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Canon ranked in top five for US patent awards for 33 consecutive years

11 Jan

The Canon Sure Shot Delsol used solar panels on its front cover to power some of the camera’s functions. Solar power drove the AF system, the electro-magnetic shutter unit, film advance and even the flash. A secondary lithium battery was used as a back-up. C1995

Canon has proudly announced it ranked third in the world for the number of patents awarded to it by the US Patents Office during 2018. The company is quite used to being at the top of the table though, and has managed to remain in the top five every year for the last 33 – since 1985. The company also says that it has ranked as the number one Japanese company in the charts for the last 14 years.

Canon explains in a statement that the US is an important market not only for its products but also for its technologies. The company says its innovations ‘serve society’ as they lead to better products, more convenience and improved manufacturing techniques.

It is important to remember the photography is just a part of Canon’s business, but it would be interesting to know what proportion of its 3000+ awarded patents last year came from its photographic operations.

Press release

Canon places top five in U.S. patent rankings for 33 years running and first among Japanese companies for fourteen years running

TOKYO, January 8, 2019—Canon Inc. ranked third for the number of U.S. patents awarded in 2018, becoming the only company in the world to have ranked in the top five for 33 years running, according to the latest ranking of preliminary patent results issued by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. What’s more, Canon once again ranked first among Japanese companies.

Canon actively promotes the globalization of its business and places great value on obtaining patents overseas, carefully adhering to a patent-filing strategy that pursues patents in essential countries and regions while taking into consideration the business strategies and technology and product trends unique to each location. Among these, the United States, with its many high-tech companies and large market scale, represents a particularly important region in terms of business expansion and technology alliances.

Canon promotes the acquisition and application of intellectual property rights, not only for fundamental technologies required for next-generation products, but also such technologies as the wireless communication and image compression technologies shared by next-generation social infrastructure. Canon contributes to the realization of technology that serves society by continuing to provide even better products, greater convenience and by contributing to the development of manufacturing.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview Readers’ Choice Awards 2018: the winners

10 Jan

DPReview Readers’ Choice Awards 2018: the winners

The votes have been tallied and final results are in! After first picking winners in six sub-categories, DPReview readers voted for their top gear of 2018 from a final selection of twelve outstanding lenses and cameras. Without further ado, here are the results of that selection process.

Third place: Nikon Z7

With the third-highest number of votes, the Nikon Z7 earns a place as one of DPR readers’ favorite cameras of the year. It’s easy to see why: while there’s a little room for improvement, the Z7 packs excellent image quality and solid 4K video into a well-built package that’s a pleasure to shoot with.

Find out why it’s Barney’s
Gear of the Year too

Second place: Fujifilm X-T3

Fujifilm impressed a lot of folks with the X-T3 this year, ourselves included. Simply put, it’s one of the best hybrid stills/video cameras we’ve ever tested, and it clearly made an impression on a lot of our readers too as it earned the second-place position in our year-end poll.

Find out why we gave the Fujifilm X-T3 a Gold Award

Winner: Sony a7 III

The third-generation of Sony’s entry-level full framer is a huge leap forward for the system. Autofocus has been improved, with Eye-AF in continuous AF a stand-out feature, and Sony has even tried to make sense of its menus at last. But overall it’s the all-round capability that makes the a7 III so good: it’ll turn its hand to almost anything that’s asked of it, meaning it’s an excellent camera almost regardless of your needs. We’re not surprised so many of you were as impressed as we were.

See how the a7 III stacks up against the Nikon Z6 and Canon EOS R

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Readers’ Choice Awards: voting extended

05 Jan

If you’ve been sleeping on your chance to weigh in on the best photographic product of 2018, we’ve got great news: you have a little extra time. Voting in our final poll – the winner-takes-all – has been extended through Sunday, January 6th. Currently, the Sony a7 III is in the lead by 5 percent of the vote – a healthy but not insurmountable lead over the Fujifilm X-T3. Don’t miss the chance to have your say in the results!

See the winning products from the first round of voting and cast your ballot now

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview TV: the 2018 DPReview Awards

08 Dec

With the launch of full-frame mirrorless systems from two of the industry’s biggest players, it’s safe to say that this was an especially busy year for the camera world. It’s not an easy job picking out the strongest products and innovations in such a year, but we endeavored to do just that for our yearly DPReview Awards. This year, Chris and Jordan joined us to help celebrate what we think is the best gear of the past 365 days.

See all of our award winners and runners-up, and get new episodes of DPReview TV every week by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

Introduction
Compact/Fixed Lens of the Year
Zoom Lens of the Year
Prime Lens of the Year
Video Accessory of the Year
Accessory of the Year
Innovation of the Year
Consumer Stills/Video Hybrid Camera of the Year
Entry Level Camera of the Year
Midrange Camera of the Year
High End Camera of the Year
Smartphone of the Year
Prosumer Drone of the Year
Product of the Year
Outro

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Have your say! 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards open for voting

04 Dec

It’s that time again! This is your opportunity to make your voice heard by voting for your favorite photography products of the year. Polls are currently open in six categories but don’t deliberate too long – they close December 17th.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Our favorite gear, rewarded: DPReview Awards 2018

03 Dec

DPReview Awards 2018

This year was a busy one for DPReview and the camera industry as a whole. 2018 saw the launch of two new full frame mirrorless systems from Canon and Nikon, a brace of excellent lenses, and the development announcement of even more goodies due to be released in early 2019.

With so many great products to choose from, there’s never been a better time to be a photo enthusiast, but the amount of gear out there can be overwhelming. Every year in December we get together as a team to recognize the standout products of the past 12 months in our annual DPReview Awards. Click through the slides above to find out which products made our list of the best gear of 2018!

Best photography accessory

Shortlist:

Adobe Lightroom CC 2.0
Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI
Wandrd Prvke 21L Backpack
Western Digital My Passport Wireless SSD

Runner up: Western Digital My Passport Wireless SSD

Photography accessories come in all shapes and sizes and this year’s shortlist includes four products that are as different as can be. But something they all share is the potential to help streamline the photographic process, whether that means improving the experience of transporting gear from A to B, or simply creating a better way to back up files on the go.

The Western Digital My Passport Wireless SSD falls into the later category. It’s a solid state version of the company’s already popular wireless drive with a shock resistant construction. Core features include a built-in SD 3.0 card reader, USB 3.0 connectivity, Wi-Fi connectivity for reviewing media on a device, a built-in 6,700mAh battery for charging other devices over USB (and to power Wi-Fi), and preview support for Raw files. It’s available in 250gb, 500gb, 1Tb and 2TB capacities.

Read more about the WD MyPassport Wireless SSD

Winner: Wandrd Prvke 21L Backpack

The right camera backpack is a frustratingly elusive thing to find. No bag is going to be perfect for every photographer. But wouldn’t be nice if one came close? Meet the Wandrd Prvke 21L. It might have a weird name (it’s pronounced ‘wandered provoke’), but it’s awesome to use. So awesome, in fact, that it’s our favorite camera backpack on the market and our pick for photographic accessory of the year.

The Wandrd Prvke 21 provides an impressive balance of intelligent, rugged design with outstanding weight distribution and comfort. It’s also incredibly versatile: a roll-top provides an additional 4L of storage and the internal ‘Camera Cube’ can be completely removed. There’s also plenty of external storage pockets and even loops to attach bulky gear, like a sleeping bag, to the bottom of the pack. In short, this bag looks good, handles well, is super versatile and can carry a ton of gear. As such, it’s a worthy winner of our award this year for best photo accessory.

Read our review of the Wandrd Prvke 21L camera backpack

Best video accessory

Shortlist:

Atomos Ninja V
Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 15
DJI Ronin-S
Sigma Cine 28mm / 40mm / 105mm T1.5 FF

Runner up: Atomos Ninja V

Video capabilities continue to improve every year, and it’s common these days to find advanced features such as oversampled 4K, 10-bit recording, and Log gamma profiles on many cameras. While it’s possible to shoot amazing footage with just a camera and a lens, specialized video accessories can make your shoot easier or take your production quality up a notch or two.

The Atomos Ninja V is a tool that lets you take complete advantage of your camera’s video capabilities, some of which may only be fully realized when using an off-camera recorder. With features such as 4K/60p recording, support for Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHR, a 5″ daylight viewable screen, anamorphic de-squeeze, and HDR monitoring there’s a lot to like, and it does so in a compact size that’s a perfect match for DSLR or mirrorless cameras. If you want to squeeze every bit of quality out of your camera’s video, or just have a more enjoyable shooting experience, this is an easy way to do it.

Winner: DJI Ronin-S

It’s easy to get stable video when using a tripod, or even when shooting a relatively simple shot using a camera’s image stabilization, but sometimes the key to great video is camera movement. Unfortunately, that’s where many in-camera or in-lens stabilization systems just aren’t quite good enough for things like run-and-gun documentary or narrative filmmaking.

Enter the DJI Ronin-S. It’s not the first one-handed camera gimbal, but it’s our current favorite thanks to its effective operation and ease of use. Setup is a breeze, thanks to its auto-tune feature for gimbal calibration, and the 3-axis motorized gimbal has some of the strongest motors DJI has ever put in a gimbal, allowing the Ronin-S to compensate for slight changes in balance when using zoom lenses. It’s also possible to save three distinct groups of settings and toggle between them at the press of a button – ideal for filmmakers who need to quickly react to changing conditions.

Other great features include an offset roll axis that’s cleverly designed to avoid blocking the screen while shooting, configuration using a smartphone app, and a 12-hour battery that will outlast your arm. It even supports remote camera operation including remote start/stop and a very precise remote follow focus knob.

Read our DJI Ronin-S review

Best smartphone camera

Shortlist:

Apple iPhone XS
Google Pixel 3
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S9+
Sony Xperia XZ3

Runner up: Google Pixel 3

The Pixel 3 is the first smartphone camera to truly rival traditional dedicated cameras, surpassing 1″-type and rivaling cameras with Four Thirds sensors in ‘Night Sight’ mode.* It does this by improving upon the Pixel 2’s already class-leading HDR+ multi-frame fusion technique, now capturing even more frames and merging them using a super resolution algorithm to extract more detail, reduce noise, and remove the need for demosaicing. A new learning-based white balance approach in this mode also renders pleasing colors even in challenging light.

Portrait Mode has been improved using machine learning to understand a variety of depth cues, rendering the most pleasing subject isolation and blur of any smartphone we’ve tested. ‘Synthetic fill flash’ uses learning-based segmentation to identify and re-light faces. ‘Top Shot’ captures perfect moments you may have missed before hitting the shutter button. The Pixel 3 outputs Raw, but these Raw files have image quality that far surpasses what you’d expect from such a small sensor, since they’re the result of stacking and merging up to 15 rapidly captured frames. To sum up: it’s the best smartphone camera for stills we’ve ever seen.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS

The iPhone XS faced fierce competition from the Google Pixel 3 this year, and from a pure still image quality standpoint the Pixel 3 wins hands down. But the iPhone XS takes the top spot overall thanks to a more rounded feature set that includes class-leading video, reliable AF, wide color capture and HDR display of imagery, plus a range of improvements over the original iPhone X.

New in the XS is a larger image sensor in the main camera for better dynamic range and low light performance, and a refined Portrait Mode. In a snub to traditional cameras, the XS allows you to choose your aperture after you shoot – all the way from F1.4 to F16. Cleverly, Apple has modeled the optical properties of real full-frame portrait lenses to accurately – and attractively – simulate ‘real’ bokeh.

Perhaps the biggest improvement though is Apple’s new ‘Smart HDR’ feature, which takes advantage of the faster processing capabilities of the phone to capture wider dynamic scenes in stills, panoramas, and even in video up to 4K/30p, making the HEVC 4K footage the best we’ve seen from a smartphone. Pair all this with improved contrast on one of the best displays on the market, with accurate color management under the hood so you get the benefits of the wide gamut display without a loss in color accuracy, and you have one of the best smartphones available today.

Best prosumer camera drone

Shortlist:

DJI Mavic 2 Pro
DJI Mavic Air
Parrot ANAFI
Skydio R1

Runner-up: DJI Mavic Air

Drones have quickly become one of the most exciting new areas of photography, allowing anyone to capture stunning photos or video that previously required a helicopter or cable-cam.

The DJI Mavic Air is an ultra-compact, foldable quadcopter that’s small enough to be a true ‘take anywhere’ drone. Its 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor records 4K/30p or 1080/120p video at up to 100 Mbps, captures 12MP Raw photos, and ‘QuickShots’ modes make it easy to get cinematic looking footage even if you’re a beginner. It even includes DJI’s Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS), which uses numerous sensors to detect and go around obstacles so you can continue following your subject.

Winner: DJI Mavic 2 Pro

The Mavic 2 Pro is the model that drone enthusiasts had been asking DJI to create, and in 2018 DJI delivered. It has all the great features of the original Mavic Pro, including a small, foldable form factor, but adds a camera built around a larger 1″-type sensor with Hasselblad branding. It’s the perfect match for the person who values exceptional photo and video quality in a compact package.

The Mavic 2 Pro’s standout features don’t stop with the larger camera, however. It’s capable of recording 4K/30p at up to 100 Mbps, supports both H.264 and H.265 codecs, offers 10-bit recording with DJI’s DLog-M gamma profile, and uses DJI’s OcuSync 2.0 video transmission system for reliable transmission over long distances. It also includes APAS for obstacle avoidance using 10 sensors that provide omnidirectional coverage around the aircraft and numerous intelligent flight modes for cinematic shots.

Best zoom lens

Shortlist:

Canon RF 28-70mm F2
Canon RF 24-105mm F4
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD
Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD

Runner-up: Canon RF 28-70mm F2

A lot of lenses get released every year, and it’s always a challenge to whittle the year’s releases down to a shortlist – let alone to pick a winner. That said, this year several lenses stood out from the pack.

Canon’s impressive RF 28-70mm F2L is perhaps the clearest indication that despite the mid-level positioning of the EOS R, the RF system should be taken seriously by professionals. This durable, weather-sealed lens features super-advanced glass and coatings designed to keep aberrations to a minimum despite its ambitious continuous maximum aperture. The result is a fast zoom that offers stunning image quality throughout its range.

Arguably falling into the category of ‘stunt lens’, the 28-70mm F2 is almost comically large and unbalanced on the R, but it’s clearly designed for a future – more professional – camera. We can’t wait.

See some samples from the
Canon RF 28-70mm F2

Winner: Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD

At the other end of the scale from Canon’s behemoth is the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD. It might not be the widest or fastest (thanks to our runner-up), standard zoom of its kind, but it’s the smallest and lightest, and one of the best nonetheless.

The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD has the distinction of being the first third-party zoom lens designed from scratch to be compatible with Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras. It has seriously impressed us with its optical quality, close-up ability, relatively fast (and silent) autofocus, pleasant handling and excellent value for money. A perfect companion to Sony’s a7 III, we hope that the 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD is the first of many future mirrorless-oriented lenses from Tamron, which has really impressed us in the past couple of years with its range of high-quality Di prime and zoom.

See our sample gallery shot with the
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD

Best prime lens

Shortlist:

Canon RF 50mm F1.2L USM
Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM
Sony FE 400mm F2.8 GM
Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN

Runner-up: Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary

The launch of several new mirrorless systems has helped 2018 become a bumper year for interesting prime lenses. The fact that after a lot of discussion, Canon’s ambitious (and super-sharp) RF 50mm F1.2L just missed out on an award gives a hint of how hotly-contested this category was.

One of the lenses that really caught our eye this year was the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary. The 56mm F1.4 is the third in a set of affordable Sigma F1.4 lenses for Sony’s E-mount and the Micro Four Thirds system, and like the existing 30mm and 16mm lenses, the 56mm makes most sense on the APS-C format, where it’s equivalent to a classic 85mm portrait lens.

The 56mm F1.4 DC DN is small, light and, with an MSRP under $ 500, very sensibly priced. More than this, though, it’s sharp, fast to focus and exhibits pleasant bokeh, as a portrait lens should. In our view this makes it a great addition to the otherwise slightly under-served Sony APS-C E-mount lineup. We only wish it were available for other mirrorless APS-C mounts.

See our Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN
sample gallery

Winner: Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM

We’ve seen a lot of small, OK lenses this year, and a lot of very large, very good lenses, but it’s really nice when we see a manufacturer make a small excellent lens. The Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM is exactly that.

This medium-wide prime lens for Sony’s a7-series and a9 mirrorless cameras (it’s also a useful 36mm F2.1 equivalent on APS-C) is a great example of the lens-maker’s art. Superbly suited to landscape and astrophotography, the 24mm F1.4 is equally useful for low-light candid photography and portraiture. It’s uncannily sharp edge-to-edge wide open with little to no coma, bokeh is smooth, and longitudinal chromatic aberration – that purple and green fringing we loathe on many fast wide primes – is well controlled. Our decision this year was unanimous – the Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM takes the well-deserved top spot in our award for best prime lens of 2018.

Read more about the
Sony FE 24mm F1.4 GM

Best compact/fixed lens camera

Shortlist:

Fujifilm XF10
Nikon Coolpix P1000
Panasonic Lumix DC-LX100 II
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VI

Runner up: Nikon Coolpix P1000

This year was another relatively slow one for compact cameras, but the models in our shortlist all have something special to offer.

Taking the runner-up spot this year is the Nikon Coolpix P1000, distinguished by its wonderfully bonkers lens, which covers an equivalent focal length range of 24-3000mm. This kind of zoom would be useless if the pictures were terrible, but the P1000’s lens is very impressive given its extraordinary range, and capable of everything from sweeping landscapes to sharp lunarscapes, thanks in part to a very effective effective image stabilization system. The bulky Coolpix P1000 might not be the ideal camera for everyone, but it has some unique tricks up its (very long) sleeve.

Read our review of the
Nikon Coolpix P1000

Winner: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VI

Another year, another Sony Cyber-shot RX100-series compact camera. What will it be this time – a faster lens? Better 4K video? Boosted continuous shooting? Well, in fact the RX100 VI offers none of those things compared to its predecessor the RX100 V/A, but instead adds a more versatile 24-200mm zoom to the lineup, which trades brightness (and a built-in ND filter) for extra telephoto reach.

The RX100 VI doesn’t replace the older RX100 V/A, but it does fill a gap in the established RX100-series lineup for a true ‘travel zoom’ camera, offering advanced video and stills features in a compact package, with a versatile zoom lens. Photographers have been asking Sony for a longer zoom in the RX100-series for a long time, and with the RX100 VI, Sony delivered, without compromising too much of what we love about the series as a whole. As such the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI takes our award for best compact / fixed-lens camera of 2018.

Read our review of the
Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI

Best consumer stills/video camera

Shortlist:

Fujifilm X-H1
Fujifilm X-T3
Nikon Z6
Sony Alpha a7 III

Runner up: Nikon Z6

Once the shape of things to come, ‘hybrid’ cameras that offer high-quality video modes alongside stills photography features are now the norm. The new video standard of course is 4K, and all of this year’s shortlisted cameras offer excellent 4K video features alongside 24MP+ stills capture.

Taking the runner-up spot this year is the Nikon Z6 – the companion model to the flagship Z7 in Nikon’s new Z-system lineup. The Z6 offers lower-resolution 24MP stills capture than the 46MP Z7, but cleaner, distortion-free 4K video, and slightly better autofocus sensitivity in low light, too. Coupled with effective in-body stabilization and a supremely adaptable lensmount, the Z6 is a highly attractive camera for hybrid stills and video shooting, and Nikon’s most convincing video camera yet.

Learn more about the
Nikon Z6

Winner: Fujifilm X-T3

Every year, there’s at least one DPReview Awards category where we struggle to reach a unanimous decision. After a lot of discussion we awarded first prize in this category to the Fujifilm X-T3.

At first glance very similar to its direct predecessor the X-T2, this year’s model is in fact a major upgrade, offering a substantially improved set of video and stills features. In fact, despite its lack of IBIS, the 4K/60-capable X-T3 is arguably a better 4K video platform than the nominal video flagship of the X-series, the X-H1. Its ability to capture 4K/60p footage in 10-bit even puts it ahead of the latest models in Panasonic’s video-centric GH series.

All of this is made more impressive by the fact that until quite recently, Fujifilm’s X-series lagged seriously behind its competition in terms of video. The X-T3 is the clearest indication yet that Fujifilm has well and truly joined the game.

Read our review of the Fujifilm X-T3

Best entry-level ILC

Shortlist:

Canon EOS M50
Fujifilm X-T100
Nikon D3500
Olympus PEN E-PL9

Runner-up: Nikon D3500

Entry-level cameras are among the most important products in every manufacturer’s lineup. Once a new photographer has invested in a system, the hope is that they’ll stay loyal, growing their investment in lenses, accessories and – in the future – more advanced cameras.

The Nikon D3500 is a modest upgrade to the last-generation D3400, but it still offers the excellent 24MP sensor of its predecessor, and despite its entry-level positioning the D3500 handles very nicely, thanks in part to a redesigned, deeper grip. For anyone looking for an inexpensive first camera to grow and learn with, the D3500 fits the bill nicely. As such, it takes the runner-up spot in this year’s DPReview Award for best entry-level ILC.

Winner: Canon EOS M50

Canon’s EF-M range occupies an awkward spot in Canon’s current product portfolio – based around the APS-C sensor format, but incompatible with the lenses from Canon’s newer, full-frame RF mirrorless mount. Nevertheless, the best EOS M cameras are really nice to use, and have a lot to offer the beginner and enthusiast photographer alike.

The DSLR-styled EOS M50 is one of the standout cameras in the EF-M lineup, offering an attractive combination of pleasant handling, solid stills photography features, and usable 4K video in a small, lightweight package. As a beginners’ ILC, the M50 is easy to use, powerful, and un-intimidating. As such, it takes the winning spot in our award category this year for best entry-level ILC.

Read our review of the
Canon EOS M50

Best midrange ILC

Shortlist:

Canon EOS R
Fujifilm X-T3
Nikon Z6>
Sony Alpha a7 III

Runner-up: Fujifilm X-T3

This year, the mid-range interchangeable lens camera segment saw a lot of action. All of our shortlisted models are capable of excellent still image quality, and feature a range of powerful features. Three of the four are also capable of superb 4K video capture, making them true ‘hybrid’ cameras of the sort unthinkable just a few years ago.

Runner-up in this competitive category is the Fujifilm X-T3, one of the most impressive cameras released in 2018. Despite its APS-C sensor, the X-T3’s image quality at low and medium ISO sensitivities gives a lot of full-frame cameras a run for their money, and its 4k video features are very competitive. The X-T3 is one of those rare cameras that is better than it probably needed to be, and this is reflected in the fact that it beat out several full-frame models to the runner-up spot in this years’ award for best midrange ILC.

Read our review of the Fujifilm X-T3

Winner: Sony Alpha a7 III

One of the full-frame cameras that the X-T3 has to compete against is one of our favorite cameras released all year – the Sony Alpha a7 III, which takes the winning spot in this year’s DPR Awards category for best mid-range ILC. The a7 III won out thanks to its stabilized full-frame sensor, powerful autofocus system and excellent 4K video features. For anyone looking for a ‘do it all’ camera without spending a lot more money, the a7 III is hard to beat. For these reasons, it takes the top spot in this years’ DPReview award for best midrange ILC.

Read our review of the Sony Alpha a7 III

Best high-end ILC

Shortlist:

Fujifilm GFX 50R
Nikon Z7
Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9

Runner-up: Fujifilm GFX 50R

The high-end ILC category saw some serious innovation this year, from Fujifilm’s slimmed-down medium format GFX 50R to Nikon’s all-new Z7. At the other end of the sensor size scale was the video-centric Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 and the ultra-rugged G9.

This year’s runner-up spot is taken by the camera with the biggest sensor of all – the Fujifilm GFX 50R. Designed for active photographers, the 50R takes the best bits of the more costly 50S – including its most important feature – the excellent 50MP CMOS sensor – and packages them in a smaller, more affordable, rangefinder-style body. Medium-format has never looked more attractive.

Winner: Nikon Z7

The Nikon Z7 marks the beginning of a new era for the stalwart Japanese camera manufacturer, debuting the new full-frame mirrorless Z mount. With a wider diameter than the 1950s-era F-mount and a shorter flange-back, the Z mount is designed to be futureproof, and the enthusiast-oriented Z7 is an appropriately bold camera to kick things off.

In many respects akin to a mirrorless D850, the Z7 offers a proven 46MP sensor, traditional Nikon handling, deep customization and a powerful 4K video feature set with impressive video AF. While stills autofocus could be improved, the Z7 is a formidable camera signaling Nikon’s dedication to the future, and as such it takes the top spot in this year’s DPReview Award for best high-end ILC.

Read our review of the Nikon Z7

DPReview innovation award

Shortlist:

Canon RF 28-70mm F2
Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
Google Pixel 3

Runner-up: Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI

Innovations come in all shapes and sizes, but sometimes the simplest innovation can have the biggest impact on how you make photographs. Take for example the Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI, an on-camera flash that uses a simple technique to demystify the art of bouncing light.

For years, hot shoe flashes have been able to measure distance to subject. Canon’s Speedlite 470EX-AI takes this simple action several steps further. By first measuring the distance to subject, followed by the distance to ceiling, the 470EX-AI can predict the optimal bounce angle and set itself there, automatically. Even cooler, it re-positions itself when switching from portrait to landscape orientation.

Learn more about the Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI

Winner: Google Pixel 3

Every year brings new innovation in the camera industry, and this year was particularly busy with new entrants in the mirrorless and full-frame camera markets, and stellar new optics. Despite this competitive landscape, we unanimously picked the Google Pixel 3 for our ‘Innovation of the Year’ award.

The Pixel 3 is the first smartphone camera to truly challenge traditional cameras from an image quality standpoint, surpassing 1″-type and rivaling cameras with Four Thirds sensors in ‘Night Sight’ mode. It does this by improving upon the Pixel 2’s already class-leading HDR+ multi-frame fusion technique, now capturing up to 15 frames and merging them using a super resolution algorithm to extract more detail, reduce noise, and remove the need for demosaicing altogether. That allows its image quality to rival higher resolution dedicated cameras with Bayer filter arrays, and allows for digital zoom that rivals modest optical zoom modules.

Google is also at the forefront of applying machine learning to photography. This pays off in more accurate white balance, sharper images, as well as ‘real’-looking background blur and subject isolation for the best portraits we’ve seen outside of a dedicated camera. The list goes on, but importantly: these techniques are bringing high quality photography – and videography – to the masses, on unprecedentedly small and convenient devices. This democratization of the art using technology is what garners the Google Pixel 3 our Innovation of the Year award.

DPReview product of the year, 2018

Shortlist:

Fujifilm X-T3
Nikon Z7
Sony Alpha a7 III
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD

Runner-up: Fujifilm X-T3

Picking the single best product of the year is always a difficult task, and if we’re being honest, it’s impossible. Everyone’s needs are different. There has never been a better time to be a photographer, and in 2018 there are fantastic cameras, lenses and accessories out there for everyone.

But pick we must. This year’s shortlist is comprised of those products that represent, in our collective opinion, four of the best bits of gear released in 2018. Two of them really stood out, though. Runner-up is the Fujifilm X-T3 which – in case you didn’t already get the message – we really like. Fujifilm didn’t need to make the X-T3 as good as it is – hell, Fujifilm didn’t even need to replace the X-T2 yet – but they did, and they did. And the resulting camera is one of the best APS-C format ILCs money can buy, even rivaling some full-frame models.

Read our review of the Fujifilm X-T3

Winner: Sony Alpha a7 III

And the winning spot this year is taken by the Sony a7 III. Arguably the best-value full-frame ILC available right now, the a7 III is a superbly versatile camera for both stills and video imaging, at a great price. Other cameras in Sony’s lineup offer higher stills resolution and some nice extras, but the a7 III takes most of the essentials, and packages them inside an attractive, very usable and affordable body. As such, the a7 III is a worthy winner of our most important award – the best product of 2018.

Click here to read our Sony Alpha a7 III

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Sony takes five at the 2018-19 EISA awards

18 Aug

The European Imaging and Sound Association has announced the winners of its 2018-19 awards, with Sony doing particularly well and coming away with five of the eighteen prizes. The Camera of the Year award went to the Sony a7 III, while the a7R III took Professional Mirrorless Camera of the Year and the Cyber-shot RX10 IV bridge camera came away with the award for the best superzoom model.

The prize for the best mirrorless camera went to the Fujifilm X-H1 and the Canon EOS M50 was the recipient of a new award for Best Buy Camera. Nikon’s D850 deservedly won Professional DSLR of the Year so the Canon EOS 6D Mark II took the DSLR title.

Three of the lens awards went to models designed for the Sony system, with the Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GN OSS and FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM being joined by Tamron’s 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD in the mirrorless sector. Canon and Nikon took a DSLR lens award each for the EF 85mm F1.4L IS USM and the Nikkor AF-S 180-400mm F4 TC1.4 FL ED VR, while Tamron and Sigma took Tele Zoom and Zoom awards for their 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD and 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM I Art lenses.

Best Photo Video Camera went to the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5s, the Photo Innovation prize went to the Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI and the 40MP sensor of the Huawei P20 Pro was one of the factors that won it the Best Smartphone award.

We suspect that some readers might be at odds with the decisions made by the EISA Photo Expert Group and will feel that some very good products have been overlooked, so it would be interesting to hear what you all think should have won each award. Remember, EISA only picks products launched in the year up to the end of May 2018.

For more information, and to see all the awards, visit the EISA website.

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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These are the winners of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

21 Apr

2018 Sony World Photography Award Winners Announced

After first revealing the shortlist and later the Open category and National Award winners, the World Photo Organization has finally unveiled the overall winners of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. This includes the coveted Photographer of the Year, Open Photographer of the Year, Youth Photographer of the Year, and Student photographer of the year awards, as well as the 10 winners of the Professional categories.

This year’s winners vary greatly in both style and substance: from stark portraiture, to dreamy landscapes, to an ecologically-minded photo project that sheds light on the problem plastic pollution.

The overall winner and 2018 Photographer of the Year accolade goes to British photographer Alys Tomlinson, whose project Ex-Voto:

The winning work encompasses formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still life images of the ‘ex- votos’ (offerings of religious devotion) found at pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland).

Tomlinson’s project was selected as the best from the 10 Professional category winners, where she also took home top prize in the Discovery category. The title comes with $ 25,000 worth of prize money.

Open Photographer of the Year was awarded to IT specialist and self-taught photographer Vaselin Atanasov for his photograph Early Autumn; Youth Photographer of the Year was earned by 16-year-old Megan Johnson for her image Still; and Student Photographer of the Year went to Canadian student Samuel Bolduc for his series The Burden, shot on behalf of College de Matane, Quebec.

Scroll through the slideshow to see the Overall, Open, Youth, Student, and all 9 remaining Professional category winners, then head over to the World Photo Organization website to see all of the 2018 winners and runners-up.

Press Release

Overall winners revealed for 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

British artist Alys Tomlinson named Photographer of the Year
10 Professional category winners and finalists revealed
Overall Open, Youth and Student winners announced

London, April 19, 2018 – The World Photography Organisation today names the overall winners of the prestigious 2018 Sony World Photography Awards at a London ceremony.

The coveted Photographer of the Year title was presented to British artist Alys Tomlinson for her series Ex-Voto, winning the photographer $ 25,000 (USD). The work was praised by the jury for its beautiful production, technical excellence and sensitive illustration of pilgrimage as a journey of discovery and sacrifice to a greater power.

Tomlinson was selected from the 10 category winners of the Professional competition who were announced today alongside those in 2nd and 3rd place in each Professional category. The overall winners of the Awards’ Open (best single image), Youth and Student Focus competitions were also revealed.

All winners were flown to the London awards ceremony and received Sony digital imaging equipment, publication in the winners’ book and their work will be shown as part of the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient Candida Ho?fer was also at the ceremony to collect her prize.

Produced by the World Photography Organization, 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.

The Awards’ annual London exhibition brings together the best established and emerging talent from around the world, providing winning and shortlisted photographers the opportunity to showcase their work on an international stage.

Photographer of the Year – Alys Tomlinson, British

Ex-Voto is a personal project by London-based photographer Tomlinson (age 43). The winning work encompasses formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still life images of the ‘ex- votos’ (offerings of religious devotion) found at pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland).

The photographer mainly explores themes of environment, belonging and identity. She recently completed an MA (Distinction) in Anthropology of Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage and has been recognized by a number of photography prizes.

Open Photographer of the Year – Vaselin Atanasov, Bulgaria

Selected from 10 category winners as the best single image in the world, Atanasov is recognized for his work Early Autumn and receives a $ 5,000 (USD) prize. An IT specialist, Atanasov is a self-taught photographer who began shooting in 2014. The winning photograph captures autumn in the Central Balkan National Park.

Professional Category Winners and Finalists

From insightful documentation of worldwide cultural and political events to showcasing the natural world, the photographers below were selected by judges as the best series of photographs in the world.

Architecture: Gianmaria Gava, Italian with Buildings
2nd Edgar Martins, Portuguese / 3rd Corentin Fohlen, French
Contemporary Issues: Fredrik Lerneryd, Swedish with Slum Ballet
2nd Margaret Mitchell, British / 3rd Alfio Tommasini, Swiss
Current Affairs & News: Mohd Samsul Mohd Said, Malaysian with Life Inside the Refugee Camp
2nd Luis Henry Agudelo Cano, Colombian / 3rd Rasmus Flindt Pedersen, Danish
Discovery: Alys Tomlinson, British with Ex-Voto
2nd Antonio Gibotta, Italian / 3rd Maria Petrenko, Ukranian
Landscape: Luca Locatelli, Italian with White Gold
2nd Rohan Reilly, Irish / 3rd Tomasz Padlo, Polish
Natural World & Wildlife: Roselena Ramistella, Italian with Deep Land
2nd Mitch Dobrowner, American / 3rd Andrew Quilty, Australian
Sport: Balazs Gardi, Hungarian with Buzkashi
2nd Behnam Sahvi, Iranian / 3rd Matteo Armellini, Italian
Still Life: Edgar Martins, Portuguese with Siloquies and Sililoquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes
2nd Tristan Spinski, American / 3rd Werner Anderson, Norwegian

Youth Photographer of the Year – Megan Johnson, American, Age 16

Open to photographers aged 12-19, Johnson was awarded for her image Still.. Shot on the cliffs near her house in Connecticut, the black and white image captures the complex and intricate solitude the photographer faces in everyday life.

Student Photographer of the Year – Samuel Bolduc, Canadian, Age 20

Bolduc was chosen by the judges from students worldwide for his photographic series The Burden. The work beautifully illustrates the physical burden of plastic waste in the environment to highlight the urgent need to half plastic pollution. Bolduc represented College de Matane, Quebec and has won 30,000 Euros worth of Sony photography equipment for the institution.

Outsanding Contribution to Photography – Candida Höfer

As one of the world’s foremost contemporary photographers, German artist Candida Höfer is renowned for her precise methodology and technique. Her powerful portraits of vast, empty interiors are held in collections around the world. The Awards recognize the artist for her contribution to the medium.

The news of the overall winners joins the March announcement of 2018’s 10 Open competition category winners and 63 National Awards winners, to complete the announcement of 2018’s awards. All winning, shortlisted and commended images can be seen at the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, London from April 20 – May 6th www.worldphoto.org/2018exhibition.

Sony World Photography Awards

The objective of the Sony World Photography Awards is to establish a platform for the continuous development of photographic culture. The Awards do this by recognizing great advancements in photography through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize as well as finding and promoting new talents of the future, whether this be in the Professional, Open, Youth or Student Focus competitions. Sony is committed to supporting global photography. This is demonstrated not only via the Awards, but also by its significant grant program which offers winners of the student competition $ 3,500 USD and professional competition $ 7,000 USD to develop personal projects.

The 2019 Sony World Photography Awards opens for entries 1 June, 2018. All entries are free at www.worldphoto.org.

Photographer of the Year and 1st Place, Discovery

Photo © Alys Tomlinson, United Kingdom, Photographer of the Year and Winner Professional Discovery category, 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Untitled from the series ‘Ex-Voto’

Series Description: A handwritten note neatly folded and hidden in the crevice of a rock, crosses etched onto stone, ribbon carefully wrapped around piles of twigs. These are all offerings of religious devotion, known as ‘Ex-Votos’ and found at Christian pilgrimage sites worldwide. Often placed anonymously and hidden from view, pilgrims leave ex-votos as expressions of hope and gratitude, creating a tangible narrative between faith, person and the landscape.

Taken at the pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland), the project encompasses formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still-lifes of the objects and markers left behind.

Shot on 5×4, large format film, the images evoke a distinct stillness and reflect the mysterious, timeless quality present at these sites of great spiritual contemplation. People and landscape merge as place, memory and history entwine. NB all images untitled and taken in 2016/2017

Open Photographer of the Year

Photo © Veselin Atanasov, Open Photographer of the Year, Open, Landscape & Nature (2018 Open competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

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

Youth Photographer of the Year

Photo © Megan Johnson, United States of America, Youth Photographer of the Year, Youth, Your Environment (2018 Youth competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: This image was shot on October 22, 2017 on the cliffs right near my house. It was taken on an iPhone 7 for the following: life, to me, has more detail in black and white.

The image represents my current state at home and school. Despite having a social group and a caring family, I often find myself alone, left to watch what goes on around me, all the while being caught up in the very center of it. This glimpse through the trees of the figure on the cliff represents the courage it takes to be one’s self in today’s society, and how even when you’re on the inside, you can be pushed out.

Student Photographer of the Year

Series Description: My photographic series for this second brief are staged poetic photographs illustrating people bearing the burden of plastic wastes in the environment. With these images, I want to show the actions we have to take regardless if pollution continues at this speed or not. Through commitment of my characters, I also want to evoke the hope of changes about the accumulation of plastic wastes in the environment. The vast winterly territories reveal the contrast between their magnitude and the small place humankind has.

My creative process was guided by the three guidelines of AIR strategy: Avoid by the awareness of what should be done to counter this pollution, Intercept by the involvement of human in a realistic and durable solution and Redesign by the characters’ collaboration in the production of the staged photographs.

These images were created in the Lower Saint-Lawrence region in Quebec, Canada, in February 2018. The characters represented in the photographs are friends, acquaintances and people from the recycling milieu who agreed to collaborate to this project. At each encounter, I explained the issues of the project and the impacts plastic wastes have on the environment.

1st Place, Architecture

Photo © Gianmaria Gava, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Architecture (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: November 2017. Vienna, Austria. Because the building had the right criteria to be photographed for my project “Buildings”. Shot on tripod.

Series Description: The project Buildings is a research about the archetypical forms of architecture. When functional elements have been removed, the constructions appear as pure geometrical solid shapes. As such, they seem uninhabitable. Nevertheless, these buildings arise questions about the function and accessibility of architecture in both the public and private space.

1st Place, Contemporary Issues

Photo © Fredrik Lerneryd, Sweden, 1st Place, Professional, Contemporary Issues (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Lavenda and Wendy are rushing into the classroom where the ballet is held after changing clothes around the corner of the house

Series Description: Every Wednesday at Spurgeons Academy, a school in the middle of the indecipherable maze of Kibera’s narrow streets and alleys, students take the chairs and benches out of a classroom and sweep the floor. The school uniforms are switched to bright-coloured clothes. When teacher Mike Wamaya enters the classroom, the students get into position and place one hand on the concrete wall as though it were a ballet bar. Classical music plays out of a small portable speaker, and the class begins.

The Ballet class is part of Annos Africa and One Fine Days charity activities in slum areas around Kenya. In Nairobi they work together with two schools in Kibera and one school in Mathare, another slum closer to the city centre. The dance is a way for the children to express themselves and it strengthens their confidence in life, and a belief that they can become something great.

Some of the children are now dancing several days a week in a studio called “Dance center Kenya” in a upper-class area of Nairobi and living in a boarding school, so thanks to their talent they have taken themselves away from the harsh conditions in the slum.

1st Place, Creative

Photo © Florian Ruiz, France, 1st Place, Professional, Creative (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Series Description: In the snowy landscapes of the heights of Fukushima, I have captured the invisible pain of radiation. Inspired by the drawings of Japanese engravings, I hoped to capture the fleeting moments, the ever-shifting perceptions of nature, where radiation accumulates the most.

The title is the measure of contamination of landscapes in becquerel (Bq), a unit that expresses atom disintegration and its mutation’s number per second. By a process of staggered superimpression, I intended to show the atom’s alteration in my pictures. The transparency effects, the broken perspectives give rise to a shape that is in motion, an impermanent world. Then, I created a vibration, a departure from the reality of the subject that reveals the presence of radiation in the image.

The process reinvents and twists the very landscape, leading to a sort of vertigo, a threatening danger hidden behind the purity of the white of the landscapes.

1st Place, Current Affairs & News

Photo © Mohd Samsul Mohd Said , Malaysia, 1st Place, Professional, Current Affairs & News (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Bangladesh military control the situation, as Rohingya refugees wait to receive food aid at the distribution point in Balukhali refugee camp, Bangladesh on September 28, 2017.

Series Description: Ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine state has taken a turn for the worse, where on Aug 25, more than 400 houses were burnt, and within this two weeks, nearly 125,000 Rohingya refugees left Myanmar for Bangladesh.

International organizations have reported claims of human rights violations and summary executions allegedly carried out by the Myanmar army. Now Over 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh since violence erupted in the Rakhine state. This pictures show their life inside the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh

1st Place, Landscape

Photo © Luca Locatelli, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Landscape (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: A view of Torano’s “marble valley” in the Apuan Alps, one of Italy’s most marble-rich area, where the abundance is surreal. What we admire as pristine white stone was born hundreds of millions of years ago in overwhelming darkness. Countless generations of tiny creatures lived, died and drifted slowly to the bottom of a primordial sea, where their bodies were slowly compressed by gravity, layer upon layer, until eventually they all congealed and petrified into the interlocking white crystals we know as marble.

Some eons later, tectonic jostling raised a great spine of mountains in southern Europe. Up went the ancient sea floor. In some places they rise more than 6,000 feet.

Series Description: Rarely has a material so inclined to stay put been wrenched so insistently out of place and carried so far from its source. In Italy’s most marble-rich area, known as the Apuan Alps, the abundance is surreal. Hundreds of quarries have operated there since the days of ancient Rome and Michelangelo sculptured most of his statues from this stone. Now the trade is booming due to the demand in Saudi Arabia and other gulf states.

The photographs of this area’s majestic quarries reveal their own isolated world: beautiful, bizarre and severe. It is a self-contained universe of white, simultaneously industrial and natural.

1st Place, Natural World & Wildlife

Photo © Roselena Ramistella, Italy, 1st Place, Professional, Natural World & Wildlife (2018 Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Luigi a young Sicilian. The economic crisis, high unemployment rate is re-directing young Sicilians from small rural communities back to their lands and working in agriculture. Luigi helps his father cultivate small fields and take care of their farm animals.

There isn’t a day in which he doesn’t dirty his hands to try to save some money to assist his young fiance’, a Romanian national that he met while working in the fields and can now pay for her trip back to Sicily and start a new life together.

Series Description: Deepland is a personal journey that started on May 2016. I traveled on the back of a mule the old Sicilian trails, starting at Nebrodi, passing through the Madonie, Peloritani and all the way to the Sicani Mountains. The mule track is a rural road similar to a trail, but also suitable for the circulation of pack animals. Prior to the development of the modern road network itself, it represented the link and trade route between the towns and the farmland.

Until about fifty years ago, mules had a prominent role in Sicilian country life providing employment and assistance to the local farmers. Due to the economic crisis, many people are moving back to the countryside, especially the young, who have chosen to react to this difficult historical moment by working the land, planting local crops and breeding livestock, creating a new rural economy.

The project is divided into two parts, research of local communities still living in remote areas and the track of a new map, a document of what remains of the old mule tracks, the last update comes back to the 50’s. Ongoing.

1st Place, Portraiture

Photo © Tom Oldham, United Kingdom, 1st Place, Professional, Portraiture (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Colin Anthony, singer, in the back bar From the series ‘The Last of The Crooners’.

Series Description: The Last of The Crooners is a portrait of what was. Long before Gilbert and George made art in the East End of London, in a corner of every pub at weekends you’d find pub singers crooning their way through a set of jazz standards, entertaining audiences all over Hackney and Bethnal Green.

These sharply turned out ladies and gentlemen entertained the throngs—and kept them in the pub. The audience for this form of entertainment has obviously changed over the decades, with only one notable venue still continuing to honour this tradition, with the rigid commitment of consistently hosting guest singers, three times every single weekend for over forty years, The Palm Tree in Bow, E3.

Rich in warmth and familiarity, The Palm Tree is world famous for maintaining its original East End atmosphere despite the impact of gentrification, land value, council pressures and independent pubs generally feeling the pressure of the shifts in habits of its clientele. It is a rich culture, though now sadly remains as a unique and lone stalwart. These really are The Last of The Crooners.

After several years of asking, this family-run pub has finally allowed me access to document the many great characters who still perform here, in a bid to capture this slice of time while it hopefully remains as it always has been—a beautiful and celebrated discovery, cherished by every visitor.

1st Place, Sport

Photo © Balazs Gardi, Hungary, 1st Place, Professional, Sport (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Horsemen fight for a headless calf carcass during a buzkashi match on the day of Nawroz, or Persian New Year, in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan on March 21, 2017.

Series Description: In buzkashi, Afghanistan’s violent and ancient national pastime, riders battle for control of an animal corpse that they carry toward a goal. Sixteen years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban, the sport is dominated by rival warlords who will do anything to maintain power in a turbulent country that once again is up for grabs.

1st Place, Still Life

Photo © Edgar Martins, Portugal, 1st Place, Professional, Still Life (Professional competition), 2018 Sony World Photography Awards

Image Description: Letter of departure written on an academic notebook.

Series Description: Siloquies and Soliloquies was produced at the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF), in Portugal. A significant number of the images produced at the INMLCF depict forensic evidence, such as suicide notes, letters and other objects used in suicides and crimes as well as inherent in the work of the pathologist. The images here included represent a variety of suicide letters written by individuals who took their own lives.

The work explores the tension between revelation and concealment questioning, amongst other things, the ethical implications of representing and divulging sensitive material of this nature. Edgar Martins’ decision to work in the National Institute of Legal Medicine stems from his interest in highlighting the historic and symbolic role of one of the places that, in the context of modernity, institutionalized—through scientific practice and judicial discourse—the representation, analysis and scrutiny of death and the dead body.

In this sense, the incursion of a photographic artist into a place so charged with scientific character (medical, judicial, ideological) necessarily calls on epistemological, psychological and semantic questioning: e.g. what distinguishes a documental image of a corpse or a crime scene from an image that reproduces the staged creation of a mental image of a corpse or a crime scene? What effect do these differences have in the viewer’s imagination? How do the retrospective and prospective horizons appear in the face of these different types of image?

The Suicide tool as Destinerrance proposes to scrutinize the tensions and contradictions inherent in the representation and imagination of death, in particular suicide, and, correlatively, the decisive but deeply paradoxical role that photography—with its epistemological, aesthetic and ethical implications—has played in its perception and intelligibility.

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

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

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

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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