It looks like September 14, 2021 is going to be a busy day. First, Apple announced it will be hosting a livestream event. Now, Canon has announced that it too will be hosting a livestreamed event on YouTube at 12pm CEST (+2 UTC).
Canon doesn’t say what we can expect to see at the event, but the animated graphic in the teaser video shows an illustration of an RF camera mount. Make of that what you will.
You can click through on the video to set a reminder on YouTube to be notified when the event goes live.
The post Canon’s Exciting New RF Lenses: The 70-200mm f/4 and 50mm f/1.8 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Last Tuesday, Canon announced two new RF lenses:
The Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM.
The Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM
Both of these lenses will ship in the first half of December, though they’re currently available for preorder ($ 1599 USD for the 70-200mm f/4L IS and $ 199.99 USD for the 50mm f/1.8).
The new lenses will undoubtedly appeal to the many Canon photographers who have already embraced the EOS R system, especially those who are looking for cheaper alternatives to the existing RF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and the RF 50mm f/1.2.
The Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS
In fact, the 70-200mm f/4 and the 50mm f/1.8 have already garnered something of a reputation, thanks to their top-notch EF equivalents. The EF 70-200mm f/4L IS, for instance, is a high-quality, reasonably-priced option for landscape photographers, amateur portrait photographers, and more – while the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is just about the handiest Canon lens you can own, combining optical prowess with affordability and compactness.
And while the RF 70-200mm and the RF 50mm f/1.8 won’t be quite as cheap as their EF counterparts, they’re certainly cheap enough to draw Canon photographers of all stripes, including a mix of professionals and hobbyists (for the 70-200mm f/4), as well as amateurs (for the 50mm f/1.8).
Plus, Canon has added several significant upgrades to these RF lenses. The 70-200mm f/4L IS, for instance, will offer up to 5 stops of image stabilization, which expands to 7.5 stops when combined with in-body image stabilization. It’s also Canon’s “shortest and lightest 70-200mm f/4 zoom lens to date,” making it an even more compelling option for landscape photographers who hike for hours on end.
As for the RF 50mm f/1.8:
You get the ultra-useful 50mm focal length for just $ 200 USD, not to mention the Canon RF lens control ring (which you can use to tweak camera settings on the fly). And the lens will be both compact and light – in other words, perfect for a casual photographer, or even a street photographer, looking to fire off shots without attracting much attention.
So if you’re after an affordable, high-quality lens with a wide maximum aperture and great ergonomics, check out the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, which is available for preorder for just under $ 200 USD.
Alternatively, if you’re hoping to capture gorgeous landscapes, portraits, or even outdoor event photos without breaking the bank, you can preorder the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM here for $ 1599 USD.
The post Canon’s Exciting New RF Lenses: The 70-200mm f/4 and 50mm f/1.8 appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
The post Adobe’s Exciting New Updates to Lightroom, Photoshop, and ACR appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
Adobe has released several impressive updates to its Creative Cloud programs, including Lightroom, Photoshop, and Adobe Camera Raw.
The changes give Adobe users a number of features to be excited about, including:
Enhanced subject selection in Photoshop
Easy movement from Lightroom to Photoshop on iPad
An interface makeover for Adobe Camera Raw
The addition of local hue adjustments in Lightroom
While you can read about the many new and improved features on Adobe’s blog, I’ll run through the most important new upgrades for photographers, starting with:
Photoshop offers updated Select Subject tool
Photoshop’s Select Subject tool has been steadily improving since the feature was first released.
But with these new updates comes a huge advance in terms of Select Subject’s capacity to identify complex edges.
As explained by Adobe, Select Subject has advanced in two key ways:
First: “Select subject is now content aware, and applies new custom algorithms if it detects a person is in the scene.”
And second: “Hair and treatment around hair has been vastly improved.”
When it comes to subject selection, any improvements are welcome; for most folks, better selection tools means less time spent in Photoshop and more time out shooting photos.
Hair has traditionally been the most difficult aspect of selecting, even with Adobe’s most powerful tools in hand. But with these improvements, subject selection should become at least slightly easier.
Lightroom on iPad offers easy Edit in Photoshop button
If you frequently edit images in Lightroom on your iPad, you’re in luck:
Adobe has now added an easy method for moving your photos from Lightroom to Photoshop:
The Edit in Photoshop button, which you can access from the export menu in Lightroom and use to quickly open an image in Photoshop.
Adobe explains that, after editing an image to Photoshop, “you can either send it right back to Lightroom, or keep it as a new cloud document.”
This should be a massive improvement for folks frustrated by the lack of integration between Lightroom and Photoshop on iPad.
(According to Adobe, this was among the “top requests” of iPad users.)
Adobe Camera Raw starts to look sleek
The new ACR layout looks far more stylish!
It’s finally happened:
Adobe Camera Raw has shed its aging skin and turned into something better; it’s still not exactly modern, but it’s certainly much sleeker.
Take a look at ACR, and you’ll now see a new interface, one that’s designed to “feel familiar to any Lightroom user.”
The layout has changed, the sliders have changed, and you even have some tool enhancements (for instance, the Curves tool is much easier to work with).
You also get a brand new tool, which comes to both Adobe Camera RAW and Lightroom in the form of local hue adjustment:
Lightroom and ACR gain local hue adjustment feature
Lightroom (and ACR) has long offered global hue adjustment capabilities in its HSL panel:
You select the original color, then you shift it along the color spectrum via a slider.
Up until now, this has remained a global editing tool. Lightroom included no option to selectively adjust hue via the adjustment brush, radial filter, or graduated filter, which meant that selective color editing was a feature largely confined to Photoshop.
But all that has changed, because you’ll now see a new slider when using local adjustment tools, one that allows you to select an area and shift its colors via a handy hue slider.
With this new local editing option, you can selectively adjust skin tones, clothing color, sunset color, and much more.
So here’s my recommendation:
Head over to your Lightroom, Photoshop, and Adobe Camera Raw applications right now.
And try out these new options!
Now I’d like to ask you:
Which of these new updates are you most excited to try? And were there any changes that you’d still like to see from Adobe? Share your thoughts in the comments!
The post Adobe’s Exciting New Updates to Lightroom, Photoshop, and ACR appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.
The post How to Make Exciting Flash Action Photos with Second-Curtain Sync appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.
In still photography, we can choose to blur or freeze motion. Or… we can do both! Read on to learn how.
All the excitement surrounding the latest cameras seems to center around their video capabilities. Fine, I guess. But, maybe you’re like me, a dedicated still photo shooter with no desire to make videos? I don’t need to make things move in my photos, but I do want to illustrate movement.
My options?
1) Use a long exposure/slow shutter speed causing moving things to blur creating the suggestion of movement, or
Panning with the subject, and using a slower shutter speed blurs the background, giving a sense of motion. Canon D30 with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. 1/60th sec. f/4 ISO 400.
2) Use a short shutter duration to freeze the action, capturing a moment of motion that could not have been seen with the human eye, or
A very short shutter speed will freeze action in many cases. This was lit with bright sunlight only, no flash. Canon 50D with Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. 1/8000th sec. f/3.5 ISO 400.
3) Use the very short duration of a flash to capture an even thinner slice of time freezing very fast-moving objects.
But have you considered the fourth option? How might you make flash action photos that combine the motion blur of a long shutter speed with the freezing power of flash in the same shot? Let’s explore how that works.
Motion blur + Frozen action = Flash action photos. Combining slow shutter speeds with the freezing power of a flash. Canon D30 with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. 1/20th sec. f/4 ISO 400. Canon 500EX flash – Second-curtain sync.
An exposure within an exposure
When you make a flash photo, you are really making two exposures in one. Open the shutter and whatever available ambient light is there streams in through the camera iris onto the sensor. How much light is controlled by two things; the size of the aperture (measured using f/stop terminology), and the duration of the exposure (controlled by the shutter speed.)
When we use a flash, the burst of light happens during that same shutter duration. Flash duration is typically much shorter than the total shutter duration and happens “within” the total exposure. Thus, an “exposure within an exposure.”
There are two exposures in one here – The ambient light creates the blur using a longer shutter speed while the flash freezes the action at the end. Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. 1-second, f/13 ISO 100. Second curtain sync flash – Canon 500EX.
Open the curtain and let the show begin
Unless you’re using a camera with a leaf shutter (rather rare anymore), your camera probably uses a focal-plane shutter. There are two “curtains” (and that’s what they are called), between the rear of the lens and the sensor.
Watch this slow-motion video of what happens during an exposure.
When the shutter button is pressed: 1) With a DSLR, the mirror swings up out of the way. 2) The first curtain goes down, exposing the sensor to light. 3) The second curtain then comes down, again blocking light from the sensor.
The total exposure duration, the time between the opening of the first curtain and the closing of the second, that is the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light and is what we control with the shutter speed setting.
Back in the outside world
Outside the camera in the real world, life goes on. If the subject or the camera moves during the exposure, the relative distance it moves during the exposure duration will be recorded as a blur.
Subjects that don’t move at all won’t blur even during a long exposure.
Fast-moving objects could move quite a bit and thus blur more unless the shutter speed is fast, the exposure duration short, and the amount of motion imperceptible during that brief period.
Enter the flash
The above describes what happens when a photo is made using only ambient light. It doesn’t matter the light source; it could be the sun, the moon, candlelight, continuous man-made lighting sources like incandescent, fluorescent, LED, flashlights, whatever. For our purposes, ambient light is whatever light exists during the entire duration of the exposure.
The flash, however, will be comparably short and happen within the duration of the exposure. Depending on output power and the type of flash used, flash duration can be very short. Take a look at the chart below illustrating the flash duration of a typical Speedlight (here a Canon 580EX).
The lower the power, the shorter the flash duration. However, less power also means less working distance.
At a 1/128th power setting, the flash duration can be as short as 1/20,000th of a second! Even fast-moving objects won’t move far during such a thin sliver of time, so they will be frozen by the flash.
Flash did the freezing here – The room was dark, so no ambient light. The shutter speed not that fast – 1/60th sec. f/25 ISO 100 (but the flash at 1/16th power had a duration of just 1/16,000 sec. so everything is totally frozen with no motion blur.
Ambient + Flash = Flash action photos
Since a photo using flash is an exposure-in-an-exposure, what if we harness the power of both ambient light and the flash to use the advantages of each?
What might we get if we used a long exposure to capture the ambient light and thus blur the moving subject and then a burst of flash to freeze it? We could get a photo that combined both motion blur and a frozen subject! We could call that a flash action photo.
Combine a long shutter speed for the blur with a 2nd-curtain sync flash to freeze the action. Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens. 1 Second, f/5.6, ISO 100
First versus Second-Curtain Sync
The flash will be fired within the total duration of the exposure. If, say, the shutter speed is 1/125th second and the flash duration at 1/64th power is 1/14,000 second, when during that 1/125th second does the flash fire?
The default for most cameras and flashes is to have the flash fire as soon as the first curtain drops to expose the sensor. This is what is termed “first curtain” (aka front curtain) sync.” The timeline below illustrates how that works.
In a standard flash photo with the flash in ETTL mode, this will be the sequence with the default first-curtain sync:
Shutter is pressed.
Pre-Flash fires (Omitted if Flash is in Manual Mode).
Camera calculates necessary flash output power needed (Only in ETTL Mode).
First curtain drops exposing the sensor to ambient light.
Flash fires.
Ambient light continues for the duration of the exposure.
Second (aka “rear”) curtain drops, covering the sensor and the exposure ends.
With most flash photos, especially things like portraits and such, the total exposure will be short enough there won’t be a noticeable difference between the portion of the exposure made with ambient light and that made with the flash. To best capture the moment, having the flash immediately fire is usually a good thing and probably one reason manufacturers make first-curtain sync the default.
So why use second-curtain sync?
We started out talking about photos that combine the blurred motion caused by a slow shutter speed with the freezing power of a flash. The problem with the default first-curtain sync that triggers the flash at the beginning of the exposure is that the frozen portion of the image happens immediately, and the blurred portion made with the remaining ambient light happens after. As the subject moves, the recorded blur will be in front of the frozen portion of the shot.
Assuming we want to make the car look like it’s traveling forward, the top shot done with second-curtain sync flash looks more natural. All settings were the same and the toy car was pushed from right to left in both cases. The top shot is second-curtain sync, the bottom shot the default, first-curtain sync.
But that looks weird
Standard convention is to see the blurred portion of action behind, not in front of the moving object. Illustrators and cartoonists know this and use motion lines (also called “sphericasia”) to help depict motion. (They also use Quimps, Plewds, Grawlixes, and a bunch of other cartoonist marks. Check out this fun read).
Sometimes as photographers, we will pan with a moving object, use a longer shutter speed, and if we pace our pan correctly, get a photo with a blurred background and the subject relatively frozen. The blur will be behind the subject, and that looks natural. But use a long shutter speed combined with a default first-curtain sync flash and…nope…that just looks weird.
Though flying at hundreds of miles per hour, this U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jet can be made to look motionless with a very fast shutter speed. Canon 6D with Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens. 1/2000th sec. f/5.6 ISO 200.This is how an illustrator or cartoonist might depict motion using “sphericasia” or motion lines.
Activate second-curtain sync
So let’s make it look right and create some flash action photos that look correct. You will need to activate second (rear) curtain sync. In some cases, this will be done on your camera. In others, you will do it on your flash. There are too many variables of camera/flash combinations for me to tell you just how to do it with your equipment, so you’ll need to get out your manuals. Look for second (sometimes called rear) curtain sync.
Left to right – This is the symbol that indicates second-curtain sync on my Canon 550EX flash. Center and right – Setting up second-curtain sync on my Canon 6D camera. Every camera/flash combination will differ, so you may need to consult your manual on how to get into second-curtain sync flash.
This is usually pretty easy. In the combo I used for this article, a Canon 6D camera with a Canon 550EX flash, it was done on the flash. Once set, I was good to go.
The same action, swinging the hatchet down into the log. was performed in both photos. All the settings were the same except, the left shot used first-curtain sync flash, while the one on the right used second-curtain sync flash.
Other considerations
You will need to experiment to determine exactly what your settings should be given the variables of amount of ambient light, distance to the subject, speed of the moving subject, and exactly the look you’re going for. There is no precise “recipe” here.
However, here are a few things that may help you get great flash action photos:
Going full-manual with both the camera and flash will give you the most control.
Going manual with the flash should prevent a pre-flash, which you don’t want.
Determine what ISO and aperture you need to expose for the given ambient lighting conditions.
Shutter speed will vary depending on the speed of your moving subject, how much blur you want, and whether you’ll be panning with the movement of the subject.
Which uses first and which second curtain sync flash? It’s hard to tell with objects like this ball. Here’s a clue – The ball was rolling away from the camera in both shots.
You will need sufficient light on your subject to properly expose the ambient portion of the exposure. Take some test shots without the flash to see how things look.
You will likely want to manually adjust the flash output power depending on how close you are to the subject and how much “freezing” power you want for that part of the photo. Use the aperture and ISO to control the ambient portion of the image, the shutter speed to control the amount of blur, and the flash power to control the frozen part of the image.
Another test… In both shots the ball was rolling right to left. So which uses first and which second curtain sync flash?If you will be controlling the motion of your subject and also the camera, a remote trigger is handy. Here, I used a Yongnuo RF602 radio trigger.
The blurred portion of your moving subject made with the ambient part of the exposure will have a translucent, “see-through” look. You will need some contrast between it and the background to help it show up. Shooting a brighter subject on a darker background helps a lot, especially as you learn the technique.
Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. 1/6th sec. f/ 4.5 ISO 100 w/ second-curtain sync flash.
The key – practice!
As with so much of photography, there is no substitute for practice. Getting your camera/flash into second-curtain sync mode is the easy part.
After that, do some simple experiments such as I show, rolling a bright ball across a dark floor. That should help you grasp the concepts.
You will find that timing can be the tricky part. Know that the flash will fire at the end of the exposure, so experiment to determine where the object will be when that happens as it won’t be when you first click the shutter.
Illustrate the fast and furious action of cycle racing but still get the expression on the rider’s face with a 1/8th second shutter speed combined with second-curtain sync flash. Canon 6D with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. 1/8th second, f/8 ISO 800.
Move up to something like the hatchet photos I show here, or maybe someone swinging a golf club or baseball bat. When you have the concepts down, head out to a sporting event or something where there’s some action, to depict like the bicycle races I show or recruit some dancers or other performers.
Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. 2 seconds, f/5.6 ISO 100. Second-curtain sync flash with Canon 550EX flash.
Flash action photos that combine blur and a frozen subject all in one shot, will teach you the principals of ambient and flash lighting. Best of all, you can make some really cool and unique images! Gotta scoot now…have fun!
Canon 6D with Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens. 1.7 seconds, f/8 ISO 100.
The post How to Make Exciting Flash Action Photos with Second-Curtain Sync appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.
What’s been the most exciting announcement of Photokina?
Every two years people flock to Cologne to find out what’s next in the world of photography. This year we’ve seen some announcements that left us very excited, but we wanted to know what you, our readers, think of what’s come out of the show this year. So we asked: what’s been the most exciting announcement of Photokina? With more than 5,000 votes counted, we have a pretty good idea.
Winner: Fujifilm GFX 50S development
Winning by a margin as big as its sensor is the announcement of the development of the Fujifilm GFX 50S and a selection of lenses to go along with it. Built around the 51.4MP 43.8 x 32.9mm sensor that is found in the Pentax 645Z and Hasselblad X1D-50c medium-format cameras, it lays claim to being the world’s first medium format mirrorless camera with a focal plane shutter. While Hasselblad stuck with leaf shutters built in to the lens, which is common in the medium-format world, Fujifilm claims using a focal plane shutter has allowed them to design a short flange back distance in to their new lenses, helping vignetting and sharpening.
There’s loads more to the new system, which you can learn more about in the official announcement, or our hands-on article.
Runner up: Olympus E-M1 II development
Trailing on the heels of the big Fujifilm with nearly 1,000 votes is the much smaller, but arguably a much more powerful, Olympus E-M1 II. Sure, the 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor isn’t nearly as big, but this one has been tricked out with all sorts of technology.
First, it gains an array of 121 cross-type AF on-sensor phase detection points spread further than its predecessor. The new autofocus system and sensor work alongside the new dual quad core TruePic VIII Image Processor with four CPU cores and four image processing cores that achieve image processing speeds approximately 3.5 times faster than the TruePic VII Processor.
That means this little powerhouse can shoot Raw continuously at 18fps with continuous autofocus and auto exposure, or 60fps without autofocus. This all on top of a slew of other improvements, which you can learn more about in the announcement or our hands-on articles.
Runner up: Sony a99 II
Third place in our Photokina poll comes as no surprise, as it helped shed some light around the fate of Sony’s Alpha mount cameras. The Sony a99 II answers prayers with a 42MP BSI sensor from the Sony a7R II, complete with its 399 on-sensor PDAF points. These work in conjunction with the 79-point dedicated PDAF sensor to create what Sony calls ‘Hybrid Cross AF points.’ The a99 also receives an a-mount first: 5-axis in body image stabilization that should provide up to 4.5 stops of stability.
The improvements don’t stop there. Read the official announcement or look at our hands-on article for more information.
Runner up: Canon EOS M5
Another product our readers are excited about is Canon’s latest mirrorless camera: the EOS M5. It gains features fans of the EOS-M lineup have been begging for, namely an EVF and a sensor equipped with Canon’s marvelous Dual Pixel Autofocus system. What results is a small and responsive camera with a touch screen, digital image stabilization for video, and all sorts of other goodies.
For more information, check out the announcement or our First Impressions Review.
Runner up: Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
The Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art edged into the top five by just a single vote, and it’s easy to understand why our readers are excited about it – they’ve been waiting a while for this one. Starting with the 35mm F1.4 Art, Sigma started producing an excellent lineup of zooms and F1.4 prime lenses. After the 35 they made a 50, after which people logically assumed an 85 would come. Instead we got a 24mm F1.4, then an industry-first 20mm F1.4, which are both wonderful lenses.
Finally, they’ve focused all their optical prowess in to producing what they’ve billed as ‘The Ultimate Portrait Lens’, with a (de) focus on bokeh quality, and an improved AF motor. Our polls indicate that this is a lens many people cannot wait any longer to try, us included.
Honerable mention: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH5 development
It only missed the top five readers’ picks by one vote, and while we only got a look at the new GH5 under glass at the show, Panasonic was able to provide us with some drool-worthy specs and capabilities of their upcoming flagship. It will offer 4K/60p capability for the first time in a consumer ILC, and will provide 4:2:2 10-bit 4K video. The GH5 will also provide a 6K Photo mode that will extract 18MP stills from burst footage, or 8MP stills from 60p 4K clips. These impressive specs are enough to keep us eagerly waiting for the GH5’s arrival.
Fall is an exciting time for photography and it’s not just because of the scenery that comes with the season. The newest enthusiast and professional cameras tend to arrive on shelves in the fall and, even if you’re not in the market for a new shooter, the latest gear announcements are worth a peak just to see what new technology is being introduced.
While a lot of new announcements are mediocre updates, the fall of 2014 has brought in several new cameras that are more than marginal. Canon has released a new DSLR with amazing burst speeds, while Nikon has announced the first full frame DSLR with both a tilting LCD screen and Wi-Fi. All mediocrity aside, here are the most exciting cameras hitting the shelves this fall.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
DSLRs have a lot of equipment inside that has to move every time an image is taken, so burst speeds of three to five frames per second are pretty typical until you hit the $ 4,000+ price range. Canon’s EOS 7D Mark II is boasting a 10fps burst speed, a huge accomplishment for a DSLR that’s priced under $ 2,000.
The speed is making sports photographers take note, as well as shooters who often photograph active kids. To accomplish such high speeds, Canon has built-in not one, but two processors. Shutter speed is also quick at a maximum of 1/8000th of a second.
The speed isn’t the only plus on the camera either, the Canon EOS 7D Mark II sports a 65-point autofocus system as well. As you’d also expect from Canon, there’s 1080p HD video at 60fps with smooth autofocusing. All of these features are wrapped up in a durable magnesium alloy body.
Perhaps the biggest downside to the 7D Mark II is that the price is closer to that of a full frame camera, yet it only offers an APS-C sensor. The speed clearly points it towards sports shooters however, and the crop sensor means it’s easier to achieve telephoto zoom lengths over a full frame.
The Canon EOS 7D Mark II is expected in stores November 28 for a list price of $ 1,799 USD. Pre-orders are currently available through several online retailers.
Nikon D750
The announcement of the Nikon D750 took many by surprise, it’s been years since the D700 was introduced without any updates in between. The highlighting feature is that it’s the first to offer Wi-Fi and a tilting screen in a full frame DSLR, but it has several other features boasting image quality and getting the camera high marks in early reviews.
The tilting LCD and Wi-Fi are more usability features than image quality changers; they’re paired with a lightweight body and an excellent battery life of 1,230 shots. Dual control wheels, two SD card slots, and a second screen at the top of the camera also look to make this new shooter fun and easy to use.
It’s not all about usability, however. The D750 uses the same processor that’s inside the D810 and D4s. It doesn’t quite have the resolution of the D810 and still uses the optical low pass filter, but it also sits at about $ 1000 less. The D750 actually has a faster burst mode than the D810, thanks to the slightly smaller resolution, with a 6.5fps burst mode (the D810 has a 5fps burst). The D750 also offers 1080p HD video at a smooth 60fps.
For not a whole lot more cash, the D750 offers quite a few more features than the D610. It’s available now for a list price of $ 2,296.95 USD.
Samsung NX1
It’s hard to pick out one headlining feature of the new Samsung NX1, since the mirrorless camera has quite a bit going for it. Backlit sensors are nothing new, their design improves the light gathering ability of the sensor, making them better in low light conditions. But backlit sensors are typically reserved for cameras with sensors an inch or smaller. The NX1’s APS-C sensor is backlit—technology that could potentially expand to more camera models in the future.
4K video isn’t brand new to cameras, but in the past, recording shots of this resolution has required extra recording equipment. Samsung has built a compression method that keeps the resolution but reduces file sizes, so 4k video can be recorded directly to the SD card. Again, a new feature by Samsung that may expand to other models in the future.
Last but not least, the NX1 has a 15fps burst mode. Since mirrorless cameras don’t have as much equipment to move as a DSLR (hence the name mirrorless) they’re typically faster, but 15fps with an APS-C sensor is unheard of. The Nikon 1 line rivals this speed, but is able to do so because the one inch sensor means much smaller files to process.
The NX-1 is heading to shelves and online retailers on October 27, listed at $ 1,499.99 USD
Noteworthy Compacts
Manufacturers have also introduced a handful of compacts hitting the market this fall:
The Canon G7 X is a smaller version of their popular G1X Mark II advanced compact. It sports a one-inch sensor, an f/1.8 lens for solid image quality, and a 180 degree tilting touchscreen with Wi-Fi for selfie enthusiasts. This small shooter became available on October 17th and starts at $ 699 USD.
The Panasonic Lumix LX100 is a retro-style, advanced compact, with a Micro Four Thirds sensor and an f/1.7-2.8 lens. It’s turning heads with a leaf-style shutter that achieves shutter speeds of 1/16,000 and burst modes up to 6.5fps. There’s no automated modes, so it’s not for the average consumer. It’s available November 1st for $ 899.99 USD.
New gear announcements are always exciting, but what’s really generating buzz this fall are the new features that could become more widely available (and more affordable) a few years down the road. Canon’s idea to use two processors creates faster burst speeds. Nikon has managed to fit both a tilting LCD screen and Wi-Fi into a full frame DSLR that’s smaller than the older models. Samsung proved backlit sensor design isn’t just for the small shooters anymore.
This fall sees a few dozen new cameras heading to stores, but a handful have features that make them more than mediocre updates that can give you a good idea where camera technology is headed.
Tell us in the comments which ones are you excited about?
The post The Fall’s Most Exciting New Cameras by Hillary Grigonis appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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