This has been fairly a 12 months for these of us who love astrophotography. The photo voltaic eclipse in April took a tour throughout North America. The Aurora Borealis crept unusually near the equator a number of occasions this 12 months. And only recently, the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS has been placing on a once-in-80,000-years present.
Have you ever had an opportunity to {photograph} any of those celestial occasions? I managed to catch the comet final week on an unexpectedly clear night time in Rocky Mountain Nationwide Park. It was an awe-inspiring and humbling factor to see.
With that, let’s get into this week’s images information! I’m filling in for Libor this week as he travels again to the tropics for some extra wonderful chicken images.
Latest Bulletins
- Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 AF: The tripod firm Sirui has introduced an 85mm f/1.4 lens with autofocus capabilities, accessible for Nikon Z, Sony E, and Fuji X mounts. This full-frame lens options 14 parts in 9 teams, and it weighs a really cheap 540 grams / 1.19 kilos (although a hair heavier in Nikon Z and Fuji X mounts). The worth of $600 might make it a really interesting alternative for portrait photographers on a finances. Much more so with the pre-order value of $500.
- Insta360 Ace Professional 2: A brand new motion digital camera from Insta360, bettering upon the unique Ace Professional with a bigger display, 50% longer battery life, higher noise discount options, and 8K/30p recording. It can also now shoot 4K 60p with “Energetic HDR” for extra dynamic vary. At $399, it ought to make a worthy competitor to GoPro cameras if you happen to’re available in the market for one thing waterproof and rugged.
- Laowa 55mm and 100mm tilt-shifts: Laowa has introduced a lot of the particulars of their upcoming 55mm f/2.8 and 100mm f/2.8 tilt-shift macro lenses, though we nonetheless don’t know the costs and launch dates. Each lenses will supply full 1:1 magnification macro images, and they are going to be accessible for Nikon Z, Sony E, Canon RF, and even Fuji GFX and Hasselblad XDC mounts. (Although with the medium format cameras, tilt and shift capabilities shall be very restricted.) Each lenses can tilt as much as 10 levels and shift +/- 12mm, which is the usual quantity of shift and truly slightly extra tilt than we frequently see.
The Rumor Mill
Apple expects this to be a giant week
We’re prone to see lots of new Apple merchandise within the coming days. Chief amongst them are new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Execs, which ought to function Apple’s latest M4 chips. There’s additionally anticipated to be a brand new M4 iMac together with a significant redesign of the Mac Mini. Aside from all of those new computer systems, we are able to count on to see lots of software program updates and some smaller accent redesigns as effectively.
Through Mac Rumors
Is Tamron only a zoom lens firm now?
In all probability not, however we must always count on to see extra zooms than primes coming from Tamron quickly, if a current interview with Tamron France President Jean-Christophe Thiry is to be believed. After speaking concerning the “romantic” nature of quick prime lenses, but the excessive stage of competitors from different producers, he concludes by saying, “we’re specializing in our strengths with our zooms.” I are likely to doubt that the period of Tamron primes is totally over, however zooms do appear to be their precedence today.
Through PhotoTrend (hyperlink in French)
Hints of a brand new Nikon digital camera? Or perhaps only a web site bug…
In response to Nikon Rumors, a placeholder was quickly seen for a brand new Nikon digital camera on the Nikon UK web site. To be particular, the location indicated 12 Nikon cameras current, however solely displayed the present 11. Whether or not this can be a signal of a brand new digital camera announcement coming quickly (Nikon Rumors says that that is usually a great signal), or whether or not it’s only a bug on the web site, stays to be seen. For what it’s value, Nikon UK has already edited the location to point the traditional 11 cameras. Nicely, Nikon will launch a brand new digital camera in some unspecified time in the future! My cash is on a Nikon Z50 II.
Through Nikon Rumors
Good Offers and New Gross sales
I’m unsure precisely why, however lots of laptop screens are occurring sale proper now for nice costs. This consists of corporations like HP and Samsung, and even BenQ is getting in on the motion. Nicely, I don’t have to grasp a sale to love it! Listed below are a few of my high picks:
- Samsung 22″ 1080p FreeSync IPS (was $120, now $90): Not the largest or highest decision show, but it surely’s in all probability the bottom value you’ll discover for an IPS monitor from a great firm.
- BenQ 24.1″ 1920×1200 PhotoVue IPS (was $400, now $270): My best choice for a monitor on a (cheap) finances. It’s not 4K and it’s not big, so why do I prefer it a lot? Coloration accuracy. This monitor covers 99% of the AdobeRGB shade house, which is loopy for a sub-$300 show. For those who want twin screens, they’re additionally promoting as a pair for $520, saving you an additional $20.
- HP Sequence 7 Professional 27″ 4K (was $650, now $450): A monitor with few compromises. It’s massive, has a ton of decision, and covers 98% of the P3 shade gamut (roughly the identical dimension as AdobeRGB).
- BenQ DesignVue 34″ 3440 x 1440 (was $700, now $600): Extremely-wide (21:9 side ratio) and loads of decision. That is virtually extra like a twin monitor setup than a single show. For picture enhancing, it covers 98% of the P3 shade gamut.
Different Pages of Curiosity
I like getting inspiration from images contests even (or particularly) once they’re not a style that I sometimes shoot. The Structure Masterprize contest is a superb instance. Have a look right here on the successful images from all world wide, together with a surprising constructing in Germany underneath the Northern Lights.
This text – The Unbelievable Blandness of AI Images – struck a nerve with me and put into phrases some ideas that had been swirling in my head. For some folks, images is seen as an alternative to reminiscences. And thru that lens, it may be thought-about acceptable to take away undesirable (or unremembered) parts like folks within the background utilizing aggressive AI instruments. However in doing so, we truly do a disservice to our reminiscences of the occasion. The creator, Allison Johnson, walks by way of her steps of re-editing a photograph with AI to seem like she remembered it, solely to lead to an “unbearably tacky” end result. Images is said to reminiscences, however they aren’t one and the identical. It’s not a failure of images to file some imperfections from the actual world – if something, it’s a function of the artwork kind.
Photograph Theme Problem, Week #73
Final week’s theme was shallow depth of area, and you’ll see the outcomes on this thread. Thanks to everybody to your submissions! This week’s theme is sudden, and you’ll submit your outcomes on this thread by Saturday, November 2, 2024!
Week #72 Outcomes
Let’s take a look at a few of the photographs we obtained for the “shallow depth of area” theme, beginning with Robert’s picture:
Typically, forests are so busy that it makes lots of sense to make use of shallow depth of area, as on this picture. The orange glow of the solar provides calmness to the scene, whereas the darker publicity provides some thriller. A really autumnal picture!
Dave’s picture is a very nice panorama with a shallow depth of area:
The out-of-focus foreground right here isolates the wave and makes the picture extra distinctive. The distinct shade distinction solely serves to boost the impact – good work!
Lastly, we’ve got AndrewGusew’s shot:
I like the shallow depth of area right here and the way it creates a painterly look. Nearly all the picture is out of focus, giving a beautiful impressionistic look.
Thanks everybody for submitting their images within the problem, and we hope to see extra subsequent week within the sudden theme.