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Our favorite images from 2018’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

28 Oct

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Now in its 54th year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition continues to celebrate photography of the natural world. This year’s winners were selected from over 45,000 entries, with Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten’s portrait of two Qinling golden snub-nosed monkeys taking the top prize. See our favorites from the winning images here, and head to the Natural History Museum’s website to enter the 2019 competition – open to submissions through December 13th, 2018.

The golden couple by Marsel van Oosten, The Netherlands
Grand Title Winner 2018, Animal Portraits

A male Qinling golden snub-nosed monkey rests briefly on a stone seat. He has been joined by a female from his small group. Both are watching intently as an altercation takes place down the valley between the lead males of two other groups in the 50-strong troop. It’s spring in the temperate forest of China’s Qinling Mountains, the only place where these endangered monkeys live.

They spend most of the day foraging in the trees, eating a mix of leaves, buds, seeds, bark and lichen, depending on the season. Though they are accustomed to researchers observing them, they are also constantly on the move, and as Marsel couldn’t swing through the trees, the steep slopes and mountain gorges proved challenging. Whenever he did catch up and if the monkeys were on the ground, the light was seldom right. Also, the only way to show both a male’s beautiful pelage and his striking blue face was to shoot at an angle from the back. That became Marsel’s goal.

It took many days to understand the group’s dynamics and predict what might happen next, but finally his perseverance paid off with this gift of a perfect situation, with a perfect forest backdrop and perfect light filtering through the canopy. A low flash brought out the glow of the male’s golden locks to complete the perfect portrait.

Nikon D810 + Tamron 24–70mm f2.8 lens at 24mm; 1/320 sec at f8; ISO 1600; Nikon SB-910 flash.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Lounging leopard by Skye Meaker, South Africa
Grand Title Winner 2018, 15-17 Years Old

Mathoja was dozing when they finally found her, lying along a low branch of a nyala tree. And she continued to doze all the time they were there, unfazed by the vehicle. ‘She would sleep for a couple of minutes. Then look around briefly. Then fall back to sleep,’ says Skye.

Mathoja’s home is Botswana’s Mashatu Game Reserve, which Skye and his family regularly visit, always hoping to see leopards, though they are notoriously elusive. In Bantu language, Mathoja means ‘the one that walks with a limp’. Skye calls her Limpy. She limps because of an injury as a cub, but otherwise she is now a healthy eight-year-old, and she remains the calmest of leopards around vehicles.

Though she dozed just metres away from Skye, she blended into the background, the morning light was poor, leaves kept blowing across her face, and her eyes were only ever open briefly, making it hard for Skye to compose the shot he was after. Finally, just as she opened her eyes for a second, the overhead branches moved enough to let in a shaft of light that gave a glint to her eyes, helping him to create his memorable portrait.

Canon EOS-1D X + 500mm f4 lens; 1/80 sec at f4; ISO 1250.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Pipe owls by Arshdeep Singh, India
Winner 2018, 10 Years and Under

Huddled together at the opening of an old waste-pipe, two spotted owlets look straight into Arshdeep’s lens. He and his father had been driving out of Kapurthala, a city in the Indian state of Punjab, going on a birding trip, when he saw one of them dive into the pipe. His father didn’t believe what he’d seen but stopped the car and backed up.

It wasn’t long before one of the owlets popped its head out. Guessing this might be a nest site and keen to photograph such an unusual setting, Arshdeep begged to borrow his father’s camera and telephoto lens. Using skills accrued from photographing birds since he was six years old, Arshdeep rested the lens on the car’s open window and waited. He wasn’t at eye level, though. Realizing that if the window was half open, he could place the lens at the right height, he knelt on the seat and waited.

It wasn’t long before the curious owlet – less than 20 centimetres (8 inches) high – put its head out again, closely followed by the larger female. Framing the pair off-centre, and using a shallow depth of field to isolate them from the building behind, he created a characterful portrait of a species that has adapted to urban life.

Nikon D500 + 500mm f4 lens; 1/1600 sec at f4 (-0.7 e/v); ISO 450.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Duck of dreams by Carlos Perez Naval, Spain
Winner 2018, 11-14 Years Old

The long-tailed ducks were the most beautiful Carlos had ever seen. In fact, it had been the sea ducks that he most wanted to see when the family planned their holiday to Norway. They were staying on the Varanger Peninsula, on the northern coast of the Barents Sea. But to get close enough to photograph the ducks meant booking a floating hide in the harbour and an early-morning boat, so he and his mother and father would be in the hide before sunrise, before the ducks flew in to feed.

It was March, and still bitterly cold, and lying on his belly on the floor of the hide, he felt he might gradually freeze. But the discomfort was worth it. As the light broke, the ducks flew in – eider ducks and long-tailed ducks in their breeding plumage. The only sound was the water lapping against the hide as the ducks dived for fish.

He focused on one male that was resting after feeding. An overcast sky muted the dawn light and allowed Carlos to capture the subtle colours of the duck’s plumage, and reflected lights from the village added a golden sparkle to the ripples, caught in a perfect frame.

Nikon D7100 + 200–400mm f4 lens at 400mm; 1/320 sec at f4; ISO 1000.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Bed of seals by Cristobal Serrano, Spain
Winner 2018, Animals in their environment

A small ice floe in the Errera Channel at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula provides barely enough room for a group of crabeater seals to rest, and the cracks are starting to show. It’s the end of summer in the Antarctic, and so sea ice here is in short supply. Crabeater seals are widespread in Antarctica and possibly the most abundant of all seals anywhere. But they are also dependent on sea ice, for resting, breeding, avoiding predators such as killer whales and leopard seals, and accessing feeding areas.

Despite their name, crabeaters are adapted to feed almost exclusively on Antarctic krill, using their interlocking, finely lobed teeth to sieve krill from the water. The krill itself is also dependent on sea ice, which provides winter shelter and food (algae). So any decline in sea ice will have a knock-on effect on such specialist krill predators, as will overfishing of krill.

For the moment, there is no evidence of any decline in crabeaters, though in the vastness of their pack-ice habitat, it is very difficult to estimate their numbers. Positioned in a rubber dinghy in the channel beside the floe, Cristobal waited until the sea was relatively calm before launching his drone.

The batteries would not last long in the cold, so he flew the drone ‘high and smoothly … using low-noise propellers to avoid disturbing the seals’. The picture portrays the group, dozing, with a spattering of krill-coloured seal excrement symbolizing their dependence on Antarctica’s keystone species.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro Plus + 8.8–24mm f2.8–11 lens; 1/200 sec at f5.6; ISO 100.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Blood thirsty by Thomas P Peschak, Germany/South Africa
Winner 2018, Behaviour: Birds

When rations run short on Wolf Island, in the remote northern Galápagos, the sharp-beaked ground finches become vampires. Their sitting targets are Nazca boobies and other large birds on the plateau. Boobies thrive here, nesting among dense cactus thickets and fishing in the surrounding ocean, but the finches have a tougher time. The island has no permanent water and little rainfall.

The finches – among the species that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution – rely on a scant diet of seeds and insects, which regularly dries up. Pecking away at the base of booby flight feathers with their sharp beaks – a trait that may have evolved from feeding on the birds’ parasites – they drink blood to survive.

‘I’ve seen more than half a dozen finches drinking from a single Nazca booby,’ says Tom. Rather than leave and expose their eggs and chicks to the sun, the boobies appear to tolerate the vampires, and the blood loss doesn’t seem to cause permanent harm.

Working on a climate-change story (the Galapagos may offer an early warning of the effects on biodiversity of global changes), Tom had secured a rare permit to land on the island. He made it up the steep cliffs, scrambling over loose rocks to reach the plateau. For maximum impact, he shot the bloody scene at bird’s eye level to capture the one female feeding and another waiting just behind.

Nikon D5 + 16–35mm f4 lens; 1/200 sec at f20; ISO 160; Profoto B1X 500 AirTTL flash.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Kuhirwa mourns her baby by Ricardo Núñez Montero, Spain
Winner 2018, Behaviour: Mammals

Kuhirwa, a young female member of the Nkuringo mountain gorilla family in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, would not give up on her dead baby. What Ricardo first thought to be a bundle of roots turned out to be the tiny corpse. Forced by the low light to work with a wide aperture and a very narrow depth of field, he chose to focus on the body rather than Kuhirwa’s face.

Guides told him that she had given birth during bad weather and that the baby probably died of cold. At first Kuhirwa had cuddled and groomed the body, moving its legs and arms up and down and carrying it piggyback like the other mothers. Weeks later, she started to eat what was left of the corpse, behaviour that the guide had only ever seen once before.

Kuhirwa’s initial reactions to her bereavement echo responses to death seen in other species. From elephants stroking the bones of dead family members to dolphins who try to keep dead companions afloat, there is an abundance of credible evidence that many animals – ranging from primates and cetaceans to cats, dogs, rabbits, horses and some birds – behave in ways that visibly express grief, though individual reactions vary. Kuhirwa’s behaviour can be understood as mourning, without the need to speculate about her thoughts.

Nikon D610 + 70–300mm f4.5–5.6 lens at 185mm; 1/750 sec at f5; ISO 2200.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Desert relic by Jen Guyton by Germany/USA
Winner 2018, Plants and Fungi

The cones of a female welwitschia reach for the skies over the Namib Desert, proffering sweet nectar to insect pollinators. These desert survivors have an extraordinary biology. There are male and female plants, both producing distinctive cones. Each plant comprises just two leaves, a stem base and a tap root. The woody stem stops growing at the apex but widens with age, forming a concave disc, but the two original seedling leaves continue to grow, gradually splitting and fraying.

With a slow growth rate and the largest specimens spanning more than 8 metres (26 feet), some may be 1,000 years old or more (twice that has been claimed). Endemic to Namibia and Angola, welwitschia endures harsh, arid conditions, usually within 150 kilometres (90 miles) of the coast, where its leaves capture moisture from sea fog.

Jen’s challenge was to find a striking way to photograph what can be seen as just a pile of old leaves. After trekking all day over hot sand, scouting widely scattered plants, Jen found one about 1.5 metres (5 feet) across, and with ‘the right shape and lively colours’. It had ripening cones, some with their papery wings ready to detach and carry the seeds away on the wind.

Adopting a low, wide angle to catch the vibrant tones and to display the plant’s architecture against the expansive landscape, she started shooting just as the sun was going down and while a scattering of clouds rolled in and diffused the light.

Canon EOS 7D + Sigma 10–20mm f4–5.6 lens at 10mm; 1/100 sec at f22; ISO 400; Venus Laowa flash; Manfrotto tripod.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Night flight by Michael Patrick O’Neill, USA
Winner 2018, Under Water

On a night dive over deep water – in the Atlantic, far off Florida’s Palm Beach – Michael achieved a long-held goal, to photograph a flying fish so as to convey the speed, motion and beauty of this ‘fantastic creature’.

By day, these fish are almost impossible to approach. Living at the surface, they are potential prey for a great many animals, including tuna, marlin and mackerel. But they have the ability to sprint away from danger, rapidly beating their unevenly forked tails (the lower lobe is longer than the upper one) to build enough speed to soar up and out of the water. Spreading their long, pointed pectoral fins like wings, flying fish can glide for several hundred metres (more than 650 feet).

At night, they are more approachable, moving slowly as they feed on planktonic animals close to the surface. In a calm ocean, Michael was able to get closer and closer to this individual, which became relaxed in his presence. In the pitch black, he tried various camera and light settings, all the while keeping track of both his subject – a mere 13 centimetres (5 inches) long – and his dive boat. The result is his ‘innerspace’ vision of a flying fish.

Nikon D4 + 60mm f2.8 lens; 1/8 sec at f16; ISO 500; Aquatica housing; two Inon Z-220 strobes.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Windsweep by Orlando Fernandez Miranda, Spain
Winner 2018, Earth’s Environments

Standing at the top of a high dune on Namibia’s desert coastline, where mounds of wind-sculpted sand merge with crashing Atlantic waves, Orlando faced a trio of weather elements: a fierce northeasterly wind, warm rays of afternoon sunshine and a dense ocean fog obscuring his view along the remote and desolate Skeleton Coast.

Such eclectic weather is not unusual in this coastal wilderness. It is the result of cool winds from the Benguela Current, which flows northwards from the Cape of Good Hope, mixing with the heat rising from the arid Namib Desert to give rise to thick fog that regularly envelopes the coast. As it spills inland, the moisture from this fog is the life-blood for plants and insects in the dry dunes.

Orlando framed his shot using as a focal point the sharp ridge of sand snaking out in front, ensuring that the sweep of wind-patterned dunes to his right remained in focus, and kept the distant fog?shrouded coast as a mysterious horizon.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 70–200mm f2.8 lens at 110mm; 1/500 sec at f11; ISO 100.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

The vision by Jan van der Greef, The Netherlands
Winner 2018, Black and White

Perfectly balanced, its wings vibrating, its tail opening and closing, with its tiny feet touching the spike for just an instant, an eastern mountaineer hummingbird siphons nectar from the florets of a red-hot-poker plant.

Positioned by the flower, Jan had anticipated the bird’s behaviour. For a number of days he had been stationed in the garden of his hotel in southern Peru, observing hummingbirds. He noticed that an eastern mountaineer – a species found only in Peru, characterized by its long, black-and-white forked tail – would rotate around the red-hot-poker spikes as it fed.

He also saw that, when the bird moved behind a spike and its tail closed for a moment, a beautiful cross appeared. Determining to capture this strange vision, he staked out a spot underneath a single red-hot-poker plant (native to Africa, where it is pollinated by nectar?drinkers such as sunbirds). It proved to be the hummingbird’s preferred garden source of energy-rich nectar.

The low position of his wheelchair allowed him to set the spike against the sky, framing it with a dark surround of bushes. It took two half days to get the perfect shot, setting his camera to capture 14 frames a second, as the cross appeared for just a fraction of a second before its creator, with a burst of power, went on to the next flower on its route.

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II + 500mm f4 lens; 1.4x III extender; 1/5000 sec at f5.6; ISO 4000; Gitzo tripod + Jobu gimbal head.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

The ice pool by Cristobal Serrano, Spain
Winner 2018, Creative Visions

On a cloudy day – perfect for revealing textures of ice – Cristobal scoured the Errera Channel on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The constant current through this relatively calm stretch of water carries icebergs of all shapes and sizes. These mighty chunks of frozen fresh water have broken off (calved) from glaciers, ice shelves or larger icebergs. Their beauty – towering above the water and looming even larger beneath – is familiar, but their impact from above, less so.

Selecting one that looked promising – about 40 metres (130 feet) long and rising up to 14 metres (46 feet) tall) – Cristobal launched his low-noise drone and flew it high over the top, so as not to disturb any wildlife that might be using it for resting. The drone’s fresh perspective revealed an ice carving, whittled by biting winds and polar seas. Warmer air had melted part of the surface to create a clear, heart-shaped pool, within the sweeping curves of ice. The sculpture was set off by the streamlined forms of a few crabeater seals, in dark shades following their summer moult, and simply framed by the deep water.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro Plus + 8.8–24mm f2.8–11 lens; 1/120 sec at f4.5; ISO 100.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Signature tree by Alejandro Prieto, Mexico.
Winner 2018, Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Story

A male jaguar sharpens his claws and scratches his signature into a tree on the edge of his mountain territory in the Sierra de Vallejo in Mexico’s western state of Nayarit. The boundary-post has been chosen with care – the tree has soft bark, allowing for deep scratch marks that are a clear warning, backed by pungent scent, not to trespass.

Alejandro set up his custom-built camera trap some 6 metres (20 feet) up the tree and returned every month to change the batteries. Eight months elapsed before the jaguar eventually returned to this corner of his realm to refresh his mark.

Jaguars need vast territories to have access to enough prey. But in Mexico, habitat is being lost at a rapid rate as forest is cleared for crops or livestock or for urban development, and much of what remains is fragmented. The loss of even a small area of habitat can cut a jaguar highway between one part of a territory and another and isolate the animal to such an extent that it cannot feed itself or find a mate.

Nikon D3300 + Sigma 10–20mm lens; 1/200 sec at f9; ISO 200; home-made waterproof camera box; two Nikon flashes + plexiglas tubes; Trailmaster infrared remote trigger.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners

Dream duel by Michel d’Oultremont, Belgium
Winner 2018, Rising Star Portfolio Award

As storm clouds gathered over the Ardennes forest in Belgium, Michel hid behind a tree under a camouflage net. It was the best spot for viewing any action on the ridge – a place he knew well – but he needed luck for all the elements to come together.

The thrilling sound of two red deer stags, roaring in competition over females, echoed through the trees, but infuriatingly the action was taking place further down the slope. Well matched, neither challenger was giving way, and the contest escalated into a noisy clash of antlers.

For years, Michel had wanted to picture this highlight of the rut in the dramatic light of dusk, but the stags were never in quite the right place at the right time. At last, the stags appeared on the ridge, antlers locked, silhouetted. Michel had time to capture the clash – through branches of the tree to create the atmosphere – before the light faded and he had to leave the fighters, still locked in battle.

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + 400mm f2.8 lens + 2x extender; 1/400 sec at f8; ISO 400; Gitzo tripod + Uniqball head.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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This lens only existed for a minute and was made from a crystal clear iceberg

24 Oct

French photographer and YouTuber Mathieu Stern is known for his look at rare, vintage glass, but his latest lens might just top it all. While on Iceland’s famous “iceberg beach,” Stern fulfilled his dream of shooting photos and videos with a lens made of ice.

“Shooting photos using an ice lens [has been] my dream for almost 2 years. After some research I saw that almost no one ever tried this crazy idea, mainly because it’s hard as hell to find pure ice, and even harder to get a clear image,” says Stern in the video’s description. “So I had the choice to give up on my idea because it was too hard, or to just level up in the craziness […] If it’s hard to find pure ice in my city, maybe I should go where I could find some 10 000 year old pure ice — Iceland’s famous iceberg beach.”

The night before Stern and his friends were supposed to go to the beach, a “huge” storm went through and took all of the icebergs away from shore. So, they waited a few days and eventually went back three days later at 5am in the morning to get a chunk from one of the icebergs that had made its way to shore.

Stern says it took nearly six hours to create a single working ice lens, after four of them had broken inside of the housing. Every iteration, each of which took 45 minutes to make, was done so with the help of a Japanese cocktail ice ball maker, which Stern had hacked to form the piece of iceberg into a half-sphere.

The housing of the lens he created was 3D-printed, which held the continuously-melting piece of ice in place in front of Stern’s camera. As you could imagine, shooting with the lens was less than ideal. The lens lasted only a minute or so after it was completed and trying to focus as it was melting proved to be a challenge.

According to Stern, no cameras were harmed in the making of the video. As to whether or not he was happy with the result, Stern says “This project is a scientific, artistic and poetic project — I never imagined the result would look like the photos that comes from an ultra modern lens, but I was amazed by the strange beauty of the images I made with the first ever 10,000 year old lens.”

You can read Stern’s detailed account on the creation of the lens and see more of his work on his website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Huawei Mate 20 Pro triple cam offers focal lengths from 16 to 80mm

16 Oct
Huawei Mate 20 Pro

Huawei launched its latest flagship smartphone Mate 20 Pro at an event in London today. Like the P20 Pro, the new device comes with a triple-camera setup on the rear but replaces the P20 Pro’s monochrome camera with a super-wide-angle unit, offering the widest range of focal lengths of all current smartphones. Using a combination of optical and digital zoom the new Huawei offers a zoom range from 16 to 270mm equiv.

The 40MP main camera is the same as on the P20 Pro and comes with large 1/1.7″ sensor, F1.8 aperture and 27mm equivalent focal length. The 8MP tele-camera features a F2.4 aperture and 80mm equivalent focal length.

The new super-wide-angle offers a 16mm equivalent focal length and uses a 20MP sensor with F2.2 aperture lens. A minimum focus distance of 2.5cm allows for better macro performance.

Very high ISO values up to 51200 allow for photography in very dark conditions and a new Super HDR mode that fuses 10 frames at Raw level offers improved dynamic range. New AI features include a Portrait Color video mode that isolates human subjects by desaturating the colors around them in real-time. Spotlight Reel identifies clips with a shared theme and auto-generates a highlight montage.

The 24MP front camera support 3D Face Unlock and can also be used for the authorization of mobile payments.

In terms of non-camera specs and features the Huawei Mate 20 Pro offers everything you would expect from a high-end smartphone in 2018. Google’s Android Pie OS is powered by a Kirin 980 chipset and 6GB of RAM. 128GB of built-in memory can be expanded via a new memory card format: Huawei’s new Nano-SD is 45% smaller than a MicroSD card.

The body offers IP86 water and dust protection and houses a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with 3120 x 1440 resolution and very thin bezels. DCI-P3 HDR is supported as well.

Huawei also launched the Mate 20 which comes with a 6.53-inch LCD display and a 12MP main camera but otherwise very similar specs to its top-end cousin. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro will be available from October 16 for approximately $ 1200 (EUR 1049). The Mate 20 is slightly more affordable at approximately $ 1040 (EUR 899).

Huawei Mate 20

A Higher Intelligence: Huawei Unveils HUAWEI Mate 20 Series

LONDON, United Kingdom—October 16, 2018—Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) today unveiled the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series, one of the most highly anticipated smartphone series of the year. Representing a momentous milestone in the history of the HUAWEI Mate Series, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series embodies the pinnacle of innovation.

Designed with the industry’s most powerful and sophisticated process technology, the latest Huawei flagship devices set a new bar by which all 2018 smartphones will be measured.

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series is powered by Huawei’s densest and highest performing system on chip (SoC) to date—the Kirin 980. Manufactured with the advanced 7nm process incorporating the powerful Cortex-A76-based CPU and Mali-G76 GPU, the SoC offers improved performance and an unprecedented smooth user experience. The new 40W HUAWEI SuperCharge, 15W HUAWEI Wireless Quick Charge and large batteries work in tandem to provide users with the best battery life. The Matrix Camera System includes Leica Ultra Wide Angle Lens that lets users not only see wider, but also closer with its new macro distance capability. The Hyper Optical Pattern on the glass back plays with light and shadows, producing an iridescent optical effect that is immediately captivating. The Matrix Camera System adopts the iconic Four-Point Design that exudes personality, giving the device a unique visual identity that is recognizable even at a distance. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series is shipped with the highly customized Android P-based EMUI 9 operating system, on which consumers can enjoy all productivity and entertainment features easily and conveniently with a few simple taps and swipes.

Available in 6.53-inch, 6.39-inch and 7.2-inch sizes, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series encompasses four devices: HUAWEI Mate 20, HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro, HUAWEI Mate 20 X and PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS. “Smartphones are an important entrance to the digital world.

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series is designed to be the best ‘mate’ of consumers, accompanying and empowering them to enjoy a richer, more fulfilled life with their higher intelligence, unparalleled battery lives and powerful camera performance,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG

Ultimate Performance and Battery Life

The SoC at the core of smartphones has a determining factor in a device’s performance and efficiency. Manufactured with the cutting-edge 7nm technology process, the SoC fits 6.9 billion transistors within a die the size of a fingernail. Compared to Kirin 970, the latest chipset is equipped with CPU that is 75 percent more powerful, GPU that is 46 percent more powerful and NPU that is 226 percent more powerful. Furthermore, the efficiency of the components has also been elevated: the CPU is 58 percent more efficient, GPU is 178 percent more efficient, and the NPU is 182 percent more efficient. The Kirin 980 is the world’s first commercial SoC to use the Cortex-A76-based cores. Huawei has

innovatively designed a three-tier architecture that consists of two ultra-large cores, two large cores and four small cores. This grants the CPU the flexibility to allocate the optimal amount of resources to heavy, medium and light tasks for unprecedented levels of efficiency, simultaneously improving the performance of the SoC while enhancing the battery life.

The Kirin 980 is also the industry’s first SoC to be equipped with Dual-NPU, granting it higher On-Device AI processing capability to support any and all AI applications. HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is the world’s first smartphone to support the 4.5G LTE Cat. 21 standard, allowing consumers to experience download speeds of up to 1.4Gbps. It also supports the world’s fastest WiFi connection speeds–2GB footage requires only 10 seconds to download. The top-end flagship also supports dual-band (L1+L5) GPS positioning technology.

The AI GPS Satellite Selection technology enhances the positioning accuracy across a wide range of scenarios. Besides superb performance, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series also features groundbreaking improvement on battery life. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro houses a large, high-density 4200mAh battery, and supports 40W HUAWEI SuperCharge, which gives the device 70 percent charge in 30 minutes. The safety of the technology is certified by TÜV Rheinland.

Moreover, HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro supports 15W HUAWEI Wireless Quick Charge, the industry’s fastest wireless charging solution, and Wireless Reverse Charge, which enables the device to work as a power bank for selected electronic devices supporting wireless charging. The HUAWEI Mate 20 X supports an ultra-large 5000mAh battery, and is equipped with a revolutionary HUAWEI super cool system that uses a combination of graphene film and vapor chamber to deliver outstanding cooling performance. With the cooling system in place, the CPU and GPU embedded in HUAWEI Mate 20 X can remain at full throttle for an extended period of time and deliver the smoothest and most satisfying gaming experience to consumers. The HUAWEI super cool system also marks the first time graphene is utilized to cool smartphones.

Matrix Camera System

Building on the foundation of HUAWEI P20 Series’ camera system, Huawei augmented the HUAWEI Mate 20 with a powerful addition—16mm Leica Ultra Wide Angle Lens. This wider perspective creates a sense of spaciousness and a three dimensional effect to the images. The new camera system also supports macro distance, which produces crisp images of objects that are placed as close as 2.5cm from the lens.

The added ultra-wide angle lens and macro support completes the feature set of the camera system, elevating it to a truly all-round camera that is ready to capture any and all action. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is equipped with a 40MP main camera, a 20MP ultra wideangle camera, and an 8MP telephoto camera.

Together, the trio of lenses supports a wide range of focal lengths (equivalent to the performance of a 16-270mm zoom lens), enabling it to mimic the results from professional cameras. The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series also features an AI Portrait Color video mode. Using AI, the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series can isolate human subjects and desaturate the colors around them to dramatically highlight the person.

AI Spotlight Reel identifies clips with a shared theme and auto-generates a montage, made entirely of highlights. HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro and PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS both support 3D Face Unlock. The solution quickly and securely authenticates users within 0.6s at a false acceptance rate of below 1/1,000,000. Using the 3D Depth Sensing Camera System located at the front, the two devices can accurately read the facial features of a subject and recognize even small details. Besides user authentication, this suite of sensors also enables the portrait beautification effects to be realized in a more natural and effective way.

EMUI 9 Enables a Quality Life

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Series comes with EMUI 9.0, a smart operating system based on Android P. Through AI self-learning algorithms, an integrated and granular resource allocation system, and a highly optimized Android environment, EMUI 9 delivers an “evergreen” experience—it remains smooth even through extended use. EMUI 9.0 incorporates a unified, ergonomic design and a streamlined settings menu.

The new gesture navigation support allows users to effortlessly interact with their devices using just taps and swipes. It also introduces new AI features that enable the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series to perform or enhance a range of tasks from object identification to food calorie counting12 . Using 3D Live Object Modeling, consumers can even create a fun digital avatar to dance or interact with.

As a key pillar supporting Huawei’s all-connected, all-scenario ecosystem, HUAWEI Share 3.0 delivers a revolutionary improvement in device interconnection, allowing users to transfer files between smartphones and PC. This is an innovative, Huawei-proprietary solution that enables device interconnectivity. It revolutionizes the way people transfer images and videos: all it takes is one tap to establish a connection between a smartphone and PC for easy and fast file sharing3 .

Futuristic Design

As an expression of the HUAWEI Mate Series DNA, all devices carry a FullView display with a high screen-to-body ratio. Compactly engineered, every device from the 6.39-inch HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro to the 7.2-inch HUAWEI Mate 20 X can be comfortably used with a single hand. The grace of natural elements is captured on the design of the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series. In particular the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro’s chassis is curved on all eight sides—a marvel to behold, and a pleasure to hold in the hand. For the PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS, Huawei and Porsche Design ingeniously combined race track elements with premium materials to create a device that exudes elegance and offers a firm, ergonomic grip.

The Matrix Camera array on the back of the HUAWEI Mate 20 Series features a four-point design with the three cameras and sensor encircled in a polished metal frame, producing an avant-garde look that is both bold and distinct. The flagship series comes in a new Emerald Green colorway, which is as brilliant as its namesake gemstone. The Hyper Optical Pattern on the glass back uses a complex hairline pattern to produce an iridescent effect that is not only highly durable, but also makes the device easy to grip and fingerprint resistant. The devices retain a clean look even when they have been used extensively.

The new HUAWEI Mate 20 Series, as well as HUAWEI WATCH GT, HUAWEI Band 3 Pro will go on sale in countries including the U.K., France, Italy and United Arab Emirates soon. The HUAWEI Mate 20 (4GB + 128GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR799 and the HUAWEI Mate 20 (6GB + 128GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR849 from 16th October, 2018.

The HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro (6GB + 128GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR1049 from 16th October, 2018. The HUAWEI Mate 20 X (6GB + 128GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR899 from 26th October, 2018. The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS (8GB + 256GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR1695, and the PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS (8GB + 512GB configuration) will have a MSRP of EUR2095 from 16th November, 2018.

Embodying exquisite design, powerful performance, extraordinary capturing capabilities and nextgeneration intelligence, the new HUAWEI Mate 20 Series is the partner of choice for professionals pursuing quality of life. For more information, please visit: http://consumer.huawei.com/en

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Study sheds light on selfie deaths from around the world

06 Oct

A study newly published by the US National Library of Medicine NIH sheds light on deaths that occurred while taking selfies. The team behind the study found a total of 259 selfie-related fatalities had occurred between October 2011 and November 2017 from a total of 137 incidents around the globe. Risky behavior is cited as the primary cause of these tragedies.

The researchers conducted their study “to assess the epidemiology of selfie-related deaths across the globe,” according to the published research paper. Selfie-related deaths were categorized into two “causes” categories: non-risky behavior and risky behavior.

Risky behavior accounted for the majority of deaths, 72.5% of which involved male and 27.5% of which involved female victims. India was found to have the highest number of reported incidents, with Russia, the US, and Pakistan following. Falling, drowning, and transport-related incidents topped the reasons for the deaths.

As well, the study found that male victims were three times more likely to die during selfies due to risky behaviors, whereas non-risky behavior was the primary cause of female selfie-related fatalities. A recent example of such a tragedy involved 26-year-old Chinese “rooftopper” Wu Yongning who died after falling from a skyscraper.

The researchers conclude that regions with tall buildings, bodies of water, and other similar perilous places should be declared “no selfie zones” to help protect people from potential injuries or death.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Over $200K in Leica gear stolen from Scottish camera store Ffordes

02 Oct
Image of the Leica cabinets the equipment was stolen from, provided by Ffordes

Ffordes, a camera store in northern Scotland, was the target of what’s believed to be a professional burglary that’s left the store more than $ 200,000 in missing Leica equipment.

On Wednesday, September 26th, the alarm at Ffordes went off. Both the police and a member of the Fforde team alerted management, who quickly arrived on scene. Upon arriving at the shop, it was clear there had been a break-in. One of the front windows had been broken into and a secondary protection window was also removed. Once inside, it was discovered just how much was stolen.

‘From the CCTV footage, the thieves were very well prepared, not just for removing the safety window units but timing,’ said Fforde manager Alister Bowie, in an email to DPReview. ‘They were in and out in under 10 minutes. They went directly to the cabinets with the most expensive equipment inside [passing two other cabinets], broke the doors down and started filling the bags that they had taken in with them. [They were] all suited up and covered [but some] made mistakes and Police are looking over this at the moment. Out of the 12 shelves they only took from 9 of them — the most expensive items and the easiest to sell — they knew what they were looking for.’

Not only was the burglary quick, it was also meticulously planned. According to Bowie, the burglars had been scoping out the location for week and even went so far as to dismantle the street lights and flood lights outside the building. The vehicle believed to be used as a spotter and getaway car was parked 250 yards down the road. Ffordes says authorities are currently combing through both internal and external security footage in an attempt to find out more information.

Bowie says Ffordes has already submitted all of the information it has to the appropriate authorities and will soon release more details, pictures and videos of the burglary in hopes of catching the perpetrators.

Leica Germany has been notified and currently has all of the items re-registered as stolen. Leica dealers around the globe have also been notified and will be keeping en eye out for the stolen gear.

Ffordes has also started a massive social media campaign in an effort to track down the missing gear. Ffordes ‘honestly believes the equipment would be shipped abroad within 12 hours of it being stolen,’ but still has hope the gear will be recovered. Below is a full list of equipment that was taken, complete with serial numbers for verification.

If there’s a shred of good news in this, it’s that the gear was insured. Bowie says the insurance company is currently working on its own investigation and is expected to settle, albeit for far less than what Ffordes paid for the equipment.

If you have any information about the burglary or come across gear on the list, Ffordes asks that you connect with them via email or phone using information found on its contact page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

02 Oct

It’s easy to feel defeated before you’ve even started when it comes to creating fine art images. A quick search of any of the popular photography sites brings up beautiful and humbling images from the far corners of the world.

However, you don’t need a round-the-world ticket and a six-month career break to shoot beautiful fine art photography. You can do this at home in your living room with minimal expenses if you’re prepared to think a little outside the box!

Physalis color duo - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

What does fine art mean anyway?

Fine art photography is one of those terms that is tricky to pin down. There are two ways that the term “fine art” is usually used so it’s important not to get confused between the two.

The first is usually in the context of museums and galleries. Fine art in European academic traditions is most often used to describe a work that was created primarily for beauty and has no other function. It is the opposite of “applied art” which describes everyday objects (such as ceramics) which have been decorated to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

When people talk about fine art photography though, they tend to be talking about a style of photography rather than a method of production. In this context, it’s usually art that was created for art’s sake. An image that was always designed to be primarily enjoyed for its beauty rather than its subject matter.

Sometimes there are lighting and processing styles that maybe associated with the term “fine art photography” but fashions and trends come and go, even in the world of art!

Physalis colour triptych

For a more in-depth look at fine art photography read: The dPS Ultimate Guide to Fine Art Photography

Flat Perspectives

Flat lay images have been gaining popularity for a while now. If you scroll through Instagram or Pinterest you’ll almost certainly find them in your feed. But most of the flat lay images out there on social media are heavily focussed on creating a real commercial vibe that sells a product or an experience.

Even those photographers not selling anything have often adopted this commercial style for their personal feeds. While there’s nothing wrong with this approach at all, there is room for a different interpretation of this style of an image by creative photographers who want to shoot fine art.

Searching for Inspiration

It’s always a good idea to start with a vision of how your final shots will look. A close study of the detail and texture of an object was the idea that I had in mind for this image. There’s a real trend in interior design right now for groups of artfully curated objects placed creatively on walls and it was this trend that I wanted to explore.

These images are also heavily inspired by the work of Edward Weston over the past few years, someone who has been inspiring me in my work for years.

Weston used photography to explore natural forms. He strived to capture details of the reality around him with real precision. Between 1927-30 he would shoot a portfolio of images based around peppers, shells, and cabbages. Through these images, Weston translated reality into something much more abstracted and Modernism-inspired.

Physalis - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

A trip to the supermarket was in the cards as a homage to Weston’s visionary images of food. I auditioned pomegranates, gnarly heirloom tomatoes, and unusually long, thin peppers. But it was finding a bag of physalis (sometimes also called ground cherries or Chinese Lanterns) on the top shelf that really stoked my imagination.

Shooting Techniques

Lighting is everything when it comes to creating close photographic studies of objects. I am lucky enough to have an east-facing bay window in my studio. Around about early afternoon, it has the most perfect light for shooting really natural looking fine art images. You could create similar images using any large window on a bright overcast day.

Place a background onto your shooting table first – I selected a faux-wooden finish – and then set your camera up on a tripod looking directly down at the table (use a spirit level here if you have one).

If you don’t have a tripod that can flip its central column and tilt it horizontally you’ll want to purchase an accessory arm in order to shoot flat lays. Getting the camera directly above the subject without the tripod’s legs getting in the way is crucial to this style.

Physalis bw triptych - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

Finding the Light

There’s a theory that humans read images in a similar way to how they read written text. For me, because English is my primary language, I read from left to right. That means when I shoot I almost always start with the light coming from the left and the shadows on the right as default.

This way your viewer would be reading the image from the light to dark in the same way that they would read a book. It should feel very natural and easy.

If the light isn’t right for the image then wait until later in the day or even another day altogether. Shooting with available light isn’t always the quickest process but it can be very rewarding. When you’re using available light always have black and white cards on hand to bounce or block the light. Just because it’s not coming from a studio light, doesn’t mean you can’t modify it.

Controlling the Camera, Creating Compositions

One of the best things about the Fuji range of cameras is the iPhone app that goes with them. Although the screen on some cameras, like my Fuji, tilt so that you can see what you’re shooting – when you’re set up for flat lay shots it can still be a little awkward. The app gets around this problem and allows you to see exactly what you’re doing in real time.

Physalis fuji app - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

When you’re shooting overhead flat lay images, a smart thing to do is to connect the phone and camera, start the app, and then place it on the table next to the arrangement of objects (but out of the shot). That way you can watch the scene as you move objects around to get the perfect composition before you push the shutter button.

It’s an extraordinarily useful feature to have the images transmit live so that you can watch them as you work. It really allows you to perfect your styling in a much shorter time than it might otherwise take.

Look for More Images

It was too easy to be content with the first flat lay group of physalis that I shot, but I knew that there were more images to be had of such a beautifully delicate subject. A physalis is quite small so I grabbed my old DSLR and its macro lens and begun the process all over again of finding a shot.

Changing lenses, especially if you shoot with primes, can really help you find another great image if you’re stuck for ideas or you think you’ve already got “the one.”

An even better image emerged – a single lone physalis still encased in its delicate shell! I shot this image by getting myself between the window and the shooting table and placing a black card behind the fruit.

Physalis05

The soft, beautiful light made the semitransparent physalis appear to glow and I knew at once I had shot an image I’d be happy to print large on my wall. Changing your perspective and getting down low or up high can also stimulate new ideas when it comes to shooting the same subject.

color or Black and White?

Physalis bw color - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

I once interviewed a great boudoir photographer who was very candid about why people spent money with her. She said it was because she gave them images that they couldn’t easily create at home – and she did that by color grading every image.

It is relatively easy nowadays with modern cameras and phones to get an image that’s in focus with colors which are true to life. Auto settings will get you pretty close most of the time. In that respect, it’s also much harder to make an image stand out from the crowd.

If everyone can shoot images that look like what’s in front of you then you need to go beyond image selection, focus, and composition to get a truly unique image.

Physalis color lightroom - How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane

On the color images of the physalis the saturation was dropped, and then blues were added to the shadows and a warm tan color to the highlights using the split toning panel in Lightroom.

For the black and whites, I experimented to find settings that created a deep contrast between the subject and the background, adding some clarity and darkening the shadows. For some of the images, the background texture was removed altogether by selectively decreasing the exposure, thereby referencing Edward Weston’s images that are usually shot on dark backgrounds.

Seeing Art Everywhere

With some practice, you can start to see potential in every object to become a subject for a piece of photographic fine art images. Many artists have preoccupied themselves with close studies of the world around them.

Edward Weston, the painters of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, even Michelangelo all produced bodies of work that reflected on reality and how best to translate that into art.

You don’t need expensive trips around the world to exotic places or whole teams of people to create fine art photography. You just need a keen eye, your camera, and your kitchen table.

The post How to Create Fine Art Images from the Mundane appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Roundup: essential news from Photokina 2018

26 Sep

Introduction

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

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

Panasonic and Sigma collaborate on Leica L mount

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

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

Click here for more about the collaboration

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

Panasonic developing S1 and S1R full-frame mirrorless cameras

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

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

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

Click for more details of the Panasonic Lumix S1 and S1R

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

Sigma adopting L mount and building full-frame Foveon

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

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

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

Click here for more information

Fujifilm to hit 100MP

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

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

Click here to read more

Ricoh working on significantly updated GR III

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

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

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

Click here for more about the Ricoh GR III

Fujifilm GFX 50R

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

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

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

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

Click here for more about the GFX 50R

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

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

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

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

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

Sigma lenses

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

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

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

Click here to see Sigma’s forthcoming lenses

*As no one will ever call it.

Hasselblad lenses

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

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

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

Click here for more

Sony announces, err..

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

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

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

Wrap-up

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

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

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

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

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

26 Sep

You may have guessed from my use of the phrase real camera in the title that this article may contain some bias. Everything I write does to some degree, that’s normal. Hopefully, though my experience is helpful to you when you come to think about upgrading.

I want to present some of the pros and cons of upgrading to a real camera from a photographer’s perspective. This article is for you if enjoy using your phone to take photos but feel limited by it. It is also for you if you have a real camera to help answer questions from phone photographers who ask why you use a camera.

My intention here is to share information from my perspective. I am a long-time professional photographer and photography teacher. But I have also recently started taking phone photography more seriously.

Phone and Camera - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

Size Matters

Almost all cameras are bigger than a mobile phone. Phones have the advantage of portability, but this is about the only advantage size has. Let me explain.

Lenses

DSLR Lenses - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

A good camera lens is essential to being able to make good clear photos. If the lens is small and low-quality, you are not going to get the best results.

Lenses on phones are tiny and most often made of plastic or sapphire crystal. Lenses for real cameras are larger and most often made of multiple glass elements.

Light is essential for creating a photograph. Light must first pass through lens, which bends it and focuses it so an image can be captured by the sensor. If there is any distortion in the lens the image quality will be compromised. Good quality larger lenses are more capable of producing sharper, more accurate images.

The range of lenses for cameras is enormous. Even small compact cameras have the capacity to zoom from wide-angle to telephoto optically. When the lens does the work of manipulating the light and sending it to the sensor, the quality is far better. On a phone when you zoom in, the image is just enlarged digitally and the quality suffers dramatically.

Image Sensors

Smart Phone Photo selfie - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

Sensor size is the other main factor in the image quality difference between phones and cameras. By sensor size, I do not mean the megapixel count. Often phones can now have more megapixels than cameras. The actual physical dimensions of the sensor are what make the biggest difference.

A phone sensor is tiny and measures approximately 4.8 x 3.6 mm. There’s no room in a camera to put a larger sensor further away from the lens. Sensor size in cameras varies a lot, but suffice to say they are a lot larger than the ones in phones. Compact cameras have the smallest sensors in cameras which measure approximately 6.2 x 4.6 mm. Currently, the largest sensors in mirrorless and DSLR cameras are 36 x 24 mm (full frame).

Some phones boast huge megapixel counts, similar or larger than some cameras. I would prefer fewer megapixels on a sensor with a larger physical dimension. Squeezing more pixels into a tiny sensor may seem impressive, but it’s not in reality.

If you have the same number of megapixels on a sensor which is physically larger you will have technically higher quality images. To learn more about sensor size and why it’s important, please read this article.

Creative Control

Woman Photographer at the Shopping Mall- Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

Cameras are generally easier to have creative control over the outcome of the photograph. Phones are designed to be easy to use to get a quick snapshot. This is how most people use them. There are many good apps available to enable more manual control of the camera settings on your phone. Some are easier to use than others.

Entry-level cameras are not often any easier to control manually than phone cameras. Higher-end cameras of any type are more user-friendly for photographers who want a higher degree of control.

On cheaper cameras, it’s often necessary to dig into the camera’s menu system to adjust things like exposure and white balance. Higher-end cameras have more external controls so they are easier and quicker to set manually.

Creative Intention

Photographer at an Outdoor Event - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

One of the most significant differences between a phone camera and a real one has nothing to do with the technology. When most people pull out their phone to take a photo it’s for a quick snapshot. The picture may be posted to social media and quickly forgotten about.

Using a real camera requires more focused and creative intention. You are more likely to take time and think creatively when you are taking photos with a camera. This increases the likelihood of producing better photos. For me, taking the time to concentrate on photography is more important than the hardware I use to make the image.

Image Processing and Sharing

Photographer at an Outdoor Event taking a selfie - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

Processing and sharing photos from your phone is much easier than from a real camera. Phones are built for connectivity. The internal image manipulation, either native or in any number of apps, is impressive.

The biggest drawback when post-processing images on your phone, is that they are prone to lose quality. Often this is difficult to detect until the image is viewed on a monitor or you want to have it printed. It is very easy to over sharpen or saturate a photo using an app. It might look good on the screen on your phone, but not printed or on a larger monitor.

With a real camera there’s a certain amount you can tweak an image and share it, but it is not nearly as extensive as it is on a phone. Some cameras have built-in wifi and there are also memory cards with wifi available.

The Best Camera is the One You Have With You

Photographer n the Street taking a shot - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

This is true. You cannot take a photo if your camera is in a bag in the cupboard at home. But you don’t often forget your phone. This makes it a very good camera, because it is right there with you.

Learning to use your phone to do more than taking snapshots will improve the quality of all your photos. Spending money on a real camera that you don’t learn to use properly and leave at home is not going to make you a better photographer.

The biggest downside to phone cameras is the lower quality images they produce. Most of the time this is not relevant as most photos are shared and viewed on mobile devises these days.

bike on a path with a shadow - Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

I processed this image with the Snapseed app on my phone. It looked okay on my phone.

Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera - close up of image above

At 100% on my computer monitor, the deterioration of the image quality caused by processing is obvious.

The things that will keep you from relying too much on your phone for taking pictures are:

  • Lower quality images.
  • Less control over exposure settings.
  • Little ability to effectively zoom.
  • The possibility of getting a stunning image that cannot be enlarged and hang on the wall.

These things do not stop me taking photos with my phone. Currently, I am using it more than ever, but I need to understand my phone camera better so I can teach people to take better photos with theirs. I am particularly interested in experimenting with the panorama mode.

Poi Sang Long Festival Photographer- Pros and Cons of Upgrading from a Phone to a Real Camera

I believe there are still many years left when real cameras will hold their own against phone cameras. How quickly the technology evolves will determine just how long.

If you are a phone photographer I hope this article will tempt you to pick up a real camera. When you learn to use it you will discover the real joy of photography. If you already use a real camera I hope this information will help you better answer questions when people ask why you don’t just use your phone.

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From F to Z: we tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

23 Sep

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

Covering almost 27,000 square meters of floor space, Nikon’s Sendai factory in the T?hoku region North of Japan has been churning out cameras and lenses since 1971. I had the opportunity recently to visit Sendai during events to mark the launch of Nikon’s new Z mount.

This was my second visit to the Sendai facility, and while much has changed since my first trip back in 2007, Nikon’s commitment to security at the factory has not. None of the journalists present on our tour were permitted to take photographs or notes of any kind, and all of the images in this article were supplied – without captions – by Nikon.

As such, you might find that my descriptions of the processes shown in these images are less specific than some of our previous factory tours, but I hope you find this article interesting and illuminating nonetheless.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

Nikon’s Sendai factory opened in 1971, and aside from a brief three-week interruption caused by the earthquake of 2011, it has been operational ever since. Currently home to 352 employees, this facility is where Nikon’s pro-grade D5 is made, along with the new Z7 and the F6: Nikon’s professional film SLR.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

At the heart of any interchangeable lens camera is the mount. Nikon makes body and lens flanges for both the F and Z mount at Sendai, from brass and stainless steel. While professional-grade ILCs (D5/D850/Z7) utilize stainless steel for their mounts for maximum strength, Nikon’s enthusiast range (D500 and below) use brass. Brass is softer and easier to machine than steel, but deforms more easily. This makes it risky for the Z mount, with its short flange-back distance of only 16mm.

On the lens side, Nikon’s low-end consumer zooms use plastic mounts, and all of the rest employ brass.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

After being drilled and milled by automated CNC machines, the mounts are checked. This image shows a new stainless steel Z mount, which features a 55mm inner diameter – much wider than the 1950s-era F-mount, and more able to accommodate ultra wide-aperture lenses. Despite the arrival of the Z-mount, Nikon is at pains to stress that the F-mount isn’t going anywhere, with one executive describing F and Z to me as “two wheels running our business”.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

These are the rear shells of Nikon’s new Z7 – Nikon’s first high-end mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, which is being manufactured here alongside the D5. The Z6 is a little bit further out, and when I visited Sendai last month it had not yet entered mass-production.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

New technologies call for new manufacturing processes, and while much inside the Sendai facility line looked familiar from my last visit, the Z7’s assembly line is very different from the traditional ‘cell’ manufacturing layout of the past.

Previously, an individual worker might complete a limited number of steps (or sometimes just a single step) before passing the camera along to the next of many ‘stations’. These days, a single technician might work on a single component or camera chassis for some time, performing a series of complex steps in parallel with their co-workers before passing it on down the line.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

The technicians’ lives are made easier by new custom jigs, which hold the Z7 chassis securely and allow the camera to be quickly rotated in order for sub-assemblies to be attached to either side. This is quicker (and probably considerably more comfortable over hundreds of actions) than the worker having to rotate the camera in her hands.

Anyone familiar with ‘kaisen’ concepts of continuous process optimization will recognize this focus on improving ergonomics as a way of increasing productivity and consistency.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

Not shown in these pictures is a very neat automatic screw-dispenser, which guides technicians through the type and number of screws required for each step, and the order in which they should be attached. The screws are dispensed from a series of overhead trays and grabbed by the technician using magnetic screwdrivers. LED displays count down the required screws for each sub-process, so that there’s no risk of missing a step.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

This is a stack of printed circuit boards, awaiting incorporation into Z7 bodies. Not shown in any of these images is one of the most visually interesting element of the Z7’s assembly line: large ‘CARL’ (pronounced ‘Carol’) assembly robots, which take care of a lot of the ultra high-precision assembly steps inside sealed assembly units.

CARL stands for ‘computer automated robotic assembly’ and the CARLs themselves look like scaled-down versions of the large robotic arms used in modern car manufacturing. Capable of swapping their own tool heads multiple times when working on a single assembly, the CARLs move quickly and with extraordinary precision – which is precisely the point.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

Inside the Z7 is a newly-developed, Nikon-designed BSI-CMOS sensor that is closely related to the 47MP chip used in the D850. We didn’t see this stage of assembly – presumably because of the more stringent environmental hygiene requirements of any space in which sensor components are processed.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

A sensor and VR unit destined for the Z7, combined on a custom jig.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

The Z7’s shutters are manufactured in-house, and each shutter unit is tested and adjusted individually prior to being incorporated into the camera bodies. Nikon’s shutter testing procedure is an evolution of processes originally designed for the high-precision shutter used in the F4, released thirty years ago.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

The Z7’s high-resolution viewfinder wasn’t even dreamt of when the F4 was released. Here, several EVF units sit in a tray awaiting incorporation into Z7 camera bodies.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

The Z7’s EVF is excellent, thanks in part to the unusual complexity of its optics. The optical unit contains multiple lenses including an aspherical element, and the viewfinder assembly, centering and checking processes that I saw in Sendai were extremely similar to those I’ve seen in modern lens factories.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

Here, physically complete Z7 bodies sit on a carousel awaiting final QC. Once firmware is loaded into the physically-complete cameras, technicians check test images and video footage on every Z7 using the ‘load settings interface’, to make sure that everything plays back as it should on-screen and over HDMI.

Some checks – like that one – are performed on every single Z7 that leaves Sendai, while others (such as environmental or durability tests which might involve deliberately testing parts to destruction) are performed on random samples from the line. Nikon told us that each Z7 is checked more than 100 times during assembly.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

A completed Z7 undergoes a manual check, prior to final testing. As you may have gathered, a lot of manual tests and checks are carried out at Sendai but roughly 76% of the Z7’s manufacturing is automated, compared to 55% for the D5.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

The final testing process (which again, unfortunately, we can’t show you) is one of the most space-age looking parts of the entire Z7 manufacturing line. Finished cameras are placed in carrier frames and ingested into a very large, long, sealed case inside of which are several (Dave Etchells counted 16 and I have no reason to doubt him) mounts on a large panel.

Robotic arms pick up Z7 bodies and present them to the mounts, after which an unspecified number of tests are run, for undisclosed reasons – possibly color response calibration and/or exposure meter baselining. Once the tests are complete, the robotic arms pluck the Z7s from the mounts and out they come, ready to be boxed and shipped.

We tour Nikon’s Sendai factory

I wish I could show you a little more of Nikon’s Sendai factory, but Nikon is understandably very protective over the proprietary processes involved in manufacturing its high-end cameras and lenses. I’m more than happy to respect the company’s wishes here, in exchange for a rare chance to once more see inside the facility.

When I last visited Nikon in Sendai 11 years ago the then-new D3 and D300 were coming off the production lines, but the Z7 is a different beast altogether, and requires a different approach to manufacturing. Despite the increased amount of automation involved in creating the Z7, I was impressed by the sheer number of QC steps that Nikon has inserted into the camera’s assembly. Anyone contemplating investing thousands of dollars into a new camera must be reassured to know that it’s been checked more than 100 times before even making it out of the factory.

For another, very detailed description of our visit to Nikon’s Sendai facilities, I recommend Dave Etchells’ writeup over at imaging-resource.com.

Check out our other recent factory tour articles

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Canikon full-frame mirrorless: What we expected, what we got and where we go from here

19 Sep

It took them a while but Canon and Nikon finally entered the full-frame mirrorless market this summer with the launch of two brand-new lens mounts. Canon’s RF mount is the company’s first 35mm format lens mount since 1987, and Nikon’s new Z mount replaces the almost 60 year-old F-mount, as the company’s main standard going forward.

Including Leica’s SL line (but not its legacy M mount), this makes four full-frame mirrorless systems currently on the market. Of the legacy DSLR makers, Ricoh is now the only company not to offer a mirrorless solution, while Fujifilm, Olympus and Panasonic continue to bypass full-frame, developing their larger (Fujifilm GFX) and smaller-format (APS-C and Four Thirds) mirrorless platforms in favor of developing new mount standards.

Kenji Tanaka of Sony nailed it when he predicted that both Canon and Nikon would enter the full-frame mirrorless market within a year

Back in spring, fresh from the CP+ tradeshow in Japan, I went back through the interviews that we conducted in Yokohama, looking for additional insights and common threads that might indicate where the industry as a whole was heading. One consistent message from almost all of the executives that we spoke to was that more full-frame mirrorless systems were coming, and soon. Kenji Tanaka of Sony nailed it when he predicted that both Canon and Nikon would enter the full-frame mirrorless market within a year. In fact, it would be less than six months from that conversation that the RF and Z mounts were announced.

Read our roundup of executive interviews from CP+ 2018

It’s been obvious for some time that beyond a certain point, mirrors and prisms would become barriers to technical innovation in digital cameras. The question was not if but when that point would be reached. Mr Tanaka again: “If cameras are going to develop, […] manufacturers are going to have to develop mirrorless technologies”. And this makes sense, as sensor technologies are developing far faster than the outdated technologies behind secondary AF and metering sensors or mechanical shutters.

Over the past few years we’ve seen the messaging around mirrorless change from claims of a size and weight advantage compared to DSLRs (which was always a bit of a stretch, once wide-aperture lenses are introduced into the equation) to a more technical argument, based around the inherent benefits of getting rid of that pesky mirror – and that even peskier prism. The four big ones are, in no particular order: more useful viewfinders, faster maximum frame-rates, potential for more advanced (and more accurate) autofocus with intelligent subject recognition, and seamless video integration. Some of those advantages are of course interrelated.

As Canon and Nikon enter the marketplace, Sony’s APS-C and full-frame mirrorless lineups are already very established.

Both Canon and Nikon had been laying the required groundwork for a serious mirrorless system for years, but it was left to the likes of Sony, Olympus and Panasonic (and – lest we forget – Samsung) to really push the limits of what mirrorless cameras could do in actual, shipping, cameras. The headline performance features in cameras like the Sony a6000-series, a7R/a9, Olympus E-M1 II and Samsung NX-1 for example would simply not be possible if they were constrained by traditional DSLR design.

Remember when I said a few months ago that the Nikon 1 System wasn’t dead? Well, it’s definitely dead now

To be fair, the same could be said of the Dual Pixel autofocus system in (say) Canon’s EOS M50, or the rapid capture rates and fast on-sensor AF of the V models in Nikon’s 1-System lineup, but neither the EF-M nor 1-System were ever aimed seriously at enthusiasts or professional photographers. Oh, and remember when I said a few months ago that the Nikon 1 System wasn’t dead, it was just sleeping? Well, it’s definitely dead now.

What’s that you say? Enough of the preamble? You’re starting to think that you already read this article several times already? Fair enough.

In that case, you’ll remember that back then I did something that no sensible technology writer should ever do, and indulged in some light prediction-making. Here’s how things turned out.

Prediction #1: The announcement of 4K-capable full-frame mirrorless cameras from one or both of Canon and Nikon before Photokina.

100% correct. Notwithstanding some debate over whether or not the EOS R is really a capable 4K camera, thanks to its ~1.8X crop and rolling shutter issues. We’re disappointed to see such limited 4K video features in the EOS R, but not completely surprised. The video capabilities of Nikon’s Z6 and Z7 on the other hand did surprise us, and represent a confident step by the company in the direction of becoming a serious manufacturer for enthusiast videographers. Nikon even surprised us by introducing incredibly capable video AF, a compliment reserved up until now for only Canon Dual Pixel AF. Not anymore.

Kenji Tanaka, Senior General Manager of Sony’s Digital Imaging Business Group, pictured in Yokohama for the 2018 CP+ show where he accurately predicted that Canon and Nikon would join Sony in the full-frame mirrorless space within a year.

Prediction #2: Canon will make a relatively simple adapter for EF lenses to its new mount, Nikon will have a more difficult job.

In fact, Canon made three adapters, one a simple EF-RF adapter, and the other two to add a control ring and drop-in CPL/Vari ND filters, respectively. The latter two certainly don’t count as ‘simple’, but Canon’s engineers’ lives were undoubtedly made easier by the fact that EF was already a fully-electronic lensmount.

Nikon meanwhile did face a more difficult task, but actually exceeded my expectations. The FTZ adapter allows full or partial compatibility with a very large number of F-mount lenses, including older lenses with mechanical aperture actuation. Given the challenges of adapting a 60 year-old mount standard to a new mirrorless platform, this is no easy trick to pull off, even if users of many non-AF-S lenses will be disappointed to lose autofocus.

Prediction #3: Nikon might use the open Sony E-mount standard.

Well, I got that one dead wrong, didn’t I? In fact, we’re glad that Nikon didn’t go down this route (which in fact, wiser heads have since told me might not even have been an option in the first place). The Z mount is both wider and offers a shallower flange-back distance compared to E, which has advantages when it comes to adapting lenses from other mounts, as well as potentially for future native Z lens development.

The new Nikon Z mount features an internal mount diameter of 55mm and a very short flange back distance of 16mm.

Prediction #4: Neither Canon nor Nikon will attack the pro market with their initial mirrorless cameras.

I was half-right on this one. Neither company released a truly ‘professional’ model in the same mold as the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II or D5, but the Nikon Z7 is a bit more camera than I expected, and for some photographers (not by any means all) it could replace the excellent D850. Where the Z7 falls down is when it comes to autofocus. Performance doesn’t look like it’s up there with the best 3D tracking implementations in Nikon’s DSLRs, and the UX is very different. Prosumer maybe, but ‘pro’? Not quite.

The Canon EOS R, showing off its single card slot. The Nikon Z7 (which uses XQD media) has been criticized for offering similarly limited redundancy.

Canon meanwhile, bless their hearts, did exactly what we thought they’d do. The EOS R is not the mirrorless 5D IV that a lot of people were hoping for (despite sharing a sensor) and is, in fact, more of a 6D-class product, albeit with some unique features. It would be a mistake to think that the EOS R represents the pinnacle of Canon’s mirrorless ambitions, and we fully expect more pro-oriented cameras to follow it over the next couple of years.

I’ve written elsewhere that the camera I am reminded of most when looking at the EOS R is in fact the 30 year-old EOS 650 – a midrange SLR that nonetheless, had a huge impact on the consumer photography market. And the EOS 650 didn’t even have a single card slot! Can you imagine such a thing?

Prediction #5: A slow build-up of core native lenses will follow the new cameras, and development will ramp up towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Nikon’s Z-mount roadmap shows what the company has in the pipeline for the next couple of years through 2020 – an important year for both Canon and Nikon thanks to the Tokyo Olympics.

Nikon launched the Z system with a small range of what look like excellent, but not exactly flagship lenses, alongside a roadmap that fills out the lineup into – you guessed it – 2020. Nikon’s roadmap contains some much more serious-looking glass, albeit nothing longer than 200mm, for now.

Canon meanwhile has not released a lens roadmap (in fact I don’t think Canon has ever published such a thing) but launched the EOS R alongside a brace of very impressive wide-aperture lenses, including an L-series 28-70mm F2 and 50mm F1.2. Lenses which, going by their size and price alone, are probably not destined to be purchased by many EOS R shooters.

As predictions go, I’d call that a respectable showing, but there’s a lot we don’t know. I’d love to find out, for example, what Canon’s plans are for expanding its RF lens lineup over the next few months, but since Canon doesn’t ‘do’ lens roadmaps we can only guess (and hope). I think we’re all eager, too, to see truly ‘professional’ mirrorless cameras from both Canon and Nikon to compete with the likes of Sony’s sports and action-focused a9.

I’m also curious about the future (assuming there is one) for APS-C mirrorless models from both companies. Canon already has an APS-C mirrorless system, but its decision to develop the RF mount in parallel to its older EF-M standard and without the option for cross-adaptation is interesting, and forecloses the option of a smooth-ish upgrade for existing EF-M customers.

This illustration, from Canon’s white paper on the new RF mount, shows how similar the mount dimensions of the new mount are to the existing EF standard. The big difference is the much shorter flange-back. Canon’s EF-M mount has a shorter flange-back distance and much narrower throat diameter, which means that EF-M lenses are not adaptable to RF. On the plus side, the larger throat and small flange-back distance of the RF mount allows for large rear lens elements, which can both help keep lenses smaller while reducing many optical aberrations.

Of course, Canon’s EF-S lenses can’t be mounted to full-frame EF DSLRs, either, but APS-C photographers have always been told that if they were really smart they could save up for EF lenses then upgrade seamlessly to a full-frame camera later. Canon’s obvious lack of interest in developing new EF-S lenses over the past decade served as a strong hint, in fact, that the company really wanted its APS-C DSLR customers to do exactly that. Canon’s mirrorless customers won’t have the option. Will there ever be an APS-C RF or Z-mount camera? I’m not sure, but there’s no obvious reason why either company couldn’t create a line of APS-C format RF/Z mirrorless cameras in the future.

So what’s next? Another prediction that I made back in spring – and a pretty safe one – is that new mirrorless cameras will be followed by new third-party lenses, for both the new mounts and for Sony’s existing full-frame E-mount.

Tamron’s upcoming 28-75mm F2.8 was the first third-party zoom lens designed natively for full-frame mirrorless cameras. It will not be the last.

With Photokina just around the corner, we’re fully expecting new native E-mount Tamron and Sigma lenses, but it might be a while before either company catches up with the new Canon RF and Nikon Z mounts. Why? Because unlike Sony (but true to form) neither mount is ‘open’. E-mount isn’t open-source (you can’t just download the complete specification from Github, for example), but Sony does provide information to certain third-parties like Sigma and Tamron for those manufacturers to use when developing native E-mount lenses.

In order for those third-party lens manufacturers to offer RF or Z-mount lenses, they’ll have to reverse-engineer the standard. Anyone who remembers the bad old days of the 90s and early 2000s, where third-party lenses for (especially) Canon would routinely stop working when new camera bodies were released, might not be looking forward to this prospect…

But that’s just speculation, not prediction. And its all in the future – for now, let us know what you think of the new Canon RF and Nikon Z mounts in the comments.

Read our complete Canon EOS R launch coverage

Read our complete Nikon Z6/7 launch coverage

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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