While most of the digital imaging industry has been focusing heavily on full frame mirrorless cameras as of late, Fujifilm has remained firmly committed to their crop sensor mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras–and that’s evident with the Fujifilm X-T30. The company has built up a very loyal following thanks in large part to the excellent build quality, well thought out ergonomics, and overall refined user experience that is core to every Fujifilm camera’s DNA. The fact that Fujifilm has managed to incorporate some of the latest digital imaging innovations into their cameras while keeping them very competitively priced further sweetens the pot. With the newly announced Fujifilm X-T30, Fujifilm incorporated a lot of the advancements found within the much-loved X-T3 that was released last year and crammed them into an even more compact camera body. The XT-30 shares the same 26.1 MP 4th generation X-Trans APS-C CMOS 4 sensor as well as the 4th generation Quad-Core X-Processor 4 CPU as the top of the line X-T3.
In addition to introducing the brand new Fujifilm X-T30, Fujifilm also showcased the new Fujifilm XF 16mm f2.8 R WR, a fast aperture ultrawide angle lens that is so compact and lightweight that you can fit it inside one of the pockets in your pants. With 10 lens elements arranged into 8 groups (2 of which are aspherical), the Fuji XF 16mm f2.8 is designed to take advantage of the increased resolving power of Fujifilm’s own 4th generation 26.1 MP X-Trans CMOS 4 Sensor and promises to produce images with edge-to-edge sharpness. We had the opportunity to personally fondle the lens, and here’s what we think so far.
In what promises to be Nikon’s first really usable zoom lens in Z mount, the Nikon Z 24-70mm f2.8 S is being billed as an option for the pro that wants to shoot weddings, landscapes, portraits, events, etc. We found its older f4 variant to be too soft for our liking, and the Nikon Z 24-70mm f2.8 S has something added to it that is quite interesting. It’s called an ARNEO coating. This coating is designed to cut down on ghosting and flare entering from vertical angles.
Coming in May 2019, a firmware update will be of great use to those who didn’t return their Nikon z6 or Nikon z7 cameras out of frustration. Nikon announced today that this new firmware update will address and fix the issues that photographers have been having with the system. The XQD-Card-using-but-otherwise-not-bad camera system has been under scrutiny of many bloggers, reviewers, vloggers, etc. With competition from Sony and others seem to have better autofocus, there have been promotions to get units moving as much as possible.
Alas, we aren’t being treated to Canon’s high end EOS R camera, but with the Canon EOS RP we’re getting a pretty interesting candidate in the mix. The Canon EOS RP is being aggressively priced at $1,299 and has the same sensor at the heart of the Canon 6D Mk II. That wasn’t always my favorite sensor, but after Tony Northrup’s video on it a while back the internet swooned over it again. My issue is that in Lightroom, we found the highlight recovery to be awful but in Capture One it was quite good. Beyond this are some head scratching features in the Canon EOS RP, like silent shooting mode being a dedicated shooting mode with no manual controls in the same way that you get with the Canon EOS M50. This isn’t the case with the EOS R, which has an option for silent shutter photography. Maybe with the professional level camera, Canon will finally take this feature seriously–and during my time in New Orleans with the camera, I heard many other journalists agree.
In what I personally find to be the more exciting of the two Canon announcements tonight, the company is announcing their latest lineup of lenses that will be coming on their roadmap for this year. While company already produced some stunners in the form of a 28-70mm f2 L USM, 50mm f1.2 L USM, and a 24-105mm f4 L IS USM, there’s more coming. In fact, some of these are pretty new innovations that haven’t been done by a manufacturer at all, let alone one in the mirrorless camera world.
Adding external lighting into your portrait photography workflow will really help you make images that will stand out from the crowd. While natural lighting is great, adding flashes and monolights into the mix can really make your images incredibly dynamic. There are so many lighting options on the market though, so it can be hard to choose between the options out there. In this feature we will take a look at six different lighting options that are affordable, and easy to use. There’s no doubt that they will help you take your portrait photography to new levels.
Want to learn astrophotography but don’t know where to begin? There are lots of tutorials out there, but if you want to learn from experts who have been doing it for decades, here’s a Kickstarter project you might want to support. No complicated equipment and special software involved — all you need are this in-depth course, your DSLR or mirrorless camera, and Adobe Photoshop and you’re all set!
We’re still pretty much fresh into 2019 but there’s already a major reason to stay vigilant over your online accounts. Some 620 million accounts from 16 websites have been compromised in a recent data breach, according to a report by The Register. These include photography websites 500px and EyeEm. If you’re on any of these platforms, we strongly suggest you change your passwords now, if you haven’t yet.
Software updates are always a good thing, especially the long overdue ones. While today’s Lightroom Ecosystem announcement isn’t just Fujifilm Specific, users of the X-Trans based sensors will be pleased to know that the algorithms used to decipher RAW files have been given a boost, and both Bayer and X-Trans RAW files should see a 30% improvement when it comes resolving fine details. There are plenty of other new features that have been included in the new update too. Join us after the break to find out more.