Nikon Plena lens teaser debuts on YouTube
UPDATE: Nikon has announced the Plena lens. Nikon has published a video teaser for a new lens called Plena, which is due to be announced on Wednesday, 27th September. While not much is known about it at this time, the yellow-coloured font is similar to that used by Nikon with the Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct and a nod to the Zeiss cine primes. The new Plena lens therefore is almost certainly aimed at the cinematography/filmmaking crowd and targeting the rental houses. While it could feature AF, if it is a cinema lens it is likely manual focus only and expensive (upwards of £3.5K more likely above £5k). Judging…
CFexpress Type B cards: Which to choose for the Canon EOS R5 and Nikon Z8?
Update August 2025: Since this post was published, most brands now offer CFexpress gen 4.0 cards, replacing many of those listed below in performance terms. Minimum sustained write speeds have improved greatly, making many more lower-priced cards suitable for high-grade 4/8K in-camera capture. Nevertheless, due diligence is still required with these cards. That said, one further benefit of the new type 4.0 standard is a sizeable reduction in the price of the high-end high-speed gen 2.0/3.0 cards listed below. CFexpress (Type B) cards are expensive, so choosing the right type is an important decision. As both the Canon EOS R5 and Nikon Z8 have a second SDXC UHS-I/II compatible card…
Fujifilm announces two Tilt / Shift lenses: Fujinon GF30mm F5.6 T/S and GF110mm F5.6 T/S Macro
This week, Fujifilm, became the latest manufacturer to add Tilt/Shift lenses to their medium format system. The introduction of the G30mm F5.6 T/S is good news for architectural photographers and landscape photographers in general. The GF110mm F5.6 T/S Macro is, of course, aimed at studio/tabletop photographers. As MF models, the new lenses will have to be bigger than those designed for 35mm (accounting for the larger image circle), so it will be interesting to see how these handle. I know many Fuji GFX users adapt the Canon Tilt/Shifts, so it will be interesting to see how the GF30mm F5.6 T/S compare with the Canon 24mm F3.5 TS-E (original and Mk…
Leica M11 Monochrom Review
Why Black & White? Photographing in Black & White or mono or greyscale or whatever you want to call it requires you to think differently than when photographing in colour. With a film camera, you can switch to B&W from colour and vice versa ad infinitum: the operation remains unchanged, allowing you to become accustomed to the camera and “see” either in light and shadows or in colour. In that respect, a modern digital colour camera echoes its predecessor, allowing you to choose between B&W and colour at will. However, a dedicated B&W camera like the Leica M11 Monochrom doesn’t; you’re forced to think in terms of light and shadows,…
Fujifilm annouces new flagship medium format camera: GFX100 II
Fujifilm has released the Fujifilm GFX100 II, the company’s new flagship medium format mirrorless camera. It’s the successor to the GFX100, launched in 2019. Key Features Newly developed 102MP high-speed image sensor AI-based subject-detection AF 8.0 frames per second Stabilisation performance improved to eight-stop, five-axis 8K/30P video, and can also record 4K/60P 4:2:2 10-bit video internally From the Press Release: TOKYO, September 12, 2023 – FUJIFILM Corporation (President & CEO, Representative Director: Teiichi Goto) announces the launch of the “FUJIFILM GFX100 II” (GFX100II) in late September 2023. It will be the latest addition to the GFX Series of mirrorless digital cameras incorporating the large-format image sensor*1 approximately 1.7 times larger than a…
ProGrade Digital announce new CFexpress 4.0 card with 2,800MB/s sustained write speed
Started by former SanDisk and Lexar executives, ProGrade Digital is a relatively new and promising company, so halo products like this are interesting on several levels (and not just from a marketing perspective). The key takeaway here is the extremely high sustained write speed of 2,800MB/s, which is crucial to know when looking to buy for 8/4K and high-frame-rate (slow-mo) video. However, that all-important key message has been fudged by saying “up to 2800MB/s.” Surely a sustained write speed is a minimum, not a maximum implied by the “up to.” Makes no sense from a marketing perspective. A high sustained write speed is not really important for stills photography, even…
Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZM Distagon lens review
Intro Although marketed for the maker’s M-mount Zeiss Ikon rangefinder, the range of ZM lenses is rightly popular with Leica M users. All are accessibly priced compared with their Leica equivalents, and optical performance is often on a par, if not sometimes regarded as being technically superior. With the Zeiss Ikon camera now retired, this new high-speed 35mm model is aimed squarely at Leica’s core users. Compared to the latest iteration from Wetzlar, the Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZM Distagon is priced somewhat modestly at around £1680 inc VAT. It’s supplied without a case or hood, but there’s no mistaking the quality. Build Externally, the design is reminiscent of previous models,…
Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 model: First impressions
The new Leica Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH Close Focus 2023 (11728) model follows the recent update to the Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH CF last year and adopts the built-in rangefinder decoupling or “double-cam” feature for the focus ring. This enables focusing down to 0.45m from the usual 0.7m – the former is the typical minimum focus of DSLR/mirrorless lenses of this focal length (50mm). The double-cam feature was first introduced on the Leica Summilux 35mm F2.0 APO and was quite stiff on the model I tried. To disengage rangefinder focusing, you push the focus ring through some slight resistance at the minimum focus distance marked at 0.7m in orange-coloured paint…
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Zeiss 35mm F1.4 ZM Distagon lens review
Phase One announces Phase One XC fixed-lens camera
Phase One has introduced the Phase One XC, a fixed-lens camera with a Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 lens and a choice of IQ4 150 colour or Achromatic (monochrome) digital back. The camera retails at $62,500, or £48,689, plus Tax. In the past, the IQ4 150 Achromatic has always been priced above the “standard” colour IQ4 150 digital back, so it’s unclear at this time whether that’s offered as an extra incentive or if there will be a price adjustment later. The Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 23mm f/5.6 is a 15mm equivalent (with an equivalent F3.5 DOF) so it’s ideal for interiors and architecture, albeit without the shift movements of the…
Nikon Z8 and Z9 firmware out of sync
Reading about the Nikon Z8 and Z9 firmware being out of sync reminded me of how camera companies are set up in Japan. In the West, we tend to think of them as run top-down, working as one, but that’s not the case in Japan. Factories there are mostly autonomous with head offices having only limited control over them. Ironically perhaps, the bigger the companies are the more autonomy each factory has. And each in turn is run competitively against the other. Nikon hasn’t made it clear if both models are made in the same factory or not but, even if they are, it’s likely that they have different software…
