Pro Photo V71 #3

When the world’s premier press photography competition is rejecting one in every five entries due to the use of digital manipulation in one way or another, we have a problem. For starters, it’s disturbing that there are documentary photo-graphers who apparently think it’s OK to make a few tweaks here and there, altering reality in order to create, supposedly, a better picture. More worryingly, photojournalism is pretty well the last bastion of photographic integrity, because wholesale manipulations are pretty well endemic elsewhere, including in landscapes. It’s this that has prompted Ken Duncan – whose commercial success in landscape photography is well documented – to launch his own awards, focusing on what he calls “photo realism”. Ken defines these images as those in which “…the use of digital manipulation should be…

We’ve discussed the convergence of video and still cameras before in this magazine, and Canon’s new XC10 looks like another step in this direction. It’s still primarily an enthusiast-level or semi-pro video camera, but unlike Canon’s Cinema EOS models, it can also shoot stills and it’s capabilities in this area aren’t just an afterthought. The body shape is a mixture of both D-SLR and camcorder form factors with, for example, a handgrip which rotates from the vertical to the horizontal to accommodate different shooting configurations. It also has a tilt-adjustable 7.66 cm touchscreen monitor which can be fitted with a viewfinder loupe for eyelevel use. The XC10 is based around a newly-developed one-inch (the imaging area is 9.6x12.8 mm), 13 megapixels CMOS sensor which is mated with Canon’s next-generation DiG!C…

Micro Four Thirds users already enjoy the most extensive choice of lenses in the mirrorless world and Olympus has now added a further two, delivering on the pair of PRO Series models announced last year. Both the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 8.0mm f1.8 PRO and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO replicate lenses that were in Olympus’s FT D-SLR system and represent another reason for the remaining E-5 users to switch to the OM-D system. The M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO – which has an effective focal range of 14-28mm – incorporates a complex 14-element optical construction including two DSA (‘Dual Super Aspheric’ which are doubled sided aspherical), one EDA (Extra-Low Dispersion Aspheric), two Super HR (Super High Refractive) and three Super ED types. Olympus says distortion is…

While it maintains much the same modular form factor as its C300 predecessor, Canon’s new Cinema EOS C300 Mark II incorporates a long list of revisions and new features. Powered by a pair of latest-generation ‘DiG!C DV5’ processors, the C300 Mark II records 10-bit 4:2:2 files internally at up to 410 Mbps in 4K, or 10/12-bit 4:4:4 files in 2K/Full HD, with up to 15 stops of dynamic range via the new Canon Log Gamma 2 profile. The new camera uses Canon’s new XF-AVC H.264 codec for both 2K and 4K recording and data is stored on dual CFast 2.0 memory cards, replacing the CF types used previously. 4K video can be recorded in either 3840x2160 pixels broadcast resolution or 4096x2160 pixel DCI cinematic resolution. The C300 Mark II can…

Nikon has announced the development of a new firmware for the D4S, D810 and D750 D-SLRs which will provide support for recording command function with HDMI output to external recorders. Nikon plans to release the new firmware in succession later this year. The firmware will enable synchronisation of recording start and stop with HDMI output from these models. As video recorders will recognise camera operations, recording start and stop commands of the external recorder can be synchronised with the similar commands of the camera.…

Leica has upgraded its B&W-only M Monochrom digital rangefinder camera to a new CMOS-type sensor which allows for both live view functions and Full HD video recording. The new Typ 246 model has a 24 megapixels full-35mm size CMOS sensor which, as before, doesn’t have any RGB filters so records in monochrome. The sensor is matched with the same high-speed Leica Maestro image processor as is used in the current colour Typ 240 M. The sensitivity range is equivalent to ISO 320 to 25,000. The new Typ 246 also has an increased buffer memory capacity of two gigabytes and is capable of continuous shooting at up to 3.0 fps for a burst of 30 images. The camera uses SD format memory cards with support for the HC and XC types.…