Table of contents for Issue 428 in Camera

I’m old enough to remember when an entry-level camera was essentially the most basic model in a range. And, I mean basic with a capital ‘B’. My first serious camera - purchased when I was in my early teens with some financial assistance from my parents - was one of the most basic 35mm SLRs on the market at the time. The Praktica L2 didn’t even have a built-in exposure meter and, being made in the then East Germany, it was a bit of a clunker… but it did work. When I upgraded a few years later it, was to the Fujica ST605, the entry-level model to the Fujica line-up of the 35mm SLRs in the late 1970s. The big deal for me was that it had built-in metering, but…

OK, SO IT’S not really entry-level, but the X-T50 is the cheapest model in the X-T lineup even if it’s now priced closer to $3000 than $2000. As per the X-T5 and the X100VI, the big upgrade is the 40.2 megapixels ’XTrans CMOS 5 HR’ BSI CMOS sensor which was first seen in the X-H2. Again it’s mated with the latest-generation ’X Processor 5’ so there are performance enhancements throughout, including the continuous shooting speeds and the video recording capabilities, plus the addition of subject-recognition autofocusing and also in-body image stabilisation. Despite the addition of IBIS - for the first time on this level X-T body - the X-T50 is still a lot more compact than either the X-T5 or the X-H duo. The stabilisation operates over five axes of…

RESPONDING TO THE growing demand for accessories to assist vloggers, social media content creators and YouTube producers, Melbourne-based distributor, Maxxum Pty Ltd. has launch its own line of Firefly-branded products. The range comprises most support-related products such as table-top tripods and smartphone holders, but also compact LED ilght sources. There’s also a Bluetooth remote trigger which is available as a separate purchase, but also comes bundled with a selfie stick which also doubles as a tabletop tripod. There’s an ultra-compact tabletop tripod for smartphones - appropriately called the Firefly Mini Pocket Tripod - which folds up to be just 12 centimetres in length and weighs 75 grams, but can support up to 500 grams of weight. Cleverly, it incorporates a smartphone holder in one of the legs and which can…

PERHAPS THE MOST powerful hybrid photo/video mirrorless camera we’ve seen so far, Panasonic’s Lumix GH7 has the photo capabilities of the G9 II along with significantly extended video features compared to the GH6. The GH7 shares the same bodyshell as the GH6, but gets the 25.5 megapixels BSI CMOS sensor as the G9II which means it also inherits PDAF measurements which work’s alongside the ’Depth From Defocus’ (DFD) contrast-detection AF. It also has the same faster processor - developed via the ’L2Technology’ tie-up with Leica -which enables faster shooting speeds with stills and higher bit rates with video. This sensor also has a further-improved version of the dual gain output arrangement -which Panasonic labels ’Dynamic Range Boost’ - with the high-gain (i.e. low noise) circuit now active from the base…

When did we last review a 35mm compact camera in Australian Camera magazine? Remarkably, it was way back in the August 2003 issue and, appropriately, it was a Pentax model. The Espio 24EW represented the peak of the development of 35mm fully-automatic compacts, incorporating a 24-105mm zoom lens while still remaining small and lightweight. Digital compacts were already on the rise and the Espio 24EW ended up being one of the last 35mm models from a major camera maker. It was certainly Pentax’s last as what would become a very long line of Optio series digital compacts over 90, in fact - had started in 2001 (and there were even a couple of models before this). Going back even further, Pentax pioneered the first zoom-equipped 35mm compact camera with the…

COMPETITION Since launching back in 2011, the Pink Lady® Food Photographer Of The Year competition has grown to attract many thousands of entries from all over the world. It is open to both amateur and professional photographers. Food is, of course, a vital part of life and so it’s a huge subject with many diverse aspects from production to presentation to consumption. This is reflected in the competition’s 36 categories which include Bring Home The Harvest, Food In Action, Food For Celebration, Politics In Food, Food For Life, and Moments Of Joy. The Claire Aho Award For Women Photographers category is named after who a trail-blazing Finnish photographer. Claire Aho (1925-2015) was given her first camera at the age of ten, and she then worked as a commercial photographer from…

LAUNCHED ALONG WITH the Fujifilm GFX100S II medium format camera was an important new GF series lens - a 500mm f/5.6 supertelephoto. The Fujinon GF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR becomes the longest focal length in Fujifilm’s medium format G mount system and has a 35mm-equivalent of close to 400mm (396mm to be precise). The advantages of the mirrorless camera configuration mean that’s it’s not the monster lens that was the case with rollfilm medium format reflexes and weighs in at a manageable 1375 grams. The barrel length is 247 millimetres. The external construction uses magnesium alloy components and is weather sealed along with insulation that enables shooting in subzero temperatures down to -10 degree Celsius. Additionally, the exposed surface of the front element has a fluorine coating to…

WELL, ACTUALLY,THE first in a range of hybrid stills/video lenses that the company plans to introduce, but the new RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM wide-angle prime does have a number of ’firsts’ for Canon. Most notably, it’s the first to use a voice coil motor (VCM) as part of its autofocusing drive and which has more grunt to move the heavy focusing group which is one part of the lens’s ’floating’ focusing arrangement. The finer adjustments - using a lighter focusing element - are then performed by a ’Nano USN’ ultrasonic pulsed drive. The RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM is also the first Canon prime lens in the EOS era to have a manual aperture collar (although the RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z zoom also has one), but the bad news…

IT’S HERE! RICOH has unveiled its much-anticipated Pentax-branded 35mm film camera and, as was revealed a little while ago, it’s a half-frame fixed-lens compact. Doubling the number of frames obtainable from a roll will make the Pentax 17 more economical to run which remains an important consideration while film and processing costs remain so high due mostly to the low volumes involved. Hopefully, the Pentax 17 will do something towards increasing the consumption of 35mm film. Due to the half frame’s vertical orientation, the camera’s optical viewfinder is this way too, and its central location gives the Pentax 17 an unusual look which will no doubt just enhance its appeal. As with any half frame 35mm camera, it needs to be turned on its side to shoot in the landscape…

CANON’S RF MOUNT mirrorless flagship has some big shoes to fill as one of its key roles is to replace the most consummate DSLR ever made… the EOS-1 D X Mark III. The EOS R1 has to convince a very discerning audience, but it’s not all that hard to see why sports and action photographers won’t be wooed by some seriously superior specifications. At the top of the list has to be the R1’s continuous shooting speed of 40 fps even with 14-bit RAW capture and with full AF/AE adjustment between the frames. This is twice as fast as the DSLat 50/60 fps. Subsequently, both can do 4K DCI/UHD at up to 100/120 fps and 2K DCI/FHD at up to 200/240 fps. Bit rates top 2600 Mbps. Both models are…

As we were finalising this year’s Camera Magazine Imaging Awards, some interesting statistics were released by CIPA the Camera and Imaging Products Association - which is the Japanese photo industry body whose members include all the country’s major camera and lens makers (and which also runs the annual CP+ photo show). The big number revealed was that between 2010 and 2023 camera shipments worldwide dropped by a massive 94 percent. Not surprisingly, this massive decline reversed the many decades of growth which had primarily been generated during the 1980s and ’90s by 35mm compact cameras and then carried on in the first decade of the 21st century by digital fixed-lens cameras. The culprit here, of course, is the cameraequipped smartphone which really started to have an impact on the compact…

ONTRIAL PENTAX 17 Ever since the birth of photography, the key objective driving camera design has been to make them smaller and lighter with minimal compromises to performance and capabilities. The 35mm format was created in the 1890s by slicing 70mm movie film into half lengthwise, and was gradually adopted by a number of camera makers, most notably Leitz for its new line of Leica compact cameras. Kodak popularised the format - designating it ‘135’ - from the 1930s, and subsequently producing a wide selection of B&W, colour negative and colour transparency films. In Japan in the early 1960s, enhancing affordability was seen a key priority as well as creating smaller cameras, and this gave birth to the half frame 35mm configuration, most successfully exploited by Olympus with its Pen…

ON TRIAL CANON EOS R5 MASK II The EOS 5D Mark IV is a hard act to follow, having achieved a level of popularity with both photographers and videomakers that presents quite a challenge for any proposed successor. There won’t be another 5D series DSLR, so it’s been up to the first R5 model to present the case for a mirrorless alternative, and it offers plenty of attractions, but perhaps not quite enough to unstick the dedicated 5DIV user. The R5 II, however, is going to prove a lot harder to resist. It represents a significant upgrade over its predecessor in terms of both features and capabilities. As a result, the first R5 remains in the line-up and, while the R5II slots in between it and the R3, it’s really…

ON TRIAL FUJIFILM X-T50 Fujifilm’s fifth-generation, 40.2 megapixels ’X-Trans CMOS 5 HR’ BSI CMOS sensor has been migrating its way through the company’s cameras since it made its debut in the X-H2. It’s now also doing good work in the X-T5 and the X100IV, and the X-T50 is the latest model to join the club. As in the others, the X-T50 also has the latest-gen ’X Processor 5’ engine to do the number-crunching so it gets a big boost to its video capabilities, more speed and some significant new features, including subject-recognition autofocusing and in-body image stabilisation. Consequently, it’s been described as a mini X-T5, but before you get too excited, the higher-end model has quite a bit more to offer, starting with a fully weather-sealed body, a bigger and…

With OM Digital Solution’s shift in emphasis to consider itself more of an outdoor equipment company that specialises in imaging equipment, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm f/5.06.3 IS clearly fits with the new strategy. Effectively a 300-1200mm thanks to the crop factor of the M43 sensor, it’s very much suited to ‘outdoorsy’ applications and subjects - wildlife, birds, sports, adventure activities, aircraft and sailing. To further strengthen its outdoors credentials, the 150-600mm is weather sealed to the IPX1 standard for handling moisture and dust. Additionally, the exposed surface of the front element has a fluorine coating to help better repe! water and grease, but also make it easier to clean. The IPX1 standard isn’t as exacting as the IP53 tests that the top-end OM System camera bodies have to pass,…

ON TRIAL ZONER PHOTO STUDIO X PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE If you’re a regular reader of this magazine, you may remember that Zoner Photo Studio X - a.k.a. ZPS X - won the Best Imaging Software Expert category in the TIPA World Awards in 2021. That was quite an achievement for a small company based in Czechia (previously the Czech Republic) taking on the might of image editing’s big names. In fact, Zoner has been round for quite a while. The original Photo Studio software was introduced back in 2004 and the much-upgraded X version in 2016, but since then there has been a regular program of updates, additions and refinements, culminating in the current version which, most notably, supports an HDR workflow on compatible photo/video monitors. With 10-bit HEIF capture becoming…