The world is full of dreary lenses. Most of the new ones, today, are refreshes of the old. So when Zeiss invited us to try something new, my interest was piqued. We, the Phoblographer members in attendance, were introduced to the New Zeiss Touit 32mm 1.8 and the 12mm f2.8, both rather clever lenses. However these lenses are for Sony NEX 7 and Fujifilm X Pro cameras, which I don’t own. Luckily Zeiss brought LensRentals along to loan me a Fujifilm XPro. While I am not a fan of the X Pro 1 personally, the Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8 was rather nice.
Let’s see why.
[click to continue…]
More and more photographers are picking up mirrorles systems as either their main system or as backups to their main gear. Either way, if you pick up a mirrorless camera, you are going to need a bag to carry your new gear. Yes, you could utilze the same big and bulkly bags that you use to lug around your big DSLR but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a small mirrorless kit. Not surprisingly, the bag manufacturers have been more than happy to expand their offerings by making smaller bags to accommodate the new onslaught of mirrorless camera systems. One not so new bag that looks like it could be a winner in the mirrorless market is the Domke F-803 Ruggedwear bag. Is this the holy grail of bags for mirrorless shooters? Let’s find out.
[click to continue…]
Sigma is announcing four new art lenses: but only one of the lenses is actually totally new. The company’s 30mm f2.8 DN, 19mm f2.8 DN, and 30mm f1.4 DC HSM have long been in the lineup, but they’re now receiving a refresh. In these new versions, they’ve now been given a bit of an optical performance overhaul and more of a facelift to include them in the art collection–where they join the very good 35mm f1.4 HSM. Once you read the specs though, you start to realize that they’re really not playing around now. For example, the new lenses all have brass made bayonets. Sound familiar? It’s the reason why you pay so much for B&W filters: the brass.
According to the press release, “All three DN lenses incorporate telecentric optical designs and a linear, auto focusing motor that ensures accurate and quiet focusing for video recording. They also boast metal exteriors and a simply shaped focus ring, with varying textures to distinguish each part of the lens. In addition, DN users can choose between a black or silver finish to match their favorite equipment.”
More images and specs on the lenses are after the jump.
[click to continue…]
The X-E1 Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera is an interesting take by Fujifilm on the EVF cameras that have been dominating the mirrorless category for a couple of years now. Since the mirrorless camera by nature does not allow for a true through-the-lens viewfinder, if manufacturers wanted to put a viewfinder on the camera they had to used an electronic one. That is, until the Fuji X100 came along. (I’m leaving digital rangefinders out of this statement because they are not the same thing as a mirrorless camera although they are functionally similar).
While technically a compact professional camera, the Fujifilm X100 was such a game-changer that Fuji expanded upon that camera with a few more fixed lens models before finally releasing the Fuji X-Pro1 Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera in 2012 based on that same innovative Hybrid Viewfinder that wowed so many of us in 2011. The combination of interchangeable lenses with that unique viewfinder proved to be a mighty force in the camera world and has proved to be a decent seller despite the apparently steep introductory price tag.
With so many people crying again for a better EVF for use in manual focusing and with legacy lenses, Fuji has responded promptly with the Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera. This is all very interesting of course, but the real question stands, does it hold it’s own against its predecessors and really compete with its contemporaries?
Read the Full Review
The Nikon J series of cameras, believe it or not, sell very well here in the US. They’re small, portable, simple to use, and they’re stylish. Our News Editor Peter Walkowiak owns one, and playing with the new J3 and S1 was an experience that was really quite intriguing. This is a fast refresh to the J series with some minor updates; and the new S1 is positioned as a brand new entry level J series camera.
At CES 2013, we were able to play with the new cameras at Nikon’s booth. From what we’ve seen so far, we’re actually extremely impressed.
[click to continue…]
The successors to Fujifilm’s X10 and X100 has been running through the rumor mill for quite some time now, but at last, Fujifilm has officially released the X20 and X100s cameras at CES 2013. Touting an impressive “World’s Fastest AF” claim, Fujifilm has set their mirrorless shooters at quite the high standard right out the gate.
Head past the break for all the details.
[click to continue…]
