What a bloody waste!..Cool cards from Sony…GoPro bagged…
What a bloody waste!
The waste represented by IDEA’s frankly mystifying decision to close itself down after spending its remaining funds on a series of campaigns to turn the tide on the use of smartphones for photography is further underscored by results of a survey by US imaging market analysts Suite 48Analytics on professional photographers’ use of smartphones.
Thirteen percent of the mainly US and European professional photographers surveyed stated they take half or more of their professional photos with their smartphone – which is cause for a raised eyebrow or two in itself.
However, the real stand-out finding is that almost two-thirds – 64 percent – take most of their personal photos with a smartphone! Very few professional photographers – just 14 percent – never use a smartphone for photography.
‘No matter the often smartphone-disparaging reader comments you might find on pro photography websites, most pros use smartphones quite often for their personal photos and are therefore quite familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of smartphones vs. standalone cameras,’ Suite48Analytics’ Han Hartman wrote.
The real – more achievable – marketing challenge for the retail photo industry is to nudge more smartphone users towards hard copy display of their images.
The full Suite48Analytics report is for sale from the website.
Cool cards from Sony
Accompanying the announcement of the Sony A7S III, Sony ANZ also revealed 80GB and 160GB additions to its Tough memory card range in CFexpress Type A format.
The new cards deliver up to 700MB/s write speed and 800MB/s read speed. They are designed to dissipate heat that can accumulate during fast file storage, making them ideal for high-speed continuous shooting and high-resolution/high frame rate video.
They comply with the VPG400 video performance specification ensuring stable video recording at 400 MB/s. The Tough range is designed for durability plus dust and water resistance. The new cards are ‘up to’ five times more resistant to drop impact and ‘up to’ ten times more resistant to bending when compared to CFexpress Type A standards.
Sony’s Memory Card File Rescue data recovery software allows users to recover accidentally deleted RAW images and 4K video from memory cards. In addition, Sony’s Media Scan Utility media diagnostic software will be updated to support CFexpress Type A cards, allowing users to diagnose and receive a warning before the number of read/write cycles approaches the card’s limit.
Sony is also releasing a new CFexpress Type A/SD card reader (MRW-G2), which provides SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2) transfer speed, via its USB Type-C connector. Used with a CFexpress Type A card, it supports transfer data approximately 2.8 times faster than conventional media. It is also compatible with SDXC/SDHC (UHS-I and UHS-II) memory cards.
The CFexpress Type A memory cards and card reader will be available in Australia mid-September. The CEA-G80T (80GB) will have an RRP of $369, the CEA-G160T ($160GB), $699, while the card reader will be priced at $249.
GoPro bagged
GoPro has jumped into the camera bag market, going direct to the public via its website, and selling – with GST actually added – to the Australian market.
The intention is to also sell apparel such as caps, fanny packs (snicker) and water bottles. Prices seem reasonable for some of the bags, though at around 40 bucks a GoPro cap is cheap at half the price.
The trouble with selling online-only from the other side of the world is that quality is unknown. (You can’t even slip into the local Camera House to check it out first!)
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