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DPReview TV: Hasselblad X1D II 50C Review

21 Dec

Hasselblad is a legendary name in the camera industry, and NASA famously took Hasselblad cameras to the moon. Our budget wasn’t big enough to send Chris and Jordan to the moon, but we did give them a newsletter subscription and a free sandwich. Find out what they think of the camera in their hands-on review.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

  • Introduction
  • Sample images
  • Landscapes and portraits
  • Body and handling
  • Displays
  • Startup time
  • Autofocus
  • Flash sync speed
  • Continuous shooting
  • Video
  • Conclusion

Sample gallery from this episode

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Flickr CEO sends out email asking users to help ‘keep the Flickr dream alive’

21 Dec

In a very candid email sent out to users last night, Flickr (and SmugMug) CEO Dan MacAskill shared the current state of the Flickr platform, detailing the struggles the SmugMug team is facing regarding the financial situation of the photo-sharing network.

The email opens up by saying ‘Flickr—the world’s most-beloved, money-losing business—needs your help.’ In the full email, which we’ve embedded below, MacAskill explains how the SmugMug team has done its best to optimize the platform from both a user and financial standpoint, but it hasn’t been enough. According to MacAskill, Flickr is ‘still losing money,’ despite its new owners’ best efforts to streamline overheard and bring on hundreds of thousands of new Flickr Pro subscriptions.

Put simply, MacAskill says ‘We need more Flickr Pro members if we want to keep the Flickr dream alive.’ MacAskill doesn’t specifically state how long the ‘Flickr dream’ can stay alive in its current state, but such a letter wouldn’t be written if things weren’t heading towards dire.

In conjunction with the letter, MacAskill also announced Flickr’s end-of-the-year promotion that will get you 25-percent off an annual Flickr Pro subscription, a push to bring even more users on board to support the platform. He wraps up the letter saying:

‘If you value Flickr finally being independent, built for photographers and by photographers, we ask you to join us, and to share this offer with those who share your love of photography and community.’

After reading through the letter, we had a few questions, so we contacted MacAskill with a few questions regarding the future of Flickr. Specifically, we asked the following:

In response, MacAskill responded with:

After the above response from MacAskill, we inquired further about the ‘follow-up contingency plans,’ but are yet to receive a response. We will update this article accordingly if MacAskill responds.

The email is an interesting one. MacAskill is known for his candor, so seeing this transparency is far from out of character for him. At some level, the email inspires would-be Flickr Pro members to subscribe to the premium version of Flickr. However, it also instills fear in current Flickr Pro members, who effectively see this email as the writing on the wall for their images and the network they’ve built on the platform. Proof of this dichotomy is clearly visible in the Reddit thread regarding this email, where users strike a balance of respect for MacAskill and the SmugMug-owned version of Flickr while simultaneously showing concern for the future of the platform in the comments.

Full email:

Dear friends,

Flickr—the world’s most-beloved, money-losing business—needs your help.

Two years ago, Flickr was losing tens of millions of dollars a year. Our company, SmugMug, stepped in to rescue it from being shut down and to save tens of billions of your precious photos from being erased.

Why? We’ve spent 17 years lovingly building our company into a thriving, family-owned and -operated business that cares deeply about photographers. SmugMug has always been the place for photographers to showcase their photography, and we’ve long admired how Flickr has been the community where they connect with each other. We couldn’t stand by and watch Flickr vanish.

So we took a big risk, stepped in, and saved Flickr. Together, we created the world’s largest photographer-focused community: a place where photographers can stand out and fit in.

We’ve been hard at work improving Flickr. We hired an excellent, large staff of Support Heroes who now deliver support with an average customer satisfaction rating of above 90%. We got rid of Yahoo’s login. We moved the platform and every photo to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the industry leader in cloud computing, and modernized its technology along the way. As a result, pages are already 20% faster and photos load 30% more quickly. Platform outages, including Pandas, are way down. Flickr continues to get faster and more stable, and important new features are being built once again.

Our work is never done, but we’ve made tremendous progress.

Now Flickr needs your help. It’s still losing money. Hundreds of thousands of loyal Flickr members stepped up and joined Flickr Pro, for which we are eternally grateful. It’s losing a lot less money than it was. But it’s not yet making enough.

We need more Flickr Pro members if we want to keep the Flickr dream alive.

We didn’t buy Flickr because we thought it was a cash cow. Unlike platforms like Facebook, we also didn’t buy it to invade your privacy and sell your data. We bought it because we love photographers, we love photography, and we believe Flickr deserves not only to live on but thrive. We think the world agrees; and we think the Flickr community does, too. But we cannot continue to operate it at a loss as we’ve been doing.

Flickr is the world’s largest photographer-focused community. It’s the world’s best way to find great photography and connect with amazing photographers. Flickr hosts some of the world’s most iconic, most priceless photos, freely available to the entire world. This community is home to more than 100 million accounts and tens of billions of photos. It serves billions of photos every single day. It’s huge. It’s a priceless treasure for the whole world. And it costs money to operate. Lots of money.

Flickr is not a charity, and we’re not asking you for a donation. Flickr is the best value in photo sharing anywhere in the world. Flickr Pro members get ad-free browsing for themselves and their visitors, advanced stats, unlimited full-quality storage for all their photos, plus premium features and access to the world’s largest photographer-focused community for less than $ 5 per month.

You likely pay services such as Netflix and Spotify at least $ 9 per month. I love services like these, and I’m a happy paying customer, but they don’t keep your priceless photos safe and let you share them with the most important people in your world. Flickr does, and a Flickr Pro membership costs less than $ 1 per week.

Please, help us make Flickr thrive. Help us ensure it has a bright future. Every Flickr Pro subscription goes directly to keeping Flickr alive and creating great new experiences for photographers like you. We are building lots of great things for the Flickr community, but we need your help. We can do this together.

We’re launching our end-of-year Pro subscription campaign on Thursday, December 26, but I want to invite you to subscribe to Flickr Pro today for the same 25% discount.

We’ve gone to great lengths to optimize Flickr for cost savings wherever possible, but the increasing cost of operating this enormous community and continuing to invest in its future will require a small price increase early in the new year, so this is truly the very best time to upgrade your membership to Pro.

If you value Flickr finally being independent, built for photographers and by photographers, we ask you to join us, and to share this offer with those who share your love of photography and community.

With gratitude,

Don MacAskill
Co-Founder, CEO & Chief Geek
SmugMug + Flickr

Use and share coupon code 25in2019 to get 25% off Flickr Pro now.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: The crowdsourced winner of MKBHD’s blind smartphone test might surprise you

21 Dec

Popular tech personality Marques Brownlee has published his latest blind smartphone camera test, this one featuring many of the most popular flagship smartphones from 2019, including the iPhone 11 Pro, Google Pixel 4, Galaxy Note 10+, Huawei Mate 30 Pro, and OnePlus 7T Pro.

Each smartphone camera was used to capture a basic profile shot of Brownlee in a natural lighting environment in front of a partly cloudy blue sky. Assessments of the results came from public opinion; millions of Instagram and Twitter users were asked to choose which images they thought had the best quality.

Brownlee reveals the results from these polls in his 2019 blind smartphone camera test video above. The results from the first polling bracket are surprising: the One Plus 7T Pro smartphone, for example, beat the iPhone 11 Pro in the court of public opinion.

Both the Samsung Note 10+ and the Galaxy S10e took the final two bracket slots, with the Note 10+ ultimately crowned the victor.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Leak claims Apple will use sensor-shift stabilization tech in some 2020 iPhone 5G models

21 Dec

Taiwanese tech publication Digitimes has published a new report claiming that the 2020 iPhone model featuring 5G network support will feature ‘sensor-shift stabilization technology.’ This alleged new feature will only be available on select iPhone 5G models, according to the report, potentially offering better image quality over models that only feature optical image stabilization.

Optical image stabilization (OIS) works by shifting the lens whereas sensor-shift stabilization works by shifting the sensor. Though OIS is now a common feature on flagship smartphones, sensor-shift stabilization technology has been largely relegated to dedicated digital cameras, something Digitimes claims Apple will change starting next year.

Past leaks allege that Apple plans to release four new iPhones in 2020, including cheaper base tier models and more expensive higher-end models. On the high end of that scale, the 2020 iPhone is expected to feature a new 3D camera system for augmented reality applications.

It’s unclear whether the inclusion of sensor-shift stabilization technology would be limited to these higher-end models and whether the tech will play a role in Apple’s alleged AR ambitions. Digitimes itself has a mixed track record in regards to its consumer gadget leaks, though it has accurately published unreleased iPhone details in the past.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DJI patents land-based vehicle with built-in camera and new gimbal system

21 Dec

Newly discovered Chinese patents hint at the upcoming launch of two new DJI products, including a gimbal or sorts that looks like a smaller version of the Ronin 2, as well as a motorized vehicle with a built-in camera. The latter product may be a land-based alternative to the company’s expansive drone lineup, giving users a way to surveil an area from the ground and capture new types of action shots.

The camera car, which DroneDJ says is listed with the term ‘vehicle’ in the patents, resembles a mechanical rover with a camera attached to the top. Based on the patent illustration, the vehicle appears to have large rugged wheels, hinting at a design that may accommodate off-road use, as well as a series of shocks and dampeners to reduce vibrations.

According to DroneDJ, the patent reveals that the DJI camera car’s wheels can rotate 360-degrees and that the camera’s height can be adjusted.

Joining the camera car patent is another patent detailing a handheld device that looks like a gimbal similar to the company’s existing Ronin 2 product. The patent refers to this product as a ‘stabilizing device’ that includes a ‘handheld gimbal device.’ The product may feature a removable cage that makes it possible to attach the gimbal to different devices, potentially including the camera car detailed in the other DJI patent.

Based on the patent, this stabilizer features two handles, a removable camera, as well as physical controls that include a focus wheel and buttons.

As with any patent, it is possible that DJI will never actually bring either of these products to the market. However, the existence of both indicates the company is exploring an expansion of its product line that’ll appeal to filmmakers and that it may move beyond aerial vehicles to also offer land-based vehicles capable of transporting camera equipment.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Lensrentals breaks down its most-rented photo and video gear of 2019

21 Dec

As it’s done for the past few years, Lensrentals has rounded up its most-rented photo and video gear of the year, breaking down the most popular cameras, lenses and accessories in rotation.

The data Lensrentals provides isn’t necessarily valuable for judging the photography industry as a whole, but as noted by a Lensrentals spokesperson in an email to DPReview, it is ‘the largest inventory of photography and cinematography equipment for online rental in the U.S. [and its] annual list has become somewhat of a barometer of the equipment creatives are creating or experimenting with.’

The full collection of data is available to peruse on Lensrentals’ website, but we’ve rounded up a few key insights worth pointing out.

First up, these are the top overall rental products for the 2019 year:

  1. Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II
  2. Canon 5D Mark IV
  3. Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
  4. Sony Alpha a7 III
  5. Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III
  6. DJI Ronin-S 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer
  7. Canon 35mm f/1.4L II
  8. Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS
  9. Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
  10. Canon 50mm f/1.2L

Year over year, not much has changed. In fact, Canon’s 50mm F1.2L lens, released in 2007, is still in the top ten list more than a decade later and the top three products remain unchanged from last year (although the Canon 5D Mark IV and 70-200mm F2.8L IS II did swap spots). Additionally, the 5D Mark III still remains in the top 25 most rented products, despite being over seven years old.

As for whether DSLR or mirrorless cameras proved more popular, it turns out it was almost split down the middle. According to Lensrentals, mirrorless and DSLR cameras accounted for 49.78% and 50.22% of rented cameras, respectively. This is a dramatic increase (21%) for mirrorless cameras compared to last year, where mirrorless cameras accounted for just 29% of rentals.

On the topic of mirrorless, Sony’s E-mount still rules the roost, with 26% of total rentals. Canon’s RF and Nikon’s Z systems remain dramatically behind at 4.91% and 2.26%, respectively, but year-over-year the RF and Z systems have increased rental volume by 600%.

Below are a few more breakdowns, provided to us by Lensrentals:

Top five lens rentals by system 2019

1. Canon EF 45.5% (up 1.5%)
2. Sony E 23.9% (up 18%)
3. Nikon F 14% (down 1.5)
4. Micro Four Thirds 7% (up 9.8%)
5. Fujifilm X 3.5% (up 14%)

Top camera rentals by system 2019

1. Canon EF 36.3% (down 7.5%)
2. Sony E 27.1% (up 7.4%)
3. Nikon F 13% (down 8%)
4. Micro Four Thirds 9.23% (down 7%)
5. Fujifilm X 4.3% (up 16.7%)

Top lens rentals by brand 2019

1. Canon 35.84% (up 5.5%)
2. Sony 15.4% (up 14%)
3. Sigma 13.9% (up 17%)
4. Nikon 8.8% (up 12%)
5. Tamron 4.3% (up 21.8%)

Top camera rentals by brand 2019

1. Canon 36.2% (up 1%)
2. Sony 26.2% (up 8%)
3. Nikon 9.7% (up 6.1%)
4. Panasonic 7.66% (up 2.8%)
5. BlackMagic 4.8% (up 130%)

Top five NEW products 2019

  1. GoPro HERO7 Black
  2. Blackmagic pocket cinema camera 4K (the 6K made the top 20 list)
  3. Sony FE 24mm f1.4 GM
  4. Sony Alpha 6400
  5. Nikon Z6

Overall, things remain mostly consistent, aside from movement within the full-frame mirrorless market, which is still in its infancy for both Canon and Nikon. You can dig deeper into all the information over on Lensrentals’ blog post and check out the 2018, 2017 and 2016 posts as well.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Gear of the Year 2019 – Dale’s choice: Laowa 15mm Zero-D

20 Dec
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

I feel like I’m stretching the rules a wee bit for my 2019 gear of the year by choosing a lens that was technically launched a couple years ago. However, Venus Optics released the Laowa 15mm F2 Zero-D in Nikon Z-mount and Canon RF-mount this year, and since I’ve been using the Nikon version I’m going to call it a 2019 product.

Before you protest, let me review the rules for our gear of the year selections:

  1. The gear you enjoyed using most this year.
  2. If there’s any ambiguity, refer to rule #1.

OK, with that out of the way let’s do this.

If you’ve been visiting the site for a while you may have noticed that over the past few years I’ve become a keen aurora borealis photographer. No matter how many times I see the northern lights I never get tired of them. It’s addictive, and I mean that in a good way. In the process I’ve experimented with a lot of different gear in an effort to find my ideal kit, and I’m really loving this Laowa lens.

Processed to taste in Adobe Lightroom.
ISO 10,000 | 2 sec | F2

I should clarify what ‘ideal’ means in this context. What it doesn’t mean is absolute technical perfection. I know there are hardcore astrophotographers who care very much about technical perfection, and for good reason, but that’s not me. My goal isn’t to create technically perfect images. It’s to create art, to tell a story, to share a unique experience with others.

Yes, I want good technical quality, but I also care about factors like weight, cost and my enjoyment when using the equipment. Why? Because like everyone else I have a budget. Also, when I photograph aurora I often carry three cameras (‘carry’ being the operative word), but that means I have to carry three lenses, three tripods, yada yada yada… It starts to add up pretty quickly, so keeping things on the small side is really helpful. My back appreciates it more every year.

Processed to taste in Adobe Lightroom.
ISO 5,000 | 6 sec | F2

One of the advantage of mirrorless cameras with short flange distances is the ability to create smaller lenses at wide focal lengths, and the Laowa leverages this fact. My other favorite lens for this type of work, the Sigma 14mm F1.8, is both larger and heavier.

In terms of absolute image quality, I think the Sigma 14mm F1.8 – which I picked as my gear of the year a couple years ago – is a bit better. It’s also slightly brighter. The downside? It’s pretty freakin’ big. Three of them in my pack would be noticeably heavier and more crowded than three Laowas; enough so that it matters to me.

The Laowa 15mm F2 (left) is significantly less bulky than the Sigma 14mm F1.8 (right).

Another thing I love about this lens is its build quality. I would describe it as feeling dense; despite its all metal construction and small size it’s still a bit heavier than it looks. It reminds me a lot of my old manual focus Nikkors, including the very nicely damped focus ring.

Speaking of which, it’s entirely manual focus, but I’m shooting the night sky and it’s not like the stars are running an AF test on a bike. (I’m not suggesting Richard Butler isn’t a star in his own right, but you know what I mean.)

Is it perfect? No. There’s definitely vignetting wide open, and even for a couple stops beyond, but the lens profile in Lightroom does an admirable job of correcting it. If I really needed perfection corner-to-corner that would bother me, but I don’t.

Processed to taste in Adobe Lightroom.
ISO 5,000 | 2 sec | F2

Similarly, there are some minor ‘angel wings’ on stars in the corners due to coma, but all things considered it’s not bad. Fortunately, most people aren’t focused on the stars in my photos, but rather the lights.

I’ll admit there’s one thing that drives me bat**** crazy. The metal lens hood doesn’t lock into position securely enough, and the slightest bump knocks it out of alignment, which is easy to miss in the dark. This results in some occlusion of the image in a couple corners. I did it by accident a couple times at first, but I’ve trained myself to be ever vigilant.

Processed to taste in Adobe Lightroom.
ISO 5,000 | 4 sec | F2

Some will argue that the wide angle Rokinons are better and even more affordable. Maybe they are, but in my experience it depends a lot on the particular copy you get. For what it’s worth I own two of them, and neither is as good in the corners as the two Laowas I’ve used.

Is it the best wide angle lens I’ve ever used? No. Do I love using it? Yes. It’s not the right lens for everyone, but it’s certainly a great lens for me, and that’s why it’s my gear of the year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Best cameras for Instagram in 2019

20 Dec

Although smartphones are the default choice, a lot of the most attractive lifestyle photographs on platforms such as Instagram are shot using ‘traditional’ cameras.

We’ve chosen a selection of models that make it easier to shoot high-quality, compelling lifestyle images, whatever you intend to use them for. We’ve considered the need to offer a pleasant degree of background blur, the availability of wide-angle lenses and the ease with which they’ll focus on people.

The experienced photographer: Fujifilm X-T3

The X-T3 makes an excellent camera for attractive lifestyle photography. Fujifilm offers an array of relatively affordable prime lenses that let you shoot high-quality lifestyle photos. The X-T3’s ‘Film Simulation’ color modes then make it easy to make these shots look as engaging as possible without requiring a ton of editing. The camera’s face and eye detection isn’t the best, but it’s sufficiently good that you can concentrate on your composition and conveying the almost-too-good-to-be-true life moment, rather than worrying about focus.

For the beginner: Canon EOS M50

The EOS M50 can’t match the Fujifilm for lens choice but both Canon and Sigma offer a couple of keenly priced prime lenses that can give that slight background blur that helps your subject stand out. Its main advantage is a simple, primarily touchscreen-based interface that lets you get great shots without having to play with lots of dials.

We considered the cameras below when picking our winner, and even though we think the Fujifilm X-T3 and Canon EOS M50 are the best choices, the other cameras on our shortlist are also worthy contenders.

  • Our pick: Fujifilm X-T3
  • Our pick: Canon EOS M50

Also consider:

  • Canon EOS RP
  • Canon PowerShot G5 X II
  • Fujifilm X100F
  • Nikon Z6
  • Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II
  • Sony a7 III

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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LG unveils 2020 UltraFine, UltraWide 32″ and 38″ 4K monitors for professionals

20 Dec

Ahead of their CES 2020 debut, LG Electronics has taken the wraps off its latest monitor lineup, including the 2020 UltraFine and 2020 UltraWide 4K models. Both monitors, as well as a new UltraGear line designed specifically for gamers, are part of the ‘premium’ market segment, according to LG.

Most notable among LG’s new models is the 2020 LG UltraWide 38WN95C 38in QHD+ 3840 x 1600 21:9 monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms Nano IPS display. This model, which is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified, offers what LG calls ‘professional-level performance, picture quality and speed.’

The 2020 LG UltraFine monitor also features 98% DCI P3 color space, Thunderbolt 3, NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility, 450 nits brightness and an adjustable tilt stand.

Joining the UltraWide model is the new 2020 LG UltraFine Ergo 32in 4K Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 32UN880 monitor featuring an IPS display, 60Hz refresh rate, 5ms response time, HDR10 support, AMD Radeon FreeSync, and 350 nits brightness. This model does not feature Thunderbolt 3.

The UltraFine’s USB-C One Cable solution is joined by an ergonomic design with an ‘arm’ style stand capable of being adjusted in a number of ways and placed very close to a wall. LG says it designed this monitor specifically for professionals who spend ‘a significant amount of time’ working at a desk.

LG hasn’t provided pricing information for any of its new monitors at this time, but we’ll likely get the price and availability details during CES 2020 in early January.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S11+ sensor to use Nonacell technology

20 Dec

Yesterday we posted a story about the technology in Samsung’s 108MP ISOCELL Bright HMX image sensor and said the chip was likely to make an appearance in the Korean manufacturer’s upcoming Galaxy S11 series.

It looks like this might not be entirely correct. According to a tweet by infamous mobile industry leakster Ice Universe the Galaxy S11+ will use a customized version of the chip that uses a technology that Samsung calls Nonacell.

The standard sensor comes with the company’s tetracell technology, also known as Quad-Bayer, that uses pixel merging for better detail and lower noise levels in low light. Nonacell follows the same concept but instead of four combines — you guessed it — nine pixels into one.

The sensor is said to be called ISOCELL Bright HM1 and will be the successor to the HMX variant that we’ve seen in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10. On the latter four 0.8µm pixels are combined into one 1.6µm effective pixel. On the new sensor the effective pixel size would increase to 2.4µm, theoretically allowing for significantly improved low light performance at a still more than acceptable 12MP output size.

The Galaxy S11 series is scheduled to launch in February 2020, so hopefully, we’ll be able to have a closer look at then sensor and its performance then.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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