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Panasonic Announces X-Series 12-35mm f2.8 Power OIS Zoom Lens

 

If you follow us with any regularity, or have dealt with cameras for a while, then you know that often a lenses alphabet soup is really a name game that tells you everything you need to know about that particular collection of glass and why you should want it, and the same goes for the tongue-trippingly named  LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH./POWER O.I.S. Buried in that maze of letters and backslashes is a code that lets you know this lens is for their Micro Four Thirds series cameras (G), that it’s their premium non-Leica-branded line (X) for serious hobbyists and pros, that it’s a 24-70mm f2.8 equivalent lens, that it has an aspherical unit in there to help control distortion throughout the zoom range, and that it’s image-stabilized (Power OIS). All that’s omitted from the name is that it’s got a nano crystal coating to minimize flaring and ghosting, a 7-blade circular aperture, that it uses two flavors of low-dispersion glass to further improve quality, and that it’s got an internal focusing method.

What the press release fails to mention is the price for this beaut, although it does say that it’ll be a long summer for those who want it, as you won’t see it until August. If a 24-70mm f2.8 image stabilized equivalent for your m4/3 body sounds like a plan and a half regardless of price or wait, our friendly-neighborhood preorder list ought to see you through: http://robertscamera.com/lumix-g-x-vario-12-35mm-f-2-8-asph-power-o-i-s.html



Sony Announces New Alpha and NEX Cameras, Lenses Too

The march of progress continues onwards today, and it’s Sony’s turn to bang the drum. They’ve announced a refresh to the entry-level for both their Alpha line of pellicle-mirrored DSLRs (which use a semi-transparent mirror to direct part of the incoming light to a phase-detect AF sensor, and the rest to the sensor which is connected by live view to the rear LCD and an EVF), and their NEX range of mirrorless compacts. Also, they added one lens to each the A and E system line-ups. If not exactly earth-shattering announcements, they’re all solid and show Sony’s ongoing commitment to what has become a rather strong system.

The Alpha SLT-A37 is the more stalwart addition to the line-up. Replacing the A35, the SLT-A37 continues to be an APS-C DSLR-type camera with a mount that takes both Sony and Minolta A lenses.  As  mentioned earlier, Sony’s Alpha line is no longer strictly speaking one of DSLRs. The SLT designation means these bodies use a fixed, semi-transparent mirror to use the autofocus system associated with DSLRs, but then powers the viewfinder with a live view from the sensor, instead of reflecting light up through the mirror. The result is a smaller body that can shoot quieter and faster, with no focus blackouts as the mirror flips up. This iteration has a 16mp sensor, built-in sensor shift stabilization, 7 frames per second shooting, 1080p HD video, and a tilting 2.7″ LCD. It’ll hit the streets with an 18-55mm kit lens for $600 in a couple months. You can preorder one here: http://robertscamera.com/alpha-slt-a37-with-18-55.html

Up next is the new entry to Sony’s NEX series. While the Alpha line maintains its DSLR heritage, if not the actual technology roots, the NEX series is Sony’s mirrorless compact line (like Olympus/Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds, or Nikon’s 1 series). Sony has always taken a very consumer-friendly approach to their mirrorless system, and the NEX bodies are barely larger than a common deck-of-cards style point-and-shoots, except with interchangeable lenses. The NEX-F3 is the third revision to the entry-level, and repalces the NEX-C3. It is the first of the NEX bodies to have a built-in flash (GN6). Otherwise, you’re looking at a 16mp sensor, 25 AF points, a tilting 3″ 921,000 dot LCD, 5.5 frames per second continuous drive, 1080p movies, and a mount for any of Sony’s E mount lenses (you can use A mount ones with an optional adapter that even includes the AF sensor needed to keep them focusing on their own. Expensive, but nifty.) The NEX-F3 will also set you back 6 c-notes when it comes out, also with an 18-55mm kit lens. You can preorder it here: http://robertscamera.com/nex-f3.html

And then there are the lenses. The Alpha lens is an 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 long standard zoom with their new SAM “Smooth Action Motor,” which means it has an ultrasonic type motor built into the lens and doesn’t rely on the old screw focus. It’ll set you back $500.  http://robertscamera.com/18-135mm-f3-5-5-6-sam.html

And, the last piece is an 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 with OSS image stabilization travel zoom for the NEX system. Since the NEX bodies have an APS-C sensor, this will be just like the popular 18–200mm lenses for crop DSLRs, and is a good solution for people who’re A-OK with a larger lens if it means having to only carry the one. It’ll be a bit pricier, weighing in at $850, but might be the only lens many NEX users need. http://robertscamera.com/e18-200mm-f3-5-6-3-oss-le-telezoom.html

 

 



Nikon Announces New FX AF-S 28mm f1.8G Wide-Angle Prime

 

Today Nikon has also announced a new entry to it’s seemingly ever-expanding Nikkor lens line-up. This time it’s a refresh for their 28mm prime, keeping the f1.8 but bumping it up to the modern G (no aperture ring) spec, along with all the other modern Nikon techs you’d expect at this point (nano coating, integrated silent-wave AF-S motor, M/A switch, etc). As always, the name says most of it (“AF-S 28mm f1.8G”), but there’re a few things we can mention for the curious. It’s an FX lens, which means it’ll mount on both FX full-frame systems, and on DX ones (with a field-of-view equivalent to about 42mm in old terms, which is somewhat less exciting a focal length.) It sports a minimum aperture of 16, giving it a 71/3 stop range. It’s got a 67mm filter thread, which should make most people happy, what wit that being a very common size these days. There’s a rounded 7-blade aperture diaphragm in there to round out your bokeh. And otherwise, that’s about all you need to know. You can check out the MTF chart and construction diagrams below, or you can just hop over to our site and get your name in line to get one when they come out:

http://robertscamera.com/photo/lenses/for-slrs-dslrs/primes/wide-angle/af-s-nikkor-28-1-8-g.html



Fuji X-Pro1 Amazingness and Other Such Goodies

Hello Readers,

I dont know about you, but ever since Fuji announced the X-Pro1 in January i have been anxiously waiting to put it through its paces.   This is my extremely cursory upfront first impression review.

WOW!  Wowsers!  Yep…speechless.  Almost.

I have seen some great shots from this camera out there on the internet.  The tonal value of the black and white images have especially impressed me.   Unfortunately, the internet can’t tell you everything you need to know about a camera.  It can’t tell you how it feels in your hands, how well it balances or if the dials move smoothly and precisely.  Fuji nailed it.  This camera is more friendly to operate than the little brother and award winning X100.  I was up and running at full speed within 10 minutes of first holding the camera.  Its EASY.  For the nostalgic, old school, rangefinder photo bugs, you will be right at home.

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Lensbaby Announces New Edge 80mm Optic

Lensbaby today has increased its swappable optic system (or, as Nick and I like to call it, the “Swaptic” system) by one with the introduction of the $300 Edge 80 optic. The Edge 80 is an 80mm f2.8 12-blade aperture optic that follows in the Sweet 35′s footsteps with a built-in aperture ring (instead of Lensbaby’s characteristic magnetic drop-in rings), which clearly aims it at a more dedicated or professional class of shooter where taking the time to fuss with aperture discs would be a turn-off for the system. It’s just an optic, which in Lensbaby’s world means you’ll need an actual lens container, like the Composer, Composer Pro, Scout, Control Freak, or Muse to lock it into before you can use it. Once you have any of those lenses, though, the Edge 80 and a whole slew of other optics become available, making it an intriguing and unique way to develop a sort of system within a system.

The Edge 80 offers a flatter field of view than the other high-end optic, and is an ideal portrait lens on both full-frame and crop bodies (half body on FF, and at about 120mm equiv on crop it makes a good head-and-shoulders length). It offers a minimum focusing distance of about 17″, apertures from f2.8-22, and a 48mm front thread for filters.  Anyone thinking about the Lensbaby system, but not sure if the “novelty” toy camera/tilt-shift look is worth a dedicated lens can try out the Edge 80′s simulator to see just what it’d be like in use: http://www.lensbaby.com/optics-edge80-simulator.php

 



Canon USA announces refresh of 24-70 f/2.8 and two stabilized wide primes for still and video


Today Canon gives us a glimpse of wider world of Image Stabilized lenses. Where the Micro-Four Thirds enthusiasts, Sony D-SLR, SLT, and NEX systems’ users (and the dwindling crowd Four Thirds users) were treated to in-body stabilization from the sensor’s mobility, the two biggest names in professional imaging have not offered much in the way of image stabilization for their full frame bodies, not faster than f/4.0 anyway.

So we get to drool a bit over the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM (pictured here), the EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM, and the EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM (pics after the break).

Why would you want IS on the wide angle? Our illustrious Web Guru (and recovering Four-Thirds user), Derek, says that there was a lot of good to be said about being able to just pick up your rig and shoot one-handed at all focal lengths. Also with the prevalence of HD video recording on D-SLR bodies having IS to smooth out your jittery cam-hands is a plus.

After the break, there’s a few comparison tables and MTF charts. By the way, those MTF charts should give you an indication about how much better this new 24-70 will be than the old.

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Tokina, Tamron, and Freaking ASTRODESIGN Hop On Board The Micro Four Thirds Train

So, while the Interchangeable Lens Compact market has since exploded, with entries now from Nikon, Fuji, and Sony joining Olympus and Panasonic’s sorta-shared sorta-competitor Micro Four Thirds platform, Micro Four Thirds is still the most established name in the game. And if you had any doubts about that left, the announcement of popular lens makers Tamron and Tokina, as well as specialty lens maker ASTRODESIGN, hopping on board with Sigma, Olympus, Panasonic, and Leica to support the going-on-four-year-old system ought to help remove those. There’s not a lot else to announce at this point, as no one has mentioned any coming lenses, but fans of Tamron’s travel superzooms and Tokina’s incredibly popular wide-angle zooms should rejoice in this move. Press release after the jump.

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You’ve needed a 180mm f/2.8 Macro lens, and Sigma’s bringing it to you.

1:1 reproduction ratio at 18.5″ and even greater when using a Sigma teleconverter.

The full name of this beastie is Sigma APO Macro 180mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM, which tells us it’ll be equally suited for full-frame and APS-C sensors and auto-focus on Nikon’s budget-line D-SLRs. Oh and it’s a 180mm f/2.8 with optical stabilization.

Check out the full specs on Sigma’s site here and read the press release here.



Sigma’s “Digital Neo” series – small, fast primes for Micro Four Thirds and NEX

Looking for a fast prime for your Micro Four Thirds or NEX camera? Sigma’s got two in the works, designed specifically for the smaller formats.

Coming are the 30mm f/2.8 EX DN and 19mm f/2.8 EX DN. One to two stops faster than the kit zooms that typically come with either system, it’ll be exciting to see them in action. And we’re pretty sure that Sigma can make a prime -just recently our Website Manager, Derek, picked up an older Sigma AF 28mm f/2.8 for Nikon and has been pretty much besotted with it.

As for the alphabet soup, the new DN designation stands for “Digital Neo.”

You can read the offical press release here, and the post from Sigma’s blog here.



Panasonic Announces 4 Lens Converters For Micro Four-Thirds Kit Lenses

Like your Panasonic 14-42mm or 14mm f2.5 for your G-series interchangeable lens compact, but just wish it had a bit more… flexibility? Luckily, Panasonic feels ya, and has announced four converter lenses that work with one or both of those lenses. Up for grabs are The following:

  • Wide-angle converter DMW-GWC1 converts the 14mm (28mm equiv) to 11mm (or 22m equiv)
  • Telephoto converter DMW-GTC1 converts the 42mm (84mm equiv) end of the kit zoom to 84mm (168mm equiv)
  • Macro converter DMW-GMC1 reduces your minimum focusing distance down to .14m (5.5″), but doesn’t tell how to calculate the change in magnification from such.
  • Fisheye converter DMW-GFC1 er, makes things fisheye. A 120 degree one, though.

Compatability for them is as follows:

Converter LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./POWER O.I.S LUMIX G 14mm / F2.5 ASPH
Wide-angle Yes Yes
Telephoto Yes No
Macro Yes Yes
Fisheye Yes Yes



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