Photography News Issue 45

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Photography News | Issue 45 | absolutephoto.com

News

Tough and techy

News in brief

There’s a new hard nut on the block; Olympus’s flagship Tough TG-5. Updating and improving on the previousTG-4, thenewcameraboasts a 12-megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, instead of the 16-megapixel unit in the TG-4. This lower resolution, combined with the Olympus’s latest TruePic VIII processor (as used in the OM-D E-M1 Mark II), is claimed to deliver better low-light sensitivity and an improvedwider dynamic range. The TG-5 also borrows the OM-D series’ Pro Capture mode which records a burst of shots to ensure you don’t miss a moment. There’s a bright, 25-100mm equivalent f/2.0 lens on board, with a macro setting focusing as close as 1cm from the lens, and the camera also benefits from 4K and 120fps Full HD movie recording. Combined with its tough features, easy access controls for when you’re wearing gloves, and dual pane anti- fog glass to prevent the lens from misting up, this should mean some fantastic slow-motion video in almost any environment. As for those tough features, Successor to the award-winning Profoto B1, the B1X is built for photographers needing dependable, high-quality lighting on location. As a battery-powered monolight, the B1X can be used almost anywhere, providing lighting control even in broad daylight, and with no power pack to worry about there’s no risk of tripping over cables. The 500Ws flash supports Profoto’s AirTTL system for point and shoot simplicity, and power can be set manual over nine stops down to 2Ws. There’s also a High- Speed Sync (HSS) mode letting you fire the flash with shutter speeds up to 1/8000sec, so overpowering the sun and using flash with large apertures in broad daylight should be easy. Wireless triggering can be achieved at up to 300mm using the Profoto Air Remote. You’ll also get up to 20 flashes per second, with flash durations of as little as 1/19,000sec and recycling times of between 0.05-1.9sec. The B1X’s rechargeable, exchangeable Lithium-ion battery should provide up to 325 full-power flashes, so there’ll be little danger of running out of juice on location. A B1X 500 AirTTL To-Go Kit will cost you £1630. Also from Profoto this month are two new reflectors, the OCF Zoom (£110) and OCF Magnum (£150). With an adjustable 55-85º

Macphun onWindows Macphun’s TIPA Award-

winning software, previously an Apple exclusive, is coming to Windows computers. The first packages to be released will be Macphun’s Luminar and Aurora HDR. Luminar has just claimed the TIPA Award for Best Imaging Software 2017 and is an image-editing package similar to Lightroom and Aperture. Aurora HDR is a smart exposure blending package used to produce high dynamic range images from single or multiple exposures. A public Beta of Luminar will be release in July, with Aurora to follow soon after. macphun.com

the camera is waterproof to 15m, shockproofed against drops of up to 2.1m, crush proof to 100kg, and freeze proof to -10°C. The TG-5 also adds temperature data to its field sensor system which already includes GPS, compass and a manometer (pressure sensor). All this can be transferred with images and video via the camera’s WiFi connection to the free OI.Track app. The Tough TG-5 is available now in red or black, costing £399.

olympus.co.uk

Locationpower

ThirdAF lens fromSamyang Samyang has released its third autofocus lens, the AF 35mm f/2.8 FE, joining the AF 14mm f/2.8 FE and AF 50mm f/1.4 FE. The AF 35mm f/2.8 FE is a small, lightweight lens, measuring only 3.3cm long and weighing 85g, and is designed for use with Sony E System cameras; it’s a full-frame lens, hence the ‘FE’ designation. The 35mm focal length and fast aperture make it a very adaptable low-light lens, while on E System cameras with an APS-C sensor, like the A6000, the lens gives an equivalent of 52mm; a classic standard view. AF is claimed to be fast and accurate, and it has a minimum focusing distance of 0.35mmaking it ideal for street, portrait and close focus photography. The lens’s construction features seven elements in six groups, two aspherical lenses and one high refractive lens plus an Ultra Multi Coating to minimise aberration and unnecessary light dispersion. This means that the lens should deliver high resolution images from the centre to the corners of the image. The AF 35mm f/2.8 FE will be available from July at £279.

Intro2020.co.uk

beam angle, the OCF Zoom can double the effective light output at two meters range (giving up to +1.2 stops compared with built-in reflector). Adjustable from40-80º, the slightly larger OCF Magnum ups this to +1.8 f-stop compared with built-in reflector.

profoto.com

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