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Photography news and reviews

Lenses

You need a camera to capture an image, but you need a lens to form the image in the first place. With compact cameras and smartphones the lens comes with the camera. With DSLRs and mirrorless cameras you get to choose the lenses you use, and the things you can do with them... exciting!

Lomography launches Lomogon 2.5/32 art lens on Kickstarter

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This 32mm f/2.5 lens is designed to fit DSLR and mirrorless cameras via appropriate adaptors and is designed to mimic the high contrast, high saturation, vignetted effect of Lomography’s Lomo LC-A camera to a digital audience.

It’s a way to get an old-style lo-fi hipster look without having to buy and use the quirky plastic film-based LC-A, though you’d have to suspect that the camera itself is a big part of the ‘experience’.

The 32mm focal length is in the classic sweet spot for street photography and the f/2.5 maximum aperture is half-way fast enough for low-light shooting too. The Lomogon 2.5/32 does have a very unusual aperture mechanism – it dispenses with a regular adjustable diaphragm inside the lens in favour of an odd rotating aperture disc that sits proud of the lens barrel – you turn the disc to line up the aperture opening you want inside the lens.

Designed in conjunction with Russian maker Zenith, the Lomogon 2.5/32 will be assembled in China in a choice of black or brass finishes. Everything is completely manual, from the aperture settings to the focus. Lomography lenses are designed for artistic experimentation rather than regular everyday photography, so you need to be prepared for real hands-on, manual control.

Lomography was founded in 1992 by a bunch of Viennese students who became fans of the Lomo LC-A and wild analog film experimentation. It’s going strong today, with an online shop that sells re-incarnations of classic plastic cameras and quirky film stocks.

You can’t buy the Lomogon 2.5/32 yet, but you can join the Kickstarter project between February 20 and March 22 to get a 40% discount on the lens when it finally ships.

Tamron is developing three new full-frame lenses

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Tamron has announced two new full-frame DSLR lenses and an ultra-wide-angle zoom for full frame Sony E-mount cameras, and all three offer a tantalising alternative to mainstream lenses.

There was a time when we only found out about new lenses when they were released, but there’s a fashion now for makers to announce new lens development instead. And that’s a good thing because it adds to the anticipation for these three very interesting optics.

Tamron 35-150mm F/2.8-4 Di VC OSD

This is a very definite break from the norm for zoom lenses. Normally, there are ‘standard zooms’ and ‘telephoto’ zooms with nothing in between, but the Tamron 35-150mm F/2.8-4 Di VC OSD bridges the gap from semi-wideangle up to short telephoto, and with an f/2.8-4 aperture range that means it’s not quite a constant-aperture zoom but it’s the next best thing.

The new lens has a minimum focus distance of 0.45m across the zoom range, LD (low dispersion) and aspheric lens elements, and Tamron’s Dual MPU (Micro Processing Unit) for optimal AF and Vibration Compensation.

This looks like interesting premium-quality ‘walk around’ lens for full-frame DSLRs that could offer a big step up in image quality over a typical superzoom lens.

Tamron SP 35mm F/1.4 Di USD

Tamron’s second full-frame DSLR to be announced is more conventional. It’s a 35mm f/1.4 prime lens that belongs to Tamron’s SP (Superior Performance) range. Judging by Tamron’s past record it will aim to compete with makers’ own-brand prime lenses for optical quality but at a much more affordable price.

This lens looks ideal for capturing a semi-wide angle of view with shallow depth of field and background blur – you need a very fast maximum aperture like this to give wide-angle scenes a sense of depth.

Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD

Tamron’s third new lens is the most exciting. The focal range suggests it’s for APS-C cameras, but this is a full frame lens for Sony FE-mount bodies. This means Sony owners can look forward to a constant-aperture ultra-wide lens that – hopefully – will undercut Sony’s impressive but expensive 16-35mm f/2.6 G Master lens.

The Tamron 17-28mm F/2.8 Di III RXD is highly compact, taking unexpectedly small 67mm filters. It has a minimum focus distance of 0.19m at its widest focal length to allow striking perspective effects with nearby objects and Tamron’s own RXD ((Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) for speed, precision and quiet operation.

There’s no news yet on pricing and full specifications, but Tamron says its new lenses will be available ‘Mid 2019’.

Fujifilm adds FUJINON XF16mmF2.8 R WR to its X-mount prime lens range

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Fujifilm has added the FUJINON XF16mmF2.8 R WR to is range of compact primes lenses for X-mount cameras like the X-T3 and and X-T30. It’s the widest lens in this series, equivalent to a 24mm wide-angle in 35mm camera terms, though its f/2.8 maximum aperture is one f-stop slower than other lenses in the series, which include an 18mm f/2, 23mm f/2, 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/2.

The new lens has been designed for top optical performance, with 10 elements arranged in 8 groups, including two aspherical elements to suppress aberrations and filed curvature and maximise performance right to the edges of the frame. It also has an internal stepper motor autofocus system for fast, quiet AF, and it has a minimum focus distance of 17cm.

The. FUJINON XF16mmF2.8 R WR is very small and light, weighing just 155g. It’s 45.4mm long and takes 49mm filters.

Despite its light weight, though, it’s still weatherproof, hence the ‘WR’ in the model name. It’s both weather and dust resistant and can work int temperatures down to -10 degrees. Fujifilm says it’s used metal parts extensively on the exterior to give the new lens a tough but premium feel, and both the focus and aperture rings are designed to be both comfortable and easy to use.

Physical aperture rings on lenses have become a trademark of Fujinon X-mount lenses (though some of the smaller/cheaper lens don’t have them), so it’s good to see theme here too. The FUJINON XF16mmF2.8 R WR will be available in either silver or black versions.

• Available: late March 2019
• Price: £349
• More information: FUJINON LENS XF16mmF2.8 R WR | Fujifilm Global

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Panasonic officially launches the Lumix S1 and S1R

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We’ve known these cameras were coming since Photokina (September 2018) but this is the first sight we have of the full specs for the new cameras. Panasonic showed off pre-production versions of its new models at a global press event in Barcelona on January 31 2019, together with the three new lenses which are going to kickstart the Lumix S full frame mirrorless camera system.

Panasonic Lumix S1

This is the cheaper of the two new cameras and comes with a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor (the Lumix S1R has almost double the resolution at 47 megapixels). In practically every other respect the two new models are practically identical.

Key features included a Dual I.S. image stabilisation system, with a 5-axis Body I.S. stabiliser offering up to 5.5 stops of shake compensation working in conjunction with a 2-axis O.I.S system in the Lumix S lenses. This offers combined shake compensation of up to 6 stops.

The S1 also has the world’s highest-resolution EVF to date, with 5.76 million dots, and a 2.1 million dot 3.2-inch tri-axial rear touchscreen that can flip sideways as well as up and down.

As you’d expect from Panasonic, video takes a front seat, and both cameras can capture 4K video at up to 60/50p. The Lumix S1 can record 4:2:0 8-bit video internally to a memory card or 4:2:2 video to an external recorder via HDMI. A software upgrade will follow to allow 4:2:2 10-bit recording internally at 30p/25p/24p and 4:2:2 10-bit at 60/50p externally. The upgrade will also add Panasonic’s V Log mode for extended dynamic range.

Available: March 18 2019
Price: £2,199.99 (body only)
More information: DC-S1 LUMIX S Full Frame Cameras – Panasonic UK & Ireland

Panasonic Lumix S1R

The sensor resolution is the chief difference between the Lumix S1 and S1R. The S1R has almost twice the resolution and should appeal to commercial stills photographers, where the S1 may prove marginally more appealing to videographers.

Both cameras have a High Resolution mode which combines eight images with microscopic sensor shifts between each to produce images with approximately four times the native sensor resolution. On the S1R, this means huge 187-megapixel images measuring more than 16,000 pixels across, though this mode is designed for tripod use rather than handheld shooting, and if the camera detects subject movement between frames it may drop the affected frame(s) and produce a lower resolution result.

The S1 and S1R have robust die-cast magnesium alloy bodies, full weather sealing and a shutter life rated at 400,000 shots. They feel noticeably larger than rival full frame mirrorless cameras from Sony, Nikon and Canon, but this gives them good balance with larger lenses and more space for controls. These include dedicated external drive mode dials, focus mode dials and focus levers.

Interestingly, Panasonic has stuck with its DFD (Depth From Defocus) focus system rather than using the on-sensor phase detection systems of other makers, saying for now that its performance is fine for this application.

Available: March 18 2019
Price: £3,399.99 (body only)
More information: DC-S1R LUMIX S Full Frame Cameras – Panasonic UK & Ireland

Lumix S lenses

At the time of launch Panasonic has three Lumix S lenses: the LUMIX S 24-105mm F4 MACRO O.I.S. standard zoom (£1,299.99), LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. telephoto zoom (£1,749.99) and the LUMIX S PRO 50mm F1.4 fast prime (£2,299.99). It says it will have a further ten lenses by the end of 2020 and says there will be 18 L-mount lenses from Leica and 14 from Sigma by the end of that period too.

While the price for the Lumix S bodies is in line with comparable models from Sony and Nikon, those lens prices look expensive. Panasonic is pitching the Lumix S firmly at the professional market, where users will make their buying decision from a business point of view, but amateurs and enthusiasts may be put off.

HD Pentax-DA* 11-18mm F2.8 ED DC AW announced for APS-C Pentax owners

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Pentax has added to its premium quality ‘Star’ lens range with a new ultra-wideangle zoom for its APS-C cameras.

The HD Pentax-DA* 11-18mm F2.8 ED DC AW is designed to offer high resolution and high contrast without any blurring at the edges, and to accommodate the high resolution capture of digital cameras of the future.

The 11-18mm zoom range corresponds to around 17-27mm in full frame 35mm terms, so it’s not the widest-angle lens you can get for APS-C Pentax cameras. The Sigma 8-16mm, for example, goes far wider at 12-24mm equivalent.

But what the Pentax lens does have is a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, which should make it especially useful in low light, given that Pentax DSLR bodies have in-body image stabilisation. It might be of particular interest to astrophotographers, given that some Pentax bodies have a star-tracking AstroTracer mode.

The HD Pentax-DA* 11-18mm F2.8 ED DC AW has an interesting adaptation for use in cold conditions, too, with a space for a small heating device and a metallic frame to conduct heat into the lens. This is designed to prevent condensation as outside temperatures fall.

There’s also a Focus Clamp to lock the focus in a specific position, which sounds like a useful feature for street photographers who like to use zone focusing for fast, reflexive shooting.

All this sophistication doesn’t come cheap. This is a lot of money to pay for some relatively ordinary optical specifications, especially in the the ASP-C camera market, especially when you consider you can get the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 lens in a Pentax mount for £1,000/$1,000 less.

At least Pentax is cleaning up its lens range, though. There was a time when the Pentax lens range was a mix-up of multiple old and new lens designs, overlapping focal ranges and noisy consumer lenses mixed in with newer high-quality optics. Pentax insiders probably understood all this very clearly, but to outsiders it was a bit of a mess.

Available: February 2019
Price: £1,399/$1,399.95
More information: HD PENTAX-DA★11-18mmF2.8ED DC AW – K-Mount Lenses – RICOH IMAGING EUROPE S.A.S