Lens News

One sure way to give your imagery greater impact is to harness the power of shooting photos with a unique perspective. This isn't difficult to do, it just requires looking at the world differently, and then capturing what you see.

Phase One just unveiled a major overhaul of its medium format camera system. Called the Phase One XF Camera System, the new medium format platform features several key upgrades, revamps, and additions including “robust, aerial-grade mechanics, advanced electronics, a new autofocus platform, new modularity options, new software and customizable touch controls,” according to Phase One.

There’s no doubt that many accessories are worthwhile. Some make photography easier and more enjoyable, while others actually enable you to capture better images. Still other others, while they may seem interesting at first glance, are eventually relegated to an ignominious spot in the back of your camera cabinet.

Shutterbug, a member of the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), once again joined forces with 30 other member magazines from around the world to choose the winners of the annual TIPA Awards for the best photo/imaging products in 40 different categories. The award process began in early 2017 with an initial selection of a wide range of products conducted by TIPA’s Technical Committee, on which Shutterbug’s Editor-at-Large George Schaub serves. 

Unboxing videos are the closest thing the photo industry has to straight-up product pornography. Or, as the great journalist, author and social observer Tom Wolfe once termed this fetishization of luxurious objects: “plutography.”

Exploring the fundamentals of the exposure triangle. Part one: aperture!

Our show report this year is an amalgam of product news and trend spotting, which pretty much reflects what photokina has stood for in our minds. The sense of a United Nations of photography still prevails at this increasingly European-directed show, but the image and its uses is still the universal tie that binds.