Table of contents for March - April 2023 in Camera

This issue showcases some of the winning images from this year's Sony World Photography Awards, which is now by far the world's biggest photo comp. What you won't see here or on the World Photography Organisation's website is the image that initially won the Creative category in the Open competition. When notified of the win, the image's 'author' confessed that it had been generated using artificial intelligence algorithms. It's at least the second time such a concoction has been submitted to a competition as a genuine photograph, but the reality is that it's probably happened on other occasions and not been revealed because no prizes were awarded. In case you don't know, AI-based generative imaging software creates pictures made up from elements that it has absorbed from millions of tagged…

If making videos is your priority, Fujifilm would like to sell you something else, namely the X-H2, which is the king of the X-mount hybrids. Video is undoubtedly the X-T5's part-time job, and you certainly get that message with the monitor screen's adjustment options, the absence of a proper output for monitor headphones and the micro HDMI port. Nevertheless, the camera still boasts reasonable capabilities which will more than satisfy the photographer who wants to shoot highquality video clips now and then, and likes to have a bit of control over how it's done. There's no internal ProRes recording, no 8K and, if you like the idea of shooting video at 6.2K, it comes with a 1.23x crop, as do the HQ modes for 4K DCI and UHD (which are…

The S5 is already a very capable video camera and the S5II takes it to another level (with the S5IIX a step up again). The built-in cooling fan removes any overheating-related restrictions on clip lengths, so these are unlimited when shooting in 4K or Full HD, even at the faster frame rates of 100/120p for slow-mo effects. The S5II allows for video recording using the whole sensor area - the socalled 'Open Gate' recording - which is obviously at the 3:2 aspect ratio, but in the 6K resolution (5952×3968 pixels) for subsequent cropping to accommodate multiple formats and aspect ratios, including vertical (i.e. 9:16 aspect) for mobile devices. You can also record 6K internally at 17:9 (i.e. 5952×3136 pixels) or 5.9K at 16:9 (5888×3312 pixels) using the H.265 codec with…

COMPETITION A staggering 415,000 images were submitted to the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards, received from photographers representing over 200 countries. Emerging victorious from the pack – as the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer Of The Year – is the Portugese photojournalist Edgar Martins for his series Our War, a homage to his friend, South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed during the Libyan civil war in April 2011. For his efforts Martins won a US$25,000 cash prize and a selection of Sony digital imaging equipment. He also won a solo presentation of his work as part of next year’s Sony World Photography Awards exhibition. This opportunity allows photographers to further develop their winning project or exhibit a brand new body of work, gaining them additional exposure for…

Format: Micro Four Thirds. Effective Focal Length: 180mm. Angle-of-View: 14.0 degrees (diagonal). Construction: 18 elements/13 groups. Eight special elements - two Super ED (Super Extra-Low Dispersion) types, one Super HR (Super High Refractive Index), one HR (High Refractive Index) type, four ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) types. Minimum Focus: 25.0 centimetres, or 22.4 centimetres in S.Macro mode. Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 2:1 (double life size, equivalent to 4:1 in the 35mm format). Aperture Range: f/3.5 to f/22. Overall Length: 136.0 mm. Maximum Diameter: 69.8 mm. Filter Diameter: 62 mm. Weight: 453 grams. Features: Weather-sealed construction (dust and moisture to IP53 standard, plus insulation for subzero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius), fluorine moisture repellent coating on the front element, internal zooming and focusing, focus limiter switch, built-in optical image stabilisation (with 'Sync I.S.'…

THIS CHECKLIST is designed to allow direct comparisons between different camera models, listed here in price order within each brand. The published prices are mostly supplied by the distributors as recommended retail prices (RRPs). However, some distributors no longer supply RRPs to the media, so it has become necessary to determine an 'estimated street price' derived from the range of prices for a model published by retailers. Where this has been necessary, the letter 'E' appears at the start of the entry. A dot appearing in a column indicates that the feature is available on the camera model listed. Where a specification or product detail hasn't yet been published or confirmed, the letters TBA (to be announced) or TBC (to be confirmed) are used. If a feature is irrelevant to…

NIKON'S APS-C MIRRORLESS camera system is slowly gaining more lenses to support the current Z 30, Z 50 and Z fc bodies. The newest addition is the Nikkor Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-6.3 PZ VR which has an effective focal range of 18-42mm. It's also a powered zoom lens - the first Nikkor Z lens with this Capability - and there's a choice of 11 zooming speeds. Apart from using the fly-by-wire control collar on the lens, remote zooming is possible via Nikon's Snap Bridge app via a smartphone or tablet. Remote zooming is also possible via the Nikon ML-L7 Bluetooth controller. The new zoom has optical image stabilisation that's good for up to 4.5 stops of correction for camera shake. This is very handy because none of the Z DX…

FUJIFILM X-T5 $3,199 body only, recommended retail Type: Professional digital mirrorless camera with Fujifilm X bayonet lens mount. Focusing: TTL automatic hybrid system using phasedifference detection and contrast-detection measurements. 425 measuring points (in 25×17 or 13×9 patterns). Single-point (six sizes), zone (7×7, 5×5 or 3×3 point clusters selected from 91 points) and wide/tracking modes. Five 'AF-C Custom' settings for optimising tracking plus a userdefinable setting for Tracking Sensitivity, Speed Tracking Sensitivity and Zone Area Switching. Face/eye detection with left/right priority. Subject detection for animals, birds, cars, motorcycles and bikes, aircraft and trains. Focus frame adjustable to five sizes.Focus frame adjustable to five sizes. Range is 10 cm to infinity (Auto Macro mode). Focus range limiter. Face/eye detection with left/right priority. Manual switching between one-shot and continuous AF modes. AF+MF mode.…

All the additional features available in the Panasonic Lumix S5IIX are aimed at videographers - particularly pros - and they're probably significant enough to warrant the extra investment - which is actually a quite modest $300. The S5IIX is the first full-frame mirrorless camera to record directly to an external SSD (solid state drive) via USB C, which offers significant workflow and cost advantages, and gives bit rates of up to 800 Mbps. This USB-SSD output tops out at 5.8K at up to 30fps and encoded in ProRes RAW 422 or 422HQ. However, you can also record 4K DCI or 4K UHD this way at up to 60fps and Full HD at up to 120fps. ProRes or Blackmagic RAW recording over HDMI comes as standard with the S5IIX. You also…

TECHNOLOGY MAY WELL be a significant driving force in a camera, but so is aspiration. I've lost count of how many times I've heard something along the lines of, "I'm shooting with a [insert model number], but what I'd really like is [insert another model that's undoubtedly better than the first]". I recently came across a little notebook from my teenage years when I was shooting with a Fujica ST605 35mm SLR and, apparently, what I was really yearning for back then was the ST901, the Fujica flagship at the time (plus there was a long wish list of lenses). What I actually bought next was a Canon AE-1 - one of the 5.7 million photographers who did the same - and then the aspirational sights shifted up to the…

THERE'S ALREADY A very capable Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 telezoom available in the L mount, but if you're a Leica mirrorless user and want to keep everything in the family, there's now the Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3. It's accompanied by a new 1.4 teleconverter - the Leica Extender L 1.4x - which delivers a 140-560mm focal range and maximum apertures of f/7.0-9.0. It's exclusive to this lens.The 100-400mm becomes the longest lens in Leica's SL system - previously it was the Vario-ElmaritSL 90-280mm f/2.8-4.0 - and also has the wisest zooming range. Weighing in at 1.53kg, the Leica SL 100-400mm has an all-metal physical construction - a combination of aluminium and magnesium alloy - with weather sealing. It measures 198mm in length, so it's comparatively compact given the focal range. A hydrophobic…

ON TRIAL FUJIFILM X-T5 While Fujifilm's X-mount APS-C mirrorless camera system has diversified into a number of model streams, at its heart is still the popular X-T series that began with the X-T1 in early 2014. Since then there have been some subtle shifts in emphasis, but the constant has been the classical styling based on traditional dials and the overall look of a 1970s vintage 35mm SLR. If you love it, you really love it and if you've also been looking enviously at the X-H2 with its 40.2 megapixels of resolution, the great news is that now you can have both. Of course, it's a bit of a no-brainer because Fujifilm just had to put the X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor into an X-T series body, didn't it? The X-T5…

PANASONIC LUMIX DC-S5II $3,199 body only, recommended retail price Type: Enthusiast-level or semi-professional digital mirrorless camera with L bayonet lens mount. Focusing: Automatic hybrid phase/contrast-detection system ('Phase Hybrid AF') with 779 PDAF points and 315 CDAF points. Contrast detection AF via Depth-FromDefocus (DFD) calculations. Manual switching between one-shot and continuous AF modes, the latter with auto tracking. Four 'AF Custom' settings for fine-tuning subject tracking with three parameters - AF Sensitivity, AF Area Switching Sensitivity and Moving Subject Prediction. Automatic subject detection for Face, Eye, Head, Body And Animal (Birds, Dogs or Cats). Area modes for Zone (Vertical/Horizontal), Zone (adjustable shape and size), 1-Area, 1-Area+Supplementary, Pinpoint or Custom 1-4. Adjustable 1-Area point switching speed. AF assist via magnified image, either full image or picture-in-picture. Sensitivity range is EV -6.0 -18…