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Photokina 2018: Zenit and Leica collaborate on new ‘M’

27 Sep

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

Leica is clearly in the mood for partnerships: A day after the company announced it was teaming up with Panasonic and Sigma on the L mount, Zenit took the wraps off the ‘M’, a Zenit-designed, Leica manufactured rangefinder camera which has (cough cough) rather a lot in common with Leica’s last-generation M Typ 240.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

Leica and Zenit aren’t necessarily names that you’d immediately associate, but hey, in the words of one Leica executive I talked to, “that’s globalization for you!” In the latest sign that this ain’t your Großvater’s Leica, it is currently assembling the 24MP full-frame Zenit M rangefinder alongside the M10 at its Wetzlar plant in Germany.

As far as division of labor is concerned, I’m told that Zenit was responsible for the external design, and everything else is done at Wetzlar.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

I must say, I rather like Zenit’s design touches. Somewhat more slab-sided than the Typ. 240, the Zenit M actually looks pretty cool to my eyes, and the asymmetrical curve of the top-plate acts as an optical illusion, making the M look slightly slimmer than the ‘original’ Leica.

Rather wonderfully, just like a Leica, the Zenit M has the model name and serial number engraved into the hotshoe assembly.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

So far, so Leica. From the rear, the Zenit M is almost indistinguishable from the Typ 240. Only the ‘DESIGNED IN KRASNOGORSK’ gives it away. With my eye to the viewfinder, there’s no discernible difference in use, either.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

At the heart of the Zenit M is the same full-frame 24MP CMOS sensor as – you guessed it – the Leica Typ 240. It also offers live view and HD movie recording.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

The battery and memory card are accessed in the same way, too, via the removable baseplate.

Designed in Russia, made in… Germany? It’s the Zenit M

The Zenit M will be available in a black or chrome finish, and will be shipping later this year or early 2019 for ‘between 4-5,000 Euros’ kitted with the Zenitar 35mm F1.0.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Photokina 2018: Hands-on with Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

26 Sep

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Six years after launching the Global Vision line at this very show in 2012, Sigma took the wraps off five new lenses at Photokina this year, and we were there at the launch event to see (and handle) them for ourselves. Click through for more information and some early first impressions.

First up is the new 56mm F1.4 DC DN ‘Contemporary’ for Sony APS-C format E-mount cameras and M43 – where it provides an equivalent focal length of 84mm and 112mm, respectively.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

At 280g (9.9 oz) the 56mm is a very lightweight lens, and with the lenshood (shown in the previous slide) removed, it’s actually the smallest of Sigma’s current fast-aperture E-mount / M43 primes.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Optical construction consists of 10 elements in six groups, and the lens features a nine-bladed aperture. We weren’t able to use it on a camera, but Sigma claims that ‘smooth autofocus’ should make this lens ideal for video use. Pricing and availability will be confirmed at a later date.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Next up is the latest in Sigma’s range of wide-aperture ‘Art’ series primes for full-frame ILCs – the 28mm F1.4 DG HSM. Compared to the 56mm, this fast wideangle prime is quite a hefty piece of glass, but if performance is in line with its stablemates, it should be capable of great things.

Sigma tells us that its benchmarks were Nikon and Zeiss’s 28mm F1.4 primes, and performance from its new Art-series option should be ‘best in class’.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Key to the 28mm F1.4’s claimed performance is its optical makeup, which comprises 17 elements in 12 groups, including no fewer than three aspherical elements, two FLD and three SLD (“F” low-dispersion and ‘Special’ low-dispersion respectively) elements. Sigma claims that this design provides ‘thorough’ correction of chromatic aberration and minimal distortion.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Unlike Sigma’s earliest Art-series primes, the new range are weather-sealed, and employ water and oil-repellant coating on their front elements. The 28mm F1.4 certainly feels like a solid professional tool, but Sigma has yet to confirm its actual weight.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Price, likewise, is TBD but we understand that the upcoming 28mm F1.4 will be somewhere around $ 1300, pre-tax.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Even larger and even heavier is the 40mm F1.4DG HSM. Created from Sigma’s 40mm cine lens, the company claims that this fast standard prime is its sharpest ever lens of this type.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

As you can hopefully tell from our pictures, it’s a big lens, measuring 87.8mm x 131mm (3.5in. x 5.2in) and weighing in at 1.2 kilos (43 oz). An 82mm filter ring is bigger than most, but not quite as bonkers as the 95mm thread on Canon’s new 28-70mm F2!

Like Sigma’s 28mm F1.4, the 40mm F1.4 is dust and moisture-sealed.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Designed to satisfy the resolution requirements of 50MP sensors and 8K video, the 40mm F1.4 is highly corrected for distortion (which, it is claimed, is below 1%) and coma. Optical construction consists of 16 elements in 12 groups, including three FLD and three SLD elements. Pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

This is a lens that Sigma fans (and photography fans in general) have been waiting for, for some time: the new 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM ‘Sports’ While not an ‘Art’ series lens, the 70-200mm was designed to meet the needs of the most demanding professional photographers, and the company claims that it will be competitive with own-brand equivalent lenses from the other major camera manufacturers. This shot shows off the various focus and OS switches, and the removable Arca-Swiss compatible tripod mount collar.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

The 70-200mm F2.8 makes generous use of magnesium alloy in its construction, for strength and low weight. Sigma processes this material in-house, at a brand new factory built at its existing site in Aizu, Japan. In keeping with other Sport-line lenses, it is dust and weather-sealed, and features and oil and water-repellant coating on the front element.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Optical construction of this internal zoom lens is pretty impressive on-paper, comprising 24 elements in 22 groups, including ten low-dispersion elements – nine ‘FLD’ and one SLD. Sigma claims that this advanced optical makeup ensures attractive bokeh and excellent correction of color aberrations. On the mechanical side, ‘intelligent OS’ is capable of correcting for shake in all directions, with total shake-reduction effectiveness still to be confirmed. Ergonomically, while we couldn’t mount it on a camera (we’re hoping to do that soon!) the lens feels exceptionally nicely made and very well-balanced, and some photographers will be pleased to see that Sigma has put the zoom ring at the front of the lens.

An AF function button can be customized either via the host camera or Sigma’s USB Dock, and the 70-200mm will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F and Sigma SA mounts, pricing and availability still TBD.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Last but definitely not least is the 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM. A beast of a lens (that’s a technical term) this 10X sports zoom is among Sigma’s most versatile, capable of covering everything from goalmouth action at one end of a football pitch to goalmouth action at the other end without swapping lenses.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

Relatively compact at 60mm (relatively…) at 600mm, this lens is quite a handful, and in terms of optical construction it just beats out the other four lenses released by Sigma by featuring 25 elements, in 19 groups. Like the 70-200mm, the 60-600mm is partially constructed using magnesium alloy from Sigma’s new factory.

A closer look at Sigma’s new Global Vision lenses

The 60-600mm is highly customizable, and usefully it features a zoom lock at all zoom positions, to help prevent ‘zoom creep’ when you’re trying to frame shots. It will be available in late October for $ 1999.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Roundup: essential news from Photokina 2018

26 Sep

Introduction

You might not have been expecting much from Photokina this year. The industry’s two biggest brands have already unveiled their major products and it’s the final Photokina before the show tries to re-schedule itself into irrelevance. So, a couple of lens announcements and a chance to get hands-on with the Nikon Z7, Canon EOS R, Fujifilm X-T3 and Sony 24mm GM, right?

You could not be more wrong. It’s been a cracking opening day at the show, with some of the most exciting news in years. ‘What did I miss?’ you might ask. Well, let me tell you…

Panasonic and Sigma collaborate on Leica L mount

Sixteen years after Olympus and Kodak announced the formation of the Four Thirds system, three members of that consortium: Panasonic, Sigma and Leica, announced they will collaborate on a shared system.

All three brands have settled on Leica’s L mount (originally the ‘T’ mount, when the APS-C Leica T model was announced back in 2014). All three brands have said they’ll be making lenses and cameras for the new system, which is arguably the biggest coming together of major brands since Four Thirds.

Click here for more about the collaboration

We’ll look separately at what Panasonic and Sigma is intending to do with the system, since they’re both pretty big news. We won’t be looking so much at Leica, since they celebrated the event by launching a new S-series camera.

Panasonic developing S1 and S1R full-frame mirrorless cameras

They exist only as mockups at this point, but Panasonic has given a fair amount of detail about its first two L-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The S1R will be a 47MP high-res model, while the S1 will be a more flexible 24MP camera. Both will offer in-body image stabilization and will be able to shoot 4K video at up to 60 frames per second.

The company also announced three lenses: a 50mm F1.4, a 24-105mm of unspecified brightness and, in an indication of who they’re targeting with these cameras, a 70-200mm F2.8.

Click for more details of the Panasonic Lumix S1 and S1R

The company reiterated its commitment to developing the Micro Four Thirds system in parallel, with the announcement of a 10-25mm F1.7 zoom for the smaller system.

Sigma adopting L mount and building full-frame Foveon

Sigma’s contribution to the L-mount collaboration extends beyond the lenses that you might expect. It says it will use the L mount in future, rather that its own SLR-era SA mount.

The company also says it’s working on a full-frame camera that will use one of its own Foveon sensors behind the L mount. Existing SA-mount lens users will either be able to have their lenses converted to L mount or can use an SA-L adapter that Sigma will make.

Perhaps most excitingly, Sigma says it will make an EF-L mount adapter, which immediately expands the system’s attractiveness, while we wait for all the stakeholders to deliver their promised lenses.

Click here for more information

Fujifilm to hit 100MP

Fujifilm also announced it will launch a 4K-capable, high resolution mirrorless camera with in-body stabilization. But in this case it’s talking about the GFX series of medium format bodies, and by high resolution it means 100MP.

Oh, and it’ll feature on-sensor phase detection for the first time.

Click here to read more

Ricoh working on significantly updated GR III

In any other year the major reworking of one of the industry’s few truly classic products would get higher billing, but not this year. Which is a shame, since Ricoh is promising to update and improve just about everything on the camera, without spoiling what makes it so attractive in the first place.

The GR III will still be a 28mm equiv. camera, will still be built around an APS-C sensor and will still feature the classic ‘GR’ styling that dates back to the small sensor GR Digital of 2004 (itself echoing the look of the GR series of film cameras before that). However, the GR III will include sensor shift image stabilization and on-sensor phase detection, both of which will be a major step forward for the series. It will also add a touchscreen for the first time.

The company says nothing of weather sealing, which is something of a shame, since the GRs (like all cameras with extending lenses) can suffer when the weather has periods of strong fluffy, blustery lint or dusty downpours.

Click here for more about the Ricoh GR III

Fujifilm GFX 50R

Maybe more unfair than taking so long to get to the Ricoh GR is that I’ve taken even longer to get to Fujifilm’s GFX 50R. A camera that’s long been hoped for and one that, unlike many other being discussed today, actually exists.

At heart it’s a redesigned variant of the GFX-50S but in a rangefinder-styled body. Essentially a hybrid of an X-E3 and a housebrick, the camera will sell at a considerable discount to the 50S, having launched for just $ 4500. Better still, and update to Fujifilm’s GF lens roadmap shows a 40mm-equiv GF 50mm F3.5 ‘pancake’ lens in the works.

There are also two stabilized zooms in the works, over the next two years.

Alongside the GFX 50R announcement, Fujifilm said that Phase One’s Capture One software will now support its medium format cameras both for Raw development and tethered shooting. This is a major addition for the brand, helping make its products fit more easily into some professionals’ workflows.

Click here for more about the GFX 50R

Sigma 56mm F1.4 for Micro Four Thirds and E mounts

As well as talking about its future system commitments, Sigma unveiled some actual lenses. You know, that you’ll be able to buy in the near future.

Most exciting to us is the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN lens. It’s a small(ish) portrait lens for the Micro Four Thirds or Sony E-mount. It’ll behave as a 112mm F2.8 equivalent on Micro Four Thirds or a 84mm F2.1 equivalent on APS-C Sony cameras, giving a comfortable working distance for head-and-shoulder portraits and a good degree of control over depth-of-field.

If it’s anything like the existing 16mm and 30mm F1.4 lenses in Sigma’s DN lineup, I’d expect the 56mm F1.4 to be sharp, fast at focusing and sensibly priced. Which is a very likable combination.

Click for more about the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN

Sigma lenses

As well as the 56mm, Sigma also announced a 28mm F1.4 and 40mm F1.4 as additions to its Art range of primes. Despite being competitively priced, many of the lenses in this series have a reputation for being among the best lenses one the market, optically. They also tend to be fairly sizeable, but if IQ is what you’re after…

Sigma also said it will introduce an updated stabilized 70-200mm F2.8 as part of its ‘Sports’ range. This will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F and Sigma SA mount. We’ll be interested to see whether a Sony E mount version becomes available at a later date.

There’s also a successor to the storied 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 ‘Bigma,’ in the shape of the 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 ‘even Bigma-er.’*

Click here to see Sigma’s forthcoming lenses

*As no one will ever call it.

Hasselblad lenses

Not to be outdone, Hasselblad used the show to announce three new lenses and a teleconverter. And even these are pretty exciting.

The XCD 80mm F1.9 is the brightest lens the company has ever made. This will be equivalent to a 63mm F1.5 on full-frame, which is a big step forward for the system. There’ll also be a 135mm F2.8, giving something akin to a 107mm F2.2 equiv. Add on the 1.7x teleconverter and it becomes a 230mm F4.8 (180mm F3.8 equiv).

Finally, there’s the 63mm F2.8 (50mm F2.2 equiv), which will compete head-on with the similarly-specced lens from Fujifilm. All three lenses add significantly to the system’s capabilities.

Click here for more

Sony announces, err..

Apparently content to have a significant headstart on their full-frame mirrorless rivals (or perhaps content to highlight this headstart), Sony said little of substance at its press conference, beyond that it’s going to keep making lenses: twelve additional lenses (over an unspecified period).

In fairness, the company has only just released the 24mm F1.4 GM lens, so the product development teams probably aren’t actually in laurel-resting mode but, other than more lenses, the only thing its promised is Eye-AF that works on animals. Possibly on a new product, some time in the future.

Click to read (slight) more about Sony’s briefing

Wrap-up

For a show that’s about to surrender its relevance, Photokina 2018 has proven to be more lively than expected. There’ll be little bits and pieces over the coming days but this is likely to be it for industry-rocking announcements.

And, if you aren’t great at reading between the lines, our take on it is pretty simple: in a declining camera market, the enthusiast and professional are kings (and queens).

DPReview has been covering the show for 18 years and, while there have certainly been shows with more launches in the past, we can’t remember a time that heralded so many interesting products for people who really care about photography. In the space of a few weeks we’ve gone from there being two full-frame mirrorless brands to a point where there’ll be six by the end of 2019. Along with a what could be a fast 100MP medium format option. And a thoroughly-refreshed Ricoh GR, for the street shooters.

It’s going to be a busy year. In a good way.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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GoPro Q2 2018 results show improvement: new products promised for late 2018

04 Aug

GoPro has revealed its Q2 2018 financial results, boasting a massive 40% quarter-over-quarter revenue increase to $ 283 million and net loss of $ 32 million, which the company says is a 51% sequential improvement. This marks two consecutive positive quarters for GoPro, which has historically struggled and taken various actions, including multiple layoffs, in an effort to survive.

GoPro saw its inventory drop $ 47 million from its first to second 2018 quarters, reaching the company’s lowest inventory level since early 2014. Year-over-year, GoPro also reduced its operating expenses by $ 16 million and increased its paying Plus subscriber numbers by 9% quarter-over-quarter.

GoPro says it took 97% dollar share of the action camera market in the US, with its Fusion model taking 48% of the nation’s spherical camera category

GoPro claims its 18th straight quarter of having the #1 selling camera in North America, also citing a strong presence in the spherical camera, European, and Asian markets. Based on data from NPD Group, GoPro says it took 97% dollar share of the action camera market in the US, with its Fusion model taking 48% of the nation’s spherical camera category.

During the company’s earnings call with investors yesterday, GoPro CEO Nicholas Woodman revealed that the company will release three new products later this year. Details on those three products were not provided, but it’s likely one will be the company’s upcoming flagship Hero 7, an update to the Hero 6 action camera released late last year.

Catch up on GoPro’s Q2 investors’ call

Via: GoPro

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 shortlist revealed

24 Jul

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

AR 2665 and Quiescent Prominence. © ?ukasz Sujka (Poland)

The sunspot AR2665 was one of the most active regions in 2017 on the right you can see a phenomenal quiescent prominence extending from our star, the Sun. This type of prominence lasts for a very long time and its structure is quite stable. The photo is a composition of two images: one of the magnificent prominence and one of the Sun’s surface. The surface is much brighter than the prominence so it is a negative to reveal details of Sun chromosphere (spicules and filaments).

Budy Dlutowskie, Poland, 9 July 2017

TS Individual 102/1100 telescope, etalon from Lunt50ThaPT+B1200+BelOptik ERF+TV barlow x2, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI 178 MM-C camera, 1100mm f/11 lens, 10ms exposure

Some of the best pictures of stars, planets and deep space have been revealed in the shortlist of the 2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The annual contest is run by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich London, and is currently in its 10th year. Organizers say they received 4200 images from amateur, professional and young photographers in 91 countries.

Entrants compete across eight categories for the top prize of £10,000 (approx. $ 13,000) while the under 16s stand a chance of winning £1500. Shortlisted and winning entries form part of a book of the completion, and an exhibition is held at the National Maritime Museum, also in Greenwich, London.

The overall winner, and the winners of the Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer and Robotic Scope Image of the Year, will be announced on 23rd October 2018.

For more information see the Royal Museum Greenwich website.

Press release

ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’s “INSIGHT INVESTMENT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018” SHORTLISTED IMAGES TO THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION SELECTED

– WINNERS ANNOUNCED 23 OCTOBER 2018
– EXHIBITION OPENS 24 OCTOBER 2018

A mesmerising mosaic of the Great Orion and the Running Man Nebula, a magical scene of an Aurora Borealis exploding over the south coast of Iceland, a solar transit of the International Space Station between the massive sunspots AR 12674 and AR 12673; Royal Observatory’s Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 has received thousands of exceptional images once more. The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its tenth year and continues to go from strength to strength, receiving over 4,200 spectacular entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers, taken from 91 countries spanning the globe. This year has also seen a phenomenal increase in entries from our aspiring young astrophotographers.

Shortlisted images from this year’s entrants include a glorious Milky Way looming over a thunderstorm that lights up the sky, star trails sweeping over the extraordinary sacred altars in Inner Mongolia, a majestic image of deep space framed by the Breiðamerkurjökull, the glacial tongue that extends from the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajökull.

The range of subjects is not just limited to our planet. Photographers have also captured sights from across our Solar System, galaxy and the wider universe; from the second largest planet, Jupiter, which lies 746 million miles away from Earth when the two are closest and over a billion miles apart at their most distant; the striking and often overlooked Nebula NGC 2023, at 4 light years in diameter it is one of the largest reflection nebulae ever discovered; to the bright IC 342 also known as the ‘Hidden Galaxy’ that sits near the galactic equator, an obscure area with thick cosmic gas, bright stars and dark dust.

The competition’s judges include renowned comedian and keen amateur astronomer, Jon Culshaw; Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine Chris Bramley; the Royal Observatory’s Public Astronomer, Dr Marek Kukula and a host of experts from the worlds of art and astronomy. The winners of the competition’s nine categories and two special prizes will be announced on Tuesday 23 October at a special award ceremony at the National Maritime Museum. This year’s and previous winning images will be displayed in a commemorative exhibition that will celebrate 10 years of outstanding astrophotography, at the National Maritime Museum from Wednesday 24 October. Winners and shortlisted entries will also be published in the competition’s official book, available on 24 October from bookstores and online. The awards ceremony can be followed live on Twitter #astrophoto2018.

Website: www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto
Twitter: @ROGAstronomers
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
Facebook: Royal Museums Greenwich
Astrophotography Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/astrophotos

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

A Magnificent Saturn. © Avani Soares (Brazil)

In high resolution planetary photography having a good view of a planet is a key factor but also completely out of a photographer’s control. In this image the photographer was lucky to capture our second largest planet, Saturn, in all its glory. After stacking 4,000 out of 10,000 frames we can admire details such as the beautiful polar hexagon, the Encke Division and even the crepe ring.

Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 29 July 2017

Celestron C14HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Powermate 2X + Filter Baader UV-IR cut Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI 290 MC camera, 7820 mm f/22 lens, stacked from 4000 frames

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Andromeda galaxy. © Péter Feltóti (Hungary)

Andromeda Galaxy has always amazed the photographer. The dust lanes and bright star clusters in its arms, the emblematic galaxy shape of it, and the magnificent look of this great star city make it one of his most desired objects to photograph. This image was taken using a 200mm mirror and creating a three panel mosaic.

Mez?falva, Hungary, 20 October 2017

SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, SkyWatcher NEQ6 pro mount, Canon EOS 600D camera (modded), 800 mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 3.79-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurorascape. © Mikkel Beiter (Denmark)

The conditions the night the image was taken were not ideal because of the bright moon lighting up the sky. The photographer managed to overcome this obstacle and capture the incredible Aurora Borealis above the fjord at Haukland in the gorgeous Lofoten archipelago, Northern Norway. The small pool of water with rocks made the perfect foreground and a natural leading line into the frame.

Haukland Beach, Norway, 26 February 2018

Canon EOS 5DS R camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 8-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Cave Man. © Brandon Yoshizawa (USA)

Battling the light pollution in Malibu, California the photographer brilliantly framed our galaxy, the Milky Way, inside a sea cave, 25 miles away from the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In order to achieve this outstanding shot planning it ahead and waiting for the perfect conditions of low tide and clear skies was very important. The image required two exposures; one to capture the details of the dark cave and one for the Milky Way. Both exposures were taken back to back without moving the camera or changing the composition.

Malibu, USA, 28 March 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 119/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Mosaic of the Great Orion & Running Man Nebula. © Miguel Angel García Borrella and Lluis Romero Ventura (Spain)

The Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976, is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, south of Orion’s Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye during a clear night sky. M42 is 1270 light years from our planet and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. It is estimated to be 24 light years across and it has a mass of about 2,000 times more than that of the Sun. This image is the result of the efforts of two astrophotographers using different equipment from their observatories. Located hundreds of kilometres away from each other, they chose the Orion Sword are as a common target to render.

The software suites used in this image are Maxim DL, Pixinsight and Photoshop CC 2017. Àger, Monfragüe, Spain, 2 January2017 Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance telescope, Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance, Titan 50 Losmandy & ASA DDM85 mount, SBIG & Moravian STL 11000 C2 & G3-11002 camera, 2720mm and 2840mm f/6.8 and f/8 lens, 42 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula. © Mario Cogo (Italy)

The dark Namibian sky was the perfect location to capture the wonder of the Witch Head Nebula and Rigel. The Witch Head Nebula is a very faint molecular gas cloud which is illuminated by supergiant star Rigel, the seventh brightest star of the sky and the brightest star in the constellation of Orion.

Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 20 August 2017

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 385mm f/3.6 lens, ISO 1600, 1, 3 and 6 mins total 5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

The Eagle nebula. © Marcel Drechsler (Germany)

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is a young open cluster of stars, surrounded by hot hydrogen gas in the constellation Serpens and lies at a distance of 7,000 light years from Earth. Taken at the Baerenstein Observatory in Germany, the photo is a RGB-Ha-OIII image and shows off the radiant red and blue colours of the nebula. In the centre you can spot the famous Pillars of Creation.

Baerenstein, Germany, 9 August 2017

Celestron RASA telescope, Baader narrow band filters, Celestron CGEpro mount, ZWO Asi1600mmc camera, 620mm f/2.2 lens, ISO 139, 10.5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Thunderstorm under milky way. © Tianyuan Xiao (Australia)

A glorious Milky Way looms over a thunderstorm that lights up the Florida sky. The photographer wanted to show the great contrast between stable (Milky Way) and moving (thunderstorm) objects in the sky.

Perry, USA, 21 August 2017

Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 25mm f/3.2 lens, 30/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurora Borealis on the coast of the Barents sea. © Michael Zav’yalov (Russia)

From the city of Yaroslavl in Russia to the coast of the Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, a party of three travelled 2000 kilometers to capture the magnificent Northern Lights. The photographer stayed in the village of Teriberka in the Murmansk Oblast district for five days. After four days of bad weather, with heavy snow and thick clouds the sky finally cleared on the last day and the Northern Lights appeared in all their glory.

Murmansk/Teriberka, Russia, 28 February 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 20mm f/4 lens, ISO 2000, 30/1 exposure

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 shortlist revealed

24 Jul

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

AR 2665 and Quiescent Prominence. © ?ukasz Sujka (Poland)

Budy Dlutowskie, Poland, 9 July 2017

TS Individual 102/1100 telescope, etalon from Lunt50ThaPT+B1200+BelOptik ERF+TV barlow x2, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI 178 MM-C camera, 1100mm f/11 lens, 10ms exposure

The overall winner, and the winners of the Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer and Robotic Scope Image of the Year, will be announced on 23rd October 2018.

For more information see the Royal Museum Greenwich website.

Press release

ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH’s “INSIGHT INVESTMENT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2018” SHORTLISTED IMAGES TO THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION SELECTED

– WINNERS ANNOUNCED 23 OCTOBER 2018
– EXHIBITION OPENS 24 OCTOBER 2018

Website: www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto
Twitter: @ROGAstronomers
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
Facebook: Royal Museums Greenwich
Astrophotography Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/astrophotos

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

A Magnificent Saturn. © Avani Soares (Brazil)

Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 29 July 2017

Celestron C14HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Powermate 2X + Filter Baader UV-IR cut Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI 290 MC camera, 7820 mm f/22 lens, stacked from 4000 frames

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Andromeda galaxy. © Péter Feltóti (Hungary)

Mez?falva, Hungary, 20 October 2017

SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, SkyWatcher NEQ6 pro mount, Canon EOS 600D camera (modded), 800 mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 3.79-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Aurorascape. © Mikkel Beiter (Denmark)

Haukland Beach, Norway, 26 February 2018

Canon EOS 5DS R camera, 17mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 8-second exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Cave Man. © Brandon Yoshizawa (USA)

Malibu, USA, 28 March 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 119/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Mosaic of the Great Orion & Running Man Nebula. © Miguel Angel García Borrella and Lluis Romero Ventura (Spain)

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula. © Mario Cogo (Italy)

Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 20 August 2017

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 385mm f/3.6 lens, ISO 1600, 1, 3 and 6 mins total 5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Baerenstein, Germany, 9 August 2017

Celestron RASA telescope, Baader narrow band filters, Celestron CGEpro mount, ZWO Asi1600mmc camera, 620mm f/2.2 lens, ISO 139, 10.5 hours exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Perry, USA, 21 August 2017

Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 25mm f/3.2 lens, 30/1 exposure

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Shortlist

Murmansk/Teriberka, Russia, 28 February 2017

Nikon D750 camera, 20mm f/4 lens, ISO 2000, 30/1 exposure

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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These are the winners of the 2018 iPhone Photography Awards

21 Jul

Jashim Salam, Bangladesh
Grand Prize Winner, Photographer of the Year

The iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS), was founded in 2007, making it the longest running iPhone photo competition in the world. Now in its 11th year, the winners of the IPPAWARDS have just been announced, and looking at the winning image it should be pretty clear that you don’t always need a DSLR and big lens to capture outstanding photographs.

The Grand Prize winning image is called “Displaced” and shows Rohingya children watching an awareness film about health and sanitation near Tangkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh. It was captured by photographer Jashim Salam on an iPhone 7.

Swiss photographer Alexandre Weber’s contribution “Baiana in yellow and blue” was captured on an iPhone 6S in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil and was awarded 1st prize in the Photographer of the Year category.

Alexandre Weber, Switzerland
1st Place, Photographer of the Year

Huapeng Zhao from China won the 2nd prize for his image “Eye to eye” showing a boy at the seaside in YanTai ShanDong province, China. Zhao used an iPhone 6 to record his award-winning photograph.

Huapeng Zhao, China
2nd Place, Photographer of the Year

The winners were selected from thousands of entries captured by photographers from more than 140 countries.

IPPAWARDS founder Kenan Aktulun said “iPhone users have become very fluent in visual storytelling. This year’s photos were technically impressive and many of them were very personal.”

On the IPPAWARD website you can see the winning images in all categories and find out more about all winning photographers. If you feel inspired, you’ll also find more information about how to enter the 2019 competition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

17 Jul

In this third installment of articles on ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, we look at some of the Cool Tools – either new features or ones that are particularly useful. Read my first two articles here:

ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 Guide for Beginners
How to do Creative Editing with Layers in ACDSee Ultimate Photo Studio 2018

New Features

1. ACTIONS

Newly implemented in the latest release of the software, Actions are a range of predefined edits that you can apply to your image to achieve a specific look or effect. To assist you with this, there is an Actions Browser that lets you see the effect applied in advance, which is extremely useful.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Image with the Actions Browser open.

There are 16 different categories covering color, black and white, workflow, editing, special effects, portrait and landscape options, and more. Once you decide on the desired Action, click PLAY and it is applied.

Example of a Split-tone Action.

A black and white conversion Action applied.

To apply an Action, you need to open your image in Edit mode. On the top menu bar, look for Tools > Browse Actions.

2. LIQUIFY

Liquify is often used in fashion and portrait editing to change the shape of people or parts of their bodies. It is a new feature in this release of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018. This tool needs to be applied with a large soft brush and a delicate touch or it can look overly obvious.

I found the Liquify tool very easy to use. It worked quickly (i.e. there was no lag on processing the change) and had a gentler effect than I was expecting.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 - liquify

This is the before image for comparison.

Showing where the effect had been applied.

Image after Liquify applied to the arch and bowl of the spoon, and the dark side of the main blueberry.

Using the Liquify Tool

Liquify is a function in Edit mode, so you need to open your image up in there. On the top menu bar, select Filter > Geometry > Liquify.

There are four different Liquify modes:

Shift – This moves pixels from one area to another in the direction you move the brush.
Pinch – This moves the pixels towards the center of the brush (making things smaller).
Brush – This moves pixels away from the center of the brush (making things bigger).
Restore – Undo mode for any of the three options above.

Once Liquify mode is active, check that your brush is the correct size and softness (a larger and softer brush is recommended) and very gently click and nudge the area you want to adjust a tiny amount. It is much easier to do lots of little adjustments as you can undo one if you go too far.

Also be mindful that when you use Liquify it moves all the pixels within the brush, so if you have any lines or other elements, they can be affected too. This can make it obvious that you have used Liquify, so be careful about the backgrounds and surrounding elements in the area you’re using it.

3. FREQUENCY SEPARATION

This is a function used a lot in portrait and fashion photography – anywhere there is a lot of skin visible, especially faces and close-ups. Frequency separation allows you to smooth out blemishes and imperfections, to even out the skin tones, and provide a polished outcome in the image.

While it can be done manually, it is time-consuming to set up. Now with a few clicks, the software does all the layers for you, making it easy to apply the effect where necessary. I don’t photograph people or close up portraits so have never had the need to use this functionality, but for those who want to access this advanced technique, ACDSee has included it.

Using the Tool

Open your image in Edit mode and in the Layers pane, duplicate the layer. Frequency Separation is a destructive edit, so it is recommended that you work on a duplicated layer to maintain image integrity.

Select the top layer (the duplicate), then right-click and select Frequency Separation from the drop-down box. It will then create two layers – one will be grey and have (HF) in the layer description. The other one will be in color, but will be all blurry and have (LF) in the layer description.

On the LF layer, use a brush to work on any skin imperfections. On the HF layer, use the Repair tool to clone clear skin over top of the blemish areas.

4. PIXEL TARGETING

The Pixel Targeting tool allows you to select specific areas in your image based on a combination of tone and color selection. It works in conjunction with an adjustment layer.

In Edit mode, open up your image and select an adjustment layer (any of them seem to be fine). Here I am using a shot of some bright red raspberries and a Vibrance adjustment layer.

Right-click on the top layer and select Pixel Targeting and a panel will open up. The top sliders allow you to select the tones and the bottom sliders allow you to select the colors.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Adjust the tone and the color sliders to suit. It creates a mask of the subject that you want to adjust.

Save a preset for future use (use the Save option at the top of the screen) and click OK. The mask you have just created in the Pixel Targeting window is now applied to your adjustment layer, and it will only apply the adjustment to the light areas of the mask.

Here I have turned the raspberries blue simply by adjusting the Hue sliders in the Vibrance layer.

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

Useful Features

While learning how to use ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, there were several things about it that I found particularly useful. These are either the small things that don’t get used a lot but work really well when you do need to use them, or something that makes it much easier to do a really common task.

These are things I appreciate, especially when something you do a lot is made easier, or offers a clever alternative.

1 – Add a File as a Layer

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

At the bottom of the Layers pane are a whole lot of quick access icons for different layer features. The one circled here is the “Add a File as a Layer” option.

I do a couple of specific tasks that require the addition of outside images as extra layers, such as adding texture overlays and compositing.

There are lots of other instances when this could be useful – focus stacking, blending panorama or astrophotography images, time-lapse stacking, and so on.

This is a particularly common function and the way Photoshop does it is really NOT user-friendly. I have always gotten around it by using a second monitor and dragging my image in that way.

But if you are working on a laptop or only have one layer, that isn’t an option, so this feature becomes worth knowing about.

It’s really simple. Click on the Add a File as a Layer icon and a dialog box opens up asking you to select the location of the image you want to add. Even better, you can switch your view to Thumbnail and see examples of the images so you can select the right one.

Click on the desired file and select Open. The file will then open up as a new layer. It will probably need to be resized and the program has that mode already activated for you as well. Drag the yellow handles to the right size, select Commit, and you are done!

Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018

2. Heal Tool

Sometimes you might have a mark, a blemish, or a stray hair or twig in the way on your shot, and you don’t notice until you see it on the big screen when you are editing. Technology has improved so much these days that software can often take care of those issues for you, but it can still be a less than polished outcome.

When editing my blueberry shots, I was dismayed to find that I hadn’t noticed my main berry had a scratch down the front of it. Great chance to give the Heal tool inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate a go.

I was quite impressed with how well it works. Just right-click on a good area and then paint over the blemish area. I find doing lots of small selections gives a more natural effect usually, but ACDSee did a really good job.

After the Heal tool was applied.

Before Heal tool applied – you can clearly see the big scratch on the front of the berry.

Conclusion

Before writing these articles, I had never used ACDSee software at all. My background was with PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Learning about the full range and capabilities of this ACDSee program has been interesting. There are some really exciting new features and useful tools included, particularly in Edit mode.

Overall I have been impressed at the depth and capability of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate. For a beginner wanting a one-stop-shop program at a cost-effective price (and no subscription model), it has a lot of benefits.

For anyone looking to get started in managing their photo files, processing RAW images, and more in-depth editing, this is a good place to start. If you’re looking for a non-subscription option, it is worth considering as well.

Disclaimer: ACDSee is a dPS advertising partner.

The post Some Cool Tools For Editing Your Photos Inside ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018 appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Skylum Luminar 2018 1.3.0 update brings many improvements, new camera support

15 Jul

Skylum, the company previously known as Macphun, has released Luminar 2018 update 1.3.0. The Lightroom alternative has received numerous changes across both its Mac and Windows versions, primarily improvements to existing features, as well as support for additional cameras from Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Canon, and Pentax.

Luminar 2018 is the latest evolution to Skylum’s image editor for Mac and Windows. The 2018 version added a variety of features, improvements, support for Photoshop plugins, and UI changes. Update 1.3.0 builds upon this, adding additional plugin support for Mac, DNG Camera Profiles (DCP) and new features for Windows, and more than a dozen improvements that vary based on operating system.

The Windows version of Luminar 2018 can open Raw files faster post-update due to Raw engine improvements. This version also brings a new White Balance feature with eyedropper to Develop, Raw Develop, and the Color Temperature filters, better filter performance, simplified blending mode selection, and more.

The Mac 1.3.0 version, meanwhile, brings improvements across eight features in addition to support for plugins from the following software: Imagenomic Noiseware 5, Imagenomic Portraiture 3, Imagenomic Realgrain 2, and DxO FilmPack 5. Luminar 2018 for Mac also now has improved support for eight languages, additional file format export options for batch processing, better filter and JPEG controls, and more.

In addition, Luminar update 1.3.0 adds support for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 3000D / Rebel T100 / 4000D
FujiFilm X-H1
FujiFilm X-A20
FujiFilm X-A5
FujiFilm X-E3
Olympus E-PL9
Pentax K-1 II
Panasonic DC-GF10 / Panasonic DC-GF90
Panasonic DC-GX9 / DC-GX7MK3
Panasonic DC-TZ200 / DC-ZS200 / DC-TZ202 / DC-TZ220 / DC-ZS220 / DC-TX2
Sony A7 III

The full changelogs for the Mac and Windows update are available here. Existing Luminar 2018 users can update from within the software by choosing the “Check for updates” option, which is found under the “Help” menu on Windows and the “Luminar 2018” menu on Mac. Luminar 2018 is available from Skylum for $ 69 USD.