Innholdsfortegnelse for 240 i Pro Photo

Told you this would happen. So far, all our discussions of AI-generated imagery – a scourge if ever there was one – has curtained on these so-called artworks being entered in photography competitions. In the cases of the ones we know about, the perpetrators have come clean – although, in the case of this year’s Sony World Photo Competition, only as the category prize was about to be awarded which is just wrong – but there may well be a few more that have gone undetected. Now we’ve been told about an image – that was genuinely created using an Apple iPhone – that was ejected from a competition because the judges suspected it may have been AI-generated. Professional photographer Wendy McDougall does some promotional work for Sydney professional printer…

With an effective focal length of 12mm and an angle-of-view of 121 degrees diagonally, the new Fujinon XF 8mm f/3.5 R WR is the widest-angle prime lens in the X mount system (there’s already the XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR zoom which is considerably bulkier and more expensive). Weighing in at just 215 grams and measuring just under 53 millimetres in length – so it’s comparatively compact for an ultra-wide prime lens – the XF 8mm f/3.5 R WR has a fully weather-protected construction which includes insulation to allow shooting in the subzero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius. There’s a total of ten seals to prevent the intrusion of moisture or dust and the exposed surface of the front element has a fluorine coating to help repel water…

Established by Leica, Panasonic and Sigma in 2018, the L Mount Alliance has a new member with South Korean lens maker Samyang joining the group. It’s good news for owners of L mount camera as Samyang has already proven itself with competitive FE mount autofocus lenses for the Sony Alpha system. Many of these are likely to now appear in the L mount, giving users an expanded choice of both stills and cine lenses. Also joining the alliance is a Japanese company called Astrodesign which makes professional level video cameras. The Alliance now actually has seven members; the others being Ernst Leitz Wetzlar (a separate operation to Leica Camera and which makes high-end cine lenses), and the Chinese company dji.…

If you remember slide shows – the ones made up of actual film transparencies – you’ll also probably remember just how much more powerful they were when sound was added. Now that many photographers are shooting video, also understanding the audio technologies involved is a vitally important skill. A good soundtrack adds more dynamism, depth and emotion to the imagery and, if you’re recording voices, they need to be clear and understandable. And it often all starts with the quality of the audio that you record on location along with the vision. Get this wrong and your production is very likely in trouble. Digital audio recording specialist Zoom – which is a Japanese company – specialises in compact and highly-portable devices which are capable of delivering high-quality sound on location.…

There’s nothing like a dip into the archives to reveal just how much things have changed in the professional photography industry, especially over the last couple of decades. In the early 1970s, medium and large format cameras were considered the only choice for serious professionals, especially for studio work, but 35mm was starting to make inroads into professional practice. And black-and-white film was still in extensive use for many applications. Although colour was no longer thought of as the work of the devil, many pros ran their own darkrooms for processing and printing B&W. Here’s a selection of what was on the pages of this magazine 50 years ago when it was called Professional Photography In Australia. This is a snapshot of the September/October 1973 issue. Cover photograph: Shirley Dawson,…

Canon’s first direct presence in Australia was established in July 1973 as a joint venture called Repco Canon Pty Ltd which was created to import, sell, and prepare to manufacture Canon photocopiers in the region. In 1976, the company name was changed to Canon Copier Australia, and it became a direct sales and service company for Canon photocopiers. In 1978, Canon Australia was established as a separate company to handle Canon cameras, typewriters, faxes and computers; and it ran alongside Canon Copier Australia Canon Australia and Canon Copier Australia joined forces in 1984 became Canon Australia Pty Ltd and the headquarters was moved from Melbourne to Sydney. In 1985, Canon introduced the BJ-80, the world’s first inkjet printer to use the company’s Bubble Jet technology. The EOS 650 – the…

IF YOU’RE NEW TO CINE LENSES YOU might be wondering about the T-stops and how they’re different from f-stops. The T stands for “transmission” and the T-stop – also called a T-number – is a measure of exactly how much light is passed through the lens (i.e. to the sensor), taking into account the losses which occur in the optical system due to refraction, diffusion or reflection. In comparison, f-stops are determined mathematically by dividing the focal length of the lens by the diameter of the aperture… so they’re a theoretical value rather than an actual value. The T-stop takes into account the number of elements in a lens’s optical construction, the quality of the optics and the effectiveness of the anti-reflection coatings. So, for example, due to variations in…

Now that vlogging cameras are officially A Thing, Canon has launched a new line of PowerShot digital compacts specifically designed for this application. In fact, the PowerShot V10 has a whole new form factor – so it looks like no other PowerShot model that you’ve ever seen before – with a vertically orientated body that incorporates a built-in stand and a flip-up monitor screen. This means that the camera is easy to place on a desk or table to video yourself, but also use one-handed as the video start/stop button is right alongside the lens. With everything folded away, the slimline body is pocket-sized and it weighs just a shade over 210 grams The V10 is, first and foremost, a video camera (although you can take stills if you really…

Weighing a featherweight 120 grams, the Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM ‘pancake’ prime is the most compact and lightest lens in the current RF mount line-up. It’s got plenty of potential applications too, including landscapes, street photography, interiors and travel plus… you guessed it… vlogging. On the ‘APS-C’ cropped sensor EOS R bodies, the effective focal length is 45mm so it makes a neat little standard lens. The overall length is a mere 24.7 millimetres. It’s very affordable too, part of Canon’s ongoing efforts to increase the appeal of its EOS R mirrorless system. The optical construction comprises eight elements in six groups of which three are aspherical types to correct for distortion and optimise centre-toedge sharpness. These aspherical elements are PMo – or plastic moulded – types made from…

The Australian landscape has beguiled photographers ever since the time it was possible to take a camera on location and record an image that could be fixed. With its dramatically vivid light and colours, it has particularly enticed photographers who weren’t born here, and quite a number of these have spent much of their lives getting to grips with its many challenging elements. Perhaps none more so than Mark Lang, now approaching 80, who arrived in Australia in February 1969 and eventually ended up spending many years living in his 4WD in the Top End so he could be fully immersed into every aspect of the Australian landscape. Mark was among the first to appreciate that it often couldn’t be constrained by any standard film frame, and began using a…

Ever since Nikon introduced the concept of a compact professional-grade camera – at a time when the 35mm film format was still derogatively dismissed by many working photographers as “miniature” – there has been a long line of top-of-the-line models which raised the bar in terms of both capabilities and performance. Launched in 1959, the legendary F, was followed by the F2 and finally through to the F6 as digital capture quickly replaced film. Then came the D1 in 1999 and Nikon’s DSLR line progressed over the next couple of decades through to, coincidentally, the D6. And many of these flagship cameras were accompanied by ‘understudy’ models that were, to all intents and purposes, professional grade – certainly in terms of the build quality at least – but lacked some…

IT’S BEEN LARGELY LOST IN THE mists of time, but it’s worth remembering that the Nikon D90 – way back in mif-2008 – was actually the first DSLR to have video recording capabilities. It arrived a mere few weeks before the EOS 5D Mark II, but it’s Canon that subsequently became more associated with video-enabled DSLRs which has carried through to its mirrorless offerings. To be fair, Nikon’s emphasis has always been on photography and it’s been fairly conservative on the video side, but this has changed with the Z mount mirrorless system and it’s now vying to have the likes of the Z 8 and Z 9 considered as true hybrids. To be frank, both still do video the Nikon way, but they’re now hugely capable and the Z…