Photography News

Stay up-to-date with the latest news within the photography industry. Here we feature new photography gear announcements, creative conferences, and other interesting headlines related to the world of photography and filmmaking.

Canon Announces PowerShot G1 X Mark III

Despite retaining the same series name, the Mark III version of the G1 X is more than just iterative. This much is immediately apparent when one notices the larger, semi-pro level APS-C 24MP sensor and Digic 7 processor inside this new, compact point-and-shoot. I haven't been as excited about a compact APS-C camera since ill-fated and short-lived Nikon Coolpix A. Moreover, the Mark III features an entirely redesigned body that puts even more distance between itself and the Mark II.

Why the Standalone Oculus Go Is What the 360/VR Industry Needs

360-degree video is a great way to tell immersive stories. Until recently though, the experience hasn’t been all that accessible. Just to view 360-degree content the way it was meant to look, you’d need an expensive headset like an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive and a fairly beefy computer to run it on like a high-end Alienware or something with a powerful graphics card. This meant that while VR content was being produced in droves, few people were experiencing it the way it was meant to be. That’s about to change. Oculus just announced a standalone VR headset called the Oculus Go.

DJI Previews New Project Vertex Software for 3D Mapping in Pre-Production

On-site at DJI's Los Angeles Zenmuse X7 media event, DJI also previewed a new software solution it's working on in order to help plan drone shoots during the pre-production stages. Currently under development, Project Vertex will allow users to build three-dimensional models of a location and to bring them back to the office for more accurate shot-planning.

DJI Announces Zenmuse X7: First Super 35 Camera Optimized for Aerial Cinema

When it comes to flying cameras, there's no doubt that DJI is at the top of the game. Alongside its consumer, pro-sumer, and professional cinema options, today DJI announced the Super 35-format Zenmuse X7. Designed to work seamlessly with the Inspire 2 drone, the X7 features a number of advancements to make it the perfect match for cinema-quality aerial video capture.

Can Yashica's New digiFilm Camera Make Them Relevant Again?

The word “unprecedented” gets thrown around a lot these days, and it looks like once-renowned camera manufacturer Yashica is the latest company to use it to describe the new digiFilm Camera Y35 camera they just launched on Kickstarter.

Seagate Announces Massive 12 TB Desktop and NAS Drives

Adding 20 percent storage to its previous high-capacity models, Seagate now offers 12 TB hard drives in a 3.5-inch size. These spinning disks feature transfer rates up to 250 MB/s and use still relatively new helium gas technology usually reserved for enterprise drives to reduce friction throughout the eight-platter internals. The new 12 TB drives come in three Guardian Series flavors: Barracuda Pro for desktop use and IronWolf or IronWolf Pro for use in network-attached storage devices that often feature multiple-drive RAID configurations.

Adobe Introduces New Website Portfolio Integration for Lightroom

Perhaps one of the most prominent roadblocks to efficiency when building a portfolio website is the process of selecting, exporting, and uploading batches of photos. Adobe is seeking to reduce the number of steps in that process with their new feature that allows for one-click implementation of Lightroom collections.

Twelve Photographers Come Together to Create a Heart Warming Fantasy Book For Sick Children

The Get Well Tree is the latest touching project from the talented collaboration The heART Project. Many of the previous projects have been featured here. Each one brings amazing artists and sponsors together to help bring love and smiles to a family that has experienced some form of hardship. This time the project follows two childhood cancer survivors on a fantasy journey through a dream-like world. 12 photographers came together to create a 14-page photo storybook staring these two heroic little girls.

Von Wong: Walking on Air for Nike

There aren’t many photographers whose work I keep tabs on consistently. I barely have time to keep up with all of my own work, so while I may follow some photographers on Instagram, that’s about it. One of those select few that I check in on is Benjamin Von Wong, and once I heard about his latest project for Nike, I was excited to check it out.

ON1 Software Announces Photo RAW 2018

Today ON1 Software announced the 2018 version of their flagship editing software, Photo RAW. With the addition of a variety of new features, Photo RAW 2018 promises to be the most compelling version yet. Among others, ON1 has added support for HDR, panoramic stitching, and more powerful masking to Photo RAW. A free public beta of Photo RAW 2018 will be available Friday, October 6.

New Documents Show How the Police Convinced the FAA to Put a No-Fly Zone Over Standing Rock

Motherboard obtained nearly a hundred pages of emails between the Federal Aviation Administration and federal, state, and local agencies through a Freedom of Information Act. This correspondence describes the exchange between the law enforcement officials and the FAA regarding the establishment of a no-fly zone over the protest area. This is a critical issue because the temporary flight restriction required by the police to counter the use of drones in Standing Rock collide directly with the news gathering rights protected by the first amendment.

Instagram Hits 800 Million, Launches New Controls for Safety and Filtering

Instagram just recently announced that they have grown past 800 million users with 500 million people using the popular social media app every day. This week the company updated the app's ability to take more control of the commenting on your posts. In the June update, Instagram created a filter to block offensive comments in English, and that filter has just been expanded to include the languages of Arabic, French, German, and Portuguese. Instagram is in the process of improving the filter over time to allow the general experience of sharing to improve simultaneously.

Photographer Captures Groom Saving Child During Photoshoot

Sometimes when on a job, things happen. You might show up and take photos of the wrong couple at a proposal shoot. You might break into an abandoned house and discover it wasn’t as abandoned as you had thought. Or, you might turn around and see the groom you’re photographing standing nearly waist-deep in water saving a kid from drowning. You know, normal stuff.

Statue of Liberty Drone Ban to Go Into Effect in Six Days

This one is for all you drone enthusiasts out there: you only have six days left to make that epic, viral video of the Statue of Liberty. New drone restrictions for the Statue of Liberty and other U.S. national landmarks go into effect October 5.

The Stunning Images From an Underwater Photography Competition

Scuba Diving magazine just released the winners of their 13th annual underwater photography competition. This year’s “Through Your Lens” contest features incredible images taken over this past year from photographers throughout the world.

The Trend Towards Bokeh With Character Continues as Oprema Jena Announces the 58mm Biotar

Bokeh is a topic that often sparks debate and is seen by some as subjective. In a vast sea of endless options for gear, there is nothing that excites me more than a truly special lens with excellent character. Today I'm very excited to share another of my favorite classic lenses being reborn via Oprema Jena, the legendary Biotar 2/58.

GoPro Unveils HERO6 Black and Fusion Action Cameras

At an event this morning in San Francisco, GoPro unveiled its latest flagship product, the GoPro HERO6 Black. The HERO6 boasts an impressive new set of features that marks it as a distinct update to the GoPro HERO lineup. In addition to the HERO6 Black, GoPro also revealed the Fusion, a revolutionary new action camera designed to capture spherical video.

Stephen Curry Blasts Sports Illustrated 'Unity' Cover for Not Including Colin Kaepernick

A few days ago, Sports Illustrated revealed a cover addressing the protests against police brutality and racial inequality via kneeling during the national anthem. The cover was supposed to represent the increasing unity between professional athletes (particularly in the NFL) in protesting both the original issues first brought to attention in this fashion by Colin Kaepernick, as well as the responses by President Trump. There was only one problem: Sports Illustrated didn't include Kaepernick on the cover.

Vimeo Launches a Live Streaming Service

After waiting for so long, Vimeo finally launches a live streaming service which allows events to offer high-quality video to their viewers. Here are the list of updates that are included in Vimeo Live.

What's New in Adobe Premiere Pro

Coming this fall you’ll be able to create and collaborate faster than ever with Adobe’s latest version of Premiere Pro CC. New updates to the program will allow you to open multiple projects at the same time, collaborate with multiple editors on the same project, and work with new graphics tools in the Essential Graphics panel. Let's have a closer look.

Spiffy Gear Introduces a Unique, All-Around LED Lighting Solution for Photo and Video

With its increasing popularity, photographers and videographers alike have begun to entertain LED lighting as a possible option for their shoots. Spiffy Gear believes they now have that solution, and it's called Spekular. Touted as the "Swiss army knife" to a creative's needs, they introduced their new product as the solution to make videographer and photographer's lives easier.

Wacom Says MacOS 10.13 High Sierra Support Coming by Late October

Despite nearly four months passing after Apple released the MacOS 10.13 High Sierra developer beta on June 5, Wacom apparently needs more time to sort out their tablet drivers for the new operating system. High Sierra was released today to the public, however Wacom is advising not to upgrade just yet to keep your tablets working.

Drone Versus Black Hawk Helicopter: Hit or Miss?

After many closes calls and inconclusive reports, a new incident involving a small hobby drone and two military Black Hawk helicopters might mark one the first drone to aircraft collision. Unlike many previous cases, this incident seemed to have left direct evidence. Army Lieutenant Colonel Joe Buccino, the spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, said that a civilian drone “struck on the left side of fuselage. There were no adverse impacts to the flight.” He added that “one blade was damaged [and] dented in two spots and requires replacement and there is a dented window.” Here is what we know.

This Adapter Lets You Autofocus Manual Focus Lenses

If you own a Sony mirrorless camera, you probably know that an adapter can open up a veritable treasure trove of vintage lenses or allow you to use other manufacturers' current offerings. Of course, the one major drawback is that you often lose (or never had) autofocus in these situations. This neat adapter gives you back that ability.

Drone Pilot Wins Potentially Landmark Lawsuit

In what could be a seminal case for drone operators in the United States, a Massachusetts man has won a lawsuit that challenged the legality of a local ordinance that restricted the usage of drones and required a registration fee, both beyond the level already set forth by the FAA.

Affinity Photo for iPad Is Updated for iOS 11, Supports File Drag-and-Drop

On Tuesday this week Apple released their latest mobile operating system, iOS 11. Now Serif, the creators of photo editing software Affinity Photo, have also updated their iPad app to take advantage of the capabilities introduced in iOS 11 such as drag-and-dropping images to and from the new Files app.

The Future of VR Won't Happen Until This Tech Becomes a Reality

The International Broadcasting Convention has just ended, but before wrapping up, there were some serious insights to the future of VR technology. Now, we may be seeing virtual reality being broadcast live in lieu of a regular TV event.

Hand-Woven Designer Camera Straps For Every Photographer

All you photographers out there! Does your camera strap look dull, worn out with the leather sweating the time and comfort out of your skin? Yes, they may be durable, but can they be more? Well, KIKI camera straps answer these questions fashionably. Made for every professional photographer, these cool, fashionable, and functional cloth camera straps might make you think of bidding bye to the conventional ones.

Profoto Announces World’s Smallest Studio Light: Profoto A1

After weeks of rumors, Profoto officially announced their latest A1 flash; a speedlight sized powerful flash, which can be used both on or off camera. The company calls their latest product “the smallest studio light” and considering its features, they seem to be right.

Adobe Spark Gets Much Needed Feature Improvements, Flexible Branding, New CC Plan

Adobe Spark has been the brand’s relatively recent jump into a range of both online and mobile products that make it easy for anyone to create well-designed content including videos, web pages, and graphics. For creatives that fancy themselves better image creators than designers of promotional flyers or small web experiences or for DIY small business owners, Adobe Spark hopes to fill in the gaps and make it both easy and fast to design range of content types for your business. Today, Adobe released some much needed updates that mark the start of what Spark always should have been.

Instagram Is About to Ruin Your Perfect Grid

Instagram is planning a change that is going to upset a lot of people. If you are one of those who likes to keep all your images in order and make use of the 3 x 3 grid, prepare for a storm that may stir your account's real estate.

Aputure Amaran MX: The Ultra Bright, Color Accurate, Credit Card-Sized LED

At IBC 2017, Aputure laid out their normal cornucopia of products — lights, microphones, monitors — but they didn’t show everyone the prototype for the The Amaran MX, a tiny, credit card-sized brother to the Amaran AL-M9. Why not? Well it’s still a prototype, so I suppose we shouldn’t get too excited, but on paper, the Amaran MX looks like an incredible addition to their line.

2017 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year

On September 14, 2017 the Royal Observatory Greenwich announced the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards. The Guardian writes of the awards, "Awe-inspiring views of the Universe were celebrated at the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 awards ceremony, held at the Royal Greenwich Observatory." The competition inspired entries from all over the globe and this is the first year entries included images of the furthest planet in our solar system and asteroids streaking through the images. Of the over 3,800 entries competing in the 9 categories an overall winner has been chosen and the images simply speak for themselves.

Canon Is Developing Lighter Supertelephoto Lenses [Rumor]

Supertelephoto lenses are a love/hate relationship for a lot of photographers: they showcase some of the best optical engineering companies have to offer, but carrying them around is quite a workout. Canon is seeking to cut that weight with its supertelephoto lenses in development.

Alien Skin Reveals Huge Upgrade to Upcoming Exposure X3

Alien Skin, creator of the award-winning photo editing software Exposure, recently announced the upcoming release of the newest version of its popular product, Exposure X3. If you are unfamiliar with Exposure, it is a non-destructive raw photo editor designed to be an all-in-one software for editing and organizing your photos. It is probably most well known for the hundreds of presets included in the software that can emulate analog film, as well as dozens of other modern styles.

'IT' is Here and is Totally Crushing the Box Offices

This past weekend, Stephen King's "IT" opened in theaters and totally crushed things at the box office. The movie adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel looks to be both visually impressive and completely terrifying. Take two minutes and watch the official trailer if you haven't already. Take notice of the genius use of vibrant color pops woven into the otherwise muted color tones.

New Kid On the Old Block: The Polaroid OneStep 2

It looks like there’s a “new” kid on the block, and it happens to be our old friend Polaroid (Or is it "old guy on the new block," or "new old kid on the old new block," or something else entirely? I don't know...). There are a number of instant-print cameras on the market, but to me, they’re all missing at least one of two things: the brand recognition of the Polaroid name and the classic form factor of the camera that made it famous decades ago. The Fujifilm Instax camera is missing both. Even the current Polaroid offerings, such as the Polaroid Snap or the PIC-300, probably don’t have what it takes to rule the market. So, here it is. The Polaroid OneStep 2.

Adobe Announces New Innovations in Premiere Pro, After Effects, and More at IBC 2017

Adobe is updating its video applications and adding new features across the board. Many of these features include improvements for editing virtual reality content, smarter automated tasks, and some other features modeled after Final Cut 7, which Apple announced will not be supported in its upcoming MacOS High Sierra update.

Phase One Announces the IQ3 100MP Trichromatic Digital Back, XF System Feature Update 4

In a pair of announcements today, Phase One has introduced a new medium format digital back and a feature update to the XF camera system. The IQ3 100MP Trichromatic incorporates new color technology for authentic reproduction combined with 101 megapixels of fine, high-resolution detail. Feature Update 4 for the XF camera system focuses on focus control and accuracy, as well as new tools for new possibilities.

Apple Announces iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and More

It's a big year for Apple. This is the year Apple finally introduces some major technological upgrades from augmented-reality and improved cameras to OLED screens in its iPhone lineup. And in doing so, they've released three new models alongside each other, the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X. Most importantly for us, however, is that the new iPhones not only feature the best cameras yet, but also more broadly represent the biggest leap in image technology in a single year thanks both to new hardware and software.