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Your average consumers use — almost exclusively — the cameras inside their smartphones for picture taking these days. Professionals use big black cameras with even bigger lenses. Or, at least that's the perception most us have when thinking about camera use. But is this actually true?

The analysts at Suite48Analytics have conducted a survey among a total of 881 professional photographers from North America and Europe to find out and published the results in a report titled Pro Photographers and their Camera Use'.

The report covers camera use in general but puts some emphasis on 'stand-alone cameras' versus smartphones. The results aren't entirely surprising. Most photographs for business purposes are still captured with a dedicated camera of some sorts. However, 11 percent of the surveyed photographers use a smartphone camera for approximately 50 percent of their pro images. Smartphone use for professional images is also on the rise, with 31 percent saying they use the smartphone more now than they did 12 months ago.

As one would assume, smartphone use is higher for personal photography. 29 percent take 50 percent of their non-work photos with a smartphone. 36 percent take even more than half of their personal pictures with a phone.

Despite Android phone makers putting a lot of emphasis on their devices' camera capabilities, the iPhone is still the clear favorite among pro professionals, with 86 percent using an Apple model.

So for what type of work do pro photographers use their smartphone camera? Interestingly smartphones are mostly used in situations that don't involve a client present at the scene. 58 percent use the smartphone to take photos that support their own business, for example, website photos or social media posts. 20 percent use phones for behind the scenes type of work.

In those situations when professional photographers do use a dedicated camera the trusty DSLR is still the most popular choice with 53 percent, but at 30 percent mirrorless full-frame cameras are getting closer. Medium format cameras get some use, too, but all other types of cameras are represented in a fairly minor way.

Professionals who use smartphones do so predominantly because they have less gear to carry and the phone allows you to 'catch moments' because it is always within reach. On the other hand, phone use is still much lower than it could otherwise be because professional photographers have concerns about the optical quality of smartphone cameras, even those on high-end models, but also client perception. It seems in some people's minds it's still the camera that makes the pro and that also has an impact on gear choice among professionals.

You can find a summary and the full (paid) report for download on the Suite48Analytics website.

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Your average consumers use — almost exclusively — the cameras inside their smartphones for picture taking these days. Professionals use big black cameras with even bigger lenses. Or, at least that's the perception most us have when thinking about camera use. But is this actually true?

The analysts at Suite48Analytics have conducted a survey among a total of 881 professional photographers from North America and Europe to find out and published the results in a report titled Pro Photographers and their Camera Use'.

The report covers camera use in general but puts some emphasis on 'stand-alone cameras' versus smartphones. The results aren't entirely surprising. Most photographs for business purposes are still captured with a dedicated camera of some sorts. However, 11 percent of the surveyed photographers use a smartphone camera for approximately 50 percent of their pro images. Smartphone use for professional images is also on the rise, with 31 percent saying they use the smartphone more now than they did 12 months ago.

As one would assume, smartphone use is higher for personal photography. 29 percent take 50 percent of their non-work photos with a smartphone. 36 percent take even more than half of their personal pictures with a phone.

Despite Android phone makers putting a lot of emphasis on their devices' camera capabilities, the iPhone is still the clear favorite among pro professionals, with 86 percent using an Apple model.

So for what type of work do pro photographers use their smartphone camera? Interestingly smartphones are mostly used in situations that don't involve a client present at the scene. 58 percent use the smartphone to take photos that support their own business, for example, website photos or social media posts. 20 percent use phones for behind the scenes type of work.

In those situations when professional photographers do use a dedicated camera the trusty DSLR is still the most popular choice with 53 percent, but at 30 percent mirrorless full-frame cameras are getting closer. Medium format cameras get some use, too, but all other types of cameras are represented in a fairly minor way.

Professionals who use smartphones do so predominantly because they have less gear to carry and the phone allows you to 'catch moments' because it is always within reach. On the other hand, phone use is still much lower than it could otherwise be because professional photographers have concerns about the optical quality of smartphone cameras, even those on high-end models, but also client perception. It seems in some people's minds it's still the camera that makes the pro and that also has an impact on gear choice among professionals.

You can find a summary and the full (paid) report for download on the Suite48Analytics website.

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Miyazaki san of MS Optics fame has released his latest M-mount lens, the Elnomaxim 55mm F1.2.

Bellamy Hunt over at Japan Camera Hunter is still working to translate the details of the lens, but what is known at this point is that the lens uses a gauss type optical design with an extremely simple formula. Specifically, the lens is Miyazaki san’s take on the Zeiss 50mm F2 Sonnar lens originally designed for the Zeiss Contax I rangefinder.

The entirely manual lens features an aperture range of F1.2 through F16, has a minimum focusing distance of one meter (3.25ft) and has a 49mm front filter thread. The lens measures in at 50mm diameter, 43mm long and weighs 180g (6.35oz).

Japan Camera Hunter has shared a few sample photos captured with the lens:

As is the case with most MS Optics lenses, this thing isn’t going to win any sharpness contests, but it has character.

The Elnomaxim 55mm F1.2 lens for M-mount is available in black chrome and silver chrome, and is currently available to order from Japan Camera Hunter for $1,200. Units are being produced in small batches, so expect stock to come and go.

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Miyazaki san of MS Optics fame has released his latest M-mount lens, the Elnomaxim 55mm F1.2.

Bellamy Hunt over at Japan Camera Hunter is still working to translate the details of the lens, but what is known at this point is that the lens uses a gauss type optical design with an extremely simple formula. Specifically, the lens is Miyazaki san’s take on the Zeiss 50mm F2 Sonnar lens originally designed for the Zeiss Contax I rangefinder.

The entirely manual lens features an aperture range of F1.2 through F16, has a minimum focusing distance of one meter (3.25ft) and has a 49mm front filter thread. The lens measures in at 50mm diameter, 43mm long and weighs 180g (6.35oz).

Japan Camera Hunter has shared a few sample photos captured with the lens:

As is the case with most MS Optics lenses, this thing isn’t going to win any sharpness contests, but it has character.

The Elnomaxim 55mm F1.2 lens for M-mount is available in black chrome and silver chrome, and is currently available to order from Japan Camera Hunter for $1,200. Units are being produced in small batches, so expect stock to come and go.

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Photo: Dan Bracaglia

Back in the 1990's virtually every camera manufacturer produced a line (or multiple lines) of premium autofocusing pocket cameras. Many of these cameras packed excellent optics and great metering into impossibly small, easy-to-use bodies, making them perfect for capturing spontaneous moments.

These days, with the resurgence of interest in film photography, these premium compacts are fetching high asking prices on the secondhand market. So are these (mostly) fantastic plastic pocket cams worth their asking price? Our pals at Kosmo Foto investigate...

Read: Are premium 35mm compacts a waste of money?

About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we'll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.

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Photo: Dan Bracaglia

Back in the 1990's virtually every camera manufacturer produced a line (or multiple lines) of premium autofocusing pocket cameras. Many of these cameras packed excellent optics and great metering into impossibly small, easy-to-use bodies, making them perfect for capturing spontaneous moments.

These days, with the resurgence of interest in film photography, these premium compacts are fetching high asking prices on the secondhand market. So are these (mostly) fantastic plastic pocket cams worth their asking price? Our pals at Kosmo Foto investigate...

Read: Are premium 35mm compacts a waste of money?

About Film Fridays: We recently launched an analog forum and in a continuing effort to promote the fun of the medium, we'll be sharing film-related content on Fridays, including articles from our friends at KosmoFoto and 35mmc.

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Canon has published its second-quarter (Q2) financial results, which covers from the beginning April 2020 through the end of June 2020, and, as you would expect in these difficult times, the camera division isn’t looking all that great.

Canon made it clear in its first quarter (Q1) results that things would get worse before they got better; and Q2 numbers are the first concrete evidence of just how much the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the camera division in an already-declining market.

Across all of its divisions, Canon reported a loss of ¥8.8 billion ($83.3M), marking the first time in its 82 year history the company has been in the red on a quarterly basis. Canon says in its investor presentation that the ‘impact of global economic stagnation [due to the COVID-19 pandemic] was inevitable as we faced rapid drops in actual demand in various businesses and were confronted with limited business activity.’

As for the imaging division, Canon reported net sales of ¥141.7B ($1.35B) and an operating profit of just ¥800M ($7.65M). While seeing any operating profit is good news in this environment, the numbers are still a stark contrast to Q2 2019. Net sales were down 30.8% and operating profit was down 93.9% year-over-year (YoY).

In the Imaging System breakdown, Canon attributes the decline in net sales to there being ‘fewer image capturing opportunities, such as travel and other events.’ due to COVID-19. Canon says it ‘will take time for sales to recover as cameras are considered a luxury item,’ but it’s projecting the entire market to be down 40% to just 5.4M units and its own unit sales down by the same proportion, to 2.5M.

In addition to Canon elaborating on its cameras being used as webcams for video conferencing and communication, Canon also says it plans to ‘enhance’ its concept camera initiative, with new models expected to be out before the end of the year.

Despite the big fall in Q2, Canon is expecting operating profit to only fall 66% for the full year, and sales by value only 20%. This suggests it expects models such as the R5 and R6 to make up for some of the poor Q2 performance. The company says these models and the RF lenses will 'solidify our position in the full-frame camera market.'

Compared to Canon's end-of-2019 projections, which anticipated total sales of ¥787B and an operating profit of ¥53.7 for the 2020 fiscal year, its new Q2 2020 projection for total sales of ¥643.9B and operating profit of ¥16.1B is a drop of 19% and 70%, respectively.

As for how it intends to handle the direction of its camera division post-COVID-19, Canon says it will ‘accelerate measures to streamline operations’ and ‘expand business areas that utilize optical technology.’ Specifically, Canon says it will ‘work to facilitate our aim of switching business domains, leveraging the optical technology we have cultivated so far, and reallocating resources to new fields such as automobiles and industrial-use sensors.’

Although acknowledging that the camera market has declined faster than anticipated (pre-COVID-19), Canon emphasizes that its position – that 'sooner or later the market will settle down and consist solely of users that are particular about imaging'– has not changed.

Summed up, the numbers are down across the board, but they aren’t all that surprising considering the current state of the camera (and global) market. Canon expects to further expand the use of its sensor and optics technology to industrial and automotive use, but still plans to streamline its operations to make the most of its ILC and compact camera products.

You can read all of the financial results by visiting Canon's investor relations webpage.

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Canon has published its second-quarter (Q2) financial results, which covers from the beginning April 2020 through the end of June 2020, and, as you would expect in these difficult times, the camera division isn’t looking all that great.

Canon made it clear in its first quarter (Q1) results that things would get worse before they got better; and Q2 numbers are the first concrete evidence of just how much the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the camera division in an already-declining market.

Across all of its divisions, Canon reported a loss of ¥8.8 billion ($83.3M), marking the first time in its 82 year history the company has been in the red on a quarterly basis. Canon says in its investor presentation that the ‘impact of global economic stagnation [due to the COVID-19 pandemic] was inevitable as we faced rapid drops in actual demand in various businesses and were confronted with limited business activity.’

As for the imaging division, Canon reported net sales of ¥141.7B ($1.35B) and an operating profit of just ¥800M ($7.65M). While seeing any operating profit is good news in this environment, the numbers are still a stark contrast to Q2 2019. Net sales were down 30.8% and operating profit was down 93.9% year-over-year (YoY).

In the Imaging System breakdown, Canon attributes the decline in net sales to there being ‘fewer image capturing opportunities, such as travel and other events.’ due to COVID-19. Canon says it ‘will take time for sales to recover as cameras are considered a luxury item,’ but it’s projecting the entire market to be down 40% to just 5.4M units and its own unit sales down by the same proportion, to 2.5M.

In addition to Canon elaborating on its cameras being used as webcams for video conferencing and communication, Canon also says it plans to ‘enhance’ its concept camera initiative, with new models expected to be out before the end of the year.

Despite the big fall in Q2, Canon is expecting operating profit to only fall 66% for the full year, and sales by value only 20%. This suggests it expects models such as the R5 and R6 to make up for some of the poor Q2 performance. The company says these models and the RF lenses will 'solidify our position in the full-frame camera market.'

Compared to Canon's end-of-2019 projections, which anticipated total sales of ¥787B and an operating profit of ¥53.7 for the 2020 fiscal year, its new Q2 2020 projection for total sales of ¥643.9B and operating profit of ¥16.1B is a drop of 19% and 70%, respectively.

As for how it intends to handle the direction of its camera division post-COVID-19, Canon says it will ‘accelerate measures to streamline operations’ and ‘expand business areas that utilize optical technology.’ Specifically, Canon says it will ‘work to facilitate our aim of switching business domains, leveraging the optical technology we have cultivated so far, and reallocating resources to new fields such as automobiles and industrial-use sensors.’

Although acknowledging that the camera market has declined faster than anticipated (pre-COVID-19), Canon emphasizes that its position – that 'sooner or later the market will settle down and consist solely of users that are particular about imaging'– has not changed.

Summed up, the numbers are down across the board, but they aren’t all that surprising considering the current state of the camera (and global) market. Canon expects to further expand the use of its sensor and optics technology to industrial and automotive use, but still plans to streamline its operations to make the most of its ILC and compact camera products.

You can read all of the financial results by visiting Canon's investor relations webpage.

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2020 Potato Photographer of the Year

Editor's note: Image #10 (11th in the gallery) doesn't strictly feature nudity, but may be considered NSFW, so proceed with caution accordingly.

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Yes, you read the headline right. The Potato Photographer of the Year is a real photo contest and this year’s winners have been announced.

If you’re wondering where the idea for a potato photo contest came to be, look no further than Kevin Abosch’s Potato #345 (2010), a now-famous photo of a sole starchy tuber that sold for a wallet-mashing one million dollars in 2016, making it the 15th most expensive photo sold at the time.

The Potato Photographer of the Year contest was founded by the contest platform Photocrowd, who partners with The Trussell Trust to ensure all proceeds to ending hunger and poverty in the United Kingdom. Proceeds are made with each photo entry, which costs £5 (GBP) each (up to 8 images).

While the competition ‘didn’t quite raise a million bucks I had secretly hoped for,’ says competition organizer Benedict Brain, ‘the few grand we did raise will go a long way to help provide much-needed food for the Trussell Trust.’

The overall winner is Raw Spence, who captured an image of his sprouting spud about to get a much-needed quarantine haircut. For taking the overall prize, Spence is receiving a Fujifilm X-A7, a year’s membership of the Royal Photographic Society, a one-on-one workshop with photographer Benedict Brain and 3 years of Photocrowd master-level subscription.

The ten winning images, presented in the following gallery, were selected from an panel of judges that includes Martin Parr, Paul Hill, Angela Nicholson (Founder of She Clicks), Nigel Atherton (Editor, Amateur Photographer), and Benedict Brain (Brain’s Foto Guides).

Overall Winner

Photographer: Ray Spence

Title: End of Lockdown

Caption: 'This picture manages to introduce a topical lockdown obsession to the brief of photographing a potato. It takes a great imagination to see a sprouting potato as a head covered with hair, and there is a lot of humor in the way the picture has been executed.' — Nigel Atherton

Judge’s comment: 'This is delightful, imaginative, and a good laugh. And again, a bit bonkers. What we all need at this grim time. Love it!' - Paul Hill

2nd Place

Photographer: David 'Spud' White

Title: A Potato

Judge’s comment: 'This looks like an alien lifeform, photographed on the surface on a barren planet by a NASA robot.' — Nigel Atherton

3rd Place

Photographer: Amy D'Agorne

Title: Tight Market Specifications

Caption: 'Potato agronomy is changing, raising the need for new solutions to old problems. In an environment where pests, weeds and diseases have no regard for the pressure to meet tight market specifications Bayer is committed to helping you produce quality crops that are also profitable to grow." - Bayer, 2019

In Peru, the birthplace of the potato, indigenous women sometimes use fine slices of potato peel as a facemask to soothe and soften the skin.

I was meant to be working with an indigenous NGO in the Andes when Covid broke out so since I couldn’t try this in the Andes themselves, I decided to try this technique out at home and made a self-portrait documenting the process. I was simultaneously reading about the history of agriculture and the development of large agribusiness, specifically about the corporation Bayer, now one of four major agrichemical businesses in the world, a company that owns 80% of all commercial seeds on the planet. The report that I was reading was released by the CIA in 2001 and discloses information about Bayer (then known as IG Farben) and their despicable involvement in Nazi Germany.

I rang up the Crop Science branch of Bayer that is based in the U.K. and was shocked to hear that the company still uses and promotes the use of glyphosate on British potatoes. Glyphosate, a chemical that the company Monsanto, which was bought up by Bayer in 2011), sold in their 'Round-Up' product, a product they, and now Bayer is being sued by consumers for giving the users of the product various cancers and autoimmune diseases. I was fascinated by the obvious dichotomies and differences that there are when looking at the relationship that indigenous peoples have with their food and the relationship that western ‘developed’ countries and companies share with their food.

Indigenous peoples make up less than 5% of the planet's human population, and yet they are protecting 80% of its diversity. And only 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. This image investigates the relationship between natural remedies /the close relationship some people have with their food and the big companies/corporations that take advantage of that natural knowledge to expand on market specifications.

Judge’s comment: 'This image looks at the politics of the potato from two angles — its indigenous origins and the current domination of agriculture by a single company — and cleverly combines them is a thoughtfully conceived and well-executed composite image.' — Nigel Atherton

4th Place

Photographer: Laure Gibault

Title: Potato Slug

Caption: A straight shot of a sweet potato

Judge’s comment: 'I like the fact that this spud looks like a cross between a seal and a unicorn.' Martin Parr

5th Place

Photographer: Peter Hubert

Title: Planting Jersey Royals

Caption: Every winter the fields in Jersey are ploughed in preparation for the planting of the Island's main cash crop, Jersey Royals. As a Jerseyman I have been endeavouring to determine and photograph some of the things that we take for granted but are intrinsically and distinctly part of the fabric of Jersey life, cultural reference points that fellow Islanders would instantly recognise and instinctively understand. The planting of potatoes by migrant workers has been a feature of the farming community since the 19th century. Over the years some have stayed and many families include forebears who originally arrived as seasonal farm labourers.

6th Place

Photographer: Tova Krentzman

Title: Untitled

Caption: A portrait of individuals, together yet very much alone....and the unifying task of the mundane that is also beautiful....much like the character of the potato (mundane and glorious in its basic state and potential).

Together, alone, under a mundane task of peeling potatoes. During these past months of lockdown, the story of individuals; each from a different country, with their own interests and commentary...sharing space. In this depiction, they are united by the potato.

Judge’s comment: 'This carefully arranged tableau is a work that stayed most in my mind when I went back and forth through the excellent contributions to the competition. The photographer has creatively used what looks like available light in an empty kitchen, and the image also reflects effectively the claustrophobic side of the lockdown. It is engagingly surreal and a bit bonkers too.' Paul Hill

7th Place

Photographer: William Richardson

Title: Frites in Bruges

Caption: Frites in Bruges with dollop of mayonnaise.

Judge’s comment: 'How reassuring to see a helping of chips and mayonnaise.' - Martin Parr

8th Place

Photographer: Justin Quinnell

Caption: Eating a 'potato face' - from inside of my mouth 'Smileycam', 110 cartridge pinhole camera image taken from inside of my mouth using two flashguns to illuminate subject and teeth (not in mouth).

9th Place

Photographer: Amy D'Agorne

Title: 2030

Caption: The year; 2030. Climate change and a rise in food shortages have prompted the U.K. Government to encourage all citizens to start growing food within their back yards. Gripped by the mass hysteria, the protagonist, with a colander on her head to protect herself from her own erratic fears of 5G, tries to plant potatoes in her concrete-lined back yard. As one of the hardiest food crops, they may be her only chance of survival.

Judge’s comment: 'I like the humour in this image and have nothing but admiration for the effort the photographer went to in order to create it.' - Nigel Atherton

10th Place

Photographer: Jodie Krause

Title: Apple of the Earth

Caption: This photograph depicts an interpretation of Adam and Eve. Subsequent to COVID-19, humans have been denied many temptations such as contact and intimacy. However, it has also provided an opportunity for the world to ‘reset’ and renew. The potato is a staple food enjoyed around the world and therefore epitomises the fundamentals of life. Moreover, potato in French, ‘Pomme de Terre’, directly translates to ‘Apple of the Earth,’ highlighting the importance of the potato since it is likened to a fruit associated with re-birth. Therefore, my photograph is focused on the creation of Adam and Eve, who herald the start of a new world by holding a potato.

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