In September 2021 we interviewed Bette Lynch about her work for ActionAid as part of Wex Photo Video’s #WomenInTheIndustry campaign to celebrate the success of female creatives who are working to change the way we see the world.
Bette is a photographic strategist, content lead and all-around advocate. In this inspiring interview we discuss Bette’s work with major organisations, using photography to tell untold stories in the most visually insightful way. We’ll discuss how she began her career, and offer advice to those looking to work in a similar field.
During this session, Bette will talk us through her creative processes inclusive of research, preparation and finalisation of projects/project approval.
Bette Lynch was talking to Tiffany Tangen. You can find out more about Bette’s work at twentynineagency.com/
Shot By Women, launching on International Women’s Day 2022, is a project dedicated to uplifting female press photographers and allowing them to gain recognition in the industry. It’s a new image library that women photographers around the world can sign up to, providing them with support and rights-managed distribution for their work.
Women photographers come together to support the launch of SHOTBYWOMEN – Worlds first ever stock library to house exclusively women-created content covering all areas of photography. Launching International Women’s Day 2022. www.shotbywomen.com
And it works on the other side of the fence too – providing busy picture editors and newsdesks with a resource they can use to quickly and easily find women and feminine-of-centre photographers, worldwide. Someone who understands just how valuable this could potentially be is Olivia Harris.
Olivia spent just under five years working in pictures for The Times, rising through the ranks to become Saturday Picture Editor. She worked with news photographers every day to break the biggest stories with unforgettable imagery, and has also worked to redress the gender balance in the newsroom by commissioning and championing women photographers.
Women and non-binary people are significantly more represented in news photography than they have been in the past – however, as demonstrated in data collected by Women Photograph, there is still a long way to go before reaching parity, with the majority of front-page bylines still going to men. Shot By Women and projects like it are putting in the vital work needed to make news photography more representative of everyone’s experiences. We spoke to Olivia to find out more about the project…
Fixation: Thanks for talking with us, Olivia. Can you tell us about Shot by Women and how it all came together?
Olivia Harris: About a year ago, I put out a call-out on my personal Instagram, saying that I would really like to increase the number of female contributors that we were using at The Times. I’d looked down our freelancers list and realised that almost everyone we were regularly using on news were men. And, while obviously the guys we were using were dependable and fantastic, I found that fact really depressing.
So, I put out this callout, and thought it probably wouldn’t get much traction, maybe a couple of dozen responses.
I got thousands of messages. I had to turn off notifications on my Instagram because it was going off every second! It was quite overwhelming, and took me literally months to go through, but it was one of the best things I’ve done. I just loved it – loved seeing the enthusiasm, and talking to female freelancers who were desperately trying to break into news, but finding it really difficult, finding it to be quite a closed-off environment.
Off the back of that, Tabatha Fireman, founder of Female Perspective, messaged me, saying she was launching Shot By Women. Covid had previously kind of put a stop to it ramping up, but over the past year Tabatha has really propelled it forward, and it’s launching on International Women’s Day.
The plan for Shot By Women is to bridge that gap. I was hearing so often in the messages I was receiving how difficult it was to contact people on the desks – and yeah, having worked on the desks, it’s hard enough to talk to people on other desks in the same building! Shot By Women will hopefully make it a lot easier for people on both sides – for photographers to get in contact, be commissioned, and have their archive used through the agency side of things. That will be an amazing resource for them, to make sure that their work is being seen.
And through an entirely female perspective. At the moment when you go to a standard agency – Getty, for example – you can’t filter by gender of photographer. It will be a completely new concept, and will hopefully encourage the desks to really think about the bylines that they’re using. And then on the other side of it, from the commissioning perspective, it will make it super-easy for desks to go to a bank of hopefully hundreds, maybe even thousands, of photographers who have signed up to Shot By Women, and know that they can speak to one of the team and get exactly what they need. To know that what they’re commissioning will be shot by a woman – which, unless you know someone specifically, you can’t really do at the moment.
Montage of images created by SHOTBYWOMEN contributing photographers.
Fixation: The world of press photography is still very male-dominated. Why do you think press photography specifically has been so slow to change in this regard?
Olivia: It’s sad that there are so, so few women photographers in comparison. I think it’s also the nature of it being so competitive – and The Times is a prime example of this. Once you find a photographer that is trustworthy, and will do exactly what you want, when you have a business job that comes in at 9AM, and needs shooting at 2PM that day, you have to just get it done. You’re conditioned by the pressure and the editors and the expectations.
It’s only when you have a little bit more time that you are able to introduce those new voices and perspectives into the paper. So it needs work on both sides, I think – for women to really shout and push themselves forward, and then also for desks to be way more conscious about who they’re commissioning, and to think about how we can maybe try and balance it out a little bit more. It’s so desperately needed.
Fixation: In the messages you received after your callout, were there any things that women photographers said that particularly stayed with you?
Olivia: The overwhelming thing that I took from it was just the enthusiasm and the gratitude. Everyone was just saying, “Oh my god, someone’s actually thinking about this, and wanting to change it.”
Working on the desk is unrelenting. It’s ridiculously long days, very high pressure. And I think it’s so easy to just keep going without stopping and thinking, “Okay, how can we change this and how can we make it better?” I’m not criticising anyone, because I was one of those people. But I think that was the main thing I received from the call-out was just everyone being like, “Thank you so much for wanting to change something.”
Fixation: This conversation has definitely made me reflect on what a difficult and demanding job being a Picture Editor sounds like it must be.
Olivia: The adrenaline keeps you running. If you’re picture editing, there is a standard of anywhere between a 12-hour and 14-hour day. You have to see everything, you have to be aware of everything, and you have to love it. You really, really have to love it.
Fixation: Something I wanted to touch on was also that you were recently a curator for the British Press Photographers’ Association Assignments 2021 exhibition. We spoke to a few of the selected photographers – Samir Hussein, who took that fantastic shot of Stormzy at the Brits, and Hollie Adams, who captured the moment of Dominic Cummings leaving Downing Street. What was that experience like for you?
Olivia: That has been the highlight of my career so far. I absolutely loved it. I have a lot of thanks to go to Hollie – she was, I think, one of the people that put me forward to be one of the curators. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience – I mean, it’s just the dream. You get given… I think it was nearly 2,000 photos, and you have to whittle it down to your top 20, and then a reserve top 20, because there are going to be duplicates between the curators.
I did my first edit, and managed to get a great selection .. of about 300 amazing photos, and I had to keep going and going and going. I had given myself a couple of days off – I requested that from my manager, because I really needed the time. By the end of it, I was going slightly doolally, looking at the same photos over and over again. But it was amazing, and it was so great to go to the exhibition – I think I went three or four times – and see the collection up on the walls. It was a really nice collection, and was so diverse.
Also, one of the highlights was meeting so many people. Working on the desk, I would speak to these people every day, or see their names in the feeds. But I hadn’t met any of them, ever. And so I was walking around the exhibition and constantly bumping into photographers and being like, “Oh, it’s you!”
I think it’s sad that there aren’t more opportunities to do that, because the relationships between photographers and desks are so important. I don’t think that they’re nurtured enough at all. And that kind of loops back to my call-out, because desks putting a bit more effort in and nurturing relationships with photographers – that’s how you get the most out of your commissions. And that’s how you get new voices in.
Olivia Harris was talking to Jon Stapley. You can find out more about Shot By Women at www.shotbywomen.com
Canon has expanded its lens range for the full-frame EOS R mirrorless system with the addition of two blockbuster super-telephoto RF lenses:
Canon RF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM
Canon RF 1200mm f8.0 L IS USM
Canon have made EF versions of these focal lengths in the past, the legendary EF 1200mm f5.6 L from 1993 is incredibly rare. They were made to order, there is only speculation about how many were ever produced and we have never seen one at Fixation. More recently in 2008 the EF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM had the new benefits of Canon image stabilisation and magnesium alloy build for lighter weight however it was still 4.5kg
Times and technologies have moved on and while we saw mark II and mark III versions of the 300mm and 400mm super telephoto lenses which were ever lighter, better balanced, with more advanced stabilisation systems and power aperture control rings, there was never a revision to the 1200mm or 800mm lenses until today.
Lenses are available to pre-order, contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 020 7582 3294 for more information.
Key specifications compared
RF 1200mm f8.0 L IS USM
RF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM
EF 1200mm f5.6 L
EF 800mm f5.6 L IS USM
Release Year
2022
2022
1993
2008
Focal Length
1200mm
800mm
1200mm
800mm
Maximum Aperture
f/8.0
f/5.6
f/5.6
f/5.6
Weight
3.34kg
3.14kg
16.50kg
4.50kg
Image Stabilisation
Yes: 4 Stop IS
Yes: 4.5 Stop IS
No
Yes: 4 Stop IS
Close focus distance
4.3m
2.6m
14.0m
6.0m
Price
£22,449
£19,099
No longer available
£13,549
Lenses are available to pre-order, contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 020 7582 3294 for more information.
Are they really compact lightweight and portable?
This depends on your perspective, if you are used to using telephoto lenses, especially if you used to use 1990s and 2000s mark I telephoto lenses from Canon then the answer is yes! The difference between those early telephoto lenses and what Canon can produce now is phenomenal. So much so that we often have to double check the cases of the mark III EF telephoto lenses to make sure there is a lens in them. When you are used to the heavier kit, the new kit feels like it is barely there.
On the other hand if you are used to small lenses eg. 70-200mm f2.8, 24-105mm f4.0, prime lenses under 180mm, then the answer is no. Any supertelephoto lens will seem large and unwieldy to start with. They are “long” lenses by definition super telephoto lenses have to be longer and larger to magnify subjects at a great distance. The lenses have their own cases and cannot be put into a normal backpack along with your camera and flash, when travelling overseas this is a significant consideration.
In the end it is down to what you are used to as a photographer, and if you have never used a telephoto lens before don’t worry you can it takes a little practice but the results are well worth it. If you do travel regularly, covering international sport for example, this becomes a normal part of your travel planning.
Telephoto lenses launched April 2021:
Canon has announced three new lenses in the RF range: An RF 100mm f2.8 L Macro USM, Super-telephoto RF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM and, even longer a Super telephoto RF 600mm f4.0L IS USM.
Left to right the RF 600mm f4.0L IS USM, RF 400mm f2.8L IS USM, RF 100mm f2.8 L Macro IS USM
All three lenses use Canon L series optics and are RF versions of tried and tested EF lenses updated for EOS R mount mirrorless digital cameras.
Canon RF 100mm f2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens £1,449 Canon RF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM Lens £12,449 Canon RF 600mm f4 L IS USM Lens £13,409
To place an order with our sales team, call us on 0207 582 3294 or email sales@fixationuk.com
Canon RF 100mm f2.8L Macro USM
The 100mm is a versatile lens which delivers excellent macro images but it is by no means limited just to macro photography. The earlier version of this lens for DSLR camera bodies (EF 100mm f2.8L IS Macro USM) was prized for it’s revealing, clear images and used by beauty, product and portrait photographers as well as extensively for artwork reproduction and archive digitization. The image stabilization on a short telephoto was a real boon for early DSLR filmmakers working with the EOS 5D series and Cinema EOS systems.
In short, we’re confident this lens will be a popular choice for a wide range of photographers using EOS R cameras and may tempt more to move to mirrorless.
Fast close focusing
This lens achieves fast, precise and controlled focus, in near silence by using two Nano USM autofocus motors to drive two separate optical element groups. A floating lens group (which required the use of a second focus motor) is used to make the lens more compact and to focus closer for up to 1.5x magnification. Shorter distances within the lens make focusing faster.
The independent movement of the two optical groups also suppresses focus breathing, the subtle change in magnification seen when focusing a traditional optical system.
Rock steady image stabilisation
The hybrid IS system in the RF 100mm f2.8L IS Macro USM delivers up to 5 stops of image stabilisation in the lens alone. Paired with the in-body image stabilisation of the Canon EOS R5 the lens is capable of up to 8 stops of image stabilisation. Both of these measurements have been tested independently by CIPA.
It is worth noting that the stabilisation is tested at a standard subject distance and not at a macro distance. Because macro photography is much more revealing of shake and subject movement, Canon state that the IS delivers 2-stops of stabilisation when shooting at 1x magnification. For greater macro stability the lens has an optional tripod attachment ring.
Spherical Aberration (SA) control
A defining feature of this lens is the addition of a Spherical Aberration Control ring. The SA Control gives photographers more control of depth of field and bokeh by moving the floating element group independently. This allows you to alter the look of your bokeh and defocus in front of and behind the subject.
Canon RF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM Lens £1,449 To place an order with our sales team, call us on 0207 582 3294 or email sales@fixationuk.com
Canon RF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM and RF 600mm f4.0 L IS USM
Two fast telephoto lenses are set to bring Canon mirrorless cameras into the world of professional sport and wildlife photography. These lenses give photographers the ability to capture the action while staying safely on the sidelines. 400mm is a standard length for football and rugby while 600mm is the go-to for cricket and golf. Outside the world of sport, the 600mm is highly prized by bird photographers and both focal lengths are used by wildlife photographers around the world.
Fast AF with Dual Power focus drive
These lenses are often used to track moving subjects. Canon have added a second power connection point to the lens mount so that with compatible cameras the lenses can draw more power for faster focusing and more accurate subject tracking.
Both lenses have a full time manual focus override so you can quickly adjust focus without switching focus modes. The 600mm allows you to set three manual focus speeds for precise control.
Portable
These are large lenses, the long focal lengths and wide apertures make these lenses objects that often dwarf the camera attached. Canon have done all they can to make such large lenses as light and easy to use as possible. Using lightweight alloys for the barrels the 400m is the lightest 400mm f2.8 for mirrorless cameras on the market at only 2.89kg. The 600mm is only a fraction heavier at 3.09kg.
Canon are no longer providing these lenses in bulky flight cases instead opting for reinforced soft cases to reduce the overall weight of the kit while travelling.
Canon RF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM Lens £12,449 Canon RF 600mm f4 L IS USM Lens £13,409 To place an order with our sales team, call us on 0207 582 3294 or email sales@fixationuk.com
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With just one compact body you can capture 8K video or 45 megapixel photographs. From Canon Cinema EOS the EOS R5 C is a video version of the popular EOS R5 full-frame 35mm mirrorless camera body with a boosted video spec and some important physical differences which make it an 8K video powerhouse.
Canon EOS R5 C: £4,499 The EOS R5 C is available to pre-order just contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294.
A familiar silhouette from the front, the EOS R5 C is based on the EOS R5 mirrorless camera body.
Enhanced video performance
The EOS R5 C can capture 8K 30fps or 8K 60fps with an external power supply. It can also record oversampled 4K, slow-motion 4K up to 120fps, as well as Full HD. Beyond this range of resolutions and frame rates the camera is capable of recording in a range of professional recording formats: three versions of Cinema RAW light recorded in-camera, XF-AVC, MP4 and RAW output via HDMI to an external recorder.
Active cooling means the EOS R5 C will shoot for long periods without cut off, more on this point below.
When setting up to shoot shooting you can choose to record into profiles which offer greater latitude in post production: Canon Log 3, HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) which allows for delivery to SDR and HDR monitors, and PQ a dedicated HDR transfer mode.
When shooting, Cinema EOS tools such as waveform monitoring and false colour views are available to help you get the perfect take.
High resolution 45 megapixel photography & EOS R system features
The sensor, as seen in the incredibly popular Canon EOS R5, captures incredible high definition images with stills burst speeds up to 20fps. Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus delivers accurate and fast subject tracking with reliable Face, Head and Eye tracking, maintaining focus even when your subject turns away from the camera. The Dual Pixel Focus guide even delivers precise focus feedback when manually focusing. Built in WiFi lets you transfer photographs wirelessly to a phone or computer – without the need for an extra accessory. The RF lens mount on the EOS R5 C is fully compatible with the growing RF lens range as well as the EF-EOS R mount adaptors which open up the camera to use with the complete EF lens range for Canon DSLR cameras including tilt-shift and super-macro specialist lenses.
The big difference between the EOS R5 and the EOS R5 C
How has Canon done it? How have they added such a strong video recording spec to the EOS R5 C? Why didn’t they bring all this out with the original EOS R5?
The answer to all these questions is Heat, no, not the 1995 impressive but also somewhat impenetrable crime classic. Heat generated by a sensor recording and a processor processing 8K video for extended durations has limited what Canon could previously deliver in a body designed for photography. Heat management is much more critical for video cameras with an always-on sensor constantly demanding processing power compared with a stills camera which is only capturing and processing image information for a fraction of a second.
Canon have handled the heat generated by this video operation by adding an active cooling system (a fan to you and me) which cools a heat sink pulling heat away from the internal operations of the camera. The result is a thicker body behind the LCD and a longer hot-shoe and eyepiece compared to the original EOS R5 body. The right-hand grip is the same dimensions so hand-holding the camera will be just as comfortable as the EOS R5. This physical difference is most notable from a top-down view of the two bodies side by side:
The other change which we think is related to the cooling system is that the sensor has no IBIS stabilisation system, the sensor is static in the body. Canon announced that there is a 5-axis electronic stabilisation which will compliment optical image stabilisation in their IS lenses. Electronic stabilisation uses pixels surrounding the frame as a buffer to compensate for camera movement so can cause some cropping.
In the Cinema EOS lineup this camera is the smallest and lightest and the most like a Canon stills camera making the move to a professional video ecosystem easier for any Canon photographer being asked for more video content. For experienced Cinema EOS users the EOS 5R C offers a body that can deliver both the video performance they expect and a strong option for photography without the need to invest in a second system.
For more information or to pre-order the camera contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294.
Today, Nikon announces a new full-frame super-telephoto prime lens for the mirrorless Z system. The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S with built-in teleconverter features a fast f/2.8 aperture and phenomenal AF performance. The 400mm focal length is a go-to lens for sports, wildlife, and nature photography with versatility out of the box with thanks to the built-in 1.4x extender.
The Nikon Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S attached to the Nikon Z9 flagship mirrorless camera body.
Nikon Z 400mm Build Quality
Built to give photographers every advantage out in the field, the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S also boasts an impressively lightweight build, just under 3kg (2950g). The lens is well balanced with the centre of gravity moved towards the rear of the lens improving the handling especially for long-duration use. For sport and wildlife photogrpahy sealing around all moving parts is standard to keep dust and moisture at bay. Controls on the lens are customisable for the perfect setup in any given shooting situation. The lens features a FN function ring to control the aperture in an intuitive way or to modify a custom setting of your choice. A Kensington® Security allows you to secure your lens if it is necessary to leave the lens outside your line-of-sight.
Nikon Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S lens detail showing drop in filter, built in teleconverter switch and memory set button for pre-programmed focus distances.
Nikon Z 400mm Key Features
Built-in 1.4x teleconverter: a flick of a switch on the right side of the lens is all it takes to engage the teleconverter and extend the reach of this lens to 560 mm.
New AF motor design: The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S is the first Z lens to adopt Nikon’s new Silky Swift Voice Coil Motor (VCM) focusing system with optical ABS encoder: autofocus is faster and quieter, with spot-on subject acquisition and tracking. Silky Swift VCM focusing system with optical ABS encoder delivers phenomenally fast autofocus with spot-on subject acquisition and tracking.
Optical Vibration Reduction: gives a 5.5-stop advantage even when shooting with the built-in teleconverter activated, Synchro VR is available when this lens is paired with the Z 9.
Meso Amorphous Coating on lens elements: It’s also the first Z lens to feature Nikon’s new Meso Amorphous Coat, which offers the highest anti-reflection performance in NIKKOR history. This new coating employs particles smaller than nano particles. Nano coatings had become standard on the best Nikon lenses for the last 10+ years. The Meso Amorphous coating improves control over ghosting and flare. Nano coating was already remarkable so we expect clarity and contrast to be perfect, reducing flare and haze even if shooting scenes with multiple light sources in the frame. This new class-leading anti-reflective coating combats ghosting and flare by eliminating incidental light coming from both diagonal and vertical directions.
Exquisite detail: Nikon’s ED, Super ED, and SR glass elements counter chromatic aberrations. ED stands for Extra-low Dispersion which reduces colour fringing at high-contrast edges. Super ED glass offers and improvement on ED elements Super Extra-low Dispersion. SR glass elements combat blue fringing bringing all wavelengths into a precise point where corrections had previously focused on red-magenta wavelengths.
Weather sealed and robust: sealing around all moving parts keeps dust and moisture at bay, and Nikon’s fluorine coating protects the front element. As a repair centre we must caution that no DSLR lens is completeley waterproof – a rain cover is essential to keep your kit dry when shooting in the rain.
Balanced: the lens’ centre of gravity is towards the rear for more stable operation. The tripod foot allows optimum balance when the lens is attached to a tripod. The foot is useful handle for carrying such a large lens but for a more compact form or when travelling, the foot is removable.
Customisable on-lens controls: functions can be assigned to the FN ring, as well as to the Fn buttons, focus ring, and silent control ring. Save focus distances to the memory-set button.
Drop-in filter slot: add drop in filters such as polarisers and ND filters for more control in challenging lighting situations.
Teleconverter Compatibility: supports use of the Z TELECONVERTER TC-1.4x and Z TELECONVERTER TC-2.0x this will extend the focal length range even further and can be used in combination with the built-in teleconverter.
Nikon Z 400mm Focal Length Range Chart
Combination
400mm
400mm with built-in teleconverter deployed
Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S Lens only
400mm f/2.8
560mm f/4.0
Lens plus Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x
560mm f/4.0
784mm f/5.6
Lens plus Z Teleconverter TC-2.0x
800mm f/5.6
1120mm f/8.0
Authorised Nikon Service Centre
At Fixation we are proud to be an official repair centre for Nikon in the UK able to service the current DSLR and mirrorless range of camera bodies and lenses. As a repair partner with Nikon for over 30 years we can complete many warranty repairs in-house, our technicians specialise in photographic repair making us the destination for profressional photographers. All our spare parts for repairs are supplied by Nikon to ensure all repairs are completed with genuine Nikon spares.
With the support of our in-house workshop our customers at Fixation know they will always recieve the best technical insights when investing in new equipment.
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