Photography News issue 27

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Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

News

Fly away Action cameras are hugely popular and give us all sorts of awesome footage to enjoy. In stores from mid- January 2016 will be the 360fly, a game-changing action camera with the ability to shoot 360° recordings. The 360fly is a 61mm sphere so a little bigger than a golf ball and smaller than a tennis ball. The 2.26-megapixel CMOS sensor gives recordings of 1503x1504 pixels through its high-quality glass, ultra- fisheye f/2.5 lens. It’s a fixed-focus lens that renders everything sharp down to 30cm. The tough housing is waterproof to 35m and will continue towork inall sortsof dustysituations. An internal 32GB memory allows up to two hours of recording, with

More fromLeica The latest M is a rangefinder only digital camera for a pure photographic experience

the same capacity rechargeable internal battery. Camera control, editing and file export is done via an app for iOS, Android and desktop. The smartphone or tablet becomes a viewfinder, viaWi-Fi or Bluetooth, and a remote control and replay device. The panoramic videos can be scaled down to 16:9 or even stills. The 360fly camera costs £399. In the box as well as the camera is a battery charger, GoPro- compatible adapter, adhesive mounts

and a Neoprene pouch, as well as a quick-start guide.

 intro2020.co.uk

Leica has had a busy 2015 and it has rounded off this fruitful year with yet more new products. Leica’s range of digital M cameras has grown to four with the introduction of the M (Typ 262), which joins the M (Typ 240), the M-P and the Monochrom (Typ 246). The Typ 262 has a full-frame 24-megapixel CMOS sensor and it is designed for rangefinder photography exclusively so there is no video or live view. Manual focusing is with Leica’s time- honoured coupled rangefinder

system. ISO performance, very quiet shutter and shutter cocking system and a top continuous shooting speed of 3fps are other highlights. The M (Typ 262) is available now at a body price of £4050. The Leica D-Lux Solid Gray has an elegant two-tone finish body, the lens being silverwhile the body is grey enamel. It has a guide price of £825. The sensor is Micro Four Thirds format with an effective resolution of 12.8-megapixels and the integral lens is a 10.9-34mm A good high

f/1.7-2.8 giving an equivalent view of a 24-75mm in the 35mm format. It has an 11 element in eight group construction with five aspherical and two ED lenses. Finally, Leica has extended its à la carte programme to the M (Typ 240). It means you can order a personalised camera – you can even have your signature engraved on the camera. The price for an à la carte M (Typ 240) is between £5100 and £6050.

uk.leica-camera.com

Nice andwide fromPentax

Pentax has launched a wide-angle lens for its 645Z system. The HD Pentax-D FA645 35mm f/3.5AL (IF) costs £1549.99 and gives the equivalent of a 27.5mm focal length in the 35mm format, making it perfect for landscapes, interiors and environmental portraits. Minimum focusing distance is 30cm so there’s plenty of opportunity for dramatic compositions and strong foregrounds. Its optical construction includes a glass-moulded aspherical element, a high refractive index low dispersion element and a hybrid aspherical

element, all designed to avoid chromatic and spherical aberrations. HD coating gives higher light transmission and lower reflections compared with conventional multilayer coatings to deliver high contrast, flare-free images even in demanding lighting conditions. The surface of the front element has been treated with SP (Super Protect) coating to repel water and grease. The HD Pentax-D FA645 35mm f/3.5AL (IF) will be available from mid-December.

Olympus OM-D owners upgraded New free firmware versions are available for Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II owners

ricoh-imaging.co.uk

New free firmware is available for Olympus OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II owners. For the E-M1, the firmware is v4 and there are 18 key improvements with a focus on video capture and professional workflow. The most significant is probably Focus Stacking Mode where you get greater depth-of-field with close-up subjects with the camera combining eight individual shots with just one

Customer Support and Downloads. Many of today’s latest cameras are fashion accessories and Olympus has embraced that with its collection of designer bags and straps. The range comprises stylish shoulder and clutch bags and variety of straps including hand straps and necklace straps. Perfect for fashionista photographers.

push of the shutter release. A Silent mode is also available. Owners of the OM-D E-M5 Mark II can download firmware v2 that offers a new picture mode for easier video editing and focus bracketing where the camera takes a set of pictures automatically with slightly different focal lengths and can choose the one you want later. To download the software go to the Olympus website then to

olympus.co.uk

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