Innehållsförteckning för June 2020 från Smart Photography

The lockdown continues in most major cities and economic activity has taken a huge knock. With most retail outlets shut, companies have no outlets for their products. With virtually no inter state movement, ecommerce has also taken a big knock. The gloom is however mitigated by the prospects of things returning to normal by mid June or early July and the pent up demand being released. As usual in India, keen pricing will win the ‘prize ‘ and companies should look at their pricing strategies in the first few months after the lockdown has been lifted. Meanwhile hobbyists should focus on keeping themselves safe and busy at home with their cameras; macro photography is an attractive option. Also, a flurry of exciting launches are on the anvil once the lockdown…

The British Museum has announced the availability of free online digitised images of its varied collection. This so called ‘revamped’ online collections database contains 1.9 million images offered to the public under the restrictive Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, allowing non-commercial use with attribution. According to reports, the Museum team has expedited the release of this online database to enable public access to the museum’s collections while in quarantine at home. The public users are no longer required to register in order to use the images which can now be accessed and downloaded by anyone for noncommercial use with attribution. According to reports, the collection features two million years’ worth of history spanning over six continents. The museum has digitised around 4.5 million objects, making it the largest online collection…

DJI has announced its latest commercial drone platform the Matrice 300 RTK (M300 RTK) and its first hybrid camera series, the Zenmuse H20. The M300 RTK comes in a unique design with a top-mounted body and bottom-mounted blades. The drone features a six directional sensing and positioning system offering an horizontal range of up to 40m and an Anti-Collision Beacon for making the drone more visible in low-light environments. DJI has also included its AirSense (ADS-B) technology that alerts the pilots of other aircrafts or drones nearby. Its OcuSync Enterprise technology enables triple-channel 1080p video transmission up to 15km with its 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz connections. The M300 RTK also comes with DJI’s new Advanced Dual Operator Mode, which gives two separate pilots equal access to flight controls, telemetry and other…

Vivo has announced the launch of Vivo V19, the latest addition to the camera focused V-series portfolio. The V19 sports a 32 + 8MP Dual Front Camera that promises distortion free super wide selfies to create “Perfect Shot-Perfect Moment” and a 48MP AI Quad Rear Camera setup. The device also features a DualiView display to complement the latest LIV (E3) Super AMOLED FHD+ screen and is equipped with 33W Vivo FlashCharge 2.0 technology. In a press release shared by Vivo, the company announced that it will be continuing Vivo’s commitment to ‘Make in India’. The Vivo-V19 devices will be manufactured at the Greater Noida facility. The V19’s features include Dual Front camera setup with a 32MP main camera and an 8MP Super Wide-Angle camera, Super Night mode for capturing in…

Microsoft today announced the availability of Surface Pro X, Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3 in India via commercial authorised resellers, authorised retail and online partners at a starting price of INR 98,999, INR 72,999 and INR 98,999 respectively. The latest Surface line-up features products that are more versatile, adaptable and personal. The Surface Pro X is reportedly Microsoft’s thinnest, lightest, most powerful and most connected 2-in-1 laptop ever. It measures 7.3mm and weighs 774g. The Surface Pro X stands out with a 13 inch edge-to-edge PixelSense Display and signature 3:2 ratio for maximising your workspace. The device also features a custom processor developed in partnership with Qualcomm that delivers “best-in-class” graphics performance for true PC capability, integrated connectivity and low power consumption and is coupled with full solid-state…

Motorola has launched one of the most affordable variants in its G series, the Moto G8 Power Lite. The smartphone boasts best in class features across all key aspects including battery, camera, performance, display and more. The Moto G8 Power Lite features a 5000 mAh battery, designed to last multiple days on a single charge. According to Motorola, you can stream music for 100 hours, or watch shows and movies for 19 hours or get more than 35 days of standby time. Its triple camera system features 16 MP (f/2.0, 1.0um) PDAF, 2MP (f/2.4, 1.75um) macro and 2MP (f/2.4, 1.75um) depth for capturing sharper photos in a snap and comes with HDR, Face Beauty, Dual camera bokeh, Timer, Panorama and more. It comes with a 2.3 GHz octa-core processor and…

Ashok Kandimalla has been in the photographic field for over three decades and has extensive experience in both film and digital photography. Being an electronics engineer by profession and a photographer, he possesses a unique and deep insight into the technical aspects of digital photography and equipment. He has published more than a 100 articles on photography and some of his writings have also been published in the well-known international magazine Popular Photography. An avid collector of photographic books and vintage cameras, Ashok has a keen interest in the history of photography and a passion for sharing his knowledge on photography through teaching and writing. He is the only Indian photographer to be featured on the Nikon Centenary website. He is presently working as a Management and Engineering consutant. He…

WE ARE GLUED TO THE GLOBAL IMAGING INDUSTRY Our team is updated with all the benchmarks and road blocks that the field of photography and imaging across the globe experiences. This helps us record the changes in the global perspective, thus making us the first to predict which products will be a rage in the Indian markets. WE’RE IMPARTIAL Loyalty towards our readers is a given, and their best interests are always on our mind. Every verdict is honest and not influenced by advertisers or personal favourites. So when we say a product is a ‘BEST BUY’, then, it is just that! OUR TESTS ARE CONDUCTED BY EXPERTS All equipment go through a series of tests at the hands of our experts. Our reviewers are experts in the field of…

ON1 has announced the availability of ON1 360°, a new end-to-end photography workflow solution for capturing, editing, and accessing photos seamlessly between multiple computers and mobile devices (both iOS and Android). The company has started rolling out their subscription plans for a full official release in late June, 2020. The ON1 360° features ON1’s new cloud storage service and sync technology, which allows photographers to sync photos, metadata, edits, albums, catalogued folders and more between all their computers and devices, external hard drives, or even network drives. It uses the same Raw processing engine developed for ON1 Photo Raw. Adjustments will include exposure, contrast, shadows, mid-tones, highlights, whites, blacks, white balance, noise, and sharpening. Built-in filters will start with, black and white, adding film grain, darkening the edges with a…

Fujifilm has released minor firmware updates for a number of its XF lenses. The minor updates include Fujifilm XF 200mm f/2 R LM OIS WR (version 1.01), Fujifilm XF 8–16mm f/2.8 R LM WR (version 1.01), Fujifilm XF 16–80mm f/4 R OIS WR (version 1.04), Fujifilm 50–140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR (version 1.31), Fujifilm 55–200mm f/3.5–4.8 R LM OIS (version 1.21), Fujifilm 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6 R LM OIS (version 1.21). The major updates include Ver.1.10 for Fujifilm X100V and Ver.1.20 for Fujifilm X-A7. The Version 1.10 for X100V includes addition of the Auto Power Off Temp option in the “Power Management” menu and fix of a minor bug. The firmware update Ver.1.20 for X-A7 makes the system compatible with the printer “instax mini Link” and fixes minor bugs. The latest…

Canon has introduced a new firmware option for professional stop motion photography. The firmware has to be installed at a Canon service centre. A number of features have been added to make shooting stop motion easier, particularly for those using the Dragonframe animation application. Important information about EOS R Stop Motion Animation Firmware include: • HDMI output is not available on the EOS R with this firmware installed • [Disp. performance] cannot be set • MF peaking will not show up even if [MF peaking settings] is set to [On] under the following conditions: • When an EF-S lens is used • When [Multiple exposure] is set • When [Cropping/aspect ratio] is set to an option other than [FULL] • When the shooting screen is magnified When you keep holding…

ASUS has announced that it has partnered with Portrait Displays to bring Calman colour calibration and accuracy to ASUS ProArt Displays. The Portrait Displays’ Calman colour-calibration software is the leading choice for display calibration by colour professionals in broadcast, production, and post-production, trusted by many respected Hollywood professionals. As part of an ongoing cooperation between ASUS and Portrait Displays, selected ProArt Displays are now either Calman Ready to indicate the ability to communicate directly with Calman software, or Calman Verified as an assurance of studio-quality colour accuracy right out of the box. ASUS recently released a press release sharing the key points of the partnership as follows: • ASUS ProArt and Portrait Displays: New partnership combines the latest in colour science with advanced display controls and Calman colour calibration. •…

Vivo has launched the “Vivo Smart Retail” (VSR) model to help its offline partners. Through this solution, Vivo will be addressing the demand for smartphones across the country by leveraging its vast retail network. In a first of its kind click to mortar model, the company has built this program with the support of over 20,000 retailers and 30,000 VBAs. Vivo has adopted this new model to enable business continuity for its pan India retail network that will help consumers connect with retailers from the comfort of their homes. Vivo India has put in place a robust process that shall enable offline partners to connect with consumers while adhering to all statutory requirements and regulations of the Government. Customers can send their product related queries to retailers via SMS (8955771110),…

Xiaomi has announced the launch of Mi 10 5G, its latest smartphone in premium flagship portfolio in India along with two new IoT ecosystem products. With a 108MP quad-camera setup, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset for 5G connectivity, a 3D Curved AMOLED display, a powerful 4780mAh battery, and 30W wireless charging, Mi 10 scales new heights of premium smartphone experience. Xiaomi has also launched Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 and Mi Box 4K. Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 are equipped with enriched audio-enhancing technology to deliver a full, wide-spectrum sound and naturally balanced frequency and Mi Box 4K is designed with an aim to bring in the smart TV experience to all TV consumers. The Mi 10 is available in two colour variants - Twilight Grey and Coral Green in 8GB…

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a substantial dip in both production and sales during March. The latest numbers shared by Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) reveal that world-wide shipments were only 47.8% of the volume last March, with the number shipped to Asia (excluding Japan and China) at 39.8% of those shipped in March 2019. Shipments to ‘Other Areas’ (including the Middle East) are down to 68.2% of last year’s volume and accounts for a very small proportion of sales. Shipments to the USA were at 44.7% and those to Europe were 48.3%, while Japan was 54.5%. Reports suggest that SLR cameras are faring worse than mirrorless models, owing to the fact that new SLR models are fewer at the moment. The production of SLRs was only 32.6%…

Write to us at: Smart Photography, Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 105-106, Trade World, B-Wing, 1st Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400 013 E-mail: sp@nextgenpublishing.net “Catching Up” Dear SP, Since I’m a little behind on my readings, I missed out on reading your anniversary edition this time. First of all, I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations on completing 15 glorious years in the industry. I hope SP continues to flourish in the world of photography and also continues to entertain and keep us occupied. Especially in times like these. I am yet to read the latest issue and I have a lot of catching up to do. It is a good thing I am not short of time. Good luck and…

ProGrade Digital has released a new line of UHS-II micro SDXC cards offering improved speeds at a cost, lower than ProGrade’s previous micro SDXC line-up. The new micro SDXC memory cards come with read and burst write speeds of up to 250MB/s and 130MB/s, a 50MB/s increase in both departments compared to their predecessors. The cards guarantee 60MB/s sustained write speeds but are incapable of maintaining the 90MB/s needed for a V90 stamp. The line-up also includes a 256GB option which will retail for much less. The 64GB, 128GB and 256GB cards are available at a retail price of US $34.99, $54.99 and $99.99 respectively. They come with a three-year warranty as well as a UHS-II SD adapter and ProGrade’s Refresh Pro software. Both the 64GB and 128GB versions are…

GoPro released an update for its award-winning Max 360-camera that unlocks new options for spherical video and photo capture. New features include the addition of 3K at 60 frames per second, Time Lapse Video and Time Lapse Photo, all in 360 mode. The availability of 3K video at 60fps gives users more flexibility when filming things that are action-oriented or anything in slo-mo, from speeding down a mountain to simply tossing a frisbee. This 2x slo-mo mode also allows for more time to pan and zoom around in the frame while the action is happening. Also new is the addition of 360 Time Lapse Video and Time Lapse Photo – features already available in single-lens Hero mode and now brought to spherical capture. Time Lapse Video mode in 360 means…

Huawei released P40 series in its spring online launch event, in which Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, announced that EMUI had obtained the ISO/IEC 27701 certification for its privacy information management system, becoming the world’s first smart mobile device vendor to obtain the certification. ISO/IEC 27701 is a privacy protection standard jointly released by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It incorporates privacy protection principles, concepts, and methods into cyber security and privacy protection systems and provides enterprises with best practices and suggestions. The ISO/IEC 27701 standard is an excellent practice of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is recognised as the strictest privacy protection regulation in history.…

Motorola has announced the Motorola edge+, its new flagship smartphone in India with 5G performance and dynamic display. The Motorola edge+ comes with Motorola’s brand new Endless Edge AMOLED display that wraps nearly 90-degrees around both sides of the device and stretches 6.7 inches to create an immersive viewing experience. The edge+ comes with a “best in class” screen to body ratio of 93%. The Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 mobile platform claims to provide 25% faster performance than the previous generations. It has 12 GB of Micron DDR5 memory and 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage. Its camera system has a 108 MP sensor and high resolution camera with Quad Pixel technology. It also comes with an 8MP telephoto lens for high-res optical zoom, 16MP ultra-wide angle lens and macro vision.…

Huawei announced the launch of Huawei Y9s, its mid-range smartphone containing all premium smartphone features, at an attractive price point. Huawei Y9s comes with a 6.59 inch Ultra FullView Display with a screen-to-body ratio of 91%. It is laced with the ultra-clear 48 MP camera, 8 MP Ultra Wide Angle camera and a 2 MP depth camera. The 16 MP front camera automatically pops up quickly for selfies and retracts when done. It uses a glass body and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and comes with the 3D Arc designed middle frames. The 4000 mAh battery enabled device runs throughout the day and improved Kirin 710F octa-core chipset provides powerful on-the-go gaming. The smartphone is available with 6GB of RAM with 128GB storage, expandable via SD card to 512GB. It comes…

On a recent press release, Olympus announced that it will be postponing the financial results for its fiscal year ending March 2020. The press release says that it is requesting the domestic and overseas employees to work from home with the purpose of preventing infections from the spread of the new coronavirus. Under these circumstances, the company is making every effort to continue providing products and services to medical professionals and other stakeholders. However, the company has judged that it is difficult to proceed with the scheduled accounting procedures implemented by it as scheduled. The company has postponed the announcement of the fiscal year ended March 2020 and the date of the 152nd general meeting of shareholders is scheduled for late June 2020. The company says that it sincerely apologises…

Canon has released its first-quarter (Q1) financial report on its official website. The report summarises that the COVID-19 pandemic has ‘completely [changed the] global economic landscape’ and that the global economy is facing the worst recession since the ‘Great Depression’. The reports show that Canon has faced a 9.5% drop in net sales and an 18.7% decline in operating profit for Q1 (January 1 through March 31). The net sales and operating profit for Q1 within the Imaging System division is down by 13.9% and 80.6%, respectively. Canon says that it is difficult to provide the exact estimates for its future financials and also estimates that once the global economy is back on the rise, it is still unlikely that cameras will see an immediate return to normal sales. Additionally,…

Sai lives in Bangalore and is an IT professional. He likes to travel and observe the art, culture and nature at various places. Though his photography is not limited to a specific genre, he is more inclined towards nature and wildlife. He also enjoys drawing and pencil sketching at leisure.…

Display 13-inch PixelSense display Resolution 2880 x 1920 (267 PPI) Memory 8 or 16GB LPDDR4x RAM Processor Microsoft SQ1 Security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in Software Windows 10 Home Microsoft 365 30-day trial Weight 774g Storage Removable SSD: 128, 256, or 512GB Graphics Microsoft SQ1 Adreno 685 GPU Connections 2 x USB-C, 1 x Surface connect port, Surface Keyboard connector port, 1 x nano SIM Cameras 5.0MP Windows Hello face authentication front-facing camera (1080p full HD video) 10.0MP rear-facing AF camera with 1080p HD and 4K video Sound Dual far-field studio mics 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Audio Wireless Wi-Fi 5: 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 Dimensions 287 x 208 x 7.3 mm…