Photography News: Nikon Z8 Rumors, Early Holiday Sales

During my travels, I often see breathtaking, majestic landscapes that take my breath away. But yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I took a walk through the land of my childhood. A land that has burned itself into my mind and shaped my relationship with nature. The spruce and beech trees covering the countryside here are not breathtaking, nor could the surrounding hills be described as majestic. But it is the land of my heart. What about you – what is your place?

With that, for now, let’s venture together into the world of this week’s photography news.

Recent Announcements

• Pentax KF: DSLRs are not dead yet! At least, that’s the story Ricoh is trying to tell. The company has introduced a new DSLR, although it’s new mostly just in name. Hardware-wise, the newest thing is the articulating LCD display, which has seen a slight increase in resolution to 1.04M dots (was 921K). Other physical specs are virtually identical to the K-70 (currently at $577). Available in late November for $849.95, body only.
• Capture One Pro 23: It adds Smart Adjustments, to achieve a consistent look across a series of photos. There’s also faster culling, new support for Styles in layers, Capture One Live (for online sessions) and a few smaller changes. In summary, no revolution. Current price $299.
• Affinity Photo 2: New features include the ability to non-destructively develop RAW in RAW Develop. The Live Mesh Warp feature allows users to warp an image or file to match the surface of the underlying image. New options for creating masks based on color, luminosity, and so on. There’s also support for JPEG XL files. Desktop version available from $40.99.
• Nikon 40mm f/2 SE prime: A modern lens dressed up in retro clothes. The optics are identical to the existing 40mm f/2, but maybe you like the new styling better. Available in early 2023 for $309.95. (But I recommend buying the existing version instead for its current sale price of $277)

The Rumor Mill

What next from Nikon?

The latest post on Nikon Rumors has once again stirred up the waters around the mysterious Z8. No one has ever seen it – no unofficial, let alone official information has leaked out yet – but speculation abounds. This time, the rumors say it will come out sometime in Spring 2023 to compete with the Sony A7RV. Will it have the same sensor as the Z9? Will it be in a compact body? Who knows! Don’t put too much stock in the mockups on the Nikon Rumors site, which are not actual photos of the camera.

Canon takes its time with the EOS R1

At least that’s what it looks like according to the latest article on Canon Rumors. There are various rumors going around regarding the specs of the future Canon flagship. Some of which are more in the realm of wishful thinking and unrealistic expectations. For example “85mp+ sensor, 24fps mechanical RAW burst and a big bump in sensor dynamic range.” Is that even possible? Well, according to Canon Rumors sources, it’s quite possible that we’ll have to wait until the next Summer Olympics in 2024 before the camera ships. Maybe by then, those outlandish specs will be a possibility.

Videocentric Panasonic Lumix S5 gets a second generation

The successful full-frame camera Panasonic Lumix S5, which is aimed more at video makers, may soon have a successor. It’s too early to talk about the details, though. According to Photo Rumors, the new camera should be announced in February 2023 during the CP+ show in Japan.

Photo Contest Corner

Darkness Falls

• Topic: Darkness (literal and figurative) in photography
• Fees: $35 per entry (an entry includes up to 5 photos)
• Prize: Opportunity for an exhibition in the Decode Gallery, with a possible sale of your work.
• Deadline: November 19

Close-up Photographer of the Year

• Topic: Close-up, macro or micro images of any subject taken with a camera, phone or microscope.
• Fees: £11 to enter 1 picture; £16 to enter 3 pictures
• Prize: £300 cash for the winner and a feature in Amateur Photographer magazine.
• Deadline: November 30

Good Deals and New Sales

Now seems to be the right time to buy some cameras, and especially lenses. B&H has some good holiday deals from a variety of companies. In the Nikon world, the Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom is a very reasonable $897. The nifty thirty-five (I know it doesn’t rhyme) Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S is now $697. For landscape photography, you might find the Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S ($1,147) or the Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S ($947) to be good choices.

One of the basic requirements for the colors in your photos is to have a calibrated monitor. An external colorimeter is usually used to achieve this. I have been working with the Datacolor SpyderX Pro Colorimeter for several years now and can therefore recommend it. It can currently be purchased for $130, a discount from the usual $170.

The SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO CFexpress Card Type B is a card that provides very good performance, currently at a great price of $140 (almost half off from the usual $250). If you need a fast card, albeit not the fastest on the market, you can safely bet on this one. Though, Nikon Z9 users may prefer one of the cards from our list.

Other Pages of Interest

On November 8th, if you were lucky, you had the opportunity to observe a total lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, there were cloudy skies in many places in North America, the Pacific, or Southeast Asia that could otherwise have seen the eclipse. If you missed out, the good news is that you can see the whole phenomenon in this video from The Virtual Telescope Project. By the way, if you ever want to raise your camera to the sky and photograph the moon, I recommend checking out our article on moon photography. You’ll find everything you need to know there.

Last week, I gave a talk on the birds of South America. (You can watch it here if you understand Czech!) When I was looking for suitable photos for the topic, I came across the image that I showed in the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S Field Test of the Sapphire-vented Puffleg hummingbird, which had tiny mites on its bill. If you’d like to read more about this biological phenomenon, I recommend visiting the well-written article Mites Take Flight on Hummingbird Beaks by Andy McGlashen, accompanied by unique photos by Sean Graesser.

In May of this year, I informed you about the sale of the most expensive photograph to date. It was Le Violon d’Ingres (1924) by Man Ray, which auctioned for $12.4 million. This Wednesday, the photograph The Flatiron by Edward Steichen was sold at auction and came in second place with a price of $11.8 million. Here is where you can read more about this iconic early twentieth-century image.