Welcome to the 586th Digital Photography Review newsletter. I'm writing to you from Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska, after a four-day shoot at the top of the world, where we've been field testing a camera. But which camera? Ah, that would spoil the surprise. Keep an eye on our homepage to find out! In the meantime, I'm off to warm up. here are some recent content highlights... Good genes: Samsung NX500 review posted The Samsung NX500 is the baby brother to the company's superb NX1 mirrorless camera. It brings over many of the features of the NX1, including its 28MP BSI CMOS sensor and AF system, and puts them into a compact body at a price competitive with other midrange mirrorless models. Click here to read our review of the Samsung NX500 
2015 Camera Roundups It's getting close to holiday season, so we've been updating our annual camera roundups to help you make the best possible buying decisions for yourself, or for someone you love. We're covering more than 80 cameras, and several roundups are already on the site, with more to come. Click the link below for all of the published articles and watch this space for more! Check out our 2015 camera roundups 
Into the woods: Samsung NX500 Field Test It's not often we get to eat what we photograph, but that's what we did in our latest Field Test. We took the Samsung NX500 into the woods with pro photographer and mycology enthusiast Eirik Johnson to forage for some wild mushrooms. While providing a keen eye to make sure we didn't try to eat anything poisonous, Eirik also helped us try out the NX500's imaging and 4K video features. Watch our field test of the Samsung NX500 
The great outdoors: Canon EOS 5DS and 5DSR Field Test  Mikey Schaefer is no stranger to the great outdoors. As a professional photographer who specializes in shooting in some of the most extreme environments on earth, he tests his body - and his gear - to the limits. In this field test we're following Mikey on a sports lifestyle / editorial shoot with Canon's EOS 5DS and 5DSR, near his home town in Oregon.
Click here to watch our field test of the Canon EOS 5DS/R PIX 2015: Chasing light with Joe McNally  Over the span of a 35-year career as a professional photographer, Joe McNally knows what it means to chase light. Known for his work with studio and off-camera lighting, McNally is just as well-versed in the art of natural light as he is in artificial. In his PIX 2015 talk, he discusses the choices he makes about lighting to help bring out the most from his location and subject.
Click here to watch Joe McNally's talk at PIX 2015 What's coming up? More roundups, seasonal buying guides, in-depth reviews, and the usual news, sample galleries and portfolios. Same as always. No sleep till Christmas! Barney Barney |
| News updates | Published Wednesday, November 11, 2015 10:00:00 PM GMT Ricoh has announced a new wide-angle prime for its Pentax 645D/645Z medium format digital bodies. This lens' name is a mouthful: HD PENTAX-D FA645 35mm F3.5 AL [IF]. The top-line specs are that it acts as a 27.5mm (in 35mm terms) on a digital 645 body, has a minimum focus distance of 0.3m, giving a maximum magnification ratio of 0.25x. Read more | | Published Wednesday, November 11, 2015 7:30:28 PM GMT It's not easy shopping for a photographer. We're notoriously picky, our gear is confusingly named and the difference between something we like and something we don't can come down to what seem like trivial details. But before you give up and just get a gift card, take a look through our carefully selected holiday gift suggestions, grouped by price range, for the photographer in your life. Read more | | Published Wednesday, November 11, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT Startup InVisage has announced a smartphone sensor with global shutter for distortion-free video and greater dynamic range than its CMOS rivals. The Quantum13 is a 13MP sensor based on the company's Quantum Film technology that moves away from silicon as the light-sensitive medium. The sensor, now available in small quantities for testing by smartphone makers, can also be built into a smaller package for slimmer smartphones. We spoke to CEO Jess Lee about the sensor and what it brings to the market. | | Published Tuesday, November 10, 2015 8:38:56 PM GMT Breakthrough Photography, a San Francisco-based startup, is seeking funding for what it claims is the 'world's sharpest and most color neutral circular polarizer,' the X3 CPL. This polarizer is constructed with Schott B270 optical glass from Germany, MRC16 and nanotec coatings, a weather-sealed brass Traction Frame, and new American-made CrystalVision CPL film. Read more | | Published Tuesday, November 10, 2015 5:00:00 PM GMT It's not often we get to eat what we photograph, but that's what we did in our latest Field Test. We took the Samsung NX500 into the woods with pro photographer and mycology enthusiast Eirik Johnson to forage for some wild mushrooms. While providing a keen eye to make sure we didn't try to eat anything poisonous, Eirik also helped us try out the NX500's imaging and 4K video features. Read more | | Published Tuesday, November 10, 2015 12:23:00 AM GMT While most of the cameras in this category fall within the $500-$800 range (with a few exceptions), offerings vary quite a bit in terms of sensor size, control points, zoom range, video capabilities and built-in electronic viewfinders (or lack thereof). In general, we only included flagship compacts from each brand. All of the cameras here offer some sort of zoom range, in general, less than 8x. Get an overview of the category and find out our recommendations. Read more | | Published Monday, November 9, 2015 8:40:00 PM GMT Students at HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences have created a new semi-automatic tagging website called akiwi in cooperation with Fotolia and Pixolution. Users simply upload an image, which is compared to a library of more than 22 million photos, and keywords are suggested based on similar images and input from the user. Read more | | Published Monday, November 9, 2015 7:23:28 PM GMT Software developer Macphun has announced a new package designed to help photographers to combine multiple exposures into HDR images. Created in partnership with HDR specialist Trey Ratcliff, Aurora HDR provides tools for a wide range of effects via manual controls and a collection of pre-sets. Read more | | Published Monday, November 9, 2015 3:00:00 PM GMT The Samsung NX500 is the baby brother to the company's superb NX1 mirrorless camera. It brings over many of the features of the NX1, including its 28MP BSI CMOS sensor and AF system, and puts them into a compact body at a price competitive with other midrange mirrorless models. Read more | | Published Sunday, November 8, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT DPR reader Philip Ewing found he had little time outside of long hours at the office to spend on photography, so he turned his commute into a time to exercise some creativity. Each day he brings his camera along with him on Washington D.C.'s Metrorail system, where he photographs the Brutalist-style architecture, morning rushes and evening light of the Metro subway. Read more | | Published Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:30:00 PM GMT Staying inspired as a creative, no matter the discipline, isn't always easy. Some photographers work through creative droughts by starting 365 projects, while others look to photo groups and peers to help them stay accountable and keep shooting. Pro wildlife photographer Rick Sammon argues that all creatives - especially photographers - need some help staying inspired from time to time. Read more | | Published Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT Travel and photography are two pursuits that are often intertwined. While photographers who've been bit by the travel bug will usually have a long list of destinations they plan to visit in their back pocket, others may need a little inspiration or encouragement to head in a particular compass direction. Lonely Planet is happy to help out, as always, with its annual list of top travel destinations. Read more | | Published Friday, November 6, 2015 10:50:22 PM GMT Rangefinder magazine has announced its annual list of top wedding photography newcomers, now in its fourth year, highlighting the work of 30 photographers to watch. See some of their work and learn more about the list. Read more | | Published Friday, November 6, 2015 1:30:00 PM GMT The Fixed Prime Lens Camera category is our smallest roundup of 2015 but also one of our most interesting. Cameras in this category range quite a bit, from the affordable, to the jaw-droppingly expensive. If you prefer to zoom with your feet, instead of your lens, then this is the roundup for you. Read on | | Published Friday, November 6, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT Commercial Photographer and camera blogger Ming Thein has shot with almost as many mirrorless cameras as we have, and has put together a list of all the things they get wrong or, at least, all the things he thinks they should all do. It's a fairly comprehensive list that we very much agree with. Thein echoes a lot of our own concerns about camera handling, behavior and operation, as he works through camera design point-by-point. Read more | | Published Friday, November 6, 2015 1:41:00 AM GMT Lytro, a company known for its light field cameras and technologies, has introduced Immerge, a professional-grade cinematic virtual reality rig. According to Lytro, this is the first 'end-to-end' virtual reality hardware and software solution, with the entire system comprising four primary components: a light field camera array, storage and processing server, an editor, and a video player. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 9:22:00 PM GMT The Long Zoom Compact category is probably the most diverse of any in our 2015 roundups. Within it are three separate sub-classes of camera, all of which offer 8x optical zoom or greater (up to a whopping 83x). Find out which we recommend. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 6:59:00 PM GMT Sony Europe has announced a new Alpha-mount camera, the a68. High on its list of features is a 79-point phase detect '4D FOCUS' AF module likely borrowed from the a77 II. With a 24MP APS-C sensor and Sony's translucent mirror technology, the camera is capable of 8 fps shooting with AF tracking. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 6:30:00 PM GMT Mikey Schaefer is no stranger to the great outdoors. As a professional photographer who specializes in shooting in some of the most extreme environments on earth, he tests his body - and his gear - to the limits. In this field test we're following Mikey on a sports lifestyle / editorial shoot with Canon's EOS 5DS and 5DSR, near his home town in Oregon. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 6:25:09 PM GMT We've all witnessed the megapixel race in digital cameras and, just a few years later, the trend has caught on in the smartphone camera sector. Lately though, manufacturers seem to putting more of an emphasis on low light performance. This may be the case with the newest Samsung Galaxy device, expected to launch in early 2016, which is rumored to use a 1/2-inch 12MP imager. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 1:00:00 PM GMT Over the span of a 35-year career as a professional photographer, Joe McNally knows what it means to chase light. Known for his work with studio and off-camera lighting, McNally is just as well-versed in the art of natural light as he is in artificial. In his PIX 2015 talk, he discusses the choices he makes about lighting to help bring out the most from his location and subject. Read more | | Published Thursday, November 5, 2015 9:00:00 AM GMT Medium format and aerial camera maker Hasselblad has sold a minority stake to the Chinese drone giant SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, in what the two companies describe as a 'corporate partnership'. The exact size of the stake has not been revealed, but both sides are keen to point out that there will be no merging of the businesses and from an external viewpoint nothing will change. Read more | |
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