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Canon launches the Canon EOS 90D and Canon EOS M6 Mark II

Canon has announced two new cameras , one DSLR and one mirrorless with many similar features. The EOS 90D comes through the EOS 80D and features an upgraded sensor, 4K video recording and gets Canon’s Dual Pixel auto focus system. It will cost for Rs. 85,900 approx for just the body and roughly Rs. 96,600 for the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM kit and and Rs. 1,14,500 approx for the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit. Canon also launched the EOS M6 Mark II, with the same primary features as the EOS 90D, but with an electronic viewfinder and more compact body. It will be available in two colours for Rs. 60,900 approx for just the body and Rs. 78,700 approx with the EF-M 15-45mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM and EVF-DC2 kit and Rs. 96,600 approx with the EF-M 18-150mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM and EVF-DC2 kit.


Both cameras have an APS-C CMOS sensor with a 32.5-megapixel resolution. The cameras also has Canon’s latest DIGIC 8 image processor which enables the Canon EOS 90D to shoot up to 10fps continuous stills, it is a big addition from the 7fps of the EOS 80D. It also has a 45-point, cross-type auto focus (AF) system, and 100 percent viewfinder coverage. The camera also consists of face detection mode. The camera looks almost same to the 80D. You get the DSLR-style hand grip, a alternative display on the top, and a vary-angle touchscreen display. The camera also has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.


The Canon EOS M6 Mark II is a mirrorless APS-C camera, so the body is a lot more smaller and is made for amateur photographers. It is able of shooting 14fps burst shooting, with AF and AE (auto exposure) tracking and 30fps when using RAW Burst Mode with pre-shooting capability. There’s an optional EVF-DC2 electronic viewfinder attachment, which is part of the bundle if you buy it as a kit. The camera also gets a 3-inch tilting touchscreen display with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and can shoot 1080p video at up to 120fps.

Canon launches the RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS and RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS Lenses

Canon’s bunch of RF full-frame mirrorless lenses just increased by two lenses. The company announced the new RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS and RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS.


The new RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM is Canon’s first f/2.8 wide zoom lens that includes image stabilization (IS). It features 5 stops of stabilization, edge-to-edge sharpness, a control ring, and drip and dust resistance. The lens will be available in late September 2019 with a cost of Rs 1,60,000 approx.


The new RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM is equal in size to the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II, except it features 5-stop image stabilization. Other features and specs include focus breathing suppression during manual focusing, sensitivity setting during manual focusing, focus ring usage adjustments, and a customizable control ring (that can be assigned to aperture, shutter speed, ISO, or exposure compensation). The lens will be available in late September 2019 with a price tag of Rs 1,65,000 approx.


Tips for Mobile Photography

The video gives tips on how to get the best out of your Phone Camera to get better pictures. There are always these tiny secrets that you can keep in mind that make you stand out from the rest and this video will give you those insights.


Nikon unveils Filmmakers Kit

Introduces it at a discounted price of  Rs. 382,832
 
Nikon announced the all new Mirrorless Z6 Filmmakers Kit for the Indian market recently targeted at content creators and filmmakers. The kit will enable users to unlock the cameras video features and powerful potential, along with lenses and multiple accessories. The kit is being offered at a special price for a limited time period of Rs. 3,82,832 which is otherwise available at Rs. 5,04,240.
 
The kit includes a Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens, NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens, a Wireless Microphone ME-W1, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL15b, Zhiyun Crane 3 Lab (Creator Package), Atomos Ninja V Recording Monitor, HDMI cable (4K), Hoya Filter HMC NDx4 72.0mm, Hoya Filter HMC NDx8 72.0mm, Hoya Filter HMC NDx4 62.0mm, Hoya Filter HMC NDx8 62.0mm and a Hard case (type 6700). 
 
Commenting on the release Sajjan Kumar, MD, Nikon India said that they were excited to announce the availability of the Nikon filmmaker’s kit which will enable the users to leverage its hand-picked accessories. The idea behind creating this customized kit was to offer them a convenient method to purchase the relevant accessories in one go, providing an unmatched videography experience at a more competitive price point.

Éclat, Bollywood and a Very Long Journey – Dabboo Ratnani Gets Candid

Dabboo Ratnani is a name that is synonymous with celebrity and fashion photography. Celebrities swear by him and so do designers and fashionistas. His annual calendars are a thing that everyone waits for through the year and the who‘s who of Bollywood feature in them! We spoke to the brilliant and charismatic Dabboo regarding his journey of 25 years in the industry. Excerpts:
 

What do you think are the key learning that you have taken from your career over the years? You will complete 25 years in the industry this year. Are you thinking of something special to celebrate it in terms of photography/project etc?

Yes, this is my 25th year in the industry and it is going great. It has been an amazing run. I am still enjoying as much as I used to. I still take shoots like as if it is my first day at work. I feel that fire, the energy. I enjoy it as much as I used to in day one of my photography. So even when I shoot today, I always think ‘let’s try something new today. Let’s try something different, let’s try a new angle, maybe a new lens, maybe a new camera, a new lighting accessory, something that keeps me excited’. I feel that it has kept me going, something that keeps me really fired up with regards to my shoot, my profession.

One thing that I stress upon is that nowadays people have better access to equipment than what we had but that will not make you a brilliant photographer. It is not only about the equipment, it has a lot to do with the aesthetics of a photographer, it has a lot to do with how a photographer frames the shot, how he sees the model, how he is going to style the model. People are so worried about equipment these days – whether it should be a mirrorless or a DSLR, or should it be a medium format and so on. It has a lot to do with the vision of the photographer, the concept, the whole feel – everything is created by the photographer.



Having been in this field for so many years do you feel exhausted sometimes? How do you motivate yourself at such times?

It has been an amazing 25 years. I wouldn’t say I get exhausted, but I think travelling, watching movies or listening to music helps me to create and think differently every time. So, I feel that you need to inspire yourself. You need to find an inspiration, whatever that inspiration may be! It is very relative and may be very different for every person. I love watching movies, videos on the internet, I love watching TV shows. I get inspiration from everything and I think one must draw inspiration from wherever they can. So even something like walking down the street or at the gym on the treadmill – wherever I get some me-time, I am constantly thinking of concepts. So you should always be open. I think photography is pretty much in Manisha and my blood stream now! Our mind is always working around ‘Okay what can we do next for the shoot’. Every place we travel to, we are always looking- ‘Oh, we must come back for a shoot here’. It doesn’t exhaust me but if it does exhaust anyone, I think you need to find your outlet and inspiration.



What really goes on behind all the glitz when it comes to shooting and executing a shoot with a celebrity since most people feel it might be very glamorous?

Most people feel that shooting celebrities or a model or a fashion shoot, or a location shoot or an outdoor campaign, people feel that ‘Oh, wow! You travel to these exotic locations, you visit these amazing palaces, wherever you are shooting, you are really enjoying your life. It is so cool that you are hanging out with models, with actors.‘
But people do not realise the amount of stress and hard work that goes into it! Right from planning the whole thing, the whole responsibility, the pressures that we go through at a shoot – when it is outdoor – it could be the weather, it could be the sun, taking care of the whole crew, there is so much that goes into every shoot. Specially with celebrities, time management is very important. Photo shoots are just one of the things they do, they have so much more that they do in a day. You have to capitalise the maximum amount of time you get from them. There are times when we are time bound, there is pressure, there is so much going on. One has to be really really quick specially with shooting fashion and celebrities – you do not want to miss the moment.



In the last 2 years what is that one memorable shot (captured/viewed) that has really moved you?

I shot a photograph of Tiger Shroff hanging from a crane at a construction site which is one of the most memorable shots that I have taken in the last two years. The whole feel, the mood, the lighting, the impact of the shot and the way his attitude is, his body language, everything is completely beautiful in that shot. The response that I got when I published it in my calendar as well was incredible, because everybody, usually on a desk calendar, prefers to see more of close-ups and mid shots where you can see the celebrity clearly in front of you and in this case it was a full length shot and he isn’t even looking into the camera and although it is a full length shot, you can easily see it is Tiger Shroff. It was my first photoshoot with him ever, and he was a real sport!



Read the full interview in Asian Photography Magazine’s August Issue.

Senthil Kumar Exhibits “Original Natural Content” in Japan

Senthil Kumar Muruganandhan is exhibiting his work titled “Original Natural Content” in Tokyo soon. He is a leading commercial photographer based in Bangalore, India. He trained in Visual Communication at India’s oldest art institution, The Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai (in 1989). Having excelled in making quick sketches during this period, he adopted the camera to create art even faster. Following six years of mentorship with renowned photographer Sudhir Ramachandran, he went on to establish his photography practice. With a career spanning over twenty years, he has worked on numerous international advertising campaigns and editorials for multinational brands including Amazon, Honda, Nike, Suzuki, Lenovo, IBM and Toyota a.o. He was awarded Asian Photography magazine’s Best Photographer Award and Most Influential People in Photography award twice and his images have won several Cannes lions. Senthil is also a fujifilm X-photographer.

Harnessing technical expertise honed through his longstanding career as a photographer, Senthil constructs images of a different kind. Using the photographer’s slight of hand, he creates digital images that take on the appearance of watercolours with its painterly qualities of transparency and wash. The transfer of these reproductions onto handmade paper with deckled edges, further pushes this new body of work into the ambiguous territory between painting and photography.

This liminal state is further augmented by his return to a ‘truth to materials’ philosophy. None of the images in the show have undergone post-production processes such as the use of filters or effects in image manipulation software. In Senthil’s words: “Lighting in photography is like a paintbrush while painting.” Although driven by an essentialist use of the medium, Senthil destabilises fixed notions of medium specificity.

Historically, watercolour painting and photography have much in common. Before the invention of the camera, watercolours were used for reportage, ‘to render credible accounts of drawing what (reporters) saw and then adding colour.’ The use of photography in public and private life parallels the use of watercolour as a documentary tool and a recreational activity. Both watercolours and contemporary cameras are portable and offer easy accessibility, allowing these media to thrive in amateur and professionals circles. The modest scale of watercolours renders along with low lightfastness meant it was often hidden away in private folios. In this instance though, Senthil’s harnessing of light through photography creates unprecedented possibilities for public presentation in a multitude of scales.

Senthil was trained in the academic traditions of the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai, India, which has historic roots in Company painting. The subject matter of this Indo-European hybrid style consisted of a repertoire of ‘exotic’ places, landscapes, festivals and people as a means to create visual records for commercial consumption. Senthil similarly presents picturesque themes such as village life, architectural monuments, cityscapes, portraits and still life, as a comment on the double bind integral in fine art and commercial practice. Challenging the cultural history of Company painting and its standard themes, parts of Senthil’s oeuvre portray carefully constructed images adopting new themes such as the body and queer identity, thereby undoing notions of ‘typical’ images.

At first glance, Senthil’s motivation to paint photography appears to stem from a place of nostalgia. It is however, driven by a desire for speed in a world constantly changing through innovation. Nudging viewers to confront our relationship to art in the wake of technology, Senthil’s work furthers critical dialogue around ideas of representational art and authenticity in global visual culture.

The exhibition is being held from August 2nd 2019 (Fri) to August 15 (Thu) at Fujifilm Tokyo Midtown Headquarters 1F Fujifilm Square.

Panasonic launches advance Micro Four Thirds camera Lumix G95

Panasonic recently launched a follow-up to its Lumix G85 Micro Four Thirds camera known as Lumix G95 in April, and now, the company has officially launched it in India. The camera features built-in 5-axis image stabilisation, 4K video, and a tough design. In India, the camera is accessible with two kit lens options. The one with the 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is priced at Rs. 94,990, while the other one with a 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is priced at Rs. 1,09,990. The Lumix G95 is now available in all Panasonic stores in India.


The Lumix G85 camera consists of a 20.3-megapixel Digital Live MOS sensor without a low-pass filter, in order to achieve better details and is powered by Panasonic’s Venus Engine. The camera has 5-axis Dual I.S image stabilisation that has shake defence mechanism till five stops, with a combination of OIS from lens and in-body stabilisation. The new model consists of a rugged design with a magnesium alloy frame, with weather sealing.


The Lumix G95 features an ISO range of 200-25,600, 49 autofocus points, 9fps burst shooting, and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000. The camera also a 3-inch fully articulating touchscreen with a 1.24K dot resolution and an EVF with a resolution of 2.36 million dots. It features Eye AF, 4K video recording up to 30fps, and advanced shooting modes such as slow motion video at 120fps. The Lumix G95 also has 4K Photo capture that lets you pull out 8-megapixel images from a 30fps burst shot. You also get built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 for syncing with the smartphone app.