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The Associated Press partners with Sony to exclusively provide its visual journalists with Sony camera gear

24 Jul

The Associated Press (AP) has announced it’s partnering with Sony to make the Japanese electronics manufacturer the sole supplier of photo and video equipment for its visual journalists around the globe.

This massive undertaking will see visual journalists in more than 250 locations across 100 countries supplied with Sony cameras, lenses and accessories to capture the more than 3,000 photos and 200 videos submitted every day. AP says ‘A wide variety of Sony’s imaging solutions products will begin delivery immediately, including the full-frame mirrorless Alpha cameras, FS series professional video cameras and an assortment of Sony’s 57 E-mount lenses including G Master models.’

To find out more about the collaboration, we had a conversation with AP’s Director of Photography, J. David Ake. In the interview, he explains why the partnership happened now, how long it’s taken to get this collaboration together and what it means for the hundreds of AP visual journalists around the world.

Our interview with AP’s Director of Photography

Press release:

AP to Equip all Visual Journalists Globally with Sony Imaging Products

Sony Electronics to become AP’s exclusive global imaging provider for photo and video journalism

July 23, 2020 – SAN DIEGO, CA – Sony Electronics Inc. a global leader in imaging, and The Associated Press, the trusted global news organization, announced today a new collaboration that will make Sony the exclusive imaging products and support provider for AP news photographers and video journalists around the world.

With journalists in nearly 250 locations in 100 countries, AP provides factual, compelling journalism in all formats, including 3,000 photos and 200 videos each day. The news agency has a distinguished history of powerful visual journalism, winning the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography — AP’s 54^th Pulitzer and 32^nd for photography — and garnering recognition from the Royal Television Society for excellence in video.

A wide variety of Sony’s imaging solutions products will begin delivery immediately, including the full-frame mirrorless Alpha™ cameras, FS series professional video cameras and an assortment of Sony’s 57 E-mount lenses including G Master™ models.

“We are extremely honored to announce this collaboration with The Associated Press, an organization with an incredible history in journalism that continues to raise the bar for global news reporting and delivery,” said Neal Manowitz, deputy president for Imaging Products and Solutions Americas at Sony Electronics. “The Associated Press is a universally trusted brand for news information in the world. We are honored to equip AP’s journalists with our technology and support, giving them the opportunity to capture, transmit and deliver imagery in ways they never could before.”

“Sony’s history of innovation aligns well with AP’s, and with our vision for the future of visual journalism,” said Derl McCrudden, AP deputy managing editor for visual and digital journalism. “AP is committed to providing the best imagery to our member news organizations and customers across the globe. Adopting Sony’s cutting-edge equipment and technology allows us to do that, by enabling our photographers and video journalists to be faster and more flexible, ultimately creating better visual journalism.”

When the transition to Sony is complete, AP’s video journalists and photographers will for the first time be equipped with the same brand of cameras, allowing for seamless collaboration among the news agency’s journalists as they tell the world’s stories in whatever medium is right for the moment.

AP visual journalists will be able to share Sony cameras and lenses, as well as the images they capture, to produce a news report unhindered by technical limitations.

“The new mirrorless technology in Sony’s cameras allows for a completely silent operation, meaning our photojournalists can work in environments without interrupting the scene around them,” said AP Director of Photography J. David Ake. “This is a huge leap forward in photojournalism.”

In addition to delivery of product, AP and Sony will work together to improve workflow and efficiency of field operations, including testing of 5G capabilities.

Sony offers 5G through its Xperia™ product line, which uses technology from its professional monitors, cameras and audio devices.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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‘We’re confident that they can deliver’: We talk to AP’s Director of Photography about switch to Sony

24 Jul

J. David Ake, Director of Photography at The Associated Press.

One of the world’s largest and oldest news agencies, The Associated Press, has just announced that it is switching to Sony for all of its photography and videography equipment. We spoke to AP’s Director of Photography, J. David Ake, about why the agency decided to make the switch, why it chose Sony, and what it means for AP staff photographers and videographers.

The following interview has been edited lightly for clarity and flow.

Thanks for joining us, David – what do you do at AP?

I’m the Director of Photography at The Associated Press, I’m responsible for stills photo reporting worldwide. That’s a team of a few hundred staff photographers, fifty or so photo editors, and we produce about 3,000 images a day from around the globe. I’ve been at the AP for 20 years, and previously I was a photographer for UPI, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.

Is it a coincidence that this announcement coincides with what would have been the opening week of the planned 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo?

Actually, yes, this just happened to be when we could get the dotted line signed! COVID-19 slowed things down a little bit, we were actually hoping to do this a little bit earlier.

How long have you been working with Sony on this project?

The AP has been thinking about switching to mirrorless on the stills side for a couple of years. We like the advantages [like silent shooting] which means we can be whisper-quiet in places where a DSLR shutter sound is disturbing. We like the super-fast autofocus and we like the light weight of the cameras.

We tested cameras from several manufacturers in really harsh zones from the Arctic to the rainforest, to hostile environments, to hurricanes. The overwhelming response from the photographers was that they really liked the Sony equipment: the way it worked, the way it felt, and the image quality.

The Sony Alpha a9 Mark II is a camera that Sony says was made specifically to meet the needs of professional photographers in demanding environments, and at major sporting events. The relatively few major hardware updates from the a9 were almost all intended to cater to this demographic.

Then we started talking to our video colleagues who were about ready to do a change-up of their gear too, and we started thinking “well if we went to Sony for video and stills, what would that do for our visual storytelling?” We liked the idea of having the color quality and the image quality being close to the same between stills and video equipment. So if a stills photographer helped out a video colleague with a little filming, or B-roll, it would fit in the edit. And if we were to pull a frame grab from a 4K video camera it would have the same basic feel as a photograph from a stills camera.

And the lens mounts are the same, so if a videographer was working with a stills photographer, he or she could borrow a 600mm f4, or a stills photographer could try a cine lens to get a certain look. It just gives us some unique opportunities.

Up to now, has AP been using a mixture of different platforms, from different manufacturers?

Yes, we have. We used one manufacturer for stills, and a different manufacturer for video. And we’ve been happy with those brands, we’ve used them for years, and they’ve supported us with their equipment. It was really the thought that we wanted to go mirrorless that took us down this path, and then we found that the synergy between video and stills could be really good, and Sony could support both of those at the level that we needed. And maybe that could open up some opportunities for visual storytelling in future that we hadn’t previously recognized.

It’s probably going to take us a little over a year to complete this switch

I’m excited, because both teams now can really work together well.

How many photographers and videographers will start using Sony equipment?

We have a few hundred staff photographers around the world, and about that many video cameras [in our equipment pool]. And probably into the thousands of freelancers, regular and occasional. This switch to Sony applies only to the staff photographers and videographers.

The freelancers are independent contractors, what they use is up to them.

Can you give us an idea of the scale of this investment, in terms of camera bodies and lenses?

Well if we’re kitting each photographer and videographer out with four or five lenses and a couple of camera bodies, that’s a large investment. It’s probably going to take us a little over a year, maybe a year and a half, to complete this switch worldwide. We’ve got photographers in some places that are very difficult to get gear to!

Sony is currently the only manufacturer to offer native mirrorless long-telephoto prime lenses. Lenses of this kind are a prerequisite for professional sports, although Canon and Nikon’s latest mirrorless cameras can accept EF and F-mount lenses via adapters.

Do you have a sense of the ratio of a9-series to a7-series cameras that you’re going to be onboarding?

The vast majority of the stills photographers will get a9 Mark IIs. We will get some a7R IVs for the videographers, and a couple for some of our entertainment shooters who do a lot of portraits. But the standard kit will be an a9 Mark II.

On the video side there are six different cameras that might become part of the kit, from broadcast cine cameras all the way down to small palm-sized cameras, depending on the assignment. But we have six cameras spec’d-out on the video side.

What convinced you that Sony could provide that level of support your photographers and videographers might need at major events?

Well Sony has committed to us that it will. And we have done some tests, we’ve done events where they did provide the level of support that we needed. This is not new for Sony. On the video side, Sony has been supporting its cameras in the field for a really long time. They’ve shown us that they’re committed to doing it, and so far we’ve been happy with the level of commitment.

The proof is in the pudding of course, once we’ve got this all rolled-out, but we’re confident that they can deliver.

Tokyo 2020 never happened, but by this time next year, AP photographers and videographers in Japan will be shooting the proceedings on Sony equipment.

You mentioned the logistical challenge of replacing all of your stills and video equipment, are you planning to introduce a training program for your staff?

Yes. Our goal is to get photographers together, collect their old gear, issue them with new gear, and give them a day or so with Sony technicians to run through the menus, how to clean the sensors, how the cameras work and so on, before we put them out in the field.

What are the first big events that you expect AP photographers will be covering with Sony equipment?

The US elections in November, followed by the Olympic Games.

What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen during your career in photography?

For me personally it was film to digital. I got one of the very first digital cameras in 1995. It was a huge shift, and very enlightening – there was a sense of freedom. It changed the world for photojournalism. And I think mirrorless is going to turn out to be a really big change, too. The fact that these cameras are very fast, very quiet and very light will allow us to go places and do things that we haven’t done before.

Editors’ note: Barnaby Britton

The news that The Associated Press – one of the world’s oldest and best well-known news agencies – is switching to Sony is highly significant.

For decades, whether or not a brand could be considered ‘professional’ has been defined in part by whether organizations like AP purchased its cameras and lenses for their staff photographers. While the number of salaried photojournalists working in agencies around the world today is relatively small, it’s hard to overstate the PR value for any brand of having its cameras and lenses appear in the hands of pros on the sidelines at events like The Olympic Games, watched by millions of people all over the world.

For at least forty years, Canon and Nikon have owned the sidelines, and along the way, both companies have developed a sophisticated systems to support professional photographers at major sporting events. Can Sony compete with these well-established companies when it comes to service and pro support (not to mention reliability)? Apparently AP is pretty confident in Sony’s (and its gear’s) performance so far, but as Mr Ake says, ‘the proof is in the pudding’.

Sony is still the only company to offer both a truly photojournalism-oriented mirrorless camera and a range of native mirrorless fast telephoto prime lenses

There is no doubt, however, that Sony is very serious about competing in the professional market. The a9 Mark II is arguably the best sports camera in the world right now, and two years after Canon and Nikon joined the full-frame mirrorless party, Sony is still the only company to offer both a truly photojournalism-oriented mirrorless camera and a range of native mirrorless fast telephoto prime lenses. Apparently, for AP, the cross-compatibility of E-mount lenses between a large number of Sony’s stills and video cameras was another point in the company’s favor.

From a sales and revenue standpoint, the fact that Sony just sold a few hundred cameras and lenses is probably not all that significant. But the AP contract is a huge vote of confidence in the brand from an agency synonymous with professional photojournalism, and one that Sony has been working for years to earn. Canon and Nikon just got put on notice.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Adobe pushes critical security updates for Bridge, Photoshop and Prelude

24 Jul

Adobe has pushed live security updates for its Bridge, Photoshop and Prelude applications that patch a number of critical vulnerabilities, including a few that could enable threats to execute code on Windows computers.

While Adobe’s vague ‘Security Updates’ changelog brushes on the patches, security site ThreatPost offers a more detailed look at what Adobe has done to address 12 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) in Adobe Bridge, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Prelude, which were first discovered by Mat Powell of Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative.

ThreatPost says each of the 12 ‘critical flaws stem from out-of-bounds read and write vulnerabilities, which occur when the software reads data past the end of — or before the beginning of — the intended buffer, potentially resulting in corruption of sensitive information, a crash, or code execution among other things.’ Specifically, five flaws were addressed in Adobe Photoshop, three in Adobe Bridge and four in Adobe Prelude.

According to Adobe, no known uses of these critical bugs have been reported in the wild, but you’re going to want to make sure all of your programs are up to date if you don’t have automatic updates installed. You’ll want to make sure you’re running versions 20.0.10 and 21.2.1 for Photoshop CC 2019 and Photoshop 2020, respectively. Adobe Bridge and Adobe Prelude should be running versions 10.1.1 and 9.0.1, respectively.

All updates can be downloaded via the Creative Cloud desktop app for macOS and Windows computers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Ricoh shares additional information about its upcoming APS-C DSLR, lenses

24 Jul

In a video shared to YouTube yesterday, Ricoh offered more information on its upcoming Pentax APS-C DSLR. The video, embedded above, is the latest in a series that Ricoh is creating ‘to reinforce its commitment to DSLR photography.’

The 24-minute video, which offers embedded translated subtitles in English, is a dialogue between professional photographer Keita Sasaki and Wakashiro Shigeru of Ricoh’s Product Planning department.

The pair give a little hands-on with the new camera and lenses and discuss many facets of the upcoming Pentax APS-C DSLR. Here are a few of the highlights from the conversation:

The new optical viewfinder will be brighter and clearer than the one found in the Pentax KP; it uses a new high-refraction glass pentaprism first developed back in 2017.
It will be compact and offer a new grip for ‘increased comfort.’
The camera will have a joystick on the back (for autofocus and more) and use larger buttons for better tactile feedback
The shutter release will use the same ‘leaf switch’ mechanism found in the Pentax 645Z and Z-1.
The rear LCD display will be ‘extra large’ (no specific size is shared, however).
The new sensor will be improved across the board, at lower and higher sensitivities

Shigeru also reveals the camera will come in silver (alongside the standard black version) and have a set of silver lenses to match (a 70–210mm F2.8, 50mm F1.4 and 85mm F1.4). A silver version of the K-1 Mark II will also be released in the near future alongside the silver D FA 21mm lens announced back in May.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Google’s ex-lead of computational photography Marc Levoy to build new imaging experiences at Adobe

23 Jul

Marc Levoy¹, Google’s former computational photography lead and arguably one of the founding figures of computational approaches to imaging, has joined Adobe as Vice President and Fellow, reporting directly to Chief Technology Officer Abhay Parasnis. At Adobe, Marc will ‘spearhead company-wide technology initiatives focused on computational photography and emerging products, centered on the concept of a universal camera app.’ He will also work closely with Photoshop Camera, Adobe Research, and the machine-learning focused Sensei and Digital Imaging teams.

The imaging sphere was taken by surprise a few months back when Marc left Google where he helped spearhead a revolution in mobile imaging with the excellent success of Pixel phones and their stills and video capabilities. Marc and his colleagues at Google developed HDR+, which uses burst photography alongside clever exposure and merging techniques to increase dynamic range of capture and reduce noise. His work, in conjunction with Peyman Milanfar, also helped Pixel cameras yield visible photos in the dark using Night Sight, and even capture super-resolution data that captured far more detail in ‘zoomed-in’ shots than competitors, despite limited hardware. Google’s burst mode techniques even allowed its cameras to forego traditional demosaicing processes, yielding more detailed images than even competitive cameras with similar sensor sizes.²

Marc Levoy… [is] arguably one of the founding figures of computational approaches to imaging

Marc also championed the use of machine learning to tackle challenges in image capture and processing, leading to better portrait modes, more accurate colors via learning-based white balance, and synthetic re-lighting of faces. Marc helped push the boundaries of what is possible with limited hardware by focusing heavily on the software.

At its core, Adobe is a software company, and so Marc’s expertise is at once relevant. At Adobe, Marc will continue to explore the application of computational photography to Adobe’s imaging and photography products, with one of his focuses being the development of a ‘universal camera app’ that could function across multiple platforms and devices. This should allow Marc to continue his passion for delivering unique and innovative imaging experiences to the masses.

Marc has a knack for distilling complex concepts into simple terms. You can learn about the algorithms and approaches his teams spearheaded in the Pixel phones in our interview above.

More on Marc Levoy

Marc Levoy has a long history of pioneering computational approaches to images, video and computer vision, spanning both industry and academia. He taught at Stanford University, where he remains Professor, Emeritus, and is often credited as popularizing the term ‘computational photography’ through his courses. Before he joined Google he worked as visiting faculty at Google X on the camera for the Explorer Edition of Google Glass. His work early on at Stanford with Google was the basis for Street View in Google Maps. Marc also helped popularize light field photography with his work at Stanford with Mark Horowitz and Pat Hanrahan, advising students like Ren Ng who went on to found Lytro.

Marc also developed his own smartphone apps early on to utilize the potential of burst photography for enhanced image quality with apps like SynthCam. The essential idea – which underpins all multi-imaging techniques today employed by smartphones – is to capture many images to synthesize together into a final image. This technique overcomes the major shortcomings of smartphone cameras: their sensors have such small surface areas and their lenses have such small apertures that the amount of light captured is relatively low. Given that most of the noise in digital images is due to a lack of captured photons (read our primer on the dominant source of noise: shot noise), modern smartphones employ many clever techniques to capture more total light, and in intelligent ways as well to retain both highlight and shadow information while dealing with subject movement from shot to shot. Much of Marc’s early work, as seen in SynthCam, became the basis for the multi-shot noise averaging and bokeh techniques used in Pixel smartphones.

Marc is also passionate about the potential for collaborative efforts and helped develop the ‘Frankencamera’ as an open source platform for experimenting with computational photography. We look forward to the innovation he’ll bring to Adobe, and hope that much of it will be available across platforms and devices to the benefit of photographers at large.

Footnotes:

¹Apart from being well renowned in the fields of imaging and computer graphics, Marc Levoy is himself a photography enthusiast and expert, and while at Stanford taught a Digital Photography class. The course was an in-depth look at everything from sensors to optics to light, color, and image processing, and is available online. We highly recommend our curious readers watch his lectures in video form and also visit Marc’s course website for lecture slides and tools that help you understand the complex concepts both visually and interactively.

²Our own signal:noise ratio analyses of Raw files from the Pixel 4 and representative APS-C and four-thirds cameras show the Pixel 4, in Night Sight mode, to be competitive against both classes of cameras, even slightly out-performing four-thirds cameras (for static scene elements). See our full signal:noise analysis here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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What you need to know about the new Nikon Z5

23 Jul

What you need to know about the new Nikon Z5

The Nikon Z5 is an entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera that looks a lot like the Z6, handles a lot like the Z6, and offers a lot of the same features. So what makes it different, and why is it cheaper? Read on to find out more.

All images provided by Nikon USA and used with permission.

24MP CMOS sensor (not BSI)

The Nikon Z5 uses a 24MP CMOS sensor, paired with an Expeed 6 processor, but it is not the same BSI-CMOS chip that we’ve seen in the Z6 (and likely also the Sony a7 III). The Z5’s sensor is probably closely related to the last-generation sensors in the likes of the Nikon D750. For practical purposes, this means that image quality in a normal ISO sensitivity span is likely to be excellent, but the Z6 will probably have the edge at very high ISOs.

1/8000sec min shutter and ‘silent’ shooting

Despite its entry-level positioning, the Z5 offers a minimum exposure time of 1/8000sec, which enables wide-aperture shooting in bright conditions. As well as mechanical and electronic first-curtain modes, a ‘silent’ shooting mode is also available. In ‘silent’ mode the shutter is fully electronic and – literally – silent.

Because there is no mechanical action associated with fully-electronic exposures, this is potentially also a good option for highly critical macro and extreme telephoto work, where you need to minimize vibrations. The downside is an increased likelihood of distortion when shooting moving subjects.

273-point PDAF and 4.5fps continuous shooting

The Z5’s autofocus system appears at least very similar if not exactly the same as that found in the Z6 and Z7, and benefits from the feature additions that Nikon has made to those models via firmware. As such, you get human and animal eye-detection, and a tracking mode which operates a little more like 3D AF Tracking in Nikon’s DSLRs. Coverage from the Z5’s 273 autofocus points is 90% vertically and horizontally.

The Z5’s maximum continuous shooting rate of 4.5fps is OK for this class, but probably not fast enough for serious sports or action photography.

5-axis in-body stabilization

Unlike Nikon’s entry-level (and currently sole) DX-format Z-series model the Z50, the Z5 offers 5-axis in-body stabilization. This system is rated for up to five stops of correction, which (again) is comparable to the Z6 and Z7.

5-axis in-body stabilization

With a VR-enabled F-mount lens mounted via the FTZ adapter, or a Z-series lens like the forthcoming Z 70-200mm F2.8 S, the system becomes 3-axis, handing off pitch and yaw correction to the lens, with the body dealing with roll. The stabilization rating with a VR lens increases slightly, to 5.5EV (per CIPA) but as always with such things, you might get greater or less benefit depending on the situation (and focal length).

Same size and weight, similar ergonomics to Z6

The Z5 is an unusual entry-level model in being exactly the same size and weight as the model above it in the lineup. We’re told that this was a deliberate decision to make manufacturing more economical. The only major ergonomic change to the Z5, compared to the Z6, is the migration of an exposure mode dial to the right of the viewfinder, in place of the small status LCD which sits on top of the higher-end model.

Same size and weight, similar ergonomics to Z6

The 3.2″, 1.04M-dot LCD on the rear of the Z5 is the same size as that found in the Z6 and Z7 (but lower-resolution), and like those models it is also touch-sensitive and can be tilted for waist-level shooting and video work.

Whereas the Z6 and Z7 use an almost all magnesium-alloy body chassis, the Z5 economizes slightly with plastic on the back and the base of the camera. We’re told that despite the different construction, the Z5 is sealed to the same extent as the Z6/7 against dust and moisture. From what we know about the build quality of those models, this is really good news.

3.6M-dot Quad VGA EVF

Also good news is that the Z5 shares the same electronic viewfinder as the Z6/7. While we’ve seen the 3.6M-dot Quad VGA EVF out-resolved recently, it remains one of our favorite finders, offering fine, crisp detail and excellent contrast, without offering the 100fps+ feed of some competitive models. The EVF assembly features an automatic switch, to de/activate the viewfinder when your eye modes between finder and rear screen.

The image above shows an EVF module from the Z6/7 being inspected at Nikon’s factory in Sendai. Read the full factory tour here.

Dual UHS-II SD cards

Before the Z6 and Z7 were announced, whoever would have thought that card slots could cause such controversy? The Z5 splits from its higher-end stablemates by offering two card slots, both of which support the cheaper and more readily available SD format, up to UHS-II.

Video

When the Z5 is compared against the Z6 on specs, the main area of differentiation is in video. Nikon has moulded the Z6 into its current top-end video camera, but the Z5’s video feature set is much more pared-down. Although you can shoot 4K footage at up to 30p, there’s a 1.7X crop.

Overall the Z5 offers a solid feature set for its price, without being class-leading. Full HD video can be recorded without a crop (at up to 60p) but you won’t find a lot of the Z6’s more pro-oriented features, such as N-Log recording and output that can be encoded as Pro-Res Raw. The Z5 does offer focus peaking though, and zebra stripes. It also has sockets for a microphone and headphones.

New EN-EL15C battery

The Z5 ships with a new ‘c’ variant of the venerable EN-EL15 battery, but it remains compatible with previous versions, provided you don’t need in-camera charging (only offered by ‘b’ and ‘c’ variants). The new ‘c’ type battery offers a modest increase in capacity, giving an overall rating (per CIPA) of 470 shots using the rear monitor, and 390 shots using the EVF. It also supports USB power, via the optional optional UC-E25 cable.

New 24-50mm F4-6.3 kit lens

The Z5 might have basically the same body as the Z6 and Z7, but you can keep its overall size and weight down with the new 24-50mm kit zoom. The 24-50mm measures just 51mm (2″) long when retracted and weighs only 195g (0.43lb). The tradeoffs for such a small, lightweight lens are its relatively limited focal length range, and slow maximum aperture, but if it’s as sharp as previous Z-series zooms, this might be a worthwhile compromise for casual everyday photography.

New 24-50mm F4-6.3 kit lens

Nikon describes the lens as ‘dust and drip resistant,’ though not fully weather-sealed. The 24-50mm F4-6.3 will be available in a kit with the Z5 for $ 1699, or on its own for $ 399.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Go on a 4K video tour of Mars with images captured by NASA’s Mars rovers

23 Jul

ElderFox Documentaries has compiled a 4K UHD video tour of Mars using ultra-high resolution images and photo mosaics captured by NASA’s Mars rovers. It’s a stunning look at the Martian landscape and a great way to view another world nearly 34 million miles away.

The video is technically a slideshow, as there are massive technical constraints limiting NASA’s ability to record and transmit high-resolution video from Mars to earth. As NASA points out, it can take about 20 hours to transmit 250 megabits directly back to earth. There is an eight-minute window during each Martian day (sol) in which the rover can send the same 250 megabits of data to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passes overhead. As ElderFox Documentaries notes, at those transmission speeds and considering that ‘nothing really moves on Mars,’ it makes more sense to send images back home rather than video files.

In the video above, we see images captured by three different NASA Mars rovers: Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. In the bottom left corner of the video tour, ElderFox has noted the Mars rover used to capture the images and the location on Mars in which they were captured.

If you want to see more of Mars, we have a lot more to show you. In March, NASA shared the highest-resolution panoramic image of Mars ever captured by its Curiosity rover. You can see a video NASA published below. In July 2017, Curiosity captured images of clouds above the Martian landscape. Earlier that year, space enthusiast Jan Fröjdman turned NASA anaglyph images into a simulated flight video using 33,000 reference points and NASA’s own depth information. You see that incredible video here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Slideshow: Winning photographs of the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards

23 Jul

Winning photographs of the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards

The winning photos of the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards (IPPA) have been announced, showcasing incredible imagery from around the world captured on iPhone devices.

Founded in 2007, the IPPA was the first and is the longest-running iPhone-specific photography competition. This year marks the 13th annual contest, which drew images from thousands of photographers from across the globe.

In the following gallery, we’ve rounded up the the Grand Prize winner and the first place winners for each of the 19 categories (Abstract, Animals, Architecture, Children, Floral, Landscape, Lifestyle, Nature, News & Events, Other, Panorama, People, Portrait, Series, Still Life, Sunset, Travel and Trees). The Grand Prize winning photograph in the following slide, ‘Flying Boys,’ also adorned photographer Dimpy Bhalotia as winner of the Photographer of the Year award.

You can find the rest of the runner-up images on the IPPA website, as well as a collection of the winning photographers. You can also sign up for the 2021 iPhone Photography Awards contest.

Image credit: All photos used with permission from IPPA.

Grand Prize Photographer of the Year Winner

Flying Boys — Dimpy Bhalotia

Location: Banaras, India

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Abstract Winner

Untitled — Tu Odnu

Location: China

Gear: Shot on iPhone 7 Plus

First Place Animals Winner

Horses in the Storm — Xiaojun Zhang

Location: Iceland

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Architecture Winner

Duomo di Milano — Haiyin Lin

Location: Milan, Italy

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Children Winner

Cotton Candy — Ekaterina Varzar

Location: Vorontsovsky Park, Moscow

Gear: Shot on iPhone 6

First Place Floral Winner

Untitled — Peiquan Li

Location: China

Gear: Shot on iPhone 8 Plus

First Place Landscapes Winner

The Wave — Liu Dan

Location: Marble Canyon, Arizona

Gear: Shot on iPhone XS Max

First Place Lifestyle Winner

Culture Fusion — Audrey Blake

Location: Cancun, Mexico

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Nature Winner

The Surface of the Alien Planet — Lisi Li

Location: Skógafoss, Iceland

Gear: Shot on iPhoen 7 Plus

First Place News & Events Winner

Demons Lighting the Sky — Fernando Merlo

Location: Paterna, Spain

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Other Winner

Beach Chair — Danielle Moir

Location: Westhampton Beach, New York, USA

Gear: Shot on iPhone 6

First Place Panorama Winner

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas — Bojan Pacadziev

Location: Madrid, Spain

Gear: Shot on iPhone 8

First Place People Winner

Knitting to Heal Wounds — Omar Lucas

Location: Ayacucho, Peru

Gear: Shot on iPhone 4

First Place Portraits Winner

Beautiful Isolation — Mona Jumaan

Location: Ouarzazate, Morocco

Gear: Shot on iPhone XR

First Place Series Winner

Tattooed Women — Liu Dan

Location: Mindat, Myanmar

Gear: Shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max

First Place Still Life Winner

The Wine Bottle and the Seven Chouric?os — Joao Cabaco

Location: Santa Maria dos Olivais, Portugal

Gear: Shot on iPhone XR

First Place Sunset Winner

Nightfall at the Dolomites — Leo Chan

Location: Auronzo di Cadore, Italy

Gear: Shot on iPhone 11 Pro

First Place Travel Winner

Free from the Past — Kristian Cruz

Location: Varanasi, India

Gear: Shot on iPhone X

First Place Trees Winner

Alone — Glenn Homann

Location: Queensland, Australia

Gear: Shot on iPhone 11 Pro

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Periscope tele cameras are coming to iPhones in 2022, according to Analyst

22 Jul

The iPhone 11 Pro Max camera relies on a 54mm (2x) tele lens.

Space constraints in thin smartphone bodies mean it’s challenging to design and use camera lenses with long focal lengths, significantly limiting the tele capabilities of even the best smartphones when compared to conventional cameras.

In order to bridge this gap, manufacturers like Huawei, Samsung and Oppo have been using vertically installed periscope-style camera modules that use prisms to divert incoming light onto the image sensors. In its current state, this technology allows for 35mm-equivalent focal lengths of up to approximately 240mm, for example on the Huawei P40 Pro+.

The Huawei P40 Pro+ camera array includes a periscope tele with a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 240mm.

However, one manufacturer has notably not yet jumped on the periscope-bandwagon: users of Apple’s current top-end iPhone 11 Pro Max still have to make do with a 2x optical tele (52mm equivalent).

This is not expected to change with the upcoming 2021 generation, but according to new reports the 2022 models are likely to feature periscope tele lenses and therefore improved zoom power.

Oppo periscope tele lens design

According to a new report by Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, Korean lens supplier Semco and the Chinese company Sunny Optical will be providing iPhone lenses in the coming years. They will replace the current Taiwanese supplier Genius Electronic Optical.

More interestingly Ming Chi Kuo also believes that in 2022 a large proportion of the lenses supplied by Semco will be of the periscope variant.

Apple design for a ‘folded’ lens with mirror

With its major competitors going down the periscope lens route it was arguably only a question of time before Apple would follow suit.

The company already filed a patent for a periscope lens design in 2016. The documents describe a design that channels light into the camera through a primary lens and bounces it off a mirror into a secondary lens that moves up and down to provide zoom functionality. Apple calls the design a ‘folded telephoto camera lens system’.

This concept is quite similar to the design presented by O-Film earlier this year. Unlike the currently commercially available solutions which all combine a fixed-focal-length periscope lens with computational processing to provide zoom, the O-Film and Apple solutions offer true optical zoom which should provide a boost in zoom image quality.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon EOS R5 sample gallery: from the mountains to the sound

22 Jul

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As soon as we got our hands on a production Canon EOS R5, we set off to visit some of our favorite photo spots around Washington State to see what it can do. We put its all-new 45MP sensor to work photographing mountain towns, sunset over Puget Sound and a comet making its appearance in the night sky. Our testing has just begun, but for now take a look at some of our first sample images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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