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Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II sample gallery

DP Review Latest news - Tue, 01/16/2024 - 06:00

$(document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({"containerId":"embeddedSampleGallery_6135165848","galleryId":"6135165848","isEmbeddedWidget":true,"selectedImageIndex":0,"isMobile":false}) });Recent Videos!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement('iframe');t.src='javascript:false';t.display='none',t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement('script');c.src='//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js?cid=a1b625fb-cd44-410e-9479-699e835fd645',c.setAttribute('async','1'),c.setAttribute('type','text/javascript'),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document); (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=1cad57d1-aae3-42ce-aa46-cb49bb02d99a&cid=a1b625fb-cd44-410e-9479-699e835fd645';cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "1cad57d1-aae3-42ce-aa46-cb49bb02d99a" }).render("0f952e209d6147a793d43f13d9e1cfa2"); });

Sony's 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens is smaller, lighter and more capable than its predecessor. Optical improvements come in the form of better corner-to-corner sharpness and a new close-focus distance of just 22 cm.

Meanwhile, an 11-bladed aperture produces stunning sun stars when stopped down. Shot wide open, the lens renders out-of-focus regions with an almost dream-like quality. Plus, photo and video shooters both will likely appreciate the lens' super-fast, near-silent autofocus system, which employs four linear motors.

Editor's note: This sample gallery was shot in parallel with our testing of the Sony a7C II camera. We will add additional images from a higher-resolution body at a future date.

View our Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens gallery

Categories: Photo News

Nikon Zf review: the classiest mirrorless of them all?

DP Review Latest news - Mon, 01/15/2024 - 08:49

$(document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryStripV2({"galleryId":"9696397340","isMobile":false}) }) Product photos by Richard Butler
90%Overall scoreJump to conclusion

Nikon's Zf is a full-frame mirrorless camera with classic styling, built around a 24MP BSI CMOS sensor. It's designed to mimic the look of the company's FM2 SLR from the early 1980s, meaning it effectively becomes a full-frame counterpart to the company's Z fc APS-C camera.

Key specifications

24MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor
In-body image stabilization rated up to 8EV
Dedicated Monochrome mode
Up to 14fps continuous shooting (JPEG), 11 fps Raw
'C30' JPEG-only 30fps mode with pre-burst function
AF system with tracking and recognition of 9 subject types
4K/30 video from 6K capture, 4K/60 with crop, 10-bit N-Log recording
32-shot high-res mode to give 96MP images
SD and MicroSD card slots

The Zf sells at a recommended price of $2000, the same as the launch price of the Nikon Z6 II, which gives a reasonable idea of the camera's ambitions.

Buy now:

$1997 at Amazon $1997 at B&H Photo $1997 kit at Adorama Index:

What's new?
How it compares
Body and controls
Initial impressions
Operation and handling
Image quality
Autofocus
Video
Conclusion
Sample gallery
Specifications
Press release

Sept 20: Initial review published
Jan 15: Operation and handling, Image quality, Autofocus, Video, Conclusion and updated Sample gallery published

What's new? Sensor/Processor

Nikon isn't making any claims about the Zf's 24MP BSI CMOS sensor being new and, other than wider AF coverage, most of its performance appears to be consistent with the elderly but well-respected sensor in the Z6 II.

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The adoption of the latest 'Expeed 7' processor brings significant changes, though. For a start, it brings subject recognition to the camera's AF system as well as a Z9-like implementation of the company's '3D Tracking' along with the 9-type subject recognition system. In addition, there's context-sensitive noise reduction that more aggressively smooths areas that appear not to have detail. It's this noise reduction in the JPEGs and HEIF files that convinced Nikon to let the camera's ISO range expand up to 204,800 (the unexpanded limit also rises to 64,000).

The move to the latest processor also allows the Zf to capture Raw files compressed with the more efficient High Efficiency compression system we first saw on the Z9.

The Zf can shoot at up to 11fps in Raw (in Continuous High Extended mode, that we suspect won't include live view refreshes between shots), and up to 15 or 14fps depending on the use of electronic or mechanical shutter for JPEG mode. There's also a JPEG-only 'C30' mode that uses a video stream to shoot 30fps images, with a pre-burst option like that on the Z8 and Z9.

B&W mode

Commanding its own position on the control that selects between stills and video shooting, the camera's black and white mode gives a choice of mono profiles, including a low-contrast 'Flat mono' and 'Deep tone mono' that accentuates red details in the scene. These profiles can be applied to both still images and video footage, and emphasize Nikon's focus on the creative process.

Video capabilities

Unlike the Df, which promised photographic purity by omitting any video features, the Zf is a pretty capable video machine. It can shoot up to 4K/60 from an APS-C (DX in Nikon speak) crop of the sensor or can capture 4K up to 30p from the full 6K pixel width of its sensor.

The camera we used was pre-production but the 22ms rolling shutter we measured for 30p capture is consistent with the existing sensor in the Z6 models. We doubt it's a coincidence that Panasonic's S5 II models also have to crop into an APS-C region to deliver 60p capture while showing similar readout speeds.

It also adds waveforms, which helps, when trying to assess exposure for video, especially now that we have 10-bit internal capture, allowing Log recording.

Multi-shot pixel shift

Nikon joins the ranks of camera makers using its image stabilization system to offer a multi-shot pixel shift mode, moving the sensor by precise degrees to ensure the capture of each color at every pixel location or in fractions of a pixel to boost the resolution of the output image. Nikon's system offers four modes, all of which require that Raw files be combined in desktop software: a four-shot mode that captures full color at each pixel, an 8-shot mode that does this twice, to further improve tonal quality and noise, a 16-shot mode that also boosts image resolution 96MP, and then a 32-image version that doubles this up, too.

Image Stabilization linked to AF point

As companies try to maximize the performance of their IS systems, it's becoming more and more difficult to offer further improvements. Nikon says the Zf's performance has been improved by linking the IS system to the chosen autofocus point.

The logic is that pitch and yaw movements (tilting up/down and rotation to the left and right) cause greater shifts in the image away from the center, particularly when using wide-angle lenses. The Zf's IBIS system can use the chosen AF point as the central point of its corrections, rather than the center of the image, helping to provide more effective stabilization when using off-center AF points with wide lenses. This approach should help maintain sharpness at the point you're focused on, helping the camera to its 8EV stabilization rating, when tested to the CIPA standard.

How it compares

The Zf arrives in the hotly contested ∼$2000 corner of the market, where there are plenty of very capable full-frame options available. What's interesting to note is that, while its styling brings something you won't get from its immediate rivals, Nikon hasn't used this as an excuse to offer a lesser specification.

Other than the space-saving decisions around card type and their location in the camera, the Zf appears perfectly competitive.

Nikon Zf Sony a7 IV Canon EOS R6 II Panasonic Lumix S5 II Nikon Z6 II MSRP at launch $2000 $2500 $2500 $2000 $2000 Sensor size Full-frame Full-frame Full-frame Full-frame Full-frame Resolution 24MP 33MP 24MP 24MP 24MP Stabilization (up to) 8EV 5.5EV 8EV (with lens IS) 5EV (6.5EV with lens. IS) 5.5EV Burst rate 11 fps Raw
14 fps JPEG
(15 e-shutter)
30fps in C30 JPEG mode 10 fps 12 fps (40 fps e-shutter) 7 fps (30 fps e-shutter) 14 fps Viewfinder res / mag 3.68M dot OLED
0.8x 3.68M dot OLED
0.78x 3.68M dot OLED
0.76x 3.68M dot OLED
0.78x 3.69M dot OLED
0.8x Rear screen 2.1M dot
fully articulated 1.04M dot fully-articulated 1.62M dot fully-articulated 1.84M dot fully-articulated 2.1M dot tilting Video 4K/30p full width*
4K/60p APS-C 4K/30p full width*
4K/60p APS-C 4K/60p full width
4K/60p APS-C 6.2K/30p (3:2)
5.9K/30p
4K/30p full width*
4K/60p APS-C 4K/30p full width*
4K/60p APS-C 10-bit modes N-Log, HLG (HDR) S-Log3
HLG (HDR) C-Log2
HDR PQ V-Log
HLG Over HDMI Rolling shutter (4K/24) 22ms 27ms 17ms 21ms 22ms Storage 1x UHS-II SD
1x UHS-I Micro SD 1x CFe Type A / UHS-II SD
1x UHS-II SD 2 x UHS-II SD 2 x UHS-II SD 1x CFe Type B
1x UHS-II SD Battery life
LCD / EVF 380 / 360 580 / 520 580 / 320 370 / 370 410 / 340 Dimensions 144 x 103 x 49mm 131 x 96 x 80mm 138 x 98 x 88mm 134 x 102 x 90mm 134 x 101 x 70mm Weight 710g (25.0oz) 659g (23.3 oz) 670g (23.6 oz) 740g (26.1oz) 705g (24.9 oz) *Oversampled, using all horizontal pixels to produce 4K footage from 6K capture (7K on a7 IV). The Canon EOS R6 II offers oversampled 4K at up to 30p. Body and controls

The most obvious thing to say about the Zf's body is that it very closely resembles the Nikon FM2 film camera from the 1980s. Placed side-by-side it's apparent the new camera is larger but the proportions have been kept, so it still looks the part.

The Zf has primarily magnesium alloy construction (with some plastic panels to act as a radio window to let the Wi-Fi work), which Nikon says is 'dust and drip resistant.' Its adherence to the traditional look means that there's no protruding hand grip yet, like the FM2 and cameras of its vintage, it can be used quite comfortably. The few millimeters of added depth don't make it hard to grasp and the dials feel well-positioned such that they can be operated without feeling like you're going to drop the camera.

There was some criticism of the smaller Z fc, that its light weight made it feel flimsy, an impression compounded by rather plasticky dials. The added heft of the Zf avoids this problem: it feels more substantial and the feel of the controls is consistent with that.

Card slots Perhaps the most baffling decision on the Zf: two card slots hidden in the battery compartment, one of which is a UHS-I Micro SD slot.

Nikon has given the Zf two card slots, but to keep its size under control, has opted to make the second card slot a MicroSD type. These are pretty small and can be fiddly to insert and remove from the camera, so it might make sense to leave a fast microSD card in the camera at all times as overflow, rather than planning on removing it too often. That said, while the SD slot is UHS II compatible, the Micro SD is only UHS I.

The slots are positioned next to one another in the battery compartment, adding an extra layer of inconvenience, especially for tripod users, though the speed of the USB-C port means it's easy enough to get data off the camera or power into it, without accessing the underside door at all.

Viewfinder

The Zf has a 3.68M dot EVF, which is not especially high by today's standards. Without the super-fast dedicated readout path that the Z8's sensor offers, it can't match the near-zero-lag experience that that camera does. Overall, it's a pretty middling viewfinder experience, but one definitely improved by the pretty good 0.8x magnification.

Screen

The Zf's rear touchscreen is fully articulated: a choice that made more sense on the more video and social media-focused Z fc. It's a 2.1M dot LCD that we found to work well even in bright light, but I suspect we won't be alone in having preferred the two-way tilt arrangement of the Z8's screen, which could potentially have made the camera a fraction slimmer.

Battery

The Zf uses the same EN-EL15c battery as the majority of Nikon's mid-range cameras, which powers it to a respectable rating of 380 shots per charge (LCD) and 360 shots per charge (EVF). These numbers rise to 430 and 410 shots per charge if you turn energy saving mode on. It's rechargeable over the camera's USB C port, of which, unlike the Z8, there's just one.

Unlike the Z6 II, there's no option to mount a battery grip to the Zf.

Initial impressions

By Richard Butler
Published Sept 20 2023

When Nikon introduced the smaller-sensor Z fc model, it made very clear that it was a camera designed for social media content creators, hoping to attract some of the younger photographers who've perhaps learned the craft on second-hand 70s and 80s film SLRs. But Nikon can't have missed the number of established photo enthusiasts who said they wanted a full-frame version.

That said, Nikon is also likely to remember that the initial buzz generated by the teaser videos for its last retro full-framer (the rather half-baked Df) didn't turn into the sales success it was hoping for.

However, where the Df was a rather misproportioned lump that commanded a significant premium over the D610 on which it was heavily based, the Zf is an altogether more handsome affair (and if you're aiming to attract a style-conscious audience, that matters), and one that out-specs the Z6 II while selling for the same price.

In fact, in the absence of a Z6 III, the Zf becomes the company's best-specced camera around the high-contested $2K price point. It still seems to use the same image sensor as the previous Z6s but features the newer Expeed 7 processor from the Z9 and Z8, which brings updates such as the mirrorless camera implementation of the company's '3D Tracking' system.

"In the absence of a Z6 III, the Zf becomes the company's best-specced camera around the high-contested $2K price point"

These days we can simply call it 'tracking,' as the majority of brands have now adopted a comparable approach of simply following whatever is under your chosen AF point (or near to it, in the case of most subject recognition systems). It's such an obvious approach that, for once, the term 'intuitive' might almost be appropriate, but the idea of integrating tracking into the main AF interface really started with Nikon, so it's great to see the Zf catch up to the 'best practice' approach that Nikon itself pioneered.

Multiple multi-shot modes

In a more reactive manner, Nikon has also become one of the last brands to add a multi-shot high-res mode to its camera. Multi-shot modes that try to cancel out the effect of the Bayer filter or oversample the scene to produce more detailed images have become increasingly common as engineers look for ways to exploit the presence of in-body stabilization mechanisms.

In many instances, they're not terribly useful: often requiring tripods and near-static subjects, with a combination of images often requiring proprietary desktop software. There are clearly lots of patents protecting different implementations, as almost every brand appears to take its own approach (in terms of the number of shots and degree of in-camera processing).

The Zf offers a range of modes, including one that takes a staggering 32 images, collected in around four seconds, to deliver a 96MP final image. That's a long time during which your subject might move, which undermines its usefulness, but there are at least other options if your subject doesn't include much motion. So, perhaps primarily in the interest of people who like to wage brand wars over the obscure ends of the spec sheets, Nikon now offers the feature.

In use the Zf was enjoyable during the period I got to use it. The distinctive styling was something of a curse, given Nikon's concerns about it being seen out in the wild, but from today onwards, it's more likely to be an asset. The camera I used was the all-black version, but six other leatherette color schemes will also be available. There's no news of a silver/black version. It's not clear whether this is because of the challenge of delivering matched silvers across different materials to maintain the camera's premium character or because Nikon plans a special edition at some point in the future.

The pre-production camera I was using started to show temperature warnings after around two hours of stills shooting, but it should be noted that I was shooting in 32°C (90°F) conditions, often in direct sunshine. It didn't get warm enough to start a countdown to auto shutoff, though.

AF tracking isn't as sticky as with the Z8 and Z9. This isn't a huge surprise but, for instance, when I tried to pick out a particular part of a flower, the Zf's tracking target would sometimes wander off the specific detail I'd been wanting it to track. Performance with a recognized subject appeared excellent, though, with seemingly unerring tracking of eyes, for instance.

Ultimately, though, the Zf moves things forward from the Z6 II and finally seems to deliver the camera that so many people hoped the Df would be. Now if only the barriers to Sigma introducing its compact, aperture ring-sporting i-series primes for Z-mount could be overcome, then things would get very interesting indeed.

Buy now:

$1997 at Amazon $1997 at B&H Photo $1997 kit at Adorama Operation and handling

It's been interesting to encounter such a squared off camera after decades of increasingly large stick-out grips. The Zf's weight and squareness meant I found it would cut into my little finger if I didn't make a conscious effort to maintain most of the weight using my left hand, supporting the lens. This was particularly acute when the Zf was combined with a heavier lens, such as the 24-70mm F2.8.

We also found the Zf offers a little less customization than we'd expect of a camera at this level. The Zf appears to have five customizable buttons, as the Z6 II does, but one of these is the Playback button, effectively leaving you with four if you actually want to be able to review your images. Similarly, the Zf includes the usual options to change exposure comp without pressing a button, and letting you choose whether the front or rear command dial changes the setting, but these only have any function if the dedicated exposure comp dial is deactivated by turning it to its 'C' position, so for much of the time one of the camera's command dials has no function. No one has considered letting you assign ISO to the dial, for instance, so quick access to ISO requires a button press and takes up one of your precious custom buttons, and again this button stops working if you select a specific ISO value from the dial. Oddly, this means you also lose the ability to disengage or engage Auto ISO, if you turn the ISO dial. The overall effect is quirky, to say the least.

The dials play a central part in the camera's retro appeal but the way they interact with some button and dial functions takes some getting used to.

Unlike previous Nikons, there's no way to quickly access the 'minimum shutter speed' value if you use Auto ISO. Some previous models let you assign this option to the camera's My Menu list, meaning you could gain quick access by setting a custom button to 'Access top item in My Menu,' but the Zf doesn't allow this. Overall it feels like no one has really thought through the full impact or opportunity of adding the dedicated shutter speed and exposure comp dials to the camera.

Combine all this with the lack of AF joystick – the four-way controller defaults to AF point positioning but isn't as quick or as well-positioned – and the Zf is not a fast or fluid a camera to use as the Z6s were, nor the likes of Panasonic's S5 II, its most closely-priced competitor.

It gets a lot right, though: its on-screen interface is relatively clean, in an era succumbing to increased clutter, and the menus are pretty well laid out, albeit very, very long. It's hard to escape the suspicion that the same components in the form of a Z6 III would be a much more effective photographic tool. Albeit one that's nothing like as pretty.

Image quality

Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes to see the effect of different lighting conditions.

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The Nikon Zf is based on the widely-used 24MP BSI CMOS sensor, so there are no great surprises to its image quality. In terms of detail capture, it does exactly as you'd expect a 24MP sensor to. And the performance both at moderately high$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5844--1455016584").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5844); }); }) and very high ISO$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5845-279875647").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5845); }); }) is very good, as you'd expect.

Nikon's default JPEG sharpening is very large radius, so it appears to be capturing much less detail$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5846--1679771462").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5846); }); }) than its peers (even though we know from the Raws$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5847--315668740").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5847); }); }) that this isn't the case). Color exhibits standard Nikon response$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5848--1838968747").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5848); }); }) with lots of punch and saturation. Yellows are vibrant with no green or orange tint but the pink closest to a generic caucasian skintone is notably brighter and more pink than either the Sony or Canon renderings. We tried to include plenty of portraits in the gallery so you can decide what you think of this.

The Zf's noise reduction at high ISO$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5850--2076747484").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5850); }); }) smooths away noise pretty well but takes a lot of the fine detail$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5849--698116929").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5849); }); }) with it. Overall it's a very similar performance to the Z6 II, which we really liked.

Dynamic range

Again there are no surprises from the Zf's sensor. It's been around for a few years, but we've not encountered any chips that are significantly better in a mid-priced camera. At base ISO the camera adds very little noise, so there's scope to reduce exposure to protect highlights, with the reduction in exposure being the main source of noise and the limit on how far you can push things. Its dual gain design means there's even less shadow noise from ISO 800 upwards, and minimal benefit to increasing the ISO above that point. In low light scenes with bright highlights, underexposing ISO 800 by three stops and then brightening should give similar noise to ISO 6400 but with three additional stops of highlights preserved in the Raw.

Exposure latitude | ISO Invariance

White balance in the real world Auto WB (Keep overall atmosphere) Reprocessed in-camera: Natural light Auto WB

The camera’s auto white balance lets you decide how completely the camera tries to cancel-out the effect of the color of the light you’re shooting under. It defaults to ‘Keep overall atmosphere,’ with a more extreme ‘Keep white (reduce warm colors)’ option or a less severe ‘Keep warm lighting colors’ setting. We found the last of these to give the nicest results: even the default middle-ground setting can tend to render subjects a little cold/blue. There’s also a ‘Natural light Auto’ mode that works better for outdoor shooting. It’s definitely worth switching to this mode when you know you’ll be shooting outdoors, but it’s bit of a disappointment that the standard auto mode isn’t as set-and-forget as you might hope.

Autofocus

The Nikon Zf is the first mirrorless model to include 3D Tracking autofocus but not have a super-fast readout Stacked CMOS sensor to drive it. The distinction between this and the tracking on previous models is twofold: firstly it's an AF area mode, just like any other, rather an optional feature engaged separately from area modes and, secondly, it doesn't need to be disengaged once initiated: release the AF-On or shutter button and the AF point reverts to wherever it was originally placed: no 'cancel' required and no resetting to the center of the scene.

The Nikon Zf’s AF tracking is generally very good and noticeably improved, compared with the previous generation models, such as the Z6 II and Z5. The 3D tracking mode does a good job of staying on the target you’d pointed it at. The performance improves still further if you select one of the camera’s subject recognition modes to run alongside it.

In our basic AF tracking test the basic 3D tracking mode would tend to lose track of the subject as it passed through one of the corners (where the subject’s approach rate changes, as well as its direction). It would typically find the subject again when it returned near to the center of the frame, where the AF was initially placed. This was a somewhat surprising result, as we didn't encounter this often in our more general shooting. The camera gave the same result repeatedly, though, which suggests performance can vary with subject.

However, engaging human/face detection ensured the camera didn’t ever lose the subject. It continued to work, regardless of whether the subject was wearing dark glasses, obscuring part of the face.

However, it’s also noticeable that portraits taken with face detection aren’t always perfectly focused on the eye itself. The camera’s detection and the persistence of its tracking is very good but the precision isn’t always as high as some of its immediate peers, with a tendency to focus just in front of the eye itself. That said, eye detection and the way it respects the selected AF point make it a really valuable feature on the camera, meaning you can focus on the camera’s other settings and on interacting with your subject, rather than having to think about focus.

The improved AF tracking extends to video mode, where it was recognizably weaker on previous models. Overall we got the sense that the Zf’s autofocus doesn’t quite match the pro-level performance of the Z8 and Z9 but brings Nikon’s AF behavior and handling to the point it’s very competitive with its rivals.

Video Despite the 80's styling, the Zf has mic and headphone sockets to support its pretty capable video feature set. The HDMI socket is of the rather sensitive 'micro' variety, so we wouldn't plan on making it the center of our workflow.

The Zf's 24MP sensor was one of the first full-frame sensors from which manufacturers squeezed 4K footage. It reads out quickly enough that the Zf can deliver 4K video derived from 6K capture at up to 30p or it can shoot 60p if you crop into an APS-C region of the sensor ('DX' in Nikon's terminology).

But the Zf does more with the sensor than the Z6 or Z6 II did, gaining internal 10-bit capture with Log and HLG recording, giving more flexibility to the editing and output options. It also gains waveform displays for helping you expose your Log footage, making it a much more usable video camera.

$(document).ready(function() { ImageComparisonWidget({"containerId":"reviewImageComparisonWidget-62323340","widgetId":904,"initialStateId":null}) })

The Zf's 24p footage is more detailed than it was from the Nikon Z6 II, but it becomes noticeably less sharp in its 60p mode.$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5854-1380459765").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5854); }); }) You probably wouldn't notice this difference, intercutting between footage from the two, but the smaller capture region used for 60p will mean it gets noisier, faster, as will the need to use shorter exposures, so for indoor shooting, expect cuts to slowed-down 60p to have a little extra graininess to them.

Rolling shutter for the full-width footage measures around 22ms. This is reasonable (Panasonic's high-end, video-centric S1H from a few years ago gives a very similar performance), but it's not great. 22ms is slow enough that attempts to pan the camera or capture fast movement across the frame will see vertical lines become horizontally skewed, and this distortion can interact badly with the camera's attempt to shift the sensor to stabilize its footage, causing slight jitter in the footage.

The use of a relatively slow UHS-I Micro SD card as the camera's second memory card slot means it's not really practical to leave a card in the smaller slot and use it as internal memory for shooting video to. You can shoot video to the SD slot and stills to Micro SD but you risk blunting the camera's performance that way.

Image stabilization

The camera's image stabilization is pretty good, with digital stabilization applying a 1.25x crop that gives the camera room to move that crop around within the video capture region in order to cancel out unintended motion. The stabilization is quite smooth, gently drifting around rather than trying to maintain a tripod-like lock on proceedings. But, as mentioned, there is some vertical jitter introduced when stabilization is active, presumably as the camera moves the region its capturing while the existing area was still being read-out.

Conclusion What we like What we don't

Excellent image quality
Very good autofocus
Very strong video feature set
Classic styling
Dedicated controls whose setting can be read even with the camera switched off
Reasonable level of direct control
Decent battery life
$40 SmallRig grip (initially bundled in some markets) improves handling
Good set of features (time-lapse, focus bracketing, pixel shift high-res, multiple exposures...)

Interaction between dials and button functions often peculiar
No quick access to Auto ISO settings
Use of slow Micro SD reduces the value of second card slot
Body becomes uncomfortable with large lenses
Limited choice of small lenses or options with aperture rings
Cards in battery compartment are inaccessible when on a tripod
Some vertical jitter in video footage with electronic VR engaged
Multi-shot high res combined off-camera with no motion correction

The Nikon Zf looks a lot like the camera everyone was hoping the Df would be: a cutting-edge camera styled to look like one of Nikon's classic models from the early 80s, without too much additional size or weight. And I think most people would agree it succeeds spectacularly from an aesthetic perspective.

We're a little less convinced when it comes to the camera's handling. Even compared with the cameras it's modeled on, the Zf can become uncomfortable to hold after a while, and we found it hard to shake the perception that Nikon's engineers hadn't really thought-through the full implications of having dedicated dials when they copied over most behaviors from their other cameras.

The Zf is a lovely camera to sling over your shoulder when you're out for the day. Until you mount a heavy lens on the front.

Nikkor Z 24-70mm F2.8 S @ 40mm | F5.6 | 1/100 sec | ISO 100
Processed in Adobe Camera Raw: straightened, highlights reduced, white balance adjusted
Photo: Richard Butler

The Zf works less and less well, the larger the lens you mount on it, and Nikon's range of lenses doesn't have many small, light options. Worse still, there's plenty to suggest that it's blocking third-party makers from filling that gap. Relatedly, Nikon's Z lenses tend not to have aperture rings, but the Zf mimics the control layout of cameras from a system in which they did, which isn't ideal.

So, while the Nikon offers a distinct image quality benefit over the likes of Fujifilm's X-T series, the Fujifilm cameras have size, weight and a wide choice of small lenses with aperture rings on their side. This and a higher level of operational consistency has the unfortunate effect of showing how this concept can be delivered more successfully.

Improved autofocus tracking and subject recognition give the Zf a distinct edge over previous mid-range Z series cameras.

Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S | F8.0 | 1/160 sec | ISO 720
Photo: Richard Butler

The Zf's performance is very good, though. It's built around a excellent, well-proven sensor and delivers very good autofocus performance, particularly with subject recognition engaged. It's also a remarkably capable video camera, providing a level of flexibility and capability that its classic styling might otherwise disguise.

We're sure a lot of enthusiast photographers will happily work around the Zf's quirks and oddities, in return for getting to own and use a camera that has so much character to it, and they won't be let down by the photos it produces. But having used Fujifilm X-T cameras so much, and knowing what the liked of Sigma's I-series lenses would add, it's hard not to contemplate what might have been.

Speaking as someone for whom the Zf's styling has a powerful resonance, I thought I was going to love this camera. But having used it for several months, my head says Silver, even though my heart says Gold.

Scoring

Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about what these numbers mean.

Nikon ZfCategory: Mid Range Full Frame CameraBuild qualityErgonomics & handlingFeaturesMetering & focus accuracyImage quality (raw)Image quality (jpeg)Low light / high ISO performanceViewfinder / screen ratingOpticsPerformanceMovie / video modeConnectivityValuePoorExcellentConclusionThe Nikon Zf is a camera whose image quality and performance live up to its stylish looks, but its handling and operation isn't always quite as slick. Paired with smaller, lighter lenses, it's a joy, but your Z-mount options are somewhat limited at present.Good forEnthusiast photographers for whom style and design matterNot so good forPhotographers using longer lenses or needing constant quick settings changes90%Overall scoreRegularScoreCompareWidget({"mainElementId":"scoringWidget","mainProduct":"nikon_zf","scoringSchema":{"id":"SLRs","variables":[{"id":"BuildQuality"},{"id":"ErgonomicsAndHandling"},{"id":"Features"},{"id":"MeteringAndFocusAccuracy"},{"id":"QualityRaw"},{"id":"QualityJpeg"},{"id":"LowLightHighISO"},{"id":"ViewfinderScreenRating"},{"id":"Optics"},{"id":"Performance"},{"id":"Movie"},{"id":"Connectivity"},{"id":"Value"}],"categories":[{"id":"EntryLevel","label":"Entry Level Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Entry Level"},{"id":"MidRange","label":"Mid Range Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Mid Level"},{"id":"EntryLevelFullFrame","label":"Entry Level Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Full Frame"},{"id":"MidRangeFullFrame","label":"Mid Range Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Mid Range Full Frame"},{"id":"SemiProfessional","label":"Semi-professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Semi-professional"},{"id":"SemiProfessionalFullFrame","label":"Semi-professional Full Frame Camera","shortLabel":"Semi-professional Full Frame"},{"id":"Professional","label":" Professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR","shortLabel":"Professional"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEntry","label":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Entry Level Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"LargeSensorCompactEnthusiast","label":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact Camera","shortLabel":"Enthusiast Large Sensor Compact"},{"id":"VideoCamera","label":"Video Camera","shortLabel":"Video Camera"}]},"helpText":"Choose one or more cameras from the drop-down menu, then roll your mouse over the names to see how their scores compare to the camera on review."}) Compared to its peers

The Canon EOS R6 II is still the camera to beat in this class. It's more expensive than the Nikon and no longer offers such an advantage in terms of autofocus, but it can shoot full-width 4K/60p, can capture faster bursts and is simply nicer from a handling and operation perspective. Both cameras are restricted to relatively limited lens ranges, with Nikon at least allowing some third-party options in, but it's worth checking that the lenses you want are available at reasonable prices before opting for either camera.

The Sony a7 IV is another strong contender at this price. It offers slightly higher resolution (and more sophisticated JPEG processes emphasize the difference) and slightly more dependable autofocus than the Nikon. It's not a great video camera, though, and costs more than the Zf, making it a less capable all-rounder. The wider choice of lenses comes out clearly in favor of the Sony, with the likes of Sigma's affordable i Series optics making a great match.

The i Series lenses are also available for the L-mount used by Panasonic's S5 II and S5 II X. The operation and handling of the Panasonic pair are also significantly nicer than those of the Nikon. However, even with phase detect AF having been added to the S5 II, the Zf has a simpler and more dependable AF system than the Panasonics. And, perhaps unexpectedly, the Nikon's video capabilities are a good match for those of the S5 II, so overall we found the Nikon to be that bit more usable.

Finally, it's worth considering the comparison with Fujifilm's similarly-styled X-T5. The Fujifilm is based around a smaller sensor, giving the Nikon an immediate image quality advantage and greater flexibility in terms of depth-of-field. The X-T5 is also arguably less good at video: it seems to offer better specs on paper but varying crops and rolling shutter means that advantage disappears when the bits hit the memory card. But the Fujifilm is nicer to use, despite its ostensibly similar control ethos, and the smaller size, lighter weight and slight front bulge make it more comfortable to use. And, of course, the X-mount offers many, many more lenses, including a vast range of primes, that work well on the X-T5. On balance it's a more difficult choice than it might initially seem.

Sample gallery

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.

Review sample gallery $(document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({"containerId":"embeddedSampleGallery_0261659899","galleryId":"0261659899","isEmbeddedWidget":true,"selectedImageIndex":0,"isMobile":false}) }); Preview sample gallery $(document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({"containerId":"embeddedSampleGallery_6922569214","galleryId":"6922569214","isEmbeddedWidget":true,"selectedImageIndex":0,"isMobile":false}) });

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Categories: Photo News

We're hiring! DPReview is looking for a full-time Reviews Editor

DP Review Latest news - Fri, 01/12/2024 - 11:00

DPReview is hiring! We're looking for a Reviews Editor to join our Seattle-based team. You will create content for the largest audience of photography and video enthusiasts in the world, and help lead our efforts to create best-in-class reviews of cameras and other photography-oriented products. Bring your talent and creativity to our team and help shape the future of DPReview. Follow the link below for full details.

Find out more and apply for this role - Reviews Editor, Digital Photography Review

Reviews Editor
Full-time (Seattle, WA)

DPReview is seeking a full-time Reviews Editor to join our growing team.

The Reviews Editor role is intended for experienced digital content creators or technical writers with a deep understanding of digital photography.

At a high level, qualified candidates will be capable of testing, writing, editing, and coordinating camera reviews and related coverage. They should likewise feel comfortable serving as “on-camera” talent for multimedia and platforms content, including in videos and podcasts. Finally, they must also be strong collaborators and communicators capable of working alongside strategy and operation experts to ensure content signals positively impact KPIs and are produced to specification, on time, and within budget.

A typical week for a reviews editor will involve tracking and immediately addressing breaking camera news, spending time testing and writing camera reviews, updating DPReview’s camera information databases, speaking with outside experts for background knowledge, responding to DPReview community comments and questions, and meeting with senior DPReview leaders to produce components of major cross-team editorial projects and strategies, as well as evaluating past content success metrics to create strategic takeaways.

Like all successful DPReview team members, candidates must also be goal-focused self-starters who maintain an agile mindset, operate independently, lead by example, and communicate effectively across all channels.

This role will report directly to Senior Editors or Managing Editors depending on organizational needs while working closely with other editorial staffers.

Key job responsibilities

Test and evaluate camera equipment following established in-studio and off-site best practices.
Write, edit, and produce robust camera reviews as well as related camera news coverage, technology explainers, buying guides, interviews, franchises, and features that engage and grow DPReview’s camera enthusiast audience.
Capture photos and video clips of cameras and the camera reviewing process according to editorial and video and platform guidelines.
Optimize content to maximize and grow its potential for affiliate revenue generation by rigorously adhering to internal best practices.
Help plan and oversee editorial calendars and projects.
Regularly monitor information resources such as competitive publications, PR contacts and social media for new story ideas.
Consult with senior editorial leaders to help produce portions of major editorial projects, including The DPReview camera awards, etc.
Meet regularly with senior editorial leaders to discuss production, traffic and affiliate goals.
Interface with internal strategic experts such as the SEO Manager to ensure stories are ideally positioned to reach the largest relevant audience possible.
Coordinate with DPReview’s social media and platform teams to help produce and promote relevant editorial content for various channels.
Work to build and maintain relationships with brands, PR companies, influencers and industry experts.
Serve as an ambassador for DPReview’s editorial team while attending external events, advertiser meetings, conferences and trade shows.

Click here for full details and to apply

DPReview strives to be a diverse and inclusive company. We firmly believe that different voices, experiences and points of view are an essential component of our current and future success. We do not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s gender, age, race, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, genetics or any other personal characteristics protected by law.

Categories: Photo News

Tenba Axis V2 18L backpack review: Fully functional, but lacking in features and flair

DP Review Latest news - Fri, 01/12/2024 - 07:00

Photo: Tim Barribeau

The Tenba Axis V2 18L ($200) is a well-made, quietly competent but otherwise uninteresting backpack. Tenba has been in this industry long enough to know the basics of building a functional bag, but this simple black rectangle struggles to stand out against a field packed with more interesting, stylish, or specialized options like Peak Design's exceedingly versatile Everyday Bag or LowePro's hiking bag that happens to hold cameras well too.

Buy now:

$200 at Tenba $200 at B&H Photo $200 at Amazon Key features and specifications

MOLLE straps for extra accessories
Large side access openings
Useful pockets for organizing small extras (notably an Airtag or Bluetooth tracker)
Size: 27x43x20 cm (10.5”x16.75”x8”)
Weight: 1.36 kg (3lbs)
Laptop size: 14”
Capacity: 18L
Example max loadout: 1-2 Mirrorless or DSLR cameras with 4-6 lenses (up to attached 70-200mm F2.8)

Pockets and construction Photo: Tim Barribeau

The Tenba Axis V2 18L has two side access panels that are very well designed and one on the top, which is less so. When you swing the bag around to get in via either of the side panels, it’s easy to grab what you need. The panels are suitably large – they don’t run the whole length of the bag like Peak Design’s, but they’re not so small that it would be hard to grab a camera with a full zoom lens out of the bag. The openings use two zippers, which I found to slide easily and which feel rugged enough to handle considerable use.

Each panel has zippered internal pockets for stashing small items. I used them for batteries and spare lens caps. There are also expandable pockets on the outside for water bottles and travel tripods. As per usual, you set up the interior of the bag with velcro walls that you can mix and match to your heart’s delight, establishing a good layout for your own gear. Unfortunately, unlike Tenba's larger models, the Axis V2 18L doesn’t clamshell open all the way. This makes it harder to place all the velcro walls quickly and make sure everything fits because you can't view the whole space all at once. You're stuck reaching through access panels, doing it by feel. This is a common issue with camera bags, but it’s always a pain.

There’s also the de rigueur large back pocket with lots of internal organization for stashing pens, small notebooks, lens wipes, and all the other miscellanea you need often but not that often. There’s even a dedicated little neoprene pouch for tucking in an Apple Airtag, Tile Tracker, or other similarly sized tracking device, so you can always find your bag.

The zipper and flap are an annoying combination.

Photo: Tim Barribeau

The issue comes with the top access panel, which has both a flap and a zipper. The flap stays shut with a hook that clips into the MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) webbing on the outside the bag. And then it’s held down again by a zipper. When the zipper was shut, I couldn't lift the flap enough to easily unzip it. Either of these fasteners would have been fine on their own, but doubling up caused me trouble and didn't give me any additional functionality. It could help prevent theft by making it hard to quickly dive into the bag, but it frustrated me every time I encountered it because it made it hard to quickly dive into the bag.

Design and style Photo: Tim Barribeau

The Axis wears its military influence on its sleeve. The layers of MOLLE straps on the exterior of a bulky plain black bag show the clear lineage of milspec style and design, similar to the Wotancraft New Pilot. Tenba wears this influence proudly, “Tenba’s tactical Axis bags were inspired by the ultra-durable bags we’ve made for the military throughout our 40+ year history.”

The MOLLE webbing is a series of nylon straps that go around the bag horizontally and vertically and gave me useful places to place modular add-ons. Since many manufacturers make MOLLE accessories, you can mix and match anything from a first aid kit and trauma shears to a baby bottle holder. Tenba makes a number of its own addons that work with the MOLLE system, such as small pouches, battery holders, even space for an extra lens.

"The Axis wears its military influence on its sleeve."

In shape, the bag is very simple and rectangular. This meant I was able to squeeze more than I expected into its remarkably reasonable external dimensions; Tenba’s estimate of two small cameras and 4-6 lenses is right on the buzzer from my experience, which is impressive for something that’s less than 30cm tall.

But that comes with downsides. There’s functionally no tapering to the bag, and there’s no give to the body. It’s exactly the same size and shape, full or empty. If you can’t fit this under the seat in front of you on the airplane or into a jampacked car trunk, no amount of finagling or moving lenses around will change that.

Fortunately, I found the back padding did a good enough job at cushioning my back from the bag itself, making it reasonably comfortable to wear, but it got hot very quickly.

Photo: Tim Barribeau Conclusion

The Tenba Axis V2 18L is certainly a functional bag. The components feel tough, the material is rugged, and the attachment system is practical and open-source enough to use with almost anything, including any gear you might already have. It has (mostly) smartly arranged access and pockets.

But without any standout features or compelling aspects to its design, it's hard to recommend. It’s an uninspired black box of a bag, and while that anonymity has its upsides, the boxiness has its downsides. It’s competent in almost every facet, but it's not especially ergonomic, nor are there any flashes of genius in its design.

I think any photographer would be totally fine using this bag, but for $200, odds are you can find something that suits your needs more directly.

What we like What we don't

Tough build quality
Large and easy-to-use access points
MOLLE for lots of extras
Fits a lot in a small space

Chunky shape
Workaday design
Irritating top flap

Buy now:

$200 at Tenba $200 at B&H Photo $200 at Amazon

Categories: Photo News

CES 2024: AI is inescapable

DP Review Latest news - Fri, 01/12/2024 - 06:00

Images: Samsung

In the past few years, there has been no shortage of "AI" tech, shaking up the conventional wisdom in all corners of the photography world.

Adobe has taken its "Firefly" generative AI out of beta and wrapped it into Creative Cloud, Google's Magic Eraser is making it practically trivial to remove people or objects from photos with the touch of a finger, AI-powered plugins are very close to undermining the whole idea of a watermark.

If you had any doubt that this trend would continue, CES 2024 should put it to rest. As the show closes on Friday, we've seen an absolute avalanche of AI products, features, promises, and prognostication, with companies like Samsung, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm all placing the buzzword front and center in their press conferences.

Image: Intel

But at the center of the swirling AI hype storm is the ever-present question: What exactly are these companies talking about? If CES 2024 has provided any answer, it's: "No one particular thing."

Far from machines or computers or apps that can think for themselves or approximate human intelligence or creativity, 'AI' has lately and increasingly referred to the products of "machine learning," where computers are 'trained' on a set of data produced by actual humans and 'learn' to produce an equivalent unthinkingly, uncritically and to varying degrees of success.

What do companies mean when they say 'AI'? If CES 2024 has an answer, it's: 'No one particular thing.'"

In practice, 'AI' serves a few very specific purposes for the companies that use it as a technology and a buzzword. It's a useful shorthand to refer to the automation of complex or labor-intensive tasks. It's an excuse to add software features to products that might not have had them and to make those features relatively opaque, proprietary, and subscription- or cloud-dependent. Not least of all, it's a way for marketing teams to slap some sheen on otherwise uninteresting or superfluous functionality. A little extra jazz for when the specs don't tell a good enough story on their own.

You can see all of the above at play in some of the goofier AI reveals of this year's CES. Look no further than the AI grill that ostensibly learns from your ratings of its performance, or BMW's ChatGPT-powered companion, or the free TV with a chatbot for a remote (and also lots of ads), or Samsung's AI home assistant robot "Ballie," which has been coming soon since 2020.

The "Perfecta" AI grill

Image: Seergrills

Though AI is sometimes a gimmick, it is, of course, not only a gimmick, as CES has proven as well. Were it not serious, the actors' trade union SAG-AFTRA would not be making deals about future AI voice actors. Getty would not be partnering with NVIDIA to bring AI-generated imagery into the iStock fold instead of keeping it out. If AI did not promise a solution to real and deeply felt problems, the AI companion that promises to use all your annoying apps for you wouldn't have sold out the same day it was announced.

So what can CES 2024 tell us? What you probably already know and/or dread: The AI onslaught will not stop. This means more devices with janky features that change unpredictably with software updates. It means more services that demand the right to feed your work into the machine, typically articulated in fine print, far down in the terms and conditions that they're depending on you not to read. And, hopefully, it means less time doing boring, rote, unrewarding tasks.

"When AI makes obvious sense, it doesn't need to announce itself. It just takes over."

It's reasonable to see the tradeoffs here and want to opt out, but it's clear that the bet from big tech is to find the killer application that's too good to refuse. There is, of course, a theoretical tipping point, just like the pivot at which cameras tipped from film to digital, and mirrored to mirrorless when the objective advantages became too good to ignore.

Will AI tech get there? In some ways, it already has. The most obviously advantageous applications are already slipping into quiet dominance. Adobe's built-in AI Denoise is well-poised to replace third-party tools for all but the most decerning users. AI-based translation and transcription already reign supreme at lower price points and for personal use.

When AI makes obvious sense, it doesn't need to announce itself. It just takes over. But everywhere else? Well, get ready to keep hearing about it.

Categories: Photo News

Hopes, dreams and speculations for 2024: Shaminder’s wild ideas about the year ahead

DP Review Latest news - Thu, 01/11/2024 - 06:00

What will we see in 2024?

The possibilities of a new year can inspire us to (re)ignite passions, set new goals or send the mind raveling in wild flights of fancy. In the grand scheme, the heavens do not notice that a rock has hurtled through the cosmos to retrace its steps once more, but on that rock, we humans take notice every January.

It’s customary to celebrate in one of three ways. It used to be four, but we no longer have checkbooks (as late as the mid-00s, it was still common in North America to write paper checks to pay for groceries or the electric bill, and we often wrote the wrong date for weeks at the start of a new year).

You can take the tried and true action of making a New Year's resolution or the equally tried and true action of loudly rejecting resolutions.

You can choose to sign up for a gym membership that you’ll use a handful of times and then try to cancel for six months.

Or, you can play the prediction game. That's the route I'm choosing today. We can't see into the future, but why not try anyway? Here are my predictions (best guesses) for 2024.

A brief diversion before we get started. These predictions are meant as a little fun with tongue firmly in cheek. Some serious, some not-so-serious, some wishes and dreams, but on some level, I'm aiming to be plausible and based on some truth. In other words, if I'm right, it's "I told you so," and if I'm wrong, "just kidding." Enjoy!

Global Shutter will be the buzzword of the year

I think this one is a no-brainer. There won't be any escaping 'global shutter' in 2024. With Sony's anticipated February release of the a9 III, there's a lot of hoopla about global shutter finally coming to a still photography camera.

We've already seen a wave of think pieces on how revolutionary this camera will be. YouTube is saturated with thumbnails, declaring it a 'game changer.'

I was recently surprised to hear from dozens of photojournalists wondering if they should preorder the a9 III ASAP. Surprising, because these same photojournalists have yet to make the switch to mirrorless systems, and yet here they are asking if this is THE camera that would convince them to leave DSLR behind finally.

Global shutter is nifty for doing away with rolling shutter and making flash sync a near afterthought, but it is not without its compromises. In our testing, we found that a9 III image quality takes a hit, particularly at higher ISO settings. It still makes sense for sports shooters, but its use of global shutter isn't the 'game changer' and future for every type of photography. (Not just yet anyway, maybe version 2 down the road?)

Still, that won't stop flame wars and talking points about global shutter this year.

Nikon Zf added to studio scene

DP Review Latest news - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 07:00

As part of completing our Nikon Zf review, we've run the camera through our standard test scene, to see how it performs.

As usual, this means it can now be selected from within other reviews, so you can compare it to the cameras of your choosing.

$(document).ready(function() { ImageComparisonWidget({"containerId":"reviewImageComparisonWidget-66764462","widgetId":902,"initialStateId":null}) })

The Zf is based around a 24MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor which has to crop in to a 1.5x crop to deliver its highest-speed 4K/60p video footage. Those are very familiar specs, shared with the existing Z6 II and the likes of Panasonic's S5 models, so it probably shouldn't come as unexpected that the Zf's image quality holds no great surprises.

It captures a good amount of detail and, with its dual conversion gain sensor, the performance both at moderately high$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5844--1455016584").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5844); }); }) and very high ISO$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5845-279875647").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5845); }); }) is very good.

Nikon's default JPEG sharpening is very large radius, so it appears to be capturing less detail$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5846-345180885").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5846); }); }) than its peers (even though we know from the Raws$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5847--315668740").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5847); }); }) that this isn't the case). Color exhibits standard Nikon response$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5848--1838968747").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5848); }); }) with lots of punch and saturation. Yellows are vibrant with no green or orange tint but the pink closest to a generic caucasian skintone is notably brighter and more pink than either the Sony or Canon renderings.

The Zf's noise reduction at high ISO$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5850--2076747484").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5850); }); }) smooths away noise pretty well but takes a lot of the fine detail$(document).ready(function() { $("#icl-5849--698116929").click(function() { ImageComparisonWidgetLink(5849); }); }) with it. Up against the likes of Sony, which applies context-sensitive noise reduction, the Nikon's output can seem a little soft in low light.

Buy now:

$1997 at B&H Photo $1997 kit at Adorama $1997 at Amazon

Categories: Photo News

DPReview Reader's Choice Awards 2023: Product of the Year

DP Review Latest news - Tue, 01/09/2024 - 07:00

Product of the Year 2023: the results

The final round of voting has closed, and it's time to reveal the winner of our annual Reader's Choice Awards! Beginning in December, DPReview readers picked their favorite cameras, zoom lenses and prime lenses released in 2023. The winners of the first round of voting were then pitted against each other for the title of Product of the Year. Take a look and see which products came out on top.

Honorable mention: Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G

The Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G may not have won our Reader's Choice survey for Best Zoom Lens of 2023, but when put up against the best of the best, it surged forward into the third place position in this year's survey, earning it an honorable mention. It's easy to see the attraction of this lens: those extra four millimeters at the wide end make it much more versatile than a standard 24-70mm zoom, and its compact size makes it a great walkaround lens for applications ranging from landscape to travel.

Of course, those extra millimeters only matter if image quality is up to snuff, and the 20-70mm F4 G delivers where it counts. It's very sharp wide open, produces pleasing bokeh, and does a good job of controlling flare. Even videographers have reason to consider this lens: it's possible to combine Sony's Active SteadyShot and breathing compensation features and still maintain a roughly 24mm field of view. Between its zoom range, size, performance and price, it's easy to understand why so many readers voted for the Sony FE 20mm F4 G.

Buy now:

$1098 at B&H $1098 at Adorama $1098 at Amazon Honorable mentinon: Nikon Zf

Readers have been clamoring for years for a new full-frame retro camera from Nikon. How do we know? Because every time we covered a retro camera from another company, we could always depend on the Nikon faithful to jump into the comments thread and ask when Nikon would deliver one.

Well, they finally went and did it with the Nikon Zf, and apparently, it is what you wanted because it received the second-highest vote count in our Reader's Choice Product of the Year survey. The Zf's design is an homage to Nikon's FM2 and F3 SLRs from the early 1980s, but despite looking like an aged film camera, it ticks off all the essential boxes on a modern enthusiast camera's spec sheet. It would be a solid choice from a price/performance perspective, but that's not what makes this camera special. Instead, it's the nostalgia factor: the experience of using it, the joy of carrying it around your neck, or even just holding it and admiring it for what it is. The fact that it's incredibly competitive in its class is a bonus. Nikon users have waited a long time for this camera, but it turns out the wait was worth it.

Buy now:

$1997 at B&H Photo $1997 kit at Adorama $1997 at Amazon Winner: Nikon Z8

The winner of our 2023 Reader's Choice Product of the Year award goes to the Nikon Z8, which ran away with 53.8% of the total vote to win by an overwhelming margin. It probably shouldn't surprise us: in 2021, the Z8's big brother, the Z9, won the same award by similarly impressive numbers. The only problem? The Z9's large, dual grip body and $5500 price point made it impractical for most enthusiasts. Well, Nikon solved that problem with the Z8.

Make no mistake – the Z8 is a product built to meet the needs of pro users, and it can do just about anything the Z9 can, but at a price more within reach of dedicated enthusiasts. It offers the same 46MP Stacked CMOS sensor, high-speed burst rates, pre-burst options and video specs found on the Z9, but in a smaller body that's more sensible for many photographers. In many ways, the Z8 is the spiritual successor to the Nikon D850, one of the greatest – if not the greatest – DSLR ever made, yet it outperforms the D850 in almost every way. We have little doubt that the Z8 will be considered a classic, and it's easy to understand why our readers chose it as their Product of the Year.

As always, thanks to everyone who voted in our polls. We appreciate your participation and couldn't do any of this without you!

Buy now:

$3696 at Amazon $3696 at B&H $3696 at Adorama

Categories: Photo News

Panasonic Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro sample gallery

DP Review Latest news - Tue, 01/09/2024 - 06:00

Panasonic's Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro is a full-frame L-mount lens that's designed to be compact and lightweight, coming in at 82mm (3.2") long and 74mm (2.9") in diameter and tipping the scales at 298g (10.5 oz). Hands-on, we can confirm it is very tidy and light.

The Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro's primary goal is to be a versatile portraiture and medium telephoto lens as well as a compact macro, and it has a minimum focusing distance of 0.204m (8.03″). We took the lens out for some street portraits and macro shots of everyday objects, and you'll find a range of frames to inspect in the gallery.

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View our Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro sample gallery

Note: Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.

Buy now:

$998 at B&H Photo $998 at Adorama

Categories: Photo News

Panasonic announces Lumix S 100mm F2.8 macro lens, ultra compact and more than just a macro

DP Review Latest news - Mon, 01/08/2024 - 10:45

Image: Panasonic

In conjunction with CES 2024, Panasonic has announced the Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro lens for full-frame L-mount cameras. Panasonic calls it "the world’s smallest and lightest medium-telephoto fixed focal length macro lens." However, as important as its size and weight is versatility: Panasonic tells us its goal was to produce a macro that can also handle portraiture and medium telephoto shooting with vanishingly few drawbacks.

Buy now:

$998 at B&H Photo $998 at Adorama

The 100mm F2.8 Macro is the same size as the other lenses in Panasonic's line of F1.8 L-mount prime lenses, though it breaks the mold with its smaller F2.8 aperture. At 298g (10.5 oz), it's also the second lightest in the suite, completing a span of lenses ranging from 18mm to 100mm, which differ by no more than 60g, within the margin of error for many gimbals and drones. It's 82mm (3.2") long and 74mm (2.9") in diameter.

According to Panasonic, this makes it the world's smallest and lightest macro lens in its class, with a few caveats applied: smallest and lightest among autofocus-capable, full-frame lenses with a 1:1 magnification ratio and focal length of at least 90mm.

Part of the small size is owing to Panasonic's new 'Dual Phase linear motor', which it claims has allowed it to shrink the motor size by half while retaining the thrust of a motor twice the size. This allows the 100mm F2.8 to move its two independent focus groups smoothly, letting photographers focus on subjects near and far quickly and with optically corrected focus breathing. Additionally, Panasonic tells us the lens incorporates a newly designed aperture mechanism with a thinner profile and smaller physical diameter.

Image: Panasonic

Optically, the lens comprises 13 elements in 11 groups, including three aspherical, two UED, and one ED elements, and uses an internal focusing design. It has a minimum focus distance of 20.4cm (8"), includes a 67mm filter thread, and is designed to render identical colors to match the other lenses in its series. One nuanced touch: Panasonic says it replaced the white paint typically used for lens markings around the front element with a dark gray variety to ensure that those markings don't reflect off objects in macro photos.

Other features include a new sensor for the focus-by-wire system that provides six times more resolution for moving between focus steps, a focus limiter with the ability to program your own focus-limiting range in software, and dust- and splash-resistant construction.

We have the 100mm F2.8 Macro on hand and are putting it through its paces to test out Panasonic's performance claims, but purely in terms of form factor, this 100mm F2.8 has a unique appeal, especially for anyone interested in being able to swap lenses of various focal lengths in and out of a stabilization setup without having to bother with constant recalibration.

The Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro will be available later this month with an MSRP of $1,000.

Panasonic Announces its Newest S Series Lens at CES 2024

The LUMIX S-E100 is the world’s smallest and lightest* medium-telephoto fixed focal length macro lens

Las Vegas, NV (January 8, 2024) – Panasonic is pleased to introduce the brand new LUMIX S 100mm F2.8 MACRO (S-E100) lens based on the L-Mount system standard. Compact and lightweight to match the camera body, the S-E100 lens joins the LUMIX S Series lineup which is designed to address the demand for accessible yet professional grade photography gear.

With a new optical design and a newly developed Dual Phase linear motor, the S-E100 is the world’s smallest and lightest medium-telephoto fixed focal length macro lens, weighing approximately 298 grams. It boasts high resolution, stunning bokeh unique to macro lenses, excellent depth in expression, and fast focusing in a chassis matched to our existing F/1.8 series of lenses. At the same time, its compact nature ensures excellent mobility outdoors and in other shooting locations.

In addition to close proximity photography, the S-E100 also produces impressive portraits and images unique to medium-telephoto lenses, with support for fast autofocusing and bright F/2.8 aperture. Following increased demand for video capabilities, the S-E100 produces high-quality video content through silent operation with optically corrected focus breathing. This is due to the newly developed linear focus motor and micro-step aperture control. These features allow for smooth exposure change and the ability to choose between linear or nonlinear focus ring settings.

By providing cutting edge, improved performance and mobility for camera enthusiasts and professionals, LUMIX aims to create a new digital mirrorless camera market.

Main Features

The World’s Smallest and Lightest* Medium-Telephoto Fixed Focal Length Macro Lens
- A more compact structure thanks to an optical design, featuring a new Double Focus System, three aspherical lenses and a newly developed Dual Phase Linear Motor with a new actuator.
- Suitable for use in a wide range of situations due to its excellent mobility, whether it’s close proximity photography, natural photos and portraits, or faster paced action, unique to medium telephoto lenses.
High Resolution and Outstanding Photographic Performance
- Boasts high resolution and elaborate photographic performance in every area, from the center of the image to its edges.
- Captures every detail of the subject while creating bokeh unique to medium-telephoto macro lenses.
Optimal Video Functionality for Video Production
- Offers silent operation thanks to a newly developed Dual Phase Linear Motor.
- Suppresses focus breathing, in which the angle of view changes, caused by movements in the focus position.
Fast Autofocus performance for expanded capabilities
- • Newly developed Dual Phase Linear Autofocus motor enables speed and precision for faster action tracking in both Photo and Video uses.
- Ultra-High precision manual focus sensor allows for unparalleled manual focus precision, even when working at 1:1 macro.
Unified Design and rendering
- Designed to match our exiting F/1.8 series of lenses, the S-E100 allows photographers and videographers to maintain a unified experience from 18mm – 100mm with matched size, filter threads, and similar weight.
- Image renders has been tuned within this series of lenses to produce unified color regardless of which lens is used.

The LUMIX S-E100 lens will be available at valued channel partners at the end of January 2024 for $999.99 MSRP.

* As of January 9, 2024. Among interchangeable lenses for AF compatible full-frame mirrorless cameras, and macro lenses with a magnification ratio of 1:1 with a focal length of 90mm or more.

Panasonic Lumix S 100mm F2.8 Macro specifications Principal specificationsLens typePrime lensMax Format size35mm FFFocal length100 mmImage stabilizationNoLens mountL-MountApertureMaximum apertureF2.8Minimum apertureF22Aperture ringNoNumber of diaphragm blades9OpticsElements13Groups11Special elements / coatings3 ASPH, 2 UED, 1 EDFocusMinimum focus0.20 m (8.03″)Maximum magnification1×AutofocusYesMotor typeLinear MotorFull time manualNoFocus methodInternalDistance scaleNoDoF scaleNoFocus distance limiterYesPhysicalWeight298 g (0.66 lb)Diameter74 mm (2.91″)Length82 mm (3.23″)SealingYesColourBlackFilter thread67 mm

Categories: Photo News

Sony a9 III review in progress

DP Review Latest news - Mon, 01/08/2024 - 07:00

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Product photos: Richard Butler

The Sony a9 III is the company's latest high-speed pro sports camera. It features a Stacked CMOS sensor capable of shooting at 120 fps and able to read all its pixels out simultaneously: the long hoped-for 'global' shutter.

Key features

24MP global shutter Stacked CMOS sensor
High speed shooting up to 120 fps
Pre-burst capture of up to 1 sec before the shutter is fully pressed
Shutter speeds up to 1/80,000 with flash sync across the full range
9.44M dot (2048 x 1536px) OLED viewfinder with 0.9x magnification
2.0M dot rear LCD with tilting cradle on a fully articulated hinge

The a9 III will be available in early 2024 at a recommended price of $6500. This is a $2000 increase over the previous iteration from 2019. A matching VG-C5 battery grip that provides space for two batteries is available for an additional $398.

Buy Now:

$5998 at Amazon $5998 at B&H $5998 at Adorama Index:

What's new
How it compares
Body & handling
Image quality
Initial impressions
Sample gallery
Specifications

What's new Global shutter sensor

The big news with the a9 III is the move to a sensor that offers a global electronic shutter: reading out all its pixels simultaneously so that there's no lag or rolling shutter effect. Such sensors have existed before (some CCD chips, for instance), but this is the first one to use a full-frame sensor in a modern mirrorless camera to deliver the full potential benefits.

The sensor delivers the camera's two main selling points: the global shutter, which extends what the camera can offer in three specific areas, and sheer speed. As well as having no motion distortion from its capture, the a9 III is able to shoot at up to 120 frames per second.

Its fast readout also allows incredibly high speed capture, with shutter speeds that extend to 1/80,000 sec. The global readout also means it can sync with flashes all the way up to its maximum shutter speed (though the power of the flash will be reduced at the very shortest exposures and may require the timing of the flash trigger signal to be fine-tuned so that the exposure syncs with the brightest point of the flash output).

There are downsides to the sensor, though: the global shutter design works by using what is effectively a second photodiode within each pixel to act as a buffer: holding the charge generated by the exposure so it can all be read out at the same time. This reduces the effective size of the photodiode used to capture the image, reducing the amount of charge each pixel can hold before it becomes full.

This reduced capacity for charge means the pixel becomes saturated sooner, so it can tolerate less light before clipping. In turn, this means it needs to be given less exposure, which is reflected in the base ISO of 250, 1.3EV higher than typical. Giving a sensor less light instantly reduces the image quality, because light itself is noisy, and this noise is more visible, the less light you capture.

120fps shooting The new C5 button on the front of the camera is set, by default, to activate the speed boost function for temporary access to 120 fps shooting.

The super-fast sensor readout allows the a9 III to deliver a faster shooting rate than we've ever seen from a sensor this large. Whereas the previous generation of Stacked CMOS sensors with progressive readout would shoot at up to 30 frames per second, the a9 III quadruples this to 120. Sony has published a list of its lenses that can operate at this full speed.

It's a reasonable question to consider how often even the most demanding sports photographers will need to shoot at 120 frames per second, and how much more sorting and selecting work will be created by generating so many additional files.

You can lower the burst rate to whatever makes the most sense for your specific subject, but there's also an option to temporarily jump back to a faster rate when you hold a button down, meaning you could shoot at, say, 30 fps in the buildup to what you expect to be the critical moment, then press a custom button to give a faster, more concentrated burst around the moment of interest itself.

Like the other recent high-end Sonys, the a9 III has a pair of CFexpress Type A and UHS-II SD card slots set one within the other, providing compatibility with both the widely available SD format or the faster CFexpress format. Both are still significantly slower than the CFe Type B cards adopted by most other manufacturers.

Interestingly, the a9 III continues to use Sony's preferred CFexpress Type A cards, which have half the read/write channels of the larger Type B format. This means the a9 III has to depend that bit more heavily on its internal buffer. It has the capacity to shoot 196 uncompressed 14-bit Raw files in a burst, allowing 1.6 seconds of capture at its fastest rate. This is nearly 10GB of data, which gives some idea of the size of the camera's buffer but also of how quickly you'd fill up your cards if you shot at full tilt in Raw.

Pre-capture

The a9 III becomes the first Sony to have a pre-capture feature: starting to buffer images when you half-press the shutter button or hold the AF-On button, then retaining up to one second's worth of images when you fully press the shutter. You can reduce the time period to as little as 1/200 sec if you're really confident in your ability to anticipate the crucial moment, but the pre-buffer time isn't affected by your choice of shooting rate.

Dedicated 'AI' processor

The a9 III gains the 'AI' processor that Sony first introduced in the a7R V. This does not add any 'intelligence' or learning in and of itself, but is designed to process the complex subject algorithms created by machine learning for functions such as subject recognition. This should boost the camera's subject recognition performance compared to previous generations of cameras, such as the a1, making the tracking more responsive and more robust.

8EV image stabilization The a9 III gets the flexible tilt-and-hinge cradle we previously saw on the a7R V. It can be manipulated into all sorts of positions, for wherever you're shooting from.

The a9 III also gains the latest image stabilization processing algorithms, helping it deliver performance that's rated at up to 8.0EV of correction, using the CIPA standard methodology. This is an appreciable increase over the 5.5EV offered by previous generations of cameras. Unlike Canon's system, this doesn't depend on synchronized use of in-body and in-lens IS mechanisms, so users should see an increase in correction performance over a wide range of lenses, though the peak correction may not be so well maintained quite so well at extremely long and short focal lengths.

C2PA authentication

Although not present at launch, Sony says it plans to add C2PA authentication to the a9 III. This is a cryptographic metadata standard developed by a range of software makers, camera makers and large media organizations that will provide a secure record of the file's provenance and edit history, allowing media organizations to know that the images they are receiving can be traced back to a specific camera and haven't been inappropriately manipulated.

How it compares

With its high shooting speed and pro-friendly features, the a9 III's closest competitors are the pro sports bodies from Canon and Nikon, as well as Sony's own a1. This is an exclusive group, not only in the sense of commanding a significant price but also in that they have professional support networks established to ensure working pros have the most possible 'up' time. While other cameras promise fast shooting and capable autofocus, these are the models that the most demanding professionals rely on.

Sony a9 III Sony a1 Canon EOS R3 Nikon Z9 MSRP $6500 $6500 $6000 $5500 Pixel count 24MP 50MP 24MP 46MP Sensor type Stacked CMOS
(Global shutter) Stacked CMOS Stacked CMOS Stacked CMOS Max burst rate 120fps 30fps 30 fps
196 fps** (AE/AF fixed) 30fps (JPEG)
20fps (Raw)
120fps (11MP JPEG) Pre-capture? Up to 1 sec – – JPEG only IS rating (CIPA) Up to 8.0 EV Up to 5.5EV Up to 8.0 EV Up to 6.0EV Base ISO 250 100 100 64 Max ISO 51200 102400 204800 102400 Max shutter speed 1/80,000 1/32,000
1/8000 mech 1/64,000***
1/8000 mech 1/32,000 Flash sync 1/80,000 1/400 1/250 EFCS
1/200 Mech
1/180 Elec 1/250 Viewfinder
res / size / eyepoint 9.44M dots
0.9x
25mm 9.44M dots
0.9x
25mm 5.76M dots
0.76x
23mm 3.69M dots
0.8x
23mm Refresh rate Std: 120 fps
High: 240 fps Std: 60 fps
High: 120 fps
H+: 240 fps* Power save: 60 fps
Smooth: 120 fps Std: 60 fps
High: 120 fps Rear screen 2.0M dots fully articulated on tilt cradle 1.44M dots fully articulated 4.15M dots fully articulating 2.1M dots, two-way tilt Max video res 4K up to 120p MOV 8K/30 UHD MOV 6K/60 DCI Raw
4K/120 DCI/UHD MOV 8K/60 Raw
8K/30 DCI MOV Media 2x CFexpress Type A / UHS II SD 2x CFexpress Type A / UHS II SD 1 CFe Type B
1 UHS II SDq 2x CFe Type B / XQD USB 10Gbps 10Gbps 10Gbps 5Gbps CIPA Battery life (LCD / EVF) 530 / 400 530 / 430 860 / 620 740 / 700 Weight 702g 737g 822g 1340g Dimensions 136 x 97 x 83 mm 129 x 97 x 81 mm 150 x 143 x 87 mm 149 x 150 x 91 mm

**Viewfinder res and display size are reduced
**AF and AE locked, in bursts of up to 50 images.
***Whole stop increments only between 1/16,000 and 1/64,000

The a9 III stands out, even from the other manufacturer's pro-grade cameras, in offering 120 fps shooting as a standard mode, with full AF and Raw capture, whereas Canon's R3 locks AF and AE at the first exposure (rarely ideal for the kinds of action shooting that require high speed bursts) and the Nikon outputs significantly reduced resolution JPEGs.

Like the EOS R3, the a9 III opts for speed over resolution, meaning it can't deliver the 8K footage that the a1 and Z9 can. Also, any users hoping for Raw video will need to buy an external recorder, rather than being able to capture this in-camera, as you can on the Canon and Nikon.

The biggest apparent shortcoming is the relatively low battery life of the a9 III, as it's a single grip camera and hence lacks the space for the larger batteries included in the Canon and Nikon. Adding the BG-C5 battery grip adds space for a second battery, as well as providing duplicate portrait orientation controls.

Body and handling

Although the company's a7, a9 and a1 models all look similar, each generation has seen the control layout reworked and details such as the handgrip tweaked. The a9 III sees a larger than typical re-working of Sony's ergonomics.

The grip is a little deeper, with a more prominent dent for the forefinger to rest in, but more significantly, the shutter button is placed on a surface that angles forward rather than sitting in the same plane as the camera's top plate. This means you don't have to rotate your hand or stretch your finger quite so far to reach the shutter. In turn, the custom buttons on the camera's top plate have been extended upwards so that they're still accessible from this less stretched position.

It's a relatively small adjustment but enough that you'll notice it after several hours of shooting. Given the a9 III's target audience, it's hard not to make assumptions that this change has been made in response to Sony's tie-up with the Associated Press, giving the company more feedback from a large pool of working pros.

Beyond this, the body is pretty familiar from the previous generation of cameras, with most of the control points and custom buttons existing in the same places. The main exception to this is that the a9 III gains a fifth custom button, on its front panel. By default, this is used for the 'speed boost' function, but this can be modified.

The a9 III has the same 9.44M dot (2048 x 1536px) OLED viewfinder that first appeared in the Sony a7R V. The optics in front of the panel give an impressive 0.9x magnification, meaning it's very large to look at, and the fast sensor means its full resolution is used even when refreshing at 120fps. There's a 240fps mode if you need an even more frequent update of what's going on in the scene, but this runs at a reduced resolution. The viewfinder shows no blackout at all when shooting images.

The rear screen is a 2M dot panel that's arranged on a tilting cradle that is itself hinged at the side, providing a wide range of movement and adjustment.

The a9 III uses the same NP-FZ100 battery as all the most recent full-frame cameras have. It's a well-sized 16.4Wh unit that powers the camera to a rating of 530 shots per charge, using the rear LCD according to CIPA standard tests. This drops to 400 shots per charge if you use the viewfinder. These are strong numbers compared to most cameras but some way behind those of its pro sports peers, which typically have a twin-grip body with space for a much larger battery.

Battery life can be increased significantly through the addition of the optional VG-C5 vertical grip. This adds the space for a second FZ100 and more than doubles the battery life, as Sony has developed a system for treating the two batteries as a single large power source.

It's also worth noting that the CIPA standard tests are even less reflective of the behavior of pro sports cameras than they are elsewhere. Bursts of images use much less power than the individual shot shoot-and-review process that standard testing assumes. As such, a rating of 400 shots per charge for a camera that shoots at 120 frames per second should not be taken to mean that the battery will only last for 3.3 seconds of holding the shutter down. This is nowhere close to being true.

Image quality

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We've looked at the a9 III's image quality and have found that its performance is up to a stop behind those of contemporary full-frame cameras. Essentially the halving of the photodiode size halves the amount of light the sensor can tolerate. This raises the base ISO, limiting the maximum image quality the camera can deliver (ie: comparing base ISO to base ISO).

The added complexity of the sensor's design also means that it isn't able to offer a second low-noise readout path as has become common in dual conversion gain sensors that dominate the market. This sees up to a stop noise penalty, relative to its full-frame peers.

All of that said, a lot of sports shooting doesn't necessarily happen at ISO 100, so being limited to ISO 250 or higher needn't be a major issue. Likewise, even a one-stop increase in noise at high ISO isn't likely to be a deal-breaking difference, especially if the a9 III's global shutter and incredibly rapid burst rates mean that it can get a shot that its rivals simply miss.

So, while the a9 III's sensor tech may not make as much sense in other cameras, for the high-speed users it's designed for, these aren't necessarily a significant drawback.

Initial impressions Only time in the hands of a large number of pro photographers will test how much value 120 fps capture with no risk of banding is, but historically faster has proven to be better, even when the current level of performance has let people get results.

We now have a full production spec a9 III but want to put it through its paces at some sporting events before drawing any firm conclusions about its overall performance, so these comments should still considered be initial impressions.

The arrival of global shutter is a significant advance for the industry, and provides a recognizable benefit in specific circumstances, specifically: high-speed flash sync, avoidance of banding with high-frequency displays and zero rolling shutter distortion for movies and very fast movement. However this capability comes at a cost, with the a9 III not being able to match the best image quality of its rivals.

The question is: do the camera's strengths outweigh this cost for the types of shooting it's designed for? The a9 III is a specialized camera designed for very specific types of shooting, not an all-rounder that might be used for landscape work, just as often as wildlife and sports. As a sports camera, speed is of the essence, and working at elevated ISOs is the norm. Likewise, the need for very broad dynamic range to be exploited during Raw processing isn't likely to be a priority for many of its users.

The provision of a LAN socket and full-sized HDMI port show that Sony wants the camera to fit readily into professional workflows, and the camera will ultimately succeed or fail on that basis.

This isn't to make excuses, just to put it in context. The a9 III offers capabilities for high speed capture far beyond those of its rivals, but at the cost of being a less flexible camera. Which may prove to be an acceptable, or even entirely reasonable, trade-off for sports pros, if it transpires that the ability to shoot at 120 fps around the critical moment, or to avoid any distracting ad-board flicker prove suitably valuable.

These caveats mean that the a9 III's advances need to be seen in context: global shutter probably shouldn't be assumed to be the future toward which all cameras are heading. For now the trade-offs mean it only makes sense for some photographers: those for which it's designed. And those trade-offs would have more significant impact in smaller sensors, so we're not suddenly dreaming of APS-C or Four Thirds sensors that utilize this particular technology.

Judged for what it is, though, the a9 III looks to be a very powerful addition to the market, with a lot of handling and workflow changes that will make it ideal for pro sports use. This is what we'll be testing over the coming weeks. However, that doesn't make it the camera by which all others should be judged.

Buy Now:

$5998 at Amazon $5998 at B&H $5998 at Adorama Pre-production sample gallery

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Categories: Photo News

The Crucial Camera News From CES 2024 (So Far)

DP Review Latest news - Sun, 01/07/2024 - 16:55

The Crucial Camera News From CES 2024 (So Far) Image: CTA

The Consumer Electronics Tradeshow of 2024 is kicking off, and while we don't expect any huge camera announcements this year, there are plenty of other bits and bobs of interest to the photographically inclined. Here on Sunday night, the first pre-show activities have begun, followed by a hurricane of press conferences on Monday and the show floor itself on Tuesday.

We're not on the ground in Vegas this year, but we are keeping close watch from afar to collect just the juicy photography-related news and round it up for you.

Here are the most important announcements, awards and releases (so far). We'll be updating this post as announcements roll out throughout the show, which runs until Friday, January 12th.

This post will be updated live throughout CES 2024. Check back for the latest announcements.

Canon MS-500 Interchangeable Lens Camera Image: Canon

Single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) technology is a photon-counting technique that's been in development for decades. Canon's prototypes of SPAD sensors, based around its 3.2MP chip, are some of the highest resolution examples and have accomplished impressive party tricks like capturing the movement of light as it travels through smoke. Now, with the MS-500, Canon has wrapped a Type 1 (13.2 x 9.9mm) SPAD sensor in a body that's actually up for sale, capable of capturing images of objects in color during the dead of night at distances of a mile and beyond. Its applications in hobbyist photography are scant, and its $21,000 price tag makes it clear this is for industrial and commercial purposes. But packaging this tech into a product that's actually for sale has earned it a CES 2024 Innovation Award.

Leica BLK2GO Pulse Handheld Laser Scanner Image: Leica

Leica Geosystems, which spun off from Leica's camera business in the 1990s, specializes in a different way of capturing reality through the travel of light: laser rangefinding. The company's BLK2GO PULSE, winner of a 2024 CES Innovation Award, puts a two-sensor, solid-state LiDAR array (designed in partnership with Sony), into a handheld body that can capture instant, colored point-cloud scans of a location in concert with the device's RGB cameras. Capable of capturing snapshots in a 10-meter range with a 2cm margin for error, the BLK2GO PULSE is definitely priced for commercial enterprises. Unless you've got $38,400 to burn, and something to use it for.

Boréas Solid-State Piezo Haptic Buttons Image: Boréas

Anything with points of friction is a potential point of failure, whether on a smartphone or a camera body. And while Apple has long replaced its Home buttons and trackpads with unmoving touch surfaces that only simulate a click, its 'Taptic Engine' still contains moving springs. Boréas' piezoelectric buttons have earned a CES Innovation award by taking the principle further, simulating a physical response, but with no points of internal friction or wear. Combined with the advent of electronic shutters, this tech brings us closer to cameras with no moving parts to break down – eventually.

Categories: Photo News

Understanding your camera, our best reads for learning what's happening inside that light box

DP Review Latest news - Sat, 01/06/2024 - 06:00

Start your journey into learning the ins and outs of cameras by taking a deep dive into some of our best technical explainers.

We're about a week into 2024, and if you made any proclamations to refresh or improve your photo skills, we're here to help you with those photo/video resolutions.

Whether you're learning how to use a camera for the first time, or you're an old hat seeking to brush up, or even if you're a person who loves to troll other people's work but never share your own (you know who you are), we have a little something for everyone.

Over the years, we've chronicled the rise of digital photography and written our fair share of technical breakdowns, tutorials and how-tos. In honor of a new year, we thought it might be a good time to corral up our best reads for learning, and here they are, everything to help you get the most of your cameras.

These articles are focused on what's going on under the hood. If you understand where noise is coming from, how the different types of shutter work and what ISO does (and doesn't) mean, everything else should be less of a mystery.

Understanding shutter settings

As you're setting up your camera, you may see settings for mechanical and electronic shutters. With the shift to mirrorless, many cameras today will let you choose which type of shutter to use. A few cameras may limit you to only e-shutter. One type of shutter isn't better than the other, they each have their strengths and weaknesses, which means knowing which one to use in each situation will be crucial to give you the best shooting results.

Electronic shutter, rolling shutter and flash: what you need to know

What about global shutter?

Understanding camera ISO

At its most basic, a camera is a box that captures light controlled by an aperture and a shutter speed setting. But there's a third option that affects the final image: ISO. With the former two, these are things that are easier to grasp since you can more easily see them: aperture blades in a lens going from wide to narrow as you increase the f-stop or images having more or less motion blur as you change shutter settings.

With ISO, we often understand it's related to the sensor's sensitivity to light, a definition we carry over from the film days, but it's not quite that simple. It turns out ISO is a slippery thing. It's not necessarily amplification or gain. Understanding what it is (and isn't), can help you understand what your camera's doing, and when you might want to overrule it.

Start off with a primer: What is ISO?

Where ISO gets complex

Understanding noise

Related to ISO, you'll often hear folks talk about high ISO noise, but this can lead to a misunderstanding of where that noise is coming from. In most photography, it's the shutter speed and aperture settings that dictate most of the noise in your image, because the speckled 'grain' you're seeing in your photos is caused by the way light itself behaves.

Read our primer to learn how to understand and mitigate noise in your photography.

Shedding light on the sources of noise

Understanding dynamic range

Dynamic range is one of those things that is hard to explain but easy to spot. Seeing a picture of trees, we can point and say that DR is the brightness that your camera can capture, from the brightest (where the information 'clips') to the darkest usable tone. But looking at what's happening to the 'signal' of light as it enters the camera, hits the sensor, and runs through the processor, it starts to paint a more nuanced picture.

DR can be a good indicator of how flexible the Raw files coming out of your camera are, but it doesn't tell you much more than that.

DR is also something photographers seem to love to argue about, but it's best to brush up so you're armed and ready for the next flame war. We take a quick look at why DR numbers are only a small part of the story in a three-part series.

DR part 1: More than a number

DR part 2: How number can mislead

DR part 3: Why you need DR

Understanding bit depth

Raw bit depth is often discussed as a measurement of how many colors a camera is capable of capturing. This isn't really true. Raw bit depth plays more of a role in how much dynamic range a file can maintain, not the number of colors you get to capture. As a result more, if your camera can't capture more than 12 stops of DR, shooting in 14-bit Raw won't capture more detail, it'll just capture more noise.

Get the low down on bit depth

Understanding 'equivalence' and exposure

Photography is all about light, and understanding how much light you're capturing can help you understand why your images are noisy and what you might do about that.

The standard exposure model intentionally disguises the role played by film size or sensor format, so that you can use the 'same' settings on whatever camera you're using. Taking a whole-image perspective can help you understand why different formats offer different ranges of capability and where those ranges overlap.

It's most useful when deciding which format you want to adopt, but it can also help you understand the many circumstances in which one format can match another; if you don't tie your hands by trying to use the same settings.

Breaking down equivalence and light

Understanding color

After you've taken your photos or videos, you may want to dive into color correction or color grading. To get the most out of your image editing, you'll ideally want to have a properly calibrated monitor. It stands to reason, if your monitor is too blue, then you'll end up editing all your photos too blue.

Read our Intro to Color Calibration series by starting with "Color measurement basics and how colorimeters work." Then, once you have the basics down, move on to part two of the series, "How monitor calibration actually works."

Read "Intro to color, part 1"Read "Intro to color, part 2"

Understanding HDR

As HDR displays start to become more prominent in computers and TVs, we are finally getting the benefits of 'true' HDR photography as it was meant to be seen, as a more naturalistic wide range of brightness rather than the high-contrast candy-colored processing we've come to think of when someone says HDR.

Support for HDR editing was added to Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom last year, so it's a good time to brush up on how it works and why it matters for our future displays.

Getting started with HDR editing

HDR displays explained

Understanding Raw video

Most photographers have a good sense for the additional flexibility that Raw stills offer over trying to edit JPEGs. So it's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that Raw video will offer the same benefits. This isn't necessarily the case.

Software doesn't necessarily support all the common formats, and that support can be patchy and partial. There are also some well-established workflows for shooting 10-bit Log footage that offer much higher levels of flexibility than 8-bit JPEGs, meaning there's less of a gain to be had for capturing the larger Raw files. There are benefits to be had, but you have to work for them. Here's why Raw video may not be the gamechanger you might expect:

Why Raw video isn't the gamechanger you might expect

BONUS: A trip through sensor history

It's fun to look at old tech and see how far the sensors at the heart of our cameras have come. If you're curious about what came before the camera you're currently using, look back at the history of camera sensors with us. It's a fun start to a journey into ongoing learning, just be careful about g.a.s.

Tech timeline: Milestones in sensors

BONUS: What is a Bayer filter and what does it mean?

Underpinning most of our cameras through the history of digital photography has been the Bayer Color Filter Array. A system developed by Kodak's Bryce Bayer over 40 years ago, it's a design that captures color information by capturing red, green and blue information through an interspersed mosaic-style array. It's a genuinely brilliant piece of design and highly effective. These filters are far from perfect (we get into the limits in the article below) but they've earned their place in digital photography history and are still used today by some cameras.

How Bayer's baby changed the world

BONUS: Understanding the DPReview studio test scene

If you find yourself wanting to learn more about cameras, you can take a look at one way we elevate cameras. Take a look behind at our studio scene tool. There's a lot of stuff on this scene and none of it arrived by accident. Every inch tells a different story about camera performance and aids us in comparing multiple cameras across the years. Are you curious how an older version of your camera performed compared to your current one? Want to see how it stacks up to the competition? You can do this and more with our tool, but only if you learn how to read it.

An introduction to our studio test scene

A DPReview history of the test scene

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