Category Archives: Photography

Sony has just announced new firmware updates for the FX3 full-frame digital cinema camera and the FX30 Super 35 digital cinema camera. The updates are set to enhance the cameras’ features for cinematic storytelling and connectivity for film creators.

The FX3 has become a popular tool for everyone, from high-end feature films, television series, and independent filmmakers worldwide. Now, after feedback from the community, Sony is pleased to offer new updates to enhance high-end filmmaking.

One of the most highly requested features that Sony has added is the ability to shoot DCI 4K in true 24.00p (4096 x 2160) with the new format XAVC S-I DCI 4K (17:9). This feature is available in both the FX3 Version 3.00 and FX30 Version 2.00 updates.

The new firmware update also includes anamorphic lens de-squeeze options of 1.3x and 2.0x, while FX3 Version 3.00 now features focus breathing compensation. When used with compatible lenses, focus breathing compensation minimizes the shifts in the angle-of-view as the focus point shifts, with additional compensation available in post-production using Catalyst Prepare/Browse, and the Catalyst Prepare Plugin.

Other functionality has also been added to improve the camera’s ease of use, including the ability to switch from Standard Movie and S&Q Motion modes via the press of a button. File naming is now similar to Sony’s high-end CineAlta cameras such as the FX9, VENICE, and VENICE 2, to ensure easy workflow, especially in projects where the FX3/FX30 is used as a B- or C-cam.

But that’s not all. The new firmware update also features smartphone connection and integrates with Sony’s new Creators’ Cloud platform for individual content creators. Creators’ Cloud provides services and optimized applications from shooting to collaborating with creators around the world. This Creators’ Cloud platform also includes Creators’ App, a content transfer mobile application from camera to cloud.

So, when can you get your hands on this new firmware update? The FX3 Version 3.00 and FX30 Version 2.00 update will be available on April 11, 2023, at 9 pm PT. Filmmakers can easily download the update directly to their camera using a PC or Mac.

This update is just one example of Sony’s commitment to delivering the best technology for professional filmmakers. Cinema Line is a series of cameras that have a cinematic look – cultivated from Sony’s long experience in digital cinema production – plus enhanced operability and reliability that respond to the wide variety of creators’ high demands.

Cinema Line includes Sony’s flagship digital cinema camera VENICE, which has been used on over 500 feature films, television, and commercials, including three of the top-grossing feature films in the world in 2022. The Cinema Line includes the professional camera FX9, which is popular for documentary and drama production, and the FX6, for grab-and-shoot action and content creation. With the addition of the FX3 and FX30, the most compact cameras in the series, Sony offers a true line-up of versatile creative tools for all types of visual storytellers.

The new firmware updates for the FX3 and FX30 cameras are set to enhance the capabilities of these popular cinema cameras, making them even more versatile tools for visual storytellers. With the ability to shoot DCI 4K in true 24 fps and the addition of anamorphic lens desqueeze and focus breathing compensation, filmmakers can achieve a cinematic look with ease. The integration with Sony’s Creators’ Cloud platform also provides more opportunities for collaboration and content creation. Filmmakers can download the firmware update directly to their camera on April 11, 2023, at 9 pm PT, and take advantage of these new features for their next project.

You can read more details about the firmware update on the Sony website

The Sony World Photography Awards 2023 has just announced its overall winners at a special gala ceremony in London. 

The Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his moving series, ‘Our War’, paying homage to his friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed during the Libyan Civil War in 2011. 

With over 200 prints and digital displays from winning and shortlisted photographers, the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition opens at Somerset House, London from today (14 April) until 1 May 2023, showcasing incredible talent from all around the world. 

But if you can’t make it to the exhibit, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with a photo gallery of the major winners and the incredible stories behind their images. 

Get ready to be transported to a world of beauty and wonder, from breathtaking aerial shots of frozen Polish lakes to adorable black bear cubs in North Carolina.

Photographer of the Year: Edgar Martins (Portugal)

The Photographer of the Year title has been awarded to the acclaimed photographer Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his series ‘Our War’.

‘Our War’ is an original and nuanced tribute to the photographer’s late friend the photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was abducted and killed on 5 April 2011 by government militia, during the Libyan Civil War.

Frustrated by unsuccessful attempts to ascertain the whereabouts of his friend’s last mortal remains, Martins took matters into his own hands and travelled to Libya. He was brought in covertly by a petrol smuggler and was immediately faced with enormous challenges working in such a volatile environment.

Realising that he would not be able to carry out a thorough and independent investigation, Martins instead chose to reflect on the question: ‘How does one tell a story when there is no witness, no testimony, no evidence, no subject?’

Creative winner: Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa)

Architecture and Design winner: Fan Li (China Mainland)

Documentary Projects winner: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (United Kingdom)

The photo project by Hugh Kinsella Cunningham highlights the role of women in promoting peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been marred by conflict and violence for almost two decades.

It features portraits and in-depth stories of female activists who work to create dialogue between armed actors and communities, track human rights violations, and plead with rebel leaders to stop attacks. 

Environment winner: Marisol Mendez (Bolivia) & Federico Kaplan (Argentina)

Miruku is a photo project that explores the water shortage experienced by the Wayuus, an indigenous population from La Guajira, Colombia’s coastal desert. 

The project, commissioned by 1854/British Journal of Photography and WaterAid, examines how climate change and human negligence have contributed to the problem. 

Landscape winner: Kacper Kowalski (Poland)

Portfolio winner: James Deavin (United Kingdom)

Sport winner: Al Bello (United States) ]

The photograph series by Al Bello captures Kelsie Whitmore, the first female professional baseball player to play in an all-male pro league. 

She plays outfield and pitches for the Staten Island Ferryhawks in the Atlantic League of professional baseball. 

These photos are a testament to Kelsie’s trailblazing efforts in breaking down barriers and paving the way for future generations of female baseball players. 

Still life winner: Kechun Zhang (China Mainland)

Wildlife and nature winner: Corey Arnold (United States)

Edgar Martins (Portugal) has won the Photographer of the Year title in the Sony World Photography awards for his project honouring his friend and photojournalist Anton Hammerl who was abducted and killed on 5 April 2011 by government militia, during the Libyan Civil War.

Martins’ work, ‘Our War’, was selected as the winning project from the 10 category winners of the Professional competition. His images, and those of the other category winners, alongside some of the second- and third-placed photographers can be seen at Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London from the 14th of April to the 1st of May 2023.

The exhibition also features works by the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography award, the esteemed Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi.

As well as the Photographer of the Year title, Edgar Martins wins a $25,000 (USD) cash prize and a selection of Sony imaging gear. He is also granted a solo presentation of his work as part of next year’s Sony World Photography Awards exhibition.

Professional Category Winners

All the category winners receive Sony’s digital imaging kit, this year’s winners are:

Architecture and Design
Winner: Fan Li (China Mainland) for his series Cement Factory

Finalists: 2nd place Servaas Van Belle (Belgium); 3rd place Andres Gallardo Albajar (Spain)

Creative

Winner: Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa) for her series The Right to Play

Finalists: 2nd place Noemi Comi (Italy); 3rd place Edoardo Delille & Giulia Piermartiri (Italy)

Documentary Projects

Winner: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham (United Kingdom) for his series The Women’s Peace Movement in Congo

Finalists: 2nd place Mohammed Salem (State of Palestine); 3rd place Tariq Zaidi (United Kingdom)

Environment

Winner: Marisol Mendez (Bolivia) & Federico Kaplan (Argentina) for their series Miruku

Finalists: 2nd place Jonas Kakó (Germany); 3rd place Axel Javier Sulzbacher (Germany)

Landscape

Winner: Kacper Kowalski (Poland) for his series Event Horizon

Finalists: 2nd place Bruno Zanzottera (Italy); 3rd place Fabio Bucciarelli (Italy)

Portfolio

Winner: James Deavin (United Kingdom) for his submission Portfolio

Finalists: 2nd place Marylise Vigneau (France); 3rd place Marjolein Martinot (Netherlands)

Portraiture

Winner: Edgar Martins (Portugal) for his series Our War

Finalists: 2nd place Ebrahim Noroozi (Islamic Republic of Iran); 3rd place Jean-Claude Moschetti (France)

Sport

Winner: Al Bello (United States) for his series Female Pro Baseball Player Succeeds in All Male Pro League

Finalists: 2nd place Andrea Fantini (Italy); 3rd place Nicola Zolin (Italy)

Still Life
Winner: Kechun Zhang (China Mainland) for his series The Sky Garden

Finalists: 2nd place Carloman Macidiano Céspedes Riojas (Peru); 3rd place Jagoda Malanin (Poland)

Wildlife and Nature

Winner: Corey Arnold (United States) for his series Cities Gone Wild

Finalists: 2nd place Adalbert Mojrzisch (Germany); 3rd place Sriram Mural (India)

Open Photographer of the Year

This competition celebrates the power of a single image and it was won by Dinorah Graue Obscura (Mexico) who receives a $5,000 (USD) cash prize and Sony digital imaging equipment.

Student Photographer of the Year

Students were invited to submit 5 to 10 images on the theme ‘In a Changing World’, highlighting positive stories of development and progress from across the world. The competition was won by Long Jing (China Mainland) of Yunnan Arts University. Along with the title, Student Photographer of the Year, Long Jing won his university €30,000’s worth of Sony digital imaging equipment.

Youth Photographer of the Year

The theme for this year’s Youth competition was ‘Your Everyday’. It was won by Hai Wang (China Mainland, 17 years-old) whose work was selected from a shortlist of 7 by photographers under the age of 19.

Sustainability Prize

Alessandro Cinque (Italy) has been announced as the first winner of the Sustainability Prize. He receives a $5,000 cash prize and a presentation of his project as part of the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition in London.

This new prize was developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures’ Picture to recognise the stories, people and organisations whose actions highlight one of the United Nations’ environmental Sustainable Development Goals.

Cinque won the prize for his series ‘Atrapanieblas’ (Fog Nets) which documents an innovative solution helping to tackle chronic water shortages in Lima, Peru.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography

This year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography award was bestowed on Rinko Kawauchi who is regarded to be one of the most important Japanese photographers working today.

I may need to get my dog a press badge.

I’ve taken Pepper with me on a few assignments during the past couple of weeks. To be sure, these were simple photo assignments, ones in which I needed only to snap pictures of places – an old mill in Sanford, for example, as well as a playground that needs repairing and a commercial space that could become one of those marijuana dispensaries.

Just thought I would clarify, in case you thought Pepper was joining me as I covered select board meetings somewhere.

I often take Pepper for drives. Like all dogs, she enjoys sticking her head out the window and feeling the wind in her face. As I reach for my car keys and her leash, I always say, “Come on, Chewie. Time for a spin in the Millennium Falcon.” That makes me Han Solo, of course, and that’s part of the fun.

Taking Pepper on photo assignments is a new thing, though – part of an effort to keep her company and help her have some fun during the weekdays. Pepper used to visit our neighbors in the afternoon while Valerie and I worked, but these days she tends to stay home more.

Most times, she stays in the car when I take these pictures for the Coast Star. She hops into the driver’s seat, stands on her hind legs with her front paws on the window, and watches me as I get my shot. With the picture of that playground, though, I brought her with me.

Tricky, that was. Pepper likes to dart about, zigging and zagging with her nose to the ground, taking in the scents of other dogs and who knows what else. She always strains at the end of her leash, tugging my arm in her direction. That’s what made taking photos of the playground tricky.

So this is all to add a little bit of excitement to Pepper’s day – to give her a break from the tedium of lounging in the big chair in our living room while I write my articles in my home office. But these occasional photo assignments with Pepper are for me too. I want to spend the time with her.

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Story continues

Pepper turns 12 in a couple of days, you see. She is becoming an old girl. Schnauzers are deceptive in that they maintain a certain youthful appearance and vigor through much of their lives – until they don’t. I find myself watching Pepper for signs that she is indeed getting older.

She seems to be losing her hearing a bit. Used to be, she would hear a single leaf blow against our brick house, and she would launch into a barking fit in a valiant defense of our property. Now, though, she only hears the pizza guy after he knocks on our door, as opposed to when he pulls into our driveway with the music playing on his radio.

My friend Gary visited the other day. Pepper did not hear him knock or enter our home. She only knew we had a guest in our house when he actually appeared before her eyes in our living room. And then, yes, that’s when she started barking.

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Pepper is whiter and grayer, but she still looks like a puppy, sort of – or like a Muppet, if she is late for a trip to the groomer. We only notice just how white she has become when we see old pictures of her and are startled to see that her coat used to be so many shades darker.

Her energy is still abundant, thank God. She gets excited and runs and hops around when she sees us reaching for her leash to take her out. And when we bring her back in, she trots into the living room, turns, sits and waits for us to give her a treat. She does this in the same exact spot on the rug every single time.

It feels like yesterday that Valerie, our daughter, Madeline, and I visited a local farm to pick out one of the puppies in a recently born litter. The proud parents, Banjo and Taffy, had brought about seven or eight puppies into the world. I looked at all of them, as they crawled all over one another, and spotted a sable-furred one. She stood out, as all her brothers and sisters were the same color, black and gray.

Stay connected: York County Coast Star newsletter brings news to you

I held that little sable-furred puppy, and she looked into my eyes. I felt an immediate tug at my heart. Her eyes looked precisely like the ones Molly, our Cairn terrier, had. Molly died three years earlier.

Valerie and I had made a deal with Maddie. We told her she could pick the puppy we would take home. I handed this sable-furred puppy to Maddie and really hoped she would like her just as much as I did.

She did. We brought the puppy home and named her Pepper.

Pepper, our indispensable puppy-at-heart.

My friend.

My coworker.

Shawn P. Sullivan is an award-winning columnist and is a reporter for the York County Coast Star. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: For the love of dogs: On the photography beat with my sidekick Pepper

Leica has announced a new B&W-only camera, the Leica M11 Monochrom which goes on sale immediately for £8300.

The M11 Monochrom is based on the Leica M11 and uses a similar 60MP full-frame sensor, but as it lacks the usual colour filter array, it can only create monochrome images. Like the M11, the M11 Monochrom can capture 60MP, 36Mp or 18MP images, using pixel-binning to create the smaller images while still using the full width of the sensor.

The new Leica M11 Monochrom has an all-metal body but using aluminium for the top-plate reduces its weight by 120g in comparison to its predecessor, dropping it to 540g.

In addition to the UHS-II SD card slot, there’s 256GB of onboard memory.

Meanwhile, the Bluetooth and USB-C connectivity enables images to be transferred quickly to the Leica FOTOS app on a tablet or smartphone. The Leica M11 Monochrom is also a certified Apple ‘Made for iPhone and iPad’ accessory and it can be connected to those device via the dedicated Leica FOTOS cable.

Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH.

Leica has also announced the Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH, price £4000 for the black version and £4200 for the silver version.

An update on the previous Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH, the new lens benefits from the latest optical technology and features 11 aperture blades rather than 9. In addition, the focus distance has been reduced from 70cm to 45cm in live view mode – it remains 70cm with rangefinder focusing.

The new Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH features a round lens hood that is integrated into the barrel.

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SmallRig has launched the Rotatable Horizontal-to-Vertical Mount Plate Kit, specifically designed for Sony α7R V / α7 IV / α7S III / α7R IV. This kit enables photographers and videographers to quickly switch between horizontal and vertical shooting modes without adjusting the lens’s optical axis.

The mounting plate locks the bottom of the camera via a 1/4″-20 screw and anti-twist pin, and it maintains full access to the LCD flip screen and ports. The built-in pads prevent scratches and twisting, ensuring the camera remains secure while in use. The mounting plate is compatible with Arca-type / Manfrotto RC2 tripods and can rotate by 90 degrees by unlocking a knob to switch between horizontal and vertical shooting.

The kit is lightweight, weighing only 0.28kg, and is made of high-quality aluminium alloy and stainless steel for durability. The base plate can be used separately to meet various needs, and it features a hinge arm at the battery door, fitting the camera body perfectly for a better grip experience.

SmallRig’s Rotatable Horizontal-to-Vertical Mount Plate Kit comes with a strap slot, a 1/4″-20 threaded hole for the wrist strap, a quick-release plate, and a magnetic double-head wrench for easy installation and release. The bottom 1/4″-20 and 3/8″-16 threaded holes also support Handle 2093C and other accessories, enhancing stability in handheld mode.

It’s important to note that this product only supports a lens adapter ring of less than 63mm in outer diameter and is incompatible with the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 Lens (Sony E).

SmallRig’s commitment to providing photographers and videographers with innovative and high-quality products is evident in the Rotatable Horizontal-to-Vertical Mount Plate Kit. The kit is an essential accessory for Sony α7R V / α7 IV / α7S III / α7R IV users, enabling them to capture the perfect shot without any hassle.

If you’re interested in the SmallRig Rotatable Horizontal-to-Vertical Mount Plate Kit for Sony α7R V / α7 IV / α7S III / α7R IV, head to the SmallRig website to learn more and purchase the product. If you want to check out the details then pop along to the SmallRig website