Photography Information: B&H Summer Offers, L-Mount Alliance Grows

Final week, I labored on one thing new for me – organising a small show of my darkroom pictures in a neighborhood restaurant. Displays like this are low-stakes methods to place your pictures out into the world. It’s additionally a pleasant problem to decide on which pictures, sizes, and preparations work greatest to your work. If this isn’t one thing you’ve achieved earlier than, why not take the time to go to some close by shops and ask in the event that they present native artwork? That’s my suggestion for the week. In the meantime, right here’s the largest information from the pictures world that arrived whereas I used to be busy making prints.

Current Bulletins

• New L-Mount Members: The L-Mount Alliance – famously began by Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma – has gained two new members. First is Samyang, greatest recognized for his or her low-cost manual-focus lenses however venturing into autofocus in recent times. The opposite addition is Astrodesign, a video-centric firm based mostly in Japan. Is the L mount turning right into a juggernaut that can displace Canon, Nikon, and Sony? Most likely not, however it’s nonetheless getting an increasing number of compelling every year.
• Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 AF lens for APS-C: For $549, this autofocus-capable lens will probably be a compelling possibility for APS-C shooters wanting to economize in comparison with full-frame glass. The lens already existed for Fuji crop-sensor photographers, however it’s about to be obtainable for Nikon Z and Sony E as properly. It options an all-metal building with a devoted aperture ring, plus a USB-C port for future firmware updates.
• Zhongyi APO 200mm f/4 Macro: In the event you want a protracted working distance as a macro photographer, this 1:1 macro lens from Zhongyi would possibly pique your curiosity. It’s now obtainable for all the favored lens mounts, though be aware that that is an all-manual lens with no digital connections. Guide focus is simply advantageous for macro pictures, however the lack of digital connections is one thing I discover regarding as a macro photographer who steadily shoots at f/22 (darkish viewfinder alert). However I wouldn’t write this lens off utterly – Zhongyi’s MTF chart seems good, and the worth of $499 is compelling.
• Three Sony Bulletins: In case you missed my articles this week, Sony simply introduced an up to date 70-200mm f/4 with 1:2 magnification all through the zoom vary (and teleconverter compatibility to show the lens right into a 140-400mm f/8 with full 1:1 macro capabilities). Additionally they introduced the a6700 mirrorless camera, their first new camera within the a6000 collection in about 4 years. And at last, Sony launched a brand new compact, on-camera shotgun microphone known as the ECM-M1.

The Rumor Mill

Is the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S coming quickly?

In response to a report on Nikon Rumors, we received’t want to attend lengthy till the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S sees the sunshine of day! It’s anticipated to be introduced in both August or September. For reference, we’re all the way down to the final two lenses on the Nikon Z roadmap, and that is one in all them (although the f/1.2 aperture isn’t confirmed). The opposite is a thriller 135mm S-line lens. My query is, what surprises will we see as soon as the roadmap is full?

Canon RF 200mm f/2 patent filed

Canon has been aggressively releasing mirrorless equivalents for his or her common unique telephoto lenses, however one lens that has but to see the sunshine of day is an RF 200mm f/2 (or RF 200mm f/1.8). Patents are actually not a assure {that a} lens will ever exist, however at the very least this patent exhibits that Canon hasn’t forgotten about this focal size and most aperture. The EF 200mm f/2 L and f/1.8 L lenses are well-loved by sure sports activities, wildlife, and portrait photographers, and it appears we are going to see an RF equal sooner or later.

Through Petapixel

A microscope lens for mirrorless cameras

Venus Optics is a day away from asserting one other probe-like macro lens – this time, one which’s able to a whopping 50x magnification! With a magnification vary from 10x to 50x, the Laowa Aurogon 10-50x is basically a microscope, albeit one with a mirrorless lens mount. It’s anticipated to be obtainable for Canon EF, Canon RF, Sony E, Nikon F, and Nikon Z at minimal. Pricing data and different particulars haven’t been launched, however at the very least you’ll solely want to attend about 24 hours to listen to them.

Through Canon Rumors

Photograph Contest Nook

Natural Landscape Photography Awards

• Subject: Panorama pictures with minimal post-production manipulation
• Charges: $40 for six photos, $60 for 12 photos, $100 for 18 photos, $30 for venture entry
• Prize: $5000 for Photographer of the Year, $2000 for Undertaking of the Year, six $1000 prizes, seven $500 prizes
• Deadline: July 31
• Be aware: I’ll be competing on this one 🙂

Epson Pano Awards

• Subject: Panoramic pictures of two×1 side ratio or higher
• Charges: $20-22 per entry
• Prize: $40,000 prize pool, together with printers, gear vouchers, and money
• Deadline: July seventeenth simply earlier than midnight – hurry!

Good Offers and New Gross sales

B&H is working an ongoing “Summer Tech Offers” web page that has a number of nice gross sales, particularly on reminiscence playing cards, exhausting drives, and laptop gear. Check out the full list here.

One of the important items of kit for photographers has an ideal sale proper now – half off the DataColor Spyder X Professional! (Was $399, now $199.50.) In the event you haven’t but coloration calibrated your monitor, take this as an indication to do it as quickly as potential. Enhancing pictures on an uncalibrated monitor is like throwing darts with a blindfold on.

One other deal that caught my eye is on the Apple 16.2″ MacBook Professional with the M1 Professional chip. I’m actually inspired that Apple has been placing extra of their high-end laptops on sale in recent times, as that’s not one thing they used to do prior to now. My guess is that they’re in a position to be extra versatile on pricing now that they make the M1 and M2 chips in-house. In any case, the particular financial savings differ based mostly on which configuration you decide. The one I’m linking here is all a photographer would ever want, and is on sale for $1900 (was $2700) – however mess around with the choices, and you might discover a completely different machine that fits your wants.

Different Pages of Curiosity

Every week, the impression of AI-generated pictures grows extra profound as they reshape the world of pictures. The viral story this time is a bit completely different, although. An image was disqualified from an Australian pictures competitors as a result of the judges deemed it to be AI-generated… besides, the picture was actual. Maybe the confusion arose as a result of the person within the picture is standing in entrance of two mannequins, which do look barely “unreal” (as most mannequins do). The stakes have been low this time, however it raises the query of whether or not actual pictures – particularly documentary work – will probably be dismissed by the general public or governments as pretend, on false grounds of AI era, simply because it exhibits one thing inconvenient for them.

In the event you haven’t been listening to about Meta’s (AKA Fb’s) new app known as “Threads,” you in all probability will quickly. There are already over 100 million customers, and the app has solely been out for about two weeks. Though Threads is supposed to be a Twitter competitor, it’s intently tied to Instagram as properly – you even signal into the app out of your Instagram account. Nevertheless, there’s an enormous warning to bear in mind. As stated directly by Meta, “Since Threads is powered by Instagram, to be able to delete your Threads profile and information, you’ll have to delete your Instagram account.” That makes my suggestion to photographers fairly easy: Don’t join Threads on a whim. Or when you do, at the very least create a brand new Instagram account first, to be able to safely delete Threads later when you want.