23rd January 2015
ISSUE NO. 943D
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SWPP CONVENTION SUCCESS, DIXON CARPHONE ENJOYS 8% CHRISTMAS BOOST, NEW PANASONIC LUMIX MODEL ANNOUNCED, OLYMPUS FIRMWARE AND MUCH MORE...
Winners of The SWPP Trade Awards Revealed
Canon, Click Props, One Vision Imaging and Zenfolio were just some of the winners who walked away with an SWPP Trade Award last week. There were 16 categories, including Best Professional Digital Camera, Best Flashgun and Best Professional Lens. A total of 7,500 votes were processed, with all winners leaving with a trophy as well as a new accolade to add to their business. You can find a full list of the award winners on the Pixel website, pixelmagazine.co.uk
Retail Employment Down The number of full-time jobs in retail dropped by 0.6% in the last quarter of 2014, according to the British Retail Consortium. However, the drop occurred year-on-year in October and November but rose in December by 0.9%, ending the year on a positive note. BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: “It appears that December was not only a good month for retail sales but also for retail employees – staff numbers were marginally up on last year as retailers hired more people to meet the seasonal demand from shoppers. This increase is important because a temporary job at Christmas is the gateway for many to a long and fulfilling career in our industry.” PHOTO -
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Panasonic Announces LUMIX GF7 A new mirrorless compact has been unveiled with a 180º tilting screen
Panasonic has announced the launch of its latest interchangeable lens compact camera, the LUMIX GF7 – due to go on sale in March 2015. The LUMIX GF7 is Panasonic’s latest foray into the world of mirrorless photography, feeding the market demand for heightened control and quality in a simple, compact and affordable camera body. According to Panasonic, the new model has been ‘ergonomically designed’ to be a ‘joy to both hold and operate’, with a stylish leather-feel grip and compact structure. Panasonic diverts from the rounded, plastic designs of its previous GFseries cameras, this time drawing inspiration from its GM mirrorless full-sensor line. Like the GM1, the GF7 sports a classic-style design, all leather and magnesium plating. However, it is also about 20% bigger as - according to Panasonic,
people wanted ‘just a little bit more camera to hold onto’. LUMIX GF7 owners can get their filmmaker’s hats on with 1920 x 1080 Full HD video in AVCHD Progressive (50p) or MP4 (MPEG-4 / H.264) format. Touch Auto Focus can also be used during recording for easy focusing, while AF Tracking locks onto a subject as it moves around.
at once - one with the filter and one without, so users can compare the results later. Other modes to tell customers about include Time Lapse mode for documenting changes over long periods of time, and Stop Motion Animation – which makes static objects look as though they are moving. It’s 2015; customers expect to be able to easily share the photos they take with friends and family online. The GF7 is equipped with integrated WiFi connectivity so the camera can be linked up with a smartphone which then acts as a remote control for the shutter, zoom, focus and aperture. The remote control function can be used in conjunction with Panasonic’s new Jump Snap function. When a group of people jump into the air, the remote control will detect the highest point of the jump and release the GF7’s shutter to get the perfect shot.
“the new model has been ‘ergonomically designed’ to be a ‘joy to both hold and operate’, with a stylish leather-feel grip and compact structure.”
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The LUMIX GF7, is positively ‘bursting’ with artistic functions, according to the company. This includes 22 filter options, inviting users to explore Retro, Dynamic Monochrome and Toy Effect with their scenes. A neat feature here is that the camera will take two photos -
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NEWS
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WELCOME To Pixel Magazine Last Friday Simon and I caught a train up to London to scout out the trade show at the Society for Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) Convention. After a light lunch (huge cheese burger and chips) with some industry colleagues, we ambled across the road to the Hilton London Metropole. The trade show was teaming with photography pros and enthusiasts milling about, DSLRs strung around their necks, clutching SWPP show guides. All the exhibitors I spoke to said it had been an excellent turnout, and it was great to see so many familiar brands showcasing their wares. You can read an extended review of the show, along with a full list of winners from the awards ceremony, in our monthly edition out in February. Elsewhere in this issue we announce the launch of two new
full-frame lenses from Samyang, designed for both stills and movie making, as well as the latest firmware updates and industry news from the retail sector. Next Friday we’ll be sending out the digital copy of our February issue, complete with interviews, retailer guides and plenty of industry news and images from recent events.
Share gains in mobile contributed to an 8% revenue boost for Dixons Carphone The retail giant’s CEO Seb James also revealed they had had seen a major uptake of wearable devices in recent months, selling 13 times the number of fitness bands compared to the previous year. He said: “I am very pleased with the end result. In all of our largest trading markets we have excellent like-for-like performance against fairly tough comparables. We have also experienced stable gross margin. “There is no doubt that the huge
scale and success of our Black Friday promotion impacted the three weeks that followed, but it was good to see customers respond positively to the deals that we had on Boxing Day where we saw growth from our record-breaking numbers last year in both the UK and Nordics. “Online has risen as a proportion, with excellent growth in both home delivery and click-and-collect. Prepay phone sales have continued to fall, replaced by postpay contracts to a large extent.”
Stocking the Sony QX1? Show your customers these impressive macro photos
Have a great weekend and enjoy your read! Zoe, Editor, zoe@pixel.co.uk
New Full-Frame Samyang Lenses For Stills and Movie
The 135mm F2.0 ED UMC Telephoto Lens and 135mm T2.2 VDSLR ED UMC Telephoto Cine Lens have been announced Samyang has announced the launch of two new 135mm lenses, one for stills and one for shooting movie. The manual focus telephoto 135mm F2.0 ED UMC ‘expresses vibrant colour and soft bokeh’, according to Samyang. This makes it ideal for portrait, scenery, wildlife and photo-journalism. It has an aperture of F2.0 and the lens features 11 elements in 7 groups, including extra low dispersion (ED) to offer high resolution across the image. Close focus is 0.8m and the floating element design
Dixons Carphone Enjoyed 8% Christmas boost
captures as much light as possible, minimising spherical aberration and distortion. The body is compact and solid, made of high-strength aluminium alloy and the detachable lens hood protects from flare and ghosting. RRP: For Nikon AE fitting, £419.99 / for Canon, Sony A, Pentax and Sony E fittings, £389.99 Available: Early Feb 2015
On the Pixel website we’ve posted a number of macro shots taken with a smartphone, using the Sony QX1 Lens-Style Camera. If you stock the Sony QX1, you can wow your customers by showing them these shots of frost in the woods by Hampstead Heath, and extreme close-ups The 135mm T2.2 VDSLR ED UMC Telephoto Cine Lens is designed for ‘high quality movie shooting’, according to Samyang. It has a decoupled T2.2 aperture, allowing for versatile control when shooting under ‘tricky lighting conditions’. The lens features 11 elements in 7 groups, including extra
of weird and wonderful insects at Haslemere Museum – all pics by Mikael Buck. You can use these photos as examples of what the attachable smartphone lens is capable of. See more at pixelmagazine. co.uk low dispersion (ED) to offer high resolution across the image. Samyang’s Ultra Multi Coating (UMC) is used to optimise light transmission whilst minimising flare and ghosting. Close focus is 0.8m and the floating element design captures as much light as possible, minimising spherical aberration and distortion. The body is compact and solid, made of high-strength aluminium alloy and the detachable lens hood protects from flare and ghosting. RRP: For Nikon, Canon, Micro 4/3 and Sony E fittings, £429.99 Available: Early Feb 2015
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NEWS Olympus Stylus 1 Firmware Update
Smartphone Cameras Reign on Flickr Flickr has published tables mapping its users’ most frequently used cameras
The top 5 most used camera brands are: 1. Apple 2. Canon 3. Samsung 4. Nikon 5. Sony
Olympus has released version 2.0 firmware for the Stylus 1, its OM-D styled premium compact camera. The new update introduces a number of new features, including: • Compatibility with WCON08X wide converter lens and CLA-14 adapter, enabling wide-angle shots to 22.4,, at 1:2.8 aperture without needing heavy equipment. • Introduction of Interval Shooting and Time Lapse Movie for capturing footage over 24 hours. • Compatibility with OI.Share App v2.5 for remote shutter release from a smartphone via WiFi. • Step Zoom for instantly setting popular 35mm focal lengths in steps from 28mm to 300mm. • 35mm equivalent shown in focal length display in Electronic Viewfinder or LCD monitor. • Small target AF for pinpoint auto focus. • Focus Peaking for easier manual Focus. http://www.olympus-europa. com/site/en/c/cameras_ support/help/firmware_ updates/digital_camera_ updater.html
CREDITS & CONTACTS
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Although the figures are not an entirely accurate representation of the cameras being used by Flickr’s members (data cannot be automatically collected for some cameras), they do offer some indication of how prolific smartphone photography is becoming.
Out of the top five brands, the most commonly used models were: 1. Apple – iPhone 5s, iPhone 5, iPhone 6 2. Canon – EOS Rebel T3i, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II 3. Samsung – Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 3
4. Nikon – D7000, D7100, D3100 5. Sony – Xperia Z3, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z1 In terms of the most popular point and shoot cameras, the Sony RX100 came out trumps, followed by two Fujifilm models: the X100S and the X-E1.
‘The Best We’ve Held So Far’ - Societies Chuffed With SWPP Convention Organisers were pleased with how last week’s photography convention went in London
Last week 14,000 people flocked to the Hilton London Metropole for four days of insightful talks on all aspects of photography – plus a bustling trade show with some of the top names in the industry exhibiting their wares. Colin Jones of SWPP believes 2015 has been the best year yet, saying: “Each year the Convention is a fantastic opportunity for photographers to find out what’s new in the industry, get inspired, learn from some of the top photographers in the world, and socialise with fellow colleagues,
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however, this year the buzz around the hotel was unlike previous Conventions and it really made this year the best we have held so far.” The Pixel team attended the show on Friday, with Editor Zoe saying: “It
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was my first experience of the SWPP convention and I was impressed by how big and busy the trade show was. I enjoyed wandering around and chatting to people on various stalls - everyone I spoke to said they’d been rushed off their feet all day greeting customers and offering demonstrations.” Exhibitors included PermaJet, Rotolight, Canon, PhotoFlashDrive, Park Cameras, Manfrotto, Epson and many more. Don’t miss a more in-depth review in our extended February issue of Pixel, out next Friday.
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THE NEW PHO TO COLLECTION
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The Photography Show is the premier platform for professional and aspiring photographers. Join us in March and discover the latest kit and accessories from world-class brands, explore our interactive live stages and gain access to a wealth of information and networking opportunities to enhance your photography business.
Register today for free (saving ÂŁ18)* at:
photographyshow.com
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* Pre-registration closes on 16/03/2015, visitors buying on the door will need to pay the standard adult ticket rate.