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Olympus has announced the OM-D E-M1Mark III, a professional Micro FourThirds camera with a host of game-changing features Triple threat
EDITOR’S LETTER WILL CHEUNG
I grewup in the era whenmankindwas landing on the moon, andmy ambitionwas to be an astronomer. I had no idea what an astronomer did, but inmymind it was seeing some cool stuff and getting paid for it. Sadly, I was not brainy enough to realise that goal, but I still gaze upwards on clear nights wondering what’s up there. I have been fortunate to experience a total solar eclipse and seen the aurora twice. But twice isn’t enough – yes, I know it ismore thanmany people havemanaged, but that’s not the point. By the time you read this, I’ll have returned from Iceland and, with luck, have a few aurora shots. You’ll seemore about my trip on the Photography News website and in the next issue, so here’s hoping. Looking towards the summer, I’mgoing to try and photograph theMilkyWay. I’ve never done it and I keep seeing some fabulous images. I suppose what I’mdoing is givingmyself asmany reasons as I can to enjoymy photography and have some fun. If proof was needed of that, my kitchen is currently in shambles as I obsess over water droplets and I have just bought a lensball, which is a solid glass sphere that you can shoot through. Google it, if youwant to knowmore, but for less than £20 it will pay for itself just for the novelty value. Water droplets through the lensball might be worth trying… Of course, theMilkyWay, water droplets and the lensball are not original, although I will try to add my own stamp, and I know some people whowill get sniffy about covering old ground, but the thing is, I haven't done them, and that’s all that matters, isn't it? Something else that’s occupyingmy time at the moment is camera filters. I’ve always enjoyed using filters and somewhere I have loads of slides featuring landscapes with lurid emerald, purple and tobacco skies, all courtesy of Monsieur Jean Coquin, the inventor of Cokin filters. Tastes have evolved, and we’re nowmuchmore conservative, so it’smostly neutral density grads, extreme NDs and polarisers, but maybe it’s time for violent colours tomake a return. For this issue, I got to try filters fromBreakthrough and Kase, both young brands comparedwith the likes of Cokin, Hoya and Lee, and I have to say they aremightily impressive systems. Super tough, multi- coatings, easy to clean and optically very good, too. Next issue, out 10March, is one of our biggest, and includes a free floor plan to The Photography Show, which takes place at the NEC, 14-17March. If you’re coming, see us first to pick up your free copy. Until then, I’mheading for the kitchen and another fewhundredwater droplet pictures.
The M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 Pro lens is available from late March with a guide price of £599.99. olympus.co.uk
Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 Pro, Olympus claims, is the world’s smallest and most lightweight standard zoom with a fixed aperture value. It weighs 254g, so it’s perfect as a carry- everywhere lens, especially since it’s environmentally sealed in nine places. It might be a light lens, but its construction of 12 elements in nine groups features exotic glass, including a super-high refractive element and a dual super aspherical lens to give high sharpness across the whole image frame at every focal length. Olympus’s ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) coating keeps flare and ghosting to a minimum. Added picture creativity is possible thanks to the lens’s minimum focusing distance, 12cm at the wide end and 23cm at the telephoto end allows a magnification of 0.25x (0.5x in 35mm format equivalent) for impressive close-up shots and can be used in conjunction with the focus stacking and focus bracketing features of several Olympus cameras. newX-Pro3 for some street photography as part of the Fujifilm Make the Switch challenge Buyers’ guide: lighting kit page 30 Why rely on nature when you can buy a LED light or flash unit that can deliver perfect and predictable lighting effects time after time Big test: CanonEOS M6Mark II page 32 The best Canon EOSMcamera so far? Very possibly so. Check out
Advanced Face Priority and Eye Priority AF, including in movie mode, for accurate continuous focus tracking of moving subjects. And speaking of tracking, the OM-D E-M1 Mark III can shoot stills at 18fps with AE/AF tracking. No camera is complete without video, and the OM-D E-M1 Mark III has Cinema 4K and supports OM-Log400 shooting for no detail loss in the shadows or highlights and more colour grading control. An improved Supersonic Wave Filter to keep the sensor clean, 35 frames Pro Capture in full Raw, built-in neutral density filter with a range from EV2 to EV32 and USB recharging with full use of the camera possible during charging are other big highlights of the new camera. The OM-D E-M1 Mark III is available from late February in black, with a body price of £1599.99. Two kits will also be offered, with the ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro at £2199.99 and ED 12- 100mm f/4 IS Pro at £2499.99. Olympus has also added to its lens system. The M.Zuiko
THE OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 Mark III is a top-end, weatherproofed Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera superseding the venerable and very popular E-M1 Mark II, a camera that’s been on the dealers’ shelves since late 2016. The new camera features a 20.4-megapixel Live MOS sensor and Olympus’s TruPic IX processor. This new processor allows for some exciting features, such as an in-body, five-axis image stabiliser (IBIS) giving a 7EV benefit with Micro Four Thirds lenses and 7.5EV benefit with Sync IS-enabled lenses. The enhanced IBIS systemmakes handheld high- res shooting possible, giving 50-megapixel files. And if you shoot high-resolution files on a tripod, 80-megapixel Raws are delivered. The autofocus system sees significant gains, too, using 121 all cross-point, on-chip phase detect sensors covering 75% of the image vertically and 80% horizontally. There’s Starry Sky AF for pinpoint accuracy during astro shooting and
SPECS AT AGLANCE
› 20.4-megapixel LiveMOS Micro Four Thirds sensor › TruePic IX image processor › 18fps withAF/AE tracking with full Raw › 60fps Pro capture – 35 before, up to 120 after › Two SD card slots, 1 x UHS-II, 1 x UHS-I › Starry SkyAF › Bwith direct access to Live,
Composite,Time › USB recharging › Integral ND filter › Weatherproof › AFmulti-selector
› Handheld high-resmode for 50-megapixel images – the tripod option gives 80-megapixel files
our review for ISO and exposure latitude tests, plus our final verdict Buyers’ guide: photobooks page 36 Make the most of your great images with a photobook printing service. Here's our pick of the best photobook printers around First tests page 40 Our regular round-up of lovely photo gear for your consideration, from lenses and filters to tripods and apparel
News page 3 New cameras fromFujifilm, Leica and Olympus, plus all the latest gossip from the vibrant world of page 12 The latest exhibitions to see, salons to enter and talks to get your inspiration flowing Awards 2019 page 17 modern imaging Club news
It’s your last chance to vote for the best imaging products and services of 2019! Profile: David Maimó Lázaro page 22 Join David on his photographic expedition to Iceland to capture aurora and landscape images Make the Switch page 27 Patrick Stubbs tries out the
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