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Nearly 1000 images won DPReview challenges last year. From that pool we chose our favorite 25 images, and now it’s your turn to pick a winner. Our Challenge of Challenges competition closes this Friday, so if you’ve been putting it off now is the time to rate your favorite images. Pick your top five and keep your eyes peeled as we announce winners next week.
Explore and vote for the best
challenge-winning images of 2016
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The Canon EOS Rebel T7i replaces the T6i (which will continue to exist), making it the top model in the compact Rebel lineup. (The new EOS 77D is essentially the replacement of the Rebel T6s.) Weighing in at under a pound, the T7i is designed to be as small and portable as possible, while still packing in a fairly impressive feature set including a 24MP sensor and a revamped autofocus system, made up of 45 all-cross-type AF points. The AF system should be operable down to -3EV with an F2.8 or faster lens.
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The T7i will be sold with a new kit lens: the Canon EF-S 18-55mm F4-5.6 IS STM. This new zoom is 20% smaller than its predecessors and a little slower, but in terms of handling, it suits the equally diminutive camera quite well. According to Canon, image stabilization should produce up to four stops of shake reduction.
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The T7i is Canon’s first Rebel class DSLR to feature Dual Pixel autofocus, which means Servo AF in both live view and movie modes. We’ve come to hugely appreciate this feature in Canon’s higher-end DSLRs. The T7i can shoot Full HD video at up to 60p. In stills mode, the T7i can capture images at up to 6 fps, which is pretty good for an entry-level DSLR.
Battery life is rated at 600 shots per charge (CIPA) when using the optical viewfinder and 270 with live view.
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On the top, the T7i is a fairly standard Rebel class EOS DSLR. Main controls are clustered on the right of the top-plate, and a dedicated ISO button is always nice to see, at the 2 o-clock position relative to the main exposure mode dial. This dial provides access to the standard ‘PASM’ exposure modes and also seven scene modes and ten creative effect filters.
On the left of the top-plate you can see the tiny LED light which indicates when the camera’s built-in Wi-Fi is active. Speaking of Wi-Fi, the T7i has that plus NFC for easy pairing with Android devices and Bluetooth LE for instant photo transfer to a compatible smartphone. It’s also compatible with Canon’s new BR-E1 Bluetooth remote control.
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A brand new user interface guides beginner photographers through the process of choosing the right exposure modes and settings to get the shots they want. This looks similar to the ‘Guide’ mode found on lower-end Nikon DSLRs. A more traditional UI is available for more experienced users.
For photographers that want to dive a little deeper, the T7i offers 15 Custom Functions with 44 settings in total.
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A fully-articulating 3″, 1.04 million-dot touch-sensitive LCD makes video shooting easy. In live view and video modes, focus can be set by touch. For video shooters, a 3.5mm diameter stereo mini jack is available for recording sound via an external microphone.
A new ‘Group Photo’ mode resurrects Canon’s defunct ‘A-Dep’ feature, but uses face recognition. The system identifies the closest and furthest faces in the scene, then sets the aperture and focal length to ensure that this entire region is in focus. Smart.
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The T7i will be available in April for $ 750 body-only, $ 900 with the new EF-S 18-55mm F4-5.6 IS STM or $ 1300 with EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM.
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The new EOS 77D (EOS 9000D in some regions) slots in-between the Rebel T7i (EOS 800D) and the EOS 80D, and incorporates a lot of the same features as the latter at a lower price-point: $ 900 body-only compared to $ 1100. Based around the same 24MP sensor, the 77D also features the same 45-point AF system, but incorporates an updated Digic 7 processor (compared to Digic 6 in the 80D).
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In terms of size and weight, the 77D is less bulky than the 80D, weighing in at barely a pound (499g) compared to 1.4 pounds (650g) for the higher-end model. Aimed at hobbyists and people upgrading from a Rebel-class (or type) product, the 77D offers greater speed and slightly more involved control layout than the simultaneously-released Rebel T7i.
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One of the main UI differences between the EOS 77D and the T7i is an LCD screen, on the right of the camera’s top plate. Arguably, the necessity for a display in this place has been mitigated by today’s large rear screens, but it remains a differentiator of ‘enthusiast’ DSLRs, especially.
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The lockable rear ‘quick control dial’ is another feature reserved for Canon’s mid-range and high-end DSLRs, and compared to the Rebel class, makes it easier to take full control over exposure.
The 3″, 1.04 million-dot touch-sensitive rear LCD works in concert with a generous suite of physical control points to allow control over every aspect of the 77D’s operation. In live view and movie modes, the screen can also be used to set focus point by touch. Dual Pixel autofocus means that like the EOS 80D, servo AF can be used in these modes, too.
By default, the 77D uses Canon’s standard UI, but it can be switched to the more beginner-friendly graphic UI also found in the new T7i (shown above) if desired.
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Unlike Canon’s Rebel-class DSLRs, live view is enabled via a dedicated button, just to the right of the camera’s viewfinder. This button can also be used to initiate movie recording. The EOS 77D offers a fairly standard HD video feature set, and can record up to 1080/60p. A microphone port is available for recording higher quality audio.
A built-in interval timer is a handy feature, and again, not something found on Canon’s lower-end Rebel-series models.
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Another feature not found on the Rebel T7i is an eye sensor (visible here above the viewfinder eyecup) which automatically turns off the rear LCD when the camera is raised to your eye.
Quoted battery life is exactly the same as the new Rebel T7i: 600 shots per charge (CIPA standard) using the optical viewfinder and 270 shots with live view.
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The 77D features built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, using the same BT ‘LE’ connection as the EOS M5. It also has NFC, for easy pairing with Android devices. Canon has promised a major update to its Camera Connect app, which will offer a more intuitive user interface.
Alongside the 77D and T7i, Canon is releasing a Bluetooth wireless remote. The Wireless Remote Control BR-E1 ($ 50) can trigger exposure from up to 16 feet away. This remote can also control the PZ1 zoom adapter, which was released with the current version of the 18-135mm STM kit zoom.
The Canon EOS 77D will be available in April for $ 900 body-only, $ 1050 with the new EF-S 18-55mm F4-5.6 IS STM or $ 1500 with EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM.
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Free raw photo-processing application RawTherapee has been updated to version 5.0, adding numerous features including support for both grayscale TIFF (32-bit) and JPEG in addition to the myriad of raw formats it already supports. In addition to new features, RawTherapee 5 also brings with it ‘over two years worth’ of improvements, including cleaner code, unspecified bug fixes and faster speeds.
Most notably, RawTherapee 5 offers a new Wavelets tool and a Retinex tool, a post-resize sharpening option, automatic chroma noise reduction, new ‘Perceptual’ and ‘Luminance’ exposure tone curve modes, a curve pipette and a 100% image preview when hovering the mouse over a photo. The full list of features is below.
RawTherapee 5 is available to download now for Windows XP through Windows 10 32-bit and Vista through Windows 10 64-bit, as well as macOS 10.8 through 10.12.
New Features
Via: RawTherapee Blog
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An Assassination in Turkey. © Burhan Ozbilici, The Associated Press. World Press Photo of the Year
The 60th World Press Photo award has been won by a Turkish photographer for an image of the direct aftermath of the assassination of the country’s Russian ambassador. Burhan Ozbilici, who works for Associated Press in Istanbul, beat 5,034 other photographers from 125 countries to the top prize in one of the world’s most prestigious professional photography contests.
Ozbilici’s image was taken during the opening of a photography exhibition in Ankara at which the Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov was making a speech. Ozbilici wasn’t scheduled to cover the event but dropped in on his way home from work. During the presentation an off-duty Turkish policeman pulled out a gun and shot Karlov nine times, shouting that it was revenge for Russia’s part in the conflict in Syria. Immediately after the killing the gunman, Mevlüt Mert Alt?nta? told the gallery visitors to get out, which Ozbilici took to signify that Alt?nta? wasn’t going to harm anyone else. He is quoted as saying that he ‘remembered’ his ‘professional duty’ and decided to try to photograph the situation.
Ozbilici’s image also won the competition’s Spot News Stories category, but the chair of Judges, former Magnum President Stuart Franklin, wrote in the British newspaper The Guardian that he was ‘strongly opposed to it becoming photo of the year’. He went on to say ‘Unlike the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, the crime had limited political consequences. Placing the photograph on this high pedestal is an invitation to those contemplating such staged spectaculars: it reaffirms the compact between martyrdom and publicity…. Photography is capable of real service to humanity, promoting empathy and initiating change. This image achieves neither…’
The contest attracted 80,408 images across its eight categories, and in total there were 45 winners. Ozbilici’s winning image will net him €10,000 and a ‘selection’ of Canon camera equipment. The winning images will be displayed in a traveling exhibition that will open in Amsterdam on 14th April and which will go on to visit 99 other cities during the year. A book will also be available. For more information visit the World Press Photo website.
Press release
The 2017 World Press Photo Contest
The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in the last year.
Burhan Ozbilici’s picture–which also won first prize in the Spot News Stories category–shows how Mevlüt Mert Alt?nta?, a 22-year-old off-duty police officer, assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey, on 19 December 2016. Alt?nta? wounded three other people before being killed by officers in a shootout. Ozbilici is a staff photographer for The Associated Press, based in Istanbul.
Mary F. Calvert, member of the jury, spoke about the winning photograph:
‘It was a very very difficult decision, but in the end we felt that the picture of the Year was an explosive image that really spoke to the hatred of our times. Every time it came on the screen you almost had to move back because it’s such an explosive image and we really felt that it epitomizes the definition of what the World Press Photo of the Year is and means.”
Jury member João Silva added:
“Right now I see the world marching towards the edge of an abyss. This is a man who has clearly reached a breaking point and his statement is to assassinate someone who he really blames, a country that he blames, for what is going on elsewhere in the region. I feel that what is happening in Europe, what is happening in America, what is happening in the Far East, Middle East, Syria, and this image to me talks of it. It is the face of hatred.”
The 2017 Photo Contest in numbers
The 2017 contest drew entries from around the world: 5,034 photographers from 125 countries submitted 80,408 images. The jury gave prizes in eight categories to 45 photographers from 25 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria, New Zealand, Turkey, UK, and USA.
Discover all of the winners and the awarded photos in an image gallery: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2017
Jury member Tanya Habjouqa said about this year’s winners:
‘It was a very intense, sometimes brutal, discussion—sometimes even emotional—but I feel proud. I think we were brave in our decision. We were bold. I think the selection is definitely going to push forward a debate and I think it is a debate that is essential to have.”
You can also watch and download exclusive video interviews with the jury members here: https://vimeo.com/album/4395034
2017 Photo Contest jury and procedures
A group of internationally recognized professionals in the fields of photojournalism and documentary photography—chaired by Stuart Franklin—convened in Amsterdam to judge all entries. The jury is independent, and all entries were presented anonymously. A secretary without voting rights safeguards the fairness of the process, which is explained in full here: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/activities/photo-contest/judging
For the full list of jury members and secretaries, please see: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/activities/photo-contest/jury
The World Press Photo Foundation will release a technical report reviewing the contest, including the code of ethics, entry rules, and verification process on Monday, 27 February.
Prizes
The premier award, the World Press Photo of the Year, carries a cash prize of 10,000 euros. In addition, Canon will present the winning photographer with a selection of camera equipment. For more information about Canon, please visit: http://www.canon-europe.com/pro/
Award winners have their travel and lodging paid for by the World Press Photo Foundation to Amsterdam so they can attend the World Press Photo Festival, an event taking place 20-22 April featuring photographer presentations, screenings, and talks. For more information, see festival.worldpressphoto.org. They also receive a diploma and a Golden Eye Award at the Awards Ceremony.
2017 Exhibition
The prize-winning photographs are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries and is seen by more than 4 million people each year. The winning pictures are also published in the annual yearbook, which is available in multiple languages. The first World Press Photo exhibition opens in De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, on 14 April 2017. For more information about the exhibition in Amsterdam, please go to: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibitions/2017-exhibition/amsterdam
This year’s exhibition displays will be printed on Canon large-format and Arizona flatbed printers. Please see the Canon website for further information: http://www.canon-europe.com/
The 2017 World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest
The Digital Storytelling Contest (previously known as the Multimedia Contest) rewards those producing the best forms of visual journalism enabled by digital technologies and the spread of the Internet. The contest is open to digital storytellers, visual journalists and producers, with submissions that include the work of a professional visual journalist.
Katerina Cizek, Chair of the Immersive Storytelling category said:
‘This year, the entries in the Immersive Digital Storytelling Category were very strong, diverse and ambitious. The projects also ranged widely in scale and scope. Because of this, the jury deliberated on how to weigh and balance the diverse qualities of the projects, and agreed on the criteria of: excellence in visual storytelling, importance and originality of reporting, innovation in immersivity and depth of social relevance. We ultimately agreed upon three winners, who each excel in their own ways, exemplifying distinct developments in our emerging field.”
DJ Clark, Chair of the Short Form category added:
‘This is a rapidly evolving media format in its early stages. We need people to push the boundaries and experiment. It won’t always work, but when it does it stands out.”
See a gallery of all the winners: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/mm/2017
The 2017 Digital Storytelling Contest in numbers
This year 282 productions were submitted to the contest: 135 Short Form, 54 Long Form, 62 Immersive Storytelling and 31 Innovative Storytelling.
Prizes
Winners in each category are invited to the World Press Photo Festival in Amsterdam. A representative from each of the winning productions will have their travel and lodging paid for by the World Press Photo Foundation. The winners in each category will receive a diploma and a Golden Eye Award, presented during the annual Awards Ceremony. The prize-winning projects are assembled into an exhibition that travels to select locations. In 2016, the exhibition locations included China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and UAE.
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Taking A Stand In Baton Rouge. © Jonathan Bachman, Thomson Reuters. Contemporary Issues – First Prize, Singles
Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, USA, on 9 July 2016. Evans, a 28-year-old Pennsylvania nurse and mother of one, traveled to Baton Rouge to protest against the shooting of Alton Sterling. Sterling was a 37-year-old black man and father of five, who was shot at close range by two white police officers. The shooting, captured on a multitude of cell phone videos, aggravated the unrest coursing through the United States in previous years over the use of excessive force by police, particularly against black men.
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Migrant Crossing. © Vadim Ghirda, The Associated Press. Contemporary Issues – Second Prize, Singles
A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river, as refugees attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, on 14 March 2016. Hundreds of refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border on this day, shortly after the closure of Macedonia’s borders, determined to head north despite the dangers of the crossing.
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The Libyan Migrant Trap. © Daniel Etter. Contemporary Issues – Third Prize, Singles
Two Nigerian refugees cry and embrace in a detention center for refugees in Surman, Libya, on 17 August 2016. The detention center houses hundreds of women escaping precarious conditions. Many claim they are regularly beaten or sexually assaulted, and receive insufficient amounts of food and water at the center. Most of these women were attempting to reach Europe by being smuggled across the Mediterranean in boats setting sail from neighboring Sabratah.
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Standing Rock. © Amber Bracken. Contemporary Issues – First Prize, Stories
Riot police clear marchers from a secondary road outside a Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) worker camp using rubber bullets, pepper spray, tasers and arrests. In other incidents they’ve employed militarized vehicles, water canons, tear gas and have been accused of using percussion grenades.
Story: For nearly 10 months, members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their allies camped out in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing their territory and threatening their water supply. The estimated $ 3.78 billion project, backed by Energy Transfer Partners, is nearly complete, covering almost 1,172 miles. In military vehicles and body armor, police used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and water cannons against the protesters, and have been accused of inhumane treatment of arrestees.
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Standing Rock. © Amber Bracken. Contemporary Issues – First Prize, Stories
Jesse Jaso, 12, enters the Unity Teepee, at the Sacred Stone Camp. The teepee is signed by camp supporters from all over North America and around the world. Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires, is the true name of the great Sioux nation and refers to the coming together of the different factions of the tribe. Oglala, Cheyenne, Ut, Cree, Hopi and non-indigenous all are among the 200+ tribes represented in the camps and on the front lines. The last time there was a similar gathering was before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876.
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Victims Of The Zika Virus. © Lalo de Almeida, for Folha de São Paulo. Contemporary Issues – Second Prize, Stories
Marcela (2) observes her sisters in her mother’s lap at the family’s home in the rural area of Areia. Twin sisters Heloisa (left) and Heloá (right) were born seven months prior with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus.
Story: In September 2015, babies in Brazil began to be born with microcephaly and other malformations, and in April 2016 the link between the Zika virus and these malformations was confirmed. Northeastern Brazil, where most of the Zika cases of microcephaly were reported, is one of the poorest regions in the country, and lacks an adequate health system. Many children with microcephaly often live hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest health center and spend hours traveling in order to receive medical and physical therapy. Most come from poor households and receive little governmental support.
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Victims Of The Zika Virus. © Lalo de Almeida, for Folha de São Paulo. Contemporary Issues – Second Prize, Stories
Heloá, seven months old, takes a bottle of milk on her grandmother’s lap at the family’s home in Areia. She and her sister Heloísa were born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus.
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Copacabana Palace. © Peter Bauza. Contemporary Issues – Third Prize, Stories
A pastor, who also lives in the occupied buildings, explains all the construction problems. A couple of weeks ago, the hall floors from a building crashed down at night. Fortunately everybody was sleeping and nothing serious happened. Most of the buildings are exposed to corrosion.
Story: “Copacabana Palace”, an ironically named series of condominiums in Brazil, houses more than 300 homeless families. Built more than 30 years ago, construction on this complex was never finished and has since become squatted. A lack of fresh water, electricity, or a working sewage system means residents here often face serious health problems. Most of the people here come from favela communities, some of whom may have been offered social housing as part of governmental rehousing schemes that they don’t feel safe enough to occupy due to the presence of drug-gang families. According to official statistics from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, it is estimated that there are 1.8 million homeless people in Brazil.
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Copacabana Palace. © Peter Bauza. Contemporary Issues – Third Prize, Stories
Domingo, from Angola, came several years ago to Brazil in search for a better life.
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Nikon has officially put an end to the DL series. Announced just under a year ago, the three DL compacts would have had 1″ sensors. Nikon missed its June target ship date, citing problems related to the image processor. Now, Nikon says that the development costs had become too great to continue. A statement released today also mentions the company’s concern that it wouldn’t sell enough units to make up for the increased costs, due to a slow down in the market.
That wasn’t the only piece of bad news from Nikon this morning. The company released its third quarter financial results and due to costs of a ‘voluntary retirement’ program it initiated last year and semiconductor inventory write-offs, has announced an ‘extraordinary loss’ from April to December of 2016. The impact of this is reflected in an updated forecast for the financial year ending in March, lowering predictions of net sales and operating income. The statement acknowledges a ‘sluggish and shrinking’ market for digital cameras.
Scott Rinckenberger is a professional adventure and outdoor sports photographer. We lent him the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II for a few days, to shoot a wintry commission for outdoor clothing brand Eddie Bauer.
The OM-D E-M1 Mark II is Olympus’s flagship mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, and should be ideally suited to use in tough, wet (and cold) conditions. Watch our video to find out how it performed.
Read our in-depth review of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 II
See more videos at our YouTube channel
This is sponsored content, created in partnership with Olympus. What does this mean?
With access to a pair of production-ready Lumix GH5s running near-final firmware, we headed to a local whiskey distillery to put them to the test. We shot the footage above at 23.9p, 150mbps, 10-bit 4:2:2. One camera was set to Cinelike D, while the other was shooting ‘Like 709.’ You’ll also see examples of 60p footage slowed down by 2.5x as well as the camera’s ‘Focus Transition’ mode.
Download original ProRes 422 file
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Phase One has teamed up with LogicKeyboard to launch a special keyboard designed specifically for its Capture One Pro software (macOS version only). The new offering is an Apple Pro Keyboard with an ultra-thin anodized aluminum enclosure overlaid with a color-coded key mapping layout, giving users quick access Capture One Pro software shortcuts.
According to Phase One, the special keyboard layout included on this Apple Pro keyboard was designed using Phase One Certified Professional (POCP) feedback. As explained in the video below, this color-coded shortcut layout aims to increase user efficiency when editing photographs, therefore reducing the amount of time needed, thus increasing productivity and reducing costs.
Phase One dealers around the world are now offering the Capture One Pro Keyboard from LogicKeyboard for $ 139/€129 with support for three languages: German, American English and British English. Other language support, however, is available via special request.
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Focus stacking on smartphone cameras is not an entirely new thing. It was used on some Nokia Lumia phones, including the Lumia 1520 in 2014, to create a shallow depth-of-field effect and allow for refocusing an image after capture, similar to what the Lytro light field cameras can do.
However, now it appears Apple is also taking an interest in the technique. The company describes a method for the optimization of focus stacking in a patent application that was filed in 2015, but only published in December 2016. The patent details a method for calculating what positions the lens elements need to be in for an optimized capture process. After the lens is positioned in its first location and collects initial focus information, an algorithm calculates ‘target depths’ that would be required to capture all objects in the scene in focus. The camera would then capture an image at the current lens location, continuing to other focal points until all elements of the screen have been captured in focus.
In combination with ever improving smartphone processing power and potentially optimized camera hardware, this new method could help speed up the focus stacking process significantly, making it a possible default camera setting. Current options usually take at least a couple of seconds per focus stack for capturing and processing. The method could also be used for depth mapping and help improve the precision of portrait modes, such as the one implemented on the iPhone 7 Plus.