Leica has announced a special edition of the M10-R, the Leica M10-R Black Paint! We also have a software from NVIDIA that turns your doodles into photos, leaks from Canon, and much more. Here’s the best news I’ve selected for “The Photography News Show”!

CAMERA NEWS

Leica M10-R Black Paint

Leica has announced the Leica M10-R Black Paint.

The camera itself is the regular M10-R that was announced 1 year ago, with a 40-megapixel color sensor, a wider dynamic range, as well as reduced noise than the original M10.

The major differences are the usage of gloss black paint and the classic “Leica” script logo.

This means that the camera will age in a beautiful way, revealing the brass underneath the high-usage areas.

You can see an extreme example of this phenomenon in this Leica MS of photographer Elliot Erwitt.

The M10-R Black Paint will come at $9295, $300 more than the regular M10-R.

Wooden Leica M3 Replica

While if you would like to have a Leica without spending all that money, Leica Rumors has developed a Wooden Leica M3 replica, which you can get for $89.

You won’t be able to take pictures with it, but at least you can say that you kinda have a Leica.

Panasonic Firmware Upgrade for Lumix S Cameras

Panasonic has announced a firmware update that introduces 5.9k 12-bit RAW video to its Lumix S full-frame cameras, including the S1 which was announced 2 years ago.

The firmware will be available on July 12th, and I really appreciate companies that keep on updating & improving older products, as it shows that they don’t just care about selling new gear, but also about making their current customers happy.

LENS NEWS

Lensbaby Obscura System

LensBaby is a Portland-based company that produces special effect lenses for photographers that are looking to expand their creativity.
This week they have announced the Obscura system, which is a throwback to pinhole photography, that includes two lenses:

• Lensbaby Obscura 16mm (available for multiple mounts)

• Lensbaby Obscura 50mm (available for Canon EF & Nikon F mounts)

These lenses are not actual lenses, and they use the same concept of a pinhole camera, which is a camera with a tiny aperture (the pinhole), which was used already in the 19th century.

The pictures you can take with such lenses are very particular and can be interesting to experiment with every once in a while.

APP NEWS

NVIDIA Canvas

In the last few years, we’ve started seeing a lot of use of Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks in the imaging world, and this week’s news is quite mindblowing.

NVIDIA has developed a software called Canvas, which is capable of turning super basic doodles into a photo, and it can do so in real-time as you paint on the screen.

The software is available as a free beta (download it here), but you can use it only if you have an RTX Graphic Card.

Seeing this software in action really blew my mind, as you are able to achieve convincing results with just a few mouse strikes.

Imagine the improvements this technology will have in the coming years; that’s almost scary.

Can an image created mostly by artificial intelligence be labeled as a creative expression of art?

STORAGE NEWS

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 16TB

If there’s one thing we photographers can never get enough of that is storage.

And specifically, fast storage.

This week Sabrent has unveiled the Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 16TB, a 16-tbterabyte external SSD drive.

They actually are two eight-terabytes M.2 SSDs combined together in an aluminum case, and they can be run in RAID, offering speed up to 2,500MB/s when configured in RAID zero.

The only downside is that it requires an external power source, and well, it’s not cheap, coming at $2,900.

But if you need all that space and speed, this might be a great option.

Click here to get your external SSD; you can find it at your favorite shop in all size, starting from 500Gb.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

“International Portrait Photographer of the Year”

The winners of the “International Portrait Photographer of the Year” awards were announced this week.

I was really impressed by the overall winning shot from Forough Yavari, which is called “Solitude” and perfectly communicates the wide range of emotions that one feels when alone and misunderstood.

Another image that caught my attention is called “Tribal Identity” by Yar Lin, which won 1st place in the “Character Study” category.

It’s a shot that drives you straight to the center, thanks to the great use of composition and black and white.

WEIRD NEWS

“The Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards”

The “The Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards”, is a contest showcasing the funniest pet photography.

These are some of the selected images, and this whole thing is actually for a good cause, as the competition partnered with Animals Friends Insurance to donate ten thousand sterling pounds to Animal Support Angeles, a charity that helps our fellow animals.

RUMORS

Canon EOS R3 + Canon 14-35mm F4

During the last few weeks, we’ve received so many rumors & previews about the Canon EOS R3, and finally, it will be officially launched on June 29th.

We have a low-resolution picture of it from Nokishita, and this will be a great addition for Canon landscape photographers that are looking for a versatile lens.

And it will not be alone, in fact, it’s rumored that Canon will announce on the same date a new lens too, the 14-35mm F4.