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Sony announces Full Frame 24mm F1.4 G Master Prime for E-mount
Sony has announced a new ultra-high speed lens for its mirrorless APS-C and full-frame camera systems, the FE 24mm F1.4 G Master Prime. It has a relatively complex design of 13 elements in 10 groups, with three of those being ED glass to reduce CA and focuses to (a fairly typical) 0.24m (0.79 ft). Sony claim the adoption of two XA (extreme aspherical) elements effectively suppresses sagittal flare, more commonly known as coma. Thus, with its wide angular field of view and ultra-high speed F1.4 maximum aperture, should appeal to photographers hoping to capture the night sky without the tell-tale aberration that results in smeared stars (point light sources), usually more…
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Updated: Profoto adds new portable B10 light to range and promises smart connectivity
After the teaser last week hinting at a new addition to the range, high-end lighting manufacturer Profoto has announced the ultra-portable, cordless B10. Powered by a lightweight yet powerful rechargeable Li-ion battery that provides up to 400 full power flashes and up to 75 minutes of full continuous light for shooting video, the 250Ws B10 is said to have the equivalent power of five speedlights. Besides offering flash and continuous light with adjustable color temperature, the new B10 offers a large rear screen with a highly legible interface and fewer controls. The B10 is compatible with the company’s Air TTL remotes or from the built-in remote in the A1 flash and…
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Phase One pre-announces price increase on Capture One Pro Sony
Update, December 18, 2018: Readers of this site can save 5% on subscriptions including annual pre-paid and month-by-month, up to December 31st. Simply Visit the official Phase One online store (affiliate link) and add the promo code AMBCARTER at checkout. Note discounts will not be available after that time, according to Phase One. Update (November 29, 2018): Phase One has today introduced Capture One Pro 12. Read our initial impressions here. Update: Phase One raised the price to $199 (£189/199 Euros). If you’re in the UK, however, Amazon UK (affiliate link) still have copies of Capture One Pro Sony 11 to download (perpetual license) at just £65.35 inc VAT. (Sold out) Phase One, the maker of high-end medium…
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Capture One Pro: Top 10 Features You Should Know
Already the ‘go-to solution’ for high-end imaging pros, Capture One Pro is becoming increasingly popular with a much wider audience. Part of this could be the bundling with Sony and Fujifilm mirrorless cameras or that, arguably, Capture One has better color and sharpness over Lightroom using the defaults. It may even be due to offering a choice between a subscription model and traditional, perpetual licensing fee. Whatever the reasons for the growth in popularity, if you’re new to Capture One, there are several features you should know to help you improve your workflow. If you prefer, this is available on YouTube: 1 Auto Adjustments The Auto Adjustments feature (Auto Adjust – version…
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Adobe share sneak peek of Photoshop CC’s Content Aware Fill feature
Adobe has released a preview of a new Content-Aware Fill workspace and improved feature set in an upcoming update to Photoshop CC on YouTube by Photoshop Product Manager, Meredith Payne Stotzner. You can see the clip here. The new workspace and features give more control with an new easier to find menu path and interactive experience, with a preview to display what part of the image is being to fill-in, and you can brush away any part of the image you don’t want to use. There are other capabilities, Stotzner claims, including new mirror, rotate and scale options that allow Photoshop to adapt to the scene, as well as output options…
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Profoto reveals glimpse of new light
While manufacturers usually go out of their way to avoid leaks of new product, Profoto – the maker of high-end studio and on-location flash has started a campaign of their own doing just that. I guess, if you can’t beat them… and all that. If you register an account with them (name and email is all that’s required), you’ll be directed to a short-clip where you can catch a glimpse of the new light. It’s hard to say at this time whether it’s a mains-powered mono-bloc type light or a generator powered model. Nevertheless, you can check for yourself at the link to the Stockholm, Sweden-based company’s website, below. The…
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Canon announces new mirrorless full-frame EOS R system
After images and detailed specifications leaked over the weekend, Canon has today confirmed the existence of its first full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS R. Adopting a new wider 44mm diameter RF mount than the current EF mount along with a short 20mm register, the introduction of the camera heralds a brand new system for Canon. Four new lenses; RF 50mm F1.2L USM, RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM, and ultra-high speed RF 28-70mm F2L USM, a stabilized RF 35mm F1.8 Macro IS STM, and a trio of RF-EF adapters have also been announced. With a 30.3-MP Dual Pixel CMOS, presumed to be related to the EOS 5D Mark IV sensor,…
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Nikon Z 7 mirrorless camera: Promising addition to range
The new 45.7MP Nikon Z 7 (not Z7, according to the maker’s marketing department) appears to offer a lot to photographers looking for a mirrorless ‘solution’. Existing Nikon users seem well catered for with the FTZ adapter offering wide-ranging support for their existing lenses, providing it’s made to exact tolerances. At $250 it looks reasonably priced. The Nikon Z 7 also looks promising if trying to attract users from other high-end systems. The Leica SL is a good example of how a mirrorless camera should be but detractors are likely to cite the high price, low-ish 24-MP resolution sensor and lack of in-camera stabilization as barriers to entry. A Leica…
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Phase One announces IQ4 digital backs with JPEG processing
Phase One has announced the latest series of IQ4 digital backs for the Phase One XF camera. As the top-tier range, all three versions feature a full-frame 54 x 40 mm CMOS that’s 2.5x the size of a 35mm ‘full-frame’ sensor. Two of the three new backs feature a 150MP CMOS sensor with back-side illuminated (BSI) architecture for improved sensitivity, despite the smaller sensel size (now 3.76 μ). The IQ4 150MP digital back has a standard RGB array with a sensitivity of ISO 50 – 25,600, while the ‘Achromatic’ version is san filter array for monochrome (black and white) capture only. The IQ4 150MP Achromatic digital back has a higher…
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Nikon FTZ adapter compatibility with Nikon F mount lenses
When Nikon announced the stabilized 45.7MP Nikon Z 7 and 24-MP Nikon Z 6 yesterday, they made it clear that they’re targeting Sony’s stabilized 42MP A7R III and the 24-MP Sony A7 III. However, I expect this move isn’t only to counter Sony’s increasing market share which was widely reported on the Internet recently, but also to try to stem the loss of valuable lens sales to makers such as Sigma and Zeiss. The success of Simga’s Art series has taken even Sigma by surprise. With contractual obligations as an OEM supplier, they were initially unable to devote the required capacity to manufacture them in volume but even so, the…
