A surprising amount of why today’s cameras look and handle the way they do traces back to early Leicas (here, a Leica II). We have three important new announcements since the last roundup, two of them video-related. The mirrorless market for serious photographers has matured to the point where there are five distinct “niches”. One manufacturer, Sony, makes this especially … [Read more...]
The Shoguns & Nikko – How three Samurai shaped Japan
Nikko was founded in the 8th century by Shodo Shonin, a Zen Buddhist monk before there was any bakufu or shogun in Japan. The first shogun was Minamoto Yoritomo, appointed by the emperor, Go-Toba, on August 21, 1192. Although the emperor officially remained the head of the nation by title, Minamoto Yoritomo was responsible for overseeing the day to day welfare … [Read more...]
Large-caliber Canons – two bodies, four lenses, two teleconverters and a printer.
Some very large cannon on the battleship Massachusetts – oh, you wanted Canon with ONE n? How about this brand-new EOS-R5? The 800-pound gorilla finally chose where to sit! Initial specifications of Canon’s new EOS R5 have been floating around online for a couple of months now, some from Canon development releases, others from leaks, and they have looked very interesting … [Read more...]
Lee Towndrow: American Form Beyond Function
I met Lee about ten years ago when I ran a fashion boutique and mini-gallery/store in downtown Toronto. This was before his move to NYC, where Lee cauterized his role as fine art and commercial photographer. Lee's work does something difficult to achieve; it manages to smuggle the absorptions of literary street photography into the commercial realm and, conversely, pulls the … [Read more...]
Olympus has Fallen – Who’s next?
In better days – The tough, compact OM-4Ti with the 50mm f1.2 Zuiko was an iconic film SLR of the late 1980s. In a move that will surprise few watchers of the camera industry, Olympus is selling their camera business to Japan Industrial Partners, a private equity group that specializes in helping troubled companies spin off insolvent businesses. JIP is most famous for having … [Read more...]
Breaking (up) News – Apple moving away from Intel and the impact on photographers
We don’t know what new Macs are going to look like, so why not just look at a beautiful, if slightly cloudy, future? In what may, at first, seem like an unimportant piece of computer geekery, Apple announced on June 22, 2020 that they would transition the Mac from Intel’s x86 processor lineup to custom chips they are calling Apple Silicon. This is huge news for the many … [Read more...]
Two James Maher follow-up videos
James Maher follow-up: The East Village Project In this follow-up to our piece on New York street photographer James Maher, we look at a long-term portrait project James has been working on about long-time residents of the East Village, the neighbourhood where James' Italian immigrant family was based for generations and which became a haven from creatives from the … [Read more...]
Ajani Charles – The Impact.
Growing up in the extremely multicultural city of Toronto, my friends, family members, and collaborators invariably represent a diverse group of people. The network of artists I draw inspiration from consist of people with highly varying lived experiences informing their views and, as a result, my own. Many people in my circle have, at some point, also intersected with the … [Read more...]
Kings of the Mirrorless Hill – Sony A7r IV and Nikon Z7
Shot with the A7r IV – Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Part 1- introduction and competitive landscape For photographers looking for the ultimate in image quality in a reasonably affordable and portable camera, two names stand out right now – Nikon Z7 and Sony A7r mk IV. Either of these cameras will print beautifully as large as your printer will go – pairing with … [Read more...]
The Holocaust Memorial Berlin By Gerry Phillipson with Editors note.
Editor's note: I was trawling the often toxic environs of the internet this morning before even getting out of bed (always a mistake). I came across the eventual and usual cross-section of vitriol and rhetoric. Much of it turns to conspiracy of all types. Some of which I find useful, much of which is a dead-end. One can always count on Jew-hate when we dig down just a little … [Read more...]
James Maher: Streets of New York City
https://youtu.be/LeGTPfIwbHQ The latest in our video series on photographers in their favourite environments was filmed last November, but now feels like a lifetime ago. New York City then was experiencing the pre-holiday bustle of a crisp, cold autumn. I spent a week there, visiting with friends, seeing a play and several movies, eating in diners and restaurants … [Read more...]
A printer deal worth noting, a note on raw conversion, some speculation on the industry and some notes on lenses, especially slow ones.
A Canon Pro-10, a great entry-level printer (and really cheap right now) I get 100 or more deal notices each month, and almost never pass one on, but this is worth it… For those who have been following the printing series, Hunts Photo and Video in Massachusetts has an excellent opportunity to get into serious photo printing. They have the Canon Pro-10 (Highly … [Read more...]
Always With Us.
At our home in Mexico Today marks the fourth anniversary of the death of my father and founder of The Luminous Landscape Michael Reichmann. Undoubtedly he would have found our current era perplexing and disturbing. Born in London after his immediate family, my grandparents and aunts, escaped Berlin during the war, he moved to Montreal Canada at seven years old. By … [Read more...]
A New Japanese Photographic Landscape – The Covid-19 Effect
Mid-December, life was grand. Bookings were at an all-time high. My team and I were gearing up for our traditional Japanese Year-End celebration, and I was looking forward to leading a record number of photography workshop participants in 2020. However, conditions can change from clear blue skies to whiteout thundersnow in the blink of an eye. The global storm began … [Read more...]
Printing Part IV – Software Part 1 – raw converters and editors.
Goodbye old friend? Lightroom Classic’s Develop module. For years, photographers have relied on Adobe’s Lightroom (now called Lightroom Classic) for their entire image-processing pipeline – from initially downloading images from the camera to producing final prints. For three reasons, it is time to reconsider this strategy. First, Lightroom Classic barely counts as … [Read more...]
