News review 2018
Geoff Harris recalls some of the year’s photographic highs and lows
January
Leica got off to a good start announcing revenues of almost € 400 million in its last financial year: a 6% growth for the company compared to the near 10% decline recorded in the global camera market.
It was New Year blues for GoPro as it announced plans to exit the drone market and cut 250 jobs. CEO Nicholas Woodman also felt the pinch, reducing his cash compensation to $1.
March
A Leica O Series no.122, one of only 25 prototypes made two years before the camera was launched, sold for €2.4million at an auction in Vienna (going to a private collector in Asia).
AP got to see early samples of the Sony A7 III and Canon EOS M50 while Sigma announced two Art lenses: the 105mm f/1.4 ‘the bokeh master’ and the 70mm f/2.8.
May
The V& A museum revealed plans to open a new photography centre in the autumn. The new centre draws upon the museum’s significantly expanded collection following the controversial transfer of the RPS collection from Bradford. SmugMug disclosed it was buying its large rival Flickr from web giant Yahoo.
July
Yep, Leica again. The German optical goliath officially announced a swanky new HQ and visitor centre, including a Leica Hotel. New products include a Leica watch and the C-Lux, essentially a rebadged Panasonic TZ200.
Sony announced what it described as a ‘game changing’ 400mm f/2.8 lens. The £10,500 price is as eye-watering as the specs.
September
This year’s Photokina was one of the most newsworthy in recent memory, with the reveal of the L-Mount Alliance between Leica, Panasonic and Sigma, as well as the medium-format Fujifilm GFX 50R and Zeiss ZX1 full-frame compact. Canon announced a full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R, based around the new RF mount.
November
Serial competition winner Marsel van Oosten was named the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year (see page 26).
New Flickr owner SmugMug announced a limit of 1,000 images for free account holders; miss the 2019 cut-off date and any images over this limit will be removed.
February
Adobe announced Photoshop 19.1, with headline new features including the AI-powered Select Subject tool, along with improvements to the Mask tool.
As well as some neat new cameras (notably the Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and Olympus Pen E-PL9), the UK saw the first major retrospective of Andreas Gursky.
April
Few will forget Ronaldo Schemidt’s winning image in the 61st World Press Photography awards, revealed this month. It showed a protester on fire during violent clashes with riot police in Venezuela (see page 10).
Chinese smartphone maker Huawei launched the P20 Pro, holding a swanky press event in Paris in partnership with Leica.
June
We were sad to report the death of the legendary war and documentary photographer, David Douglas Duncan, who died aged 102. He played a key role in getting photojournalists to take Nikon SLRs seriously. Canon announced it was stopping production of the last film SLR in production, the EOS-1V, ending 82 years of film camera manufacture.
August
In a move that surprised nobody, Nikon officially launched a full-frame mirrorless camera system, employing a new lens mount, with an adapter for the F-mount. The two new cameras were the Z 7 and Z 6.
Corel announced a new version of its veteran PaintShop Pro image-editing suite. A major new feature enables you to edit any photo taken with a 360° camera.
October
Adobe upgraded Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements; Photoshop Elements includes a new Home Screen, which guides users through updates and improvements.
The Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care in the USA reported a worrying rise in the number of accidental deaths caused by imprudent selfie-taking.
December
Version 12 of the Capture One Pro editing software was released, with improved raw-editing tools. The 2019 Photokina show was cancelled, to give exhibitors more time to develop new products and concepts. The next show runs from 27-30 May 2020.