Announcements! Announcements! ANNOUNCEMENTS! So many new things to talk about this week! From iPhones with islands preinstalled to robots with an E-Mount, here are some of the best camera gear announcements from the past few days.

Monday:

Canon orders Viltrox to halt production on RF lenses:

“SHENZHEN JUEYING TECHNOLOGY CO.LTD, manufactures auto focus lenses for Canon RF mount under the brand name “Viltrox”. Canon believes that these products infringe their patent and design rights and has therefore requested the company to stop all activities that infringe Canon’s intellectual property rights.”

• Canon Germany

There are currently a handful of other third-party lenses for the RF Mount, only time will tell as to whether or not they remain available.

Tuesday:

Sony’s new robotic PTZ E-Mount cinema camera, the FR7:

Sony has created what it’s calling a “new world” of remote shooting capabilities with the introduction of their latest cinema camera, the remote controlled, full-frame, robot mounted FR7. This is notably the first camera to feature the trio of a full frame sensor, PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) robotics and an interchangeable lens mount.

The company says the camera is aimed mostly at reality TV, episodic drama, cooking shows and music video productions as these are all instances in which a traditional human-operated camera setup either takes up too much space or simply isn’t practical. The camera could also be deployed in more common PTZ environments, such as lecture halls, houses of worship and concerts.

The guts of the camera are touted to be identical to those of the Sony FX6, with a 10.3-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with 15+ stops of dynamic range, 4K shooting at up to 120p and all of Sony’s latest and greatest autofocus functionality. The one noted difference is the lack of any audio capture, though it is assumed that this camera will only exist on productions with dedicated sound departments. Though there are over 70 FE lenses that are compatible with the camera’s full-frame E-Mount, there are only a handful of lenses with built-in servo zooms to access the camera’s remote zoom functionality. One of the best options comes available as a kit with the camera, the Sony FE PZ 28-135mm F/4 OSS G (try saying that three times).

The camera is built into a 2-axis pan/tilt gimbal with a base for connectivity and mounting the camera to rigs like cranes and dolly tracks. Movement of the gimbal can be either entered as pre-programmed keyframes or done manually with a joystick on the RM-IP500 remote controller. The camera uses a web-app for settings control and monitoring and can be accessed by scanning the QR code located on the base of the camera, either with a wireless or wired connection. The camera records to CFexpress Type-A and SDXC formats internally, has HDMI and SDI output and can be powered via LAN or DC in (no built-in batteries).

Wednesday:

Hasselblad’s hotly anticipated X2D 100C gets IBIS and Hybrid AF:

They put a man on the moon. When it came time to decide which camera he should bring with him, the answer was almost too easy: bring a Hasselblad. Their brand has been synonymous with the word quality for over 80 years. When they put a person on Mars, I’ll bet they’ll have a Hasselblad around their neck.

The latest in Hasselblad’s medium-format mirrorless lineup is the newly announced X2D 100C. It features a 100-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, phase detection hybrid autofocus, 5-axis in-body image stabilization and 15 stops of dynamic range with 16bit colour. The camera is equipped with 294 phase detection AF points, 3.3fps burst speeds and a 0.5-inch OLED EVF with 5.76 million dots. The top of the camera features a small colour display that shows current settings and is accompanied by the 3.6-inch 2.35 million dot rear tilting-LCD panel.

The main headline of the camera is that it features 1TB worth of speedy internal storage, provided by an SSD. While the camera does feature a single CFexpress Type-B card slot, one is not necessary to use the camera. Other camera manufacturers, take notes!

The internal SSD is going to be a godsend, given that RAW files on this monster are expected to clock in at about 200mb a pop. An average 64gb card would only be able to hold about 300 photos.

The X2D 100C is available to order on Hasselblad’s website for a staggering $10,750.

The Panasonic 18mm f/1.8 L-mount:

Panasonic has unveiled their newest L-mount lens, the ultra-wide Lumix S 18mm F/1.8. This newest lens fits nicely along their current lineup of 1.8 primes, keeping the same center of gravity and overall fit and finish, allowing for easy lens swaps for gimbal users, without the need for rebalancing. The remaining specs are as follow:

• 13 lens elements in 12 groups, 3 aspherical lenses, 3 ED lenses, one UED element and one UHR lens.
• Minimum focus of 18cm
• 12oz, 8.2cm long
• 67mm filter thread
• Dust/splash resistant
• Pricing:

The new iPhone has an island. No, seriously.

Apple held their “Far-Out” event on Wednesday and unveiled a few interesting products. The most noteworthy, in our photographic opinion, was the announcement of the new iPhone 14 Pro series, with a new 48-megapixel 24mm main camera. This marks the first time the iPhone’s camera has seen a resolution bump since the iPhone 6s all the way back in 2015. The phone is now not only capable of pixel-binning shots to 12MP, thus resulting in a more detailed image while taking up less storage space but can also punch in on the center 12MP of the main camera, offering a 2x digital telephoto. Video has also been improved with the new Action Mode for smoother, gimbal-looking shots similar to those using GoPro’s HyperSmooth.

The new A16 powering the new phones sports a new Photonic Engine, which Apple claims to aid in low-light processing to offer a 2x improvement in noise and sharpness across all 3 cameras. The Photonic Engine is required for Action Mode as well, so video shooters will not be seeing it available as a software update.

The front-facing Face ID and selfie camera have also received their share of improvements and are now housed in a pill-shaped cutout in the display that Apple has touted the “Dynamic Island”. The selfie camera now features autofocus and an improved F/1.9 aperture. For the full feature-set and to drool over the best designed website on the planet, visit apple.com/iphone

Thursday:

Fuji X-Summit NYC 2022:

Fujifilm announced a few new products on Thursday, the X-H2 mirrorless camera, the XF 56mm F/1.2 R WR and the GF 20-35mm F/4 R WR.

X H2:

• 40MP X Trans 5 HR sensor
• X Processor 5
• 15fps burst shooting
• 160MP sensor-shift photos
• 8K 30p internal video ProRes 4:2:2 10bit
• 12bit 8K RAW output via HDMI
• FLog2 with 13 stops of dynamic range
• 4K oversampled from 8K
• Minimum shutter in ES mode of 180,000
• HEIF format for 30% size reductio from JPEG while maintaining 10bit colour
• 5 axis in-body image stabilization
• 5.76 million dot EVF with 120fps refresh rate
• 79 weather sealed points
• Optional cooling fan and battery/file transmission grip
• Dual SDXC card slots
• Body price: $2549.99

XF 56mm F1.2 R WR:

• 11 blades for nearly perfectly circular bokeh
• 13 elements in 8 groups
• Two aspherical elements and one ED element
• High-refractive technology
• Minimum focusing distance of 50cm
• Dust and moisture sealed
• Fluorine coating
• 67mm filter thread
• Pricing: $1274.99

GF 20-35mm F/4 R WR:

• 16-28 equivalent focal length
• 14 elements in 10 groups
• 3 aspherical, 3 ED elements for reduced chromatic aberration and increased sharpness
• Nano GI coating for increased contrast and reduced flare
• 11.2 cm long, 25.6 oz
• 82mm filter thread
• Weather sealed design
• Pricing: $3199.99

Sony A7IV Firmware 1.10:

Sony released a firmware update for A7IV users. The update log is as follows:

• Allows you to select M and S sizes in addition to L when using the RAW recording lossless compression method
• The shutter speed and ISO sensitivity settings dedicated for flash photography can be retained
• Adds the Touch Shutter function
• Improves the accuracy of the Eye AF feature
• The camera's serial number can be recorded in the metadata in the movie files
  Note: Where the Write Serial Number option was set to On before the update, the Write Serial Number (still image/movie) will be set to Off after the update.
• Improves operability of Wi-Fi connections
• Adds a 1 minute setting to the Power Save by Monitor menu
• Fixes an issue where the viewfinder display may not be brightened according to the ambient brightness
• Improves the operational stability of the camera

Keeping up-to-date with the latest firmware ensures you can take advantage of all the latest features available for your camera. Firmware updates can also add compatibility with lenses and accessories or improve functionality. If you are not comfortable running an update on your own, let the experts at McBain help! Bring your camera down to the McBain nearest you to have its firmware updated to the latest version. Please be sure your battery is full charged before turning it in for servicing.

Upcoming McBain Events:

Mastering Your Digital Camera - September 10, 9:30-4:30, Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce: Join instructor Bob Bittner for Mastering Your Digital Camera! Bob will teach you about the different shooting modes of your interchangeable lens camera or advanced point & shoot. Some of the concepts covered are depth of field, aperture, shutter speed, and exposure. It is recommended that you take this workshop before registering in any of the more advanced workshops.

Night Sky with Shane Turgeon - September 15, 7-9pm, Online: Are you a newbie to photographing the night sky? Do you enjoy being out at night and looking at the sky but are unsure what you’re seeing? Do you long to take pictures of the night sky but aren’t sure where to start or if it’s really your jam? Then this is the workshop for you! Night Sky Photography with Shane Turgeon will cover the various wonders of the night sky, learning the difference between the summer sky and the winter sky, what is twilight, how to take long exposures correctly, what apps you should be using, how to focus in the dark, finding compelling compositions in the dark, light painting vs low level lighting and more!

On the Spot Colour Film Processing - September 17, 1-4pm, Southgate Centre: Join McBain's resident film extraordinaire, Danny Vo, for some on-the-spot processing of colour film. Learn the ropes of colour film development as Danny processes your negatives live in-store, then pick up some chemicals and kits to try what you learned at home! Bring in up to two rolls of 35mm or one roll of 120 film (C-41 only!).

A Conversation with Vaughn Ridley, Presented by Canon Canada - September 29, 7-9pm, Online: Vaughn Ridley is a Professional Sports Photographer and has been using Canon cameras and lenses throughout his entire photography career. Originally from Canada, Vaughn began his career in England approximately 20 years ago, shooting pro sports such as soccer, rugby, cricket, and aquatics. He was the official photographer for various organizations, including The Rugby Football League, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, British Swimming, and the Scottish Rugby Union. In 2013, he moved back to Canada with his family and currently continues to shoot pro sports for clients such as Getty Images, the Toronto Raptors, and the NBA

Sign up for any of our events by heading to mcbaincamera.com/workshops

Bonus Tidbits:

A new photography-based board game soon to launch on Kickstarter that teaches angles of view and focal lengths: https://sitdown-games.com/produit/redwood/

Queen Elizabeth II’s life in photos: https://petapixel.com/2022/09/08/queen-elizabeth-ii-has-died-a-look-back-on-her-life-in-photos/