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The Digital Photography Review Newsletter
The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 400,000 subscribers
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Welcome to the 848th DPReview newsletter.

Over the last week we've continued to shoot with Sony's flagship Alpha 1, culminating with the initial review that we published today. (To say that there's a lot of interest in this camera is an understatement.) We also spent some time shooting around with the Fujifilm X-E4, and published a field review of Tamron's lightweight 17-70mm F2.8 for Sony E-mount.

It's shaping up to be a snowy weekend here in Seattle, so we'll have some extra variety in our next set of galleries. Until then, be well, and we'll see you next week.

Jeff


Sony a1 initial review

The Alpha 1 is the pinnacle of Sony's engineering prowess, and it shows as soon as you fire it up. With 50 Megapixels, an advanced autofocus system, 30 fps burst shooting (at full resolution) and 8K video, it's truly impressive. Our initial review covers the highlights: look for our in-depth review in a few weeks.

Read our Sony a1 initial review

Tamron 17-70 F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD field review

This compact lens with a very long name is equivalent to around 26-105mm when mounted on Sony APS-C bodies. While it's heavy on the distortion and has some issues with chromatic aberrations, it's very sharp and a good value.

Read our Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 review


Fujifilm X-E4 sample gallery update

We're continuing to shoot with a pre-production X-E4 and have built our gallery up to 90 images. Click-through to size up its photo quality, or just look at cute dog photos.

View the pre-production Fujifilm X-E4 gallery

DPReview TV: Sony a1 review

Our friends in Calgary also got their hands on the new Sony a1. With Chris still in quarantine, Jordan set out to see if the Alpha 1 lives up to its billing. And if you haven't already done so, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Watch the DPReview TV Sony a1 review

News updates
Published Thursday, February 11, 2021 7:00:00 PM GMT

As far as what's inside the FX3 camera shown off in the images, little is known, but the two leaked photos give us a good look at what its form factor will be.

Published Thursday, February 11, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

The Sony Alpha 1 is Sony's flagship mirrorless camera for, well, just about anything. With a 50MP sensor, it gives you tons of resolution, but it also lets you fire off burst images at 30 fps for fast action sports. Add in 8K video capture and you have a really impressive package.

Published Thursday, February 11, 2021 2:55:00 PM GMT

Canadian developer Jacob Jackson has put his experience working with AI to interesting use with his new Same Energy search engine. Same Energy is developed to show you visually similar images with its results.

Published Thursday, February 11, 2021 2:00:00 PM GMT

It's been almost three years since we launched DPReview TV. Relive some of our favorite episodes and support our subscriber challenge: help us reach 300,000 subscribers by Valentine's Day and give Jordan a special challenge of his own.

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2021 8:15:00 PM GMT

It's come to light that a Kickstarter campaign we shared back in November 2020 is very likely a scam. As such, we've gathered information, shared the rationale behind our decision to cover the project and more.

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2021 8:15:00 PM GMT

The 2021 National Award winners for Sony's World Photography Awards were recently announced.

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2021 4:54:00 PM GMT

Venus Optics has brought two of its existing ultra-wide-angle lenses and two macro lenses to L mount camera systems.

Published Wednesday, February 10, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

Wait... you're reviewing a what? Chris and Jordan work in some pretty frigid conditions, so they've been using the G-Tech battery-powered hand warmer. Find out why they think it's a useful accessory for cold weather photographers.

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 8:30:00 PM GMT

Sony Japan has posted a notice to its website informing consumers it's pushed back the planned February 12 release date of its FE 35mm F1.4 GM lens.

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 7:34:00 PM GMT

In addition to general stability and performance improvements, firmware version 2.00 for the ZV-1

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 5:57:00 PM GMT

Photographer Kevin Raposo wanted to see if the 108MP Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra could best a professional DSLR camera. He pitted the Galaxy against the Canon 1DX II, which has a 20.2MP sensor. Can you tell the images apart?

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 3:26:00 PM GMT

Join filmmaker Jordan Meyers as he uses the DJI Mini 2’s advanced camera and intelligent flight modes to capture stunning drone footage in the cold and wintery Cascade Mountains.

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

The Fujifilm GF 45-100mm F4 R LM OIS WR is a medium zoom for the GFX system of medium-format digital cameras. It's equivalent focal length of roughly 36-80mm may not be all that familiar these days, but it makes for a nice walk-around lens for landscapes and portraits alike.

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2021 2:30:00 PM GMT

A Micro Four Thirds camera that uses the same AI photo trickery as smartphones to improve the way pictures look promises open-source access for custom applications and live streaming video direct through your phone

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 8:24:00 PM GMT

Last Friday, a pair of real estate photographers captured images near a park in San Francisco. After leaving, a vehicle pulled up behind them in traffic, smashed the back window, and made off with a bag of equipment worth $7,000.

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 7:06:00 PM GMT

The Society has literally photographed every page of its Journal magazine between 1853 and 2018, and made it all free to read online in a massive treasure trove of photographic history

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 6:12:00 PM GMT

Reveni Labs has launched a new Kickstarter campaign for its compact, lightweight Spot Meter. The project, which has been already met its funding goal, aims to offer film photographers an easy-to-use, small light meter at a reasonable price.

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 3:59:00 PM GMT

Nikon's 2021 fiscal year might look grim on paper, but it seems the company is taking the steps required to stay sustainable in a shrinking market.

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

We've topped off our Fujifilm X-E4 pre-production sample gallery with a wide variety of additional images showcasing an array of 'Film Simulations,' for your viewing pleasure. Have a look!

Published Monday, February 8, 2021 2:00:00 PM GMT

The Tamron 17-70 F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD is a compact general-purpose lens for Sony's APS-C, E-mount mirrorless cameras. So how does it perform? Read our review to find out.

Published Sunday, February 7, 2021 6:34:00 PM GMT

A lot has changed since Jake Hicks' excellent tutorial was written. Polaroid is now manufacturing instant film, again, and here's how you can make a negative from a print.

Published Sunday, February 7, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

Robotics company MRMC has seen demand for its remote camera pods explode in the past 12 months, including at the recent presidential inauguration in the US. We sat down (remotely, of course) with representatives from MRMC and Nikon recently to learn more about the setup.

Published Sunday, February 7, 2021 2:00:00 PM GMT

Our team at DPReview TV just finished their review of the new Sony a1. Here's a gallery of images they shot while testing the camera, straight from the frozen northlands.

Published Saturday, February 6, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

Just for fun, we dusted off an old Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm F2.8 AI-S lens and slapped it on a Nikon Z7 and Z7 II to see what it's simple optical formula can do on a thoroughly modern full-frame camera.

Published Saturday, February 6, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

With Chris still in quarantine, Jordan becomes a one man camera reviewing machine. He takes us through the Sony a1 from top to bottom, then tells us what he thinks. (Spoiler: he's impressed.)

Published Friday, February 5, 2021 6:59:00 PM GMT

Utah's Senator Mike Lee reintroduced his previously-defeated Drone Federalism Bill on February 4th. If passed, it could hit hobbyist and commercial drone operators, financially.

Published Friday, February 5, 2021 6:45:00 PM GMT

Affinity Photo has long been a strong competitor to Adobe Photoshop. With its new version 1.9 update, Affinity Photo is an even stronger photo editing application. Available for macOS, Windows and iPad, Affinity Photo 1.9 adds many new features and promises improved performance.

Published Friday, February 5, 2021 4:02:00 PM GMT

The fully-manual lens is set for a February 12th release for Canon EOS-M, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds and Sony E mount camera systems.

Published Friday, February 5, 2021 3:00:00 PM GMT

One of the greatest joys of experimenting with color print film is discovering the wide variety of options out there, each rendering color/grain/contrast differently than the next. Want to know more? We've got you covered in our complete beginner's guide.

Published Thursday, February 4, 2021 10:44:00 PM GMT

The Dutch Card House Company launches a set of neat playing cards with a fun photography theme.