# Canon listed as "Master of Photography" TV show "digital imaging partner", replacing Leica



## LDS (Apr 15, 2019)

Canon is now listed as "Master of Photography" digital imaging partner, role that Leica held in the past seasons. Thereb this year competitors have been given Canon gear (they have to use the sponsor cameras and lenses, choosing among the available ones).

It looks competitors will use a Canon R, and RF lenses (no hints about other models) - and images will be printed on a Pixma Pro (probably a 100S...). This year, the whole workflow down to printing will be part of the show.

The show too, like last year, will be wholly shot using C300 MKII cameras, and different CN-E and EF lenses. According to Sky, CN-E lenses are preferred for studio shots, while EF ones outside.


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## cayenne (Apr 16, 2019)

I've never heard of this before....

Is this a TV show? A YouTube channel? Something streaming somewhere?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne


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## LDS (Apr 16, 2019)

It's a TV show produce and broadcasted by Sky on its Sky Arts channel in Europe (UK, Germany, Italy, and some others). It's a contest - like many other shows popular on TV today - among a group of professional and amateur photographers. Each episode has a theme, and competitors may be sent to different cities or in a studio to shoot, followed a video crew that documents their attempts to create the images to submit to the judges.

They have a limited time to complete the assignment, and they have to use the cameras and lenses made available by the sponsor, though. Canon is going to promote the R cameras and RF lenses, it looks. With Leica there weren't extreme or special lenses - themes like wildlife photography or sport photography weren't touched (even if athletes were used). I don't think Canon will change it.

Post-production is usually limited to Lightroom - it's not a competition for Photoshop wizards. As in most shows today, one or more are eliminated at each round. The winner gets 100,000 euro.

Photographs are evaluated by a panel of three judges (photographers, editors, etc.) - Oliviero Toscani was the common one in all editions. In each episode there is also a guest - usually a known photographer, but can be another role in photography or even an actor, who can give advises to competitors (and whose work is briefly presented, usually linked to the episode theme) . Unlike some other shows, anyway, everything is kept within very polite boundaries (even if Toscani is always Toscani...), and well above standard Instagram images level... yet it's still a show, not a photo course, nor a documentary, it's aimed at viewers with an interest in visual arts and photography, not aimed at photographers only - and moreover free of any discussion about IQ, DR, bokeh, diffraction, etc. ... it's mostly about photography as an art.

My family finds it entertaining, and a kind of window on photography operations and trends.

https://masterofphotography.tv/en/ - but I'm afraid it's available to Sky subscriber only - don't know if it is available in some other ways.


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## cayenne (Apr 16, 2019)

Hmm...sounds interesting.
I don't usually go for any type of "reality tv", but something like this, I'd watch a few episodes to see how it was.....wish there was an US outlet for it.


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## Ozarker (May 27, 2019)

cayenne said:


> Hmm...sounds interesting.
> I don't usually go for any type of "reality tv", but something like this, I'd watch a few episodes to see how it was.....wish there was an US outlet for it.


There is an app, but it requires a subscription.


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## LDS (May 27, 2019)

It looks Canon is going to sponsor a less ambitious edition. Photographers are now just eight in six episodes (they were 12 in 8 episodes in the first season, then 10), and each episode "assignment" looks designed to be less expensive than in the past. Yet one of the contestants will also win a six-month period at Toscani's "Fabrica", the "communication research centre" he founded.

Broadcasting will start tomorrow, let's see... especially how Canon managed the products placement


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## LDS (May 29, 2019)

IMHO Canon made a disservice to itself with the show. So eager to promote the R system it gave photographers just an R camera and the only two of the very few lenses available when the show was shot last Winter - the 24-105/4 and 50/1.2 (not the 28-70/2) No adapter and EF lenses.

Just, the first assignment was "archeological landscape" (at Ostia Antica site) - and the R system looked quite "poor" on the screen, as all the mirrorless advantages could not be shown.

Evidently they wanted to advertise the R system to a generic public, but I would have throw in a couple of TS lenses to show what Canon can deliver - I don't believe it's a matter of price if you show the 50/1.2


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