Update (July 30th, 2021 at 1:30pm EDT): We have added a new tweet from the Photolari Twitter account that shows new images of what appears to be the same Nikon camera shown off in the two images from yesterday.
Today, Twitter account Photolari shared a tweet with a pair of photos showing what appears to be Nikon Z9 mirrorless cameras in the wild at the Olympics.
The original tweet has been deleted, but digicame-info managed to save the above images before their removal. Nikon has confirmed some details of its forthcoming flagship mirrorless camera, but only shown renderings of the front of the camera. These new images reveal the back side of the pro-style camera body, which appears to feature Nikon’s signature circular eyepiece, dual joysticks, a directional pad and a generous array of buttons. Below is a breakdown of the buttons (many of which are surely going to be customizable):
There appears to be black gaffer tape around the screen of the camera, obscuring what may or may not be an articulating display.
DPReview confirmed with Nikon earlier this week that it had its Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless cameras and Z mount lenses on-hand at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but there was no mention of its unreleased Z9 mirrorless camera. It’s been confirmed Canon has photographers testing out its forthcoming EOS R3 mirrorless camera at the Olympics as well, so it’s no surprise Nikon is using the Olympic Games as a testing ground as well for its professional camera system.
Below is a new tweet from the Photolari Twitter account showing off two new images of what appears to be the same camera shown off in the above images:
Más fotos de la Nikon Z9 en los Juegos Olímpicos pic.twitter.com/u8UKyZmqND
The first image sent back to Earth from Perseverance following its successful landing on Mars. You can see Perseverance’s shadow in the foreground. Image credit: NASA
On July 30, 2020, NASA launched its Mars Perseverance Rover on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Yesterday, February 18, 2021, Perseverance landed successfully on the red planet.
The 2,260-pound (1,025kg) rover touched down with precision at an ancient river delta site in Jezero Crater. Perseverance is exploring an area where a lake existed nearly 4 billion years ago. The Perseverance mission has numerous objectives, including exploring its geologically diverse landing site, assessing ancient habitability, seeking signs of ancient life, gathering rock and soil samples, and demonstrating technology for future exploration by robots and humans alike.
Map showing Perseverance’s landing site at the Jezero Crater on Mars. Image credit: NASA
In the video below, you can see mission control react when Perseverance landed on Mars. Mission control was recorded using an Insta360 Pro 2 camera. When using a compatible browser, you can rotate the camera around mission control. The moment of elation is around the 1:46:00 mark. It’s an emotional moment for the team, and it’s cool to see it captured in 360 degrees.
Perseverance will spend at least one Martian year (about two Earth years) exploring the landing site region. Onboard are seven instruments, including the MastCam-Z, SuperCam, Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), and Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC). The Mastcam-Z is an advanced camera system with panoramic and stereoscopic imaging capabilities. The camera, which can zoom, will analyze the minerals of the Martian surface. SuperCam is provides imaging, chemical composition analysis, and mineralogy at a distance.
Engineers working on Perseverance. Image credit: NASA
PIXL is an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and high-resolution imager. PIXL will map the elemental composition of surface materials. SHERLOC provides fine-scale imaging and uses an ultraviolet laser to map mineralogy and organic compounds. SHERLOC is the first UV Raman spectrometer to land on Mars. SHERLOC also includes a high-res color camera for microscopic imaging of Mars’ surface.
Mission control. Image credit: NASA
It’s difficult to overstate what an accomplishment it is to land not only NASA’s most ambitious Mars rover yet, but also to do so during a pandemic. As Chelsea Gohd writes for Space.com, ‘This mission didn’t just propel technology and science forward, it demonstrated the incredible Perseverance of the human spirit. Despite everything, the teams at NASA were able to accomplish this incredible feat, which, even in ‘normal times,’ would have been difficult.’ Matt Wallace of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) shared a similar sentiment following Perseverance’s successful landing, ‘It’s been a tough year. It’s been tough to do this mission in this environment. But the team, like they have with every other challenge, has stepped up to it…’
An illustration of the Perseverance rover. Image credit: NASA
If NASA had been forced to delay the launch from last July, the launch window would have been pushed back 26 months due to planetary alignment. Perseverance is a $ 2.7B mission, so a more than two-year delay is a tough pill to swallow. Instead, NASA was swift to enact COVID protocols, which came with unique challenges and ultimately allowed the mission to continue as scheduled.
This is the first image Perseverance sent back to Earth following its successful landing on Mars. Image credit: NASA
Back to yesterday’s historic landing. Perseverance, or ‘Percy’ as some at mission control call the rover, landed at 3:55 p.m. ET. The landing went smoothly, and Percy wasted no time sending its first image back to Earth. Perseverance then sent a second image, showing the view from the rear of the spacecraft. Both images were captured using onboard ‘hazard cameras,’ and the protective covers were still in place. Future images will be more detailed and impressive, but these are nonetheless important photos. The images will be used to help the team very precisely locate Perseverance’s landing site on the Martian surface.
The second image shows the view from the rear of Perseverance. Image credit: NASA
For Perseverance, the next few days on Mars will be spent exploring the area. Its handlers will come to grips with the area and stabilize the rover’s onboard systems, including communications systems that will allow specialized software to be uploaded from Earth.
A 3D-printed model of MastCam-Z. Image credit: NASA
Per Space.com, ‘Perservance’s head-like, instrument-laden mast will also be deployed in these first few sols, allowing capture of great new imagery. For example, the rover’s MastCam-Z camera system is scheduled to take its first color panorama on sol 3.’ Mars 2020 deputy project manager Jennifer Trosper says that NASA will do about four days transitioning to new software before digging its teeth into planned scientific endeavors. It’s taken a considerable amount of time, money, and work to get to this point so that the team won’t rush anything.
As you can see in this diagram, Perseverance includes a lot of onboard instruments and equipment. Among other objectives, the rover will use its instruments to analyze and gather information on the chemical and mineral composition of the Martian surface. Image credit: NASA
Perseverance includes an onboard helicopter, Ingenuity. The four-pound helicopter will drop from the rover soon and, if all goes well, become the blueprint for future extraterrestrial exploration.
An illustration of NASA’s new Mars helicopter, Ingenuity. Its maiden flight will mark the first powered flight on another world. Image credit: NASA
If you want to take part in the celebration of Perseverance’s successful landing, NASA has set up a Mars Photo Booth. You can upload a selfie and place yourself on Mars, in mission control, or in front of a handful of other backgrounds.
There’s a lot to look forward to over the next Martian year (and hopefully longer). Perseverance includes 23 cameras, so we should be treated to some amazing imagery throughout 2021 and beyond.
After facing imminent closure, Tetenal is back with a vengeance and has relaunched their online shop. This is fantastic news for analog photographers, as Tetenal has been producing critical photochemicals since 1847, making Tetenal the oldest active company in the photo industry.
In January 2019, we reported that Tetenal Europe faced closure. After going into voluntary insolvency protection in 2018, Tetenal Europe GmbH failed to find new investors and was preparing to close its doors. In February 2019, an employee-led management buyout was accepted and Tetenal lived on.
In an announcement at the time, one of the leaders of the employee-led movement, Burkhardt Mueller, said, ‘We respect the heritage and the responsibility for 172 years of photo history that we inherit. Together with the global photo community and commercial partners from the analog photo industry, we will relaunch proven products to ensure reliable sustainable supply for film and photo studios, while developing new business models, products and services.’
A screenshot from Tetenal 1847’s new online store.
Jumping ahead to the current day, the wheels are in motion at the new Tetenal. The company is offering a 5% discount on all purchases from their online store using the discount code ‘tetenalpromo09’. The company offers worldwide shipping.
Tetenal’s relaunch includes new black and white chemistry, including film and photo paper developer, stop, fixer, photo paper tones, stabilizer, wash aids and wetting solutions. If you’re interested in traditional wet plate photography, there’s emulsion available for that as well.
Tetenal is not content to simply keep producing more of the same, however, it is also working on new products. Tetenal has nearly completed the development of Tetenal Developer Tablets. These E6 and C41 developer tablets are dry chemicals you can dissolve in water to make your own solutions at home. This has two major advantages over traditional liquid concentrates. First, tablets have a lower shipping weight and volume. Secondly, liquids can oxidize, which limits shelf life when using chemicals in small batches. Tablets, on the other hand, are easier to store and have a longer shelf life.
Tetenal has nearly finished the development of effervescent tablet forms of E6 and C41 developer. Click to enlarge. Image credit: Tetenal
It is a big deal for Tetenal to survive. While the company is perhaps best known for its film processing chemicals, it is also a producer of source chemicals for many other companies throughout the world. Tetenal also contributes to digital photography by supplying chemicals to companies such as Epson, Eizo and other inkjet and dye sub media distributors. Tetenal’s chemicals are also critical to the motion picture industry.
In an article for PetaPixel, Ludwig Hagelstein wrote an excellent in-depth look at Tetenal since its 19th-century beginnings. It is well worth checking out for those interested in photographic history and analog photography.
Click to enlarge. Image credit: Tetanel
To learn more about Tetenal’s history and its product offerings, head to its website. It’s excellent to see the company continuing to survive and innovate amid challenging market conditions.
Lomography is back with the announcement of its latest, well, back. The LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back is the world’s first Instant Back for 4×5 cameras designed for Fujifilm Instax Wide film.
Developed in collaboration with large format photography professionals as a substitute for the peel-apart Polaroid film discontinued back in 2016, the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back works with all Graflok-equipped 4×5 cameras and uses a light-tightened film ejection unit to push out the Instax Wide film shots after capture.
Below are a few sample photos, shared by Lomography:
The device is constructed of plastic, is powered by four ‘AA’ batteries (LR6) and features an automated frame counter so you know how many shots are left. It measures in at 181mm (7.13”) tall, 120mm (4.72”) wide and 50mm (1.97”) deep, and weighs roughly 500g (1.1lbs).
Below is a guide on how to use the LomoGraflok 4×5 Instant Back:
The LomoGraflok is currently available to pre-order on the Lomography website for $ 134 (MSRP will be $ 149 once launched). The first units are expected to ship in April 2021.
NASA and the ESA revealed the first images of the Sun from its Solar Orbiter joint mission, providing an unprecedented look at our star. The images have revealed a new mystery that scientists have named ‘campfires’ — this refers to miniature solar flares on the Sun described by ESA as ‘omnipresent.’
ESA says the early technical verification phase of the mission knowtn as commissioning has been completed, meaning Solar Orbiter is just getting started. Despite this early stage, the mission has already revealed new phenomena, underscoring the promising results the space agencies anticipate from their joint spacecraft.
Solar Orbiter was launched in February 2020 with the goal of, among other things, capturing images of the Sun at the closest distance thus far attainable. The mission includes half a dozen remote-sensing telescopes and four in situ monitoring instruments for studying the environment around Solar Orbiter.
Data gathered by both sets of instruments will, hopefully, provide scientists with new insights about the star and solar wind. Kicking things off are the ‘campfires’ featured in the first set of images above. Solar Orbiter used its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument to capture the images — it includes an imager capable of capturing the entire Sun, plus two high-resolution telescopes.
It’s unknown at this time whether campfires are entirely different than big flares or simply miniature versions of them. Talking about the newly discovered phenomena is EUI instrument principal investigator David Berghmans, who said:
The campfires are little relatives of the solar flares that we can observe from Earth, million or billion times smaller. The Sun might look quiet at the first glance, but when we look in detail, we can see those miniature flares everywhere we look.
The EUI is only one of the imagers on Solar Orbiter; it is joined by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) used to capture high-resolution measurements of the Sun’s magnetic field lines. The latter instrument has also provided scientists with another ‘first,’ having revealed a single active region on the Sun that is experiencing bursts of energetic particles that, until now, experts were unaware existed.
‘That is a first,’ said PHI principal investigator Sami Solanki. ‘We have never been able to measure the magnetic field at the back of the Sun.’
In time, Solar Orbiter will reach within 42 million kilometers (26 million miles) of the Sun, covering almost a full quarter of the distance between the star and our planet. This gradual change in distance will take place over the next two years, providing the space agencies with increasingly detailed close-up images of the Sun.
NASA Solar Orbiter project scientist Holly Gilbert said, ‘The first data are already demonstrating the power behind a successful collaboration between space agencies and the usefulness of a diverse set of images in unraveling some of the Sun’s mysteries.’
The post Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.
Although they seem simple enough at first glance, tripods are tremendously important tools for photographers and videographers. Talking about camera support systems might not be the sexiest topic in photography, but there’s so much to know about tripods. So, allow me to do you a favor. I’m about to clue you in on a few things I wish I’d known about tripods when I first began making photographs nearly twenty years ago. These things will help you when it comes to choosing the right tripod for your needs.
Choosing the right tripod may seem overwhelming – but not once you know these things.
Camera tripods come in all shapes and sizes. Materials and mechanisms vary a lot, as do the specific usages of the tripods themselves. This article will show you the basics of tripod anatomy and talk about the things you need to know about them, so choosing the right tripod for your needs will be easy.
Tripod legs: putting the “tri” in tripod
Conceptually, tripods are delightfully simple beasts. Three extendable (usually) legs offer three points of contact to the ground/floor, then terminate at an apex where your camera will hopefully be securely mounted. This is all deceptively simple and leaves a lot of room for many different types of legs made from many different materials with equally varied locking mechanisms.
Let’s break down some of the common tripod leg variants you’re likely to encounter when choosing the right tripod.
Materials
Tripod leg materials range from the oddly archaic to the weirdly space-aged. Fortunately, in most cases, you can make the best choice for which material will be best for your uses based on these three simple maxims:
Your tripod can be lightweight.
Your tripod can be strong.
Your tripod can be inexpensive.
The catch here is that you can only choose two of those when selecting a tripod. This is where tripod leg materials come into play and where you should be honest with yourself about what you need the most from your tripod.
1. Wood and Steel
As difficult as it might be to believe in this day and age, I still own and regularly use a wooden tripod; yes, really.
It’s a beautifully made contraption of steel and ash wood, Berlebach Report 2042 (new version is 242). Primarily, I use it for large format and medium format work and any other time in the studio when I want to use a large setup or happen just to be feeling extra meta. It supports around 27lbs(12.25kg) and is absolutely rock solid. The drawback is my lovely Berlebach weights over 7lbs without a head, and it tips the scales at over 10lbs when fitted with one.
The point here is that yes, there are still tripod legs made using “old world” materials like wood and steel. Many of these are vintage tripods you can pick up for a wide range of prices.
If weight is not a concern for you, a heavier tripod is more ideal than a lighter one. If you do primarily static studio work, don’t overlook these wood or steel tripods.
2. Plastic
Yes, there are some plastic tripod legs out there. Most of these, thankfully, are relegated to smaller, desktop-type tripods for blogging – as they should be.
A tiny little plastic tripod….
As a construction material for longer tripod legs, plastic and plastic derivatives aren’t ideal. Often the strength is far from adequate for the camera support system and flexes under the load.
While some plastic components on a tripod are perfectly fine, it’s advisable to steer clear of a large tripod with legs completely made from plastic.
3. Aluminum
Ahhhh yes, good ol’ aluminum. In the world of tripods, aluminum is the ultimate workhorse. It has an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, is relatively low in price (dropping lower all the time), and makes for a nice, healthy compromise between leg rigidity, compactness, and weight.
Aluminum tripod legs.
For the last couple of decades, aluminum has been the tripod leg material of choice when it comes to camera support systems because it checks so many boxes in terms of performance.
However, in the last ten years or so, modern science has thrown a new material into the mix that has all but unseated aluminum as the ideal material for tripod leg construction.
I’m talking about…
4. Carbon Fiber
I’ve made photographs for over half my life now, with about ten of those years professionally. For as long as I’ve been slinging a camera, I only acquired my first carbon fiber tripod about three years ago. Carbon fiber is a lightweight, strong, and extremely corrosion-resistant material, making it perfect for tripod legs.
Carbon fiber is strong, lightweight and becoming increasingly affordable.
Not to get all “sciency,” but carbon fiber is, in fact, more stiff than aluminum, being 181Gpa and 69Gpa, respectively. This means that a tripod leg made of carbon fiber flexes less than an aluminum leg of the same diameter. That’s a good thing for a tripod.
Of course, there are multiple carbon fiber species out there, and each has different characteristics.
Going back to our “big three” maxims for tripods, while carbon fiber tripods are strong and lightweight, they are often not cheap. Expect to pay around double for a set of carbon fiber tripod legs compared to aluminum.
However, this price gap is quickly closing as more and more manufacturers begin to bring carbon fiber tripods to the market. In most cases, the benefits of having an easy-to-carry tripod that is both strong and stable are often worth the investment.
5. Titanium
After an exhaustive internet search (okay, maybe about ten minutes), I couldn’t turn up any tripod legs made fully from titanium alloy. However, I did find some tripod sales pages using vague language and simply naming aluminum tripods as “titanium” models.
While titanium is making its way into the world of tripod legs, it is doing so in the form of hardware too. This is expected since titanium offers superb tensile strength and corrosion resistance. Yet, oddly enough, titanium isn’t the ultimate material for tripod legs and parts. It doesn’t wear well against other parts, and the strength-to-weight isn’t as good as some carbon fiber materials.
And the price? Words like “astronomical,” “insane” and “laughable” spring to mind.
Locking Mechanisms
To offer portability, tripod legs generally feature either folding or telescopic sections, with the vast majority being of the latter variety. This means that those leg sections sport some sort of locking mechanism. In general, you’re likely to encounter two main types of leg locks.
1. Flip locks
My very first tripod had flip-type leg locks. Then, my second tripod had flip-type leg locks…so it’s no surprise that I became accustomed to, and prefer, flip-type leg locks on my tripods. This, of course, is wholly subjective.
Flip locks are exactly how they sound: a locking mechanism that flips up to release the tripod leg section and flips down to secure it into place.
A flip-lock.
These locks make deploying the tripod fast and easy. Flip locks can be made of a variety of materials and vary in strength accordingly.
2. Twist locks
It seems as if twist locks are slowly becoming the more prevalent method for locking tripod legs into place. Much like their flip-lock cousins, a twist-type leg lock doesn’t function just as you might expect. Simply twist one direction to unlock and twist the opposite direction to secure.
A twist-lock style of locking mechanism.
Twist locks are generally less likely to fail due to dirt and sand over flip locks. However, not all twist locks are made equal. Some twist locks require a good deal of “throw” (twisting) to lock or loosen the mechanism resulting in slower deployment retraction.
Tripod Feet
Now that we’ve reached the bottom of our tripod, it’s time to talk about the silent hero of all tripod legs – the seldom applauded feet. No matter what, your tripod ultimately comes to rest on its feet…well…hopefully.
The feet of a tripod come in all shapes and sizes and are another important consideration when choosing the right tripod. In most cases, tripod feet are made from some sort of rubber or rubberized plastic.
Rubberized tripod feet.
This is where things get interesting.
Now, the shape and characteristics of tripod feet make them more or least apt to remain solid in different environments. The larger the feet of your tripod, the more “flotation” they will offer; meaning the load will be distributed over a wider surface area. The more flotation a tripod foot has, the less likely it is to sink into softer ground materials like sand and mud.
An example of large, high-flotation tripod feet. These kind are great for sandy environments.
Speaking of the ground, if you know you’ll be using your tripod in widely varying outdoor environments (looking at you landscape shooters), it would be a good idea to make certain your tripod feet feature some type of spike system.
Retractable foot spike.
Foot spikes are your best friend when you find yourself shooting in icy winter conditions or on exposed rock. However, they are also your worst enemy when shooting indoors and are the menace of wedding venues everywhere. So if you’re a photographer who shoots both outdoor and indoor scenes, make sure your leg spikes are retractable or removable.
It’s also worth mentioning that many major tripod manufacturers offer interchangeable feet for their products, which means you can change your tripod feet depending on the situation.
Center column or nah?
Let’s move a bit north and talk about a topic of contention when it comes to tripods – center columns. A center column allows the photographer to increase the tripod’s height after deploying the legs to their maximum extension.
A selection of tripods with center columns.
Center columns add wonderful versatility to a tripod’s capabilities simply because they facilitate the quick and tailored height adjustment. At the same time, center columns also introduce a point of movement into your shooting platform. Thus, causing the debate about whether or not using a center column hinders the overall quality of your photos.
Center columns are very much a double-edged sword in that they can add immense versatility to your shooting possibilities while also causing a few problems if poorly executed. As cliche’ as it might sound, the choice of whether or not you prefer a center column is entirely up to you.
Fortunately, the decision is becoming less and less of an issue, as many tripod makers now offer removable center columns for a large number of tripod models.
There’s so much more!
We’ve covered the main components of your tripod, but we haven’t even begun to talk about the wide world of ball heads, pan heads, and fluid heads! There are even base plates and plate clamps to talk about! So instead of reading about all of these cool little gadgets, why not see them in action?
Have a look at this video I made that covers all of the things we’ve already talked about plus the options that are currently available for mounting your camera to your particular camera support system.
As always, feel free to post your questions and comments about choosing the right tripod below. Have a favorite camera support system or setup you’d like to share with us? We would love to hear about them as well!
The post Back to Basics: Everything You Need to Know for Choosing the Right Tripod appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Adam Welch.
A comparison between the 24mm F/2 Aporia and a standard Leica body cap.
Boutique Japanese optics manufacturer MS Optics has released its latest bespoke lens, a 24mm F2 pancake lens for Leica M-mount cameras.
The MS Optics Aporia 24mm F2 M-mount lens is a return to Miyazaki’s specialty — wide-angle pancake lenses. This Gauss lens is barely larger than a Leica M body cap, yet manages to pack inside six elements in four groups and a focusing range from .5m (1.5ft) to infinity.
We promise that’s a lens on the Zeiss Ikon.
According to MS Optics founder and lens designer, Mr. Sadayasu Miyazaki, Gauss lenses tend to struggle with ‘coma flare from mid-frame into the corners causing reduced contrast and peripheral light falloff.’ Miyazaki says it was a struggle to get around this shortcoming, he’s managed to ‘bring it to a satisfactory level of performance’ thanks to low-dispersion elements.
The lens measures just 50mm (2”) diameter, 5.8mm (.23”) thick and weighs just 45g (1.59oz) — roughly the weight of a golf ball. Below are a few sample photos, captured by Bellamy Hunt of Japan Camera Hunter (JCH):
The 24mm F2 Aporia is being stocked in very limited numbers on the JCH website in gold, black chrome and silver chrome. Right now all models are sold out, but Bellamy Hunt of JCH tells us units are currently being put through quality assurance and will go live ’in the coming weeks.’
Earlier this year, the organizers of The Photography Show and The Video Show 2020 announced the exhibition would be pushed back to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it’s been announced The Photography Show and The Video Show 2020 will be going entirely virtual for 2020, with the organizers citing ‘the continued uncertainty around hosting large events.’
According to the above announcement on The Photography Show website, the virtual photography and video festival will be entirely free and take place on September 20 and 21 this year. ‘While we believe that there’s nothing quite comparable to the benefits of the live show,’ says the organizers in the announcement, ‘we know that this decision is the best solution for our community during these unprecedented times.’
The entire show will be free to ‘attend’ and all pre-booked entry tickets and passes purchased for the 2020 event will be valid for next year’s event. The Photography Show 2021 is set to take place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
Registration for the online event will be ‘available shortly.’ You can keep up to date with the latest news on The Photography Show website.
Swiss company I’m Back has returned to Kickstarter with another digital back product, this one following the previous models it sought crowdfunding for in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The new I’m Back 35 will be, according to the company, the only digital back product that can be paired with ‘almost all the most famous analog cameras.’ The I’m Back 35 will feature manual and automatic recording modes, improved battery performance, a new ergonomic design and other new technology if it ends up being produced.
The ‘I’m Back 35’ unit is designed to work with old analog SLR cameras that are still functional, yet obsolete. The digital back will replace the back cover on an old SLR to give it digital functionality and features, including a 2″ touch display, external microphone support, USB-C, WiFi, support for syncing flash and a Panasonic 34112 image sensor.
The aluminum-based universal cover on I’m Back 35 supports 99 percent of existing 35mm analog cameras, according to the company. Should the I’m Back 35 see the light of day, its creators say the unit will have new software controls for the manual exposure function, an exclusive PCBA design and will use NP-F550 and NP-F570 batteries.
I’m Back says it offers dedicated back covers that improve the I’m Back 35’s fit on customers’ preferred analog cameras, including models like the Canon EOS 300, Ricoh KR10, Olympus OM10, Nikon F100, Leica M7, Diana F, Pentax K1000 and Yashica FX3, among others. I’m Back 35 will also include a universal back cover that can be used with most other 35mm analog cameras.
The new digital back will feature an ‘M’ button for switching between manual and automatic modes, a new focusing screen, new alignment and stability system, new clamps, micro HDMI and a microSD slot with support for cards up to 128GB capacity. The device, which is currently only shown as a prototype, captures images in JPEG and raw formats at 8MP to 14MP resolutions, plus video in MOV format at up to 4K/30fps.
Other technical features will include a built-in speaker and microphone, support for a 7.4V-1A power source, 1.5mm sync cable, and 3.5mm microphones, as well as PCs running Windows 2000 or higher and Macs running macOS 10.3.6 or higher.
The company notes that because its digital back uses a focusing screen, the images and video captured with I’m Back 35 won’t be at the same quality level as content captured with a dedicated digital camera, but rather will ‘resemble something between analog and digital.’ Below are a few sample photos shared by the I’m Back team, captured with the working prototype:
I’m Back 35 follows the I’m Back MF digital back, which is currently in its final prototype stages, according to the company.
The new 35mm product is a bit cheaper at $ 349 retail price compared to the I’m Back MF’s $ 400 price tag. I’m Back is offering its 35mm model to Kickstarter backers in exchange for pledges starting at CHF 249 (approximately $ 258). The backer kits include the I’m Back 35 digital module, universal back cover, sync cable, USB-C cable, rechargeable battery and battery charger. Assuming everything goes according to plan, I’m Back anticipates shipping its product to backers starting in December 2020.
You can find out more information and secure your pledge on the Kickstarter campaign.
Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
Photography gear company Fotodiox has published a new video showing viewers how to turn a portable scanner into a 4×5 digital scanner back for use with large format cameras. The video tutorial is based on a concept published by Randy Sarafan on Instructables.
In Fotodiox’s version of the project, the team uses a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner, which costs around $ 180 on Amazon; other models could also be used, video host Sean notes in the tutorial. The scanner is paired with a CameraDactyl 4×5 camera ($ 200) and a 5×7 Fresnel sheet ($ 5).
Sean notes that the digital back cannot provide the same level of quality as 4×5 film, but he says that it’s ‘such a cool idea, I had to try it.’
The project kicks off with Sean grinding the scanner’s glass using 600 grit silicon carbide and a small piece of glass. This transforms the panel into ground glass, which is then paired with the sheet of Fresnel glass for more even light distribution. The ground glass is reattached to the projector and the Fresnel is attached to it using ordinary duct tape.
The camera was then duct-taped to the projector, as well, with Sean noting that he used the CameraDactyl model partly because it is very lightweight.
After opening the aperture and focusing the image, Sean covered the back of the camera with a dark object to keep light out, then hit the ‘scan’ button on the digital back. The scanning process took about 20 seconds and the result was a ‘4×5 film look’ from a digital scanner.
As far as downsides go, Sean notes that this scanner arrangement can’t capture color images and that the image is captured off the ground glass, which means the texture from the glass results in grainy images. Photographers may also have to deal with scan lines in some images.
Ultimately, though, Sean explains: ‘I get a really shallow depth of field. It just has this really nice vintage 4×5 film look.’
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