Winnie Lim: why i love hong kong
I have only seen Hong Kong through the lens of other, a lot because of the Kai and Lok era of Digital Rev TV. It feel like a very photogenic place, probably because of its contrast of style and urbanism.
Author: hub
Where to buy in Canada
I have put up a curated list of Canada camera stores and film processing labs. This came from the need to know where I could get film processed, or get supplies for it.
There is a lot of reasons why you’d want to buy from a Canadian store (when living in Canada), including that some of the supplies, like chemicals for film processing, are not easy to import. Also the prices are mostly MSRP which mean that patronising a local business won’t cost you more.
I hope this is useful.
Link: Pentax film renaissance
DPReview has an interview with the team behind Pentax upcoming film camera:
Everything analog is suddenly cool again, and photography is no exception: There’s an incredible renaissance happening in film photography, led by a generation who grew up never knowing anything other than digital cameras.
Yes. There is room for a few new film cameras that produce quality images (that’s a stab a Lomography). While things are moving in the world of film supplies, not always to the taste of aficionados, the stock of used film camera is just getting older. And older mean breakage, difficult to repair.
The first announcement came in December 2022, but in April 2024, the publication date of the interview, we have a bit more detail. It will be a half frame 35mm camera, vertical, in a compact format. But every other details remain elusive, including exposure modes.
To be continued…
News: Panasonic Lumix S9
The internet camera reviewers dumped their reviews of the new Panasonic Lumix S9 after an expense paid trip to Osaka, Japan.
It’s a full-frame L-Mount camera of a small form factor. It features IBIS, 6K video, 24MP sensor, on par with S5II.
Photography-wise, no breakthrough. One exception is the possibility to add multiple LUT to apply to the image processing for SOOC JPEG. It’s like film emulation but customizable. A purely software feature. LUTs can be loaded from the card or using the companion LumixLab app, which also include the editing feature for the profiles that aren’t anywhere. The reliance on a “mobile app” remain a bad trend. The LUT feature is actually expanded from the Lunix S5II where it was limited in numbers (maximum of 10 vs 39 on the S9) and to V-log.
Panasonic also released an L-Mount pancake 26mm f/8 fixed aperture manual focus lens to make a compact setup. Beside, they announced a 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 a compact zoom lens that would help keeping the camera compact.
Missing are a viewfinder, possibly a hot shoe (it’s cold, ie no connector, not even flash sync — to be fair this only prevent using a flash strobe) and the headphone jack. Compactness has a price.
For video, it targets “social media” and support many formats and aspect-ratios, including vertical (yikes!), and while the built in mic doesn’t seem to reach the levels of Sony’s, it has a mic input jack (but no headphones). Also it has a tilt screen (hi Fujifilm!), and you can apply the LUT mentioned above to your video footage. It uses the whole sensor in a 3:2 aspect ratio for video, that can be cropped and reframed to your preferred aspect-ratio. However it has recording time limits of 10 minutes if you use 6K mode, 15 minutes in 4k, and 20 minutes in 1080 that the S5II doesn’t have.
MSRP:
- 26mm f/8: USD$199
- Lumix S9: USD$1499
- 18-40mm: unknown
DPReview initial Panasonic S9 review
DPReview: Panasonic announces 26mm F8 body-cap manual lens and trails 18-40mm
On a personal matter, the lack of viewfinder remain for me a huge drawback as a photography camera. Otherwise if feels like a perfectly capable camera, and probably excel in video like most of the Panasonic lineup including in m4/3. And if you already have L-mount lenses, this could represent a great choice as a supplementary camera body, being a little less expensive than the Lumix S5II almost matching its capabilities. None of this opinion is based on hands-on use.
Link: Epson R-D1 — the world’s first digital rangefinder camera
Macfilos remembers Epson R-D1 — the world’s first digital rangefinder camera:
The Epson R-D1 is definitely a ground-breaking camera. The world’s first digital rangefinder camera with M-Mount and an APS-C CCD sensor with 6.1 Megapixel resolution was released in 2004.
It was before Leica did even release the M8. And much less expensive.
Fujifilm upgrades
Pondering an upgrade, even though I haven’t shot much lately, actually since the pandemic started in 2020. I must actually be suffering from GAS at that point. So let’s keep it at nerding over camera.
First, rumor has that the Fujifilm X-Pro4 will not be for this year — it’s just a rumor. I wanted to upgrade on that front as I still enjoy using my X-Pro1. This is why somewhat I am looking at the X100 VI as a compacter solution in that form factor. The catch is that it only is available for pre-orders, and my local camera store doesn’t have any to demo. Not sure what to do. Let’s keep at lusting.
Also, the XT-50 was just announced, which isn’t a path I’m gonna take anyway.
I could be considering the X-S20 as an addition mostly because it has the tilt-screen which mean that it has a bit what I’m looking for video, ever since my G7X MkII decided to stop working. Not that the X-T3 is not capable, but the tilt-screen remains a game changer and I like to keep a photography camera at the ready.
Link: Two-Thirds of the Limited Edition X100VI Sales in the U.S. Were Fraudulent
Petapixel reports Two-Thirds of the Limited Edition X100VI Sales in the U.S. Were Fraudulent.
Scalpers are enabled by ebay and Amazon. But then I see no purpose of “limited edition” items either. Such a camera is meant to be used.
To be fair, I’d like a Fujifilm X100VI, but the regular one, as it will take the same images than the limited edition but definitely cost less.
Link: A Brief History of Polaroid
Analog Cafe retells A Brief History of Polaroid.
The original Polaroid has been out of business for a while, and after some brand necrophilia, the current Polaroid owns the part that aimed at resurrecting Polaroid flagship product: instant film.
RIP my Canon G7X Mark II
It was already a bit finicky last summer. But this time it really is: my Canon G7X Mark II is dead.
This is a camera I bought mostly for video vlogging and others. It was my work horse for the few videos I uploaded on YouTube, but I didn’t use it much for photography, even though it’s very capable as I always preferred my Fuji X or the phone as convenience.
The symptoms. I have a freshly charged battery.
– Press the power on button
– The lens extends as the Canon logo appear on the screen. So there is power and the screen works.
– At that point after the green activity led blinks, the screen shuts off, while the lens stay extended.
– The zoom control do nothing, nor do the shutter. The mode dial don’t seem to change anything.
– The power switch doesn’t do anything either so I can’t turn off and retract the lens.
– The only button that does anything is the playback button. Pressing it, retracts the lens and enables playback, showing the pictures on the card. I even got the clock setup as the battery was drained for long enough. Another confirmation the screen works. Including touch, as was as the control wheel.
– Pressing the video record button or the shutter triggers the lens extension. But then the screen turns black, like if nothing came from the camera sensor, and switches off.
– The only way to switch the camera off is to press playback and then the power button act normally to retract the lens.
Has anyone any idea?
Some samples I took with it (pardon Penny’s cuteness):
And one of the first pictures I took with it:
I might as well just replace it. Shall I get the G7X MkIII ? I’d like to avoid Sony.
I’m not excluding taking a crack at fixing it as it could be a benign problem. I don’t think it’s worth getting it serviced otherwise given the cost.
Hasselblad X-Pan
Beau Photo tells us Hasselblad “The Holy Grail” XPan – Is it worth it?:
I’ve shot with the XPan numerous times, and each time I would put my clown mask on and tell myself that this camera will be mine someday. After a year of using this camera, I believe the XPan is worth it.
I remember more than 20 years ago hearing about the Hasselblad XPan, or its Japanese original, the Fujifilm TX-1 (the Hasselblad is actually just a rebadged Fujifilm). It was expensive, its lenses were expensive.
But what is it? It is a rangefinder film camera that could shoot in panoramic format, 24x65mm on a 35mm film (135) as well as the standard 24x36mm. It was pretty much the only option for panoramic photography without using a rotating lens like the Horizon or Widelux cameras, or without getting an expensive Mamiya 7 with the adapter to use 135 film instead of the 6×7 120 film frames.
I remember reading an article where the photographer used the XPan to cover a bicycle race. And vertically framed pictures showed us how unique this camera could be.
Too bad it is even more expensive now.