I’ve made it back from my trip to Death Valley, where I recently traveled to see (and of course photograph) a temporary lake that formed in Badwater Basin. I’ll get back my developed 8×10 film in a few days, but in the meantime, I’ve been going through all the digital photos I took during the trip. Lots of them will appear in upcoming lens reviews.
While I sit back, edit those photos, and spend time with my family over Thanksgiving weekend, let’s see what news this week has brought in the photography world.
Recent Announcements
- Sony completed testing of in-camera authentication technology: In an effort to fight against falsified or AI-generated images, we’ve already seen Leica release the M11-P with a built-in content authentication signature. This allows people to verify the authenticity of an image and the processing that has been applied to it. Sony may be adding this technology to their cameras soon now that they’ve completed their testing in collaboration with the Associated Press.
- Viltrox AF 20mm f/2.8 announced: An ultra-light (157 g), ultra-cheap ($158) wide-angle lens currently available only for Sony E, but with other lens mounts expected to be added in the coming months (likely at least Nikon Z and Fuji X). Although the performance probably won’t match first-party lenses, it could be a great budget choice.
The Rumor Mill
Nikon Z 28-400mm on the way?
Nikon Rumors is reporting that a Nikon Z 28-400mm f/3.5-6.3 lens could be on the way soon – most likely 2024, but with an outside chance of late 2023. They say the aperture range is not set in stone, and that the lens will likely be non-S glass. Personally, a 400mm at f/6.3 feels optimistic, but let’s wait and see!
Via Nikon Rumors
Canon 400mm f/4 DO mirrorless lens could appear next year
2024 could be the year when we finally see a new DO (diffractive optic) lens from Canon, this time for their mirrorless system! A redesigned 400mm f/4 DO is rumored to be announced next year. Is this the start of a Canon RF DO series to compete with Nikon’s two PF lenses so far for the Z system?
Via Canon Rumors
First 7Artisans autofocus lens teased
7Artisans is looking to join the world of cheap third-party autofocus lenses, alongside companies like TTArtisan and Samyang that already have a few AF options. While there is no word yet about which lens will be the first, 7Artisan did show a teaser image of the front element that makes it look like a midrange prime, at least to me. It’s expected in December, so we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Good Deals and New Sales
Being the weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there’s no shortage of impressive sales going on right now. I’ve been maintaining an up-to-date list of sales if you want the full picture. Here’s a selection of the best ones.
Cameras
- Nikon Z8 (was $4000, now $3700)
- Nikon Z5 (was $1400, now $1000)
- Nikon D850 (was $3000, now $2500)
- Fuji GFX 100S (was $6000, now $4400)
- Fuji GFX 50S II (was $4000, now $3200)
- Canon EOS R3 (was $6000, now $5000)
- Canon EOS R5 (was $3900, now $3000)
- Canon EOS R100 with kit lens (was $600, now $450 – coupon added at checkout)
- Sony a7R V (was $3900, now $3500)
- Sony a7 II with kit lens (was $1600, now $1000)
Lenses
- Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S (was $1350, now $1150)
- Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 (was $1200, now $1000)
- Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S (was $2400, now $2100)
- Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 (was $1200, now $900)
- Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S (was $2700, now $2400)
- Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 S (was $3250, now $3000)
- Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E VR (was $2100, now $1600)
- Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8E (was $2350, now $1900)
- Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E (was $1400, now $1060)
- Nikon AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF (was $3600, now $3300)
- Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L (was $2400, now $1900)
- Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L (was $2400, now $1900)
- Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L (was $2800, now $2300)
- Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro (was $1300, now $1000)
- Sony 20mm f/1.8 G (was $900, now $800)
- Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM (was $1400, now $1300
- Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro (was $1100, now $1000)
- Huge sales on Zeiss Otus and Milvus for DSLRs
Computers
- Apple 16.2″ MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 4TB, 64GB RAM (was $4900, now $3000)
- Apple 16.2″ MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 1TB, 16GB RAM (was $2700, now $1830)
- Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet, Medium (was $200, now $100)
- Samsung Viewfinity 28″ 4K IPS Monitor (was $350, now $190 – coupon added at checkout)
- Western Digital 14TB external drive (was $380, now $230)
Other Sales
- CFExpress B: ProGrade Digital Gold, 512GB (was $180, now $130)
- Micro SD (UHS-I): Sandisk Extreme, 1TB (was $250, now $90)
- SD (UHS-II): Sandisk Extreme Pro, 256GB (was $150, now $85)
- Benro CLT204 Carbon Fiber Tripod (was $420, now $220)
- Rotolight on-camera RGBWW light (was $650, now $300)
- Angler octagonal softbox with Bowens mount, 36″ (was $250, now $100)
- Godox V1 TTL flash and X2 flash trigger – for Nikon, for Canon, for Sony, for Fuji, for Olympus/Panasonic (was $318, now $238)
- Nik software collection (was $150, now $100)
- Capture One Pro (50% off site-wide)
More Pages of Interest
I always enjoy seeing the results of the annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards! They’re fun and make for a good reminder that photography is inherently about storytelling. The winning photo this year is from Australian photographer Jason Moore with a kangaroo playing an air guitar.
The World Press Photo Contest made a boneheaded decision to allow AI-generated images to appear in their Open Format category. An open letter that called on World Press Photo to reject such images, which “are devoid of any connection to the real world,” was signed by hundreds of photographers. Thankfully, World Press Photo reversed their decision and has banned both fully and partially AI-generated images from their competition.
In a demonstration of how photographic technology can be used for scientific progress, the discovery of a highly energetic cosmic ray event was unveiled this week. Based upon observations at Utah’s Telescope Array, scientists in Japan were able to pinpoint this particle – nicknamed “Amaterasu” – as the second most powerful cosmic ray ever discovered.
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #25
Last week’s theme was white, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is books, and you can submit your results in this thread by Friday, December 1!
Week #24 Results
Let’s take a look at a few of the submissions for the white theme. We’ll start with a photo from Ronald:
This is an excellent example of how fog can significantly change a landscape and give it a mystical, peaceful feeling.
Next, we’ve got a beautiful landscape from DL84, which I believe is DL84’s first submission to a challenge:
The white fog here complements the dark textures of the mountain. It looks rather cold up there, but beautiful!
Quite a few new people on our forum submitted photos this week, and here’s one such photo from AndyE:
I really enjoyed the fine snow texture on this mountain and how it’s framed by the white fog. (Would you believe that there’s fog outside my window right now?)
Thank you to everyone who submitted their photos! I loved looking through this week’s theme, and I hope to see many more next week as well.
Quite enjoy the Death Valley image – thank you! Such phenomenon is…perhaps, not as rare as we might think, to capture a lake in the valley. SO MUCH RAIN last year, and what a blessing to be out of the drought. It’s good to have not only a photographic record, but an appealing, artistic recording of an event that needs to be remembered. As a SF Bay Area resident, it’s great to see.
Thanks also for this forum and this website. It’s my favorite!
Thank you, Bill! The hurricane a few months ago is why such a large lake formed in Badwater Basin this year, but you’re right, it’s not an isolated event. It’s a transient lake that appears and then evaporates any time that Death Valley has enough rainfall.
Thank you for showing my submission :) I think the mountain images are awesome as well!
I really liked your photo and how you captured the fog, thanks for sharing it!