Articles from Andy Day

Rumors are suggesting that Nikon has filed a patent in Japan for a mirrorless, APS-C camera that does not feature a viewfinder. Speculation has been mounting over the last few months and the design may have just taken a dramatic step closer. 

Just as Canon announced that profits from its camera division have dropped by almost two-thirds, Sony has given an indication that it is not optimistic for the future, predicting that it will sell 1.4 million fewer cameras than it did in 2017. 

Just as we recover from Sony’s surprise launch of its 61-megapixel a7R IV, rumors have just started circulating that Canon is about to announce its own high-resolution, full frame mirrorless camera featuring a sensor that may boast more than 80 megapixels. 

A few weeks ago, I started drafting a list of everything that Sony needs to fix on the a7 III. Then suddenly, in a move that caught everyone off guard, Sony announced the a7R IV. Have many elements on my list been resolved by this new generation of camera, or has the rush for an insane number of megapixels meant that certain details are being ignored? 

In 1995, Casio launched a revolutionary product: the QV-10. It was the first camera to feature an LCD that showed what you were shooting. Ever since, manufacturers have run terrified at the prospect of having to implement a basic feature that has still not been properly designed, and there's a good chance that this won’t happen in our lifetimes. 

After years of waiting, Sony fans finally received news that the Japanese manufacturer has launched a 35mm f/1.8 prime lens, plugging a huge gap in its lens lineup. You can get your pre-orders in now but many are balking at the price. 

Sony is gearing up for a couple of announcements this week and the rumor sites seem fairly confident that the standout piece of news will be a sports-oriented, APS-C version of the Sony a9. 

German lens manufacturer ZEISS has issued an apology to its customers for a recent advert that featured a female model holding one of its recently released lenses. 

On June 28, ZEISS tweeted a trio of images showing an anime model dressed as the Disney character Ariel striking affectionate poses with the new ZEISS Otus 100mm f/1.4 lens.

For Sony full-frame shooters, the 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD  been one of the most eagerly anticipated lens launches this year, and it seems that demand has caught Tamron by surprise. 

It’s thought that Nikon’s forthcoming flagship camera, the D6, will be announced in early 2020 with a list of prospective specifications now circulating. 

One cold night a few weeks ago, photographer Matthew Vandeputte set a time-lapse running and went to bed for the night. In the morning, he discovered that his sequence had captured an incredible meteor crashing into the Earth’s atmosphere, creating a stunning trail and leaving a spectacular puff of smoke. If only we could all shoot images like this while unconscious. 

Along with improvements in resolution and dynamic range, one of the biggest changes witnessed in the world of videography in recent years is how easy it has become to add movement to a shot. A gimbal can open a world of possibilities, and this short video gives an excellent introduction. 

Just as Tamron has been asking us to reconsider the accepted focal range of an ultra-wide angle zoom, up steps Canon with the rumored 16-28mm f/2. You can be sure it will be huge and costly, but do we need it? And do photographers really want a holy trinity that is so heavy and expensive? 

If you’re wondering whether to treat yourself to Sony’s new 600mm f/4 GM lens, you probably want to check out this hands-on video from Jared Polin. If a $13,000 lens isn’t for you, you might simply want to see how much of a difference the autofocus tracking on the Sony a9 can make when shooting sports. 

Canon managed it. Nikon managed it. And, thinking about it, the new mirrorless cameras from Panasonic would feel weird if they didn’t have it. If I could change one thing about my otherwise awesome Sony a7 III, this would be it. 

My ultra-wide zoom spends more time attached to my camera than any other lens, so for me it’s fascinating to see how first Tamron with its 17-28mm f/2.8 and now Canon with its alleged 16-28 f/2 have decided to shake things up. I'm in the market for a new lens and it's coming at quite an interesting time. 

One lens has been weirdly missing from Sony’s full-frame line-up and it seems that the Japanese manufacturer is about to fill that gap. From recently registered model numbers it appears that Sony is a few months from finally announcing the FE 35mm f/1.8. 

Following on from the success of the 28-75mm f/2.8, Tamron has just announced the launch of its much-anticipated 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD. Will the price make it an affordable competitor alongside the solid ultra-wide angle zoom offerings that already exist from Sony? 

The wait for a mirrorless flagship sports and wildlife shooter from Canon might be shorter than anticipated, with rumors circulating that it could arrive within the next year, perhaps at the same time as the successor to the Canon 1D X Mark II. 

What seemed like a dream wedding proposal-gone-viral is now thought to be little more than a publicity stunt manufactured by an Instagram fashion influencer and her soon-to-be husband. 

You may frequently hear complaints about Lightroom and Photoshop — too buggy, too slow, too bloated, too expensive — but it doesn’t seem to be putting a dent in Adobe’s performance. In fact, it’s quite the opposite as the company announced last week that it has achieved record revenues for the second fiscal quarter of this year. 

An award-winning photojournalist stands accused of faking a series of images documenting hit men carrying out acts of violence in Honduras. It is alleged that Swiss/Italian photographer Michele Crameri staged several shots of men wielding guns and threatening to kill people, following revelations from the Honduran fixer who helped him gain access to local gang members. 

With sensor prices dropping and leading manufacturers keen to get consumers on board with their latest mirrorless offerings, increasingly budget-friendly options are expected to emerge. However, would you buy an affordable camera that is cheap because it doesn’t have a viewfinder? 

In today’s social media, followers have become currency with the most popular Instagrammers wielding a lot of power. It’s no surprise that many unscrupulous users have been tempted into buying their prominence rather than earning it. Fortunately, there are now quick and easy ways to spot those who are trying to cheat their way to social media success. 

2020 could be the year of the flagships as Nikon has just confirmed that a high-end mirrorless version of the D5 is in the pipeline. So will it be dubbed the Z 8 or the Z 9, and does that have implications for the release of the much-discussed successor to the D5? 

Using minimalism and negative space can be an effective means of creating striking compositions that catch the eye. Check out this short video for tips on how to create images and why it’s effective. 

For many companies, losing 7.5% of your workforce would typically be bad news, perhaps an indication that profits are falling. This is not the case at Leica; in June last year, it announced that sales had increased for the fifth consecutive year. So, why is Leica doing so well when other camera companies are seeing their figures nosedive, and why is it reducing its number of staff? 

The D750 is Nikon’s solid, reliable, entry-level full-frame DSLR, but at almost five years old, it’s due for an update. The D760 is slated for release early next year, but what specifications should we expect when Nikon's Z series of mirrorless cameras is getting all of the attention and the D850 has set the bar so high? 

With Nikon expected to make a series of bold announcements in the next 12 months, one of the most exciting might be the prospect of an affordable, entry-level, full-frame mirrorless camera for under a thousand dollars. 

Last week Fstoppers published my opinion piece on photographer Brendan van Son’s suggestion that he would give his images to Starbucks for free. Van Son has just produced a very classy response to the article in this short video and looks into the complexities of how images are shared on Instagram. 

Fujifilm is due to roll out a new version of its slightly odd rangefinder hybrid later this year. How is it going to improve on the X-Pro2, which sensor will it boast, and will it really feature 5-axis in-body stabilization? 

GoPro’s latest action cam caused a little bit of a stir when it was released last year, bringing an insane level of digital stabilization to 4K footage. DJI then shook things up by launching its mooted GoPro killer, the DJI Osmo Action. How do they compare, and which one should you buy? 

Canon has long resisted calls for in-body stabilization and it is feature that's markedly missing from the EOS R and the EOS RP. However, news is emerging that in-body stabilization paired with lens stabilization is very much in the pipeline. What are the implications for its RF and EF lens line ups? 

A successful travel photographer recently announced that he would willingly give his photos to Starbucks to use on Instagram for free, as long as they weren’t marketing a product. I was so shocked that I almost spat out my coffee.  

YouTube influencers can have a huge impact on shaping the buying public’s perception of a certain camera. Content marketing on social media is an opaque and murky world, and just because an influencer says that their content is not sponsored doesn’t mean that they’re not getting paid — especially if the gear they're promoting was given to them for free.