Photography News Issue 40

Photography News | Issue 40 | absolutephoto.com

CameraClubof theYear in associationwith Camera Club of the Year contest 2016-17 This year’s competition is in full swing and the results for Round 1 are in. There are still chances for your club to qualify for a very special photo event where the overall winner will be decided

The search for the Photography News Camera Club of the Year 2016-17 starts here. To be victorious, 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. Then the final itself is going tobeaveryspecial day’sphotoshoot, thedetails of which will be released simultaneously to the five finalists. However, what we can reveal now is that the final will be a unique event that will offer a tremendous creative challenge and a never-to-be-forgotten experience for the finalists. The overall winner will thoroughly deserve the prestige of being our Camera Club of the Year 2016-17. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here so let’s start from the beginning. For this year’s contest we have teamed up with long-established imaging brand Fujifilm Fujifilm has had a very busy 12 months, in that time launching two flagship X-series cameras and announcing the development of a medium-format camera system that is due for launch later this year. And if that lot wasn’t enough it also added several optics including the XF100-400mm f/4- 5.6, the XF35mm f/2 and a 2x teleconverter to its expanding system. The X-system has found a serious following in a very short period – the X-Pro1 and three prime lenses were announced only six years ago. The lens system now has 23 products including high-spec zooms and superfast fixed focal length lenses including the amazing XF56mm f/1.2. At the heart of X-system cameras is Fujifilm’s X-Trans CMOS APS-C sized sensor and its unique filter array design. Working on a grid of 6x6 pixels to give a random pattern rather than the regular 2x2 of the Beyer array, that means Fujifilm managed to do away with the need for an optical low-pass filter (OLPF) because the risk of moiré was minimised. This in turn eliminated the risk of artefacting and false colours from using an OLPF and maximised image quality because there was no extra filter in front of the sensor, giving excellent quality pictures comparable to those from full-frame sensors. The dual flagship line-up of the X-T2 and X-Pro2 both use the X-Trans CMOS III sensor with a resolution of 24.3 megapixels and a native ISO About Fujifilm

and over this and the next four issues we’ll be announcing a theme and inviting five pictures from each club. Your club’s competition secretary (or whoever is going to enter each month) must sign up on absolutephoto.com. 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 can still enter. Once you’ve signed up, go the Members Area on the top menu bar, click on that and you will see Camera Club of the Year 2016- 17 in 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 dimension and, preferably, in the sRGB colour space. 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. The sensor works in combination with Fujifilm’s latest X-Processor Pro for very fast start-up and minimal shutter lag, as well as superfast file processing and highly responsive autofocusing. While the X-Pro2 and X-T2 share a similar feature set, they do offer different approaches to image capture and handling to suit different users. The X-Pro2 provides a rangefinder experience with the optical/EVF finder offset to the left of the body while the X-T2 is more DSLR-like with its central located eyepiece that is EVF only. The X-T2 also has an adjustable monitor including a flip-out upright option and a bolder control design. It also offers 4K video capture while the X-Pro2 is Full HD. X-series cameras are supported by an ever- expanding XF lens system, now comprising 12 primes, nine zooms and two teleconverters – and there’s more on the way. Until 31 January 2017 there’s a promotion on 19 optical products with up to £125 available as cashback. Four X-series cameras including the X-Pro2 are also part of the scheme. See fuji-promotions.com/gb/en/pages/ cb-1016/home for details of qualifying products, For a more detailed breakdown on the X-Pro2, X-T2 and XF lenses please see the Fujifilm website.

A club can only enter one set of five images from five different members each round, while failure to enter five shots will mean the missing shot/s scores zero points; so it’s crucial to enter the full number of images. After the closing date each picture will be scored out of 20 points and the highest scoring club each month will qualify for the final. In the event of tied scores, we will ignore the highest and lowest scores and average out the three remaining scores. The highest 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 so you can see how you’ve done. There’s 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’s no reward for winning in this instance. In effect, because each monthly contest is self-contained, ie. it’s not a league system over the period of the contest, you do not have to enter every month – perhaps it’s 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 chances to win as possible, however. So, good luck everyone. Read the entry details again, check out the theme on the opposite page 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 to be won.

fujifilm.eu/uk