This Sunday is World Wildlife Day. The theme for 2024 is “Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.” I often wonder what role photographers like you and me can play in connecting people and the planet. I also wonder if we photographers are doing more harm than good to nature. Is there a compromise that benefits everyone? I am interested in your thoughts. In the meantime, here is a look at this week’s photography news from a bird’s-eye perspective – or perhaps I should say, from the eye-like perspective of Cotopaxi’s volcanic summit (5,897 m / 19,347 ft).
Recent Announcements
- Samsung SD Express microSD Cards: MicroSD cards are most commonly used in drones or sports cameras, but a few dedicated cameras have slots for them, too, like the Nikon Zf. However, MicroSD cards are not usually speed champions. This could change with Samsung’s new cards, which boast transfer speeds of up to 800 MB/s. They will be manufactured in capacities ranging from 256GB to 1TB. Samsung says that the 1 TB version is scheduled to ship in the third quarter of 2024.
- Nextorage NX-B2PRO CFexpress Type B Cards: Another one of the gradually growing range of CFexpress 4.0 memory cards. The manufacturer claims a maximum speed of 3600MB/s for reading and 3500MB/s for writing. The cards also have VPG400 certification, which means they have passed the CFA test, where they met the requirements for the minimum number of megabytes per second. The speed gain is already beyond what today’s cameras can capture, but at least downloading data via a compatible reader will be significantly faster. The cards will be available in capacities ranging from 165GB to 1.3TB.
The Rumor Mill
New AI autofocus for the Canon R5 Mark II
Nowadays it’s almost unthinkable that a technical novelty doesn’t use AI. I’m only waiting for my favorite bakery to offer AI bread. As for Canon, the arrival of an EOS R1 has been eagerly awaited for a long time, as has the second generation of the EOS R5. Both cameras are expected to take Canon’s already great autofocus to a new level. So what new improvements could AI algorithms bring? According to Canon Rumors, it could be able to focus on and follow a specific person. This would certainly be welcomed by wedding and event photographers and, of course, journalists. It’s likely that we’ll know the answer before the Summer Olympics.
What camera will be announced next? Leica SL3
If the rumors are true and there is no delay, the new Leica SL3 will be announced this week. What new features will it have compared to its predecessor? The comparison chart on Leica Rumors answers this question. In a nutshell, the new model should get the same 60MP sensor and Maestro IV processor as the Leica Q3, and the existing SD UHS-II card slot should be joined by one for CFexpress Type B cards. The price is expected to be around €7,000. By comparison, the existing SL2 sells for $6,995.
Samyang’s debut lens with the L-mount
Samyang joined the L-mount alliance last year, but so far no fruit has come of this union. That should change soon. At the CP+ show in Japan, the Corean manufacturer presented its AF 35-150mm f/2-2.8 lens for L-mount. This fast all-in-one zoom is currently only available for the Sony E-mount at a price of $1,199 (and competes directly against the Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8).
Good Deals and New Sales
Apple MacBook Air computers were born to travel. At just 1.22 to 1.5 kilograms (depending on display size) and up to 18 hours of battery life, they offer high performance and high-quality displays. They are one of the best options for photographers on the go, and now there are discounts on the MacBook Air at B&H. Both 13-inch and 15-inch models are available with up to $250 discounts. You can make your choice at this link.
One of the best camera straps for heavy setups is the BlackRapid Curve Breathe. The strap is attached to the photographer’s body and the camera moves freely on it. It can even be worn under a backpack. A special 50th anniversary edition is now available for $100 (was $130).
The monopod is a kind of compromise between shooting handheld and using a tripod. Like any compromise, it has its pros and cons. I find that a monopod is often the right choice for wildlife photography, where it’s faster than a tripod and still takes the weight of supertelephoto lenses. Below are two high-end monopods at interesting prices. The difference between them is mainly in height, number of sections, and weight.
- Gitzo GM4552L Series 4 (was $489, now $389)
- Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 (was $362, now $300)
Other Pages of Interest
Let me show you a look inside how lenses are made. You might be surprised at the amount of manual labor that goes into making a lens or camera. The first link takes you to Nikon‘s factories, where you’ll see everything from making the optical glass to assembling the lens. At the Sigma factory, you can see almost the entire lens and camera manufacturing process. Another click will take you on a tour of Fuji. And finally, you can visit the Leica factory (or rather, laboratories).
The Eyes of History photojournalism contest, organized by the White House News Photographers Association, has an 80-year tradition. Each year, it awards the best photographs in more than 15 categories. Here are the best images from the most recent edition. Are you a fan of journalistic photography? Then you should visit the competition’s archive and enjoy the winning entries from the past ten years.
On the French website Fototrend you can read an interesting interview with Mitsuteru Hino, Imaging Business Unit Manager at Nikon Corp. Of course, you can’t expect any shocking revelations, but if you read between the lines, you can at least get the vague outlines of answers to your questions. Like those regarding the successor to the legendary D500, the integration of AI into the internal algorithms of future cameras, or Nikon’s next direction in the lens segment.
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #39
Last week’s theme was flare, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is early morning, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, March 9, 2024!
Week #38 Results
Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “flare” theme, starting with PRG Lagarde’s photo:
I really like how the sequence shows the effect of the flare on the person’s head, and how in turn the flare takes on difference characteristics in each frame.
Now let’s take a look at AndrewGusew’s shot:
There’s a beautiful effect here as the snow dances in the sun, with subtle flare that adds to the mysterious atmosphere. It’s quite a contrast against the unchanging mountain.
Finally, let’s see Ronald’s photo:
Here, we’ve got some bright flare as the sun rises (or perhaps sets) over the Italian countryside. I thought the green flare complemented the leaves on the top of the shot.
Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the flare challenge! Although as photographers we sometimes try and minimize flare, it’s nice to see it used creatively as well.
Pretty much everything we humans do have a negative impact on the environment, including us photographers. People that don’t have respect for the environment aren’t going to change there ways too easily no matter what we do (educating kids & getting them interested in nature from a young age would be the best). We need to drastically change the way we live our lives, excessive consumerism & overpopulation to start with. I’d also love to see a world without social media but can’t see that happening. A good way for us photographers to help the environment is to donate to environmental charities in your area/country, bush heritage is a great one in Australia. And as hard as it can be stick to your camera/lens till it dies or can’t be repaired instead of continually upgrading. Also if you see any rubbish on a beach/hike pick it up. In national parks/reserves there needs to be a balance between public access & no access to fragile/important areas, the main purpose for these areas should be preservation instead of just for our enjoyment.
Thank you for the feature and review, Libor :D.
Environment is our big concern right now.
There are loads of protected areas at my place that have free access, but still, many people do not even respect these, thinking them as their own most of the time, dropping off garbage, disturbing birds with music and noise…
Years ago, I decided to never communicate GPS coordinates. As an amateur only, I only move with train and bicycle, and managed to adapt my bike for light gears.
It’s hard to decide anyway, because showing the beauty of nature is a way to make people understand too that they should protect it.
An exemple that comes to my mind : Yann Arthus Bertrand, while trying to transmit an ecological message for years has been doing aerial shooting using airplanes and helicopters. He recently stopped because of their impact.
We all have responsibilities in the nowadays situation.
It is something to consider, PRG. Protected areas are great, but without a general philosophy and attitude of respect towards nature, they are more likely to be treated as resources for individual gain rather than as sacred areas in which one can develop true relationships with nature.
This is not unexpected: our entire society promotes an attitude towards viewing nature as a resource to power our global society, and it must promote it this way or the willingness to participate would diminish due to the immense cognitive dissonance of having to destroy nature and value it at the same time.
I’ve thought about this a lot, and while education can reach those who are already ecologically sensitive, the incredible pressures on individuals to gain attention for themselves using modern social media is probably a much greater force than the disdain of the few who truly value nature. Therefore, we need more than pure education to reverse typical attitudes: we need a change of direction for our entire society as well towards more sustainability that goes far beyond the token gestures of certain green actions that are carefully selected so as not to impose our destructive so-called progress.
I think that photographers who go to far out of the way places, or very remote places, can be doing harm to the planet by popularizing otherwise unknown areas, so that masses of people start going there. Getting found is often the kiss of death to unspoiled places. If we stick to the already developed parts of the world we probably won’t do more harm to the planet than is already done. But if we find pretty, quiet, rural places that are off the beaten track, we should not popularize them. I also think that our national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone should have attendance by appointment only, so that the parks stop being so badly overrun by tourists. We can best honor places by not going to them.
Hi Elaine, thank you so much for your opinion. I started to write my response to it and after a while I realized that the topic is so important that it deserves its own article. Thank you for the inspiration.
I absolutely agree with you, Elaine. I also refuse to popularize places or locations, and even announce rare species within a common location. I guess there must be some ideal combination of secrecy and education, where the latter uses more robust locations to teach one about nature.
The method of transmission also matters: I believe we also have the responsibility to only share certain things with others once we ourselves know that the other has sufficient respect for nature.
But moreover, there is a second principal that is important: by enjoying beautiful, far away places, we take something from them ourselves (enjoyment and serenity), and that action of benefitting must in turn be repaid to nature by taking responsibility for that place. In particular, that must mean an effort to protect it. This doesn’t just mean being careful about sharing it so that hoardes of Instagrammers don’t use it for selfish gain, but also thinking of ways to change society itself so that it doesn’t promote the “evolution” (or perhaps “de-evolution”) of phenomena like Instagram in the first place.
Since we have had such a nice debate here, I will also contribute with my view on the matter. Most of us will probably agree that nature would be happier without humans. But would we be happier without it? Certainly not. So we need to set some rules to preserve it. The number of people on the planet has already reached such a level that our mere existence is a burden on nature. This was not the case in the past, in fact quite the opposite. It is interesting that biodiversity flourished in the places of ancient centers of civilization. Human disturbance, which disrupted the homogeneity of the forest, was a blessing for nature. Unfortunatelly, that’s no longer the case.
The extreme solution would be to chain the remnants of nature and prohibit access to them. But we live in the real world, and in the real world human traits like greed, ruthlessness, and self-centeredness have to be taken into account. People who make decisions today look at nature more as a source of money or resources (i.e., money). Attractive and photogenic places are lucky (and at the same time unlucky) to be visited by people. They bring a lot of money there – repeatedly and potentially indefinitely. So conservation pays off economically (Costa Rica is a good example).
If we cut off that financial flow, the pressure for other ways to profit from these areas will increase dramatically. People will come with saws, excavators, cows, oil palms, drilling rigs, rock crushers and cyanide. This is unfortunately the reality. This is not a choice between right and wrong; it is about minimizing the damage.
Photographers can (and should) play the role of mediators, a kind of nature ambassadors. Many people don’t even know what wonders they have right in front of their door. This is especially true in tropical areas, where people often have far more pressing concerns than how the “useless” creatures around them are doing. A recent example is the situation in Madagascar. For a while, tourists were not allowed to go there because of COVID, and the already hard pressed nature received another hard blow from which it may never recover.
I do not think that people should stop traveling. We have to find the right scale and form. Photographers should (responsibly) show the beauty of the outside world and share their photos and stories with the public. They should spread this gospel. Through knowledge and love of nature, to get people to protect it. If we stop traveling, it will end like in the movie Hoří má panenko by Milos Forman. The raffle at the firemen’s ball, which was hidden under the tablecloth, was stolen unnoticed during the night.
I agree with this, Libor. However, I do believe there are additional things that we can do besides just making ecological hotspots economically viable, to preserve them.
They certainly are, Jason. But in the long run, it’s essential that local communities benefit from the existence of nature. That benefit doesn’t have to be monetary. Conservation against the will of the surrounding communities can’t work in the long term. It’s like holding a tight rubber band. If you release it, it goes back to its original position. However, before that happens, it’s gonna give a big blow. In any case, the solution, if there is one, is not simple. But the important element is the understanding of the purpose, importance, beauty and vulnerability of nature. And this is where I think we can be useful.
I agree with that, Libor. It’s a long fight and conservation combined with tourism to the benefit of the local community is certainly much better than forced conservation. The locals who truly should own the land should also get to benefit from its value, even if that benefit is within the flawed system of today.
You make very good points, Libor. And of course you are right. I guess I just believe that we don’t have the right to bend nature to our own purposes, which is really what you, Jason and I are saying. The true invasive species around the whole world is us. We are both the conservators of the world and its destroyers, hopefully not combined in the same individuals. The pictures we take do no harm if we are the conservators, but we all know what harm the selfie seekers do. Maybe the real culprit is the smartphone. Without that, selfies and Instagram would go away. Maybe phones should just become phones again. Imagine if saving the world just means getting rid of phone cameras. I am only half serious here, in a sort of logical progression, so please don’t anybody jump on me. I have a smart phone myself. I just don’t use the camera. HA!
” We can best honor places by not going to them.”
Stay home then.
I do that, Redman42. But please don’t take my comments out of context. Rudeness is not necessary.
I learned a term in a fishing forum: spot burning, well meaning posts about certain areas that impact plant and animal species, outsiders who take more than photos and leave behind a mess. After 10+ trips to Colombia, my wife’s family took us to a “refreshingly” unspoiled country town in the department of Antioquia. I hope it stays that way; I have visited a number of other quaint, historical municipalities, negatively impacted by increased popularity, not just foreign tourists but by domestic weekend warriors. Sometimes tourism can mean a better badly needed local economy and ecotourism can raise environmental awareness.
I could be wrong about this, but I thought Samyang was a Korean company, not Chinese.
Thank you for pointing that out, you’re absolutely right, corrected.
How nice it would be to see some articles with historical perspective on camera and/or lens manufacturing companies. Samyang is/was for sure an interesting example here with great quality for little money.