I promised you a flood of vivid colours from the (neo)tropics of Ecuador. But the image I shared with you in the last Photography News was completely black and white, so I’ll try to fix it now. I guess I’ll never get tired of photographing hummingbirds. Their frenetic activity at the flower, their relentless squabbling over a drop of sugar water, and of course their vibrant colors make them very attractive subjects for the wildlife photographer. At the same time, if you want to photograph all the hummingbird species out there, it would literally be the task of a lifetime. Could you guess how many species would make a complete collection? Feel free to leave me your guess in the comments below this article.
Recent Announcements
- New firmware for Nikon Z9 and Leica SL2(S) cameras: Nothing groundbreaking for Nikon, just fixes a rare bug that causes your camera to stop responding. Leica, on the other hand, adds an interesting feature called Perspective Control.
- TTArtisan APS-C 25mm F2: Manual focus lens for APS-C format, now for Nikon Z mount (also available for most mounts). It impresses mainly with its dimensions (Dimensions: ø 59 x L 31mm; Weight: around 166-189g) and particularly the price ($55).
- Sony Xperia 5 IV: The smaller and cheaper ($1000) brother of Sony’s flagship phone. It has a trinity of 16mm, 24mm, and 60mm full-frame equivalent lenses. The phone can take stills up to 20fps with HDR and 4K HDR video at up to 120fps.
- LaCie Mobile Drive (Secure): Two versions of new portable hard drives designed for photographers on the go. It has solid durability and performance (130 MB/s through USB-C). The use of recycled materials is also a nice touch. Capacity up to 5TB, priced from $75 to $165.
The Rumor Mill
35mm film cameras are not completely dead
At least not by the most traditional manufacturer of film cameras – Leica. The company has announced that it will launch a new 35mm camera in October, although the details are still rumors. Both of Leica’s current models, the 8-year-old M-A and the 19-year-old granddaddy MP, are already hard to find on the shelves. It’s nice to see that neither the digital boom nor the era of smartphones has quite buried 35mm film.
Via: Leica Rumors
LAOWA FFII 58mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X
Is the 1:1 magnification of conventional macro lenses not enough for you? It probably won’t be long until you have another 2:1 macro lens option from Laowa. With a focal length of 58mm and a shortest focusing distance of 18.3 cm, this rumored lens should allow up to 2x magnification. If you have a camera with a Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z or Leica L mount, you can start to look forward to a new toy.
Via: Sony Alpha Rumors
An eleventh hero on the horizon?
There are rumors that a successor to the GoPro 10 should see the light of day in September 2022. According to an earlier statement by GoPro CEO Nick Woodman, we will see an expansion and diversification of GoPro’s portfolio in the future: “At the end of 2022, we plan to increase our hardware offerings from two product types we have today, HERO and MAX, to four distinct camera products.” However, the design of the classic GoPro will apparently remain unchanged for now, and the main things we can expect from the new product will be in terms of technical specifications. Very likely there will be an increase in video resolution (6K?) and possibly an increase in frame rate to 240fps at 4K resolution.
Via: Digital Camera World
Hasselblad revelation
On September 7th, we will find out exactly what new camera Hasselblad has prepared for us. In their new teaser, we can already see a picture of the camera from its least revealing side. But even from this modest view, it’s clear that Hasselblad is building on their X1D system. Along with the camera, a new lens is also shown. Apart from the obvious fact that it has two rings (focusing and aperture) and a shortest focusing distance of 45 cm (1.5ft), we don’t know much more about the lens yet. In a few days, we’ll know everything.
Photo Contest Corner
- Topic: Portrait
- Fees: $35 for up to 5 Images, $6 for each additional image up to 15
- Prize: Exhibition (35-40 Selected images will hang in the SE Center’s main gallery space)
- Deadline: September 5
OPEN CALL | Abstract Art with New Media
- Topic: Abstract art with new media
- Fees: $20 to $50 (2 to 6 images)
- Prize: Artworks show at a 3D virtual exhibition and participation in other events organized by the promoter
- Deadline: September 10
- Topic: Monochrome photography
- Fees: $39 for 5 images, $6 each additional
- Prize: 35 images will be exhibited in Middlebury, Vermont gallery
- Deadline: September 12
Good Deals and New Sales
For our readers in the US, there are still some residual Labor Day sales from both B&H and Adorama that you can check out.
Last week, I may have saddened you a little when I reported on the upcoming price increase for Sony products. So this week I’m going to play a slightly happier note. Nikon Europe is discounting selected lenses with both F and Z mount by 8%. You can see which lenses are included in the sale on Amazon DE, for example.
From the wide range of discounted lenses, these caught my eye:
- Nikon AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED for €2,032.16 was (€2,199.00)
- Nikon AF-S Nikkor ED VR 24-70mm f/2.8E for €1,934.10 (was €2,199.00)
- Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED for €789.99 (was €849.00)
- Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 for €899.99 (was €1,049.00)
- Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S for €845.10 (was €949.00)
- Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S for €2,399.00 (was €2,474.10)
- Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S for €2,249.99 (was €2,499.00)
- Nikon Z 14 – 30mm f/4 S for €1,259.00 (was €1,344.99)
Other Pages of Interest
- Did you pick a lens? Oh, you’re not from Europe… Well, maybe I can distract you with some nice photos. Winning the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is cause for celebration for a wildlife photographer. On this page you can see a few of the images that made it to the final round of the 58th edition of the competition and have the potential to win it all.
- You may remember my photo of a firefly from July this year that I posted in my earlier news article. That was, however, a single glowing female. Here you can see what it looks like when a whole swarm of fireflies get together. The result is not only a breathtaking spectacle enhanced by great work of the photographer, but also a great source of data from which biologists studying insect behavior can draw. Did you know, for example, that individual fireflies synchronize their flashing, and that you can tell which species they are in the field by the pattern of their flashing?
- All that remains of today’s Photography News is the carcass of a whale with a shark circling around it. That’s not a metaphor, just a link to the last post, which shows the winning photo of the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition.