In an exclusive interview with Camera magazine, singer Guy Sebastian reveals his great love of photography which he describes as a "creative outlet". We also announce all the winners in the 2016 Camera Magazine Imaging Awards.
THE RECENT NEWS that Cosina – surely the most enigmatic of Japanese camera makers – is ceasing production of its Voigtländerbadged Bessa 35mm rangefinder cameras is disappointing, but isn’t necessarily the end of the world as far as film cameras are concerned. True, the Voigtländer cameras were close to being the last 35mm film cameras that you could buy brand new and not spend a small fortune, likewise its M mount lenses. Leica – God bless it – has committed to making it 35mm RF cameras for as long as the sun shines, but obviously neither the M7 nor the MP are cheap propositions if you just want to have a dabble. There are lots of options if you want something quirky in film cameras – fantastic plastics, instant print…
WHILE PHOTO PRINTING isn’t listed as one of the capabilities of Epson’s new EcoTank range of inkjet printers, these models are noteworthy for using high-capacity ink tanks rather than replaceable cartridges. As it happens, our digital printing guru, Trevern Dawes, thinks there’s no reason why Epson’s EcoTank models can’t work as photo printers so he’s trying it out right now (watch out early next year for his test report). Epson has already switched to high-capacity ink bags for some of its commercial-level printers and believes that both the environmental and economic aspects of throwaway cartridges – and cheap printers – is now unsustainable. The company also contends that consumers are fed up with continually replacing cartridges in their home printers, paying more for a new set of inks than they…
CANON’S RECENTLY-ANNOUNCED EF 35mm f1.4L II USM L Series fast wide-angle lens is the first to incorporate the company’s newly-developed ‘Blue Spectrum Refractive’ optics. Also a world first, the ‘BR Optics’ technology employs a special organic optical material which has been engineered at a molecular level to significantly reduce chromatic aberrations via its ability to refract blue light. Ordinarily, it’s difficult to converge these shorter wavelengths to a single plane which subsequently results in longitudinal chromatic aberration (evidenced as colour fringing along high-contrast edges). The BR Optics technology is incorporated into a compound element as part of new 35mm’s 14-element optical construction which also includes two aspherical types to correct for distortion and one made from ‘Super UD’ (ultra-low dispersion) optical glass which also helps counter chromatic aberrations. The Mark…
FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH of its A3+ and A2+ format Sure-Color series photo printers, Epson has now introduced these upgrades to its large format rollpaper line-up, giving birth to four new P-Series models. These all feature the new UltraChrome HD inkset which delivers an enhanced colour gamut and a higher D-Max for blacker blacks. They also have a faster 1000Base-T Ethernet interface and 1.0 GB of RAM. The SureColor P-Series also features upgraded versions of Epson’s ‘Precision Core’ print heads with VSDT for improved print quality and durability, new accounting software for improved job costing, new Epson Print Layout software (which works as a plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom and Nikon ViewNX-i for simplified photo printing) and improved colour management. The line-up starts with the SureColor SC-P6070 which is a 24-inch wide…
IT’S NOT BEEN on the market all that long, but the OM-D E-M5 Mark II is the subject of a new firmware upgrade from Olympus which will further enhance its already pretty impressive video capabilities. Firmware Version 2.0 for the E-M5 II introduces a new Flat ‘Picture Mode’ preset for use with video recording and which is designed to deliver an expanded dynamic range and allow for easier colour grading in post-production. It also provides linear PCM sound synchronisation with the Olympus LS-100 professional digital audio recorder. In-camera video sound recording quality has been improved via a new digital noise filter. The flagship OM-D E-M1 also gets a firmware upgrade – called Version 4.0 – which, again, is primarily designed to give this camera enhanced video recording capabilities.These include 24…
Cosina – the current keeper of the Voigtländer marque – has announced it will cease production of the Bessa-Series Voigtländer 35mm film rangefinder cameras and a large number of L and VM mount lenses. This means the end of the road for the remaining R2M, R3M and R4M bodies (all the A’ models ended last year) so if you want one of these hugely affordable modern M-mount classics, you’ll need to act fast. Production of the SL and SL II Series lenses for selected 35mm SLRs is also ending. Production of Micro Four Thirds mount lenses continues. Voigtländer products are distributed in Australia by Mainline Photographics, telephone (02) 9437 5800 or visit the website www.mainlinephoto.com.au…
