http://www.dpreview.com/news/7794685541/hp-unveils-designjet-z6-and-z9-large-format-printers-that-use-less-ink

If you’re in the market for a new RED camera, you’re in luck. The California-based cinema camera company has announced that it’s both simplifying its product lineup, and dropping prices on all of its cameras.

Starting today, RED’s product lineup has been pared down to just three cameras: the DSMC2 Monster, the DSMC2 Helium, and the DSMC2 Gemini. The prices are now $54,500, $24,500 and $19,500, respectively, which amounts to a savings of over $25,000 for the Monster and Helium, and a savings of more than $5K for the Gemini.

Each of the cameras are now available in aluminum alloy and the Helium is capable of being outfitted with RED’s Helium 8K S35 Monochrome sensor:

As for why this change is happening, RED says the change is being made to "[simplify] our portfolio." The company says it "found efficiencies, and [we’re] passing along the benefits to our users."

RED also notes that the names of cameras will be changed when upgraded to firmware v7.0.3 or later. The different naming scheme is seen in the below image.

For people who have already placed an order that hasn’t shipped for an older camera that’s no longer offered, RED will update the ordered camera to the DSMC2 Brain with the exact same sensor for no additional cost. There are also upgrade options available.

You can read the full documentation of the product line simplification and changes on RED’s product support page.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/5820464545/red-simplifies-cinema-camera-lineup-dramatically-drops-prices

Fujifilm has announced its latest X-series camera, the X-T100. The camera takes the innards of the entry-level X-A5, including its 91-point phase-detect AF system, and adds a fully articulating LCD and high resolution OLED electronic viewfinder (borrowed from the X-T20).

As with the X-A5, the X-T100's 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor uses a traditional Bayer color filter, rather than the X-Trans filter found on pricer X-series cameras. The X-T100 has the usual Fujifilm feature set, including the much-loved Film Simulation Modes.

The camera can shoot continuously at 6 fps and can capture 4K UHD video, albeit at a why-did-they-bother 15 fps. Battery life is rated at an impressive 430 shots per charge. For sharing photos the X-T100 includes Bluetooth to speed up the Wi-Fi connection process.

The X-T100 is available with or without the Fujinon XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens, priced at $599/€599 and $699/€699/lb619, respectively. It will be available in mid-June in your choice of 'dark silver,' 'champagne gold' and black.

Press Release

Fujifilm X-T100 specifications

http://www.dpreview.com/news/3226043607/fujifilm-x-t100-offers-large-evf-and-phase-detect-af-for-600

Panasonic had been planning on a May 30th announcement and release of firmware updates for its GH5, GH5S and G9 models, only to have that plan foiled by a leak of the announcement in Japan today. So while you can't download the actual firmware updates themselves until next week, here's a high-level look at what you can expect from the new software.

Autofocus performance is said to be improved on all three models for both stills and video shooting along with an improvement of the quality and performance of sound recording during video. For the G9 and GH5, the image stabilizer has been tweaked, and there have been some refinements of the high-resolution mode for the flagship G9.

Unfortunately, the web pages with all of the nitty gritty details for each camera (see the links in the press release below) aren't yet live, so we can't comment on what exactly the 'New Functions' and 'Other Improvements' will be for each model. That said, we're certainly looking forward to seeing how effective these AF enhancements will be when they land next week.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1701988268/leaked-panasonic-firmware-update-is-made-official

We've been saying for years that the term "lens compression" is misleading, but Lee Morris over at Fstoppers has put together a useful video that explains exactly why this is the case, and demonstrates it with two easy-to-understand examples.

The main issue with the term "lens compression" is that the distortion the term refers to has nothing to do with the lens itself. The issue is simply perspective distortion, caused by the distance between your camera and your subject, as well as the distance between your camera and the background.

Put another way: if your subject is 1 meter away (or feet: it doesn't really matter), and your background is 50 meters away, moving back 1 meter will double the distance between you and your subject, while barely changing the distance between you and the background—the perspective on your subject changes drastically, while the perspective on your background barely shifts at all.

This diagram, from the FStoppers video, shows why changing your perspective appears to compress the background...	When you double the distance to your subject you halve its size, but you've barely moved in relation to the background, so it remains roughly the same size in your image.

To show this concept in action, Morris uses two examples. First, he shows you how you can get the exact same perspective using a 24mm lens that you can with a 400mm lens by simply cropping the wide-angle shot. Then, he does the opposite, creating the same perspective as a 15mm shot by stitching multiple shots taken at 70mm.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should go throw out all of your lenses and just pick one focal length to either crop or stitch with. Physical limitations apply: like how much room you have to back up, how much resolution you're willing to sacrifice by cropping, and how much sanity you have to spare if you're trying to create a 15mm shot by taking a thousand shots with an 800mm lens.

The demonstration is just that: a demonstration of a concept that is often misunderstood because of the language we use to describe it. The compression you get using a long lens isn't a result of the lens, so much as the distance between your subject, your background, and the camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/videos/7518158804/video-there-s-no-such-thing-as-lens-compression-its-just-perspective-distortion

Last week, some 'leaked' photos and hand-drawn schematics were published online that purported to show an upcoming drone from DJI: a Phantom 5 with interchangeable lens camera and several prime lenses. The rumor was widely reported and the photos looked real enough, but DPReview has learned that those images do not, in fact, show a Phantom 5 at all.

We spoke to DJI, who clarified on the record that the drone in the images above and below is not an unreleased DJI Phantom 5, but a specialized Phantom 4 Pro designed by DJI for an enterprise client—something that it is not at all unusual for DJI to do.

Here's the full statement:

The Phantom 4 drone with interchangeable lenses sighted in some online publications is not a DJI product for public sale. To clarify, this was a modified Phantom 4 Pro drone designed for an enterprise client to serve specific application needs.

Of course, this doesn't mean a Phantom 5 isn't in the works, but that leak from a couple of weeks ago seems to a have been a hoax.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7135163591/dji-debunks-rumor-leaked-phantom-5-was-just-a-custom-built-phantom-4-pro

In February, Vivo introduced a concept phone called Apex that featured a bezel-free display and pop-up front-facing camera, among other things. That handset may be more than just a concept, though, based on a teaser included with Vivo's latest event invitation and a video advertisement it recently published.

Originally pointed out by The Verge, Vivo has released a 2018 FIFA World Cup advertisement that includes shots of what appears to be the Apex phone. In addition to the advertisement, Vivo has also released an invite for the company's June 12th event in Shanghai, China.

The invite, below, features an image of a smartphone with a full bezel-free, notch-free display.

In addition to both of the aforementioned features, Vivo's Apex concept phone also included an in-display fingerprint sensor that worked on the entire bottom half of the phone's screen. We see hints of that feature in the FIFA advertisement above. Earlier this year, Vivo unveiled the X20 Plus UD, the first smartphone to hit shelves with an in-display fingerprint sensor.

In the event invitation, Vivo merely stated that the production phone unveiled next month "continues Vivo's vision with Apex FullView Concept Smartphone." Assuming the production phone mirrors the Apex concept, the pop-up camera will be front-facing only.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/9281479091/vivo-teaser-shows-bezel-free-smartphone-with-pop-up-camera

Skylum Software, formerly known as MacPhun and the developers of the Luminar photo editing application, today announced the creation of a research and development division dedicated to artificial intelligence in imaging. The division is called the Skylum AI Lab, and it is a collaboration between Skylum and its sister company, Photolemur, makers of an AI-powered image editor.

The team at Skylum AI Lab, which will be headed by former Let's Enchance CEO Alex Savsunenko, is already working on a number of new AI solutions. These include artificial intelligence- and machine learning-powered image upscaling, tagging and segmentation, as well as automated image enhancement systems.

As Skylum CEO Alex Tsepko explains:

By using AI-based technologies in our products, our customers save time vs. manual editing, and can often get better results. Our neural networks are being trained on millions of images taken by cameras from Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus, Nikon, Canon and many others, which means outstanding results for all photographers, regardless of what style they shoot and what gear they are using.

There is clearly a lot of buzz around artificial intelligence in imaging lately, and the possibilities do seem endless. It's still early days, but with most major smartphone manufacturers implementing AI-powered functions in their smartphone cameras, it only makes sense to push the technology on the desktop and other platforms as well.

Whether it's improved auto-tagging or lossless upscaling of images, we're looking forward to the ideas and solutions coming out of Skylum AI lab in the future.

Press Release

http://www.dpreview.com/news/5218533515/skylum-announces-creation-of-skylum-ai-artificial-intelligence-lab

Flashpoint/Godox have just announced the EC-200 extension head, adding an effective and extremely low-cost tool for cosmetic and macro photography. These heads are exclusively designed for the Evolve 200 / AD200 pocket flash, a widely popular and highly efficient product, operated by long-lasting lithium batteries.

Throughout my career I have used various types of ring flashes and parabolic umbrellas. I also collaborated with Swiss lighting manufacturer Broncolor for over a decade on countless marketing and promotional projects, and shot their launch campaigns for the original Para 330 and Ringflash C.

Super model Iman for DeBeers global campaign (2003), shot with Broncolor Para330, and Fujifilm GX680III, on Fujifilm Provia film.

These types of lights are often used by fashion photographers, as they are both easy to work with and offer many options—the Broncolor Paras in particular, which range from the 88 to 330, can produce a wide variety of effects. However, neither types are ideal for extreme close up work when balanced, even front-lighting is required.

The new remote heads from China on the other hand, are small and light enough to allow for several of them to be mounted on a camera flash bracket and rail.

Selecting tiny but wide-angled reflectors, the resulting light is much less harsh, and more feathered than the output from a ring flash, in very close distance. The total weight of, let's say, four extension heads with the small reflectors and including the bracket/rail set is just about 24 ounces, making handheld shooting is easy.

This new kind of 'Quad Ring' set up offers also the additional advantage over traditional ring flashes of allowing individual control of each of the flash heads in turn, which permits me to limit the output of the flash hitting the model's face from underneath.

This is not as easily achieved with a ring flash.

Placed on tripod, the four extension heads are still mounted on the bracket and rail, but the camera is hand-held, so the four lights hit from a slight angle. Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 250mm lens, F8, 1/4000 sec, ISO 100

The Evolve 200 / AD200 pocket flash performs extremely well and reliably in HSS (High Speed Sync) mode, and when used for this 'Quad Ring' arrangement, provides output powerful enough to completely black out direct midday sunlight.

This four-light arrangement also makes an excellent off-camera light by simply setting the contraption on a tripod and shooting from various angles around it.

The 'Quad Ring' is also off-centered in this image. This time it's placed to the camera angle, resting on a tripod. Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 120mm macro lens, F11, 1/125 sec, ISO 100	As evident by the unusual catchlights, the four extension heads are mounted on bracket and rail around the lens here. Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF 120mm macro lens, F11, 1/125 sec, ISO 100

The announcement of the new remote heads is timely. The recent release of new macro extension tubes by Fujifilm for the mirrorless medium format GFX 50S (and the release of the GF 120mm macro lens) have ushered in a new era for macro photography. One can now easily shoot 1:1 handheld, with very fast and reliable autofocus, or manually focus while zoomed in.

Compared to previous systems, macro photography with medium format mirrorless cameras has become easy and accessible. Adding the creative options created by the convenient new remote heads, it has never been more fun to shoot close up!

About the Author: Markus Klinko is an award-winning, international fashion/celebrity photographer and director, who has worked with many of today's most iconic stars of film, music, and fashion.

Klinko has photographed the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, and Iman. His editorial clients include Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, and Interview magazine.

You can find more of his work on the Markus & Koala website or by following him on Instagram.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/4294967900/using-four-godox-ec-200-extension-heads-as-a-quad-flash-for-beauty-and-close-up-lighting

In a recent presentation at its investors relations day in Tokyo, Sony was not shy about its ambitions in the photography market. According to the presentation, Sony intends to occupy the top slot in the overall camera market by the end of 2020 by boosting its interchangeable lens systems to beat back Canon and Nikon.

Already doing quite a good job of grabbing market share, the company has told investors that it plans to expand its lens business and push towards the professional market while ‘strengthening products’ in the interchangeable lens camera segment.

Despite predicting only very modest growth in 2018 and acknowledging that competitors are becoming more aggressive, the company told investors that it will "win in an increasingly competitive market and continue to generate high profit" in the mid-term. Citing its crop of awards from TIPA, EISA and Camera GP Japan to back up the claims, Sony stated that it intends to broaden the range of lenses it offers and to expand its professional support services worldwide.

According to figures shown at the event, Sony achieved a 20% share of the still camera market in 2017 by value, and managed to rank third behind Canon and Nikon. It says it was the number one brand in the mirrorless market, and was number one in the premium compact business.

To learn more about Sony's plans, check out the whole Sony Imaging Products and Solutions Segment presentation here.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7644501156/sony-reveals-camera-strategy-aims-to-be-the-top-camera-brand-by-2021

With the release of the HTC One M8 in 2014, HTC was a true dual-camera pioneer; unfortunately, that phone was also slightly ahead of its time. The One M8's camera only had a lukewarm reception, and overall the device did not prove to be particularly popular. As a consequence, HTC dropped the dual-camera concept after the M8... until now. HTC has finally rejoined the ranks of dual-camera proponents with the launch of the brand new HTC U12+.

Building on the camera performance of last year's U11+, the new model appears to have a lot to offer mobile photographers.

The main camera features a 1/2.55'' 12MP sensor with stabilized F1.75 aperture lens and 27mm-equivalent focal length. The secondary 2x optical zoom camera features a 16MP pixel count and 54mm equivalent focal length. The aperture is F2.6. The autofocus combines PDAF and laser technology and there are also a “Pro” photography mode for manual control and RAW-support, as well as a background-blurring portrait mode.

On the video side of things, the HTC U12+ is capable of capturing movies at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second which is still quite an unusual feature on a smartphone. 240 fps slow-motion is available at 1080p Full-HD resolution. The front camera also comes with a dual-camera setup. However, unlike the main shooter it is not optimized for zooming but instead designed for creating a natural-looking bokeh effect in portrait mode.

Here's a quick video into to the new smartphone and all its "bigger, bolder and edgier" features:

Other specifications include Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM and a 18:9 6-inch Super LCD6 display that supports HDR10 and DCI-P3 and comes with a 1,440 x 2,280 pixel resolution. The phone comes with 64GB or 128GB of storage that can be expanded via microSD card, and all components are housed in an IP68 certified body.

With the addition of the secondary tele-camera, on paper the new HTC looks like a very solid upgrade over its predecessor. We'll have to wait and see what the camera is capable of in real-life shooting situations.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7446355205/htc-unveils-the-u12-brings-back-the-dual-camera-and-adds-4k-60p-video

http://www.dpreview.com/news/7395606096/you-can-now-favourite-images-in-google-photos

Apple's dual-camera setup can create a depth map to simulate background blur - but now, someone's figured out how to simulate lighting effects with an impressive level of control.

Apple's dual camera devices (the 7 Plus, 8 Plus and X to be precise) generate a depth map to create the effects of Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting that we've all come to know well. Whether you love, hate or feel generally 'meh' toward fake background blur, things get interesting when Apple makes that depth map information available to third party app developers. Enter Apollo: Immersive illumination, a $1.99 iOS app with an unusual name and a few interesting tricks up its sleeve.

Apollo uses the depth map not for background-blurring purposes, but to allow users to add realistic lighting effects to photos after they're taken. Up to 20 light sources can be positioned throughout an image, with the ability to adjust intensity, color and distance. With the depth information provided, light sources interact with subjects in a three-dimensional fashion, and can even be positioned behind a subject to create a rim light.

It's hard not to be a little taken aback the first time you drag a light source around your image and see how it interacts with your subject

It's essentially an interactive version of Apple's Portrait Lighting, which applies different light style effects to images. Apollo's effects are highly customizable, and with so many parameters to play with it's naturally quite a bit more complicated to use than Apple's very simple lighting modes.

In use

We've been messing around with the Apollo app (for an admittedly short period of time), and have to say we're impressed with what it's capable of - but that doesn't mean we don't have a few requests for the next version.

It's hard not to be a little taken aback the first time you drag a light source around your image and see how it interacts with your subject(s). You are able to adjust the color, brightness and spread of your source, which are all fairly self descriptive.

You can also change the 'Distance' of your light, or it's position in Z-space; this means you can move the light to be closer to you, the photographer, or further away into the background of your scene.

Lastly, there are two global adjustments, 'Shadows' and 'Effect Range.' Shadows essentially controls overall image brightness, though it biases toward the darker tones. Effect Range adjusts the brightness of all of your lights simultaneously in the image, though keeping the brightness ratios between them constant as it does so.

Along the bottom are the parameters you're allowed for each light source you create (up to 20).	Two global adjustments are 'Shadows' which adjusts overall brightness and Effect Range which adjusts the brightness of all lights simultaneously.

Overall, it's an incredibly neat - and kind of addictive - first effort. But there are a few things that we'd like to see addressed in future versions.

Currently, every new 'light' you create starts out with a certain set of default parameters. This is alright, except for the fact that the default color is a yellowy tungsten sort of thing; it should really just begin as 'white.'

Also, if I've already tuned in a 'light' and just want another one based on those, it'd be nice to be able to duplicate one that I've already created instead of having to start from scratch each time.

And once you've finished with your new creation, you can save it out as a JPEG - but there's no way to save the lights themselves so that you can come back and tweak later. Each time you exit to tackle another image, the app asks you, 'Close photo and discard all changes?' Well, I'd rather not discard them, but if I have to, then I suppose that's that.

Lastly, it doesn't look like there's any way to preserve the blurriness of the background once you've added your lights. It'd be great to be able to still take advantage of the depth map and progressive blurring while adding in your own lighting sources.

Wrapping up

Okay, so those are some fairly major requests on our part. But we make them because we're really blown away by what the app already offers, and are excited to see how it evolves. It wasn't so long ago you'd need a powerful workstation and some serious software skills to manipulate lighting in the same way that this app does with a few taps and drags.

If you have a dual camera iPhone and want to give the Apollo app a try, head on over to the App Store yourself and take it for a spin.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/4278369142/apollo-app-for-ios-uses-depth-map-to-create-impressive-lighting-tricks

ASUS has unveiled its new ZenBook Pro 15: a lightweight laptop that packs some seriously impressive specs, including a 4K factory-calibrated display and, despite its thin 18.9mm frame, up to an 8th-generation Intel Core i9-8950HK hexa-core processor.

The model offers excellent hardware options targeting video and photo professionals, in addition to gamers. The new ZenBook Pro 15 offers a 15.6-inch IPS multi-touch display in 1080p and 4K 3840 x 2160 resolutions, both of which feature 100% Adobe RGB color space and 95% NTSC color gamut, integrated ASUS Calibration, and the promise of "pin-sharp accuracy."

If the Intel Core i9 chip—which is fairly uncommon in laptops—is a bit too rich for your blood, buyers can choose a quad-core Core i5 or six-core Core i7 processor instead. RAM can be customized to either 8GB or 16GB, and storage maxes out at 1TB SSD. Finally, graphics are delivered via an NVIDIA GTX 1050 with up to 4GB of GDDR5 memory, and a dual-fan cooling system with three heat pipes promises to efficiently keep the laptop cool during a heavy editing session.

Despite the high-end hardware, the company claims the model's 71Wh battery coupled with "clever ASUS thermal engineering" results in a runtime of up to 9.5 hours per charge. The laptop also features fast charging for bringing the battery from 0 to 60% in 49 minutes.

Other key features include two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a microSD card slot, HDMI, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, Harman Kardon audio, a NanoEdge ultra-slim bezel and aluminum unibody, silver keyboard backlight, integrated fingerprint sensor, and an overall weight of 1.86kg / 4.1lbs.

Though ASUS has unveiled the new ZenBook Pro 15, it hasn't yet revealed the price. While we wait for that, you can learn lots more about the new laptop over on the ASUS website.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/8188277369/the-new-asus-zenbook-pro-15-features-a-100-adobe-rgb-4k-display

It looks like Canon is getting into sensor sales. The three specialized CMOS sensors the company has been recently showing off—including a 120MP APS-H model and an ultra-low light sensor—have been listed for sale by special order through Canon, and through Phase 1 Technology Corp in the US. As far as we know, this is the first time Canon has publicly gotten into the semiconductor business.

That in and of itself is big news, despite the fact that these sensors are likely meant for security, machine vision and, say, astrophotography camera makers. There's the 120MP APS-H sensor, which outputs images measuring 13280x9184 pixels; there's a 2/3" 5MP global shutter sensor that boasts "remarkably wide dynamic range"; and, finally, a 2.2MP full-frame unit with 19µm high-sensitivity pixels designed for extreme low-light shooting. All three are available in RGB and monochrome variations.

B2B sensor sales like this usually require you purchase more than one sensor, so at-home camera makers may not be able to get into the action, but we've contacted the company for a quote so we can share the price with you all the same. We'll update this article if and when we hear back. In the meantime, you can find more information about all three sensors on the Phase 1 Technology Corp website.

Specifications

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0671207908/canon-is-now-selling-cmos-image-sensors-including-a-120mp-aps-h-beast

Ever after Instagram decided to abandon its chronological feed and reorder user feeds using an algorithm, it has been difficult to keep track of what you've already seen. This, in turn, keeps some users nervously scrolling through their feeds to make sure they don't miss any important posts from the people they follow. According to TechCrunch, Instagram is testing a new feature that will help alleviate this anxiety.

The feature notifies you when you're all caught up so you can turn your attention to another app or, heaven forbid, even put your phone away. In practice, the feature will be very simple: as you scroll through your feed, you'll get a notification saying "You’re All Caught Up – You’ve seenall new post from the past 48 hours."

In combination with the recently announced "time spent" feature—which will give users a better idea of how much time they spend with the app once implemented—this latest function is aimed at helping Instagramers control and manage their time in a more efficient way.

Of course, one could argue that simply going back to the original chronological feed would have been the simpler solution... but we digress.

In addition to testing 'all caught up', Instagram today introduced a new feature that allows you to mute accounts in pretty much the same way as on parent platform Facebook. You can hide posts in your feed from certain accounts without unfollowing or blocking them, allowing for a more personalized feed.

Like on Facebook, you can still see posts from muted accounts on their profile, and will still be notified if you are tagged in a post or comment. Muted users are not aware of their status and, of course, you can always unmute an account if you've changed your mind.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0971757886/instagram-launches-mute-button-testing-all-caught-up-feature

Popular photography magazine Shutterbug has announced that it is shutting down its print publication of 45 years, and will focus instead on reaching its audience online as a "web-only publication."

The news was published earlier today by Shutterbug Editor-in-Chef Dan Havlik, who says the media landscape simply cannot sustain a photography print publication any longer. The best way to serve Shutterbug's readers, says Havlik, is by dedicating all of the company's resources towards becoming a "dynamic, web-only publication."

Shutterbug magazine had a great run, but the media landscape has changed dramatically in the last 4+ decades, and we felt now was the time for Shutterbug to become a dynamic, web-only publication. Shutterbug.com has grown dramatically in recent years with record traffic and expanded reach to photographers around the world. We can now dedicate all our resources to further growing our online presence and expanding our video, social media, mobile and e-commerce channels.

Beyond simply shutting down the print side of the business, the brand has big plans for Shutterbug.com. In addition to continued how-to content, feature stories, and gear reviews, the website plans to expand its reader photo galleries and launch an online store where readers can purchase cameras, lenses, software, photo accessories, and Shutterbug-branded merchandise.

Press Release

http://www.dpreview.com/news/8168761171/shutterbug-shuts-down-print-publication-after-45-years-goes-web-only

Kodak Alaris has launched a new single-use disposable camera in Europe. Called the Kodak Daylight Single Use Camera, this 800 ISO film camera can be used in low and high outdoor lighting conditions, according to the company, which bills it as an item ideal for parties, weddings, and similar events.

The Kodak Daylight Single Use Camera has a one meter to infinity focal length and 39 total exposures; however, it's worth noting that this camera does not have a flash. The company announced the camera for the European market, and it appears to be available now from Amazon UK for lb7.79. It's unclear whether the company will launch the Daylight Single Use model in other markets.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/3599796631/kodak-daylight-single-use-disposable-camera-launched-in-europe

Computer vision company Lucid and cinema camera maker RED have partnered to create an 8K 3D camera that can capture 4-view (4V) holographic images and video in real-time. The camera is designed to work with RED's upcoming holographic Hydrogen One smartphone—both by shooting holographic content that can be viewed on the phone's 4V screen, and by using the modular phone as a "viewfinder."

The camera itself (which has yet to be named) will be made by RED, but it will be powered by Lucid’s "real-time 3D Fusion Technology." This tech generates 3D/4V footage in real-time, promising to turn a processing-intensive task into "an instantaneous point-and-shoot experience."

The camera looks like any other RED cinema camera... sort of. Except instead of one 8K sensor the camera uses two "perfectly hardware-synced" 4K sensors and a beam splitter to capture and output 8K 4-view footage. That footage can be viewed after the fact or even live using the upcoming RED Hydrogen One smartphone, which will be able to integrate directly into the RED 3D/4V and act as a 3D viewfinder.

It's important to not that this isn't just a concept. RED and Lucid had a working prototype shooting scenes at the Hydrogen One launch party on May 19th.

If you see this as a gimmick—and an expensive one at that—you're probably not alone. But Lucid CEO and Co-Founder Han Jin has faith the world is ready for, and in fact craving, 3D/4V content you can digest without goggles or glasses.

“This partnership allows us for the first time to deliver the highest-quality 3D capture to our customers, and now they can view the content immediately in 3D/4V without headsets,” says Jin via press release. “At a time when two of the biggest challenges in the industry have been resolution and easy viewing of 3D content, we believe this is the solution everyone has been waiting for.”

We don't have official pricing and release date information just yet. All Lucid and RED will reveal is that the camera—colloquially called the RED 3D/4V but still officially unnamed—will "be rolled out" in Q4 of 2018. To learn more about Lucid's tech or this strange new camera, read the full press release below or visit the Lucid website.

Press Release

http://www.dpreview.com/news/3783386849/red-and-lucid-unveil-8k-3d-camera-that-produces-4v-holographic-video-in-real-time

All rumors suggest that Canon and/or Nikon is going to get into the high-end mirrorless interchangeable lens camera market, in some way.

I don't have any insider knowledge of this, or I wouldn't be able to write this, but it looks pretty likely at this point. It also seems pretty likely to me that both brands will do everything to maintain compatibility with their existing lens mounts. Avoiding the need to design a whole new lens range, maximizing the value of the investment in the existing lineup and side-stepping the kind of anger that Canon generated when it abandoned its previous 'FD' mount (all the way back in 1987) are all major motivators.

Let's imagine what would happen if they decided to make a system that sat alongside their existing DSLRs, rather than heralding their obsolescence

Planning for a future, F-mount compatible mirrorless camera might explain why all of Nikon's recent lenses have finally abandoned mechanical aperture control from the lens mount, since it means they could be fully controlled by an adapter with electronic mounts.

So what's the alternative? Let's imagine they didn't tie themselves to their existing lens mounts. In fact, let's imagine what would happen if they decided to make a system that sat alongside their existing DSLRs, rather than heralding their eventual obsolescence.

What if they decided to make a system designed to be companion camera? A system that offers something your DSLR doesn't do, rather than trying to mimic what it already does?

A small camera, designed for enthusiasts and pros to be used alongside a DSLR or in circumstances where you don't want to lug a DSLR around. A street shooter's camera, a carry-everywhere photographer's camera. Let's think about the potential benefits.

Canon's EOS M range has drifted towards the kind of camera I'm talking about, but doesn't have the lens range to match.

It's not necessarily true that mirrorless promised to be smaller but, not least because it started with Four Thirds and APS-C sensors, that was one of the differentiators when MILCs first appeared. Yet the expectation that a mirrorless camera must replace a DSLR has resulted in an unfortunate convergence.

Demands (including from us) for more battery life, along with the need to handle and act as a like-for-like DSLR replacement has led to mirrorless cameras getting progressively larger. This has helped create a generation of cameras that are nearly as big as their DSLR rivals. And, with the exception of better video implementation and the mixed blessings of electronic viewfinders, little else to set them apart.

So what do you propose?

Essentially, I'm asking for a full frame, interchangeable lens Fujifilm X100. Ok, that might not sound much like an X100, but the common thread is of something relatively small, that by design, doesn't try to do everything. A camera that will sit happily alongside your existing camera (mirrored or not).

You can cover a lot of styles of photography with a couple of short-ish prime lenses. After all, it works for Leica

As with everything photographic, it quickly comes down to a question of lenses. This is the key element to it not being a DSLR rival: don't try to build a full lineup of lenses. I'd propose a camera with a limited number of lenses, starting with a 24mm, a 35mm a 50mm and a 90. And nothing longer than that.

This is because the size benefits that come from removing the mirror from between the sensor and the mount can only be realized with short focal lengths. Stick mainly to the shorter focal lengths and you can keep the camera and lenses smaller.

The lineup should be designed with the expectation that most people will only buy the one or two lenses that suit them. You can cover a lot of styles of photography with a couple of short-ish prime lenses. After all, it works for Leica.

Taking the long view

For me, telephoto lenses ruin mirrorless cameras. There, I've said it.

Telephoto lenses for mirrorless are just as long as their DSLR counterparts, so there's no size benefit to throwing away your mirror. Worse still, these long, heavy lenses demand that mirrorless cameras develop the bulky, bulbous grips that SLRs have evolved since the 1990s.

Creating a limited, dedicated set of lenses relieves a lot of pressure. It means you don't need to build an extensive, open-ended lens range from scratch. No tele zooms, no mid-price 24-70s. Hell, no zooms at all if you don't want to. This is something every mirrorless maker has struggled to do, both in terms of the time it takes to flesh-out a new lineup but also because mistakes get made in any learning process. Every mirrorless system has at least one lens that either isn't as optically good as you'd expect or that focuses much more slowly than you'd want.

For me, telephoto lenses ruin mirrorless cameras. There, I've said it

However, building a lineup of any size is better than building a camera with a full-depth DSLR lens mount in the name of backwards compatibility, since this condemns its users to carrying an empty mirror box around with them for eternity. And that's a punishment with a level of pointlessness right out of Greek mythology.

Nikon's 300mm F4 'Phase Fresnel' or Canon's 'Diffractive Optics' designs provide a route to providing compact telephotos.

Just produce a handful of great, dedicated primes that take full advantage of the new system without any compromises that come from maintaining compatibility with DSLRs. That way you don't have to split your R&D resources trying to keep two full lineups up-to-date.

This also has the advantage that you can sell your camera to photographers with commitments to other systems, because you're not forcing them to choose. But it still gives your existing, faithful users the benefits of full compatibility with your flash systems and other accessories, along with familiarity with your menus.

A small, self-contained system solely aimed at a subset of photographers, rather than trying to be all things to all men. A camera that complements, rather than competing with the existing lineup.

As I say, it'll never happen. But it'd be nice, wouldn't it?

As well as the desire to mesh with the existing lens lineups, the other reason we won't see the camera I describe is because Fujifilm has already effectively invented it

http://www.dpreview.com/opinion/0916243343/why-nikon-and-canon-should-build-mirrorless-as-a-second-system-but-probably-won-t