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Nikon has issued a technical service advisory for a number of Z6 and Z7 cameras regarding an issue where Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) technology ins’t fully functioning on particular units.
Nikon doesn’t elaborate on what’s causing the issue with the VR malfunction in the affected Z6 and Z7 cameras, but says it will repair affected devices free of charge, including the cost of shipping, even if the warranty on the camera has expired.
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| A screenshot of the Z7 serial number checker website. |
To aid in determining if your unit is an affected one, Nikon has set up dedicated webpages where you can enter your Nikon Z6 and/or Nikon Z7 serial numbers and see if it’s affected and covered by the advisory. No specific serial number ranges have been presented, so the only way to find out is to use the dedicated webpages.
If your camera is affected, the webpage will provide instructions on how to get your camera(s) repaired. If your camera is experiencing VR issues and isn’t recognized by Nikon’s serial number checker, Nikon requests you go through its support platform to address the issue.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Voigtländer has officially announced its 21mm F1.4 Nokton lens for the Sony E mount after showing the concept at the CP+ show in February. The company says the lens will have electronic contacts to transfer EXIF data to the camera and distance information from the lens will help the camera’s image stabilization system. Turning the focus ring on the manual focus lens will activate focus assist modes in the camera, and the aperture ring offers click-less operation for those shooting videos.
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The lens is constructed of 13 elements in 11 groups, features a 12-blade aperture diaphragm, has a minimum aperture of F16 and a shortest focus distance of 0.25m. It weighs 560g, measures 70.5mm x 79.5mm (2.78in x 3.13in) and takes a 62mm filter. Below is a (nowhere near full-res) gallery of sample images provided by Voigtländer:
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The Voigtländer Nokton 21mm F1.4 will be available in June for ¥165,000 (approx. $ 1,500).
For more information see the Voigtländer website.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The Camera Store, located in Calgary, Alberta, has reported a camera theft incident that involved an attack on staff using bear (capsaicin) spray. The incident took place on May 16 at around 5PM local time, according to the company, which says the thief took off with a Sony A7R III camera and Sony 16-35mm F2.8 G Master lens.
The thief is described as a middle-aged man wearing a grey jacket, dark pants, sunglasses, and light running shoes. The Camera Store’s Evelyn Drake said in a post on the company’s blog, ‘We knew there was something ‘off’ about him since the moment he walked in, and our team was on high alert.’
As the security footage shared on YouTube shows, the man attempted to run away with the camera and the store’s employees took off after him. To evade them, the thief sprayed two of the employees with bear spray before fleeing in a black pickup truck.
‘Although it is not our policy to chase down thieves, the loyalty and bravery of the staff who risked their safety are commendable,’ Drake said.
The stolen Sony A7R III camera body has the serial number 3372445 and the stolen lens has the serial number 1803243. The Camera Store is seeking reports from anyone who finds the products for sale or who has knowledge about the theft.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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With devices like its recent P30 Pro flagship smartphone Huawei has managed to established itself as one of the prime manufacturers and a major innovator in the mobile imaging space within a very short period of time.
However, it looks like the company’s meteoric rise could be slowed significantly over the coming months. Over the weekend Reuters reported that the maker of the Android mobile operating system that runs on pretty much all Huawei mobile devices, will stop working with Huawei on future Android updates and device certifications. The move is a reaction to an executive order signed by US president Donald Trump and a resulting U.S. Commerce Department blacklist which prohibits US companies to do business with certain foreign entities, including Huawei.
Huawei is accused by the Trump accusation to work with the Chinese Government to install backdoors in its network equipment for spying purposes.
Companies on the blacklist are barred from purchasing equipment from U.S. companies without prior government approval. Previously Huawei devices had already been dropped by US network carriers under political pressure. Huawei is accused by the Trump accusation to work with the Chinese Government to install backdoors in its network equipment for spying purposes. However, no proof of such practices has been published so far.
The latest development is problematic for Huawei’s device division in so far that it relies on Google for access to closed portions of the Android OS and the Play Services suite. The latter has to be approved for each new Android device. According to the reports Play Services won’t be removed from existing devices but no new certifications will be issued.
That said, Huawei will be able to continue to use Android’s open-source components. The company uses Android’s open source libraries (AOSP) to build the core codebase for its EMUI mobile platform and release software updates in China, where Google Play services are not available.
Huawei has issued an official response to the developments, saying it will continue to provide security updates to all Huawei and Honor devices:
‘Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.
Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.
We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.
Plus, nothing has changed for HONOR. We will be having our exciting launch event tomorrow in London for HONOR 20 Series.’
Google has also confirmed that Google Play services and Play Protect will continue to work on existing Huawei devices via a tweet:
For Huawei users’ questions regarding our steps to comply w/ the recent US government actions: We assure you while we are complying with all US gov’t requirements, services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device.
— Android (@Android) May 20, 2019
Today a range of other US companies have joined Google in severing ties with Huawei. According to a report by Bloomberg Intel, Qualcomm, and Broadcom will stop supplying their chips and modems to Huawei. Nikkei reports the same for German chipmaker Infineon Technologies and US memory chip suppliers Micron Technology and Western Digital. There is no word from Microsoft yet but the software company is expected to cease supply of its Windows operating system for Huawei’s range of laptops.
Huawei is quite well protected against some of those impacts as the company is designing and manufacturing chipsets, modems and many other components in-house. It is also reported that the company has been stockpiling chips from US suppliers in anticipation of the current events. Supplies are said to last three months which hopefully should be enough time to solve the situation.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Dutch public broadcaster VPRO has published a documentary called ‘#followme’ that details the hidden reality behind fake Instagram accounts and how they become popular. The documentary, which was filmed in a vertical orientation for a primarily mobile audience, is around 49 minutes long and available to stream for free on Instagram and YouTube.
The film ‘#followme’ details the big business fueling faux Instagram success, including the sale of followers to make an account appear more popular than it is, the staging of photos and videos designed to look spontaneous, and how motivated users game the platform’s algorithm to climb in rank.
Instagram has faced increased criticism over its alleged role in fear of missing out (FOMO) and other negative mental health effects, including from some influencers who have shed light on the often fake nature of many Instagram accounts. The social network may be planning big changes that address some of these concerns, however. Earlier this month, the company confirmed that it has been testing hidden like counts and that it may introduce the change across the platform.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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| Hiroki Sugahara from Ricoh’s Marketing Communication Department and Takashi Arai from Ricoh’s Product Planning Department |
The CP+ 2019 trade show in Yokohama, Japan gave us the chance to meet a variety of senior executives from all the major camera makers. We spoke to a group of senior figures from Ricoh about the full cross-section of the company’s photographic range, with the answers mainly coming from:
Please note that this interview was conducted partly via an interpreter, and has been edited for clarity and flow.
Very positive. This is not the first time we’ve disclosed the appearance and specifications, but this is the very first chance our customers have had to touch and use it. Even though they know the specifications, the purpose to come here is to touch and try, for example to experience the operability of the touchscreen or the performance of the macro capabilities.
From what I’ve seen and heard, the reaction is very good. Especially the operability of the touchscreen, which customers consider a positive. The shake reduction, the 24MP sensor or performance of the lens are features that our customers already knew from the specification sheet. But the quick response of the touchscreen seems very well accepted.
The big priority is to make the camera body as compact as possible while retaining good resolving power of the lens.
The speed of the focusing is improved. But we’d also like to draw attention to the fact that you can now focus from 10cm to infinity, rather than 30cm to infinity, as on GR II. That range of scanning is broadened. This can sometimes give the impression of slower focus but the overall speed is faster than with GR II.
One thing is for sure, we haven’t only made 28mm lenses: we did have a 21mm GR lens in the past, and we did have a 50mm equivalent [module] for the GXR. I feel this is also interesting: to have a sister model with other focal lengths.
But the important thing with this camera was that it should be fast enough and compact enough to be considered ‘GR.’ If we could achieve that with other focal lengths, that would be interesting.
On top of this we have 645Z, so already we have enough formats. We’re currently working on these categories of products.
Currently mirrorless, especially full-frame mirrorless, is a movement. So many users are interested in this new category of camera: full-frame mirrorless. Mirrorless itself has its own benefits [and] appealing point to the users: they can check their images before hitting the shutter button, through the EVF. But on the other hand, DSLRs have their own benefits: users can enjoy the beautiful image through the optical viewfinder and then imagine different ways of taking photos using different settings, they can imagine the consequence of taking the picture.
I imagine, in two or three years, some users who bought mirrorless cameras will return to DSLRs
We have been studying various possibilities when it comes to development, but we believe both mirrorless and DSLR have their own appeal. I imagine, in two or three years, some users who bought mirrorless cameras will return to DSLRs or choose to use both systems, because each has its own benefits.
We have a lineup with many lenses, particularly APS-C optimized lenses. Actually, in the industry, our number of APS-C-optimized lenses is number one. Our DA lens series and also the ‘Limited’ series of lenses, which gives a unique level of image quality for the enthusiast photographer. We also have the star lenses: we’re going to develop an 85mm F1.4 lens, so we are releasing very high quality lenses. And also APS-C optimized lenses like the 11-18mm F2.8. We will continue to release various series.
In spring, we released the 35mm F2 HD-coated lens, which is a modification of a conventional lens, so we’ll continue to do this kind of modification as well.
Of course. We are continuing to develop the 645 series. We are pursuing higher picture quality for the system because users have high expectations of image quality.
[The representatives would not be drawn over whether these efforts were focused on better lenses or increased pixel counts]
The overall priority is still image quality, but we do have the 55-300mm lens, which is designed to work well with the movie feature by including electromagnetic aperture control. So we continue to care about the movie performance as we design new lenses.
It’s partly down to our heat management system: we use a metal body in the Theta Z1 unlike the Theta V, which had a plastic body. The Z1 uses a magnesium alloy, which is a better heat conductor, so we can manage the heat well.
In terms of space, first of all, we had to change the size. We also use three pairs of prisms, rather than two pairs: we changed the position of the sensor and how we bend the light to them.
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| The larger sensors on the Theta Z1 now sit further down in the body, facing out towards the sides of the body, whereas they were previously mounted on either side of the lens, facing inwards. |
The larger sensor requires a longer focal length. There was the risk that using more prisms would lower the image quality but the design we came up with performs very well.
The angle-of-view is actually the same, but the minimum focus distance has increased. It’s now 40cm instead of 10cm. The angle-of-view was already more than 180 degrees, so we didn’t have to make it wider to give sufficient overlap.
We focused a lot on the image quality, to make it much, much better than previously possible. We really wanted to make sure that people used to DSLR image quality and professionals could use the Theta. We wanted to ensure it was suitable for creative and professional use.
There are two groups: consumers and business users. Some people are enjoying taking 360 degree images, editing and posting to Instagram. Currently our users are enjoying taking the video 4K 360 image and converting it to a 2D image: the editing software lets them choose the angle, or zoom in or out and post to sites such as YouTube. This is often in the same situations where you might use an action camera, like a GoPro.
Also, we see an equal number of users traveling and taking a 360 video image with a selfie stick, at a viewpoint, for instance. Then, when they get home, they can enjoy the memory of their travel, with a VR image. That’s [a typical consumer use-case].
In terms of business, it’s especially the real estate and second-hand car sales areas, and also in construction and inspection. There are many business users who can utilize this 360 image for recording or communicating a specific situation or image.
The G-series are waterproof cameras: They’re normal cameras, essentially. For an all-around image, the Theta is the better option: it brings additional possibilities. Those business-to-business customers will certainly benefit from the improved image quality of the Z1. They don’t need more video quality, necessarily, but they need the higher still image quality.
We’re trying to make the operating system the same, the G-series, the GR series, WG and DSLRs are coming together. Even though the brands are different, the way of handling the camera is becoming more similar. Of course Theta is something different.
Our current Wi-Fi software is now essentially the same as it is in Theta. We have a specialized Wi-Fi app for GR, but we are looking to bring them together and introduce the same Wi-Fi software for GR, Theta and DSLR.
Also, we already use DNG Raw so that they’re compatible with Adobe Lightroom. But we also have stitching plugins for Lightroom that will stitch multiple images. This will have the same algorithm as the Theta, for stitching. But by making it in a plugin for Lightroom, professional photographers will already be familiar with the environment: their workflow doesn’t have to change.
As you might expect, a lot of Ricoh’s attention at present is on the GR III but this interview really brought home to me how much work’s gone into the Theta Z1. Ricoh always says the Theta has been a real success for them, and it’s certainly a distinctive product in a way you don’t often encounter in the photo industry.
But, while all the models have looked very similar, Ricoh has been constantly pushing what’s possible in terms of managing what they do with the space and all the heat within that same form-factor. Having previously been told how difficult it was going to be to process 4K video in such a small space without overheating, it seems amazing to find they’re now doing it with even larger sensors filling up the space.
Those are skills that can underpin interesting cameras in the future
This may not seem that exciting for users of the company’s Pentax DSLRs, but it can only be positive if a company has a product that pushes them to constantly work on processing efficiency, space optimization and thermal management, because those are skills that can underpin interesting cameras in the future.
Which is probably why I was pretty disappointed to hear Ricoh’s representatives appearing to suggest that DSLRs might make a comeback, once the novelty of mirrorless has worn off. Because, while I don’t think the DSLR is dead just yet, I wouldn’t bank on it ending up with much more than niche status in the long run. But perhaps Ricoh believes it can make a solid future by exploiting multiple small niches like this: that would certainly explain the amazing breadth of its product portfolio.
I can’t help imagine what a combination of this foresight, and the impressive engineering of the Theta Z1 would look like
A part of me can’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Pentax was one of the first companies, way back in 1997, to show a concept mockup of what we’d now call a mirrorless camera. And, even though the market is now very crowded, I can’t help imagine what a combination of this foresight, and the impressive engineering of the Theta Z1 would look like, if they could be brought together.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus school of art and design in Germany, Leica has released a special edition version of its Leica CL camera system, complete with a matching Elmarit-TL 18mm F2.8 lens and carrying strap to complete the kit.
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With the exception of two small visual changes, this special edition Leica CL remains nearly identical to its less-special counterpart, complete with a 24-megapixel sensor, 4K video and wireless connectivity. The two changes are the addition of a ‘Bauhaus’ logo embossed into the black leather wrap on the front of the camera and a notable change to the usually-red Leica nameplate on the front—it’s now black.
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Leica describes the special edition as ‘an elegant, iconic piece of german product design, that exemplary obeys the principle of form follows function.’
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Included with the camera in the special edition kit is a matching silver Elmarit-TL 18mm F2.8 lens and a black leather carrying strap that’s also embossed. The sets, of which only 150 will be produced, will be individually numbered and retail for $ 3,750 exclusively at Leica Stores and Boutiques.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Reuben Wu’s ethereal, meticulously framed location work – largely surrealist reinterpretations of natural scenes taken at night – is absolutely unparalleled in nature photography.
Inspired by illustration, film, and even the famous land artist installations of recent decades, the triple-threat talent works as photographer, filmmaker and sound designer. He often utilizes a continuous light source mounted on a drone to provide otherworldly illuminations in his images, which you’ll see in his Lux Noctis and Aeroglyph projects featured here.
Equally at home in Photoshop or Premiere, he’s highly sought after by a commercial roster of tech and automotive giants like Apple, Audi, GE, Google, IBM, Jaguar, Land Rover, Samsung and Tesla.
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Wu uses continuous LEDs for both multiple and long exposures, as in his Aeroglyphs, which use the quite diminutive Fiilex AL250 aerial LED light.
It’s equivalent in tungsten output to a 200W fixture, but draws only 30W, helping him to maintain the battery life while he experiments with compositions and lighting techniques. For automotive, he employs the more powerful Fiilex P360 and P180 ‘portable’ lights to paint on the illumination, as if chiaroscuro, he says.
Wu employs complex layering, compositing and processing in his imagery and motion work, resulting in subtle, minimalist captures that belie the complexity of the work behind the scenes.
Wu works with a GPS-enabled 3DR Solo drone, sometimes equipped simply with an iPhone, or sometimes mounted with a system as serious as the Phase One XF 100MP stills camera
He locks down his compositions during the day, and will experiment with lighting techniques throughout the night. Wu works with a GPS-enabled 3DR Solo drone, sometimes equipped simply with an iPhone, or sometimes mounted with a system as serious as the Phase One XF 100MP stills camera. At under 5lbs., the drone fits in a backpack, important for the long hikes he often finds himself on. Wu also researches each location extensively, utilizing sun- and moonrise tracking to plan for shots.
Looking to give back to image creators, Wu is active in social media as head curator for the extremely popular Instagram photography group, Imaginary Magnitude. Interested photographers can tag their photography on the site with #imaginarymagnitude for a chance to be featured. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or see his full body of work on his website.
I spoke with Reuben about his work and where he gets artistic inspiration.
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Svalbarg was the first photo trip that I did which was purely about me exploring and taking pictures for myself. Also, it was the first project I did which gained traction in the media. That was back in roughly March, 2011. Since, it’s been published on quite a few different channels and it was pretty much that project which made me think I should put more time into this and try to make it into a career.
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It’s a combination of everything. Like with everything in photography, it’s all about adjustment of reality, and seeing the opportunities of other realities in an environment. A lot of this comes down to imagination. If you’re in a place which connects you to things that really inspire you, you key into those specific things, whether it’s the color or geometry or the shape of the land.
I do postproduce, but there is an element of realness that I keep in all my work because I think that’s important for people to have belief for these images to trigger peoples’ senses of imagination and wonder about the planet.
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I came from a background of drawing rather than photography. So photography is the way I make art, now. I think a lot of my inspiration comes from painting, and a lot of illustrations. The old Romantic sublime landscape paintings of the 19th century, like Frederic Church, and Caspar David Friedrich, where the landscape is not exactly what you see in front of you.
As I said, it’s like this inside vision, which is then translated to the outside. I think that’s one of the things which inspires me in my photography. I’m working on the picture almost like a painting, so that there is a kind of crafted approach of creation, rather than straight photography.
There are also illustrators. People like the French illustrator Moebius. Film directors like Tarkovsky and David Lynch. All of these artists that I appreciate have a kind of sublime quality to their work, whether it’s about color or time or motion. It has an otherworldly quality, which I really enjoy.
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One of the main concepts behind the project is the fact that everyone is flooded by all of these landscape photos that you see online, and everywhere else, and they all follow the same rules of lighting. It’s always at sunrise, or sunset, in a beautiful golden hour light. Or moon light!
The composition is always kind of governed by these celestial bodies in the sky. I wanted to be able to influence the landscape in some way without changing it physically. To light a landscape in exactly the way I wanted, was really interesting to me. I wanted to free myself from the sun, and the moon, and all that kind of conventional photography.
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There was an opportunity to use this new technology, of using a drone, and using a light, which fits onto a drone. This is something that was not possible in the past without using a balloon or a helicopter and a searchlight. It fits inside my backpack. It’s small, with a small light, and GPS controlled. I can control my camera and the drone at the same time.
The other thing was my own kind of personal experience of exploration. I really wanted to be able to see these places in a completely new light and for me to feel like I’m exploring the place for the first time, even though I might not be.
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Yes. I’m not really a fan of using strobes. I was really interested in nighttime photography. I wanted new ways of doing that. A lot of time I’m working in the dark. I like being able to see what I’m about to photograph.
The photos are like the creation of a new world, and I like to be part of that new world. It’s the kind of the thing that gets me excited, so being able to use continuous lights is really important for me because I can see what I’m doing.
I was in touch with 3DR, and they put me in touch with Fiilex, who had this brand new light—the AL250—at that time, it was a prototype. I went out with my drone, and the camera, which actually started this series.
After they’d finished developing the final product, they sent me that light. It had its own power supply and was a question of plug-and-play, and fit onto the drone itself. That was my first experience with the Fiilex lights, and since I’ve been using some of their lights in other photography projects, not necessarily just the drone stuff. I really enjoy using them.
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On Land Rover, I wanted to light the panel work of the car, at night. It is quite a complicated process, because you’re taking multiple pictures, for different positions of the light, against the car body panels. It’s a technique that commercial car photographers do, where you position the light against the panel so that the paint lights up without the reflection.
So it was, basically, me with my remote shutter, and one of my Fiilex lights, handheld. And in the other hand, I had my iPhone so I could see what my camera saw. Making sure that the position was right and there were no reflections, I took about 50 or 60 different photos of the same thing. Then they were all layered together. That’s not an automatic thing, either. That has to be done by hand.
I was able to to make the composite layer, which was the car, and then there was the environmental lighting of the background house. There I used the headlights to be the motion aspect of the cinemagraph. I have this fog stuff which comes out, in aerosol.
I ran the fog through the headlights and recorded video of that, and laid that on top of the still in Premiere Pro. Immediately, you have a really highly finished commercial photo with a moving aspect to it, and it works really well.
This time we were shooting out in Utah. The landscapes are really crazy out there… like being on the moon
With Audi, I used my Fiilex P180e kit, which was the the smallest kit that they had, and fits inside a backpack. I really love it because I can carry it everywhere. It’s really lightweight. I had those two lights kind of positioned around the Audi. This time we were shooting out in Utah. The landscapes are really crazy out there. This was like being on the moon. There was no sun. It was just darkness. You couldn’t see the car in front of the camera.
I was testing the lights in different directions in different positions. I positioned one behind the car, so that it would light the ground, and it would silhouette the profile. The lights are all gelled, obviously. I also used the drone overhead to light the car from above. So I had different points of lighting, and different lighting scenarios, which were all captured in separate plates. The beauty of doing it this way is that once you have everything that you need, you can create a sequence that you want in post, rather than having to deal with shooting an entire sequence on set.
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It’s a curated feed which I set up in late 2016. It was born from a desire to share the photography which really excited me, stuff which inspires me, but also stuff which I see from day to day on social media. The stuff created by artists who don’t have huge followings, and also artists from all different walks of life.
The actual name, Imaginary Magnitude, is a science fiction book from an author, Stanislaw Lem. It’s kind of a text about books that haven’t been written yet. So this is kind of speculative, fictional, imaginary artwork that I’m thinking of. I really enjoy doing it. I never thought I’d enjoy it so much, talking to other artists and sharing other artists’ work and the sense of community which forms itself around it. I’ve been getting in touch with photographers and artists that I like, and asking them to curate the feeds. That’s another side of how it works, as well.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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For the past several years, thousands of hobbyist drones, plus fleets from over 116,000 commercial remote pilots, have entered the airspace causing concern amongst regulators on how to combat aerial interference. Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notice stating that recreational pilots of unmanned aircraft must steer clear of controlled airspace and other restricted airports.
While the notice is not legally binding, if any operation by a recreational pilot fails to satisfy any of the eight statutory conditions outlined in the notice, the FAA has the authority to take enforcement action — especially if the safety of the national airspace system is compromised.
Included in the act was the repeal of Section 336, a law that exempts model (hobbyist) aircraft from new FAA rulemaking, otherwise known as the ‘Special Rule for Model Aircraft.’ The agency is now demanding compliance.
The new set of measures is the first step in addressing some of the rules and regulations outlined in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, signed by President Donald Trump after passing overwhelmingly by a 93-6 vote. Included in the act was the repeal of Section 336, a law that exempts model (hobbyist) aircraft from new FAA rulemaking, otherwise known as the ‘Special Rule for Model Aircraft.’ The agency is now demanding compliance.
‘While recreational flyers may continue to fly below 400 feet in uncontrolled airspace without specific certification or operating authority from the FAA, they are now required to obtain prior authorization from the FAA before flying in controlled airspace around airports,’ the FAA said in a statement Thursday. ‘Furthermore, they must comply with all airspace restrictions and prohibitions when flying in controlled and uncontrolled airspace.’
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Prior to this notice, recreational pilots simply had to notify the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower before flying within five miles of said airport. Now they need to obtain the same authorizations as commercial drones in controlled airspace. Because Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) is not yet available for recreational users, they’re confined to fixed sites within 5 miles of airports and Class G airspace.
The FAA intends to upgrade LAANC to allow recreational users to access the system. There are also plans for an aeronautical knowledge and safety test. Recreational users are required to pass and provide proof to the FAA or law enforcement if requested.
As the FAA’s Executive Director for UAS Integration, Jay Merkle, explains, ‘we view this as a very positive step forward for the safe integration of UAS. Including everyone under the same rules really does move everything forward.’
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)