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The Digital Photography Review Newsletter
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Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Welcome to the 712th DPReview Newsletter

Seattle's early summer seems to be continuing for now, which should make it easier for us to complete our forthcoming roundup of rugged/underwater compacts (though I can confirm Lake Washington is still near-freezing). We've also just got hold of a couple of exciting lenses, which we'll be publishing more about, shortly. But in the meantime...

Panasonic TZ200/ZS200 review

The Panasonic TZ200/ZS200 takes the company's travel zoom concept to a new level, combining a 1"-type sensor with a remarkable 24-360mm equivalent zoom, but in a package you can still fit in a jacket pocket. But are the images as impressive as the specifications? Click here to read our review.

Tamron 70-210mm gallery

The Tamron 70-210mm F4 is an relatively compact, semi-fast, stabilized telephoto zoom that can be used both on full-frame and APS-C DSLRs from Canon and Nikon. How does it handle the kinds of sports shooting it's likely to be used for? Take a look at our gallery.

DPReviewTV Waterproof Roundup

It may not be summer just yet, but it's already time to start preparing for holidays, get-aways and outdoor activities. With this in mind, Jordan and Chris have been messing about in boats with a clutch of the latest rugged, waterproof cameras. Find out what they thought.

Venus Optics Laowa 9mm F2.9 Zero-D gallery

Venus Optics is one of a band of third-party lens makers trying to make a name for itself with ambitious, unusual lenses. What are the results from its fast, ultra-wide prime like?
See more in our sample gallery


What should Canon and Nikon's high-end mirrorless be?

Rumours suggest Canon and/or Nikon will enter the high-end mirrorless market in the coming months. They'll almost certainly build these cameras with backwards compatibility in mind, but what's the alternative, I wonder?


As I say, there's plenty in the works, whether you're interested in smartphones, medium format or whatever Canon and Nikon actually have up their sleeves. Stay tuned.

Richard

News updates
Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 8:17:00 PM GMT

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 why this is the case, and demonstrates it with two easy-to-understand examples.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 8:00:00 PM GMT

Last week, some 'leaked' photos were published online that purported to show a DJI Phantom 5 drone with interchangeable lens camera and several prime lenses. The rumor was widely reported, but DPReview has learned that those images do not, in fact, show a Phantom 5 at all.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 6:22:00 PM GMT

The bezel-free Vivo Apex concept phone with its pop-up camera might be more than a concept. A new teaser video and ad seem to hint at a similar smartphone to be released June 12st.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 5:34:00 PM GMT

Skylum has teamed up with its sister company Photolemur to create Skylum AI Lab, where the duo will work on AI-powered image solutions including image segmentation, tagging and upscaling.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 4:42:00 PM GMT

Award-winning fashion and celebrity photographer Markus Klinko recently tested out the Godox EC-200 flash extension head. Actually, he tested out four of them, creating a quad-flash ring light alternative that works great for both beauty and close-up work.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 2:42:00 PM GMT

According to a recent investor presentation, Sony intends to occupy the top slot in the overall camera market by the end of 2020, beating back Canon and Nikon by boosting its interchangeable lens systems.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 1:57:00 PM GMT

HTC brings back the dual-camera on the newly-announced U12+, which features a secondary tele-camera with 2x zoom factor, as well as 4K video recording at 60 frames per second.

Published Wednesday, May 23, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

We've been messing around with Apollo, an iOS app that allows you to add 3D lighting effects to images using depth information, 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.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 8:10:00 PM GMT

The new lightweight laptop packs a whole lot of photo- and video-editing punch. The laptop can be specced out with a Core i9 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, NVIDIA graphics with 4GB of GDDR5, and a 4K display with 100% Adobe RGB coverage.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 7:57:00 PM GMT

It looks like Canon is getting into sensor sales. The three specialized CMOS sensors the company recently demoed—including a 120MP APS-H model and an ultra-low light sensor—have been listed for sale through a distributor in the US.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 5:39:00 PM GMT

Instagram has finally launched a "Mute" button, and is testing an "All Caught Up" feature that will let you know when you've seen all new post from the people you follow from the past 48 hours.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 5:20:00 PM GMT

45-year-old photography magazine Shutterbug announced today that it is shutting down its print publication, focusing instead on reaching its readers online as a web-only publication.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:40:00 PM GMT

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.

Published Tuesday, May 22, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

If Canon and Nikon do get into high-end mirrorless, it's almost certain that they'll do everything they can to maintain compatibility with their existing mounts. But, asks Richard Butler, wouldn't it be more interesting if they built a small, niche system to live alongside their existing DSLRs?

Published Monday, May 21, 2018 8:41:00 PM GMT

It seems RED's Hydrogen One super-phone will make it into the hands of customers in the near future. The phone is now officially slated for a Verizon and AT&T release in the US sometime this summer.

Published Monday, May 21, 2018 6:49:00 PM GMT

You know that feeling when you're already all suited up and out on a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, and only then do you realize you forgot to put the SD card in your GoPro? No? Us either... but one astronaut on the ISS sure does.

Published Monday, May 21, 2018 3:43:00 PM GMT

From 2015 to 2017, filmmaker Macgregor and his crew spend many months traveling back and forth on the famed Mauritanian Railway—the so-called 'Backbone of the Sahara—to document the grueling journey endured by merchants who regularly travel atop this train. This beautifully-executed short doc is the result.

Published Monday, May 21, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

Our original gallery for Tamron's new 70-210mm F4 had portraits, slow-moving wildlife and city scenes, but was sorely missing fast action. We remedied that by photographing some motorcycles flying through the air.

Published Sunday, May 20, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

This week on DPReview TV, Chris and Jordan prepare for the summer holiday season by putting several popular waterproof cameras to the test. If you're considering a rugged camera for the beach or pool this summer, or if you just want to see what a Chris and Jordan fishing show might look like, tune in.

Published Saturday, May 19, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

Soulumination is a non-profit organization that provides life-affirming legacy photography to families facing serious medical conditions, completely free of charge. This video shares the work they are doing.

Published Friday, May 18, 2018 9:04:00 PM GMT

Fujifilm EU seems to have accidentally leaked an unreleased camera to the masses. The leaked page details a new "X-T100" camera that will share most of its specs with the X-A5, but includes an EVF, deeper buffer, and 3-way tilting touchscreen.

Published Friday, May 18, 2018 5:39:00 PM GMT

LA-based director and cinematographer Phil Holland of PHFX recently joined forces with Gotham Film Works to create something out-of-this-world. Using a special aerial camera array, Holland shot a flyover of New York City using not one, not two, but three 8K RED Weapon Monstro VistaVision cameras.

Published Friday, May 18, 2018 4:41:00 PM GMT

According to an interview with the Google Photos team on XDA, object removal simply had a lower priority in the development queue than other features. It might still show up some day... but maybe not.

Published Friday, May 18, 2018 1:39:00 PM GMT

In a bid to clear up online speculation, surprise entrant to the full frame cinema lens market Nisi has answered some questions about its relationship with brands marketing lenses very similar to its own F3 series.

Published Friday, May 18, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

Now that we've completed our review of Panasonic's Lumix DC-ZS200 (TZ200), we've updated its entry in our Best Cameras for Travel, Best Pocketable Enthusiast Cameras and Best Enthusiast Long Zoom Cameras buying guides.

Published Thursday, May 17, 2018 5:49:00 PM GMT

This useful video guide by The Slanted Lens will get you up to date on the latest TSA rules on flying with lithium ion batteries. If you're getting ready to travel with a bunch of photography gear, this is one to watch.

Published Thursday, May 17, 2018 3:05:00 PM GMT

This product photo was captured using two speedlights to light the bottle, a smartphone to light paint the background, and some Photoshop to pull it all together. Watch the video to see how product photographer Dustin Dolby did it.

Published Thursday, May 17, 2018 2:03:00 PM GMT

The software development kit allows third-party developers to create mobile and desktop apps that can control the camera remotely via USB cable or Wi-Fi.

Published Thursday, May 17, 2018 1:47:00 PM GMT

Fujifilm has been forced to roll back the much-anticipated firmware update v4.0 for the X-T2 released last week due to "malfunctions." Firmware updates for the GFX 50S, X-H1 and X-Pro2 planned for this month have also been delayed as a result.

Published Thursday, May 17, 2018 1:00:00 PM GMT

The Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D is an ultra-wide lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras designed with minimal distortion. We took an E-mount version of the lens out for a spin on the a6500 – take a look at the results.