Table of contents for Issue 429 in Camera

Consider the three cameras that can rightly claim cult status right now. Fujifilm's X100VI, the Leica Q3 models and Ricoh's GRIII in its many guises. What do they have in common? Yep, fixed lenses. And, what's more, all three hit the mark with buyers from the very moment they were released – the original X100 in 2010, the Leica Q in 2015 and the first GR in 2013, but the GR Digital series dates back to 2005 and, the 35mm film model line back to the GR1 from 1996. Of course, when the GR1 was launched fixed-lens compacts were everywhere, but the higher-end Ricoh combined pocket-sized dimensions with big camera performance and it's been a recipe for success ever since. You'd hardly call the Leica Q cameras compact, but they're…

STILL USING THE previous model's 50.1 megapixels stacked ‘Exmor RS' CMOS sensor, the upgraded Mark II version of the Sony Alpha 1 now includes the key features that have been introduced with the A7R V and the A9 III, including the dedicated ‘AI Processing Unit' for enhanced subject recognition, and pre-capture buffering. The subject recognition expands to include cars, aircraft, trains and insects while there's improvements to the detection of eyes with humans, animals and birds. The recognition of also includes ‘pose estimation' using the position of the head and/or torso. New to the Sony Alpha line is an Auto recognition mode which covers all the detectable subjects, but can also be fine-tuned to include only the subjects that you want. The A1 II has blackout-free continuous shooting with full…

AS AN UPDATE to our review in the last issue Zoner's Photo Studio X image editing software has subsequently been updated to add new tools such as AI Remove Background, over 1000 customisable keyboard shortcuts, and support for the Loupedeck+ editing consoles via a new plug-in. The new AI-driven tools also include AI Close-Ups, AI Presets and AI Automatic Enhancements. AI Remove Backgrounds obviously does what it says on the label and can be applied as a batch filter to multiple images. You can replace the previous background with either a transparent one or a custom colour. The new trio of AI presets automatically creates a mask so you can brighten a face and eyes or accentuate the mouth. These presets detect faces and let you adjust each one separately.…

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER the original Leica Q was launched in June 2015 there's been speculation that versions with different fixed lenses would arrive sooner or later. Well, it's been more later than sooner, but finally here is the Q3 43. Obviously, it's a third-gen Q3 model with the 60.3 megapixels BSI CMOS sensor, but the lens is an Apo-Summicron 43mm f/2.0 instead of the Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH which has been on every model until now. Why 43mm? Leica says, “The focal length mirrors the natural perception of the human eye, allowing for the realistic composition of distortion-free motifs through the high-resolution OLED viewfinder. As a result, the versatile 43mm focal length is perfectly suited for street photography and portraits” . The lens is an all-new design comprising 11 elements…

CONTENT CREATION FOR online video presentations is spawning a new category of very compact mirrorless cameras with dedicated features for this application. Fujifilm joins Sony and Panasonic with the introduction of the X-M5 which arrives over ten years since the X-M1 which was discontinued in 2015. The new model obviously includes many of the upgrades that Fujifilm has introduced since and so it has the fourth generation ‘X-Trans CMOS 4' sensor with 26.1 megapixels effective resolution and the current gen ‘X-Processor 5' engine which enables features such as AI-based subject detection and tracking. As before – and as is the case with most of the v-logging cameras – there isn't an EVF, but the X-M5's monitor screen is fully articulated and, not surprisingly, has an extensive touch screen implementation. As…

Presented by ILFORD www.ilford.com Ph: (03) 9823 1555 for more information The Picture Titled Traces Of Light, this picture has been judged the winner of the 2004 International Landscape Photograph Of The Year which is a category of the competition for single images (there is also one judged on a portfolio of four pictures). Photographed at night and a 30-seconds exposure, fireflies leave eerie light trails among a stand of dead trees, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The location is Ichinomata in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The Photographer Ryohei Irie is a Japanese photographer who specialises in landscapes, fine art and wildlife photography. He has won a number of awards previously and produces and sells nature landscape photography. “I started creating works of art with photography around 2018. I originally loved traveling…

HIGHLY COMMENDED There's plenty of scope for an amusing caption here, but in any pose, Zebras are monochrome delights and this pair of rear ends create a striking, graphic composition. The photographer was Bruce Finkelstein armed with a Pentax K-5 and the Pentax DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL [IF] zoom lens. 2024 SIGMA SHOWCASE – CLOSING DATE EXTENDED TO 31 DECEMBER There's a double dose of winners in this issue to catch up with our extended closing date for this year's comp, but there's still one round to go so why not give it a go? Every published photo over the six rounds is in the running for the grand prize. Sigma lenses is the sponsor for our Showcase competition, made possible through the generosity of the Australian distributor C.R.…

LAUNCHED IN 1954, Leica's long-lived M line of rangefinder cameras started with the 35mm M3 and has lived through to today with the current M11 digital models. The M3 represented a significant advance on what had gone before, intruding a combined viewfinder and rangefinder along with a host of features to make it faster and more intuitive to use. The 35mm family continues to this day with the M-A model which, logically, is the platform for a limited-edition kit to celebrate 70 years of the Leica M. There are just 250 examples of the Leica M Edition 70 kit which comprises a platinum-coated M-A body with an APO-Summicron-M 50 f/2.0 ASPH lens, a Leicavit M fast winder and a 35mm film canister with a roll of film inside. The 70th…

REPLACING THE LONG-SERVING PRO-1000 which has been around since 2015, Canon's new A2 photo printer brings plenty of updates including longer panoramas and a longer print life. The imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is Canon's flagship desktop model and uses a newly developed pigmented 11-colour inkset called Lucia PRO II. It delivers new levels of both longevity and durability, the latter via much improved scratch resistance that's achieved by adding wax to the inks. Canon is claiming a light fastness that gives a print life of up to 200 years for indoor display. The reformulated pigments deliver a wider colour gamut smoother graduations along with deeper blacks and blues. The inkset additionally includes a reformulated ‘Chroma Optimiser' which is a transparent coating designed to reduced bronzing and gloss differential when printing on glossy…

JOINING THE EXISTING Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L VCM – and sharing similar designs and dimensions – are 24mm and 50mm L series models; both with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 and both employing voice coil motor (VCM) autofocusing drives. Both are termed “hybrid lenses” by Canon which means they are equally designed for both photo and video applications and can be used on RF mount mirrorless bodies and Cinema EOS video cameras. The VCM drive is designed to move the heavier focusing group and works alongside Canon's ‘Nano USM' drive to deliver exceptionally fast autofocusing with near-silent operation. The 50mm f/1.4 VCM has an optical construction comprising 14 elements in 11 groups while the RF 24mm f/1.4 uses 15 elements in 11 groups. Both optical layouts include an ultra-low dispersion…

With its SL full frame mirrorless camera system, Leica has very much played itself into the main game with a series of models that – the kudos of the nameplate aside – are competitive at the higher end of the market. As you'd expect from Leica, the emphasis has been on quality – which includes both the bodies and the lenses – so it's leaving the sports camera sector to the likes of Canon and Sony, but high resolution is where it can make a strong statement. So the SL3 jumps up to 60 megapixels, joining a still quite exclusive club for mirrorless cameras, but one in which Leica should definitely belong. There's already the fixed-lens Q3 and the M11 rangefinder models with 60 MP under the bonnet so it…

The 15th running of the Epson International Pano Awards attracted a total of 4529 photographers representing 95 countries round the world. The winner of the overall Open Photographer Of The Year award and also the Open Nature/Landscape category is Kelvin Yuen from Hong Kong for his entries titled Power Of Nature, Wilderness and Mountain Of Divinity. The overall winner of this year's Amateur competition is Diego Manrique Diez from Spain, and he is also the winner of the Amateur Nature/Landscape category. His winning images are titled Green Storm, Green Dance and Spiral. “Once again the Pano Awards entries have been nothing short of exceptional…” Craig Heckenberg, managing director, Epson Australia The Epson International Pano Awards showcase the work of panoramic photographers worldwide and continues to be the largest global competition…

The GFX100S II launches at a slightly lower price than its predecessor back in early 2021 and so sits – in terms of your investment – comfortably among the top-end full frame mirrorless cameras such as Sony's A9 III and Alpha 1, Canon's EOS R3, the Leica SL2-S and the Nikon Z 9. It's actually a bit cheaper than some – significantly so if we include the Leica SL3 – but there are the additional outlays to be considered if you're thinking of making the jump up to the bigger sensor. As has always been the case with medium format cameras, lenses are more expensive – although there are a few third-party offerings that are easier on the wallet – and there are all the computer system upgrades needed to…

The world of cinema lenses is a fascinating one. It spans the hugely expensive optics used in mainstream movie and TV productions – such as those from Leitz Cine and Zeiss – to all manner of vintage lenses often picked up for a song. The latter gained in popularity after the video-enabled DSLRs started appearing, and very quickly classic 35mm SLR system manual focus prime lenses were in high demand… Nikkors, Rokkors, Super Takumars, Hexanons and Leica R mount (a very popular option). Manual focus is preferred and so is manual aperture control so it doesn't matter that the many mount adapters are simply physical couplings. A classic Nikkor prime fitted to an EOS 5D II/III/IV body was quite a commonly-seen configuration. The near-endless permutations in lens mount adapters that's…

While Leica gave the 35mm film format some respectability during the 1930a, '40s and '50s with its rangefinder cameras, it still wasn't really considered a serious tool for the working photographer. A few adventurous souls had adopted the 35mm rangefinder camera for its compact size and speed of use, but beyond photojournalism, the professional scene was largely dominated by rollfilm cameras – such as the twin lens reflexes (TLRS) – or large format cameras, either for the studio or the field. Prior to 1959, the 35mm SLR was primarily considered an amateur's camera and, frankly, the existing models really didn't offer the same degree of flexibility as the larger format equipment. Nikon started making 35mm cameras in 1948 (although the company's history in optics dates back to 1917) and these…

FOLLOWING THE RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z which was launched around a year ago, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z is another of what Canon is calling “hybrid lenses” . This means that they're designed for both photographers and video-makers, with the features for the latter including connections to fit the optional PZ-E2 and PZ-E2B power zooming units. From a photographer's point-of-view the big attraction of this new RF mount 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom versus the existing model is that it's not a collapsible design – zooming is performed internally – and it can be used with Canon's RF mount 1.4x and 2.0x teleconverters which obviously increases its flexibility. The new RF 70-200mm f/2.8 is available in either Canon's traditional white finish – which it uses for longer focal…

BEFORE WE TELL you all about the new Nikon Z50II ‘DX' format mirrorless, can you spot something? After years of the Z mount cameras having a space between the prefix and the model number, apparently Nikon is done with spaces so it's Z50II and not Z 50II nor Z50 II or, heaven forbid, Z50 Mark II. Not surprisingly, you'll find all these variations in the online news reports and, of course, quite a number of photo media outlets never adopted the space in the first place. We did because Nikon said this is how it is and, when the… ahem… Mark II models started arriving, it emphasised that there was no space between the model number and the ‘II'. Apparently too, the change is backdated so, for example, the Z…

THE NEW FUJINON XF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR has appeal for both sports and wildlife photographers alike. Being for the ‘APS-C' sensor size, it's also comparatively compact and weighs a shade over 1.33 kilograms so handheld shooting is feasible. Furthermore, the lens's built-in optical image stabilization gives up to 5.5 stops of correction for camera shake. The effective focal length is 762mm and this XF mount is derived from the GF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR that's available for the GFX medium format mirrorless cameras. The two lenses share the same optical design comprising 21 elements in 14 groups which includes seven special types, all with extra-low dispersion characteristics to minimise chromatic aberrations while also enhancing overall sharpness. Focusing is performed internally using a high-speed linear AF…

OM DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Australia has announced that the special ASTRO version of the E-M1 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera is now available in Australia. The ASTRO model has an IR-cut filter in front of its sensor, and which is designed to transmit 100 percent of the Hα rays, enabling the capture of the diffuse red nebulae that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. The camera comes as a kit along with two body-mount filters that extend the capture capabilities. The MF-LPC01, is advantageous for astrophotography as it cuts down on the light pollution from artificial light sources such as city lights. As the area near the horizon is most easily affected by light pollution, this filter is particularly effective when shooting constellations rising in the eastern sky or setting…

Remember when five framesper-second was fast? If you don't, we can tell you that it was indeed once a big deal and, if you wanted something faster, it required a specialised high-speed camera like Nikon's limited-edition F3H fitted with the MD-4H motordrive. This combo could deliver 13.5 fps, but it was only possible by using a fixed, half-silvered reflex mirror (known as a pellicle mirror), and it was a very bulky set-up indeed. Canon's New F-1 High Speed – also a limited edition – was even bulkier thanks to having two dedicated power packs to enable 14 fps. Later, in the DSLR era, faster speeds have been possible with ‘standard' production cameras such as the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III and Nikon's D6 – with the former achieving the heady…

The first so-called superzooms arrived in the early 1990s, made possible by various developments in lens design including glass-moulded elements. These first lenses were 28-200mm in focal range which was considered pretty exotic at the time, and the race was then on to go longer, faster, smaller and lighter. The first 28-300mm superzoom appeared at the end of the 20th century, and there was a Nikon AF-S full frame model for the F mount which was introduced in 2010. It was a pretty decent performer too, making it a popular choice for many Nikon DSLR users. Next came various models for the cropped sensor DSLRs which were longer again. The notable highlights here are Tamron's 16-300mm (2014) which was equivalent to 24-450mm (at 1.5x) and the 18-400mm (2017) which delivers…

WINNER It's probably one of the world's most photographed trees, but Steve Genesin opted for something a bit different with a ten-second exposure to blur the waters of Lake Wanaka, creating ethereal misty effect. It's a different view of what's popularly called “That Wanaka Tree” and which is very commonly photographed at sunrise. Steve used an OM System/Olympus OM-1 fitted with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.…