When the winter season in the far north really passes, the transformation is incredible. Among the first signs of late spring/early summer are the wild rose blossoms whose delicate pick petals seem to show up everywhere. They don’t last long, but they are a testament to the wholesale rejuvenation of plant-life far and wide. Summers are short, but the days are long and nature moves at top speed to accomplish its purposes.
Sony has just released a significant update to their well-respected Cyber-shot RX100 camera which adds features not yet available in any other compact. Using a relatively large 20.1MP 1”-type sensor, this RX100 III employs a new 24-70mm equivalent focal length F1.8~2.8 Zeiss lens and a pop-up electronic viewfinder. Read a thorough first impressions review here. The full feature list is truly amazing for a camera this small.
Finding the “perfect” go-anywhere camera is always a compromise. One of my personal requirements is the ability to shot RAW. Another trade-off is simplicity versus complexity. I’ve been using a Ricoh GR for some time now and am very pleased with its performance. The good part is a fixed (28mm equivalent) focal length lens matched to the sensor, and an intelligent menu system. It doesn’t have an EVF, but small slide-in optical eye-level framing devices are available if desired. Image quality is very good from its APS-C 16.2MP sensor.
As to the new Sony, I expect it will it will gain an even greater following than the previous two versions and will quickly become the digital compact standard-bearer.
Pentax is back in the news as Ricoh (its parent company) announces a significant update to their medium format digital body, now labeled 645Z. Though an update of the previous 645D, the changes are big and important.
Using the same 51MP CMOS Sony sensor that recently debuted in Phase One and Hasselblad backs, Pentax’s in-body build allows a vastly more affordable price of $8,500 (body only). Live view, modest burst mode, articulating rear LCD and many other features make it a very different camera from the previous model.
Additional good news is that there will be 13 FA 645 lenses available in the near future covering a wide range of focal lengths. Lack of lenses was one factor that held back the original 645D.
There are any number of sites providing detailed “hands on” reports, including DP Review and Imaging Resource. Full reports will shed more light on real-world performance.
Occasionally it’s worth revisiting the concept of what is appropriate, acceptable, and ethical in terms of capturing and post-processing digital nature photographs. This is a subject with no single right answer, and stridently defended views are argued from widely diverging positions. Quite often the almighty dollar directly influences decisions as to what kind of services are offered (as in workshops using game farm animals, or use of bait to lure subjects), or what personal decisions are made when creating an image. Should you wish to consider some of the questions involved, this article in the Audubon online magazine addresses several. From my perspective, truth in advertising is the first proper step. If significant changes are made to the image, that should be noted in the metadata and conveyed to viewers. Many choices in life aren’t strictly binary, and this is certainly one of them. If one looks carefully, even documentary reportage of news events often tends to be at least slightly “optimized” for better appearance (like contrast and color), and this is still one segment of the industry with pretty rigid guidelines for what is “acceptable.” For more guidelines on this subject consult the North American Nature Photography Association’s “Principles of Ethical Field Practices” and “Truth in Captioning.”
Who gets to use the pictures photographers work hard to create has taken another turn. Earlier this month, Getty Images announced they would allow 35 million photos in their collection to be used at no charge for non-commercial purposes (see article). As expected, this has caused heated argument from many angles. Some view it as one more assault on the intellectual property rights of individual photographers, while others see it simply as a business plan modification in a 21st century world of new technologies (piece in Bloomberg Businessweek). One thing’s for sure, the value of an image copyright is declining rapidly.
Though many desktops and laptops no longer come with CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives, the concept of using optical discs for archiving data hasn’t disappeared. Discs still exhibit positive properties that tend to help them withstand many environmental factors such as dust, water, temperature, and humidity better than most other electronic storage media. At present, capacity has been the one of the primary limiting factors for using optical discs for file archive, but a collaboration between Sony and Panasonic has created a new “Archival Disc” standard that will remove some of the barriers. Initial capacity will be 300GB, followed by 500GB and 1TB, making long-term storage of large image files much more practical. Expect to see the first of these new discs summer-2015.
Metallic prints from service bureaus and specialty metallic printing papers have been around for a while and for some subjects they create a stunning result. Epson has now stepped up to the plate and is offering two new metallic photo papers of their own with two different finishes (see article here). It is called Metallic Photo Paper Glossy and Metallic Photo Paper Luster with surface finishes as described in the name. Both papers take a rather subtle approach with a whiter substrate and avoid being highly reflective or garish. Sheet sizes will be 8.5”x11”, 13”x19”, and 17”x22”, and rolls will be available also for larger format printers.
Many camera makers are now offering bodies with “retro” design, like the Nikon Df, hoping that nostalgia will lure more customers. Too often this detracts from camera usability instead of improving it.
There’s nothing wrong with liking the appearance of a tool designed to take pictures, especially if it conjures warm memories of an earlier time. Certainly there are a number of classic cameras that earned their place in history as among the finest of their times—pinnacles of exquisite mechanical design. But designs that worked then are not necessarily designs that work best with today’s sophisticated electro-mechanical technology.
Nor were classic designs necessarily epitomes of ergonomic excellence. If the primary goal is to design a tool to most quickly and comfortably capture the highest quality images, then primary attention to the basic functions of setting ISO, aperture, shutter speed, focus, and tripping the shutter should take priority over everything else. It’s the old “form follows function” argument. One humorous commentary pointed out that one company, Canon, claimed they “didn’t do retro,” to which another observant person suggested they certainly did and pointed back to the design of the 1989 EOS-1 (which of course has lines that carry through to many current Canon bodies). Another take on both retro and other attempts to garner more sales comes from Michael Reichmann.
One of the designs that many serious still photographers have been wishing fervently for is a body that encompasses the latest sensor and processor technology but limits functions to just those useful to a professional working environment. Just the basics please; nothing extra. But that market segment would be small, too small no doubt to satisfy quarterly bean counters. But it’s still a nice hope.
All things considered, it’s a tough time for camera makers as this report on compact system cameras points out. In fact, a number of reports suggest Canon may soon get out of the point & shoot market entirely. It’s a volatile market environment with many more changes to come.
For a long time the read/write transfer rates for SD memory cards has lagged behind CF cards. That has now changed. SanDisk’s new SDHC/SDXC Extreme Pro card with UHS-II sets a new standard of up to 280MB/s read and 250MB/s write. Part of what has pushed this technological advance is the advent of 4K video, but it will make a difference for still shooters too as long as your camera is designed to take advantage of the card’s protocols. At the moment, it seems Fujifilm’s new X-T1 may be the first camera to take advantage of this. More to follow, no doubt.
