Photography News: Leica M11-P Safari, Memory Card Deals

Yesterday, as part of my cultural prep for an upcoming photography expedition, I finished a chapter from the excellent book Amazonia and the Rivers of Stories by Vladimír Plešinger. The protagonists of this chapter were French mathematicians and geographers La Condamine, Godin, and Bouguer. Their mid-18th-century adventure would make for a fantastic movie.

What really caught my attention, however, were their names. Where had I heard them before? And then it hit me – Eutoxeres condamini, Eriocnemis godini, and Urochroa bougueri – three Andean hummingbird species named after them. Sadly, the second of these is most likely extinct today.

As much as I’m interested in adventurers from nearly 300 years ago, though, let’s leap forward a bit and take a look at the latest photography news from the past week.

Recent Announcements

• Tilta Portable Charging Station: A full photography trip means one thing – you’ll need a lot of batteries. I usually recommend carrying three or four. And it’s always better to have a charger that can charge them all at once, preferably while you sleep. Tilta’s new charger lets you charge up to four batteries at once with a 45W USB-C PD power input. Each slot has its own charge status indicator. Available for the Canon LP-E6, Nikon EN-EL15C, Fuji NP-W235 and Panasonic DMW-BLK22 for $29.
• Leica M11-P Safari: The olive-green paint finish continues a Leica tradition that dates back to the mid-20th century. Legendary models like the M3 and M4 in this classic look now fetch hundreds of thousands of euros at auctions. Compared to those, the new M11-P Safari is a relative bargain at “just” $10,495 – which is $655 more than the standard Leica M11-P. In fact, the Safari also improves on the M11-P by adding the feature of Content Credentials, the authentication technology for digital content. Aside from that, everything stays the same: a 60MP sensor with the Maestro III processor, 256GB of internal memory or UHS-II SD card support, and an ISO range from 64 to 50,000.
• DxO Nik Collection 8: The latest version of the popular suite of plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and PhotoLab brings an improved user interface and tighter integration with Photoshop. Edits can now be sent back to Photoshop in three user-defined ways, giving photographers more control over their workflow. You can also import and export masks directly between Photoshop and any Nik Collection plug-in. Both Silver Efex and Color Efex have been significantly updated in both functionality and interface. The new license is priced at $160, while an upgrade from Nik Collection 6 or 7 costs $90.

The Rumor Mill

What ecological niche will the potential Nikon Z7 III occupy?

According to Canon Rumors, “the next full-frame camera from Nikon is going to be the Z7 III.” But the question is, where can we find a meaningful space in Nikon’s lineup for such a camera? One possible path is to go for even higher resolution. This rumor suggests the Z7 III will jump up in resolution to 67 megapixels, occupying a new niche in the Nikon ecosystem. However, it is worth noting that the (generally more accurate) website Nikon Rumors believes that this rumor doesn’t hold water.

Via Canon Rumors

Canon RF 300-600mm f/5.6L IS USM: The saga continues

For years, there’s been speculation about a successor to the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM. Most of the time, it was believed that this successor would come in the form of a 200-500mm f/4 (and in wild dreams, even with a built-in teleconverter).

Last month, however, a report surfaced suggesting that the plans for a 200-500mm f/4 might be going into the shelf, and that another design patented in October 2024 (JP 2024-152941) might take its place instead. This patent suggests shifting the focal length by 100mm and lowering the maximum aperture to a constant f/5.6.

Will Canon’s wildlife and sports shooters have to wait a few more years for the RF 300-600mm f/5.6L IS USM to materialize? “Canon is going to announce this 300-600mm soon,” says a reliable source. And I add, “We’ll see.”

Via Canon Rumors

The year of the fast 35s

This popular focal length among photojournalists and documentary photographers seems to be having a bit of a renaissance this year. First, Nikon introduced its 35mm f/1.2 S, quickly followed by Viltrox with their 35mm f/1.2 LAB. And now it looks like Leica rangefinder users might be next in line.

Until now, the fastest 35mm lens for the Leica M was the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. But new rumors suggest that we might see the arrival of a Noctilux-M 35mm f/1.2 in this June. And while its maximum aperture will be impressive, you can bet the price tag will be just as lofty. Other Noctilux lenses hover around the $15,000 mark.

Via Leica Rumors

Good Deals and New Sales

At least for wildlife photographers, spring usually leads to the biggest harvest. Which means it’s time for many of us to think about whether we have enough storage space for all the fruits we’re gathering at this time of year. Here is a selection of interesting cards at attractive prices this week:

CFexpress Type B

• Lexar 256GB Professional DIAMOND Series 2-Pack (was $749, now $349)
• Lexar 512GB Professional DIAMOND Series (was $510, now $360)
• Lexar 2TB Professional GOLD Series (was $530, now $320)
• Lexar 1TB Professional SILVER Series (was $310, now $188)
• Sony 480GB TOUGH (was $318, now $238) Offer ends May 12 at 5:59 AM GMT+2
• Sony 240GB TOUGH (was $198, now $156) Offer ends May 12 at 5:59 AM GMT+2
• Delkin Devices 650GB BLACK 4.0 (was $300, now $250)

SDXC

• Lexar 256GB Professional 2000x 2-Pack (was $420, now $335)
• Lexar 1TB Professional 1800x GOLD Series (was $275, now $215)
• Lexar 512GB Professional 1800x GOLD Series (was $150, now $118)
• Sony 512GB SF-M Tough Series (was $228, now $168) Offer ends May 12 at 5:59 AM GMT+2
• Sony 256GB SF-G TOUGH Series (was $398, now $268) Offer ends May 12 at 5:59 AM GMT+2
• Sony 128GB SF-G TOUGH Series (was $208, now $148) Offer ends May 12 at 5:59 AM GMT+2
• Kingston 1TB Canvas React Plus (was $290, now $240)
• Kingston 256GB Canvas React Plus (was $238, now $200)

Other Pages of Interest

The prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography went to Doug Mills of The New York Times “for a sequence of photos of the attempted assassination of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including one image that captures a bullet whizzing through the air as he speaks.” In the Feature Photography category, Moises Saman won “for his haunting black-and-white images of Sednaya prison in Syria that capture the traumatic legacy of Assad’s torture chambers, forcing viewers to confront the raw horrors faced by prisoners and contemplate the scars on society.”

As I mentioned in my last Photography News, in the early days of this week, I was photographing and filming one of Europe’s most interesting songbirds, the White-throated Dipper. The results of that endeavor will be published soon – but you can already enjoy the winning image of the same bird, along with other outstanding photos from one of the world’s most prestigious nature photography competitions: GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025.

Sir David Attenborough made his first documentary when my parents weren’t even teenagers. Now, over 70 years later and at the age of 99, he’s back with his latest project – The Ocean. Generations of naturalists, wildlife photographers, filmmakers… and everyday people have grown up inspired by this remarkable nature storyteller. Take a moment to revisit 99 Iconic Moments From Sir David Attenborough, published this week by BBC Earth.

And speaking of icons, I learned about it in school as a living fossil, but no one had ever photographed it in its natural habitat. I’m talking about the Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), a fish whose uniquely shaped fins offer a glimpse into how primitive limbs of early land vertebrates might have formed. Now you can see Alexis Chappuis’ extraordinary images of this ancient fish, captured off the coast of the Maluku Islands, in a feature from Scientific Reports.

Photo Theme Challenge, Week #101

Last week’s theme was low key, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is wildflowers, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, May 17, 2024!

Week #100 Results

Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “low key” theme, starting with AndrewGusew’s photo:

The mostly dark tones give an air of mystery, accentuated by the symmetric lights!

Robert’s photo:

The low key effect is perfect for the muted scene.

vidmarko’s photo:

The landscape here is slowly revealed by the subtle darker tones. Nice!

Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the wildflowers theme.