Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Wednesday, 13 November 2013

	Digital Photography Review Newsletter Wednesday, 13 November 2013 The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 300,000 subscribers
Hello! And welcome to the 483rd Digital Photography Review newsletter. The last couple of weeks have been pretty manic, trying to report on a wave of interesting camera launches, without it completely distracting us from reviews. But, of course, there's a reason for all these launches - Christmas and the holiday season are coming. We're working furiously to make sure we have a comprehensive set of buying guides and camera roundups, to make sure we offer some coverage on all the most interesting cameras on the market (including those we might not get a chance to write full reviews of). This means we're desperately grabbing sample images at the slightest hint of sunshine and trying to get as many cameras into our studio comparison tool as possible - in the sure and certain knowledge that the just-announced cameras will start arriving soon. But all this looking forward hasn't stopped us publishing reviews, samples galleries and opinion pieces, alongside all the day-to-day news we're hoping you've come to expect from us. The highlights you might have missed this week include: Panasonic GX7 Review The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 is the company's latest enthusiast-targeted Micro Four Thirds model - offering a true successor to the original and much-loved GF1. It adds a host of features, including built-in image stabilization (a first for Panasonic's G-series), focus peaking and an articulated electronic viewfinder, all of which should lend themselves to shooting with non-native lenses. On paper it looks rather impressive but how does it behave when on a camera strap or a tripod? We've been using the GX7 extensively and have published our review. Click here to read our review of the Panasonic GX7 Pentax K-3 Real-world Samples Ricoh's Pentax K-3 is the first camera we've encountered that provided the option to choose whether you want an low-pass filtering effect to be applied to your images, as you shoot them. The camera's 24MP sensor has no optical filter in front of it, but the camera is able to apply a filter effect by moving the sensor during an exposure, to prevent moiré caused by high-frequency patterns. Beyond this, it builds on the ergonomically impressive, weather-sealed compact DSLR design used for the K-5 and K-5II. We've been shooting with a K-3 for around a week and have put together a Real-world samples gallery of its images. Click here to view our gallery of real-world samples from the Pentax K-3 DPReview Gear of the Year 2013: Part 1 Over the coming weeks, members of the DPReview editorial team will be discussing the products that have stood out for them, this year. In Part One, Editor Barnaby Britton talks about how Fujifilm's X100S has found a place both in his heart and, perhaps just as significantly, his camera bag. Click here to read about what earns the Fujifilm X100S a place in our Gear of the Year What's coming up? Well, we're not writing all this holiday content for ourselves - if all goes according to plan, we'll be publishing more guides, roundups and advice than ever before, in the coming weeks. This also means a massive expansion to the range of cameras available in our test scene and a host of samples galleries. We'll also be continuing to build on our coverage of the Sony a7 and a7R, so do stay tuned. Richard WTD #601 Check out What The Duck in our Link Directory GearShop update - a message from Laura This week's best deals: Save $20 on the silver award winning Olympus Tough TG-2 rugged camera. This time of year, its freezeproof features will start coming in handy. The Panasonic GF6, now $100 off, would be a great first-interchangeable-lens-camera for someone looking to upgrade from a compact without gaining too much heft. Now shipping: Manfrotto's recently revamped 190 series tripods are starting to arrive. These new versions of the popular line now have an easier to adjust 90° center column mechanism, allowing the column to be extended normally or horizontally without any disassembly. Also redesigned are the leg lock levers, which promise to be easier and more comfortable to open and close than older models. Learn more. Coming soon: We expect to start fulfilling pre-orders on lots of new products in the coming days: Nikon's D5300, Fujifilm's XQ1 and X-E2 and Pentax's K-3 are all set to be released later this week. Until next week - Laura and the GearShop Team
News updates Canon offers Dual Pixel AF upgrade for Cinema EOS C100 camera Published on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 11:31:57 AM GMT Canon is offering owners of its Cinema EOS C100 the chance to add Dual Pixel AF to this video-centric camera. This will enable continuous autofocus during recording with all Canon EF lenses, and double one-shot AF speed with 104 fully-supported lenses. Interestingly the upgrade doesn't involve a change of sensor, but instead enables a hitherto-unused hardware capability. However it will require the camera to be sent to a Canon service centre, and isn't free (in the US it will cost $500).  Read full story → Fujifilm updates X-system lens firmware for X-E2 compatibility Published on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 1:01:06 PM GMT Fujifilm has updated the firmware for many of its X-system lenses to offer full compatibility with the recently-announced X-E2. The upgrades allow the lenses to work properly with the camera's phase detection AF and, for XF optics, its Lens Modulation Optimizer function. They apply to the 14mm F2.8, 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OIS, 35mm F1.4, 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 OIS, 60mm F2.4 Macro, and XC 16-50mm F3.5-6.3 OIS lenses. Click through for the download link Read full story → Non-destructive photo editing feature coming in Android 4.4 KitKat Published on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 5:00:00 PM GMT Google is giving a sweet treat to photographers in its new KitKat operating system. Android 4.4 will be shipping with a non-destructive photo editing feature in the native Gallery app. From what we've seen of the software so far, it appears to offer a huge collection of some of the most advanced editing tools available on any mobile photography app. Learn more on connect.dpreview.com. Read full story → Weather-resistant Pentax Limited 20-40mm F2.8-4 zoom lens announced Published on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 11:01:00 PM GMT Ricoh has announced the HD PENTAX-DA 20-40mm F2.8-4 ED, the first zoom lens in its Limited series. It boasts a weather-resistant build (another Limited first) and provides an equivalent focal of length 30.5-61.5mm in 35mm terms when mounted to a Pentax K-mount DSLR body. The lens barrel, hood and cap are all made of aluminum. Click through for the full press release and details. Read full story → Ricoh launches Pentax Q-mount ultra-wide-angle zoom Published on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 11:01:00 PM GMT Ricoh has announced the PENTAX-08 WIDE ZOOM lens for Q-mount interchangeable lens cameras. The F3.7-4 ultra-wide-angle compact provides a focal length of 3.8-5.9mm (when mounted to the Pentax Q7 it provides a 35mm equivalent of 17.5-27mm). The lens is equipped with its own shutter and also comes with a built-in neutral density filter. Click through for the full press release and details. Read full story → A different point of view: Our Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 Review Published on Thursday, November 7, 2013 3:30:00 AM GMT We've just posted our full review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7. With a 16 megapixel Four Thirds sensor, in-body image stabilization, and built-in articulated EVF, the GX7 boasts a lot of refinements to tempt enthusiasts away from similar Olympus and Sony offerings. Panasonic engineers have thrown just about everything they've got into this mid-range mirrorless camera, will it find a loyal audience the way its GF1 predecessor did? Click through and read our review. Read full story → Tamron to develop 150-600mm F5-6.3 ultra-telephoto zoom Published on Thursday, November 7, 2013 7:00:00 AM GMT Tamron has announced the development of a 150-600mm F5-6.3 zoom lens for full-frame and APS-C sensor cameras. It will feature 20 elements in 13 groups and have a minimum focus distance of 2.7m. Tamron will also include VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization and USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) technologies. The lens will be developed for Canon, Nikon, and Sony mounts.  Read full story → Roger Cicala gives Nikon D610 a clean bill of health Published on Thursday, November 7, 2013 9:28:48 AM GMT Lensrentals' Roger Cicala has beaten us to testing the Nikon D610 for oil and dust accumulation - concluding it's 'certainly no worse than other cameras.' Cicala has had an initial look at 25 D610s and a further look after the first ten of them came back from being rented-out, making him uniquely well-placed to comment on the phenomenon. Click through for a link to his article. Read full story → DxOMark report: Nokia Lumia 925 scores nearly as high as Lumia 1020 Published on Thursday, November 7, 2013 4:30:00 PM GMT Nokia's Lumia 925 is PureView branded but doesn't use the Lumia 1020's large sensor and pixel-binning algorithms. However, the 8.7MP smartphone just scored nearly as well as Nokia's 41MP flagship phone in DxOMark's extensive imaging tests despite the conventional 8.7 MP CMOS sensor. Learn what they found Read full story → In Photos: Olympic torch to make first-ever spacewalk Published on Friday, November 8, 2013 9:00:00 AM GMT A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying an unlit Olympic torch and three astronauts blasted off to the International Space Station on Thursday ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. On Saturday the ISS crew will take the torch made for the Sochi games on a historic spacewalk. NASA photographer Bill Ingalls was there to document the launch. See gallery Read full story → Sample Gallery: LG G2 smartphone images Published on Friday, November 8, 2013 3:42:32 PM GMT We could hardly wait to get our hands on LG's newest G2 smartphone to try shooting with its 13MP Optical Image Stabilization camera and huge 5.2-inch IPS LCD display. There's plenty of exciting specs, but how does it translate to photographs? See our first sample gallery of images on connect.dpreview.com. Read full story → SD card labeling for 4K video announced Published on Friday, November 8, 2013 8:00:00 PM GMT As of now there are not many consumer products, aside from a from a few smartphones (and the GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition), that can shoot 4k video. However the SD Association's announcement of new Ultra High Speed Class 3 (U3) card labeling anticipates it becoming more common. The U3 designation guarantees a 30 MB/s constant minimum write speed, making it easier for buyers to know which cards are '4k ready.' Read full story → Adobe releases Camera Raw 8.3 and Lightroom 5.3 release candidates Published on Friday, November 8, 2013 11:31:11 PM GMT Adobe has issued Camera Raw and DNG Converter 8.3 release candidates, along with a similar preliminary version of Lightroom 5.3. ACR 8.3 is designed as different versions for Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6. DNG Converter is available for free for users of older versions of Photoshop. The latest versions brings support for 15 additional cameras, including most of the latest models from Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus and Sony. Eight lens correction modules are also added, including support for the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8. Read full story → Award-winning wildlife photos capture candid moments Published on Saturday, November 9, 2013 9:00:00 AM GMT An owl in mid-flight, a polar bear peering from under icy waters, to a monkey being blasted by snow are some of the winning images from this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Elephants surrounding a watering hole in Botswana by South African photographer Greg du Toit was the overall winner. See gallery  Read full story → Canon Korea teases new camera, EOS M2 or SL1/100D? Published on Saturday, November 9, 2013 4:30:00 PM GMT Updated: Canon Korea has put up a page teasing about a new camera release. Showing a camera covered in a white sheet, the teaser text reads, 'November 2013, Canon will start from the white world. Coming soon.' Applying a few Photoshop tweaks reveals details that make the camera look an awful lot like a more familiar digital SLR with a new white finish. A video post on Canon Japan's site today further teases a 'White Kiss.' Click through for more. Read full story → Classic photographs recreated in Lego Published on Sunday, November 10, 2013 9:00:00 AM GMT Video game programer Mike Stimpson loves Lego. He also loves photography. Combining his two passions has resulted in a series of fascinating images that recreate iconic photographs with Lego blocks. From Henri Cartier-Bresson to W. Eugene Smith, see if you can recognize the classic images. See gallery  Read full story → Pentax K-3 real-world samples gallery Published on Monday, November 11, 2013 6:00:00 AM GMT When Ricoh's Pentax K-3 was announced we were intrigued by the 'anti-aliasing simulator' feature, a first for a DSLR. The K-3 allows you to engage its low-pass filtering at the push of a button. We recently shot some real-world samples taken in a range of conditions to see how it stacks up against the current K-5 models. Our gallery was shot on with the anti-aliasing filter set to off (the default setting). See gallery Read full story → DPReview Gear of the Year Part 1: Fujifilm X100S Published on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 6:00:00 AM GMT A lot of equipment passes through our Seattle and London offices, everything from high-end cameras to inexpensive accessories. A lot of it gets reviewed, but we can't cover everything. In this series of short articles, DPReview staff will be highlighting their personal standout products of the year. In part 1, editor Barnaby Britton takes us through his personal favorite - the Fujifilm X100S. Read full story → Galaxy NX First Impressions: An Android-powered camera with promise? Published on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 3:45:00 PM GMT We take a closer look at Samsung's latest Android camera: the Galaxy NX. It's a rather bold experiment that integrates a high-end Android smartphone OS with an interchangeable lens camera. With a 20.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, Samsung NX lens mount, and a tried-and-true mobile operating system, the Galaxy NX offers plenty of intriguing promise. See how we got on at connect.dpreview.com. Read full story → Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera now supports Raw CinemaDNG Published on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 6:00:00 PM GMT Blackmagic Design has announced its Camera 1.5 software update which adds new 12-bit Log CinemaDNG RAW recording to the Pocket Cinema Camera. The CinemaDNG Raw lossless compression works like a ZIP file where the Raw files are compressed during 1080p recording without the loss of any part of the image. This allows videographers to capture files with wider dynamic range for increased flexibility during color correction.  Read full story → CaptureNX 2.4.5 and ViewNX 2.8.2 released with D5300 and Df support Published on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 6:30:00 PM GMT Nikon has released Capture NX 2.4.5 and ViewNX 2.8.2 updates with Raw image support for the new D5300 and Df DSLR cameras. Also added to Capture NX 2.4.5 are menu updates and separate intensity and sharpness adjustments for both luminance and color.  Read full story → Lytro adds 3D viewing capability to its photos Published on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 7:38:24 PM GMT Lytro, the tiny camera that allows you to choose your focus point after your image has been shot, has announced a software update to its desktop and iOS app that allows photos taken with the device to be displayed in 3D. The update lets users show off Perspective Shift processed images in 3D when connected to a 3D-capable TV over HDMI or Apple AirPlay. Read full story →
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