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Archive for March, 2018

Russian drone pilot pushes his tiny drone to 33,000ft

24 Mar

YouTube user and drone pilot Denis Koryakin (“????? ???????”) recently published a video showing a small drone’s trip to an altitude of around 33,000ft.

Operating a drone at that altitude would be against regulations in many places, not to mention risky to commercial aircraft. That said, this particular ascent appears to have taken place in a remote region of Russia near the Siberian city of Strejevoï, and there don’t seem to be any altitude restrictions on small drone flights in Russia, so he didn’t technically break any laws.

According to Koryakin’s video description, this “drone experiment” intended to get the drone to an altitude of 10 kilometers, which is just under 33,000ft and about the cruising altitude of passenger jets. The on-screen display shows the drone’s speed hitting 13 meters per second at one point, and Koryakin explained that temps went down to -50°C (-58°F) when the drone reached an altitude of around 8,000 meters (~26,000ft).

The video translation reads (H/T DPReview user ShaiKhulud):

March 9, 2018. Experiments with drone are still in progress. Goals for this flight are: reach a height of 10km and return to the launch site without accidents.

By popular demands, by my own desire and with a help of my friends we’ve added an air temperature gauge.

Because of the thermometer inertia, temperature is displayed with a slight delay.

The outside ground level temperature was around -10 C.

Max temperature during flight was around -50 C at 8000 m. altitude.

DVR footage and HD footage is slightly out of sync (by a few seconds) because of the frame skipping.

In the video description, Koryakin also lists the parts used to construct and control the drone, all of them readily accessible to anyone who wants to replicate it. Components include Cobra brushless motors, Gemfan carbon nylon propellers, and Sony li-ion batteries. The drone weighed around 1kg / 2.3lbs.

Disclaimer: Always check applicable local laws before trying something that might be dangerous or potentially illegal. DPReview does not condone or encourage illegal activity.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Rumor: Canon full-frame mirrorless already ‘being used by select pro photographers’

24 Mar
So far, the EOS M5 is the nearest thing Canon has made to a high-end mirrorless camera.

Rumors of a Canon mirrorless full-frame camera are heating up. Just days after our own Canon interview from CP+ 2018 seemed to hint, quite strongly, that a “high-end mirrorless” from Canon is in the works, Canon Rumors is reporting that they have “confirmed from a couple of good sources” that a full-frame mirrorless Canon is indeed being tested by select pros.

The Canon Rumors report, published earlier today, claims that “a full frame mirrorless camera is well into its development cycle,” and is in fact being used by “select Canon pro photographers” in the field. This matches up with what Canon told us during our interview at CP+ 2018. Specifically, the Canon executives we spoke to said:

In accordance with the full lineup strategy, we will be tackling [the mid-range and high-end mirrorless market] going forward.

And when we asked if it was “realistic” to expect a Canon full-frame mirrorless camera within a year, their tongue-in-cheek response was:

That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Read our full Canon interview from CP+ 2018

Canon Rumors is “very confident we’re going to see something announced before the end of Q1 in 2019,” while other outlets have predicted something for Photokina in September. Either way, as rumors and reports heat up, it seems more and more likely the industry will be getting a major shake-up in early 2019 or late 2018.

The major unanswered question is: what about lenses? Will Canon release a new lens mount with this rumored full-frame mirrorless camera—thereby taking advantage of the shorter flange distance offered by mirrorless—will the new camera be compatible with EF lenses out of the box, or will it be some sort of hybrid arrangement?

When we spoke to Canon, the company said it “can’t simply ignore the [130 million EF lenses] in the market,” but that “we’re considering the technical advancements that are possible” with a new mount. In the end, they didn’t give us anything definitive, encouraging us instead to “let your imagination suggest some possibilities.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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GoPro licensing deal will let third parties use the company’s camera tech

24 Mar
Photo by Dose Media

GoPro has announced a new deal with manufacturing services company Jabil. The multi-year agreement, officially announced Thursday, will involve GoPro licensing its intellectual property and reference design to Jabil, which will use it to incorporate GoPro sensor modules and camera lenses into third-party products.

According to the GoPro announcement, the company will reserve approval over any third-party services and products in which its technology is used. The agreement includes an equipment license, ultimately covering “a range of products and services each company offers,” among them being “certain digital imaging and consumer products,” says GoPro.

This isn’t the first time Jabil and GoPro have worked together. Jabil Optics’ vice president Irv Stein calls this new deal “a natural extension” of the companies’ involvement with each other, explaining that the GoPro tech will likely be used in “enterprise” segment:

This agreement is a natural extension of our long-standing relationship with GoPro and our commitment to developing innovative technologies. Early market feedback indicates strong demand in the enterprise action camera segment for applications in smart homes, military, fire, police, rescue, and security.

Additional details about the agreement, including financial numbers, weren’t disclosed. However, the expanded partnership comes at a time when GoPro faces ongoing financial troubles that have resulted in multiple layoffs over past months. Licensing its goods may help GoPro survive its turbulent action camera sales.

Press Release

GoPro and Jabil Announce Global Technology and Equipment License

San Mateo, CA and St. Petersburg, FL, March 22, 2018 – GoPro, Inc. and Jabil Inc. today announced a global, multi-year technology and equipment license. With this agreement, Jabil will leverage GoPro’s cutting-edge reference design and IP to produce camera lens and sensor modules for incorporation into GoPro-approved third-party products and solutions. This agreement builds on GoPro and Jabil’s longstanding relationship.

“This collaborative approach with Jabil will enable innovative, GoPro enabled products and services from some of the most exciting hardware and software companies out there,” said Sandor Barna, GoPro’s chief technology officer. “Imagine a world where video conferencing, robotics, and even self-driving cars are powered by GoPro’s camera lenses and image sensors. Together, GoPro and Jabil can make this a reality.”

This agreement covers a range of products and services each company offers, including certain digital imaging and consumer products. GoPro and Jabil have a history of collaborating to bring high-quality, cutting-edge products to consumers, including GoPro’s line of HERO cameras, starting with HERO4.

“This agreement is a natural extension of our long-standing relationship with GoPro and our commitment to developing innovative technologies,” said Irv Stein, Jabil’s vice president of Jabil Optics. “Early market feedback indicates strong demand in the enterprise action camera segment for applications in smart homes, military, fire, police, rescue, and security.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds

24 Mar

Our fine feathered friends, the birds, make great photography subjects. They can be challenging to photograph though, hence why this week’s photography challenge is – you guessed it – birds!

If you struggle to capture images of the fast ones in mid-air, try to find a bird closer to the ground like this peacock I found at the Auckland zoo strutting his stuff. Chickens, emus, and penguins are all a bit slower and easier to photograph – although you may not have any penguins in your area.

If you need some tips for photographing birds try these dPS articles:

  • 10 Surefire Tips for Photographing Birds in Flight
  • 10 Must-Use Bird Photography Camera Settings for Beginners
  • 10 Common Bird Photography Mistakes and Their Solutions
  • How to Photograph Hummingbirds

Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Birds by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Fashion magazine expects photographers to PAY to be on the cover

24 Mar

An American fashion magazine has created a storm by expecting photographers to pay $ 860 if their image is chosen for its cover. In a ‘the world’s gone crazy’ role-reversal, Sheeba magazine’s submission guidelines specify that photographers lucky enough to have an image selected for the cover will have to pay for the privilege of having it used.

In the magazine’s defense, it does style itself as a place where photographers, designers and models have an “opportunity to show-case and promote their contemporary masterpieces worldwide through print, digital and social media exposure” and presumably getting the cover position allows that photographer the most exposure.

Work placed inside the magazine is published for free, and at the moment there’s a special 50% off deal for cover placement.

In return, the photographer gets a copy of the print edition, a high-resolution tear sheet, and possibly an interview inside the magazine. Although billed as a monthly magazine, there seem to be three ‘volumes’ some months. The 74-page latest issue costs $ 26 for the print edition.

It isn’t clear what the magazine’s reach is, or exactly how much exposure gracing the front cover will gain the chosen photographer. The magazine’s Instagram page has fewer than 2,500 followers and its Twitter posts appear in the feed of just 75 people. The magazine is a little more successful on Facebook where it has 6,703 followers, but its most recent post is rather soiled by a lengthy comment thread about the morality of its cover policy.

If you don’t feel up to applying for a place on the cover, the magazine is looking for a number of interns to help put the publication together. The job ads offer the “opportunity to gain valuable editorial experience in media publishing and further develop a professional portfolio in return for work efforts” and a promise that you might be considered for a permanent position in the future. There’s no mention of payment, but the magazine expects considerable skills and dedication, and someone to layout 100 pages of content—perhaps three times a month.

For more information see the Sheeba website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Common Portrait Mistakes You’ll Want to Avoid

23 Mar

Portrait photography is hard. There’s a lot to think about including:

  • Getting the lighting right
  • What lens to use
  • Composition
  • Posing
  • Working with a model or subject
  • Post-processing (how much is enough or too much)
  • And so on . . .

So here are three videos with some tips to help you avoid some of the most commonly made mistakes in portrait photography.

5 Portrait Photography Don’ts

In this video, photographer Manny Ortiz shows you five things NOT to do when shooting portraits.

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  • Don’t go to your favorite or best location first during a shoot.
  • Don’t be afraid to experiment and take bad photos.
  • Don’t hide behind your camera.
  • Don’t over pose your subject, give them directions.
  • Don’t shoot too conservatively.

7 Common Studio Portrait Lighting Mistakes

Watch as photographer Antti Karppinen walks you through seven of the most common studio portrait lighting mistakes beginners make so you can avoid them. Where you position your main and fill lights, as well as how strong they are can make or break your portrait.

3 More Common Portrait Mistakes

Finally, in this video tip from Adorama TV, Miguel Quiles gives us three more common portrait mistakes.

  1. Not communicating with your model or subject.
  2. Not having the eyes in sharp focus.
  3. Not making sure the subject’s eyes are facing in the right direction.

Over to you. Have you got any other portrait photography mistakes you’d add to the ones mentioned here? Please add your comments below.

The post Common Portrait Mistakes You’ll Want to Avoid by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Fujifilm X-A5 sample gallery

23 Mar

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If you’re on a budget and looking to get into Fujifilm’s X-series, the X-A5 is likely on your radar – at $ 600 with a 15-45mm lens, it’s the cheapest entry point to the system. The camera uses a 24MP sensor with a conventional Bayer filter and hybrid AF. It also boasts improved battery life over its predecessor, claiming 450 shots per charge. We’re just getting started putting the camera through its paces; take a look at our first sample images.

See our Fujifilm X-A5 sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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We’re hiring! DPReview seeks Software Development Engineer

23 Mar

DPReview is hiring! We’re looking for a Software Development Engineer to join our Seattle-based team. Bring your creativity, passion and talent to help us build the next generation of our web and mobile experiences. This role will help build shopping and comparison tools for photo gear as well as other special projects on the roadmap. Find all the details below.

Click here to find out more and to apply for this role – Software Development Engineer, Digital Photography Review

Software Development Engineer, Digital Photography Review

Digital Photography Review (DPReview.com) is seeking a talented, passionate, and creative engineer to help us build the future of the world’s most popular digital camera website. You will leverage our unique position in the industry to constantly strive for smarter and better ways to deliver the content, services, and tools that have made it such a success.

Your core focus will be to build the next generation of web and mobile experiences for DPReview.com. This includes shopping and comparison tools for photographic gear, community and social features focused on photography enthusiasts, and other special projects on the roadmap.

While a part of Amazon, DPReview has its own unique culture. It’s a startup-like environment backed by an industry leader. Engineers will have an opportunity to partner with our in-house product management and editorial teams to help shape projects from concept to delivery.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to be a part of a small, lean team that’ll work across the stack on a variety of interesting problems, then this is it!

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field
  • 4+ years of professional software development experience

Preferred Qualifications

  • Some design and / or UX experience a big plus
  • Proficient in at least one object-oriented programming language such as Java, C++ or C#
  • Strong problem solving skills and computer science fundamentals (data structures, algorithms)
  • Experience in common web technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX
  • Experience with REST and other web service models

Click here to find out more and to apply for this role – Software Development Engineer, Digital Photography Review

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony World Photography Awards reveals 2018 Open category and National Awards winners

23 Mar

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

The World Photo Organization is taking its time announcing the winners of this year’s Sony World Photography Awards. Overall winners—including the coveted Photographer of the Year award—won’t be revealed until next month. But in the meantime, World Photo is teasing us, first with the shortlist announced last month, and now with the winners of the 10 Open categories and the 63 National Awards winners.

The Open competition is open to photographers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels, and several of this year’s category winners are not professional photographers by trade.

This week’s announcement reveals the winner of each of the 10 categories—Architecture, Culture, Enhanced, Landscape & Nature, Motion, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel, and Wildlife. All ten winning photographers walk away with “the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony,” but only one will be named Open Photographer of the Year on April 19th, earning an additional $ 5,000 worth of prize money.

The National Awards competition, meanwhile, seeks to identify “the best single image taken by a local photographer” in nearly 70 countries across the world. Scroll through the gallery above to see all 10 Open category winners, and then click here to view all 63 National Awards winners.

Press Release

World’s best single images revealed by the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

  • Winners of the 10 Open categories, plus all 63 National Awards announced today
  • Huge diversity of genres and topics across the global winners

March 20, 2018 – ?Selected from hundreds of thousands of entries worldwide, the winners of the Open competition and National Awards of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards are announced today.

The 10 Open category winners were chosen by an expert panel of judges as the world’s very best single photographs, and the National Awards winners selected as the strongest single image taken by a local photographer across nearly 70 countries. The winning works and their photographers are truly international, with images coming from Australia, Argentina, Cambodia, China, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Subject matter across the photographs could also not have been more diverse. Photographers chose a variety of stunning landscapes, personal portraits, touching encounters and sporting moments as their inspiration.

Chair of judges Zelda Cheatle comments:

“Judging the Open competition and National Awards allowed me to discover high calibre international work of great interest. In choosing the winners, the images all had to have something special – whether it be composition, impact, skill, a portrayal of a unique event or informing in a new way. Above all else, each winner had to be an exceptional photograph.”

All Open category and National Award winners receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony. In addition, the winning work will be published in the 2018 Awards’ book and shown at the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition in London from April 20 – May 6.

The ten Open category winners will now go on to compete for the Open Photographer of the Year, winning $ 5,000 (USD). This photographer, along with the Professional categories winners, will be announced in London on April 19.

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, the Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s most diverse photography competition. The 11th edition saw a record breaking 320,000 submissions by photographers from more than 200 countries and territories, presenting some of the world’s finest contemporary photography captured over the past year.

Open category winners

Photographers worldwide may enter any of the Open competition’s 10 categories, with judges looking for the best single image fitting each categories’ brief. Many of the winners are non-professional photographers, making their achievement even more remarkable.

The Open category winners are:

  • Architecture: Andreas Pohl, German with the image The Man and the Mysterious Tower
  • Culture: Panos Skordas, Greek with image Young Minotaur
  • Enhanced: Klaus Lenzen, German with image Every Breath you Take
  • Landscape & Nature: Veselin Atanasov, Bulgarian with image Early Autumn
  • Motion: Fajar Kristianto, Indonesian with image The Highest Platform
  • Portraiture: Nick Dolding, British with image Emile
  • Still Life: Richard Frishman, American with image Sunday Buffet at Jerry Mikeska’s BBQ; Columbus, Texas 2017
  • Street Photography: Manuel Armenis, German with image Old Friends
  • Travel: Mikkel Beiter, Danish with image Shapes of Lofoten
  • Wildlife: Justuna Zdu?czyk, Polish with image An Unexpected Meeting

National Awards winners

Running across nearly 70 countries, the National Awards program seeks to recognize and reward the best single image taken by a local photographer. The 63 National Award winners can be found in full at: https://www.worldphoto.org/2018-national-awards

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Andreas Pohl, Germany, Winner, Open, Architecture (Open competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Vertical wind tunnel build in the years 1934 to 1936 for aeronautical studies in Berlin-Adlershof. Photo was taken on 9th January 2017 at 4:26 pm when the dusk had already set in. I took the photo because I had it in mind for more than 2 years without a chance… cause there is not much snow in Berlin.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Manuel Armenis, Germany, Winner, Open Street Photography and Winner, Germany National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Hamburg, Germany. Spring of 2017. The most graceful lady of her neighborhood, despite the burden of old age. Always stylish, colorful, in good spirits, smiling, never complaining, even though the everyday is a struggle and a challenge for her. And never to be seen without her best friend—her little dog.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Justyna Zdunczyk, Poland, Winner, Open Wildlife and Winner, Poland National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

I was about to leave the Sequoia National Park when, from the corner of my eye, I saw a beautiful clearing bathed in fog. Without thinking too much, I ran with the camera to take some pictures.

When I reached the clearing, I heard the crack of broken twigs… I can’t say that I was not afraid since Sequoia National Park is a home for black bears and people are warned about it at every step. When I turned around, fortunately there was not any bear, instead I saw a curious mule deer walking towards me who cheerfully chewed his supper. Soon after other deers joined him and we just stood there together for a while and watched each other. It was one of the most beautiful moments during my trip thru California, this autumn.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Panos Skordas, Greece, Winner, Open Culture, and Winner, Greece National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Picture taken in the actual palace of king Minos, on the island of Crete. Costume and mask made by me, model with lots of patience… my son.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Fajar Kristianto, Indonesia, Winner, Open Motion and Winner, Indonesia National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

The new aquatic stadium for The 18th Asian Games just has opened in Gelora Bung Karno sports complex, Jakarta. It will be held in two cities, Jakarta and Palembang. A diving athlete was in the middle of a training session while I was capturing this moment.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Nick Dolding, United Kingdom, Shortlist, Open, Portraiture (Open competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

The stylish Emile shot for Paypal looking suitably aloof and hoity in a set with just a little nod towards Wes Anderson.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Veselin Atanasov, Winner, Open Landscape & Nature and Winner, Bulgaria National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

The autumn has begun to decorate with its colors the woods of the Balkans. National Park – Central Balkan, Bulgaria.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Mikkel Beiter, Denmark, Winner, Open Travel and Denmark National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

This composition is quite popular amongst photographers at the moment, and it’s easy to understand why! The beautiful Mount Olstinden has almost the same shape as the roof of this cute yellow cabin and the yellow color creates some amazing contrast to the snow covered mountain.

This place can be found in the Lofoten Archipelago at the small island named Sakrisøy. I’ve removed a small cabin in the left side during post process. Beside that, color correction, contrast and sharpness has been done in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Klaus Lenzen, Germany, Winner, Open, Enhanced (Open competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

The picture was taken in summer 2017 from 35 individual images of swimmers at the triathlon in the Duesseldorf Media Harbor. I was able to take a picture of them from above, while the athletes crossed a pedestrian bridge capturing their very individual “breathing techniques“.

I was inspired by the work of Andreas Gursky, therefore I took the individual images with the highest possible sharpness. That enables me to display or print the overall picture in large format.

Sony World Photography Awards Open category winners

Photo © Richard Frishman, United States, Winner, Open Still Life and Winner, United States National Award, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Documenting our American culture through our roadside landscape, I found this curious juxtaposition while looking for lunch in rural Texas, the heart of hunting country. Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q is famous for its Sunday BBQ buffet and its taxidermy.

Authentic to the scene depicted, this highly-detailed image is constructed of over 100 individual photographs meticulously stitched together.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Watch: Unboxing $221,000 worth of Leica Summilux-C cinema lenses

23 Mar

Videographer Devin Graham of Devin Supertramp has published a new video in which he unboxes $ 221,000 worth of Leica Summilux-C lenses. “When deciding to purchase these lenses, it was a six month process,” said Graham, who also explained while retrieving a lens box, “These are like a holy experience to me.”

Graham chose the Summilux lenses over Leica’s Thalia lenses due to their ability to shoot at a lower key stop, he explains in the video. The Summilux lenses were used in several notable productions recently, including: Stranger Things, Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Justice League. Overall, the purchase and subsequent unboxing involves half a dozen lenses: 16mm, 21mm, 29mm, 40mm, 50mm, and 75mm.

And if the video above isn’t quite enough expensive lens unboxing for you, check out Graham’s video from January below, in which he unboxed $ 25K worth of Sigma Cine lenses:

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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