Richard & Caroline's Blog

We all see it, people posting videos on YouTube to get views; camera brand A is going under, brand B is being sold, only Sony has a future. There is a toxic attitude around cameras with their fans pushing the idea, their brand is the only one.

We are now seeing camera news sites, picking up these comments and posting them as ‘news’ reinforcing these ideas. It’s a toxic circle and it makes people hold back from their next purchase.

The Japanese government is not going to let a large camera manufacturer fail. Olympus proved that, and they still have a group of loyal fans on the wait list for their latest pro camera.

Despite what us photographers think, traditional photography is on the way out. People are now using phones, and drones. They want simple cameras with video features like the Nikon Z30 and Sony’s ZV-E10.

There is always going to be people like me who want a decent system camera but we are few and far between, and its going to get to be an expensive hobby, but please lets support each other and are choices not talk the industry down.

I was watching a YouTube video the other night where it was commenting about a new firmware update for an old decommissioned camera.

In the comments section people were mentioning that some of the recent Nikon Z lens also had new firmware out. One for my Z 50mm f/1.2 which I had not spotted.

If you have not registered your cameras and lens with the manufacturer its well worth it, if only to get notifications on this kind of thing.

If your an avid watching of YouTube related photography Chanels, you will know that Canon, Nikon and the rest of the major brands have had it; are going bust, and only Sony is worth buying. Now I admit, Sony have been listening and have addresses many of the issues I have with them, but in this summers press awards what were people actually using to take their winning pictures.

Well as can be seen most of the press are sticking with their trusty Canon’s and Nikons, and most of these pictures were also taken with pro DSLRs not mirrorless.

My view from this is despite what your hear, there seems to be a health mix of cameras and that is good for photography.

It was good new to see the two new Canon mirrorless cameras released recently. More choice in the market is good. Nikon and Canon owners now have a great selection of mirrorless camera bodies and lens to choose from. Everyone seems to be lacking a high end cropped sensor body and only Nikon have a really pro model but I expect Canon to soon release theirs.

Sony had the mirrorless market to themselves for quite a while, and many Canon and Nikon owners had a mirrorless Sony in their bags or if wanting a cropped sensor a Fuji. Now we have real competition and Nikon owners are dropping their Sony’s to get a mirrorless Nikon and the same with Canon.

Will Sony keep their mirrorless lead, we will see. The brand has certainly listened to their fans and improved massively. The lack of 14 bit, bad menus etc have all been addresses. With Canon and Nikon releasing some stunning new mirrorless lens Sony are releasing new versions of their G Master lens to keep up. We are in exciting times.

The new Z30 from Nikon is a great new vlogging camera from Nikon.

Many Nikon users are asking ‘what is this for’. Its not a camera for a lot of us, but with USB charging while in use, a flat video profile, 2 hours recording it hits a lot of the spots YouTube users want.

Its a little expensive I feel, but it is the same price as the equivalent Sony.

The two biggest let downs are, no sensor stabilisation; so your lens need VR or you use the digital stabilisation. Secondly, we lack the wide angle lens needed for selfie work.

I would love to see a camera like this with a corner EVF or add on EVF, for travel, ie a more rangefinder style, that I feel would also sell well.

Olympus and Nikon have been the leaders in new flash tech from the camera brands; but now as the camera market shrinks Nikon are now engaging with third parties to enhance their flash system support.

This has been an area that Leica have been lacking but I see now with the release of a new controller from Profoto they now have Leica support which will please quite a few people.

I am a huge fan of Profoto, yes its not cheap but your paying for the R&D and the licenses for the frequencies that Profoto use.

Last weekend I was at a local studio and I was not using my Profoto gear but their gear. I wasted a good half an hour getting their triggers to work correctly.

The fans of the cheaper Chinese studio flash systems will gleefully point out that their controllers have had power readout for a while and are cheaper, but us Profoto users who don’t use the A10 as their controller but have the older ProFoto controller will definitely upgrade and leave our old triggers as spares.