Skip to main content

Photo FOMO: Apple teaches photo editing, Sony’s submersible and bendable SD

Sony

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 a Bluetooth-enabled instant film camera, Nikon’s new beginner DSLR, and Phase One’s 150-megapixel behemoth, find briefs on the latest in accessories and photo industry news from this week with Photo FOMO.

Go ahead, drop, bend or submerge Sony’s newest SD cards

SD cards can sometimes take a beating (or go through the washing machine and dryer inside a pocket) — but with Sony’s latest options, that’s OK. The new Sony SF-G series Tough USH-II SD cards are 18 times stronger than the typical card, the company says. The Tough line mixes the fastest SD read and write speeds yet with a design that’s drop, bend, dust, and waterproof.

To reach those specs though, Sony ditched the write protection switch that’s at the side of most cards. Eliminating that side switch allowed Sony to develop a one-piece sealed casing to house all the hardware, compared to the usual three-piece. The cards boast a  299 MB/s write speed and a 300 MB/s read speed. The cards are slated for release in October — expected retail price is about $73 for a 32GB, $132 for a 64GB and $275 for a 128 GB.

Apple will teach you how to edit photos with a phone call

Apple wants to help you learn how to edit photos with a phone call. Apple’s Support Page recently added an option inviting MacOS and iOS users to a 30-minute coaching session on using the company’s Photos app.

Apple says the phone sessions are one-on-one, with the call tailored to your skill level. The company says the 30-minute call can cover all the editing tools inside Photos, which span from a one-click Auto Enhance to specific changes to light and color.

Apple suggests updating the Photos app, marking favorite photos and noting some specific questions ahead of the call, which can be scheduled online if you don’t want to wait on hold. The option is only available in the U.S.

Rokinon’s upcoming 85mm f/1.8 will cost a cool $399

The 85mm lens is a favorite among portrait photographers, and now APS-C mirrorless users will have another affordable option. The Rokinon 85mm f/1.8 is slated for arrival sometime next month for about $400. The lens will be available in Sony E, Fujifilm X, Canon M and Micro Four Thirds mounts. The lens, produced by parent company Samyang, is designed from nine elements in seven groups with a nine-blade aperture. The catch? It’s a manual focus lens only.

SliderMini promises big camera moves

Motion Control Slider Smartta SliderMini

Camera sliders create cinematic effects, but they tend to be big and bulky. The China-based Smart View International is promising big features with a new lightweight travel slider. The SliderMini, launching on Indiegogo, offers eight inches of camera movement in a slider that weights 1.26 pounds but handles up to 33 pounds of gear.

The SliderMini app can be manually controlled with different speed settings as well as time-lapse and stop motion. The slider can also be set to inclines and angles. The SliderMini is fully funded on Indiegogo (though that doesn’t negate all the risks) and is listing at $259 for early backers.

The Fujifilm X-A5 and X-T100 get new filters, improved autofocus

Fujifilm’s mirrorless X-A5 and X-T100 have a few new features, thanks to a firmware update. For both cameras, the firmware adds two filters, a square aspect ratio and improved accuracy for continuous autofocus, as well as bug fixes.

The new filters include a Monochrome [NIR] mode that mimics the look of shooting with a near-infrared camera. The Rich and Fine filter’s added color and shadows are designed for food and tabletop photography, Fujifilm says. Both updates launched on Thursday, August 30, and are available from Fujifilm, as version 1.20 for the X-A5 and version 1.10 for the X-T100.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
The best photo printers you can buy in 2024
Alan compares draft, standard, and high-quality photos from Epson's EcoTank ET-8500.

A comparison of draft, standard, and high-quality photos from Epson's EcoTank ET-8500. Tracey Truly / Digital Trends

If you love sharing photo prints or building physical photo albums, you might want to upgrade to a photo printer. When manufacturers optimize printers for pictures, the results can match or exceed that of the best printers available.

Read more
Crutchfield sale: Save on Canon, Sony and Nikon mirrorless cameras
Canon EOS R5

Photography can be a fun and even lucrative endeavor, although it also can be exceedingly expensive, with some of the best full-frame cameras on the market easily reaching and even exceeding one or two thousand dollars, and that's without taking into account the cost of the lenses. Luckily, there is a great sale at Crutchfield right now on various cameras and camera kits, and you can actually grab yourself some excellent cameras, whether you're just starting out or want to upgrade to the next level. To that end, we've picked some of our favorite deals below, although it's well worth checking out the full Crutchfield sale that's happenning now.

What you should buy in Crutchfield's camera sale
If you're just starting out with photography and don't want to spend the thousands of dollars you do for the slightly better cameras that you'll find in the mid-range, the Canon EOS R100 is an excellent option, and this kit includes a lens as well. It has a 24.1-megapixel sensor for high-quality photography, a 3-inch screen so you can get a better sense of what you're filming, and, of course, the RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 lens that the kit comes with. It can also connect with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and all of that comes packaged at , which is $100 off the usual $599 price tag.

Read more