Photography News Issue 49

Photography News | Issue 49 | photographynews.co.uk

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CameraClubof theYear in associationwith

Calling all camera clubs and photographic societies! It’s your chance to get your name up in lights in PN’s massive annual imaging contest Camera Club of the Year 2017-18

Words byWill Cheung

Welcome to our annual challenge for the UK’s camera clubs and photographic societies. Over the next five months, we’ll be asking for your club’s best pictures on popular themes and the winners of each round will qualify for a grand final shoot-out taking place in spring 2018. To win the overall title and the glory that goes with it, your club has to overcome two challenges. The first is to qualify for the final by coming top of the pile in one of the five monthly rounds. The second is the final itself; a very special day’s photoshoot, the details of which will be released simultaneously to the five finalists. If you saw our coverage of last season’s shoot-out that will give you an idea of what the five finalists can expect. If you didn’t see it (where were you?), we’ll just say that the final shoot-out was a great day’s shooting with a range of Fujifilm camera equipment. Your club’s competition secretary (or whoever is going to enter each month) must sign up on photographynews.co.uk. Terms and conditions are also available on the website.

Any club or group is eligible to enter so long as there are at least five members. Online groups, internal company clubs and those clubs not affiliated to the PAGB are eligible to enter. Once you have signed up to go the Members Area on the topmenu bar, click on that and you will see Camera Club of the Year 2017-18 on the drop-down menu. Select that, then register your camera club and follow the upload instructions. JPEG files should be at least 1500 pixels on the longest dimensionand, preferably, be in the sRGB colour space. A club can only enter one set of five images and the five images must be from five different members, while failure to enter five shots will mean the missing shot/s scores zero points; so it is crucial to enter the full number of images. After the closing date each picture will be scored out of 20 points by the experts at Photography News and the highest scoring club will qualify for the final. In the event of tied scores, for those two clubs we will ignore the highest and lowest scores and average out the f/2.8 R LM WR and XF200mm f/2 R LM OIS WR, are due in the foreseeable future. Having a great lens system is one thing but you obviously need good cameras to fit on the end of them, and that’s not an issue here for Fujifilm. At the top of the range there’s the X-T2 and X-Pro2. They share the same 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor working in combination with Fujifilm’s latest X-Processor Pro for very fast start-up, minimal shutter lag, superfast file processing and highly responsive autofocusing. Both have a native ISO range of 200-12,800 with the option of expansion to ISO 100, 25,600 and 51,200 – all available in Raw as well as JPEG. However, while the X-Pro2 and X-T2 share a similar feature set, they do offer distinctly different approaches to image capture and handling. The X-Pro2 provides a classic rangefinder experience with the optical/EVF finder offset to the left of the body while DSLR users might prefer the X-T2 with its central located eyepiece that is EVF only. Also featured in the X-series range is the X-T20 which is akin to a baby X-T2 with an impressive feature set that includes the same sensor. The latest arrival in the range is the X-E3. This shares the same excellent 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor used in other Fujifilm X-series cameras so it is assured of delivering top-quality

three remaining scores; the clubs with the highest averaged score wins. If scores are still tied, all five scores will be averaged out. When the issue with that month’s result is published, the scores for every picture entered will be published on the website each member can see howwell they have done. There is no monthly prize apart from qualifying for the final shoot-out and once a club has qualified for the final it need not enter again. Of course it can do it for the challenge and pictures will still be scored but there is no reward for winning in this instance. In effect,

because each monthly contest is self-contained, ie. it is not a league systemover the period of the contest, you do not have to enter every month – perhaps it is a theme the club is less strong at or the club’s contest secretary has gone on holiday. Clearly it makes sense to give yourself as many winning chances as possible, however. So, good luck. Read the entry details above again, check out the theme and start gathering your entry. Qualify for the final and your club could be joining us for a very special photography event with the title of Camera Club of the Year 2017-18 to be won.

About Fujifilm

images and this rangefinder-style camera does so in a more compact bodyform. Despite its small size, the X-E3 is packed with features including the X-Processor Pro image processor that helps to deliver an outstanding performance when it comes to autofocusing speed, fast start-up time and a very short shutter lag of just 0.05sec. Ideal as a travel companion or a take everywhere camera, the X-E3 is available as a kit with the delightfully compact XF23mm f/2 lens which is priced at £1149 or if you prefer to buy just the body the price is a competitive £849. Fujifilm has also been breaking the mould in the world of medium-format digital capture with the introduction earlier this year of the GFX system. The first camera in the system is the GFX 50S 51.4-megapixel camera that is in the shops at £5999, a remarkably competitive price for a medium-format camera. The system is in its infancy but already the GFX 50S can be partnered by six lenses including a GF23mm f/4 R LM WR ultrawide, a GF 32-64mm f/4 R LM WR standard zoom, a GF120mm f/4 R LM OIS WR macro and a GF 110mm f/2 R LM WR portrait lens with one more recently announced, the GF45mm f/2.8 R WR. For more information on all these Fujifilm products please go to the website.

Fujifilm generously sponsored last year’s Camera Club of the Year contest and we at PN are delighted to have them involved for the second year in a row. Fujifilm’s range of X-series mirrorless cameras has been popular since the system was unveiled to the world close to six years ago. Since then the system has grown and grown and as of today X-series users have the choice of 14 prime lenses, nine zooms and two teleconverters with more to come in 2018. In the recently updated lens roadmap two high-spec lenses, an XF8-16mm

GFX 50S

X-E3

X-T2

Fujifilm.eu

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