Photography News 05

Latest photography news

Panasonic offers pro quality for photographers and videographers 4Kvideo inGH4

Panasonic becomes the first manufacturer to include 4K video capability in a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the Lumix GH4. The super high- resolution video capture allows you to produce cinematic movies from a camera that’s lightweight and compact as well as dust proof and splash proof. The GH4 doesn’t neglect stills photographers though. A newly developed 16.05-megapixel Live MOS sensor is matched up with enhanced depth from defocus technology that underpins one of the world’s fastest autofocus systems, and it can shoot at a top speed of 12 frames-per-second. Both the rear monitor and Live View Finder are high precision, high speed OLEDs, and there’s also connectivity in the form of Wi-Fi and Near Field Communication. Pricing and availability of the GH4 are yet to be announced.

In a meeting with Photography News , Samsung revealed it will launch a new range of SD andmicroSD cards, catering for all user levels. Final details of performance are to be confirmed, but they’ll have a new look, designed so you can see easily which card is best for your needs. The existing Standard and Pro lines will continue, with capacities of 4GB to 32GB and 16GB to 64GB respectively in both SD and microSD formats. The current Plus line is to be replaced with the Evo range, offering high-speed quality in capacities of 16GB and 32GB for SD cards, and 16GB to 64GB in microSD cards. The microSD cards will also be available with SD adaptors. Speaking to Photography News , Stefanie Sears- Black, head of business development for memory and SSD storage at Samsung UK, explained the ideas behind the changes. “It’s about developing products that are right for the consumer, and making sure that they are aware of what product they need,” she said. “The Evo and Pro names are also now the same names as our solid state drives, because the two products are the same – they both use flash memory.” Thenewcards followthe recent launchof anew1TB SSD in Samsung’s 840 Evo SSD range. The compact form factor of the 840 Evo SSD range means users can benefit from the speed and reliability in ultra-slim notebooks as well as desktop PCs. All the new cards feature proofing against water, magnets, temperature, shock and X-rays, and Stefanie says the priority is keeping your images safe. “More and more we see people saying that their memory has failed and they’ve lost everything, but at Samsung we make all of our own components, so we can guarantee quality and security. Our marketing backs this as we talk about our products offering Memory for Life from the number 1 manufacturer of flash memory.” The new cards are launched at the end of March. Samsung refreshes its memory ABOVE Samsung’s 1TB 840 Evo SSD. BELOW The new Samsung SD and microSD line-up. Final read/write speeds may change.

π To find out more, go to www.panasonic.co.uk.

New fromSony As Sony continues to replace its NEX branding of mirrorless cameras with Alpha, it has unveiled the A6000, and Photography News was at the launch. We spoke to product manager Takahiro Hirata, who told us about what the new camera has to offer. an amazingly true to life image. The real benefit of this is being felt now. For example, you can see exactly the picture that you’re going to be taking in the viewfinder, allowing you to preview such things as the effects of adjusting focus, exposure and other settings. For me, however, the biggest advantage is that the image is magnified so that everything is much clearer, and you can even zoom in to help you to achieve ultra-accurate focus.” Alpha mirrorless accompanied by superzoombridge cameras

NEWS INBRIEF

PIXMAPRINTERS Canon has five new Pixma printers, ranging from the Pixma iP2850 entry-level compact home printer costing just £39.99, through to the enthusiast A3+ printer, the Pixma iP8750 priced at £349. The iP8750 includes an individual grey ink for mono prints, Wi-Fi for easy connection and can produce A3 prints in PENTAX TELECONVERTER Pentax has launched a new 1.4x rear converter with HD coating for excellent optical performance. It incorporates autofocus operation of the lens, the first Pentax teleconverter to do so, and features a weather- resistant, dust proof construction to match its cameras. It will be available at the end of February for £379.99. www.ricoh-imaging. co.uk just two minutes. www.canon.co.uk

“The Alpha 6000 is our new offering aimed at the hobbyist photographer,” he says. “Its key advantages include amazing image quality, thanks to a newly developed Exmor 24.3-megapixel APS HD CMOS sensor, the inclusion of the newly developed BIONZ X processor, and the world’s fastest AF performance of just 0.06 seconds. The camera also features an extremely wide autofocus coverage area, with no less than 179 AF points, which is teamed with high- precision, contrast-detection AF. “Another key feature of the camera is the inclusion of the same OLED Tru-Finder as that used in the RX- 10. This features over 1.4 million dpi resolution and it’s had its refresh rate improved so the image is much smoother when you move from side to side. EVF technology has come an incredibly long way in recent years, and the latest versions will give you

Other launches from Sony included two bridge cameras with huge zoom ranges. The H400 has an enormous 63x zoom lens, offering an equivalent focal range of 24.5-1550mm, and a 20.1-megapixel sensor. Optical SteadyShot prevents blurring at such high magnification, and the body is styled like a DSLR with electronic viewfinder. The HX400V has a 50x zoom, 20.4-megapixel sensor and premium- quality Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens. The A6000 and H400 will be available from April, priced at £599 and £249 respectively, while the HX400V will be available from March at a price of £419.

BELOW LEFT TO RIGHT The new Alpha 6000, the Cyber-shot H400 and the Cyber-shot HX400V. RIGHT Product manager Takahiro Hirata with the A6000 at the launch event.

π To find out more, go to www.samsung.com.

π To find out more, go to www.sony.co.uk.

Photography News | Issue 5