Photography News: New Nikon Z9 Firmware, Nikon Deals

Yesterday, I was interviewed for the Czech Nature Photo Contest, and I answered a question about what photographing wildlife means to me personally. I answered honestly that, apart from the photos, it is mainly an escape from hectic times, the pressure of civilization, and human interactions.

When my friend and great photographer Peter Bambousek heard this, he pulled his phone out of his pocked, showed me a photo, and asked, “Did you have something like this in mind?”

The photo he kindly shared with me shows him photographing Dumeril’s boa in Madagascar. A crowd of curious villagers had gathered around and followed him for several kilometers across the fields. Isn’t it nice when people are interested in your work? Well, the fun is over, and now for the serious stuff. What follows is the Photography News for the 11th week of 2024.

Recent Announcements

• Nikon Z9 firmware version 5.00: We may have expected more, but it’s still nice to see Nikon continuing its trend of incrementally improving its cameras via firmware. There are significant additions to Auto Capture, including the ability to set the start time and duration. If you’re shooting under LED lights, you’ll appreciate the new high-frequency flicker reduction presets. Some Picture Control options have been added, and a number of minor improvements have been made to the camera’s operability. More details are available on the Nikon website.
• Fuji Instax Mini 99: Fuji’s new instant camera gives you more control over how your photos look. Namely, there are two new dedicated dials: Color Effect Control and Brightness Control. The former lets you choose from one of six color effects created directly on the film by the camera’s four internal LEDs. The latter lets you choose from five levels of brightness. New modes include Vignette, Indoor, Bulb, Sports, Double Exposure, and Landscape/Macro. The camera also has a tripod mount, self-timer, and automatic flash. Available for pre-order for $200.
• Exascend Essential 4-in-1 – Multi-slot Card Reader (10 Gbps): Exascend’s new rugged aluminum reader provides up to 10Gbps data transfer from CFexpress Type B, SD, microSD and SD Express memory cards. The relatively small reader (57.7mm x 54.5mm, 75g) can be attached to the lid of a laptop with magnetic stickers, which can be convenient for use in a car or plane, for example.

The Rumor Mill

Rumored Canon RF 35mm f/1.4L to be announced in April

It seems that spring is not just about a new generation of animals, but also a new generation of Canon products. If the latest rumors are to be believed, we could be looking at three extremely interesting products in April: the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II that I’ve already told you about, as well as an RF 35mm f/1.4L lens. This lens is said to come with unspecified video features.

Via Canon Rumors

New M4/3 camera from Logitech

If you’re a fan of Micro Four Thirds cameras, you may have jumped out of your chair in surprise. Logitech?? Sit back, this certainly won’t be your new street or even wildlife camera. In fact, this camera probably won’t leave the comfort of your office at all. That’s because Logitech’s new interchangeable lens camera will be designed exclusively for streaming. If you’re considering buying a better camera than the one in your laptop lid, watch for an official announcement on March 19, 2024.

Via Photorumors

New ultra-fast Sigma lens on the horizon

Several rumor sites are reporting that Sigma will release a lens at the end of the month with an aperture faster than f/1.4. It’s expected to have full-frame coverage, autofocus, and compatibility with Sony E and Leica L mounts. However, the most important piece of information is missing – the focal length. Hopefully we’ll know more before April Fools’ Day.

Via Sony Alpha Rumors

Good Deals and New Sales

A wide range of Nikon cameras and lenses are currently available at very interesting prices. And these are definitely not just the outgoing models that will soon be replaced by the next generation. I’ve picked out the most interesting ones for you below:

Cameras

• Nikon Z8 (was $3,997, now $3,697)
• Nikon Z7 II (was $2,997, now $2,297)
• Nikon Z6 II (was $1,997, now $1,597)
• Nikon Z5 (was $1,397, now $997)
• Nikon D850 (was $2,997, now $2,497)

Lenses

• Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S (was $6,497, now $5,997)
• Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S (was $2,397, now $2,097)
• Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S (was $2,697, now $2,397)
• Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S (was $3,247, now $2,997)
• Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S (was $2,797, now $2,597)
• Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 (was $1,197, now $997)
• Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S (was $2,497, now $2,297)
• Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S (was $1,347, now $1,147)
• Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S (was $2,697, now $2,497)
• Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S (was $2,097, now $1,897)
• Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S (was $627, now $527)
• Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S (was $797, now $697)
• Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Macro Lens (was $1,047, now $947)

Are you into video as well as photography? Do you like recording nature sounds, or other low-volume sounds that require a recorder with very low noise? Do you need your sound recorder to be portable, easy to use, yet high sound quality? Do you need the high dynamic range that comes with 32-bit recording? Then I’ll recommend a recorder I use – the Zoom F3 (was $337, now $267).

Other Pages of Interest

If you want to know what the best photos from a pile of nearly 400,000 images look like – taken by photographers from more than 220 countries  – check out the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 website. Making it through the national rounds to the top is the achievement of a lifetime. Here you can see the judges’ favorite images from each of ten categories.

The British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, a competition that focuses exclusively on wildlife photography, has also announced its winners. Pleasingly, the judges were not swayed by the pretty appearance of the vertebrates, and chose as the overall winner the photo of goose barnacles, which has a great aesthetic charge and ecological message. You can see this photo along with all the other winning entries on the contest website.

Do you know which cameras and lenses are most often used to photograph birds in China? Sony Alpha Rumors has reposted an article originally published on the Chinese website CameraBeta. In it, you’ll learn that the most popular choice of Chinese bird photographers is the Canon EOS R5, and the most popular lens is the Sony FE 200-600mm. Not in this combination, of course. Which cameras and lenses took the other places? You can find out here.

Photo Theme Challenge, Week #41

Last week’s theme was everything in focus, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is favorite place, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, March 23, 2024!

Week #40 Results

Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “everything in focus” theme, starting with PRG Lagarde’s photo:

The lines in this shot are very cool, and it uses the “everything in focus” theme very well. This is one of those cases where losing some focus would probably transmit a very different feeling.

Next is DL84’s shot:

The first thing I noticed about this photo is that the mountain by itself is becomes much stronger in the photo because of the contrasting moon. It shows the cool effects you can get when you have smooth versus rough textures in the same shot.

How about vidmarko’s photo?

This was taken on the venerable Nikon D300! To achieve this level of focus, vidmarko used f/9 at 18mm, and it works very well in a scene like this.

Finally, let’s take a look at AndrewGusew’s photo:

I thought the composition here was cool. Even though it was taken on Earth (I’m assuming), it looks like a scene from outer space.

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