Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Digital Photography Review Newsletter for Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Digital Photography Review Newsletter The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 400,000 subscribers Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Welcome to the 568th Digital Photography Review newsletter. Despite the sweltering heatwave here in Seattle, we've been hard at work in and out of the studio over the past few days. We just published our review of Panasonic's Lumix DMC-G7, and we've been taking a closer look at the new AF systems built into the Sony a7R II and Cyber-shot RX100IV, too. Meanwhile, I've been out and about with the very capable but JPEG-only (boo...) Cyber-shot HX90V, and Dan has been writing about his experience shooting with the Fujifilm X-T10. G whiz: Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7 review posted Panasonic's newest DSLR-styled mirrorless camera is the Panasonic Lumix G7, offering a 16MP Four Thirds sensor capable of 4K video recording. It boasts an improved autofocus system, 2.36 million-dot EVF and a fully articulated 3" 1.04 million-dot touch-sensitive LCD. It's a strong feature set on paper, but how does it perform in real-world and studio testing? Click here to read our review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7 Analysis: Sony a7R II and RX100 IV autofocus systems Sony recently shook things up with the announcement of the 42.4MP, backside-illuminated full-frame a7R II mirrorless camera, alongside stacked 1"-type sensors in the updates to the popular RX100 and RX10 lines. We put their new AF systems to the test in our brief hands-on time with the cameras recently. Read our analysis of the AF performance of Sony's a7R II and RX100 IV Perfect 10: Fujifilm X-T10 shooting experience Though it has much in common with the X-T1 in terms of image quality, starting with its 16MP X-Trans APS-C sensor and EXR Processor II, the X-T10 presents a very different shooting experience. We've updated our Fujifilm X-T10 first impressions with some thoughts on using the camera in the field. Click here to read about our experience shooting with the Fujifilm X-T10 Plains, trains and automobiles: The landscape photography of Bill Leigh Brewer Bill Leigh Brewer's career in photography started with a road trip, a Canon AE-1, lots of Kodachrome 25, and The Clash. His landscapes lend a surrealist quality to the commonplace and unique aspects of Americana, without demeaning its subjects. Take a look at his work and read our Q&A. Take a look at Bill Leigh Brewer's landscape photography Travel: Zoom! Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V real-world sample gallery The Sony Cyber-shot HX90 has the kind of specs that should appeal to a travel photographer looking for something compact. It packs a 30x optical zoom covering a 24-720mm equiv. range and offers an 18.2MP BSI CMOS sensor. With Wi-Fi and GPS built in, it's road-ready. DPReview Editor Barnaby Britton has been carrying it around for a while - check out our sample gallery to see how it performs. Click to see our gallery of real-world sample images from the Sony Cyber-shot HX90V Nikon D810A: An astrophotographer's perspective We first became acquainted with Adam Woodworth when we featured his portfolio earlier this year. His photos capture the interplay between the earthly and the celestial, often framing the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in alignment with landscape formations. Recently, he's been trying out Nikon's D810A, the world's first full frame camera dedicated to astrophotography. See some of his photos and find out his impressions on using it. Read more about Adam Woodworth's experience with the Nikon D810A What else is coming up? We're working on several reviews, including full treatments of the new Sony RX100IV, Canon EOS 5DS/R and (gasp!) the Nikon D810. We're also pretty close to crossing the final 't's and dotting the final 'i's on our review of the Fujifilm X-T10. Watch this space! Barney

News updates Ricoh announces THETA+ app and two new camera accessories Published Tuesday, July 7, 2015 6:47:00 PM GMT Ricoh has announced a new app called THETA+ for iOS and Android. With THETA+, owners of Ricoh's THETA spherical camera can edit images shot with the device via a smartphone or tablet. The new app is designed to work with the existing THETA app, which enables shooting and sharing from a smartphone. Read more Nikon D810A: An astrophotographer's perspective Published Tuesday, July 7, 2015 12:00:00 PM GMT We first became acquainted with Adam Woodworth when we featured his portfolio earlier this year. His photos capture the interplay between the earthly and the celestial, often framing the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in alignment with landscape formations. Recently, he's been trying out Nikon's D810A, the world's first full frame camera dedicated to astrophotography. See some of his photos and find out his impressions on using it. Read more Canon EOS 5DS R sample gallery updated Published Tuesday, July 7, 2015 6:22:00 AM GMT We've just added some more images to our Canon EOS 5DS R sample gallery. While we're working through our extensive Canon lens catalog, for this update we stuck to telephoto and portrait lenses. Check out the gallery for some portraits (including samples from the Zeiss Otus 85mm F1.4) and vintage race car shots. See gallery Samyang 100mm macro lenses for stills and video photographers Published Monday, July 6, 2015 10:37:00 PM GMT Korean lens manufacturer Samyang has announced two versions of a new 100mm macro lens. The 100mm F2.8 ED UMC Macro is designed for stills photographers, while the 100mm T3.1 VDSLR ED UMC Macro is aimed at those shooting video. The lenses are essentially the same internally, using 15 elements in 12 groups but the VDSLR version is fitted with an uncoupled aperture ring and gears around both aperture and focus controls. Read more GoPro HERO4 Session waterproof cube-shaped camera announced Published Monday, July 6, 2015 7:11:30 PM GMT GoPro has introduced the HERO4 Session, a cube-shaped waterproof camera that is half the size of and 40% lighter than its other HERO4 cameras. The HERO4 Session is waterproof to a depth of 33ft/10m without requiring a separate housing and features one-button operation. Read more Instagram stores higher resolution images Published Monday, July 6, 2015 6:02:00 PM GMT After its recent app update it seems Instagram has further improvements up its sleeve - the mobile image sharing platform has started storing higher resolution images on its servers. In the app and on the web interface images are still displayed at the smaller 640 x 640 pixel size, but a look at the website source code reveals that images are now actually stored at 1080 x 1080 pixels. Read more G whiz: Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7 review posted Published Monday, July 6, 2015 2:47:00 PM GMT Panasonic's newest DSLR-styled mirrorless camera is the Panasonic Lumix G7, offering a 16MP Four Thirds sensor capable of 4K video recording. It boasts an improved autofocus system, 2.36 million-dot EVF and a fully articulated 3" 1.04 million-dot touch-sensitive LCD. It's a strong feature set on paper, but how does it perform in real-world and studio testing? Read more Travel: Zoom! Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V real-world sample gallery Published Monday, July 6, 2015 12:00:00 PM GMT The Sony Cyber-shot HX90 has the kind of specs that should appeal to a travel photographer looking for something compact. It packs a 30x optical zoom covering a 24-720mm equiv. range and offers an 18.2MP BSI CMOS sensor. With Wi-Fi and GPS built in, it's road-ready. DPReview Editor Barnaby Britton has been carrying it around for a while - check out our sample gallery to see how it performs. See gallery Plains, trains and automobiles: The landscape photography of Bill Leigh Brewer Published Sunday, July 5, 2015 12:00:00 PM GMT Bill Leigh Brewer's career in photography started with a road trip, a Canon AE-1, lots of Kodachrome 25, and The Clash. His landscapes lend a surrealist quality to the commonplace and unique aspects of Americana, without demeaning its subjects. Take a look at his work and read our Q&A. See gallery Photography in public places across Europe threatened by harmonization proposal Published Saturday, July 4, 2015 10:00:00 AM GMT The right to use pictures taken in a public place is under threat by a European Parliament proposal for the harmonization of copyright laws across the region. Buried in a complex set of amendments is the idea that the automatic Freedom of Panorama be removed from those countries that maintain it, so that copyright holders of permanent artworks and buildings will need to authorize commercial use of pictures that include their works. Read more Quick Review: Photographers.pro Published Friday, July 3, 2015 12:00:00 PM GMT Many services exist that allow non-developers to create their own websites without too much hassle, but only a handful cater specifically to photographers. The service Photographers.pro aims to stand out by offering an all-inclusive package for photographers that provides a website (including a custom domain address and email) for a yearly fee of $70. Does it distinguish itself from other options available to photographers? We recently took it for a spin to find out. Read more Manfrotto adds friction arms to its accessory lineup Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 10:48:46 PM GMT Manfrotto has announced a series of friction arms and related accessories. They're designed to allow photographers to attach lights, extra cameras, and accessories to tripods and, via a clamp, to table tops and other rigid edges. Read more Moment announces 10x macro lens for iPhone Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 7:01:14 PM GMT Mobile accessory maker Moment has added a new lens to its lineup. The Moment Macro lens offers a 25mm focal length and 10x magnification, using a multi-element design and ED-glass for improved image quality. Read more Canon warns about dangers of counterfeit camera gear Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 6:44:06 PM GMT Canon made an announcement this week warning of counterfeit 600EX-RT flash units being sold as the real deal. Equally as disconcerting as the idea of being ripped off is that these counterfeits are also incredibly difficult to tell apart from the real thing. Read more White House ban on photos and social media has ended Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 6:11:51 PM GMT The White House has ended the ban on photography and social media use during public tours, and is instead urging visitors to take and share photos from tours using the applicable hashtag #WhiteHouseTour. The photography ban had been in place for 40 years, and was instated in part to reduce the damaging effects of flash photography on artwork. Read more Analysis: Sony a7R II and RX100 IV autofocus systems Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 11:47:00 AM GMT Sony recently shook things up with the announcement of the 42.4MP, backside-illuminated full-frame a7R II mirrorless camera, alongside stacked 1"-type sensors in the updates to the popular RX100 and RX10 lines. We put their new AF systems to the test in our brief hands-on time with the cameras recently. See videos of the cameras in action Nikon offers AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm F2.8-4E ED VR Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 4:01:00 AM GMT Nikon has introduced the AF-S DX Nikkor 16-80mm F2.8-4E ED VR, designed to provide an enthusiast photographer with a wide range of options. Covering a 24-120mm equivalent range on Nikon's APS-C bodies, it offers Nano Crystal Coating for the first time in a DX lens. Read more Nikon unveils AF-S Nikkor 500mm F4 and 600mm F4 full-frame lenses Published Thursday, July 2, 2015 4:00:00 AM GMT Nikon has announced a pair of super telephoto FX prime lenses: the AF-S Nikkor 500mm F4E FL ED VR and 600mm F4E FL ED VR. Both are significantly lighter than the versions that preceded them and each use an electromagnetic diaphragm for more consistent exposure control during burst shooting. Read more Toshiba TransferJet 16GB SDHC card launches July 31 in Japan Published Wednesday, July 1, 2015 8:16:57 PM GMT Following some trade show demos, Toshiba is officially introducing a new 16GB SDHC card with TransferJet technology. The card, which looks to be available in Japan only first, is able to wirelessly transfer photos and videos from a camera to a TransferJet-compatible device. Read more Just posted: Fujifilm X-T10 real-world samples Published Wednesday, July 1, 2015 6:12:00 PM GMT We had been shooting around with a pre-production version of the Fujifilm X-T10 for some time and recently got in a final version of the camera. Like the flagship X-T1, it uses Fujifilm's 16MP X-Trans APS-C sensor, which is known for producing pleasing colors. As such, we included a variety of out-of-camera JPEGs as well as Raw conversions. See the gallery Fujifilm X-T10 shooting experience is now live Published Wednesday, July 1, 2015 5:09:00 PM GMT Though it has much in common with the X-T1 in terms of image quality, starting with its 16MP X-Trans APS-C sensor and EXR Processor II, the X-T10 presents a very different shooting experience. We've updated our Fujifilm X-T10 first impressions with some thoughts on using the camera in the field. Read more DxO OpticsPro 10.4.2 released with Canon EOS 5DS/R support Published Wednesday, July 1, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT DxO has introduced OpticsPro 10.4.2, adding Raw support for Canon's EOS 5DS and 5DS R. Also added are 789 new camera/lens combination correction profiles. Updates for DxO FilmPack and DxO ViewPoint also make those applications fully compatible with Photoshop CC 2015. Read more Atomos releases AtomOS6.4 firmware upgrade for Shogun recorder Published Wednesday, July 1, 2015 12:16:45 AM GMT Video production tool maker Atomos has announced the release of AtomOS6.4, a significant firmware update for its Shogun video monitor and recorder. The update includes a number of useful features, including anamorphic de-squeezing that supports the Panasonic GH4's new anamorphic video mode. Read more

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