A digest of last week’s news is a selection of some of the news from week 05 from 2016 related to the worlds of photography and video, covering multiple topics, always rounded up with a reading suggestion.
GoPro quits entry-level market
Last week, GoPro announced their HERO+ LCD, HERO+ and HERO entry-level cameras will stop selling in April, as the company wants to quit the entry-level segment of the market, due to “increased competition”, according to GoPro’s founder and CEO Nick Woodman. The $200 HERO4 Session will become the most accessible model from the company, in what is a difficult period for GoPro, after the recent market results.
Meanwhile, some breathing space seems to come from an unexpected partner. Shares of GoPro rose 5% in late trading Friday after Microsoft announced a patent licensing deal with the wearable camera for certain file storage and other system technologies. A story to follow, for sure.
Sony 100MP sensor and decades of tradition
A body derived from a collaboration between Phase One and ALPA, lenses to match, a sensor from Sony and the A-series IQ3 100MP System is born. A medium format mirrorless camera with a 100MP CMOS sensor, to create a system dedicated to provide fine art photographers with a tool that is as unmatched in beauty as it is image quality. It does not do 4K or even video, but does it matter? The finest hardware the photographic world has to offer, an absolute dream for photographers… having $56.000 to buy it.
Organic Sensor with Global Shutter
Panasonic announced at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2016, the development of a new highly functional global shutter technology for CMOS image sensor using organic photoconductive film (OPF) from Fujifilm. The newly developed highly functional global shutter technology contributes to high speed image sensing of moving objects without image distortion which appears in conventional shutter operation under very bright scene.
The alliance of a global shutter with a new technology, also from Panasonic (and Fujifilm) providing 123dB of WDR in an organic sensor – something akin to the Super CCD SR from Fujifilm – could mean dramatic changes in the camera market.
4K Video on Adobe Stock
Adobe announced that over 100,000 native 4K video assets have been added to their content collection on Adobe Stock. According to Adobe, “4K is increasingly becoming the new standard for video production, and demand for higher resolution content, sometimes referred to as UHD, is growing quickly.”
Adobe Stock 4K content is native, meaning that it was shot in 4K or, in the case of computer-generated media, rendered in 4K, which offers more precise edges when creating mattes or for other compositing tasks. These new 4K assets are available for $199.99. While standard license terms apply, there is no limitation to the number of impressions (HD versions of the 4K clips are available for $79.99).
Flash and Portrait Guides
The book of the week promotion at Rocky Nook is in fact comprised of one book and one eBook. In print, for a special price of $15,99 using coupon PRT216, is The Portrait, 2nd Edition, a definitive resource for professionals, students, and avid amateurs wishing to advance their portrait photography skills and understand how to get better portraits.
The second deal is one eBook, Creative Flash Photography, which costs only $9.99 using coupon FLASH216. Author Tilo Gockel guides readers through 40 lighting workshops which demonstrate his methods for producing impressive flash shots in portrait, fashion, macro, food, still life, and high-speed photography.
Both offers expire Sunday, February 14, 2016. It should be noted that shipping and handling fees and tax for paperback title not included in promotional price.