Apple smashes the opposition with 74.5m iPhones and $18bn profit

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So busy was I taking photographs this evening that I almost forgot to anticipate Apple's quarterly earnings call. The results were forecast to be a blockbuster but, in the event, the Colossus of Cupertino has soundly out-paced the analysts by moving no fewer than 74.5 million iPhones in the quarter to December 31. Revenue soared to $74.6bn and profit to $18bn. Even more interesting is that gross margins, which had been shrinking of late, have bounced back to just under 40 percent, up from 37.9 percent in the same quarter in 2013.

Sony A7II and Leica 50mm Apo-Summicron: London night challenge

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Earlier this evening I was out with Tops Osoba and his merry band of streettogs trying our hands at night photography around London's iconic Tower Bridge.

Fuji X100T: How Matchtechnical’s new ThumbsUp transforms handling and adds to stability

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Last week my colleague Bill Palmer was bemoaning his difficulty in getting comfortable with the Fuji X100S he bought a few months ago. The difficulty of getting a good grip on his camera has persuaded him to abandon thoughts of buying the latest X100T. I agree with him that the X100 cameras are relatively difficult to hold steadily but I haven't given up on the X100T.

Sony A7 Mark II: Life in the slow lane at 1/13th of a second

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I have had the Sony A7II in my hands for just over a day and already I am blown away by that stabilisation system. To recap, for new readers, this review camera came without a lenses, at my bidding, because I wanted to try it with manual full-frame lenses. 

Fuji announces new X-A2 ILC and QX2 enthusiast fixed-lens camera plus new XC lenses

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Fuji today launched a whole raft of new equipment, including a replacement for the X-A1 entry-level X-Series camera, a new enthusiast QX2 and two new XC zooms. In addition there are three new FinePix models

London, Sunday 11 January 2015

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No comment needed:

Fujinon XF16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR to launch next month at £900

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The long-awaited constant-aperture XF16-55mm standard zoom is announced today by Fujifilm. It will arrive in Britain in mid-February and cost will cost a penny under £900. This f/2.8-aperture general-purpose zoom is claimed to have high optical performance and becomes the third weather-resistant optic for the X-Series cameras, joining the 18-135mm and 50-140mm. The focal length range of this cropped lens is equivalent to approximately 24mm-84mm in full-frame terms. The surprise for me is the absence of optical stabilisation, a feature which has so far been found on all X-Series zooms, even on the wide-angle 10-24mm.

January 1: It must be Brooklands for the classic vehicle gathering

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Most people think New Year's Day is a time to lie in and recover from the excesses of the night before. Yet specialist events, such as today's Brooklands New Year Gathering, have never been more popular. For those of us who went easy on the lighter fuel at midnight, there's nothing more pleasurable than getting out of bed at the crack of dawn to drive to the nearest monster gathering devoted to whatever subject tickles our fancy. Today at Brooklands was just one example of the hundreds of specialist gatherings throughout the country.

Vodafone Age 30: “How I made the first cellular phone call in Britain”

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Today, 30 years ago, Michael Harrison, son of the then chairman of fledgling Vodafone, made the first cellular call on the new network. He had travelled to London with a phone weighing 11 pounds and pressed the call button from Parliament Square, next to Churchill's statue, at one minute into the new year of 1985.

Macfilos Tech and Photo merged into one blog from 1 January 2015

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Since I added the Macfilos Photography blog in June 2013 it has become extremely popular. For some months now I have had difficulty juggling two similar...

Leica M3D-5 special David Douglas Duncan edition

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Another goreous special limited edition from Leica: The David Douglas Duncan M3D-5. It is covered in detail here at Leica Rumors.

Fools Do Art: Shenanigans at Squarespace

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Two guys who work at Squarespace have caused a stir by their impromptu reenactments of famous works of art using just the materials they find around their New York office. I have a particular interest since Macfilos is powered by Squarespace and the system is tremendous. For those of us who don't like to get our fingers dirty, Squarespace offers a secure and carefully curated home for our little works of art. 

Meet Mr. Gadd, 83, of Fontwell Magna and discover how he turned my thoughts...

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Over fifty years ago I saved up £6.30, or six guineas as it then was, for my very first proper fountain pen....

Sony A7II Stabilisation: Does it work with third-party manual-focus lenses?

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Until today it had never crossed my mind that the Sony's in-body stabilisation might not work with manual lenses. The idea seems far fetched, but it has gained some credence on the forums.

Fuji Firmware Updates: Just an excuse for not getting it right in the first...

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....it's worth pointing out that NOTHING in this update is new technology that has suddenly appeared since the X-T1 was initially released. ALL of it could have been included when the camera first appeared. And we have the right to ask Fuji, why wasn't it in the camera in the first place? And how come we have had to wait so long for these options?