A digest of last week’s news is a selection of some of the news from week 08 from 2016 related to the worlds of photography and video, covering multiple topics, always rounded up with a reading suggestion.
March 1: DJI’s Phantom 4 flies
Last week DJI published a video on YouTube, with a title, Return To Your Senses – March 1st 2016, and a simple note: DJI unveils what it has in store for 2016 on March 1st (US Time).” With the recent slash in prices for the Phantom 3 Pro, which now costs $999, it’s not difficult to think a Phantom 4 is flying this Spring. The drone will, probably, be announced tomorrow, March 1, during a DJI event in New York City. But it was already news last week.
Leica reinvents smartphone photography
Huawei and Leica announced a technology partnership for the “reinvention of smartphone photography”. According to Oliver Kaltner, CEO of Leica Camera AG, “The technology partnership with Huawei offers Leica Camera an excellent opportunity to introduce its proven optical expertise into a new product segment and to unlock exciting business areas in the field of mobile devices. Smartphones make a very important contribution to the world of photography and open an important door for Leica to new target groups and fields of application.”
Apparently, Leica will provide lenses for Huawei’s smartphones. It is not clear if we ever will see a Leica branded smartphone, but it may happen, if the market demands the red dot and Leica looks extended to communications.
Lightroom 2.0 for Android available!
Lightroom 2.0 for Android is finally available. The software, tested by world-renowned travel photographer Colby Brown, who used the latest version of Lightroom for Android on his Nexus 6P, adds in a number of new, important features, including a Dehaze tool to adjust haze and fog in an image (something owners of Lightroom 6 for desktop will never get from Adobe), or Target Adjustment Tool functionality in the Color/B&W editing tool, providing direct, on-image editing controls. Download the app following the link.
Fujifilm demonstrates OIS
Fujifilm published on YouTube a video comparing the performance of their new Fujinon XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens with the Optical Image Stabilization system turned on and off. It’s an interesting, although short, video to demonstrate the potential of the modern stabilization systems. Launched recently, the Fujinon XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR expands the series of lenses for the X- series cameras from Fujifilm to focal lenghts that were impossible to reach by photographers and videographers until recently. Besides the focal length, the zoom extends the creative options, allowing for fast framing of subjects.
Free Capture One Pro 9 eBook
If you’re moving from Lightroom or Aperture to Capture One Pro 9 and need some help to get started, then this free eBook from Rocky Nook, Moving to Capture One Pro – from Lightroom or Aperture, is for you. From the RAW converter it was in its early days, Capture One has evolved, with version 9 becoming a powerful image-processing application. Give it a try, but first get the free guide, which covers essential aspects of the program. If interested, then Rocky Nook has a whole book about the program, Capture One Pro 9, by Sascha Erni, which you can find on their website.