Afraid of missing out on the latest photo industry news while you’re out, well, actually taking pictures? Photo FOMO is all the news you might have missed this week, published on the weekends. Alongside the biggest stories of the week, like Nikon’s new full-frame mirrorless, the new Panasonic Lumix LX100 II, DJI’s new Mavic Pro drones, A.I. for easy background removals, and A.I. inside a camera, find briefs on the latest in accessories and photo industry news from this week with Photo FOMO.
Smartphone company passes off selfie that was actually from a DSLR (again)
Huawei is taking heat this week for its smartphone ads — again. The company’s recently launched Nova 3, of course, has ads to go with it. But one of the models from the ads posted a behind-the-scenes photo — of the shot actually being taken with a photographer with a DSLR. Huawei didn’t say that the fake selfie was shot from the smartphone, but the images were used to tote the camera’s new beauty artificial intelligence which is, at the very least, misleading. The behind-the-scenes photo has since been deleted.
Here come more XQD cards
Nikon’s new mirrorless cameras use only a single XQD card slot — and photographers looking to be early adopters of the system will already have more options. Nikon will be selling an XQD card, according to Nikon Japan, and Delkin also launched new XQD cards earlier this week.
Delkin’s new cards, announced on August 21, have a second-generation PCI interface, the company says, with write speeds of up to 400MB/s for 4K, HD at 120 fps and burst RAW photos. The cards will come in 64GB, 120GB and 240GB sizes and include a 48-hour replacement warranty.
Nikon’s new XQD cards carry similar speeds, suggesting a 64GB and a 120GB will be released next month. The Nikon Z 6 and Z 7 aren’t the first to adapt XQD cards by far, but unlike the D850 that has both an XQD and an SD card, the new mirrorless cameras use a single slot for the XQD.
Yongnuo launches a 50mm f/1.4 for Nikon
As a fast and inexpensive lens, the 50mm f/1.8 is often many photographers first prime lens — and Nikon users now have another option that’s even brighter but still affordable. This week, budget lens company Yongnuo announced the YN 50mm f/1.4N E II with a Nikon mount. The lens is similar to the company’s Canon option, including a construction using nine elements in seven groups and coatings to control glare and ghosting. There is no official price yet, but the Canon version sells for about $180.
Fujifilm launches a new … Taylor Swift camera?
Fujifilm’s latest Instax is a Taylor Swift Edition — in case you want to shake some instant film while dancing to Shake it Off. The Instax Square SQ6 Taylor Swift Edition and the Taylor Swift film to match will launch on October 20. The camera keeps the guts of the original Instax SQ6, Fujifilm’s first fully analog film camera, but redesigns the exterior inspired by Swift’s Reputation album artwork with gold newspaper print on the black body. The back of the camera includes a reproduction of the artist’s signature.
While a camera branded after a musician may seem a bit odd, Fujifilm sells a lot of Instant cameras and Swift sells a lot of albums — maybe pairing the two isn’t such a bad idea.