Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2016 i Camera

Sony Alpha SLT-A68 BEST D-SLR ENTRY-LEVEL TIPA AWARDS 2016. “The A68 combines compactness and affordability as well as the benefits of Sony’s fixed translucent mirror design. It has a 24.2 MP (effective) ‘APS-C’ format ‘Exmor’ CMOS sensor with a sensitivity range equivalent to ISO 100-25,600. Its ‘4D Focus’ system uses a 79-points dedicated phase-detection AF sensor with 15 cross-type arrays. It can deliver accurate focus in light levels as low as -2.0 EV, plus constant AF tracking at 5.0 fps. On the video side, the Sony A68 can record Full HD footage in XAVC-S format with a bit-rate of up to 50 Mbps and continuous autofocus with accurate focus tracking. Other attractive features include ‘SteadyShot Inside’ image stabilisation, an OLED-type EVF giving 100 percent scene coverage and a tilt-adjustable LCD…

Type: Fully automatic, fixed lens digital compact camera. Lens: Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 8.8-25.7mm f1.8-2.8 (equivalent to 24-70mm). 3.8x digital zoom. Built-in ND filter (three stops). Focusing Type & Range: Contrast detection with 25 focusing points. 5.0 cm to infinity at 24mm. Single-shot, continuous and Direct Manual Focus (DMF) operation. Wide, Centre, Flexible Spot (three sizes) and Expand Flexible Spot area modes. Subject tracking and face/eye detection and face recognition. Low light assist via built-in illuminator. Manual focus assist via magnified image and focus peaking display. Shutter Type & Speeds: 30-1/2000 second for electronic leaf shutter plus ‘B’. 30-1/32,000 second for sensor shutter. Metering: Multi-zone (1200 points), centre-weighted average and spot. Exposure Control: Program, shutter- and aperture-priority AE, manual plus 13 subject/ scene modes with auto selection (‘Intelligent Auto’). Up to…

“If John Muir thought Yosemite wasn’t suited to small pictures, it isn’t suited to panoramas either. It’s often more vertical than horizontal.” AS THIS YEAR’S TIPA AWARDS judging took place in San Francisco, it was a golden (ahem) opportunity to fulfil a long-held desire to visit Yosemite National Park which is about a four hour’s drive to the east of the city. Yosemite is, of course, forever linked with the legendary landscape photographer Ansel Adams, who first visited the park in 1916 when he was just 14, armed with a Kodak No.1 Brownie. He subsequently made famous – with his signature red-filter-enhanced B&W contrast – many of the Valley’s iconic views including Half Dome (a particular favourite), El Capitan, the Yosemite Falls and the Merced River. Adams’s life-long fascination with…

RICOH IMAGING IS certainly doing its bit for the D-SLR, and following the full-35mm Pentax K-1 comes a new mid-level ‘APS-C’ model called the Pentax K-70. It incorporates many of the features from the high-end Pentax D-SLRs, including the Pixel Shift Resolution system (for creating higher resolution images), the ‘AA Filter Simulator’ to eliminate moiré patterns and the variable-tilt LCD monitor which was introduced on the K-1. The K-70 has a new CMOS sensor with an effective resolution of 24.2 megapixels and a sensitivity range equivalent to ISO 100 to 102,400. The sensor is mated with a next-gen ‘PRIME MII’ image processor which enables continuous shooting at up to 6.0 fps and a 4K ‘Internal Movie’ mode. Image stabilisation is via sensor-shifting which is claimed to give up to 4.5…

I love filming action sports, and using an actioncam is the best way to do it. Whether it is surfing, snowboarding, skydiving or BASE jumping, it feels awesome to capture an amazing moment and be able to look back at it later and relive the experience. The shots you can get with action cameras these days are incredible, especially the POV (point-of-view) angle. Action cameras are small, inexpensive, simple to operate and tough enough for the most rugged conditions. They have a lens that captures an experience in high-definition video in a wide-angle fish-eye perspective. They can be mounted to boards, helmets and vehicles of all varieties, and some are either splashproof or fully waterproof. When I am in the ocean or on top of a mountain, a key factor…

The Picture Make-up for the Raas Festival being applied at a satra (temple community) on Majuli Island on the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India. This location is about 200 kilometres east of the state’s largest city, Guwahati. The highlight of Majuli Island is getting in and out by ferry. The Photographer Bruce Usher has had a long career in corporate and advertising photography, but now works freelance in a wide variety of areas, including editorial, portraiture and architecture. As well as occasional contributions to this magazine, Bruce’s articles appear regularly in our sister publication ProPhoto. You can see more of his work at www.bruceusher.com.au The Equipment Nikon D700 full-35mm format D-SLR with an AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens. Given the low light levels, the ISO was set to 4000 to…

BRONCOLOR HAS UNVEILED a new Siros L line of compact battery-powered flash monoblocs designed for both on-location and studio use. The new Siros 400 L and 800 L have a maximum flash power output of 400 and 800 joules respectively, both with a nine-stop output range adjustable in either 1/10 or full-stop increments. The Siros 800 L will be the most powerful battery-powered location Monobloc on the market. They’re powered by an interchangeable 28.8 volts lithium-ion battery which gives up to 440 flashes at full power for the 400 joules model and 220 flash with the 800 joules version. Full recharging takes just 75 minutes. These new monoblocs are exclusively battery powered, but like Profoto’s B1, with the battery housed internally, operation is entirely cable-free. The Siros 400 L and…

Current to 16 August: Exhibition. What A Life! Rock Photography By Tony Mott. Thirty years of international and Australian rock musicians and concerts as photographed by British-born Tony Mott, and on tour from the State Library of NSW. At the Lismore Regional Gallery, 131 Molesworth Street, Lismore, NSW 2480. Gallery hours are 10.00am to 4.00pm Tuesday to Friday, and 10.00am – 2.00pm on Saturday. For more information telephone (02) 6622 2209 or visit www.lismoregallery.org Current to 28 August: Exhibition. Max Dupain – Penrith. A selection of photographs from the photographer’s personal archive depicting life in Penrith, on Sydney’s western fringes, in the late 1940s. At the Amaze Gallery, State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Admission is free. Exhibition hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Wednesday and…

THE START OF what the company says is a return to core values has begun with the launch of Hasselblad’s sixth-generation medium format D-SLR system. The H6D, says Hasselblad, retains “…iconic design elements and Swedish handmade quality”, no doubt an oblique reference to the now quietly-shelved (and largely unsuccessful) program of rebadging selected Sony-made cameras. However, unlike the last couple of H System camera upgrades, the H6D is pretty much an all-new design and offers a number of new features which will keep it competitive with Phase One’s XF platform. The H6D will be available with a new 100 megapixels capture back which uses the same Sony-made CMOS sensor as the XF 100MP (albeit optimised for Hasselblad), or a 50 MP model, again using a Sony-sourced imager. While mildly restyled…

With six TIPA Awards judging sessions under our belts at Camera, we’re now becoming old hands, but it still never ceases to amaze just how smoothly the whole process runs. Admittedly, TIPA – the Technical Image Press Association – has now been doing this for 25 years, so there’s been plenty of time to fine-tune the procedures, but we’re still talking about magazine editors or technical editors from all over the world sifting through hundreds of new products to come up with the best in 40 categories. A few years ago TIPA made a conscious decision to expand beyond its Euro-centric origins and recruit suitable magazines from all over the world. The entry requirements are pretty rigorous, especially in terms of ensuring absolute editorial independence – the cornerstone on which…

Type: Fully automatic, fixed lens digital compact camera. Lens: Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 9.1-91mm f2.8-5.9 (equivalent to 25-250mm). 2.0x digital zoom. Focusing Range: 49 points wide-area or one-point spot measurements. 50 cm to infinity, macro focusing down to 5.0 cm. Auto/manual switching between single-shot and continuous operation. Face/eye-detection AF, face recognition, auto tracking, 49-area, Custom Multi, 1-area and Pinpoint modes. Touch screen AF operation available plus Starlight AF and Low Light AF. Manual focusing assisted by magnification (either full image or picture-in-picture) and focus peaking display. Low light assist provided by built-in illuminator. Shutter Type & Speeds: 60-1/2000 second plus ‘T’ (up to 120 seconds) for electronic leaf shutter. 1-1/16,000 second for sensor shutter. Metering: Multi-zone evaluative, centre-weighted average and spot. Exposure System: Program, aperture/ shutter-priority auto and manual plus 24…

WINNER These up-ended boats would make an interesting subject even in daylight, but they take on a whole new dimension when photographed at night and starkly illuminated by a single streetlamp. The more ‘open’ composition of this image, by Jade Jones, also adds to the visual drama, creating a sense of mood and mystery. Jade used a Canon EOS 50D fitted with a Sigma 50mm f1.4 prime lens. FUJIFILM SHOWCASE The 2016 Fujifilm Showcase closes on 30 September 2016. Entries received after this date will be automatically entered in the 2017 competition which starts with the November/ December 2016 issue. The overall winner of the 2016 competition will be announced in the same issue. You can enter the Fujifilm Showcase as many times as you like during the year, submitting…

THIS CHECKLIST is designed to allow direct comparisons between different camera models, here listed in price order within each brand. The published prices are mostly supplied by the distributors as recommended retail prices (RRPs). However, some distributors are no longer supplying RRPs to the media so it has become necessary to determine an ‘estimated street price’ derived from the range of prices for a model published by retailers. Where this has been necessary, the letter ‘E’ appears at the start of the entry. A dot appearing in a column indicates that the feature is available on the camera model listed. Where a specification or product detail hasn’t yet been published or confirmed, the letters TBA (to be announced) or TBC (to be confirmed) are used. If a feature is irrelevant…

THIS CHECKLIST is designed to allow direct comparisons between different camera models, here listed in price order within each brand. The published prices are mostly supplied by the distributors as recommended retail prices (RRPs). However, some distributors are no longer supplying RRPs to the media so it has become necessary to determine an ‘estimated street price’ derived from the range of prices for a model published by retailers. Where this has been necessary, the letter ‘E’ appears at the start of the entry. A dot appearing in a column indicates that the feature is available on the camera model listed. Where a specification or product detail hasn’t yet been published or confirmed, the letters TBA (to be announced) or TBC (to be confirmed) are used. If a feature is irrelevant…