-bit internal recording for 4K

Do I get a dual card slot? : No

Do I have The Rolling shutter problem? : Yes

Does it shoot videos in 10-bits? : No, it shoots in 8-bits

How many photos can I take with a full charge? : 700 approx

8 Cons of Sony A7C

1. It is a small Factor camera may be called as a compact camera and it is very compact in big hands.  

2. The autofocus system is not as good as Sony a7sIII 

3. It has only one SD card slot and it is not possible to use it for professional work where you need a backup saving card

4. It has the old menu system and not the new menu system as Sony a7s III

5. It does not have have the front wheel or front dial on the index finger so for every adjustment you need to rely on the big dial on the back of the camera this comes a bit annoying when doing photography, where you might need to adjust the shutter speed for every shot or particularly during the photoshoot in the outdoors with natural light.

6. It does not have 1/8000  shutter speed 

7. It does not have a lock so you can lock your Dials and buttons and they tend to change while you move your hands around the camera while shooting.

8. Spending 1800 dollars seems to be not worthy for a camera like this instead you can try but Canon RP that has a great colour sign from Canon it has all the Dials and wheels appropriately weighted supposed to be B&M it's a mirrorless obviously and comes with a cheaper price dentist camera

So before you buy this camera please check on the Canon R or Canon RP and then make your decision

Top 10 features of Canon 90D DSLR Camera

1. Dual Pixel AutoFocus in 4K [24FPS/30FPS]
2. Dual Pixel AutoFocus in 1080p [24FPS/30FPS/60FPS]
3. 120 Frames per second Video in 1080p
4. Digital Image Stabilisation for Videos
5. Support for UHS I & UHS-II Memory Cards
6. In-Camera Picture Editor
7. Custom Profile addition
8. 1/8000 shutter speed
9. 11 FPS Burst mode in RAW images
10. Flip - Touch Screen

Dual Pixel AutoFocus in 4K [24FPS/30FPS]

Dual Pixel AutoFocus in 1080p [24FPS/30FPS/60FPS]

120 Frames per second Video in 1080p

Digital Image Stabilisation for Videos

Support for UHS I & UHS-II Memory Cards

In-Camera Picture Editor

Custom Profile addition

11 FPS Burst mode in RAW images