Table of contents for Issue 426 in Camera

INFOCUS Acouple of years on from the ejection from the parent ship, things are starting to look a lot brighter for OM Digital Solutions… which you and I previously knew as Olympus. There was much murmuring at time that a hard road lay ahead and, to some extent it did, but there were benefits from getting out of Olympus… specifically that the camera business started to get the attention it deserved, both creatively and financially. Previously, it was third in line behind the scientific and medical operations. The OM System branding is starting to gain recognition and here OMDS is working on a global marketing strategy anchored on the tagline “It's in our nature”… which I'll get to in a minute. At the hearteningly upbeat unveiling of the OM-1 Mark…

WHAT'S NEW THE OM-1 HAS been a big success for OM Digital Solutions, silencing the naysayers and giving OM System the boost it needed to make its way as a new brand. Along with the last few new M.Zuiko Digital lens releases, it's also helped OM System become the driving force in the M43 sensor space… which, of course, it needs to be given it's exclusively backing the format. The OM-1 Mark II is essentially an upgrade, albeit a significant one, and the first model will remain available. The Mark II camera retains the same weather-sealed bodyshell (to the IP53 standard and with freeze-proofing), 20 megapixels stacked BSI-type sensor and ‘TruePic X’ generation processor (albeit with some performance tweaks for the new camera), but there are improvements to the AF…

COMPETITION The Technical Image Press Association's latest photo competition was titled Picture This and the theme was, cleverly, all about cameras and their relationships with photographers. Entries were invited in three categories titled My Camera And I, My Camera In Action and What's In My Camera Bag. Thousands of images were submitted from photographers from the four corners of the world, proving the worldwide reach of TIPA magazines and Web sites. Thomas Gerwers, who is the Chairman of TIPA, commented, “Cameras are like musical instruments – they only unfold their magic in the hands of a creative and skillful user. But without them, neither sounds nor images are created, proving that both are a crucial element in the creative process. And that's why musicians and photographers alike have a special…

COMPETITION The Red Bull Illume photo competition showcases the pinnacle of adventure, action and extreme sports photography, and attracts many thousands of submissions from both amateur and professional photographers from across the globe. The 2023 edition of Red Bull Illume was the seventh edition of the biennial contest. Australian photographer Krystle Wright was the overall winner and her dramatic image also won the Innovation By MPB category. Notably, Krystle is the first woman to win the competition since it started in 2007. She has previously been a category finalist in 2013 and featured in the top 25 finalists in both 2013 and 2019. Krystle's winning shot was taken in Long Canyon in Utah, USA, and captures climber Angela VanWiemeersch scaling a crack in the rock face that illuminated from within.…

CAMERA ICONS Akeen ornithologist and amateur photographer, Victor Hasselblad tried many camera systems in his quest to find the ideal tool for taking pictures of birds. He liked the image quality of 4×5- and 5×7-inch sheet film, but even ‘portable’ cameras like the Speed Graphic were still too unwieldy. He liked the size of Leica's 35mm rangefinder cameras, but really wanted reflex viewfinding… and, ideally, a bigger negative with more cropping flexibility. The solution? Victor came up with his own design, based on the box-form aerial cameras that his family company had built for the Swedish Air Force during the second World War. The prototype was a 6×6cm format SLR with interchangeable lenses badged ‘Rossex’ and designed by Sixten Sason who, incidentally, also penned the first Saab passenger car, the…

WHAT'S NEW COMMENT THIS IS GOING the year. There's very little doubt that some before 2024 ticks away, we'll see the introduction of an affordablypriced new film camera from one or more of the major manufacturers. As I've always said, whoever gets there first will have an instant hit on their hands because the pent-up demand is… well, pent up and ready to spend. We know from our own readers’ comments – but it's happening in many markets – that plenty of photographers are ready for film, but a great many of them don't want to take the risk with a second hand camera, even a well-regarded classic from a well-regarded outlet. It's understandable, so a warranty and some service back-up further on in time is what will unlock the…

ON TRIAL BENRO It's always tempting to think that image stabilisation systems mean that you don't ever have to carry a tripod again, but the reality is that there are plenty of situations where one is essential. Very long exposures is an obvious one, but also it's often just the benefit of having the camera locked in position while you do other stuff. Often, a small tripod will still do the job, so how small can it be before there are compromises? Just about every tripod brand offers compact models designed for trekking or travel, but in the quest to make them as small as possible, sometimes they're not the most convenient to use. The fold-over configuration – where the legs fold back along the centre column – is a commonly-used…

2023 SIGMA SHOWCASE GRAND PRIZE WINNER Long-time Showcase contributor Chris Carter from South Australia has been judged the overall winner of the 2023 Sigma Showcase competition with this evocative study of horses and an approaching storm. This photograph won the third round of the competition and was first published in Issue 422. The framing and composition further add to the dynamics of the sky and the lighting… plus the obliging horse turning in profile which works nicely to lead the viewer into the heart of the image. Chris wins a Sigma lens of his choice up to the value of $1000. Congratulations! 2024 SIGMA SHOWCASE FIRST ROUND WINNER WINNER We kick off the 2024 competition with a winning image from another Showcase regular (and grand prize winner in 2021). John…

WHAT'S NEW IT'S THE GIFT that keeps on giving as far as contributing to the profitability of Fujifilm's camera division, and the previous model is not long off back order, but new one has many more reasons for wanting it. First launched at the 2010 Photokina, every generation of the X100 has been a best seller and it's hard not to see the new X100VI following suit. The key ingredients of this very successful elements remain the same – compact aluminium bodyshell, fixed 23mm prime lens (34.5mm equivalent) and a nifty dual OVF/EVF – but the 6th gen model gets some highly desirable upgrades that make it even more desirable. In fact, the body is fractionally bigger, but that's because it now accommodates five-axis in-body image stabilisation – a first…

LIGHT WORK The Picture The grand prize winning image in the 7th International Wedding Photographer Of The Year competition. This joy-filled picture was entered into the Single Capture category and beat more than 1700 images submitted by over 300 wedding photographers from all over the world. The competition rules require that entries in this category cannot be manipulated or Photoshopped beyond standard adjustments to colour and exposure… so no bird was artificially added in the making of this image. Ironically, the mountain location in Canada is known as 7th Heaven. The Photographer Tara Lilly is based in the Canadian skiresort town of Whistler in British Columbia. Along with her husband, Steve, she has been photographing weddings together since 2010. The pair have now captured over 600 couples tying the knot…

ON TRIAL SIGMA Even with the extra freedoms derived from the mirrorlss camera configuration and the availability of in-camera correction processing, there are optical designs that remain challenging. One of them is combining an ultra-wide focal length with an ultra-fast maximum aperture… say 14mm and f/1.4. There's already a 14mm f/1.8 ultra-wide prime from Sigma which was originally designed for DSLRs, but is now also available in the FE and L mirrorless mounts. The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 is a mirrorless era creation so it's two-thirds of a stop faster and takes over the crown as the fastest ultra-wide prime for full frame sensors. At f/1.4 there's 1.6x more light entering the lens than at f/1.8. To add to the design challenges, Sigma has optimised the 14mm f/1.4’s optics for astrophotography which…