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Tips for Culling Images for Better Results and More Efficiency

30 Sep

The post Tips for Culling Images for Better Results and More Efficiency appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

When it comes to a photographer’s workflow, there is one stage that might be more important than any other. It is the image selection process, also known as the culling stage. This critical stage is the point where you get your images into Lightroom (or other software) and start choosing which to work on.

But while this is the stage where you choose the photos that ultimately end up representing your work as a photographer, without systems in place it can turn into a huge time sink.

So focusing on the process of culling images can help speed up image selection significantly.

Have a system for culling images to help you get to your best results faster. — Being able to quickly whittle down a set of photos is an important skill for any photographer. At 36 images, this is a small set of photos, but the principles are the same whether it’s 36 images or 360.

This article aims to show you why having a good system for image selection can be beneficial to your photography and your portfolio. It will also provide an overview of a basic system that you can start to use in your workflow right away, and it will provide tips on how to use Lightroom’s built-in functionality for this purpose.

Note: My examples here are portraits, but the system applies to just about any genre in photography. There are instances where you might not be able to apply some of these principles and the criteria you apply in different genres will be different, but they are exceptions.

The forest for the trees

Take a moment to imagine that you’ve just finished a big session and imported all the images into Lightroom. Now you may have hundreds of images that you have to sift through to find the ones that you want to work on.

Having a lot of photos from a shoot makes culling images even more important. — When you have hundreds of photos from a shoot all in one place, and test shots, outtakes, and misfires are still included, it can feel like a chore to go through them all.

Without a system for culling images in place, it’s all too easy to find yourself continually scrolling through the same set of images and reviewing the same ones multiple times. This may not be a problem if you only have a handful of frames, but once you get into larger shoots, you can waste a lot of time doing things this way.

Additionally, after going through the same images over and over again, it can also become discouraging. This makes it easy to give up and leave some gems unspotted, which are ultimately relegated to obscurity on your hard drive.

So what type of system can you create?

Using Collection Sets to divide up large shoots into smaller, more manageable chunks is a good place to start.

This is just a small reason why you should consider developing a system for your editing process.

Editing

The image selection process is also known as editing. Now, I know that the word edit (and editing) has come to mean something else in everyday vernacular for photographers. You can call it whatever you want, as I am not one to dictate or prescribe. But as you will be going about image editing in the future, consider thinking about your post-processing workflow in terms of these two job descriptions:

Photo (Picture) Editor: Someone whose job it is to select photos appropriate for the use in question.

Retoucher: Someone whose job it is to alter the appearance of photos and manipulate photos to achieve a final result.

Tools

Lightroom has a huge variety of tools that makes culling images easier. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are a few features that I use regularly:

Fullscreen Mode

Being able to view a single image at a time makes this whole process go more smoothly. It also takes away the distraction of Lightroom’s standard interface on the screen. To enter Fullscreen Mode, select any single image in the Library Module and press the “F” key.

Compare

The Compare feature allows you to look at two images side by side. Although you won’t use this until later in the selection process, it becomes very useful when you are trying to choose between two similar images with minor differences.

To use the Compare feature, select any two images in the Library Module and press the “C” key. To get back to your normal view, press “G.”

Reject

If you follow my process, you are going to use this tool a lot. When you press the “X” key while any image is selected, you flag that image as a reject. This marks the image with a black flag with an “X” in the upper left-hand corner, and it grays the image out in the Library Module. This makes it very easy to see which images you have already reviewed and marked as unsuitable.

Pick

When you are going through your images, you will eventually come across a photo that you love. You’ll know that you want to work on it no matter what.

In this instance, press the “P” key; the image will be flagged as a Pick. A little white flag icon will appear at the top left of the image in Lightroom.

Star ratings

Because you will be going through your images multiple times, you can use the star ratings in Lightroom to mark any images you are unsure of or aren’t able to make a final decision on yet. You can mark them with one to five stars by using the corresponding number key. This makes them clearly labeled when you return to them in the future.

On being ruthless

Before we get into the actual steps of the editing process, there is one thing to discuss. Most everything outlined in this article can be changed up as required, but there is one thing that will be important for you to follow no matter what.

To make this process faster and more efficient, and to ensure that you are only left with your best images, you have to be ruthless. If something is not right about an image, reject it. If you have to think about it for more than a few seconds, reject it. If you have even so much as a niggling doubt, reject it.

Being able to spot obvious flaws will make culling images a fast process. — Being able to quickly recognize obvious faults will allow you to reject images quickly. Overexposure, outtakes, reflections in glasses, cropped body parts, and awkward arm placements are some of the reasons these images were rejected at first glance.

A lot of the wasted time in this part of the workflow comes from hemming and hawing over an image for a length of time when the image doesn’t wind up getting used anyway. Make decisions fast. Be ruthless.

The system

Now that you know the desired end result, you can get started with the actual process of image selection.

The first step is to isolate the set of images you are working on from everything else. There should be no distractions. If you are working on a set from a portrait session where there were multiple outfit changes, separate each outfit into its own folder.

In Lightroom, this is easy. You can create a Collection Set for your shoot, and then create a Collection for every outfit change inside that set. This will keep all of the images from a session in one place, but separated by things like outfit changes or lighting changes.

Criteria

Chances are that you already have preconceived notions of what you don’t like in photos. Whether these ideas come from things you’ve heard from other photographers or opinions you’ve developed yourself, it doesn’t matter. Knowing what these things are is going to help you speed through the process much, much faster.

Technical: Things that fall on the technical side are relatively easy to identify. What you are evaluating for here are things like focus, exposure, the absence of motion blur, etc. When you are going through your images, learn to identify technical faults at a glance.

Culling images is easy when you know what to look for — Technical faults, like reflections in glasses, are easy to spot and make quick decisions on.

Aesthetic: This one is all down to your personal tastes. If you can figure out what you don’t like, then you can spot those things in an instant and rule the photos out of the selection process.

Don’t like when portrait subjects bring their hands to their face? That rules out any photos fitting that description. Don’t like it when catchlights appear in the whites of the eyes? You get where I’m going with this.

The first pass

Once you’ve isolated the images that you’re working on, you can begin the first pass of the culling process.

The only goal here is culling images as fast as possible. Select the first photo in your folder and enter Fullscreen Mode in Lightroom (press “F”). Use the right arrow key to scroll through your images one at a time.

You should have an idea of what isn’t a good photo in your mind. You’re looking for things that fall into that category. Did the flash misfire? Are the eyes partly closed? Is the facial expression not flattering? Is the lighting not quite right? Is the focus off?

If there’s a fault in the image, find it and press “X.”

The second pass

Now that you have completed the first run through your images, you should find that you’ve rejected most of them. The next step is to isolate the images that you haven’t culled from the ones you need to review again.

There are a few ways you can do this. You can create a new Collection and add the images that are to be reviewed. Or you could remove the rejected images from the Collection you are working in.

Sorting options will help you when culling images. — Using the sorting options on the bottom toolbar, you can sort by Pick. This will put all of your rejects at the bottom of the catalog, making it easy to go through for the second pass.

You could also use the sorting options on the bottom toolbar in the Library Module. This will put any rejected images at the end of the gallery. From there, you can select all of the unflagged images and enter Fullscreen Mode again. As you cycle through the images a second time, you’ll first see the shots you have selected.

For this pass, you are trying to achieve the same thing as the first: to reject as many images as possible. This time it will take longer, as these are images that you have already decided don’t have any immediate faults. Feel free to take extra time and have a careful look over the images. Just remember that you are still not picking any photos yet, merely getting rid of the ones that aren’t suitable.

You can repeat this stage as many times as you need in order to narrow down your Collection to the few best images. For the sake of brevity, we’ll move directly on to the next stage and assume you’ve narrowed your images down as much as possible.

The third pass

At this point, you should have a much smaller group of images to work with.

(If you still have a lot of photos, go back and be more ruthless.)

You can now go through and start making your final selections. It should be a lot easier now that you have a much smaller pool to go through. Use the Pick flags or star ratings to indicate the photos you want to work on and reject any photos that still need rejecting.

At the end of your culling sessions, you should have a concise selection of images that reflect the best shots from a particular set.

How many should you aim for?

If you’re wondering how many images you should aim to have left once this is all over, the answer is: it depends.

The number of final images is going to vary wildly depending on how you shoot and what you are shooting for. For example, if I am shooting for myself, I will be looking for one or two images per set. That set may start with 10 photos in it. It may start with 100. I am still only looking for one or two.

If I’m doing a short portrait session for a client, I might end up with 15-20 proofs to present. If I was photographing an event, I would go through and get rid of the obvious rejects and keep everything that was left.

culling images example photo — Canon 5D Mark III | Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 | 85mm | 1/2000 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 200

There is no right answer. Only you can answer how many images you need in the end. This whole process of culling images is there to get you to those final photos faster, rather than get you to a certain number.

Keeping it basic

The tools and the process outlined in this article are very basic. It’s how I do it and it’s like that for a reason. The process is uncomfortable and forces you, for a little while, to focus on your mistakes.

When I am culling images, I want it completed as soon as possible, and I don’t want my tools to get in the way of the process. That said, Lightroom has a whole host of other features that could be used in the culling process. By all means, use them if they suit you. It doesn’t matter how you get the job done as long as you get it done.

Conclusion

I know that this can be a difficult process. You have a catalog of images on the screen that you created and poured all kinds of effort into. You just want to look through them and feel good about the photos you’ve made. You don’t want to jump in and start finding faults with 90% of them. I understand. I’m the same.

However, as disheartening as it feels at first, once you start culling images and the best images from a shoot start showing themselves (usually after a short while), that allows you to focus only on the best.

Trust me: The images that you cut get quickly forgotten, anyway. It’s best to be done with them fast; that way you can focus the rest of your time and effort on the images that will benefit you and your portfolio.

The post Tips for Culling Images for Better Results and More Efficiency appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

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Canon Q2 financial results: Camera division still profiting, but down 93.9% year-over-year

31 Jul

Canon has published its second-quarter (Q2) financial results, which covers from the beginning April 2020 through the end of June 2020, and, as you would expect in these difficult times, the camera division isn’t looking all that great.

Canon made it clear in its first quarter (Q1) results that things would get worse before they got better; and Q2 numbers are the first concrete evidence of just how much the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the camera division in an already-declining market.

Across all of its divisions, Canon reported a loss of ¥8.8 billion ($ 83.3M), marking the first time in its 82 year history the company has been in the red on a quarterly basis. Canon says in its investor presentation that the ‘impact of global economic stagnation [due to the COVID-19 pandemic] was inevitable as we faced rapid drops in actual demand in various businesses and were confronted with limited business activity.’

As for the imaging division, Canon reported net sales of ¥141.7B ($ 1.35B) and an operating profit of just ¥800M ($ 7.65M). While seeing any operating profit is good news in this environment, the numbers are still a stark contrast to Q2 2019. Net sales were down 30.8% and operating profit was down 93.9% year-over-year (YoY).

In the Imaging System breakdown, Canon attributes the decline in net sales to there being ‘fewer image capturing opportunities, such as travel and other events.’ due to COVID-19. Canon says it ‘will take time for sales to recover as cameras are considered a luxury item,’ but it’s projecting the entire market to be down 40% to just 5.4M units and its own unit sales down by the same proportion, to 2.5M.

In addition to Canon elaborating on its cameras being used as webcams for video conferencing and communication, Canon also says it plans to ‘enhance’ its concept camera initiative, with new models expected to be out before the end of the year.

Despite the big fall in Q2, Canon is expecting operating profit to only fall 66% for the full year, and sales by value only 20%. This suggests it expects models such as the R5 and R6 to make up for some of the poor Q2 performance. The company says these models and the RF lenses will ‘solidify our position in the full-frame camera market.’

Compared to Canon’s end-of-2019 projections, which anticipated total sales of ¥787B and an operating profit of ¥53.7 for the 2020 fiscal year, its new Q2 2020 projection for total sales of ¥643.9B and operating profit of ¥16.1B is a drop of 19% and 70%, respectively.

As for how it intends to handle the direction of its camera division post-COVID-19, Canon says it will ‘accelerate measures to streamline operations’ and ‘expand business areas that utilize optical technology.’ Specifically, Canon says it will ‘work to facilitate our aim of switching business domains, leveraging the optical technology we have cultivated so far, and reallocating resources to new fields such as automobiles and industrial-use sensors.’

Although acknowledging that the camera market has declined faster than anticipated (pre-COVID-19), Canon emphasizes that its position – that ‘sooner or later the market will settle down and consist solely of users that are particular about imaging’– has not changed.

Summed up, the numbers are down across the board, but they aren’t all that surprising considering the current state of the camera (and global) market. Canon expects to further expand the use of its sensor and optics technology to industrial and automotive use, but still plans to streamline its operations to make the most of its ILC and compact camera products.

You can read all of the financial results by visiting Canon’s investor relations webpage.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon’s FY2020 financial results: ¥225.8B in revenue, ¥17.1B loss in operating profit for Imaging Products Business

29 May

As it promised when it initially pushed back the release date, Nikon has released the financial results today for its 2020 fiscal year (FY2020), ending March 31, 2020, as well as its forecast for its 2021 fiscal year (FY2021).

Overall, Nikon Corporation recorded ¥591B in revenue and ¥6.7B in operating profit. These numbers align with what Nikon’s updated forecast suspected and are a decrease of ¥117.6B and ¥75.9B, respectively, year-over-year (YOY).

An overview of Nikon’s revenue, operating profit and more for FY2020.

Interestingly, Nikon attempts to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its report saying it believes the pandemic has caused 10 billion yen in operating profit losses. Specifically, Nikon attributes ‘approximately 4 billion yen’ of that loss to its Imaging Products division ‘Due to product mix change by [the] suspension of distributors mainly selling mid- and high-end cameras, and delay of launch in main products including professional use products by stagnation of the supply chain.’

Diving specifically into its Imaging Products Business, Nikon recorded ¥225.8B in revenue and a loss of ¥17.1B in operating profit. These numbers are both worse than Nikon’s February 2020 forecast and are a decrease of ¥70.3B and ¥39.1B, respectively. The documents reveal Nikon sold 1.62 million interchangeable lens camera (ILC) units and 2.65 million interchangeable lens units, with just 840,000 compact digital cameras sold. These unit numbers are a decrease of 21.4%, 16.4% and 47.5%, respectively, YOY.

Nikon’s breakdown of the FY2020 results for its Imaging Products Business.

In notes on the revenue of its Imaging Products Business, Nikon says revenues were ‘progressing mostly in line with previous forecasts until the middle of February,’ when the COVID-19 started to wreak havoc on the supply chain and retailers. Nikon again reiterates that it’s had to delay new product launches ‘such as high-end DSLR cameras and [mirrorless lenses]’ due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is referencing the delay of Nikon D6 shipments and suggests the Nikkor Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S zoom delay back in January could’ve been due to COVID-19 complications as well, even though at the time Nikon said it was caused by ‘production reasons.’ Nikon also notes sales of its Z-series mirrorless cameras and Z-series lenses have increased, and that the volume/sales ratio of mid-range and high-end cameras ‘improved steadily’ YOY.

Additional comments under the ‘Operating Profit’ headline note Nikon incurred ¥2.7B in restructuring costs and posted ¥6.6B in fixed asset impairment losses, which were detailed in its statement earlier this month.

As for FY2021, Nikon doesn’t share too much information, saying performance forecast details will ‘be disclosed once reasonable estimation can be given as the impact of COVID-19 is uncertain.’ Numbers aside, Nikon notes sales for its imaging Products Business ‘decreased significantly YOY’ in April and May of this year and notes that ‘the business of luxury goods is expected to continue in a severe business environment for the time being, and the deficit for the second consecutive fiscal year is inevitable.’

The executive summary section of the report details how Nikon plans to approach its various divisions in the upcoming year.

Under the executive headline, Nikon says its strategy for the Imaging Products Business is to ‘rebuild business with an understanding of accelerating market shrinkige [and] aim to achieve early profitability.’ In other words, Nikon plans to optimize its Imaging Products Division to get ahead of the quickly-shrinking camera market by restricting and minimizing costs.

You can find all of the latest financial results and presentation materials referenced above on Nikon’s investor relations website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon, Olympus postpone upcoming financial results, citing COVID-19 challenges

27 Apr

Both Nikon and Olympus have announced the companies will be postponing the announcements of their most recent financial results, both of which were originally scheduled to be announced in mid-May.

In a press release on its website, Nikon explains the rationale for postponing the results of its fiscal year ending at the close of March 2020, which were set to be released on May 12, 2020. Nikon says the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders have made it difficult to follow the accounting procedures within the company, which includes auditing the numbers to ensure accurate reporting. As a result, Nikon has pushed back the financial results release date to May 28, 2020.

Olympus, too, has announced it will be postponing its financial results for its fiscal year ending at the close of March 2020. Like Nikon, Olympus says the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the timeliness of the results, saying ‘it is difficult to proceed with the scheduled accounting procedures implemented by the Company and its domestic and overseas affiliates as scheduled.’ Instead of an early May release, Olympus says it will release the latest results on May 29, 2020, just one day after Nikon.

We could theorize other reasons the companies may be pushing back the results, but the truth of the matter is auditing the financials of a multi-national operation is an intensive task; one made very difficult when non-essential employees are being ordered to work from home to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus. That said, it’s unlikely to be good news if Canon’s most recent financial report is anything to go by.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Is This the Best Camera Gear of 2020? Tipa Awards Results

21 Apr

The post Is This the Best Camera Gear of 2020? Tipa Awards Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has just announced its 2020 TIPA World Award results, which seeks to recognize the best photography-related gear of 2020.

The winners include a mix of cameras, lenses, post-processing software, tripods, flashes, and more, all honored in categories tailored to 2020 photography interests and needs.

Awards were determined by representatives of TIPA’s member magazines. Note that TIPA magazines are a diverse collection of imaging-related publications from across the globe, including:

Camera Australia
Practical Photography
Luminous Landscapes
Photo Life

While TIPA awards are normally determined by an in-person body of magazine representatives, this year’s judging process proceeded differently (due to COVID-19 concerns). Instead of taking place in a Las Vegas assembly, voting was done online.

The TIPA chairperson explained:

We believe that now more than ever our support of the industry and the people who work so hard, be it in production, distribution, or marketing, deserve credit and our thanks and appreciation for their efforts to continue to develop new and exciting products and grow into the future. Of course, while the process of nomination and selection of award winners had to adapt to the circumstances, we maintained our usual rigorous standards in our considerations.

Read on to discover TIPA’s choices for the best camera gear of 2020.

You’ll probably notice quite a few familiar products. But you may also notice some new ones worth checking out.

And then, when you’re done, leave your thoughts in the comments section. Let us know how you feel about the winners!

Do you agree? Disagree? Are there any cameras, lenses, or additional gear that you’d like to have seen on the list? And what is your favorite camera, lens, photo editing software, and accessory of 2020?

2020 TIPA World Awards winners

Cameras

Best Full Frame Professional Camera: The Sony a7R IV

Best Full Frame Camera Expert: The Sigma fp

Best APS-C Camera Professional: The Fujifilm X-Pro3

Best APS-C Camera Expert: The Sony a6600

Best APS-C Camera Advanced: The Nikon Z50

Best DSLR Professional Camera: The Canon EOS 1D X Mark III

Best DSLR Expert Camera: The Nikon D780

Best DSLR Advanced Camera: The Canon EOS 90D

Best Full Frame Photo/Video Camera: The Panasonic Lumix DC-S1H

Best Medium Format Camera: The Fujifilm GFX100

Best Expert Compact Camera: The Sony RX100 VII

Best Vlogging Camera: The Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III

Best Premium Compact Camera: The Fujifilm X100V

Best Photo Smartphone: Huawei P40 Series

Lenses

Best DSLR Prime Lens: Tamron SP 35mm f/1.4 Di USD

Best DSLR Macro Lens: Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO

Best DSLR Wide Angle Zoom Lens: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 CF

Best DSLR Professional Lens: Nikkor 120-300mm f/2.8E VR

Best Micro Four Thirds Lens: Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7

Best Mirrorless Prime Standard Lens: Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct

Best Mirrorless Prime Wide Angle Lens: Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 RF

Best Mirrorless Wide Angle Zoom Lens: Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Best Mirrorless Telephoto Zoom Lens: Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Best Mirrorless Standard Zoom Lens: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Best Professional Portrait Lens: Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM

Accessories and software

Best Imaging Software: DxO PhotoLab 3

Best Inkjet Photo Paper: Hahnemuhle Natural Line

Best Portable Photo Printer: Fujifilm Instax Mini Link

Best Imaging Storage Solution: SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress 2.0

Best Portable Flash: Nissin MG80 Pro

Best Professional LED Light: ARRI Orbiter

Best Tripod Head: Gitzo 3-Way

Best Travel Tripod: Manfrotto BeFree GT XPRO

Best Professional Photo Monitor: BenQ PhotoVue SW321C

Best Professional Video Monitor: LG UltraWide 38WN95C

Best Mobile Accessory: Godox R1

Best Color Management Solution: X-Rite i1Display Studio/i1Display Pro Plus

Best Photo Lab: WhiteWall Masterprint

Best Photo Service: CEWE Photobook

Best Photo Innovation: Sony Real-Time Tracking technology

The post Is This the Best Camera Gear of 2020? Tipa Awards Results appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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Canon’s annual results show a rough 2019, but tease ‘advanced’ mirrorless camera, lenses for 2020

31 Jan

Canon has published its 2019 fiscal year financial results and presentation. In the documents, Canon highlights how the company has done, shedding light on what we can expect in the coming year, both fiscally and on the development front.

On the financial front, Canon’s Imaging System division recorded net sales of 807.4B yen and a net operating profit of 48.2B yen a decrease of 16.8 percent and 62 percent, respectively, year-over-year. Canon anticipated a dramatic drop-off in both net sales and operating profit, due to ‘market contraction and the intensely competitive environment,’ but the final results are still slightly worse than expected at 14.6B yen and 2.6B yen lower than Canon’s projections as of last quarter.

Echoing CIPA data, Canon notes the interchangeable-lens camera market shrank 15 percent, with entry-level models being the most impacted due to the increasing capabilities and popularity of smartphones. Canon also recognized its own shortcomings, with a note in the presentation saying:

‘Although we have launched two full-frame mirrorless cameras as well as ten dedicated lenses, our lineup is still insufficient.’

Looking forward, Canon remains realistic, saying it ‘expect[s] camera revenue to decline due to the impact of continuing market contraction,’ but feels confident it will ‘put a stop to the decline in profitability, by further enhancing our mirrorless lineup with an advanced feature full-frame model and lenses, and by accelerating review of our business structure.’

Specifically, Canon makes it very clear that it’s working on more advanced mirrorless cameras, saying:

‘In order to recover from our late entry into the mirrorless camera market, we have plans to launch a model that incorporates a newly developed image sensor and image-processing engine that offer even more advanced features. We will work to raise our presence in the mirrorless camera category, leveraging large trade exhibitions around the world. Even amid increasing competition, we will expand sales of higher-end models driven by new products and aim for top market share even in the mirrorless camera market.’

Canon is projecting its net sales and operating profit for the 2020 fiscal year will be 787B yen and 53.7B yen, respectively, which would equate to a 2.5 percent decrease in net sales and an 11.5 percent increase in operating profit, year-over-year. In addition to offering more ‘advance feature full-frame’ mirrorless cameras and RF lenses, Canon’s projected increase in profitability will also likely be helped with fabrication costs now that it appears to have its mirrorless manufacturing facilities up and running.

Canon’s sentiments expressed in the presentation further lend credibility to the ongoing rumors about its forthcoming mirrorless cameras, but certainly fall short of telling the whole story, which we will only find out with time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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The results are in: the most important camera of the 2010s readers’ poll

06 Jan

Poll results: most important cameras of the decade

The end of a decade is a time for reflection, renewal and lots of ‘best of the decade’ articles. So why not join in the fun? ‘Time is a flat circle,’ after all (we can either thank Nietzsche or True Detective for that quote depending on who you ask). In that spirit, we shared our picks for the most important cameras of the past ten years and asked our readers to choose theirs. Here are the results of that poll.

Runner-up: Apple iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 technically came in third, but the margin between it and the second place runner-up was slim enough to call it a tie. It has certainly earned its place in history – we think it was the first iPhone that truly made a dedicated camera optional. DPR readers agree that it was a landmark camera of the 2010s.

Image credit: Gabriele Barni

Runner-up: Nikon D850

Over the past ten years we’ve been lucky enough to use many excellent cameras, but few have left a lasting impression like the D850. It’s well over two years old at this point but we still consider it one of the best DSLRs ever built. DPR readers no doubt also appreciate its well-rounded feature set, excellent ergonomics and Raw image capture that rivals medium-format results. If that’s not a best-of-the-decade-worthy camera then we don’t know what is.

Winner: Sony a7/R

So which camera did DPR readers crown the most important of the decade? The full-frame mirrorless cameras that started it all: the Sony a7 and a7R. Both cameras were far from perfect when they made their debut in 2013, but there’s no denying the influence that they’ve had on the industry as a whole since then.

And that’s a wrap on the decade! Thanks to all who voted – let’s do it all again in ten years.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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The results are in! Best gear of 2019 – winners and runners-up

17 Dec

Winners and runners-up: Best gear of 2019

For the past few weeks, our readers have been voting on their favorite photographic gear in three categories: Best camera, best zoom lens and best prime lens. Now that the first round of voting is over, it’s time to reveal the winners.

Remember, it isn’t over just yet! It’s time now to pick an overall winner.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to exercise your democratic right to vote for something that doesn’t matter in the slightest! Cast your ballot now!

Best prime lens – Runner-up: Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct

Essentially a demonstration of just what the ultra-wide Z mount is capable of, the Nikon 58mm F0.95 is a reimagining of the classic ‘Noct Nikkor’ for the 21st Century. The first thing that most people notice about this manual-focus lens is its sheer size, and substantial weight. Nikon didn’t cut any corners with the Noct, and it shows.

Although we haven’t yet been able to properly test it, our early samples suggest that while clearly a very specialized product the new Noct is capable of doing things that other lenses simply can’t. Clearly you agree, since it took a close runner-up position in our poll.

Best prime lens – Joint-winner: Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM

We know you hate joint-winners, but when two products are separated by only 0.2% of the vote, what are we meant to do? Competition in this category was intense this year, and the first of our two joint-winners is the Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM – a reference prime for portrait photography fans and a superb option for Canon RF shooters.

Best prime lens – Joint-winner: Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM

Tied for the winning position was another superb prime lens – Sony’s FE 135mm F1.8 GM, taking 11% of the total vote.

Practically flawless in terms of common optical aberrations, and capable of beautiful rendering wide-open, this is another excellent option for a7-series and a9 photographers, especially those who are interested in portraiture. We really like this lens, and clearly you do too.

Best zoom lens – Runner-up: Nikon Z 24-70mm F2.8 S

Nikon has spent the year consolidating its Z-mount lens lineup, and the Z 24-70mm F2.8 S is one of the most impressive offerings yet, featuring a highly advanced optical construction including Nikon’s new ‘Arneo’ coating.

Fast and sharp, and capable of very good close focus image quality, the Z 24-70mm F2.8 S is exactly what a standard zoom lens should be: a reliable and versatile tool capable of everything from landscapes to portraiture.

Best zoom lens – winner: Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM

Topping the poll this year for best zoom by a comfortable margin was a very different kind of lens, but designed for a similar kind of photographer. The Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM is a high-performance fast telezoom aimed at professionals and high-end users, which offers stunning performance.

Its combination of excellent sharpness, very effective optical image stabilization and a compact form-factor (at 70mm) make this a winning zoom, in more ways than one. But was it the best product of 2019? Let us know by casting a vote in the final poll.

Best camera – runner-up: Fujifilm GFX 100

Fujifilm’s GF-series of medium-format mirrorless cameras continues to evolve and with the GFX 100, the company really pulled out all of the stops. The first medium-format camera to offer IBIS, the 100MP GFX 100 is a supremely capable product for both stills and video.

While its $ 10,000 asking price puts it out of reach of most non-professional photographers, there’s no denying that it’s an incredible impressive piece of technology, which garnered 12% of the total vote in our poll for best camera of the year.

Best camera – winner: Sony a7R IV

With 21% of the total vote, Sony’s a7R IV was the clear victor in our readers’ poll. The a7R IV also won our DPReview Award for best product of 2019, and apparently our readers like it just as much as we do.

Offering 60MP resolution, advanced autofocus and excellent 4K video features, the a7R IV is Sony’s most versatile mirrorless camera yet, and one of the most competitive in the entire market. Was it the best product of the year? Let us know by casting your vote.

Have your say

You helped determine the winners in these individual categories, so now’s the time to cast your vote in one last poll! Choose up to three favorites from this list of winners and runners-up between now and December 29th 2020 at midnight PT when the final poll closes. Watch for an announcement of the winners soon after.

As always, thanks for casting your votes and being a part of our community throughout the year.

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Have your say

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Have your say: Best gear of 2019

Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM

Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM

Fujifilm GFX 100

Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm F2.8 S

Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct

Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM

Sony a7R IV

Voting is easy – you pick your favorite products by dragging and dropping. You can pick up to three, and rank them in order of priority.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Roger Cicala tests new Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM, confirms ‘insanely good’ MTF results

12 Mar

Roger Cicala is a hard man to impress. His team tests a lot of lenses, but the new Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM is a cut above the rest. Literally, all the rest. Roger’s verdict? ‘This is the sharpest lens we’ve tested. Period’.

We already knew that the FE 135mm F1.8 GM was good, but the MTF results are quite spectacular. In Roger’s words, ‘curves higher than anything I’d ever seen in a normal-range lens’. Compare the Sony’s performance at F1.8 to the Zeiss Batis 135mm F2.8, below. Even if you’re not familiar with MTF curves (in brief – the center of this graph shows resolution at the center of an image, the extreme right and extreme left represent corner sharpness, and higher lines are better), it’s clear that the Sony outperforms the Zeiss in the center and compares well towards the edges, even wide open.

And this isn’t just a standout outlier sample hand-picked by Sony to give the best results – these graphs are created from data averaged from ten copies of the lens.

The 135mm F1.8 was so sharp, in fact, that just for fun Roger ran tests at 100 lp/mm as well as the usual 50 lp/mm, which – again – showed that Sony’s latest lens should perform brilliantly for several generations of even higher-resolution full-frame cameras to come.

Read Roger’s full article on the Lensrentals blog

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon Z7 and Sony a7R III offer similar results in our image stabilization test

10 Jan

Battle of the high-res mirrorless IS systems

Both the Nikon Z7 and Sony a7R III feature 5-axis in-body image stabilization. When tested against one another at 24mm, 55mm and 200mm both cameras’ IS systems proved similarly useful. Users can expect around 2 to 3-stops IS advantage when shooting with wide angle lenses, 3 to 4-stops when using normal lenses and 4 to 5-stops when shooting with telephotos (helped by both cameras making use of in-lens IS at 200mm).

Nikon Z7 vs a7R III IS test results:

	24mm	55mm	200mm
Nikon Z7	2.3-stops	4-stops	4-stops
Sony a7 R III	2.6-stops	3.3-stops	4.6-stops

These results correlate pretty similarly to our Sony a7 III IS test. That camera is rated as being 0.5EV less well corrected than the a7R III, so it’s not surprising to see that it performed about 1 stop behind its high-res counterpart at 200mm.

How we test and why

Our standard image stabilization test is performed by shooting 10 frames of our test target, starting with a shutter speed of 1/focal length and working our way downward in intervals of 2/3-stops using a neutral density filter (to maintain the same aperture). The test is done at 24mm, 55mm and 200mm, since the challenges of stabilization change with focal length and exposure duration.

We first do this with IS on, and then with IS off. The images for both are then assessed to the following standard:


Excellent	Some softness

Noticeable blur	Unusable

1) Excellent – the best the camera is capable of
2) Some softness – only distinguishable from Excellent by comparison
3) Noticeable blur – blur can be perceived without reference to another image
4) Unusable – significant motion perceptible

After each frame is assessed, we plot the results in the graphs you see below. We then compare the lowest shutter speed at which the camera was able to maintain a 50% or greater hit rate with IS on and off at a given focal length (images that are acceptably sharp are those rated ‘Excellent’ or ‘Some softness’). This allows us to determine how effective the IS system is in real world shooting.

Our results compared to CIPA

CIPA offers a good baseline to compare cameras, but CIPA tests tend to use focal lengths around 50mm (which are relatively easy to stabilize) and do not include any rolling motion, which can give very high numbers. For instance, the Sony a7R III’s in-body stabilization is quoted as offering a ‘5.5-stop shutter speed advantage,’ according to CIPA testing (the Nikon was rated at 5-stops). That suggests you can get usable shots, consistently, at 0.8 secs (5.3-stops below one over focal length), which we could not reproduce: at 1/2 sec (4.6-stops below) we were only about to get one usable shot in ten with IS on.

Nikon results

24mm Equivalent	55mm Equivalent	200mm Equivalent

Stabilization On	Stabilization On	Stabilization On
Stabilization Off	Stabilization Off	Stabilization Off

For 24mm and 55mm we tested the Z7 using the Z 24-70mm F4. At 200mm we used used an adapted Nikon 70-200m F2.8E FL ED VR.

At 24mm with IS on, the Z7 maintains a 60% acceptable hit rate at 1/5 sec and a 40% at 1/3 sec, which indicates 1/4 sec would likely be where it’d hit the 50% acceptable threshold. With IS off, the acceptable rate is 60% at 1/20 sec and plummets to 10% thereafter. The results indicate about a 2.3-stop IS advantage at 24mm.

With IS on, the 50% acceptable hit rate at 55mm should be 1/4 sec – the Z7 maintains an 80% acceptable rate at 1/5 sec and a 40% at 1/3 sec. With IS off, we weren’t able to hit the 50% acceptable threshold at 1 over the focal length (40%), but it’s safe to assume at a third a stop faster (1/60 sec), 50% should be manageable. 1/60 sec off vs 1/4 sec results in a 4-stop IS advantage at 55mm.

At 200mm, the Z7 maintained a 50% or greater hit rate down to 1/8 sec, our lowest speed on the graph. We pushed it an additional 2/3rds stop slower in testing (down to 1/5 sec) and found it dropped to a 30% hit rate. With IS off we were able to get 50% or greater usable down to 1/125 sec. The result is a 4-stop IS advantage at 200mm. This is helped by the use of a VR lens: Nikon says the pitch and yaw corrections are handled by the lens, where possible.

Sony results

24mm Equivalent	55mm Equivalent	200mm Equivalent

Stabilization On	Stabilization On	Stabilization On
Stabilization Off	Stabilization Off	Stabilization Off

At 24mm we tested using the Sony 24-70 F4 OSS, at 55mm we used the Sony 55mm F1.8 and at 200mm we used the Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS.

At 24mm with IS on, the a7R III maintains a 60% hit rate down to 1/5 sec and 40% hit rate at 1/3 sec, meaning 1/4 sec is where it’s likely to hit the 50% threshold. With IS off this threshold is reached around 1/25 sec. This gives the a7R III about a 2.6-stop advantage at 24mm. Note that this result includes the use of a lens with its own stabilization (though sensor shift is usually better-suited to the corrections needed for wide-angle lenses).

At 55mm we opted to de-couple the Sony’s sensor IS from lens IS by using a non-stabilized lens (the same we tested on the a7 III). With stabilization on, the hit rate was 60% at 1/8 sec and 40% at 1/4 sec meaning 1/6 sec is the likely 50% point. We weren’t able to get a 50% hit rate with IS off at one over the focal length, but it’s safe to assume we would have by 1/60 sec (and surely by 1/80 sec). This gives us at least a 3.3-stop advantage at 55mm using sensor IS alone.

Like the Z7, we tested the a7R III at 200mm with IS on down to 1/5 sec. Good thing we did: it’s not until this speed that a7R III’s IS system also drops below the 50% acceptable threshold with 2 images rated ‘some softness.’ This means you can expect a 50% or greater hit rate down to 1/8 sec with IS on vs 1/200 sec with IS off, providing a 4.6-stops advantage at 200mm. Like the Nikon, this is helped by the use of a lens with IS, which is able to provide the large movements needed to correct long focal lengths.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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