Innehållsförteckning för V76 Issue 3 från Pro Photo

Users of L mount full-frame mirrorless cameras have a new compact and lightweight standard zoom to consider, courtesy of Panasonic. The Lumix S 20-60mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom weighs in at just 360g and is only 87mm in length. On the outside it features a weather-sealed construction that enables operation in sub-zero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius. It also has a fluorine coating on the exposed surface of the front element to help repel moisture and grease, and also makes it easier to clean. On the inside, the optical construction comprises 11 elements in nine groups, including two aspherical types and three with extra-low dispersion characteristics to suppress both axial chromatic aberration and chromatic aberration of magnification. These elements also correct for astigmatism to optimise resolution. An ultrahigh refractive (UHR) index…

Current to 28 February 2021: Exhibition. Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2019. Winners and finalists – 100 images in all – displayed on special light panels. Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray Street, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW 2000. Ticketed event. Museum hours are 9.30am to 5.00pm daily. For more information and bookings visit www.sea.museum/whats-on/exhibitions. Exhibition currently open and also available as an online tour. Current to 30 May 2021: Exhibition. National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020 touring exhibition. The 48 finalists and winners from the 2020 competition. At Griffith (current to 2 August), Cowra (8 August – 27 September), Beaudesert (19 October – 11 December), Roma (6 January – 3 February 2021), and Grafton (9 April – 30 May 2021). Visit www.portrait.gov.au for full details. Exhibition currently available online. 14-15 August 2021:…

First announced along with the E-M1X at the start of 2019, Olympus says the M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO zoom will be launched during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter (so around year’s end for us). The standard focal range is equivalent to 300-800mm on an M43 sensor, but this lens also has a built-in 1.25x teleconverter which extends the longest focal length to the equivalent of 1,000mm. There’s a two-thirds stop light reduction, meaning the widest aperture is still f/5.6. Additionally, there’s a matched 2.0x teleconverter for an equivalent of a 600-2000mm supertelephoto zoom. The inclusion of optical image stabilisation – which will work in conjunction with the five-axis IBIS systems in the higher-end OM-D camera bodies – means handheld shooting is possible, even at 2,000mm. The lens…

Hasselblad has announced the much-anticipated firmware upgrade that finally adds video recording capabilities to the X1D II 50C medium format mirrorless camera. The new firmware is also available for the 907X Special Edition body with the CFV II 50C capture back. Firmware Update 1.2.0. enables these cameras to record 2.7K (2720x1530 pixels) and Full HD video at 30/25fps with 8-bit 4:2:0 colour. The upgrade also gives a focus bracketing function with control over the number of frames in the sequence, the step size between each frame and a delay time to allow any vibrations to die away. Focus bracketing will require lens firmware version 0.5.33 or later for all XCD lenses, excluding the XCD 45mm f/4.0 which requires firmware 0.1.24 or later. The other new firmware-derived features are a two-thirds…

Undoubtedly the most successful of the digital-era arrivals looking for a slice of the still camera market, Sony has not only been a serious challenger to the traditional photo brands, but looks all set to take the number one spot in interchangeable lens cameras. Canon sincerely hopes the EOS R5 and R6 will help keep the rampant Sony at bay. Sony got off to a solid start by taking over the Konica Minolta camera business and from this sprang its first generation of DSLRs. But pretty quickly afterwards it starting doing things its own way and has never looked back. At the heart of Sony’s success is the A7 series of full-frame mirrorless cameras and the ever-expanding FE lens mount system that currently numbers 35 models, spanning 12mm to 600mm.…

You’d have to say that, since the launch of the EOS R in September 2018, Canon’s progress with its full-frame mirrorless camera system has been slow, especially compared to the activities of, for example, Sony or Fujifilm. Now, though, prepare for lift-off. Canon has been releasing snippets about its EOS R5 flagship for around four months which was, apparently, a bit longer than anticipated due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now the EOS R5 is here – much more highly specced than even Canon’s hints had previously suggested – and it’s accompanied by an enthusiast-level sibling, the EOS R6. Canon Australia’s senior product manager, Brendan Maher, describes the next step in the EOS R system’s development as “a bit of a crescendo for us” and says it…

While the fixed-aperture supertelephoto lenses from Canon are creating quite a stir, they’re not the only interesting new lenses added to the RF mount system. The new RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM telezoom is another example of what’s achievable when you don’t have to worry about a reflex mirror. Consequently, the 100-500mm is pretty much the same size and weight as the EF mount 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, with a length of 207.6mm (versus 193mm) and a weight of 1,370g (versus 1,380g, both minus the tripod-mounting collar). It has built-in optical image stabilisation giving up to five stops of correction for camera shake (and up to six stops when used on the R5 or R6), and uses Canon’s Dual Nano USM AF focusing drive for faster and quieter operation.…

Nearly lost amid all of Canon’s EOS R system news, is the arrival of a new pro-level A3+ inkjet photo printer. The imagePROGRAF PRO-300 adopts the same branding as Canon’s wider-format professional models, taking over from the PIXMA name predominantly used on consumer-level products. The compact PRO-300 replaces the PIXMA PRO-10s and incorporates a number of upgrades and new features, including new formulations for both photo black and matte black inks designed to enhance the reproduction of blacks on glossy and fine-art media. There are separate lines for the photo and matte black inks with automatic switching based on the media that’s loaded. The PRO-300 uses Canon’s Lucia PRO pigmented ink set with 10 colours, plus a Chroma Optimizer clear ink to reduce bronzing. A new nozzle recovery system automatically…

It’s been pretty quiet on the photo printer front of late, but Epson has kicked things off with a pair of new SureColor series pro-level models. Both are desktop printers, with the SureColor P706 being A3+ format (i.e. 13-inch wide media) and the P906 being A2 format (17 inches wide). They replace the P600 and P800 respectively and Epson says that they are 30% more compact than the previous models. A key feature is a new 10-channel ‘MicroPiezo’ print head with dedicated channels for photo and matte black inks, so no ink switching is necessary. Epson’s variable size droplet technology delivers droplets as small as 1.5 picolitres for enhanced definition and detailing. There’s also a new generation of pigmented inks called ‘UltraChrome PRO10 With Violet’ that delivers a wider colour…

All three of Fujifilm’s current GFX series medium format mirrorless cameras benefit from new firmware upgrades – the most extensive since the system was launched three years ago. All three get the new Film Simulation profiles introduced on the X mount mirrorless cameras launched over the last year or so, including Classic Neg (all models), Eterna (for the GFX 50S and GFX 50R) and Eterna Bleach Bypass (GFX 100). The Smooth Skin Effect function comes to the GFX 50S and 50R while the GFX 100 gains Colour Chrome Blue processing that was introduced on the X-Pro3. There are enhancements to autofocusing performance, including improved face/eye detection accuracy and tracking stability, a new auto mode for the focus stacking function (to automatically determine the number of frames and steps required after…

A powerful and emotional photograph, titled After Exodus, taken by Bangladeshi photographer K M Asad, has won the overall prize in the Pink Lady® Food Photographer Of The Year 2020, the world’s premier celebration of the art of food photography and filmmaking. The picture was taken in the vast Rohingya refugee camp that's home to over one million people in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. Poignantly, the camp has now been placed in lockdown in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “This moving image really speaks to our times,” says Caroline Kenyon, founder and director of the Awards. “The world is in the grip of Covid-19 and normal life, whatever that may be, has stopped for all of us. These Rohingya refugee children remind us of the fragility of life,…

Along with the two new EOS R camera bodies, Canon has launched four RF mount lenses and two teleconverters (1.4x and 2.0x). The newcomers extend the RF mount system to 15 lenses (plus the extenders) and significantly increase telephoto capabilities. The most interesting of the four are two prime supertelephotos that are very much the results of thinking outside the box. The new RF 600mm and RF 800mm have a fixed aperture of f/11, allowing for a significant reduction in size, weight and cost. Both the RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and RF 800mm f/11 IS STM have full autofocusing and built-in optical image stabilisation, and are compatible with the new teleconverters which, in the case of the 2.0x model, will give 1,200mm and 1,600mm respectively. Both supertelephotos have a…

The legendary Leica M line of rangefinder cameras continues with the launch of the M10-R. The new camera shares the same body and basic feature set of the 24MP M10, but has a 40.8MP full-frame sensor which is essentially the colour version of M10 Monochrom’s CMOS imager. It brings the M10 family up to five models, joining the M10, M10-P, M10-D and M10 Monochrom. To squeeze out even more performance, the M10-R’s sensor doesn’t have an optical low-pass filter. The native sensitivity range is equivalent to ISO 100 to 50,000, and JPEGs can be captured in one of three image sizes, while RAW files are recorded in the Adobe DNG format with 14-bit colour at 7864x5200 pixels. As with the standard model, there’s no provision for recording video, so the…

South Korean lens maker Samyang has updated two of its most popular manual-focus prime lenses. Both the MF 14mm f/2.8 ultrawide and the MF 85mm f/1.4 short telephoto are now available in Mark 2 versions. The optical constructions remain the same as previously, but the external designs have been extensively redesigned with a new grip material on the focusing collars, weather-sealed barrels, and the provision for switching the aperture collar between click-stopped and seamless adjustment (the latter obviously with video users in mind). The 14mm f/2.8 also has a locking function for the focusing collar. Thanks to the restyling, both the new Mark 2 models now look a lot more contemporary than their more classical predecessors. The 85mm f/1.4 retains a nine-element optical construction (in seven groups) which includes one…

Bodyshell: External covers are magnesium alloy with weather sealing at all junctions, and insulation to enable shooting in sub-zero temperatures. The R5’s weather protection measures match those of the EOS 5D Mark IV, but the R6 has lower-level protection. Diecast magnesium alloy chassis. Size and styling are similar to the original EOS R, but that camera’s controversial customisable ‘touch bar’ has been dropped in favour of the more conventional joystick-type multi-controller for operations such as focus point selection. The EOS R6 has a main mode dial, while the R5 has a top-panel info read-out similar to Canon’s higherend DSLRs. Control layout is largely similar too, including Canon’s long-serving Quick Control dial which serves as the rear input wheel. Canon essentially sees the R5, in particular, as the natural successor to…

Things were looking grim in the newspaper business even before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated ad budgets. Many staff photographers had already found themselves out of a job as the major mastheads in Australia tried to cut production costs. Others were facing different demands as more news was being published online, creating a requirement for different types of imagery such as video clips, along with a growing reliance on ‘citizen journalists’ to record new stories. All this has created a very fluid marketplace, especially for the freelance photographer who is facing more competition, but has to find and chase jobs, often without the backing or support of a big news organisation. Melbourne-based photojournalist Darrian Traynor has had to become very versatile to make a living and he shoots news, sports, major…