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Does Micro Four Thirds Have a Future in Photography?

The photography industry has been shrinking and the COVID-19 pandemic has not made things any better. This smaller market is being shared by the same number of companies, which could mean some huge changes for the industry. As formats go, Micro Four Thirds isn’t looking strong through this time.

We Can Finally Stop Caring About the Sony a7S III

When Sony released the a7R III all the way back in 2017, most people speculated what this release could mean for the a7S series of cameras. Many of us were anticipating a mark III for the S series to be announced, and potentially even released not long after the update to the R model.

The State of the L-Mount Alliance, One Year Later

For Canon, Nikon and Panasonic/Leica/Sigma, 2018-2019 was the first year where they all truly “went for it” when it comes to full frame mirrorless. All three released full-frame mirrorless cameras, and all three seemed to have different priorities with those releases. In this three-part series, we’re looking at each of these companies in their first year and evaluate where each of them stands today in what is now a very competitive market.

The Things That Kill Themselves

The particularity of the photo industry is its death wish. At its core, everything and everyone in this industry seems hell-bent into destroying itself and, along with it, the whole industry.

3 Ways the Fuji X100 Changed the Camera Industry Forever

The Fujifilm X100 was the single most impactful camera of the 2010s. I’ve seen folks say the same about the Sony a7/a7R, Samsung Galaxy NX1, and various Micro Four Thirds cameras, but I will argue that the Fujifilm X100 delivered a bigger bang than all of them combined.

Perfect is Boring: Lens Makers Need to Loosen Up and Have Fun

Over the past few years, I've experienced a number of lenses that were optically stunning. Near-perfect examples of optical technology, lenses like the Sony 135mm f/1.8 (which I reviewed and loved) and 24mm f/1.4 (also loved) along with the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 or their RF 50mm f/1.2 all exhibited these traits of pushing towards "perfection."

In (Partial) Defense of Flickr

On December 19, 2019, Flickr (and SmugMug) CEO Don MacAskill posted a letter entitled “The world’s most-beloved, money-losing business needs your help.” MacAskill described how SmugMug saved Flickr from an imminent demise at the hands of Verizon, and how the company needed the photo community to step up to staunch the money-losing operation.

Could China Take Over the Camera Industry?

After the Second World War, if you were a professional photographer, then you would have used cameras from companies like Hasselblad and Leica. Photojournalists tended to shoot predominantly with Leica cameras, and they were essentially the standard.

2019: The Year of the Face

It’s been ten years since Instagram launched and not long after, the selfie. It has taken the same amount of time for visual recognition to understand how to read our faces. If anything, 2019 has been the year where faces have taken center stage of visual tech, for good and bad…

The State of Nikon’s Z Mount, One Year Later

For Canon, Nikon and Panasonic, 2018-2019 was the first year where they all truly "went for it" when it comes to mirrorless. All three released full-frame mirrorless cameras, and all three seemed to have different priorities with those releases. In this three-part series, we're looking at each of these companies in their first year and evaluate where each of them stands today in what is now a very competitive market.

The State of Canon’s RF Mount, One Year Later

For Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic, 2018-2019 was the first year where they all truly "went for it" when it comes to full-frame mirrorless. All three released full-frame mirrorless cameras, and all three seemed to have different priorities with those releases. In this first of three segments, we're going to take a look at each of these companies in their first year and evaluate where each of them stands today in what is now a very competitive market.

The Problem with ‘Everybody’s Bag’ Camera Backpacks

Right now if you head over to Kickstarter and search for "camera bag," three active choices pop up. That's three more camera bag ideas vying for your attention in addition to the tons that have hit Kickstarter over the years and the hundreds more made by larger brands like Lowepro, Manfrotto and Think Tank.

The Problem with Camera Reviews by YouTubers

As for many other things, YouTube is a wonderful trove of opinion and information. This is certainly true for photographic interests. And a huge percentage of photographers are particularly interested in still photography, as opposed to videography.

The Mirrorless Revolution: DSLRs Aren’t Dead, But They’re On Life Support

Last year, during a panel discussion at one of the yearly industry conferences, I said that my hope was for DSLRs to soon vanish... I said this not because I haven’t enjoyed the incredible strides made in photo technology during the era of the DSLR -- both as a camera store owner and a recreational photographer -- but because, despite our attachments, we must embrace a mindset of “out with the old and in with the new.”

Is ‘Ali vs. Liston’ the Greatest Sports Photo of the Century?

I'm Martin from the All About Street Photography channel, and today I want to talk about the photo "Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston" by photographer Neil Leifer. I am going to take a closer at the story behind the photograph and why is this picture so iconic.

The New Sony a6600: Flagship or Missed the Boat?

I normally don’t write articles discussing new camera bodies like the Sony a6600, nor do I often get into fine detail on camera specs in general. But since I have been shooting with a Sony a6300 for a few years already, and have been eagerly wanting to upgrade to a newer Sony camera, I feel it is a good time for me to jump in on the subject.

The Lie of ‘Medium Format-Level Image Quality’

I, like many of you, watched the Sony a7R IV announcement live stream on Tuesday. I saw them put up the video of the camera and its specs, which I thought looked good as an evolution of their R platform. However, when the lights came back on in the room, the kind man that is the VP of their alpha division debuted the camera to the world with the line: “medium format level image quality”

More Companies Like Canon Should Use Crowdfunding Websites

When I first learned that Canon was planning on using a crowdfunding website to launch a new product, I thought to myself “this is going to be a PR disaster." My knee jerk reaction was to think that it's unacceptable for a company like Canon to use websites like Indiegogo in order to launch a product. Surely it has more than enough money available to develop products without asking for it from the public.

Why the Hasselblad CFV II 50C is the Perfect Weapon to Fight Fujifilm

Fujifilm is the largest medium format camera manufacturer in the world. Its resources are vast and the experience it has as a company is extensive. Hasselblad, on the other hand, is a tiny Swedish company that solely produces niche high-value cameras. This may seem like a David and Goliath type story, but considering the sheer differences in size between the two companies, this is more of a David and Godzilla type story.

The Problem with Camera Phones (That Nobody Talks About)

Once upon a time, the biggest problem with camera phones was the camera itself. One of the world's first camera phones, the J-SH04, was released in 2000. Boy have we come a long way, right? It could shoot tiny 0.11-megapixels images. It went up from there.

Where Mirrorless is Headed in 2019

2018 was an important year for mirrorless. As we kick off the new year, it's a good time for some reflection on the market. I've written quite a bit about where we are now that all the big players are seriously in the mirrorless game. This time I thought I'd write about what I think each company will/should be doing in the coming year+.

Social Media is Ruining Photography

In the U.S. and most industrialized nations, we have a collective infatuation with technology but a poor understanding of its effects – both intended and unintended. We love asking Siri to play our favorite song, but don’t fully consider the privacy implications of allowing the device to persistently listen to us.

Fujifilm Officially Wins Medium Format

I recently discussed how Fujifilm's decision to go into the medium format industry might have been a mistake. But considering some of the recent announcements, have my points been completely negated?

Was the Fujifilm GFX a Mistake? Should Fuji Have Gone Full-Frame Instead?

Of all the current camera manufacturers, if you were to call me a fanboy of any of them, Fujifilm would be the most accurate. There’s good reason too: it produces some of the best cameras on the market and its commitment to offering meaningful updates, after the fact, is uniquely wonderful.

Canon Will Dominate Mirrorless Too

Over the last few years, we've seen how Sony has made some pretty huge gains in the photography industry. This is especially true for the mirrorless market and plenty of photographers have switched from DSLR cameras to Sony mirrorless cameras. Even still, I predict that once Canon releases its mirrorless cameras, it will eventually dominate that industry too.

How Bad is GDPR for Photographers?

The EU has a new data protection law, the so-called GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, or as we Germans like to call it: “Datenschutzgrundverordnung” (Gesundheit!). The rules took effect on May 25th and so far it’s pretty chaotic: in the EU we cannot reach some newspapers in the outside world because they cannot comply with the new rules.

Do Photojournalism Contests Glamorize Pain and Suffering?

In a break from the past, World Press Photo (WPP) released the short list of finalists in advance of naming the winners to their annual contest – arguably the most prestigious in all of photojournalism. The photos are remarkable for their composition, exposure, and intimacy. But judging by the subject matter one might surmise that we’re living in a hellish dystopia, or that the jury believes pain and suffering is the most valid form of photojournalism.

Peter Lik Called Out by Photographers Over ‘Faked’ Moon Photo

Photographer Peter Lik is purportedly one of the bestselling landscape photographers on Earth, having sold a reported half a billion dollars worth of prints by 2015. He also claims to have sold a single print for $6.5 million in 2014, which would still be the world's most expensive photo today. But one of Lik's new prints is raising eyebrows and eliciting cries of "Photoshop!"

I Said No to TIME’s Request for Free ‘User-Generated Content’

I’ve been a professional photojournalist for 24 years and I’ve seen major changes in my industry. I’ve gone from film to digital. I’ve seen the reduction of staff, the reduction of print pages, and even the complete shut down of newspapers and magazines. And I’ve been at the forefront of the explosion of the World Wide Web and digital content.

Trump’s Official Portrait and the Language of Lighting

Nine months after taking office, the White House has finally released official portraits of both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Last month, the Washington Post did a story highlighting the empty walls of some 9,600 federal buildings, all waiting for for an official portrait of the new POTUS.

11 Dumb Things Camera Companies Are Still Doing

As much as we talk about the lack of true innovation in the camera market, particularly when it comes to integration with the Internet and social media, every day I keep encountering cameras that have the same "hey this is the way it used to be" design philosophies underlying them.

A More Critical Look at Sony’s #2 Claim

Sony sent out a press release a week ago that went immediately viral within the photography community: "Sony Overtakes #2 Position in U.S. Full-Frame Interchangeable Lens Camera Market."