Photoxels

Sony Spins Off Its Electronics Products & Solutions Segment Into New Sony Electronics Corporation

2020-03-26

Effective April 1, 2020, Sony is spinning off the businesses that make up its Electronics Products and Solutions segment into a new separate holding company called Sony Electronics Corporation. There are three businesses that are affected: 1) Imaging Products & Solutions, 2) Home Entertainment & Sound, and 3) Mobile Communications. Moving to that new company will be all related global sales and marketing, manufacturing, logistics, procurement and engineering platforms.

The Electronics Products and Solutions segment was itself created only last March after merging the three businesses together.

Shigeki Ishizuka will be the Representative Director and President, CEO of Sony Electronics Corporation (and a Senior Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation). Ichiro Takagi will be the Representative Director and Executive Deputy President, COO of Sony Electronics Corporation (and a Senior Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation).

While Sony has done multiple restructuration in the past without affecting consumers, this news comes hot after the one that activist investor Daniel Loeb is lobbying strongly to get Sony to sell off its image sensor business and other businesses.

PRESS RELEASE

March 26, 2020

Sony Electronics Corporation to be Established

Tokyo, Japan — Sony Corporation (“Sony”) today announced that it will establish an intermediate holding company “Sony Electronics Corporation” effective April 1st, 2020. Sony Electronics Corporation will incorporate the three businesses that comprise its Electronics Products & Solutions (“EP&S”) segment (Imaging Products & Solutions, Home Entertainment & Sound, and Mobile Communications) and related global sales and marketing, manufacturing, logistics, procurement and engineering platforms.

Through the establishment of Sony Electronics Corporation, Sony will not only accelerate the integrated operation of the EP&S businesses, but also aim to optimize its organizational structure, talent and business portfolio, while further enhancing competitiveness and creating new business.

Firmware Updates • Fujifilm

Fujifilm Releases Firmware for X-T3 (Ver. 3.21), X-T30 (Ver. 1.20) and XF16-80mmF4 OIS WR (Ver. 1.03)

2020-03-26

by photoxels

Fujifilm today released firmware updates for the X-T3, X-T30, and the XF16-80mmF4 OIS WR lens. If you own an X-T30, you’d be pleased with the enhanced autofocus for Face and Eye AF.

X-T3 Firmware Update Ver.3.21: Fix of minor bugs.
X-T30 Firmware Update Ver.1.20: Added Gimbal / Drone support, Enhanced autofocus, Capability to save up to 9,999 pictures in each folder, and Fix of minor bugs.
XF16-80mmF4 R OIS WR Firmware update Ver.1.03: Fix of minor bugs.

Fun Stuff

Be A Hero: Let Your Kids Learn Computer Science (or How To Code) When Schools Are Closed

2020-03-26

by photoxels

This might be a great time to teach your kids to become computer literate. You may be laughing and saying, “My kids know how to use a computer, an iPad, an iPhone, YouTube, TikTok, my mirrorless camera already. What are you talking about?”

Well, yes, a lot of (Apple) apps are intuitive enough for kids to learn and use right away. Apple (because we are talking a lot about iPads) has been so successful primarily because its products are so intuitive to use that even babies can pick up an iPad and start using it. That’s great!

But, for a program (or app or operating system) to be intuitive, there must be good programmers who code all that intuitive code. How about giving your kids a chance to be one of those programmers? Who knows, they may take to programming like ducks take to water — and be the future programmers who bring us even more great apps and software. They may change the world!

Kids can learn to code.

But, before you start, here are a few computer skills you may want to teach them at the same time.
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Now You Know • Videos

Zack Arias: What Makes A Really Good, Contest-Winning Photograph?

2020-03-25

by photoxels

The Internet (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc.) is awash with beautiful and dramatic photos and videos. People love it, click ‘Thumbs Up’ and send them up into the viral stratosphere. They are viewed by millions, some even redistributed on TV news channel on a slow news day, their authors cashing in on $$$. Then, many decide, “I can do that!” and soon we have millions more of copycat photos and videos all following the same trends assaulting our eyeballs. After a while, they all look the same. What once looked dramatic now look artificial, over processed and ordinary.

Photo editors have seen it all. When it comes to choosing a contest-winning photograph (and we are not talking here of photography contests judged by non photographers or amateur photographers, but of high-caliber photo contests), certain ingredients have to be present. Over dramatic post processing is not one of them. If it can be easily taught and copied, then everyone else can shoot that photograph, right? Then, how are you, the photographer, any better than everyone else? What makes your photo different, unique, one of a kind, “If you blinked, you missed that one opportunity, perhaps forever” kind of unexpected photo? The one that tells the story in one unforgettable, poignant image.

In the following video, Zack Arias shares his experience of 20 years of being behind the scenes at contests and print competitions to tell us why most images lose — and which ones win. Here are his “5 reasons Why You Aren’t Winning Photo Contests” :
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Get Everything You Need To Homeschool

2020-03-25

by photoxels

THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

The folks at B&H have everything you need to keep your children busy and learning. Of course, anything you purchase through this click won’t cost you one cent more, but will send us some referral fees. Thank you!

Lenses • Pentax

Ricoh Updates the Pentax K-Mount Lens Roadmap for 2020

2020-03-24

by photoxels

Ricoh, the parent company of Pentax, has published the Pentax K-Mount Lens Roadmap.

For 2020 (or later), Ricoh is planning to add the HD PENDAX-D FA 85mm F1.4ED SDM AW and four (4) other as-yet unnamed lenses:

a DA Standard Zoom Lens (roughly in the 18-50mm range)
a Telephoto Zoom Lens (roughly in the 70-300mm range)
a Large Aperture Wide-Angle Single Focus Lens (perhaps 35mm), and
an Ultra Wide-Angle Single Focus Lens (perhaps 14mm)

View the Pentax K-Mount Lens Roadmap 2020
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Fun Stuff • Now You Know

How The Curiosity Rover Takes A Selfie

2020-03-22

by photoxels

Ever wondered how the Mars Curiosity Rover takes a selfie?

First, a few facts about the cameras on the Curiosity Rover.

The Curiosity Rover was launched from Earth on November 26, 2011 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and landed in Gale Crater on Mars on August 5, 2012. Its mission: to study the geology and environment of selected areas in the crater and analyze samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground. To accomplish that mission, it is equipped with 17 cameras, some shooting in color and others only in B&W. It has since been busy learning about Mars, taking pictures, drilling rocks, sampling soil, and sending the pictures and data all the 225 million km (140 million miles) way back to Earth.

Why some color and some B&W cameras?

It uses the (science) color cameras mainly to take 2MP resolution visual images of rocks for scientists. The color of the rocks help scientists identify the composition of the soil and the rocks.

Its (engineering) B&W cameras are mainly for navigation and are only a measly 1MP in resolution because that’s all the resolution and information it really needs to safely navigate around rocks and obstacles.

(You are not complaining anymore about your digital camera not having enough MP resolution now, are you?)

In fact, it can even take videos, but because they can add up in file size real quick, it takes only a few of them.

How does it take a panorama [2:21]?

The same way you take a panorama picture on your cellphone or digital camera: one picture at a time and moving around the scene, then stitching them together.

How does it take a selfie [2:45]?

By using a selfie stick. Ha, ha, got you!

In fact, that’s not altogether a wrong answer. It does have a swivelling 2m (6.6ft) long robotic arm. Because its arm can also fold, it is able to always keep itself behind the camera as it does a 360° sweep around the rover. When it stitches all these images together, you don’t see its arm and it looks like someone else (a Martian?) took the picture!

Press Releases

Photokina 2020 Cancelled, Rescheduled for May 2022

2020-03-19

by photoxels

Not surprisingly, Koelnmesse, the organising company behind Photokina, has finally admitted that, due to COVID-19, it won’t be able to go forward with its international trade fair for photography, video and imaging that was scheduled for May 27 to 30, 2020 in Cologne, Germany. It has rescheduled it in two years’s time, from May 18 to 21, 2022.

Press release

March 2020, Cologne

Photokina 2020 is cancelled

After intensive consultation, Koelnmesse GmbH has decided to cancel photokina 2020, originally planned to be held 27 to 30 May 2020. The next instalment of the leading international trade fair for photography, video and imaging will be presented from 18 to 21 May 2022. The Imaging Innovation Conference will not be celebrating its première in 2020 as originally planned; a new date will be coordinated.

In general the management team of Koelnmesse has decided not to organise any own events on the part of Koelnmesse until the end of June 2020. This decision is supported by the crisis management team of the City of Cologne, which also recommended in its meeting on 18.03.2020 to cancel the trade fairs during this period.
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