Back in February 2019, Nikon announced it was working to develop a firmware update for its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras that would bring support for using CFExpress Type B memory cards. Since then, we haven’t heard a word about these development from Nikon, but Nikon Rumors says it ‘can confirm’ the much-anticipated firmware update will arrive before the end of the year.
According to Nikon Rumors’ report, the firmware update will arrive ‘before the end of 2020.’ Nikon Rumors says Nikon ‘may say something about [these updates]’ this coming week when it launches its Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless cameras.
Image credit: B&H Photo
Despite promising a firmware update, Nikon never confirmed the details of what kind of performance we can expect from CFExpress Type B cards when used with its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras. While CFExpress Type B support will make it easier to use the open and more popular format — not to mentioned larger maximum capacities, since XQD cards top out at 240GB compared to the current 1TB maximum capacity of CFExpress cards — it doesn’t necessarily we’ll expect improved speeds over using XQD cards when using them inside the camera. However, you will see improved speeds over XQD cards when importing the cards to your computer if you’re using a CFExpress Type B memory card reader.
We contacted Nikon for a comment on the updates on Friday October 9, but haven’t received a response. We will update this article if we get any further information from Nikon.
Finalists for the annual Comedy Pet Photo Awards were recently announced. Founded by the creators of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, the competition is now in its second year. Over 2,000 images of pets were submitted from 81 countries. The aim is to showcase the impact pets have on our lives and to raise awareness around animal homelessness in the United Kingdom. 10% of all entry fees were donated to national pet charity Blue Cross.
‘The entries this year have been completely and utterly what we needed to raise our spirits in 2020. It has been a tough year for many, but these images have not only made us laugh out loud, but also re-affirmed our desire to drastically reduce animal cruelty and pet orphanage. The positive movement created by this competition is so uplifting and hopefully we can achieve a similar reaction from all who see this competition,’ says Sullam.
Category and Overall Winners will be announced on November 24th. All 40 finalists can be viewed on the Comedy Pet Photo Awards site.
Artist Statement: I was photographing horses in a pasture, and these three got together and appeared to have a chat, gossipping like giggling schoolgirls.
Artist Statement: I’ve always been keen on architectural photography, on leading lines, on creative perspectives. I had a walk around London with Kyte and his owners. Kyte is a lovely 9-year-old Weimaraner. I had been eying up this spot for a while and just waiting for the right face to wear Saint Paul’s cupola.
Artist Statement: 2016 at the greek Island Amorgos. We hiked from Aegiali to Langada and I made some Pics with my Mobile of a Donkey Group. In the last Picture it looks like that the Donkey was friendly and smiling to us. So I realise that I have to make more of this.
In 2019 we meet the Donkey Owners, they have a nice Tavern in Langada TAVERNA LOUDAROS and they told us the name of the Donkeys. From righti to left: Sister Nefeli, Mother Floredia and SOSO!
Artist Statement: Dani, the puppy, hangs on for her life when Gabby is at the wheel. (The car wasn’t actually moving so it wasn’t really scary.) We intended to take a photo of the dogs looking at the camera but both pups looked forward instead which was much funnier!
Just to be on the safe side, we kept both dogs on leashes. What you can’t see in these photos is my husband crouched down in the back seat, holding both dogs leashes. He is such a good sport!
Finalist: ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Do Silly Things Alone’ by Kerstin Ordelt
Artist Statement: This photo is an outtake. Actually, the dogs tried to hug and thats what happend 🙂 The picture was taken in Linz (Austria) in a pedestrian zone early in the morning.
Finalist: ‘Why Are You Upside Down Mum?’ by Malgorzata (Gosia) Russell
Artist Statement: This our one year old still kitten cat Basil. He is very playful, agile and loves our garden we used a lot during lockdown. It is our daily, morning routine to chase each other around the garden. Picture is not photoshopped.
Winners of the 2020 Drone Photo Awards from Siena Awards
Winners for the 6th edition of the Drone Photo Awards competition, affiliated with the Siena International Photo Awards competition (you can view winners of the Creative Photo Awards here), were recently announced. Entries were sent in by drone photographers from 126 countries. ‘Love Heart of Nature’ by Australian photographer Jim Picôt, which depicts a shark swimming inside a heart–shaped salmon school, was recognized as the Overall Winner.
The awards are divided into 9 categories: Abstract, Empty Cities: Life during COVID-19, Nature, People, Sports, Series, Urban Architecture, Wedding, and Animals. All 45 winning images will be displayed at the ‘Above Us Only Sky’ exhibition, scheduled from October 24th to November 29th at the ‘Accademia dei Fisiocritici’ museum in Siena, Italy.
Overall Winner: ‘Love Heart of Nature’ by Jim Picôt
Location: Avoca Beach, NSW, Australia
Description: In winter, a shark is inside a salmon school when, chasing the baitfish, the shape became a heart shape.
Winner, Wedding: ‘Tropical Bride’ by Mohamed Azmeel
Location: (Not given)
Description: I used the flowers and the leaves leftover from the decoration of a wedding, to make something creative.
Winner, Abstract: ‘Swirl’ by Boyan Orste
Location: Pink Lake, Australia
Description: An abstract shot of a Pink lake chemical reaction in Western Australia.
Winner, Nature: ‘Coffee or Tea’ by Yi Sun
Location: Brazil
Description: (Not given)
Winner, Wildlife: ‘Outer Space Flamingos’ by Paul McKenzie
Location: Lake Natron, Tanzania
Description: (Not given)
Winner, Life Under COVID-19: ‘Black Flag’ by Tomer Appelbaum
Location: Israel
Description: Thousands of Israelis maintain social distancing due to Covid-19 restrictions while protesting against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rabin Square on 19 April 2020.
Winner, Sport: ‘On the Sea’ by Roberto Corinaldesi
Location: Cornwall, United Kingdom
Description: An aerial view of swimmers, where the sea becomes the place to take refuge, between the blue carpet and the white foam of the waves.
Winner, People: ‘Frozen Land’ by Alessandra Meniconzi
Location: Eurasian Steppe
Description: With temperatures of minus 30°C, winters in the Eurasian steppe can be brutal. But life doesn’t stop, and local people move from one village to another with a sledge, crossing icy rivers and lakes.
Winner, Urban: ‘Alien Structure on Earth’ by Tomasz Kowalski
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Description: Sometimes we need to change the perspective to feel the strength of the structure stronger than we’ve ever thought. The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers, are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur.
Winner, Wedding: ‘The Wedding Crashers’ by David Gallardo
Location: Turks & Caicos Islands
Description: (Not given)
Winner, Life Under COVID-19: ‘Lonely Guardian’ by Mauro Pagliai
Location: Siena, Italy
Description: (Not given)
Winner, Sport: ‘Ball Up’ by Brad Walls
Location: Sydney, Australia
Description: The physical motions of the tennis player against the clean abstract lineage of the court created a harmonious effect to the eye.
Winner, Abstract: ‘Fishing At Jamuna River’ by MD Tanveer Hassan Rohan
Location: Bogra, Bangladesh
Description: (Not given)
Winner, Urban: ‘Sunrise on the Top’ by Rex Zou
Location: Shanghai, China
Description: At 4:30 in the morning, mysteriously shrouded in clouds, this is what the second tallest building in Shanghai looks like.
Winner, People: ‘Mountains of Salt’ by Igor Altuna
Location: Thi Xa Ninh Hoa, Vietnam
Description: An aerial picture taken on a saltern near a small town on central Vietnam’s coast.
Tamron Japan has published a statement [machine-translated] on its website noting that two of its three main factories will remain closed through the end of 2020 due to the ‘decrease in global demand due to the worldwide spread of the [novel] coronavirus.’\
This closure extension affects Tamron’s Hirosaki and Namioka factories, which were originally set to open back up on October 1. These facilities, located in Japan’s Aomori prefecture, are two of Tamron’s ‘mother plants.’ Each of these three plants play a role in the lens development process: the Hirosaki plant handles metal processing, assembly and repairs; the Namioka plant processes the lens elements; and the Owani plant molds the plastic components.1
Tamron says ‘the global market has not yet recovered, and in consideration of the uncertainty of the market environment in the future, we will continue to extend the partial closure of the domestic Aomori factory until the end of the year.’ Tamron notes business will continue during these closures, but it could ‘cause inconvenience and inconvenience to our business partners.’
If you’re interested in finding out more about the production process, Tamron Japan has an interesting online factory tour that walks through the steps it takes to manufacture a lens.
Finalists for the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards recently announced its 44 top images for 2020. Finalists include a smiley fish, a fox in negotiations with a mouse, and a photobombing giraffe. Founded by photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, the global competition is free to enter and aims to showcase the funniest takes on animals in the wild.
The top prize includes a week-long safari in Kenya. There is also a People’s Choice Award that anyone can vote for by clicking on their favorite image. Category and Overall Winners, chosen by a panel of judges including the competition founders, along with the Telegraph’s online travel editor, Oliver Smith, will be announced October 22nd.
Finalist: ‘Smiley’ by Arthur Telle Thiemenn
Animal: Sparisoma cretense
Location of Shot: El Hierro, Canary Islands
Finalist: ‘Tough Negotiations’ by Ayala Fishaimer
Animal: Fox
Location of Shot: Israel
Finalist: ‘Spreading the Wildlife Gossip’ by Bernhard Esterer
Animal: Lions
Location of Shot: Kalahari Desert
Finalist: ‘Crashing into the Picture’ by Brigitte Alcalay Marcon
Animal: Giraffe
Location of Shot: Etosha National Park, Nambia
Finalist: ‘I Could Puke’ by Christina Holfelder
Animal: Gentoo penguin
Location of Shot: Falkland Islands
Finalist: ‘The Inside Joke’ by Femke van Willigen
Animal: Eurasian red squirrel
Location of Shot: Espelo, the Netherlands
Finalist: ‘Lamentation!’ by Jacques Poulard
Animal: Polar bear
Location of Shot: Spitzberg, Germany
Finalist: ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ by Jagdeep Rajput
Animal: Asian elephant
Location of Shot: Corbett National Park, India
Finalist: ‘Just Chillin” by Jill Neff
Animal: Racoon
Location of Shot: Jackson, Ohio, USA
Finalist: ‘I Think this Tyre’s Gonna be Flat’ by Kay Kotzian
Animal: Grizzly bears
Location of Shot: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
Finalist: ‘Having a Laugh’ by Ken Crossan
Animal: Common seal
Location of Shot: Caithness, Scotland
Finalist: ‘Wait up Mommy, Look What I Got for You!’ by Kunal Gupta
Animal: Elephant
Location of Shot: Kaziranga, India
Finalist: ‘Terry the Turtle Flipping the Bird’ by Mark Fitzpatrick
Animal: Turtle
Location of Shot: Lady Elliot Island, Queensland Australia
Nature inFocus Photography Awards 2020 winners and finalists
Winners and finalists were announced for the latest annual Nature inFocus Photography Awards. Due to the pandemic, the festival was cancelled and selections were shared via a live announcement on YouTube. More than 1,600 photographers submitted roughly 14,000 images from around the world.
A 5-member jury, including nature photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, picked winners and finalists. Yashpal Rathore won for his image depicting a bad frozen against an urban landscape in Bangalore, India. A Special Jury Award was given, for the very first time, to Magnus Lundgren as 3 of his photographs were selected – 2 are featured in this slideshow.
The Nature inFocus Photography Awards aims to recognize photographers whose work helps preserve our natural history and raise awareness around conservation. A full gallery can be viewed here.
Winner, Wildscape & Animals in Habitat & Nature inFocus Photograph of the Year: The Dark Knight’ by Yashpal Rathore
Location: Bangalore, India
Artist Statement: A Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat drops out of a Singapore Cherry tree on the walkway of a busy street in the capital city of Karnataka. The headlamp streak of a speeding vehicle, the neon lights of business hoardings – the long-exposure shot perfectly captures the dynamism of city life.
The ever-growing city has seen these nocturnal winged mammals adapt to the chaos of the urban environment. Though vilified by much of the human population, bats play a vital role in our ecosystem as seed dispersers and pest-controllers. The photographer used a laser trigger and low-powered flashlights to freeze the bat in its flight.
Winner, Creative Nature Photography: ‘A Mirage In The Night’ by Nayan Jyoti Das
Location: Manas National Park, Assam
Artist Statement: Occasionally, nature surprises us with moments so dramatic and beautiful, like right out of a fairytale. Caught in the warm embrace of a posse of fireflies, a family of wild elephants huddles together under the night sky, mirroring the asterism of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka of Orion above.
Special Mention, Creative Nature Photography: ‘Order in Chaos’ by Jayesh Joshi
Location: Vadodara, Gujarat
Artist Statement: Rosy Starlings perch on the edge of a parapet like substitute players on the bench, waiting to join in the action. The long exposure shot captures the frenzy of the murmuration above, hundreds of starlings swooping across the sky in intricately coordinated patterns.
Runner-up, Animal Portraits: ‘The Boxer’ by Mofeed Abu Shalwa
Location: Qatif, Saudi Arabia
Artist Statement: The Red Palm Weevil is a species of snout beetle, recognised by its distinctive long snout and geniculate antennae. First reported on coconut trees in Southeast Asia, they have since gained a foothold on date palms in several Middle Eastern countries and have spread to Africa and Europe through the movement of infected planting material.
Special Mention, Animal Portraits: ‘Monsoon Matchmaking’ by Ripan Biswas
Location: Cooch Behar, West Bengal
Artist Statement: Pre-monsoon storms known as ‘Kalboishakhi’ in Bengali bring the first rains after months of the dry season. The skies open up with thunder and lightning, announcing the arrival of the mating season for amphibians. This single exposure image of a Fejervarya sp. was made by shifting focus initially from the frog and then on to the clouds.
Winner, Animal Behavior: ‘The Hitchhiker’ by Magnus Lundgren
Location: Balayan Bay, Luzon, Philippines
Artist Statement: The Brown Paper Nautilus is an argonaut, a free-swimming octopus of open ocean habitats. A species that is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, the Brown Paper Nautilus is known to cling to objects floating on the surface of the sea, including other argonauts. Here a female nautilus is seen surfing on a free-floating medusa.
Though the relationship is not fully understood yet, the nautilus is believed to use its host as a food source and as a defensive weapon. When the nautilus was photographed, it used the medusa as an active form of protection by turning it towards the camera, which it presumably perceived as a potential predator.
Second Runner-up, Animal Behavior: ‘Water Wars’ by Chaitanya Rawat
Location: Jhalana Forest, Jaipur
About this Photo: On a hot day in the forests of Jhalana, with temperatures touching 45ºC, the photographer waited under the shade of a tree near a man-made waterhole. His patience was rewarded when a leopard slid down the rocks like melted wax and strolled towards the waterhole.
His camera zoomed in on the spotted, ochre and black coat as he watched the gorgeous feline drink its fill. Suddenly, the scene turned electric as a Striped Hyena made an appearance, unaware of the presence of the cat. Expecting the hyena to quickly slink away, the photographer was surprised to watch it go on the offensive and chase the leopard up a tree. The hyena then drank its fill and moved away.
Special Mention, Animal Behavior: ‘Breed The Red’ by Varun Thakkar
Location: Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Artist Statement: A Southern Ground-hornbill, the largest hornbill species on Earth, feeds its young one. Found in grasslands, woodlands and open savannas of southern Africa, they are recognizable by their jet black feathers and the bright red throat wattle in males. Juveniles instead have yellow patches on the face and throat. Pollution, logging and agricultural expansion which often destroy nesting habitats are the primary threats for this species.
Winner, Conservation Issues: ‘Circle Of Death’ by Srikanth Mannepuri
Location: Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
Artist Statement: Fishermen surround the lifeless body of a Mobula Ray at a fish landing site in Kakinada as they determine its value in thousands of rupees. The winner of the auction will then prepare the fish and trade it illegally to Southeast Asian countries for high-profit margins. The gill rakers of the Mobula Ray is believed to hold medicinal properties.
Second Runner-up, Conservation Issues: ‘Plastic Surfer’ by Magnus Lundgren
Location: Balayan Bay, Luzon, Philippines
Artist Statement: A male paper nautilus rides a piece of plastic in the pelagic zone. In the ocean, plastic debris injures and kills fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Marine plastic pollution has impacted at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species and 43% of all marine mammal species.
Winner, Young Photographer: ‘Dust To Dust’ by Sitara Karthikeyan
Location: Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand
Artist Statement: A majestic tusker walking head-on towards the photographer showers himself in dust sprayed from his trunk. Elephants dust bathe to keep their skin healthy and to keep parasites at bay. It also helps them to cool down their bodies.
Second Runner-up, Young Photographer: ‘Harmony In Faith’ by Abhikram Shekhawat
Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Artist Statement: A large population of Rhesus Macaques rules the Aravalli landscape, which is also home to the renowned Galtaji temple. Though these monkeys create a lot of nuisance, they are treated respectfully by the devotees who visit the temple to worship the monkey god, Hanuman. Photographed here is a female Rhesus Macaque sitting in front of the glorious temple edifice.
Special Mention, Young Photographer: ‘Catch The Sun’ by Sumit Adhikary
Location: Indian Ocean, Maldives
Artist Statement: A breaching Spinner Dolphin casts a striking silhouette against the light reflecting off the deep blue ocean from the setting sun. Breaching is a very common activity among cetaceans, and though there are a number of hypotheses, scientists still really don’t know why they do it.
Second Runner-up, Wildscape & Animals in Habitat: ‘Cinderella Of The Ghats’ by Mandar Ghumare
Location: Coorg, Karnataka
Artist Statement: A terrestrial snail endemic to the Western Ghats, Indrella ampulla is the only species in the monotypic genus, Indrella. The species is polymorphic – the visible soft parts of the snail show great colour diversity, ranging from pale yellow to red like in this particular individual. The wide frame showcases the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats which it calls home.
The post Canon EOS M7 Rumored to Arrive in 2020 With Dual Card Slots, 2.36M-Dot EVF appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
With most photographers focused on Canon’s new EOS R models, rumors of another couple of Canon EOS M cameras have mostly flown under the radar. This includes talk of a potential EOS M7, as well as a rumored EOS M50 Mark II.
And information continues to leak, including recent Canon EOS M7 specifications; if the rumors are accurate, it’s shaping up to be one impressive camera.
Canon Rumors suggests we may get:
A 32-megapixel sensor.
In-body image stabilization.
A 2.36M-dot electronic viewfinder.
12 frames-per-second shooting.
Dual card slots.
4K/60p.
Nice, right?
Unfortunately, the same set of rumors also puts the EOS M7 price at $ 1599 USD, which is significantly more expensive than either the EOS M50 and the EOS M6 Mark II. But if the EOS M7 is, as many have speculated, a higher-end, durable APS-C mirrorless model from Canon, this pricing could make sense.
Now, the features listed above are unconfirmed (Canon Rumors marks them as CR1), so take them with a pinch of salt. But the EOS M7 has long been a topic of discussion, including speculation of the camera as a mirrorless replacement to the Canon EOS 7D series, which was a favorite set of DSLRs among bird and wildlife photographers.
If the latter is true, the EOS M7 should, first and foremost, be an action photography camera. This is hinted at by the (relatively) fast continuous shooting specification, as well as the dual card slots, but we’ll have to wait and see regarding its durability (the 7D series was known for its large, tough bodies).
Interestingly, Canon Rumors also mentions the possibility of the EOS M line drawing to a close in 2021, with Canon focusing entirely on the EOS R lineup, including (perhaps) an APS-C EOS R model. If such a rumor were true, then the EOS M7 and the EOS M50 Mark II may be some of the last EOS M bodies we ever get.
Of course, this is also completely unsubstantiated, so just keep an eye out for related news in the future!
Now over to you:
What do you think about the rumored specifications for the Canon EOS M7? Is it a camera you’d be interested in? Also, do you think that Canon will truly discard its EOS M lineup? Share your thoughts in the comments!
The post Canon EOS M7 Rumored to Arrive in 2020 With Dual Card Slots, 2.36M-Dot EVF appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
The post Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 Lens Review: The Best All-Purpose Fujifilm Lens in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Is the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 OIS the right lens for your needs? Who should think about purchasing it? Can it satisfy beginners? Professionals? Everyone in between?
That’s what this article is all about.
For weeks, I’ve been testing the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16-80mm f/4 OIS.
And now I’m ready to share my conclusions.
So if you want to find out how this lens performs…
On the surface, the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 is an all-purpose lens that can do pretty much everything.
It offers:
An excellent focal length range, stretching from wide to standard to (slight) telephoto (24-120mm on a Fujifilm APS-C camera)
Fujifilm’s image stabilization technology (OIS), promising up to 6 stops of extra sharpness
A well-built, weather-sealed body with relatively compact dimensions
A fixed f/4 aperture, which can’t offer the same low-light or bokeh capabilities as an f/2.8 lens, but is still decently wide
0.25x (1:4) magnification
A reasonable $ 800 USD price tag
Put all this together, and you’ve got a lens that should be able to find its way into the kits of landscape photographers, architectural photographers, street photographers, walkaround photographers, and travel photographers alike (and can even work for the occasional close-up shot!).
But all-purpose lenses like these tend to fail in a couple of ways.
First, they’re often optically mediocre, especially on the extreme ends of their focal length range.
Second, they’re sometimes slow to focus, which immediately takes them off the table for street photographers, and can be a big issue for travel and walkaround photographers, as well.
So does the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 suffer from these same issues?
Well, I’m happy to report that it does not. And while I’ll go more into the details later, I’m prepared to argue that the 16-80mm is one of the absolute best all-around lenses out there, and combines impressive value with fantastic photographic capabilities.
It’s not that the lens doesn’t have any drawbacks; pretty much all lenses, especially sub-$ 1000 lenses, do! But the Fujifilm 16-80mm offers remarkable quality given the price (and will even satisfy both amateurs and professionals).
Right out of the box, the Fujifilm 16-80mm feels solid, but not in an annoyingly heavy tank sort of way. It’s just under a pound (0.97 lb/440 g), which is light enough for long days of shooting even when lots of travel is involved. You have a mix of metal and plastic on the body, and a nice, tactile zoom ring smack-dab in the middle of the barrel:
Below the zoom ring is the aperture ring, which fits nicely with Fujifilm’s old-school style and feels great. Above the zoom ring is the focus ring, which is a bit smaller and fast to focus than I’d like, but still very serviceable.
One of the great things about the 16-80mm f/4 is its size. At 16mm, the lens is under 4 inches (10 cm) long and fits firmly in one hand, so you can store it easily in a camera bag or backpack.
And even when zoomed out to 80mm, it feels relatively unobtrusive, which is nice for street photographers hoping to move through crowds unnoticed.
As I mentioned above, the manual focus ring is smoother than I’d like (there’s no real stiffness, at least not on my copy), which is a shame, given how the lens boasts 1:4 magnification for close-up shots on the fly. But the focus ring isn’t bad, and should be fine for casual macro shots.
And I haven’t even mentioned the weather sealing. Honestly, this feels like icing on the cake, and is especially important for street and landscape photographers, who shoot in all sorts of conditions and need a lens that can withstand a bit of water.
(Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you’re also using a weather-sealed body, such as the all-around awesome Fujifilm X-T4!)
Finally, one of the real bonuses on the 16-80mm is the image stabilization. This is a lifesaver in so many situations, from close-ups to low-light street shooting to handheld landscape photography and more (though the exception is photography of fast-moving subjects, where you’ll probably want to opt for a lens with a wide maximum aperture, instead).
I tested the Fujifilm 16-80mm on the Fujifilm X-T4, and focusing speeds were stellar; the lens was snappy in good light and still pretty strong in low light. I’d expect a slight drop in focusing speeds as you work with other cameras in the Fujifilm lineup, but I can say, without a doubt, that I was happy with the 16-80mm’s performance.
If you’re shooting street-style photos, this fast focusing is essential. And you’re also going to appreciate the 16-80mm’s speed if you grab the occasional action shot while doing walkaround or travel shooting.
That said, the Fujilm 16-80mm doesn’t really scream fast-paced action, so if you’re looking for some sort of wide sports lens or fast lens for indoor events, I’d suggest going elsewhere. This is thanks to the f/4 maximum aperture, which really isn’t going to get you the shutter speeds you need when shooting fast-moving subjects in low light.
On the whole, however, the Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 autofocuses very well, and won’t let you down when it comes to capturing the occasional action shot.
In terms of focal length, I absolutely love the 16-80mm range on a crop-sensor camera. You can shoot landscapes at the wide end, zoom in for portraits, and zoom all the way to 80mm for longer street shots.
In fact, I’d argue that the 24-120mm focal length equivalent is one of the best focal length ranges available, especially compared to the standard 16-55mm kit-lens focal length range, which does well on the wide lens but just doesn’t offer that extra bit reach for travel and street scenarios.
When I buy a lens, image quality is my greatest concern.
Why?
Because I don’t care if a lens is lightning-fast and is a dream to handle if it can’t deliver sharp images in key scenarios.
Fortunately, I can confirm that the Fujifilm 16-80mm does extremely well optically. At f/4, sharpness is excellent at the center of the frame at all focal lengths, though it does fall off toward the edges of the frame, especially at the focal length extremes (i.e., 16mm and 80mm).
That said, edge sharpness is still good at f/4 when shooting in the 30mm to 50mm arena, and edge sharpness improves across the board when you stop the lens down to f/5.6 and beyond (which is really where things start to count for landscape and other detail shooters, anyway).
All in all, you’re going to love the resolution that this lens can provide. You get gorgeous results in the center of the frame, and very good results at the edges when stopped down, which will be enough for most photographers, including professionals.
You also get pretty much zero chromatic aberration, limited distortion, and limited vignetting.
Now, the f/4 maximum aperture isn’t great for low-light shooting. You’re going to want an f/2.8 lens if you plan to shoot indoor events, and you’ll probably also want f/2.8 if you plan to do any astrophotography.
The f/4 maximum aperture is also a problem for portrait photography, where the goal is often to achieve a creamy background blur combined with a sharp subject; at f/4, the blur is nice, but not outstanding (as pictured below).
The Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 is, simply put, an outstanding lens.
It offers the focal length, build quality, autofocus speed, and image quality to be taken seriously by professional landscape and street shooters. It’s also a fantastic walkaround or travel option, given its light weight and compact size, especially when attached to Fujifilm’s smaller camera bodies.
At $ 800 USD, the lens doesn’t come cheap. But the price is far from unreasonable when you consider everything it offers.
Pretty much anyone looking for an all-purpose lens who can afford the price tag. The Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 also does well at street photography, travel photography, walkaround photography, and handheld landscape shooting, and while I wouldn’t recommend it as a primary portrait or macro lens, you can still get some use out of it in both of these genres.
So I absolutely recommend you check it out; the lens is available for $ 799 USD here!
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The post Fujifilm 16-80mm f/4 Lens Review: The Best All-Purpose Fujifilm Lens in 2020 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Winners and finalists for the 2020 Minimalist Photography Awards
Powered by B&W Minimalism magazine, the 2nd annual Minimalist Photography Awards recently announced its winners for 2020. Over 4,200 photos from 41 countries were submitted across 12 categories including Street, Photomanipulation, Conceptual, and Aerial. Australian photographer George Byrne won the title of Minimalist Photographer of the Year for his series ‘Exit Vision’ – though 2 of the images ended up in 2nd place for the Abstract and Fine Art categories, respectively.
‘As an approach in photography, minimalism or minimalistic photography could be taken by the photographer in all genres. No matter your are a portrait, architecture, landscape etc. photographer, minimalist photos are always an option as long as you have a minimal look toward your surroundings,’ said Milad Safabakhsh, founder and president of the awards. First, second, and third place winners in each category will be published in a book and exhibited at Galerie Minimal Berlin when it reopens.
All category winners and honorable mentions can be viewed here.
1st Place Winner, Abstract Photographer of the Year: ‘Abstract Series One’ by Stanislas Augris
Artist Statement: I’m Stanislas Augris. French musician and photographer. I’m from the Parisian suburb so part of my photographic work is to focus on the geometric shape, patterns and palette color of the urban environment, my daily environment. The aim is sometime to render an abstract picture of flat tints of colors and so create an artwork that decorrelate the form and the substance. Photography allows me to keep my eyes open to the world and to those everyday places, those in-between places.
I think either for architecture photography or for the rest of my photographic work (landscape and street photography) the main world is to keep it minimalistic and graphic. Trying to find simple lines, curves and play with foreground and background to create new shapes is really something that matters for me.
2nd Place Winner, Fine Art: ’71st St. Miami’ by George Byrne
Artist Statement: This image is from a recent series of mine called Exit Vision. It is a photo-collage, constructed from elements pulled from multiple locations. Shot on medium format film in Miami. For the ‘Exit Vision’ series, I would look for ready-made vignettes of color and form in the built world around me, and then try and repurpose or reinvent them. By embracing the process of photo-assemblage or collage, these photographs have become creations as much as they are observations.
Honorable Mention, Open Theme: ‘The Square’ by John Andreas Godwin
Artist Statement: Coming back to this geometric shape as the landscape surrounding it changes. [Taken in] Akersberga, Sweden.
3rd Place Winner, Aerial: ‘Salt Shapes’ by Kevin Krautgartner
Artist Statement: Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns, are shallow artificial ponds designed to extract salts from sea water. To make its sea salt, many companies in Australia are using a method called ‘solar evaporation.’ Solar salt is produced by the action of sun and wind on seawater in large ponds. The seawater evaporates in successive ponds until the seawater is fully concentrated and the salt then crystallizes on the floor of the pond.
Due to variable algal concentrations, vivid colors, from bright blue to deep red, are created in the evaporation ponds. The color indicates the salinity of the ponds. This photo was taken from a small plane with the doors removed.
Honorable Mention, Landscape: ‘Whipped Cream Iceburg’ by Geffrard Bourke
Artist Statement: An iceberg resembling whipped cream in the ocean off the coast of Greenland.
1st Place Winner, Photomanipulation Photographer of the Year: ‘Yellow Stairs’ by George Byrne
Artist Statement: This image is from an ongoing series of mine called Exit Vision. It is a photo-collage, constructed from elements from multiple locations. Shot on medium format film. For this series, I would look for ready-made vignettes of color and form in the built world around me, and then try and repurpose or reinvent them. By embracing the process of photo-assemblage or collage, these photographs have become creations as much as they are observations.
2nd Place Winner, Architecture: ‘Oqaatsut Home’ by John Kosmopoulos
Artist Statement: Oqaatsut is a small Greenlandic town north of Ilulissat in Eastern Disko Bay. As the sun drenched and warmed the colorful homes and rocky landscape, it revealed clues of what life must be like there: a close but isolated community where the spirits of icebergs come and go in the distance.
I wanted to convey the feeling of the town by using minimalist compositions and creative framing to provide portraits of life in Greenland. Most of the citizens were indoors, but one citizen overlooked our whereabouts while children played a game and chanted a song that echoed through the town.
Honorable Mention, Long Exposure: ‘Ariake’ by Ulana Switucha
Artist Statement: From a series on Japanese Torii gates.
1st Place Winner, Portrait Photographer Of The Year: ‘Selfhood’ by Vicky Martin
Artist Statement: The series ‘Selfhood’ is in part inspired by the proverb ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and a desire to challenge the need to see the eyes within a portrait. The intention in each portrait is to create a character and a narrative and encourage an empathy without the visual stimulation of the eyes.
The conscious composition of each image gives the character a foundation in reality whilst combining fantastical creative elements to challenge the viewer’s preconceptions surrounding the connotations of each individual outfit and distinctive concealment of the eyes.
The viewer is inspired to make their own inferences about the subject’s persona and circumstance by drawing on personal connections and interpretations to each image, whether these be from memory or culture. Therefore each portrait in the series can take on a number of different identities depending on links made by the viewer to their own experiences and opinions.
3rd Place Winner, Conceptual: ‘Alabula (Colorful)’ by Mehrdad Fathi
Artist Statement: Mircea Eliade (philosopher and historian) says about the creation of universe: Creating the universe is considered to be a prototype for any type of building. Every city and every new home that they establish, it is a brand new imitation of the creation of universe, in other words, means of repeating the creation of the universe.
1st Place Winner, Night Photographer of the Year: ‘Decay by Night’ by Rachel Warne
Artist Statement: Decay by Night is a continuation of Rachel Warne’s fascination with the beauty of decay. Rachel has embarked on several personal photographic projects such as ‘Faded Glory’ exhibited at the Garden Museum, London in 2015 and ‘The Beauty of Decay’ – a collaboration with floral installation artist Rebecca Louise Law, touring several countries during 2017.
The idea of ‘Decay by Night’ seems like a natural progression for Rachel whom is drawn to decay and rebirth within the botanical world. By shooting flora at night she will be able to capture the transitional process which naturally occurs throughout the night, but rarely seen. Giving quite a different interpretation to their form as seen in day light.
Rachel shoot the flora in the dead of winter, once darkness falls. The plant portraits were be lit by one small portable continuous light to emulate the moon. Rachel wanted to explore how flora appears in the shadows creating its own ethereal beauty. Ghostly an enigmatic with a hint of gothic.
Winter is the perfect time to photograph the flora before the dormant season ends.
Shot at the Millennium gardens Deigned By Piet Oudolf at Pensthorpe in Norfolk. Pensthorpe seemed to be the most poignant naturalist garden in England to work from. Especially with Piet’s piquancy with the beauty of decay too.
1st Place Winner, Street Photographer of the Year: ‘Coronavirus Confinement’ by Santiago Martinez de Septien
Artist Statement: Millions of children in Spain, stuck at home since the authorities implemented a nationwide lockdown in mid-March, have been unable to exercise outside, take a short walk around their block, go with their parents to the supermarket or leave their house except for medical reasons. Such measures, the strictest in Europe, have left countless children bored, exhausted and sometimes depressed.
Registration for the all-digital Adobe MAX 2020 event is now open and free for all.
Back in May, Adobe announced both of its annual conferences, 99U and Adobe MAX, would be going all-digital amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Adobe has opened up registration for its Adobe MAX 2020 conference, making it free for all who want to join the virtual version of ‘The Creativity Conference.’
The online event will feature more than 250 speakers and take place from October 19–21. Both the main keynote and the breakout sessions will be available for all registrants. The headlining speakers include photographer Annie Leibovitz; recording artist, producer and director Tyler, the Creator; writer, director and producer Ava DuVernay; and actor and director Keanu Reeves. Dozens of other artists across all disciplines will have keynotes and breakout sessions as well.
You can register for Adobe MAX 2020 and look through the list of speakers on the Adobe MAX 2020 website.
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