chinese

A Guide to Third-Party Chinese Lens Brands

Lenses are big business: while we have seen the value of camera shipments nose-dive year-on-year, lens value has slowly increased and is now equal to about a third of the camera market. It's for this reason that third-party manufacturers have increased their stake in this market and particularly at the low-cost end where Chinese manufacturers proliferate. Who are these companies and what does their appearance presage in terms of the camera market as a whole?

Young Chinese Couple Found Dead Near Iconic Iceland Photo Spot

A young Chinese couple in their early 20s was found dead last week near the famous DC-3 plane crash site in Iceland: an iconic photo spot frequented by photographers and tourists alike. Authorities say there was no sign of foul play, and believe inclement weather is to blame.

The Chinese Instagram Village

In today’s social media game, simple selfies just don’t cut it anymore. The competition for attention is fierce and in order to keep eyeballs locked, some are stepping up their game. This is what I learned when I accidentally stumbled upon an area just outside Dali, China and found myself in the middle of a selfie wonderland.

This Leica Video Just Got ‘Leica’ Banned in China

Leica has sparked a huge backlash in China over a short film released by its ad agency in Brazil. The video (warning: strong language) depicts a news photographer covering the Chinese government's crackdown during pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989.

Meyer Optik Gorlitz Admits Nocturnus was a Modified Chinese Lens

After years of launching lenses through much-hyped Kickstarter campaigns, Meyer Optik Gorlitz died in 2018 but was brought back to life after its parent company, net SE, was acquired by the German company OPC Optics. With a new owner, Meyer Optik is now confessing that yes, the Nocturnus was actually a modified Chinese lens.

Why Camera Gear Costs What It Costs

In the last couple of weeks, my little brand, 3 Legged Thing, launched a brand new Universal L Bracket, the QR11. For the most part, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Yi M1 is an Ultra Cheap Mirrorless Camera with Leica Looks

If you want a camera that looks like a Leica T but will cost you less than a third the price, Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaoyi has something for you. It's called the M1, and it's a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless ILC that won't come close to hurting your bank account.

The Photographer’s Oil Collective Offers High-End Oil Reproductions Worthy of Pros

Photographer David Hobby is best known for his popular blog Strobist, which has introduced countless photographers around the world to the art of shooting with off-camera flashes. Today, Hobby just officially announced a new endeavor called The Photographer's Oil Collective (POC): it's a service that turns photos into one-of-a-kind, hand-painted oil reproductions -- a tangible product that pro photographers can be proud to present to clients.

500px Expands into China with 500px.me, and Some Photographers Aren’t Happy

Back in July 2015, we reported that 500px had raised an additional $13 million in funding led by China's equivalent of Getty Images, the Visual China Group. The move suggested that 500px was working hard to offer its massive archive of 55 million images to photo buyers in Asia.

Today, 500px announced that it is officially expanding into China with the unveiling of a new website, 500px.me.

The Venus Laowa 15mm f/4 is the World’s Widest 1:1 Macro Lens

The Chinese lens manufacturer Venus Optics made quite a splash back in January by announcing the new Venus 60mm f/2.8, the world's first 2:1 macro lens with infinity focus. The lens has gotten some pretty positive reviews since then.

Now Venus is back with another groundbreaking lens. Today the company unveiled its new Laowa 15mm f/4 lens, the world's widest 1:1 macro lens.

DJI Raises $75 Million in Funding and Is Now Valued at $10 Billion

The world's largest drone maker is quickly becoming one of China's most powerful homegrown companies. DJI announced today that it has raised another $75 million in venture capital funding, and recent talks with investors have reportedly pegged the value of the company at a whopping $10 billion.

Chinese Official Busted for Corruption Related to His Love for Photography

As China expands its anticorruption initiatives, quite a few government officials have met their political demise through being caught in a wide range of unethical behavior. One of them, a politician named Qin Yuhai, was busted under different circumstances than most: his corruption was related to his love for photography.

Photos of Trash Heaps Made to Look Like Chinese Landscape Paintings

Take a quick look at Chinese photographer Yao Lu's "New Landscapes" photos, and they may look to you like old Chinese paintings of misty mountains, green hills, and choppy brown rivers. Each one even bears a red seal stamp that artists use as signatures on finished works.

Look a little closer, however, and it becomes apparent that something isn't quite right. "Those are some strange looking mountains, you think to yourself." Well, they aren't actually mountains, but rather mounds of garbage covered with green construction netting.

Canon to Target Chinese Market Amidst Lingering Anti-Japanese Sentiment

Over the last couple of months, a political skirmish between Japan and China over the ownership of a set of islands has caused anti-Japanese protests all across China, affecting many of the Japanese manufacturing facilities. Some companies -- most notably Panasonic and Canon -- were forced to shut down operations and evacuate their premises as a result of the violent protests. Things got so bad that Chinese photographers had to camouflage their Japanese-brand cameras with red tape and Chinese flags.

Despite the political atmosphere in the world's most populous nation, Canon has China squarely in its sights as it plans its next moves for international expansion.

A Glimpse Inside a Photographic Lighting Factory in China

Want to see how studio lighting equipment is made? David Selby of Lighting Rumors was recently invited to tour the Shenzhen factory of a Chinese lighting company called NiceFoto, which sells gear both under its own brand name and to various international distributors under different marques. He snapped a number of photographs showing various workspaces where equipment is assembled.

Sitting in China: A Series of Photographs Showing “Bastard Chairs”

Photographer Michael Wolf began his career as a photojournalist in Hong Kong working for a German magazine. In the early 2000s, he turned to non-editorial photography with an unusual project called Bastard Chairs. Wolf had noticed that all over China, there were makeshift chairs that had been put together using whatever materials the owners could get their hands on. He began documenting these strange pieces of furniture, showing the creative ideas people in China had for sitting down.

Photos of Kids Using Pricey DSLR Gear Going Viral in China

If you suffer from gear envy, you might want to skip over this post. Apparently children from wealthy Chinese families these days are traveling with fancy DSLR cameras while on vacation. A person named Liu Li Yang recently published a series of photos over on Chinese social networking service Renren that show a group of tourist children clutching expensive Canon and Nikon DSLRs and lenses.

How Chinese Photogs Are Camouflaging Their Japanese DSLRs During Protests

Over the past month, there have been violent anti-Japanese protests across China over disputed islands between the two nations. Japanese businesses and manufacturing plants have been besieged, leading companies like Canon and Panasonic to suspend their operations and evacuate their premises.

In the midst of all this chaos, a tricky problem presents itself: how does a Chinese photographer go about documenting the rioting? As you know, Japan is the motherland of most major digital camera companies, while China doesn't have much of a role in this industry besides manufacturing the cameras at the request of those corporations. The answer: flags and tape.

Portraits of Rural Chinese Families Posing with Everything They Own

Earlier this year, we featured a project by photographer Sannah Kvist that showed portraits of urban young people posing next to a pile of all their worldly possessions. Jiadang (Family Stuff) by Chinese photographer Huang Qingjun is similar in concept, but very different in content. He has spent nearly a decade traveling around to various rural communities in China, asking families to take everything they owned and carefully arrange them outdoors for a picture.