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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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Adobe posts record revenue yet again, earning $2.08 billion in Q1 of 2018

17 Mar

Photo by Kevin

It’s starting to feel old hat by now: another quarter, another record-breaking earnings report coming out of Adobe. No matter how much people—present company certainly not excluded—gripe about Adobe’s move to the Creative Cloud subscription model, the software company is absolutely raking in the dough as a result.

The last record-breaking revenue report we shared out of Adobe came in Q3 of 2017, when Adobe announced that it had earned $ 1.84 billion that quarter. Now, in Q1 of 2018, the company is staring at that figure in the rearview mirror.

This quarter, Adobe is posting record quarterly revenue of $ 2.08 billion, $ 1.23 billion of which came straight from Creative Cloud in the Digital Media Segment. That $ 2.08B figure represents a jump of 24 percent year-over-year, and contributes to the 43 percent growth in YoY operating income and 64 percent growth in YoY net income that Adobe also revealed.

You can dive into the nitty gritty details in the release below, and see the full number-by-number breakdown in this PDF.

Press Release

Adobe Achieves Record Revenue

Creative ARR Exceeds $ 5 Billion in Q1 FY2018

Thursday, March 15, 2018 4:05 pm EDT | San Jose, California – Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today reported strong financial results for its first quarter fiscal year 2018 ended March 2, 2018.

Financial Highlights

Adobe achieved record quarterly revenue of $ 2.08 billion in its first quarter of fiscal year 2018, which represents 24 percent year-over-year revenue growth.
Diluted earnings per share was $ 1.17 on a GAAP-basis, and $ 1.55 on a non-GAAP basis.
Digital Media segment revenue was $ 1.46 billion, with Creative revenue growing to $ 1.23 billion and Document Cloud achieving revenue of $ 231 million.
Digital Media Annualized Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) grew to $ 5.72 billion exiting the quarter, a quarter-over-quarter increase of $ 336 million. Creative ARR grew to $ 5.07 billion, and Document Cloud ARR grew to $ 647 million.
Digital Experience segment revenue was $ 554 million, which represents 16 percent year-over-year growth.
Operating income grew 50 percent and net income grew 46 percent year-over-year on a GAAP-basis; operating income grew 43 percent and net income grew 64 percent year-over-year on a non-GAAP basis.
Cash flow from operations was $ 990 million, and deferred revenue grew 25 percent year-over-year to approximately $ 2.57 billion.
Adobe repurchased approximately 1.6 million shares during the quarter, returning $ 301 million of cash to stockholders.

A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided at the end of this press release and on Adobe’s website.

Executive Quotes

“Adobe’s outstanding growth is driven by enabling our customers to be more creative, work smarter and transform their businesses through our relentless focus on delivering innovation and intelligence across our solutions,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO, Adobe.

“Our leadership in the large addressable markets we created, combined with Adobe’s leveraged operating model, contributed to another record quarter in Q1,” said Mark Garrett, executive vice president and CFO, Adobe.

Adobe to Webcast Earnings Conference Call

Adobe will webcast its first quarter fiscal year 2018 earnings conference call today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time from its investor relations website: www.adobe.com/ADBE. Earnings documents, including Adobe management’s prepared conference call remarks with slides, financial targets and an investor datasheet are posted to Adobe’s investor relations website in advance of the conference call for reference. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings results and financial targets is also provided on the website.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those related to customer success, product innovation, business momentum, our addressable market, revenue, annualized recurring revenue, non-operating other expense, tax rate on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, earnings per share on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, and share count, all of which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: failure to develop, acquire, market and offer products and services that meet customer requirements, failure to compete effectively, introduction of new technology, complex sales cycles, risks related to the timing of revenue recognition from our subscription offerings, fluctuations in subscription renewal rates, potential interruptions or delays in hosted services provided by us or third parties, risks associated with cyber-attacks, information security and privacy, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of past or future acquisitions, changes in accounting principles and tax regulations, uncertainty in the financial markets and economic conditions in the countries where we operate, and other various risks associated with being a multinational corporation. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please refer to Adobe’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year 2017 ended Dec. 1, 2017, and Adobe’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q issued in fiscal year 2018.

The financial information set forth in this press release reflects estimates based on information available at this time. These amounts could differ from actual reported amounts stated in Adobe’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for our quarter ended March 2, 2018, which Adobe expects to file in March 2018.

Adobe assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update these forward-looking statements.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

04 Mar

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Although the changes separating the K-1 Mark II from its predecessor are small in number, the new model occupies a big chunk of the Ricoh-Pentax booth at this year’s CP+ show in Japan. We were able not only to get our hands on the camera, but also the company’s upcoming D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW that we’d only previously seen behind glass.

And though we couldn’t save any pictures taken with the camera, we got a chance to quickly try out the maximum ISO value of 819,200 and hand-held Pixel Shift mode – read on to find our impressions.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Ergonomically, the K-1 Mark II is to all intents and purposes identical to the K-1, and the control scheme is identical its predecessor. With a UI that’s well-sorted and an impressive amount of direct controls, this isn’t a bad thing.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Indeed, the only noticeable physical change to the body is the name on the front of the camera, and existing K-1 users that send their cameras in for the $ 550 upgrade will have the new name painted on their older models. Functionally, we’re told that an upgraded K-1 and a factory-fresh K-1 Mark II will be identical.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Thanks to the new ‘accelerator’ in the imaging pipeline, the K-1 Mark II is able to shoot at ISO 819200, which is an increase of two stops compared with the original K-1’s previous maximum value of 204800. As you might expect, the one sample shot we took at this value showed a very high amount of noise, but it’s entirely possible that more moderately high values will show improvement over the original K-1. This is something we’ll be looking at very closely when we get a production K-1 II in for testing.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The really big change for the K-1 II is the hand-held Pixel Shift mode, with the menu option shown here. We did a trial shot with the D FA* 50mm F1.4, and were pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the result – despite shooting at a moderate focal length, there wasn’t any blur from hand-shake to be seen.

Unfortunately, your valuable time is the price your pay for this functionality; while the actual exposures are captured rapidly, the camera takes roughly 20-25 seconds to process the final image, during which time it is effectively locked. Still, we’re impressed by the possibilities of this new Pixel Shift implementation.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

And now, on to the HD Pentax-D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW lens. This is Pentax’s first new prime lens to be developed since the introduction of the K-1 two years ago, and it feels like a really premium piece of kit. The nitty gritty details on the lens are still thin – we still don’t know the optical formula, for instance – but this pre-production model appeared fully functional.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The ‘D FA*’ label designates this as a flagship lens for Pentax, and it certainly feels like it. It’s quite heavy and solid-feeling, but it balances well on the K-1 II thanks to the camera’s good-sized grip.

Focusing is taken care of internally and with a silent motor, and though it isn’t what we’d call ‘lightning fast,’ we would say it’s on par with other manufacturers’ wide-aperture prime lens offerings.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The 50mm F1.4’s ‘WR’ label stands for ‘weather resistant,’ which is made most visible by the bright red gasket on the rear of the lens. Although we don’t know the full extent of the sealing, we’d surmise there are a number of other seals against both dust and moisture incursion throughout the rest of the lens.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Handling on the D FA* 50mm F1.4 is straightforward, with only an autofocus switch and a broad, well-textured manual focus ring. The distance scale is likely to be appreciated by users preferring manual focus, and the lens can focus down to 0.4m or 15.75 inches.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

We’re really excited to get both the new D FA* 50mm F1.4 and the K-1 II into the DPReview offices to see what this combination can do. The K-1 II will be available in April, 2018 for $ 1999.95 body-only.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the new Tamron 70-210mm F4 VC

03 Mar

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

Tamron’s new 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD looks like a really promising lens, offering a more compact and affordable alternative to the company’s existing 70-200mm F2.8 telezoom. We got our hands on one at the CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan – click through for a closer look.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

To start, the 70-210mm F4 VC really is impressively compact, weighing just 859 grams. It balances very well on a Nikon D750, one of the smaller full-frame DSLRs currently on the market, and shouldn’t give you a hand cramp if you haven’t shelled out for your camera’s accessory battery grip.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

As with Tamron’s 70-200mm F2.8, the new F4 version features a two-ring design, with the zoom ring pushed all the way out to the end of the barrel. Whether you prefer this to a zoom ring closer to the camera is a matter of personal preference, of course, but in our brief time with the lens, we found the zoom ring to be just a bit too narrow.

Autofocus speed is perhaps not quite as snappy as Nikon’s 70-200mm F4 offering, but should be plenty fast enough for shooting moving subjects.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

The 70-210mm F4 comes with Tamron’s Vibration Compensation system, offering a claimed four stops of stabilization (per CIPA). If you’re working on a tripod or just happen to have the world’s steadiest hands, the stabilization system can be disabled via a switch on the side. An autofocus / manual focus switch rounds out the lens’ external controls.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

The Tamron 70-210 F4 has a 67mm front filter thread size, as well as a fluorine coating on the front element to better repel water and resist fingerprints.

Including the coated front element, the 70-210mm’s optical construction comprises 20 elements in 14 groups. Three of those elements are low-dispersion, helping to combat axial and transverse chromatic aberration.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

Tamron’s 70-210mm F4 is weather-resistant, with a visible gasket on the rear of the lens and a bevy of additional gaskets at other ‘critical areas.’ Obviously it’s not meant to be submersible, but it should stand up to some light rain in a pinch.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

The included bayonet-style petal hood adds a good bit of length to the 70-210mm F4, but its depth should provide decent flare protection in bright shooting conditions. Tamron is offering a tripod ring as well, but it’s an optional extra.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

If 210mm isn’t quite enough reach for you, the lens is compatible with both Tamron’s 1.4X and 2.0X teleconverters, as well as the TAP-In console for focus calibration.

The Tamron 70-210mm Di VC USD will be available in Nikon and Canon mounts this April for an MSRP of $ 800.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

03 Mar

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

Tokina released two lenses in advance of the CP+ 2018 show in Yokohama, and we had a chance to stop by their booth and get a closer look. First up is a premium 50mm F1.4 prime, the first in a new series of ‘Opera’ lenses designed for high performance on DSLR cameras.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

As you can see, the 50mm F1.4 is fairly large. The build quality is extremely solid, fit and finish is excellent and the focus ring is nicely damped.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

This new lens is just a prototype, and we unfortunately weren’t given any information on the lens’ optical construction or pricing. But the press release does state that the new lens lineup’s name, ‘Opera,’ was chosen because the company hopes to help photographers create photographic works of art.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The 50mm F1.4 Opera features a degree of weather-sealing, including a gasket around the lens mount to help prevent dust and moisture incursion. It’s slated to be available in European and Asian markets in the summer of 2018.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The E-Mount FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF is a different beast altogether. Designed for mirrorless cameras, the 20mm F2 AF is a followup to Tokina’s existing manual focus lens of the same specification.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

Those specifications include 13 lens elements in 11 groups; three of those elements are Super-low Dispersion, and two are aspherical. Despite this, the FíRIN remains compact and lightweight, with a heft of 464 grams. Unfortunately for those that enjoy manual focus, there is no distance scale.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The front of the lens accommodates a bayonet-style hood and 62mm filters. The 20mm F2 AF has a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm, and the closest focus distance is 0.28m or 0.9 feet.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

It’s best to take care when using this lens in inclement weather, as there is no rear gasket nor claims of weather or moisture sealing. Despite this, the FíRIN 20mm F2 looks very promising.

The lens will tentatively be available in Japan by the end of April and the rest of the world in May. Pricing information has yet to be announced.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

03 Mar

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

Nikon has a long history of making cameras for use in outer space. A small exhibition at this year’s CP+ show in Yokohama showcases some of the company’s most famous models.

First up is a Nikon Photomic FTN, adapted for use on the Apollo 15 mission to the moon. Although it looks much like a conventional FTN, this modified version features a thicker body shell, NASA-standard insulation in the battery chamber (electrical fires in space are no joke) and larger, easier to grip controls.

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

The ‘horns’ on the lens enable the main controls to be manipulated easily when wearing thick gloves. Notice also the lack of a leatherette covering on the camera body. The modified FTN also featured internal changes to accommodate the thinner, polyester-based films used for specialist missions.

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

This is another heavily modified F, without a viewfinder. This camera is similar to motordrive-equipped models supplied to NASA for the 1973 Skylab missions. The fatter, easier to grip controls are obvious in this view.

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

The Nikon F was a relatively old camera by the time it was used on the Skylab missions, but NASA didn’t supply any modified F2 bodies – instead jumping straight to the F3 in the early 80s.

This is a ‘small’ F3, with a modified motordrive and high-magnification finder, supplied to astronauts on early space shuttle missions. Compared to the the earlier (and hugely costly) F/FTN conversions, the F3 cameras that Nikon supplied to NASA were much more similar to the standard models available for sale to the general public.

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

This is the ‘big’ F3, also used on space shuttle missions in the 1980s. The bulk film magazine could hold enough film for 250 images before it needed to be reloaded. On earth, this looks like it would be one heavy camera to carry around, but of course that’s less of an issue in zero gravity.

CP+ 2018: Nikon’s space cameras

Skipping forward to (almost) the present day, this is a Nikon D4, shrouded in a special EVA cover – a thermal blanket, designed to protect the camera from the extreme temperature variations experienced during spacewalks. Made from mylar, kevlar, aluminum and no doubt plenty of other advanced materials, each EVA cover reportedly costs around $ 20,000.

To the right of the EVA cover is a D5 – the next camera destined for use in space, by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

03 Mar

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

Venus Optics has been making some very interesting lenses in the past couple of years. and at this year’s CP+ show the company is showing off an innovative ‘magic shift converter’, first announced last summer.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

The magic shift converter fulfills two purposes. It acts as an adapter to allow a Canon or Nikon-mount Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D prime to be used on a full-frame Sony camera, but it also enables a shift movement, to correct for converging verticals.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

Here’s a 12mm F2.8, coupled with the shift converter, with the movement fully shifted. In this position, a photographer would be able to mitigate the common problem of converging vertical lines in architectural and interior shots.

When used with the converter, the 12mm F2.8 becomes a 17mm equivalent, F4.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

The mechanism can be rotated, allowing you to shift +/-10mm in both X and Y axes, without vignetting.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Laowa ‘Magic Shift Converter’

Unlike a simple mount adapter, the shift converter contains five glass elements arranged in four groups, including two extra low refraction elements. According to the manufacturer, using the adapter has a minimal effect on image quality, and the 12mm should retain its ‘zero distortion’ characteristics.

For around $ 300, the Magic Shift Converter is a relatively low-cost upgrade to the 12mm F2.8. zero-D wideangle prime. Despite its relatively low price, build quality is impressively high. What do you think?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

02 Mar

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD is the first third-party standard zoom to be created natively for the Sony FE mount. We’re at the CP+ show in Yokohama, where we got our hands on a prototype.

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

The 28-75mm F2.8 is a completely new design, despite offering the same focal length range and continuous maximum aperture as the older 28-75mm for DSLRs. It was designed from the ground-up to be paired with full-frame mirrorless cameras.

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

As we’d expect from Tamron, it’s a compact, relatively lightweight lens, weighing in at a mere 550g (19.4oz). We’re told that a 24-75mm focal length range was discussed, but the company’s engineers preferred to keep the lens as small and lightweight as possible. To that end, the body of the lens is polycarbonate, rather than metal (which you’ll find in Tamron’s ‘SP’ range of optics).

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

Despite lacking the ‘SP’ designation, Tamron claims that the 28-75mm will offer superb optical performance. It’s also sealed against dust and moisture incursion. In an interview with Tamron’s senior executives, we were told that this lens will form the basis for a new range of lenses in the future, designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras not only from Sony, but also hypothetical future Canon and Nikon models.

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

One significant development in the 28-75mm is a new ‘RXD’ stepper motor for autofocus, which is designed to be near-silent. According to Tamron, this is important for a lens designed from the ground up to be used with mirrorless cameras since compared to DSLRs, they’re better suited to switching between stills and high-quality video capture modes.

CP+ 2018: First look at new Tamron FE-mount 28-75mm F2.8

This shot shows the thin rubber gasket around the lensmount, which should help protect both camera and lens from moisture and dust.

With the new 28-75mm F2.8, Tamron is clearly looking ahead to a future where full-frame mirrorless cameras become the norm. We’re excited to see what it can do, when the lens becomes available later this year. What do you think?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: First Look – Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master

02 Mar

First look: Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master OSS

It exists! Well, under glass, anyway. Sony’s previously announced 400mm F2.8 G Master OSS is here at CP+ 2018 in Yokohama, Japan, and boy, is it big. Really big. But as you can see from the lack of labeling on all those switches, this is still a prototype.

First look: Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master OSS

Now that’s a front element. You won’t be able to screw any filters into the front of this lens, and curiously, unlike other super telephoto primes, it seems that while the Sony 400mm F2.8 will accommodate small drop-in filters in a tray near the lens mount, they’re ‘dropped-in’ sideways (see the first image in this slideshow).

First look: Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master OSS

Although you’re not likely to see many people using this without a monopod, the inclusion of optical image stabilization will still make it easier to frame up your shot from the sidelines.

First look: Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master OSS

Want to know how much the Sony 400mm F2.8 G Master costs, weighs, and how it performs? So do we, but we’re not about to laser-cut our way through that glass case. It looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer to get our hands on a production model, but we’ll be sure to see if Sony can give us any additional details when during a scheduled interview later on in the show. Stay tuned!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

02 Mar

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

The Panasonic Leica DG Vario 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH is the third and final lens in the company’s lineup of high-end variable aperture zooms, which was announced back in CES 2017. Alongside the 8-18mm F2.8-4 and 12-60mm F2.8-4, users have a total equivalent focal range of 16-400mm with this series. As expected, the 50-200mm F2.8-4 has similar styling and design cues to its siblings, and feels every bit as premium as the Leica name would imply.

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

Like the 12-60mm F2.8-4, the 50-200mm F2.8-4 zooms externally via a zoom ring placed closer to the camera body than the focus ring. Even on this pre-production sample, both rings are well-damped, and the all-metal body feels extremely solid.

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

Despite its fairly compact size, the 50-200mm F2.8-4 has a complex optical design. There are 21 elements in 15 groups, which includes two Ultra Extra-low Dispersion lenses (that’s a mouthful), two Extra-low Dispersion lenses and two aspherical lenses.

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

As with the rest of the range, the 50-200mm F2.8-4 is fully weather-resistant. There’s a rubber gasket around the lens mount, and the lens is designed to stand up to inclement weather but is obviously not designed to be submersible in water.

Additionally, the 50-200mm F2.8-4 is compatible with both 1.4X and 2.0X teleconverters from Panasonic, offering either a 560mm or 800mm equivalent maximum focal length, respectively.

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

The Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 comes with optical stabilization and is compatible with newer Panasonic models’ Dual I.S. mode. This means the stabilizer in this lens can work in tandem with the sensor-shift stabilization in camera bodies to further combat hand shake.

CP+ 2018: Hands on with the Panasonic Leica 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH

We’re excited to get a production copy of the 50-200mm F2.8-4 back to the DPReview offices for testing as soon as we can; both the 8-18mm and 12-60mm F2.8-4 lenses have impressed us with the quality of their build as well as the quality of the imagery they produce. To be sure, these are premium-priced lenses, but we also think they feel and perform like premium products should.

The Panasonic Leica DG Vario 50-200mm F2.8-4 ASPH will be available in June for an MSRP of $ 1700.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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