Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Smart Photography

As Smart Photography completes 20 years of publication, a pertinent question that we should ask ourselves is whether photography will continue to interest the younger generation as it has in the past. Times are difficult across the world and the cost of living presents a big challenge. Photo gear has also become expensive. Young talented photographers are struggling to get a toehold in the industry. Without contacts and a fat purse, success can be elusive. To succeed in today’s cut-throat world, first and foremost you need talent. Education in photography is always a help. Apart from these two, good equipment, networking and building connections and attending photo events can also help. Sadly, the biggest stumbling block seems to be the spiralling cost of equipment. HERE’S WHAT MAKES US #1 WE…

DCP Expeditions marked the 10th anniversary of its flagship event with the DCP Grand Annual Photography and Film Festival 2025, held at The Bombay Art Society, Mumbai. Evolving from its inaugural exhibition in 2015, this year’s edition expanded into a three-day festival featuring DCP’s first-ever film festival alongside a showcase of 250 stunning photographs across various genres. The event included the Grand Annual Photography Exhibition and Photo Awards, the debut Annual Film Festival and Film Awards, the launch of DCP’s Limited Edition Annual Coffee Table Book 2025, and expert-led workshops and talks. Rohinton Mehta, Technical Editor of Smart Photography, inaugurated the festival, celebrating a decade of excellence in visual storytelling.…

Canon has reaffirmed its commitment to compact cameras, citing rising demand among young consumers looking for alternatives to smartphones. In its latest financial report, the company noted a 6.5% increase in camera sales revenue in 2024, with a 14.6% jump in Q4 alone. While Canon plans to expand full-frame sales with models like the EOS R5 II and R1, it also sees a surge in interest for premium compact cameras, particularly the PowerShot G7 X Mark III. To meet demand, the company will ramp up production, aiming for an 8.4% overall sales increase in 2025.…

Nikon has introduced the COOLPIX P1100, a compact digital camera featuring an impressive 125x optical zoom, offering an extended focal length range from 24mm wide-angle to 3000mm super-telephoto (expandable up to 250x with Dynamic Fine Zoom). A successor to the popular COOLPIX P1000, the P1100 enhances usability with new features such as selectable AF-area mode in Bird-watching mode and improved customization options for the optional ML-L7 Remote Control. The camera is powered by Nikon’s EXPEED image-processing system and a high-performance NIKKOR lens, ensuring exceptional image quality even at extreme zoom levels. Dual Detect Optical VR provides stability equivalent to 4.0 stops, reducing camera shake for handheld shooting. The P1100 also supports 4K UHD/30p video recording and superlapse movies, catering to both photographers and videographers. Designed for capturing distant subjects like…

Canon India has launched its official e-Shop, providing customers across 89,000+ PIN codes in India with direct access to Canon cameras, lenses, printers, and accessories. The platform, which went live on January 20, 2025, marks a major step in Canon’s digital expansion, offering a seamless and secure shopping experience through exclusive partnerships with Canon-authorized business partners. Designed to meet the increasing demand for online shopping, the e-Shop ensures secure payments, easy order tracking, and access to the full range of Canon consumer products in one place. Customers can also browse ongoing offers and schemes for added value. Canon India President & CEO Toshiaki Nomura highlighted the company’s commitment to adapting to evolving consumer needs. “The launch of our e-Shop is a testament to this commitment, offering a trusted and seamless…

Tamron has released its financial results for the fiscal year 2024, showcasing significant growth across key metrics. The company reported net sales of ¥88.475 billion, a 23.9% increase from the previous year, and an operating income of ¥19.201 billion, marking a 41.1% rise year-over-year. Photographic Products Segment Highlights: • Sales Growth: The segment experienced a 10% increase in sales, driven by the successful launch of new models in 2023 and 2024, coupled with strong performance in domestic, Chinese, and other Asian markets. • OEM Performance: Sales of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) products surged by over 1.4 times, particularly bolstered by robust results in the latter half of the previous fiscal year. • Profitability: Operating income on net sales improved by 1.5 percentage points year-over-year, with operating income itself increasing approximately…

Dr. Aranya Kar Dr. Aranya Kar hails from a city called Burdwan, in West Bengal. He is a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry and a passionate photographer, mostly capturing landscapes and streets, both in India and Israel, where he is currently residing. Photography has been his hobby since 2011, with the clicking device transitioning from a mobile phone, digicam, D-SLR and finally to Mirrorless. He currently uses a Nikon D5300 + a 18-140 mm lens, and a Nikon Z6 II + a 24-120 mm lens. He also photographs using a OnePlus Nord 2 smartphone. His Instagram handle is: photography_kar…

While one can debate who makes the best cameras, no such discussion is needed for the image post-processing software. Adobe’s Photoshop and its younger sibling the Lightroom Classic are the gold standards and are the most versatile of all the offerings on the market today. In addition, being very economically priced, they give the best bang for the buck, all things considered. Many photographers use one of the two most of the time and dip into the other rarely or never at all. While many of us might be processing images in this fashion, using both these applications tightly coupled will enable us to synergize the features from both. You can move an image from Lightroom (we shall drop the word Classic, hereafter) to Photoshop and back with relative ease,…

Nikkor Z 50 mm F/1.4 ₹79,995/- A50 mm lens – is often referred to as the ‘nifty-fifty’ – is the ‘normal’ lens for the 35 mm (full-frame) format. It is usually a ‘fast’ lens designed to be light in weight and high in performance. The Nikkor Z 50 mm f/1.4 was announced in India on 10th September 2024 and released by the month’s end. Let’s see how this Z-mount 50 mm f/1.4 lens performs on our testbench. Design & Build Quality Keeping up with the high standard of production that Nikon is known for, the all-black Nikkor Z 50 mm f/1.4 lens is well built, with the word ‘Nikkor’ in silver trim standing out. The lens mount index is clearly visible. Generally, most lenses come with a plastic thread for…

Oneplus 13 ₹76,999/- (oneplus.in) The OnePlus 13 is insanely fast, thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite and, if you go for the more powerful model, a whopping 16 GB of RAM. But even the base model can deliver impressive speed, especially with OnePlus’ RAM expansion feature. With 16 GB of RAM, I pushed mine to 28 GB, and let me tell you, everything flies. We know not everyone pushes their phone to the limit like we do. We edited videos, which is one of the toughest tests for any phone. We had other phones crash apps, struggle with large video files, or freeze up completely. But with the OnePlus 13, I’ve never had a single issue. For most users, the phone’s power is most noticeable when gaming or multitasking.…

Sigma has introduced the BF Camera, a full-frame mirrorless camera designed for creators who value simplicity without compromising on quality. With a 24-megapixel sensor, a sleek unibody aluminum design, and minimal physical controls, the BF Camera strips photography down to the essentials. Instead of an SD card slot, the camera includes 230GB of internal storage, allowing users to store over 14,000 JPEGs, 4,300 RAW images, or 2.5 hours of 6K video. It also supports L-Log recording for greater dynamic range and features hybrid autofocus that detects people, dogs, and cats. L-mount lens compatibility makes it an easy choice for existing Leica and Sigma users. Designed for those who want a distraction-free shooting experience, the Sigma BF Camera offers a streamlined interface and high-end performance, making it ideal for both seasoned…

Canon has issued a warning about compatibility issues between its EOS R5 Mark II camera and certain SanDisk Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II V60 memory cards. Users have reported corrupted or unreadable still images when using the 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB versions of these cards. Canon has not provided a fix, instead advising photographers to avoid using the affected cards. The company has directed users to a SanDisk page listing alternative compatible cards, including V90 models and higher-capacity V60 options. However, neither Canon nor SanDisk has clarified the cause of the issue. SanDisk has since updated its support page, instructing affected users to contact the company for a warranty replacement.…

Canon has launched two new 13-inch wireless inkjet photo printers, the Pixma Pro-200S and imagePrograf Pro-310, designed for photographers and visual artists. The Pixma Pro-200S ($599.99) features an eight-color dye-based Chroma Life 100+ ink system, promising improved reds, blues, and deeper blacks. It prints borderless up to 13x19 inches and offers A3+ prints in 90 seconds. The imagePrograf Pro-310 ($899.99) uses a 10-color Lucia Pro II pigment ink system with archival-quality prints lasting up to 200 years. It also supports panoramic prints up to 70.8 inches. Both printers are available now.…

In early December 2024, Brightin Star officially launched the 50mm f/0.95 II, a manual focus full-frame lens for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and L-mount cameras. Featuring an ultra-wide f/0.95 aperture, the lens promises excellent low-light performance and smooth bokeh, making it ideal for portrait photography. The lens includes glow-in-the-dark focusing and aperture scales for improved usability in dim environments. Its optical construction consists of seven elements in five groups, delivering sharp in-focus details while maintaining a soft out-of-focus background.…

The Nikon 24-120mm f/4 S was the best-selling new lens of 2024 at Japan’s Map Camera, followed by the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III. Sony’s 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II secured third place, highlighting a strong preference for zoom lenses. Tamron’s 28-75mm f/2.8 G2 and Fujifilm’s XF 16-50mm f/2.8-4.8 R LM kit lens rounded out the top five. In fact, zoom lenses dominated the top 10, with only one prime lens, the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, making the list. Consumers also showed a willingness to invest in high-end lenses, with Sony’s premium 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II and 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II both ranking in the top 10. Nikon led in brand representation with three lenses, while Sony, Canon, and Tamron each had two, and Fujifilm had one. For used lenses,…

Nikon Nikkor Z Mount 35 mm f-1.4 Lens ₹89,995/- For their new Z mount, Nikon first introduced the three ‘classic’ focal length lenses, viz., 35, 50, and 85 mm with a maximum aperture of f/1.8. They were later followed by very high speed, super expensive f/1.2 versions. The question many were asking was, where are the f/1.4 versions which represent a happy trade off? This and the companion 50 mm lens are answers to that question. Design & Build Quality The 35 mm Nikkor f/1.4 for its speed and focal length, is remarkably small and light. It is just about the same size as the older Z 35 mm f/1.8 S lens and a shade heavier. The latter is an ‘S’ grade lens and has a more robust construction, but…

SmallRig Rotatable Horizontal-to-Vertical Mount Plate Kit `8,200/- This an interesting and unusual device to rotate the camera from landscape orientation to portrait, and vice versa easily. In a way, it does the same job as an L-plate but there are some differences. L-plates that work well must be custom designed for a specific camera model or two. The advantage of these is that they are compact and can be kept bolted to the camera full time. The disadvantage is that since these are made to fit a particular camera model, they become useless when you change the camera. On the contrary, this device has generic support that is manufacturer based, rather than a specific camera model so you need not change it unless you change the manufacturer. The one we…

Canon may shift more of its camera manufacturing outside Japan as part of a broader cost-cutting strategy, according to chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai. In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Mitarai stated that the company is exploring a “fabless” model for printers and lower-end digital cameras, potentially outsourcing assembly. The move comes amid declining demand for cameras and office equipment, long-standing pillars of Canon’s business. While compact camera sales have rebounded recently, Canon had already closed its Zhuhai, China, factory in 2022, limiting its ability to capitalize on the trend. Outsourcing production could allow Canon to re-enter the affordable compact camera market or shift entry-level mirrorless camera manufacturing outside Japan. Mitarai emphasized that key production, including flagship models and core technologies, will remain in Japan to safeguard intellectual property.…

Dr. Mukesh Batra Padma Shri Dr. Mukesh Batra hosts an annual exhibition to support a noble cause: aiding the visually challenged. For the past forty years, he has been dedicated to raising funds for the Victoria Memorial School, a facility for the visually impaired. Every year, the money raised from this event is donated to the school. This long-standing commitment reflects his unwavering support for the visually impaired community, making a significant difference in their lives through consistent and heartfelt contributions. This exhibition is a part of the Dr. Batra’s®️ Foundation’s initiatives.…

Vimal Parmar An independent marketing consultant and digital print evangelist with over 40 years of experience in the imaging industry. @vimalparmar The Timeless Appeal of Print in Photography Even in today’s digital era, printed photographs and photobooks continue to captivate. From exhibitions to personalised calendars, print remains an enduring and cherished medium for photography lovers. Dear Readers, Over the span of just 40 days—from late December 2024 to early February 2025—I attended three photography exhibitions where printed photographs and photobooks played a significant role. Across these exhibitions, 379 photographs adorned the walls, while the organisers collectively published 660 photobooks. This reaffirms that, despite living in an increasingly digital world, print remains as relevant and cherished as ever—and for good reason. It was a pleasure to watch visitors engage deeply with…