Awards
Workflow continued
BEST INKJET MEDIA: PHOTOGRAPHIC FINISH WINNER Fotospeed Platinum Baryta 300
BEST INKJET MEDIA: FINE ART FINISH WINNER Permajet Heritage Smooth Rag 310
BEST IMAGING MONITOR WINNER BenQ SW321C Pro 32in IPS
BEST COLOUR MANAGEMENT SOLUTION WINNER Datacolor SpyderX Elite
Sidestep colour concerns by ensuring your monitor is accurately calibrated. The SpyderX Elite is simplicity itself, with features such as room light monitoring.
ALSO NOMINATED: Datacolor SpyderX Capture Pro kit
Calibrite Colorchecker Display Calibrite Colorchecker Studio
There’s absolutely no point spending a fortune on high-end cameras and glass if you’re going to skimp on the back end. The monitor plays a critical part in a photographer’s workflow – and this year’s winner is a 4K monitor designed for serious photo editing. It provides a very accurate colour performance thanks to BenQ’s AQcolor technology, 10-bit colour and the fact that it shows 99% of the Adobe RGB colour space. An added bonus for photographers who print is Paper Color Sync, which simulates the photo print effect on-screen. With its exceptional colour performance and competitive price, this award-winning BenQ is something very special.
BEST IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE WINNER Serif Affinity Photo
Smooth Rag 310 is one of Permajet’s new Heritage range and performed impressively on review last year. Its finish is a silky smooth, luxurious matte and being OBA-free means its long-term stability rates highly. Image delivery is exceptional, with life-like colours, deep blacks and delicate highlights.
Fotospeed’s credentials as a purveyor of quality papers are beyond reproach. The Platinum’s finish is a smooth, unglazed gloss, giving images depth and contrast. Its baryta coating evokes the look and creamy feel of a traditional wet darkroom paper. All in all, it delivers exceptional colour or black & white images – a worthy winner Da Vinci Fibre Gloss Lt 250gsm Epson Traditional Photo Paper Hahnemühle Photo Gloss Baryta 320 Olmec Photo Lustre Heavyweight 260gsm Permajet FB Distinction 320 Permajet Heritage Baryta Rag 310 Tetenal Spectrajet Photo Lustre Double Sided 250g ALSO NOMINATED: Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige II 340gsm
ALSO NOMINATED: Canson Infinity Rag Photographique Duo 220gsm Da Vinci Ultrasmooth 290gsm Epson Fine Art Cotton Smooth Bright
ALSO NOMINATED: Asus Proart Display PA348CGV BenQ SW271 Pro 27in IPS LCD Eizo Coloredge CG2700X
Beating such a strong field of software is some feat, but then Affinity Photo is a special, powerful and richly endowed tool. It works across Windows, macOS and iPad platforms, meshing seamlessly with sister softwares, Designer 2 and Publisher 2.
Fotospeed Art Smooth Duo 210 Short Grain Ilford Galerie Prestige Textured Cotton Rag Innova Smooth Cotton High White 215gsm Marrutt 312gsm Smooth Fine Art Production Somerset Enhanced Radiant White Velvet 255gsm
Viewsonic VP3881 38in Viewsonic VP2756-4K Wacom Cintiq Pro 27
ALSO NOMINATED: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Anthropics PortraitPro 22 DxO PureRaw 2 DxO PhotoLab 6 DxO Nik Collection 5 Phase One Capture One Pro Skylum Luminar Neo Topaz Photo AI
Editor’s Choice: Philips UltraWide LCD 346E2LAE/01
Editor’s Choice: Hahnemühle Natural Line Sugar Cane
Editor’s Choice: Innova Resin Coated Photo Premium Matte 260gsm
Editor’s Choice: Zoner Photo Studio X
“Answer the call of the wide with an impressive monitor from
An innovative paper stock that – as its name suggests – contains
I’ve tested this software in the present issue – and found it
Philips. With plenty of screen real estate to play with, this is a superb option for those editors who like to have multiple programs open simultaneously. Just a single USB-C connection makes it easy to link up – and this can even recharge your laptop at the same time.” Roger Payne – Editor
70% sugar cane, a rapidly renewing raw material. As well as being good for the environment, it’s also great for your prints, producing rich colours and plenty of fine detail. It’s a tasty offering in more ways than one!” Roger Payne – Editor
While glossy papers manage to deliver images with plenty of
to be both intuitive and powerful. I’m a real fan of the fact that it essentially integrates both Photoshop and Lightroom functionality into one place, which really speeds up editing.” Roger Payne – Editor
punch, they can suffer from reflection issues. Step forward this matte finish media, which still delivers impressive results, but without the shiny finish.” Roger Payne – Editor
Issue 104 | Photography News 31
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