Pro Photo V76 Issue 2

While preventing infections and potential deaths is obviously the key priority at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, what lies ahead – particularly in terms of the economy – could be even more of a challenge. Plenty of industries have been hardhit by the social distancing regulations which have resulted in hundreds of events – both big and small – cancelled and all sporting codes on hold, with the possibility of the complete 2020 season being lost. Consequently, professional photographers in many areas of practice have been impacted either directly or indirectly Obviously, if you’re a sports photographer, you’re out of work right now, but it’s the same for wedding photographers and anybody who photographs social or business events for a living or works in travel and tourism. With…

In a third pre-launch press release Canon has released more details about its planned pro-level EOS R series mirrorless camera, the R5. Canon is really building anticipation for the camera it is now dubbing “The King”. The company says the R5 will “redefine the mirrorless category” and the latest information is related to its video recording capabilities which look to be on a par with the new EOS C300 Mark III Cinema camera. The key video specs are 8K RAW internal recording using the full sensor width at 25 or 30fps. There will also be the options of recording 8K video internally with 10-bit 4:2:2 colour in Canon Log (using the H.265 compression codec) or 10-bit 4:2:2 in HDR PQ (again with H.265). With 4K recording, both options will be available at…

First mooted at the 2018 Photokina, Leica’s new medium format DSLR is now a reality. The S3 keeps the same form factor as its predecessor with a weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, but it has a new 64MP (effective) Leica ProFormat CMOS sensor with dimensions of 30x45 millimetres. This represents a 71 percent increase in resolution over the previous model’s 37.5MP sensor, and Leica is claiming a dynamic range of 15 stops. There is no optical low-pass filter. The sensitivity range is ISO 100 to 50,000, while continuous shooting is at up to 3fps. The sensor is mated with Leica’s Maestro II generation engine and there’s a 2GB buffer memory. RAW images are captured as lossless compressed Adobe DNG files. On the video side, the S3 can now record 4K video in…

If you liked both Fujifilm’s X-H1 and X-T3 X mount mirrorless cameras, but neither quite ticked all your boxes you should take a look at the new X-T4. It has much the same compact body as the X-T3 with the same retro-look styling and dial-based control layout, but the big deal is that the X-T4 now has in-body image stabilisation (which is one of the X-H1’s key attractions). The all-new and more compact IBIS unit has five-axis movement and can correct for up to 6.5 stops of camera shake, greatly extending the potential for handheld shooting with longer lenses or in low-light situations. Another significant upgrade is an increase in the maximum shooting speed up to 15fps with the mechanical shutter, while the top speed with the electronic shutter remains at 20fps.…

There’s little doubt Sony’s ever-expanding lens system for the FE mount is a contributing factor to the continued success of its Alpha series mirrorless cameras. The latest addition is a 20mm f/1.8 ultrawide prime which is also the newest addition to the G range of higher-performing optics. It’s currently the widest-angle model in Sony’s FE mount line-up and gives an angle-of-view of 94 degrees on a full-35mm format sensor. The FE 20mm f/1.8 G is a compact lens which measures 84.7mm in length and weighs in at just 373g, but it has a weathersealed external design with the addition of a fluorine coating on the exposed surface of the front element to help better repel moisture and grease. The optical construction employs 14 elements in 12 groups which include two Advanced Aspherical…

While Canon continues to offer ever more capable hybrid photo/video cameras, its Cinema EOS range is specifically targeted at pro-level video makers and cinematographers. The latest addition to the Cinema EOS camera body line-up is the C300 Mark III and it’s accompanied by a new 25-250mm cine zoom with a built-in 1.5x teleconverter, giving a maximum focal length of 375mm. The third-generation EOS C300 (the Mark II model was launched in 2015) has a more modular design similar to that of the C500 Mark II with interchangeable viewfinders, handgrips/handles and expansion modules. It uses a completely new Super 35mm format CMOS sensor with Dual Gain Output (DGO) circuitry and a claimed dynamic range “exceeding 16 stops” to give superior HDR capture. Super 35mm is actually similar to APS-C in format size and…