Want To Know What’s Happening In The World Of Photography? Grab A Coffee And Settle In
Over the past couple of weeks, we noticed something unusual, less meaningful gear related news but a curious dynamic on the world of film photography.
Nothing to worry about, of course, just a simple notion. Obviously, there is always good stuff to talk about when it comes to the world of photography, and here is the most important photography news you shouldn't be miss.
HARDWARE & GEAR
We Saw One Coming, But Not The Other One
It seems like 2019 will be the year of the Digital Rangefinder cameras for Fujifilm. Last year we witnessed two huge “traditional” mirrorless systems appeared, the XH-1 and the XT-3, so it feels quite logical to have something done on the other side of the mirrorless spectrum.
According to the pretty well funded Fuji Rumors, there could be a high possibility of seeing this year what could be the X-Pro 3 and the X100F successor. Here is the complete note based on other intel taken from TechRadar.
Best Cameras for Parents
As someone without kids, this hasn't been a topic I considered at all before, but after reading this it got me thinking. A lot of people love to have their precious family memories in something more photography oriented than a smartphone. After the huge boom of smartphones, it is nice to see that the beautiful tradition of taking pictures as something special is still out there. Thanks, Fstoppers.
Fujinon XF16-80mm f/4 Expected for mid-2019
Rumors around Fujifilm have been quite dramatic and besides the camera related ones, there is also another rumor related to one of their most anticipated lenses, the 16-80mm f/4. This lens seems to be a pretty big thing as an all-in-one lens. Oh, and it is expected to be Weather Resistant as many other great Fujinon lenses.
Canon Feels Good with Mirrorless
We've been saying it a lot, mirrorless camera systems are no longer the future but the present. Last year Canon finally understood it and released a camera that could have been better but it is a great starting point for many Canon shooters.
Despite this, Canon does have amazing lenses, and their DSLR lineup has been pretty much complete for a considerable time now. They will focus entirely on their mirrorless lenses (RF Mount) which seems appropriate. So far they have 4 available lenses.
1.25GB/Sec Photo Transfers
Just in case your entire workflow relies on outstanding file transfer rates, then this little fellow might be the right thing for you. ProGrade digital recently released their Digital USB 3.1 Gen 2 Dual-Slot SD Card Reader which promises not only amazing transfer speed but will also be capable of handling two cards simultaneously.
Nikon 14-30mm F/4 For Their Mirrorless Cameras
See, mirrorless is the present. At CES 2019 Nikon presented their latest Nikkor lens, a 14-30mm f/4 lens for their Z mount system. The lens is on average $1300.00. It has some really nice coatings making it not only sharp but color accurate, Weather-Sealed Design, Fluorine Coating, Rounded 7-Blade Diaphragm in a retractable design that is not a favorite among photographers but is nice.
New Cintiq!!!
Every photographer should have a drawing tablet, even a modest one. Even at RAW development, there are times that local adjustments are required, and it is way better to work in a more tangible way than with a mouse or trackpad. Wacom is a leader when it comes to this, and they announced their newest Cintiq Creative Pen Display, a $649.95 investment that could considerably enhance your workflow.
Double Trouble
Last year we heard from Fuji that they were developing a 100Mp medium format camera that made other manufacturers a little bit uncomfortable. Just last week, the usually accurate Fuji Rumors (which we believe is a marketing conspiracy funded by Fujifilm themselves!!) posted some information and a top-photograph from the 100Mp to-be camera, the GFX100.
What is making a lot of people chat about this one, is not the design consistency or the power that this camera will have (well, yeah, the power has been discussed), but the existence of two joysticks on the back of the camera.
This might seem cosmetic, but it actually tells us that the camera will be a little bit heavier to manipulate than the GFX50, and they have included this second joystick as an ergonomic solution. Whatever happens, we know that Fujifilm will continue to change the game of photography in the upcoming near-future.
11K Camera on the Spot
Alright, alright, this title was obviously biased. But technically this is indeed an 11K camera, simply because it has multiple lenses and sensors. Nevertheless, it is a pretty interesting photographic gadget. The Insta360 is an eight-lens cinematic VR camera that captures 360 photos and video at up to 11K resolution.
The camera looks like something designed by Rick Sánchez himself, among other features, the camera provides a ground-to-ground range of up to 300 meters and ground-to-air range of up to 1000 meters, with 30 FPS preview. It is insane, and you can read (and even reserve yours today) everything about it here.
The Simple “8K Video Camera” by Sharp
Do you remember Sharp? The Japanese electronics company that you knew from the early 2000s for anything but cameras? Well, how about this, they showed what will be the first affordable 8k camera, and guess what, it is mirrorless, and small too! You can check out this review from Kinotika which is not an official announcement but a spot on a prototype.
1TB SD Cards everybody
Wow, we knew that this moment would arrive some day, but wow… A 1 terabyte (1000GB) SD card is insane. Lexar showed up at CES 2019 with a truly tiny beast, the Lexar Professional SDXC Card 1TB Bl 633X Card. It has a price tag of $399.99 at B&H and it will be a really interesting tool for video makers.
Canon Will Keep Making DSLR Cameras…
Canon, please focus on refining your mirrorless system… And keep making great lenses, you already have a nice product in your hands, high-quality lenses, don't distract yourselves. Well, I'm exaggerating a bit here… Canon will continue to refine their Mirrorless system as you can see here, but they will also continue to produce DSLR cameras, and that is just not healthy for them anymore. DSLR cameras are long past, and all the other manufacturers saw it years ago.
Nope, Sony a7000 Is (yet) Still a Myth
After a funny looking “a7000” that actually looked more like an a7 with a poorly photoshopped number in front of it, we got the official successor of the Sony a6500, the Sony a6400 (yup, Sony has a weird numbering logic).
This new camera has been really expected by vloggers, but since it has a 180° tiltable screen some people have raised some questions about stuff that requires a clear hotshoe in order to function. Nevertheless, Sony has stated that this camera has been tailored for vloggers, so there should be a good solution for this speculation.
Here comes The Gatlin
Fujifilm announced their massive 100mm-200mm f/5.6 lens, and even if the “f/5.6” aperture value doesn't ring a bell for you, remember that this lens has been developed for the GFX system. Ergo, you now can have a medium format camera with a powerful lens. Maybe I could be wrong, but this seems to be a clear strike among the traditional full-frame camera manufacturers developing very well known 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses. This opens possibilities for photographers out there, from wedding photographers to wildlife and sports photographers.
Canon is Still the King
If you are having trouble reading or understanding Japanese, here is a post in English that tells you more about it. Canon still has the largest market share when it comes to DSLR cameras. But wait, after they launched the EOS R they amassed 22% (in almost three months) of the full-frame mirrorless camera market share, once ruled entirely by Sony. That is quite impressive, so either Canon is making things right, or people are still pretty loyal to them despite the many great advances other manufacturers have been making in the past.
Respawning Deleted Photos
If you have never experienced the micro-heart attack that happens after losing (by undesired deletion) a complete batch of photographs, then consider yourselves as lucky. This has happened only once to me, and trust me, it was extremely painful. Long story short, I recovered the work. But this post written by Dahlia Ambrose deserves a read. You never know when you'll have to recover stuff from an accidentally formatted memory card.
X-H1 is Getting Cheaper
There is really only one reason why the price of a camera falls dramatically, and that is because it's successor is around the corner. Apparently, that is not the case for the X-H1 since there is no hard evidence on having an X-H2 on 2019 according to Mr FujiRumors. So, if you are considering investing in an X-H1 system, then this is the moment, maybe it's price will rise again in a couple of weeks.
Meike Lenses
There has been a very curious burst of lenses in the last months, especially for mirrorless camera systems. When it comes to optics, low budget comes at a great price…image quality. But sometimes results are nice and decent even in low-budget lenses, just remember the famous nifty fifty by Canon (which helped many photographers enter the amazing world of prime lens photography) for example. Here is a complete list of optical options.
Electronic Shutters vs Mechanical Shutters
There is a high chance that you have heard of these two shutter options, mechanical and electronic. Here we stumbled into an article that explains in a comprehensive way the pros and cons of both options. Not all cameras come with both shutter options, but as technology evolves, there is a high chance that this becomes a regular thing on every camera (or not). Nevertheless, it deserves a read.
SOME STORIES
Lacking Inspiration? Check This Out
It is normal to have a slow run with photography as with any other discipline that tends to demand devotion. If you are in an inspiration hole (alright, let not be that dramatic), you should check out this post by DPS.
Here they share 25 practical (and highly doable) projects for you to start this year. It is amazing what you can get simply by looking through your old photos or inviting other photographers to join you in a project. Besides gear, this is what really matters in photography, getting out there and doing something that will make you happy. You don't have to pick them all, just one of them could trigger the spark of inspiration in no time.
Tales by Light Season 03
And speaking of inspiration, the third season of Netflix's Tales by Light (a series focused on how certain Australian and American photographers see the world) is available now. It looks more powerful than ever…
It is Time to Update Some Stuff
Each year thousands of creatives update their copyrights, across many platforms, and you should not forget to do it. Having a simple ©2019 could get you more clients than if you don't have it, and here you can read why.
Cine Lenses
Have you noticed that Cine lenses have started to gain a certain and interesting degree of popularity in the past couple of years? From focus control to true aperture, there are several reasons why these lenses have gained the attention of many photographers, and here you can read more about why these lenses are becoming so popular.
Mapplethorpe, the Movie
There is nothing more to say, here is the trailer for the movie based on his frenetic life and raw style!
Blimping over Miami Beach
After reading a note written by Alex Cooke, we came to the conclusion that Miami Beach Police are done with being inconspicuous about citizen monitoring after Florida banned the use of drones or UAVs. Here you can see a couple of snapshots of the very prone to popping “surveillance device” as Paul Acosta from Miami's Beach Police Department shared in his Twitter account.
Backpacking With a 500mm Prime
First of all, we want to thank Jono Dashper for sharing this magnificent and inspiring story. He and his girlfriend decided to pursue one of their long desired dreams, quitting their day jobs and travelling the world. Here the wild-life photographer tells us about what it is like backpacking the world with not a small and non-intrusive camera but a huge 500mm prime lens, a favorite among wildlife photographers.
He decided to use the following kit for the two-year adventure:
- Canon 1D X
- Canon 500mm f/4 IS II
- Canon 5D Mark III
- Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 II
- Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS
- Canon 1.4x III Teleconverter
- Yongnuo 680RT
- Yongnuo ST-E3-RT
SmugMug Films
Photography is a rich world, and SmugMug has been making something really awesome for quite some time now. This project is called SmugMug Films, and if you watched “Tales by Light” from Netflix, then you'll find this quite familiar, but for free. You can find all the films here on their YouTube channel, and as we always say, what a great time to be alive.
DSLR Are Dead!!!
Nah, just kidding, but DSLR's are definitely at their dusk. We got a newsletter with an article titled “5 Years On…The Death of the DSLR Revisited“, and it really deserves a good read. It is a simple revision made by the author after he said five years ago that DSLR cameras were dead.
Loaning Another Pair of Eyes
Critique is a highly valued act in the world of photography. Here is a brief yet enlightening post written by Mike Kreiten, one of the staff Senior Critics at 1X. The team of critics on 1X have an expression for what they do, they “loan another pair of eyes”.
THE BOOKSHELF
John Szarkowski – The Photographer's Eye
If you don't know who John Szarkowski is, you can read more about him here in this post listing some important figures in the history of photography. This book has two parts, the first one is a short yet eloquent essay on reading photographs. And the other a selection of 172 photographs drawn from the entire history and range of the medium. This is not an expensive book but will make you a more critical thinker about your own and other photos.
FILM & PHOTOCHEMICALS
Affordable Accessories
Film photography requires different gadgets that seem a little redundant in the digital age. We stumbled into a nice and short list of five affordable accessories every film photographer needs to have in order to have a more pleasant experience.
EZ E6 Kit
We've talked a lot about the revival of Kodak Ektachrome, and Edwal has made a development kit that will help you develop your slides with E-6 process in a nice and smooth way. Developing color film is more laborious than developing black and white film. And developing slides is a little bit more complex due to temperatures and having more chemicals involved in the process. The kit includes developer, color developer and a single bleach/fix solution, and will be available in 946 ml and 3.8 L sizes.
Film is Ill
Yup, film has been quite a thing in recent years, but even though it is alive, it is very much sick as you can read here in a very detailed article by James Cater. Reviving film is a huge task because it involves industrialization, which needs to be sustainable as well. Companies are not charities.
Open Source Film Labs
Emil Prakertia Raji has a very solid point on why film labs (if any) in the future should keep things open source. Things should change the physical mind-set and embrace a more holistic approach in order to work towards a very limited future in terms of films and chemicals.
Attention Film Lovers
Inspired by the German Cine from the 1960s a new Lomography BW film appears, and it is called Potsdam Kino (Potsdam is a German city and Kino is Russian for cine). You can get yours here, but deliveries will start around April or even May 2019.
Best Film Camera Ever
Adé Torrent shared his opinion on the best film camera of all the time, and he says that the OM-1 from Olympus is the One. That's it. There is no other film camera for him. Well, at least that's what he says at first, but then he talks about the best rangefinder, the best TLR, and other great film cameras. Check it out.
BAGS, STRAPS & BEYOND
You Can't Simply Have Enough Camera Bags
Apparently, we photographers have a thing for camera bags, and we simply don't know why. Nathan McMahon shares with us his own view on camera bags, and the title will trigger you a bit if you are a Dr. Strangelove fan.
THE WEEK IN IMAGES
Border Barriers Around the World
This week we want to share a very special collection made by The Atlantic on walls, but not any kind of wall. Walls meant to divide people at great scale. Barriers designed to separate the world from the world. This is photographic evidence that the human race has desired boundaries and division since, well, forever.
Largest Airport Ever
Maybe we all can't visit the Beijing Daxing International Airport, but we can look at some really nice photos of it.Here you have a collection of images that are related to The World’s Largest Airport-Terminal Building'. It is massive indeed!