Table of contents for Issue 433 in Camera

If you're a long-time reader of this magazine, it's likely that, like me, you started out shooting film. It's possible that - also like me - you found the whole digital capture thing a bit alien and - certainly for everything post-camera - quite challenging. Obviously I had to get my head around the new technology pretty fast, but for myself I kept on shooting film for quite a while. Over time though, we've begun to take for granted all the conveniences that digital imaging delivers… so much so that going back now looks like the challenge. This was particularly highlighted while reviewing Fujifilm's X Half – the full test is in this issue – and, in particular, its ‘Film Camera Mode’. It imposes a whole bunch of restrictions that…

AFTER A LONG hiatus – nearly ten years, in fact – Sony has re-introduced its RX1R fixed lens, full frame compact camera. The third-generation version matches a 61 megapixels ‘Exmor R’ BWSI-type CMOS sensor with Sony's latest ‘Bionz XR’ image processor and has the same Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2.0 prime lens as the previous model. The new model also still has a magnesium alloy bodyshell but has been redesigned so the viewfinder is now a fixed part of the camera – located at the top left -rather than a pop-up module as before. Additionally, the monitor screen is now fixed rather than tilt-adjustable which partially helps keep the RX1R III extremely small… sized at 113.3x67.9x87.5 mm (WxHxD). It weighs in at 498 grams, including the battery and memory card.…

There have been a number of distinctive camera design phases in Polaroid's history. As was common at the time, the very first models were ‘folders’ – i.e. cameras with a flexible, bellows-type ‘body’ – and, after the earliest models from the 1950s which used an instant roll film, Polaroid continued with this configuration through the 1960s and ‘70s with the cameras that used the more convenient peel-apart print films that came in an easy-to-load pack. These included Polaroid's first ‘Polacolor’ colour film which introduced in 1963 (although this stock was also available in a roll format), and the cameras were quite advanced with glass lenses and a Zeiss viewfinder. As it worked to increase the appeal of instant photography, Polaroid ventured into using plastics for rigid-bodied cameras such as the…

While they were always capable cameras, you got the impression that Fujifilm's X-E series bodies were the poor cousins to the X-T and X-H lines and certainly the X-Pro models. This all changes with the X-E5 which not only steps up to the top spec internally – i.e. its sensor and processor – but is very much more upmarket externally. The styling is much sharper too – literally – riffing on the classic rangefinder camera theme to the extent that there's a similarity in looks to Leica Q models and, perhaps more significantly, to Fujifilm's own X100 cult classics. This is deliberate, and it means that if you're considering the X100VI you now just have to put the X-E5 in the mix too. True, it doesn't have the unique hybrid…

Undoubtedly the most significant aspect of the Fujifilm X Half – apart from what is does and doesn't have in terms of features – is that it's a digital camera pretending to be a film camera. This means that you essentially get all the romantic aspects of using a film camera, but without the fuss and mess of actually having to deal with film… especially if you want to do your own processing. The way Fujifilm has set things up with the X Half and its companion app, you can still ‘process’ your pictures post-camera which, incidentally, is the first time you'll see them – and you even get a set of virtual negs – but you don't need darkness, chemicals or a lot of patience. Of course, true film…

It's telling that, nearly 20 years after production of the 35mm Hasselblad XPan ended, Fujifilm's exceptional GFX100RF fixed lens medium format digital camera pays homage with its panoramic 65:24 aspect ratio setting. The link, of course, is that the XPan was really a Fujifilm camera, the TX-1, and agreement was that this model would be sold only in Japan, leaving the Swedes with the rest of the world. With its comparatively compact size and big “33x44” sensor, the GFX100RF has perhaps become the nearest thing to the ‘digital XPan’ that everybody was yearning for as 35mm film's glory days became clearly numbered. The 65:24 aspect represents an imaging area 44x16 millimetres on the Fujifilm camera's 102 megapixels sensor and a healthy 50 MP of resolution at the lens's 28mm-equivalent focal…

THE 200MM F/2.0 fast telephoto prime was a popular optic in a number of DSLR systems, but Sigma's new 200mm f/2.0 DG OS Sports model is the first made for full frame mirrorless cameras. This combination of focal length and lens speed is useful for several applications including portraiture, fashion and sports, particularly in low-light conditions. The optical design comprises 19 elements in 14 groups which includes two of Sigma's ‘FLD’ types and two ‘SLD’ types. The ‘FLD’ elements – F Low Dispersion – are designed to have the same super extra-low dispersion characteristics of fluorite glass without being as expensive to produce. Along with the ‘SLD’ elements, these significantly reduce chromatic aberrations and enhance overall sharpness. Both Sigma's ‘Super Multi-Layer Coating’ and ‘Nano Porous Coating’ anti-reflection multi-coatings are used…

IMAGE EDITING AND processing software maker Aftershoot has introduced Instant AI Profiles which, it says, can be built in less than 60 seconds. The Instant AI Profiles use an Adobe Lightroom Preset on which to build an AI-powered profile that can then be intelligently applied to all your images. Aftershoot is an AI-powered platform designed to streamline post-production workflows for both enthusiast and professional photographers The key aspect of Aftershoot's technology is that it turn's Adobe Lightroom presets into AI profiles so no image uploads are required. Previously, creating an AI profile required a substantial library of images to provide the necessary analysis – or ‘learning’ – which, consequently, involves a lot of time. However, as your library grows you can then seamlessly upgrade to Aftershoot's Professional AI Profiles which…

The Picture Titled The Gateway, this aerial photograph was one in a portfolio of four stunning pictures which won inaugural International Aerial Photographer of the Year competition for American Joanna Steidle. The Photographer Joanna Steidle is a professional drone pilot, photographer and artist who is based in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York state. “Aerial photography offers so many possibilities not yet explored,” she says. “Every day is exciting as I look for unique subjects and moments. I try to stay away from the ordinary. I live in a very flat landscape, so top-down imagery has become quite a theme in my photos which happens to work well with my love for marine life”. The owner of Hamptons Drone Art, Joanna specialises in fine-art drone photography, videography and FPV…

Obviously Fujifilm has a few X mount models that are more precisely targeted at video-makers – such as the X-M5, X-S20 and X-H2S – and the X-E5 is undoubtedly primarily a photographer's camera, but it's still got enough capabilities to do what's likely to be asked of it by these users. As with its photographic features, the X-E5 is fairly close to the X-T50 in video too which means it's got plenty, but with some limitations which might deter the more serious videographer. These include the single memory card slot – although the Video Class Speed 90 support is a plus – the absence of a dedicated output for monitoring headphones and the micro HDMI Type D port. And while the headline act is 6.2K resolution video, it comes with…

2025 SIGMA SHOWCASE THIRD ROUND WINNERS HIGHLY COMMENDED Who doesn't like a bit of photographic humour? This B&W study by Philip Berry is called The Laid-Back Art Critic and it was taken at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Good photographers are always on the look-out for a picture. Philip used a Sony DSC-RX10 Mark IV. 2025 SIGMA SHOWCASE - OPEN FOR ENTRIES Sigma lenses is the sponsor for our Showcase competition, made possible through the generosity of the Australian distributor C.R. Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd. The grand prize for the 2025 Sigma Showcase is a Sigma lens to the value of $1000 and the winner can pick the model and the mount that they want. Additionally, the winner of each round receives a complimentary six-issue subscription to…

WITH THE PROMISED arrival of Ricoh's GR IV and Canon announcing that it is increasing production of the PowerShot G7X III, the compact camera revival could really be A Thing. And that's definitely a Good Thing because, especially in the digital era, the compact was a particularly interesting and exciting area of camera design. The digital technologies made it easier to pack more into less space and a lot of automation made its debut in this category of camera before being applied elsewhere. Higher-end compacts had returned in the 35mm format prior to the digital capture revolution, but subsequently there were models that even professionals were using… Canon's PowerShot G1 series being a prime example. The G1X Mark III from 2017 was well as serious as you could get without…

IT'S A FIRST, but we may see more of it because makes a lot of sensor. The headline feature of Hasselblad's updated 100 megapixels H2D mirrorless medium format camera is what the company is calling “end-to-end HDR”. It means that the camera's default capture setting is for 10-bit HEIF files – with the option of Ultra HDR JPEGs – and it has a high- brightness monitor screen so you can see something of the extended dynamic range when view finding. Hasselblad says the Ultra HDR JPEGs have three stops more dynamic range compared to those using the sRGB colour space. The monitor is the same 9.1 cm tilt-adjustable touch screen OLED panel as before with a resolution of 2.36 megadots, but now with a peak brightness of 1400 nits –…

WITH A HERITAGE dating back to 1994 and the original 35mm R1 model, Ricoh hasn't messed very much with the formula that has made the digital GR series an enduring best-seller. The new GR IV is still super slim with a smart magnesium alloy body, a fixed 28mm-equivalent prime lens and an ‘APS-C’ size sensor. There's a modest increase in the sensor's resolution – up from 24 megapixels to 25.74 – but it's now a backside-illuminated (BSI) design to enhance sensitivity and, as a result, the high ISO performance in particular. Also helping here is a new processor – the GR Engine 7 – which Ricoh says delivers improved noise reduction along with more accurate colour reproduction for JPEGs. The sensitivity range is increased from ISO 100 to 204,800. The…

Rome, 6.30am: It's my first day in Italy. In my camera bag is one DSLR body and three lens – a 50mm prime, a 20-35mm wide-angle zoom and an 80-200mm telezoom. Minutes later, after taking the 50mm out of the bag, I'm standing on Viale Marco Polo waiting for bus No. 30 heading in the direction – I hope – of where I think Rome's centre is! It's a workers bus, and no English is spoken. I soon realise that I'm heading in the wrong direction. Eventually the bus loops back to where I got on and I jump off. Walking was – and now is my preferred option – so I head towards the Tiber River to cross over into the Trastevere district – a funky, bohemian, non-touristy, hidden…

Let's talk money. It's the inevitable discussion with Leica cameras, highlighted by a market in which there are only a couple of prestige brands and where the other, Hasselblad, doesn't seem to attract quite so many raised eyebrows when prices are mentioned… maybe being a bigger format has something to do with it. And where Leica's offerings are unique – namely the M mount range-finder cameras and, to some extent, the Q series fixed-lens models – you're buying into something more in terms of the heritage, exclusivity and desirability. However, it's a very different matter with the SL series mirrorless cameras because they're competing in a very crowded sector which consequently resets the definitions of investment and return. Nobody really complains about Ferraris being expensive – except in the context…

As with its photographic capabilities, for video the OM-5 II also shares all the same basic specs and features of its predecessor which, of course, are dictated by the sensor and processor. There are, however, some notable new features which include a front tally lamp, a red image frame which appears in the finder/ monitor when recording, and a couple of new video-centric colour profiles. OM Cinema 1 and OM Cinema 2 are borrowed from the OM-3 and create cinematic looks straight out of the camera. In a nutshell, Cinema 1 is primarily designed for landscapes and natural scenes as it mainly enhances the blues in the shadows and the yellows in the highlights, while Cinema 2 lowers the overall contrast – but not as much as the Flat profile…