Yesterday, I went to South Moravia to take some actual photos for today’s Photography News. I visited this wine region in the south of the Czech Republic – not (just) for the wine, but for the birds.
To my surprise, though, a flock of about 100 Monk Parakeets landed in the treetops next to one of the ponds. This parrot is naturally native to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Unfortunately, due to people’s intervention, it has also populated many places in Europe.
As aesthetic as the photograph below may be, its essence is actually tragic. Man-introduced species are one of the most important causes of the loss of wildlife.
Recent Announcements
Røde VideoMicro II: Perhaps the most important part of good video is good sound. Australian company Røde has introduced an all-metal, compact shotgun microphone designed to be mounted on a camera. The new generation should deliver better sound quality with higher sensitivity and lower self-noise. 3.5mm TRS output. Available for $79.
Two new 35mm lenses: This focal length is really experiencing a renaissance! I mentioned a couple in last week’s newsletter, and now this week, two more 35mm lenses have appeared. The 7Artisans 35mm F2 Mark II is designed for full-frame Leica M cameras. Its compact all-metal retro design matches the Leica design. The price is $253. The second lens is the TTArtisan 35mm F0.95 manual lens. This super-fast, fully-manual lens is designed for mirrorless APS-C cameras, so its field of view will be about a 50mm full-frame equivalent. Available for $199.
Tamron Lens Utility Mobile: What used to be a computer’s job can now be done on mobile, so long as you have an Android OS device. With the free Tamron Lens Utility app, you can focus from point A to point B on selected lenses, recall the pre-focus plane, switch between MF and AF, change the behavior of the focus ring and, of course, update a lens’s firmware.
The Rumor Mill
Fujifilm users will soon see the new Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 AF XF
Although some Vietnamese stores are already taking pre-orders for this lens, there hasn’t been an official announcement yet. Anyway, it looks like another interesting piece for Fujifilm system users. Since it will be an AF lens, photographers can take full advantage of the shallow depth of field resulting from the f/1.2 aperture. The price doesn’t seem to be unacceptably high, either. The lens is expected to sell for $549.
Via Fujirumors
Which lens is better, Leica or Conica-Minolta?
Imagine you bring a Leica lens home, and someone – namely 43Rumors – ruins your day by telling you that the lens is actually a Conica-Minolta. At least that’s what it looks like when you examine the optical design of the Leica DG 10-25mm and 25-50mm f/1.7 lenses for Micro Four Thirds!
Astrhori is on a roll
This Chinese manufacturer has been on a roll recently. It looks like it will soon introduce the long-awaited 85mm f/1.8 autofocus mirrorless full-frame lens for Sony. And to top it all off, news has surfaced on Photorumors that AstrHori is preparing another addition to its portfolio, this time a manual 12mm f/2.8 fisheye full-frame lens. This one should be designed for Sony, Leica, Canon and Nikon systems.
Which lens would you like for Sony?
A list of lenses that are rumored to be released in 2023 has been posted on Sony Alpha Rumors. There is also a survey that you can use to express your wishes. Not that anyone from Sony is likely to change their plans based on your suggestions, although who knows.
Photo Contest Corner
- Topic: Women in all forms. From documentary, through portrait to sport and commercial.
- Fees: $30 for the first three images, $5 for each additional image
- Prize: $500 for the winner, $300 for the second and $200 for the third place
- Deadline: December 13
LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2023
- Topic: fine art, experimental, fiction, documentary, visual storytelling, portraits, landscapes, staged/constructed, street, mixed media, alternative processes, conceptual.
- Fees: From free to $45 depending on category and number of photos
- Prize: Cash grants of $10,000, exhibition at photo London 2023, solo feature published on LensCulture
- Deadline: December 14
Good Deals and New Sales
Looks like the discounts didn’t end with Black Friday. What good deals caught my attention this week?
For one thing, the Lexar 256GB Professional CFexpress Type-B Memory Card is now at an interesting price of $269.99 after $130 Instant Savings.
If you like to edit photos on the go, like I do, you might be interested an ongoing the deal on the Apple 16.2″ MacBook Pro with M1 Pro Chip ($2199 after $300 Instant Savings). The monitor’s size, its accurate colors, and, of course, the M1 processor’s performance are hard to beat.
If you’re lacking inspiration before Christmas, you might find the Top 10 Photo Gifts article from B&H useful.
Other Pages of Interest
Photographing a snow leopard is a really challenging task. It usually involves walking many kilometres in the high mountains of the Himalayas, where the beast is found (or, more often, not found)! Add to that a lot of luck and time. Unfortunately, Kittiya Pawlowski, an author of some amazing, viral snow leopard images, has helped herself to fame with some significant compositing and photo manipulation.
Recently, a number of photography competition winners were announced. Be inspired by the breathtaking landscape photographs that won The International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. SINWP Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 also has some amazing winners. Lastly, you can see not only the heart-breaking photo of the dead flamingos from Miankaleh Lagoon, but also other winning photos from The Environmental Photographer of the Year competition.
One major competition is still running, and the winner is your hands. The Natural History Museum has selected 25 photos to compete for the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award. Give your favorite a vote.