Table of contents for Issue 427 in Camera

Compiling all the winners across the 40 categories of the annual Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) World Awards always serves as a good indicator of the health of the photo industry. Over the last few years, there have been many challenges, mostly all related in one way or another to the many impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Very few global economies have escaped the longer-term ramifications and now on-going conflicts have created further uncertainties. In this country – and many others too – increasing cost-of-living pressures will, sooner or later, probably have some affect on discretionary spending, but the photo industry has proven resilient to economic downturns in the past. The keen photographer would most likely argue that a new camera or lens is a necessity rather than a luxury!…

WHAT'S NEW CLAIMED TO BE the smallest and lightest full frame autofocus zoom in its class, the Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm f/4.0-7.1 Macro OIS weighs just 413 grams and is only 93.4 millimetres in length. It's the first wide-to-tele zoom in the Lumix S system and, as an L mount lens, can also be used on Leica SL series bodies and the Sigma fp models. The external construction has weather sealing and insulation to allow shooting in subzero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the exposed surface of the front element has a fluorine coating to help repel moisture and grease. The zoom's optical image stabilisation supports Panasonic's ‘Dual IS 2’ five-axis operation with the in-body stabilisation in the Lumix S cameras, giving up to 6.5 stops of correction…

OM SYSTEM OM-1 MARK II $3779 body only, recommended retail price Type: Enthusiast-level and semi-professional interchangeable lens digital mirrorless camera with Micro Four Thirds System bayonet lens mount. Focusing: Automatic ‘Cross Quad Pixel AF’ hybrid system using contrast-detection and phase-difference detection measurements via the imaging sensor with 1053 X-type focusing points for each. Sampling at 120 fps with 100 percent scene coverage vertically and horizontally. Focus points may be selected manually or automatically by the camera. Area modes are Single, Small (3x), Medium (9x7), Large (15x11), Cross (9 points horizontally, 7 vertically), or Custom shape/size (up to four). ‘Intelligent Subject Detection AF’ tracking modes for humans, animals, birds, motorsport (cars and motorcycles), aircraft (including helicopters) and trains. Eye/face/head/body detection for humans and animals. Up to eight targets can be tracked…

FUJIFILM X100V $2899 recommended retail price Type: Fixed prime lens digital compact camera with hybrid optical/electronic eyelevel viewfinder. Lens: Fujinon Super EBC 23mm f/2.0 II (equivalent to 35mm). Eight elements in six groups (two glass-moulded aspherical types). Aperture range is f/2.0 to f/16 adjustable in 1/3-stop increments. Built-in neutral density filter (four stops). Digital teleconverter (70mm or 50mm equivalents). Viewfinder: Hybrid optical/electronic eyelevel viewfinder. Optical viewfinder = 0.52x magnification and 95 percent frame coverage. EVF = 1.27 cm OLED panel with 0.66x magnification, 3.69 megadots resolution and 100 percent frame coverage. Eyepiece strength adjustment built-in. Tilt-adjustable 7.62 cm LCD monitor (1.62 megadots resolution) with touch screen controls. Auto/manual switching between OVF/EVF and monitor screen. Both EVF and monitor adjustable for brightness and colour balance. Focusing Type & Range: Hybrid phase/contrast-detection…

ON TRIAL PANASONIC LUMIX DC-G9II PANASONIC In mirrorless camera terms, the original Lumix G9 has had a good run. It's been a solid seller since it was launched in December 2017, assisted over that time by perhaps the most firmware upgrades of any digital camera… 11 in all. Panasonic emphasised that the G9 was specced to primarily appeal to photographers – making a clear distinction from the GH5 which had been launched in the January of that year and it's the same story now except that the Mark II model is just about as good at video as the GH6… and it's a supremely capable video camera. Furthermore, the new camera is a lot more than just a face-lift with a few upgrades as just about everything is new – body, control…

body only, recommended retail price Type: Enthusiast-level and professional-level digital mirrorless camera with Micro Four Thirds 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 DepthFrom-Defocus (DFD) calculations. Manual switching between one-shot and continuous AF modes, the latter with auto tracking. Four ‘AF Custom’ sets for finetuning subject tracking with three parameters – AF Sensitivity, AF Area Switching Sensitivity and Moving Subject Prediction. Automatic subject detection for Humans (Eye, Face, Body), Animals (Birds, Dogs or Cats), Cars and Motorcycles. Area modes for Zone (Vertical/ Horizontal), Zone (horizontal/vertical/central), 1-Area, 1-Area+Supplementary and Pinpoint. Adjustable 1-Area point switching speed. ‘AF Point Scope’ for active point/ zone enlargement (up to 6.0x). AF assist via magnified image (up to 6.0x), either…

Current to 10 June: Exhibition. The Focus: Australian Government Photographers. Between 1939 and 1996, dozens of photographers were employed by government agencies to capture Australian life. This exhibition delves deep into the lives and work of these talented individuals who helped to preserve Australia's rich visual heritage, including Harry Frauca, Max Dupain and Mervyn Bishop. At the National Archives Of Australia, National Office, Kings Avenue, Parkes, ACT 2600. Exhibition hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, and 10.00am to 4.00pm on weekends. Entry is free. For more information visit https://www.naa.gov.au Vietnam protest, Sydney, © 1967 by Tribune newspaper photographer Current to 20 October 2024: Exhibition. Shot. A selection of 400 images from the Australian photography collection of the State Library Of NSW, ranging from an 1845 daguerreotype – Australia's…

WHAT'S NEW AS SONY HAS been promising, the A9 III now has support for the C2PA protocols (Coalition For Content Provenance And Authenticity) which are designed to prevent images generated by the camera being illegally manipulated or used (such as in AI art software). The ownership and copyright details of each image are encrypted in such a way that they can't be tampered with. C2PA is just one of quite a few upgrades and revisions that have been added to the A9 III via the Version 2.00 firmware upgrade. In fact, there are so many changes they're divided into three categories – Shooting & Playback functions, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) transfer and network functions, and Others. The Shooting & Playback additions include the use of shutter speeds up to a…

ON TRIAL OM SYSTEM OM-1 MARK II It was critical for OM Digital Solutions that the original OM System OM-1 was a success. It certainly helped that it was still badged Olympus and wearing the famous model number that got it all started back in 1972, but OMDS nevertheless put a lot into it at a time when resources were likely limited. Consequently, much of the ‘old’ camera has been carried over into the new to make use of existing tooling and production processes plus the OM-1 Mark II shares the same stacked 20.4 megapixels sensor and ‘TruePic X’ processor. However, there are numerous upgrades to both firmware and software to extend the Mark II's capabilities and performance in a number of key areas, including the autofocusing and in-body image stabilisation.…

ON TRIAL FUJIFILM X100VI It doesn't happen very often. The very first X100 was revealed at the 2010 Photokina, the assembled audience of generally cynical camera journalists applauded. Afterwards in the press room, the talk was mostly all about cancelling orders for whatever other high-end compact camera was on order and lining up for the new Fujifilm fixed-lens sensation. Subsequently, the X100 series has gone from strength to strength with every subsequent generation and it reached a frenzy with the fifth-iteration X100V which seemed to be permanently on back order for its entire model life. It was a nice problem for Fujifilm to have – except if you think about all those missed potential sales – but it's not going to happen again the company says… which is just as well…

COMPETITION Now in its 17th year, the Sony World Photography Awards recognise the best photography in the world today, and celebrating the images and stories that have resonated with global audiences over the past year. The prestigious Photographer Of The Year title was awarded to Juliette Pavy from France for her series Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women. Juliette won a US$25,000 cash prize, Sony digital imaging equipment, and the opportunity to present a new body of work at the next Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in 2025. She was selected from the ten Professional competition category winners. From urgent stories documenting the changing climate and our relationship with the natural world, to intimate portrayals of individuals and communities, this year's Professional competition winners and finalists represent…

WINNER The classic compositional technique of a leading line is used to great effect in Steve Genesin's photograph of the lighthouse on the tip of Nugget Point in New Zealand's South Island. The winding path and fence lines lead your eye straight into the heart of the image. Steve used an Olympus OM-1 with an M.Zuiko Digital 12-100mm f/4.0 IS PRO zoom lens (used at 12mm which is effectively 24mm on the OM-1). Reader Chris Carter (right), overall winner of the 2023 Sigma Showcase, receives his prize from C.R. Kennedy & Co. South Australia representative John Gerhardy. Chris selected the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary in the Nikon Z mount. HIGHLY COMMENDED Another classic compositional technique is used in this study by Rod Lawson Kerr. The two empty doorways…

Camera House 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…