CCC Forum

I finally got to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition yesterday. It closes at the end of the month after a lengthy run run and I expected it would be quiet as a result. Not a bit of it. There was a sign at the entrance saying it had sold out for the day. Fortunately, I was still able to get in with my membership card. It is worth going if anyone has not seen it. Ask nicely and I might even be able to give you a ticket.

It is always of passing interest to see what equipment is used. Not that the brand matters, only that the gear is sufficient for the task. In some instances, some relatively modest camera and lenses featured. The winner of the adult competition used a Nikon D810 and a Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 lens at its widest setting. Which means that the photographer must have right next to his subject when he got the shot.



In other instances, the usual plethora of exotic, i.e. expensive, telephoto lenses from Canon and Nikon featured. Most of the photographers with work in the show will be professionals and such lenses are tools of the trade. Capability rather than price will be the main purchasing criterion. One person had used a drone, there was the occasional Sony mirrorless and a Panasonic GH3. That last was an oddity as the lens was a Canon 70-200 which had been adapted.

Unless I missed it, there was nothing from any other manufacturer. That is probably a fair reflection of relative market share. In theory, with a 300 f/4 lens which is equivalent to 600 on full frame, Olympus should be in with a shout. No doubt that is part of the rationale for the E-M1X. High ISO performance of the small m43 sensor might be its achilles heel. As for the other companies, on this evidence they are not competitive at the highest levels.

What I do wonder, though, is whether Sony will feature more strongly in the future. It has the A9 pro spec camera and recently announced high end 400 and 600 lenses, no doubt with an eye on next year's Tokyo Olympics. Sony has long stated its ambitions in the professional market and its plans appear to be coming to fruition.

Hi Mike,
Good analysis of what many competitors are using in the way of long lenses to take award winning images.
There are usually some exceptions.
In 2016, the winner Tim Laman only used a GoPro camera to capture his image of a critically endangered Bornean orangutan high up in the canopy.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2016/october/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-winners-announced.html

Mike said: the photographer must have been right next to his subject when he got the shot

I have been very fortunate to be invited to the media morning of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year for the last 15 years or so that allows me to see the live interviews and also chat to the photographers. The 2018 winner, Marsel Van Oosten, with the help of his guides used off camera flash to supplement that natural sunlight to get perfect lighting for his wonderful image. Still, I guess he must have been pretty close to the monkeys as you have suggested! Perhaps the monkeys were familiar with the guides.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2018/images/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year/5389/the-golden-couple.html

Iggy wrote:In 2016, the winner Tim Laman only used a GoPro camera to capture his image of a critically endangered Bornean orangutan high up in the canopy.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2016/october/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-winners-announced.html

I am, of course, aware of that shot and how it was accomplished. Possibly it could have been achieved differently although I suspect that it would have been a much more complex and time consuming task. Nor would the effort necessarily be repaid with success. The drone, with its diminutive camera which is nevertheless capable of astonishingly good results, represents a technological advance which made such a capture feasible. To reiterate one of my points, it is an excellent example of matching equipment to the job in hand. We are fortunate in the array of tools at our disposal which open up new imaging possibilities.

The other big question about the Canikon duopoly is what the future holds for their mirrorless offerings. Both of last year's simultaneous launches came too late for the gear to feature in the 2018 WPOTY. That does not rule them out of contention for this year. With the obvious caveat that limited native lens ranges for the new mounts means that any subjects requiring longer telephotos will require DSLR lenses mounted via adapters. Is that a practical option in the field? That situation will change over time. One driver will be the previously mentioned Tokyo Olympics next year. Both companies have traditionally introduced new top end cameras for the event. Will it be DSLR or mirrorless? If the former, is that the solution which will remain current for the subsequent four years?

A clue about Nikon's possible intentions comes with its confirmation that it is preparing a Z series camera with equivalent specs to the D5. Together with the recent pre-launch announcement of a low end Z mount camera, quite possibly with an APS-C sensor (Nikon is not saying), Nikon's strategy is becoming clearer. Over time, it will concentrate its efforts around the new mount.

https://petapixel.com/2019/06/17/nikon- ... ra-coming/

Canon appears to be taking the opposite approach. It looks as though its higher end mirrorless cameras might be exlclusively full frame, with APS-C catered for ny the M mount models. At present, the company is being tight lipped about its future direction.

Much like the transition from film to digital, which famously decimated Kodak's fortunes, the switch from DSLR to mirrorless is another disrupter to the established order. Mirrorless allows improved specifications, but fewer moving parts means reduced production costs. If the manufacturers can persuade consumers to pay similar prices as DSLRs, there is the prospect of increased profitability to offset falling demand. It is a delicate balancing act, protecting existing lines until the new products reach greater maturity. One which is fascinating to watch.