Photography News Issue 41

Photography News | Issue 41 | absolutephoto.com

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Editor’s letter Time to sell the liver and go big? A Samsung memory card! WIN!

Q F F A G P L E U L O Q R E W O P L E N S F G S S M E R Q K K B E N L A N D S C A P E S I A C C E S S O R Y T K S C O Z P R I N T I C D N N H M N T F R V A X A T E Y O G K I A R E U I V A I M B P L T G T N I X T O V O X I A O U T V I O W D M S R F O A Y B R Q T L L O O U G K I K H C I I T C S E S H R Q E F D S U F N S X A Q J Y E K S S Y O E D R O D X D I G I T A L M R W E E X P O S U R E P Q Capture life’s special moments across all devices with the ultra-reliable Samsung SDmemory cards. Samsung’s latest SD cards can write data at an impressive 90MB/s and read data at an even higher 95MB/s. The cards are also amazingly reliable being water, temperature-, X-ray-, magnet- andshockproof, so shooting in themost challenging conditions isn’t an issue.Wehave onemassive 64GB Samsung PROSD card to award to an eagle-eyedwinner. Just complete the word search below, and you’ll find one word in the list that’s not in the grid. Email us on puzzle@photography-news.co.uk with that word in the subject box by 12February 2017. The correct answer to PN 39’sword searchwas Time and the Samsung 64GB cardwas won by EYacomen of Norfolk. Congratulations to her. samsung.comand search formemorycards

I don’t think medium-format has ever been truly mass market but there was a time when Bronicas, Mamiyas and Hasselblads were common sights among the ranks of keen and pro photographers. With digital, medium-format is most definitely minority interest and that’s principally down to the cost of the cameras but also to the incredible quality possible from smaller formats making a larger format redundant. So much so that many pros and full-frame 35mm shooters have long since gone to mirrorless and Micro Four Thirds formats and haven’t looked back. I recall the early days of digital when 14 megapixels was considered the resolution necessary to match film and we all longed for the Holy Grail of a full-frame 35mm DSLR capable of that. When cameras were three megapixels and APS-C format, that seemed a very distant target, but look where we are right now with 35mm cameras surpassing 50megapixels. So, you may be wondering what’s causing all the brouhaha with medium-format right now with new models arriving from Fujifilm and Hasselblad. These are still very expensive products with, for instance, the Fujifilm GFX 50S with a standard lens costing £7600. Well, for what it’s worth, I’m very interested in and even excited by what’s going on. Maybe it's because until I moved house two years ago I had four medium-format film cameras under the bed – three have since been sold. I really love working with the larger format. I actually bought a new medium-format film camera last year. It’s a folding plastic 6x12cm job that needs rubber bands to hold it in its folded position but I do enjoy using it. I’ve even started processing my mono films again after a break of several years.

So while I grew up with 35mm format and still shoot that format as well as APS-C and Micro Four Thirds digitally today, there is something beguiling about the bigger image. Last month, I tested the Hasselblad X1D and enjoyed its company. It is a lovely, capable camera that handles shooting indoors and out with aplomb. Also, lastmonth I got touse the FujifilmGFX 50S for a couple of hours and I have to admit I loved using it. I had the FujifilmX-T2 alongside it and while the GFX 50S clearly wasn’t as responsive as that camera, it was very, very good. Start-up lag was well under a second, shutter lag was minimal too and handling felt intuitive. There is a detailed hands-on report in this issue, in case you’re reading from back to front. I have made several large prints from the GFX and even though I don’t have the evidence of side-by-side shots from a 35mm DSLR for a direct comparison, there is no doubt in my gut that bigger is better and larger does mean superior. The tonal smoothness and crisp rendition of fine detail just looks amazing – just like the difference between 35mmandmedium- format film. Worth the investment? Obviously that depends on any number of factors: the money, the need, the want. Of the three, I definitely have the last (in spades) and as I don’t want to part with my liver to finance the deal, I’ll stick with smaller formats – for now. I need a cunning plan and with that, it’s time to say au revoir until the next time.

Accessory Autofocus Continuous Darkroom

Digital Exhibition Exposure Festival

Film Finalist Landscape Lens

Negative Power Print Project

Slide Storage Tracking Tripod

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