Dusting the cobwebs away

After a 5 month respite whilst I concentrated on some non-photography projects, I’m back & ready to dust the cobwebs off my camera and to update this blog on a more regular basis. So what’s happened in the photography world whilst I’ve been away?

Cameras: There have been numerous new, or face-lifted, cameras launched, but only one that really intrigued me; the Sigma BF – a superbly minimalistic camera, so unusual that at first I thought that it was an April Fools joke. But no, it’s a full-frame, mirrorless, 24.6mp camera that takes interchangeable lenses. Is it any good? I’ve got no idea , but it looks….. different.

Digital birthday: The digital camera had its 50th birthday (the prototype launched in 1975). Some thought that it was a fad that would never take on. How wrong they were, there is now only a handful of film cameras that you can buy new.

Software: Adobe increased the monthly subscription of their Photography Plan by a whopping 50%, although by paying annually in a lump sum, you can retain the old price….. for now.

Magazines: Yet another photography magazine bit the dust: Digital Photographer’s last issue saw the end of 23 years of publishing. There are only a few photography magazines left now, but how long will they last? And how do young up-and-coming photographers hone their skill – can they really get factual, unbiased information from social media and YouTube?

AI: Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting more and more sophisticated, rendering the creative production of photographic scenes largely redundant; why spend hours painstakingly positioning props and lights when you can just conjure the scene up in seconds using AI programs such as DaVinci (even if most of them still look fake)? I can only hope that the AI bubble will burst and ‘real’ photography will reign once again, sometime soon.

What do you think about changes in the photography world over the past 5 months?