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Leica Super-APO-Summicron-SL 21 mm F2 ASPH lens review
The Leica Super-APO-Summicron-SL 21 mm F2 ASPH is a high-speed wide-angle for Leica SL cameras. It was announced in October 2023. This lens has the Super-Apo moniker and has a complex design of 14 elements in total, arranged in 11 groups. Leica doesn’t say how many AD (anomalous partial dispersion) elements there are but claims that ‘most’ of the 14 elements are made from ‘special custom glass.’ That may include the three elements with aspherical surfaces, but it’s unclear. Like others in the SL range, the lens also adopts a ‘digital element,’ or what’s better known as a built-in profile, to correct vignetting, distortion and chromatic aberration. While it’s perhaps…
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Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH lens review
Announced on 15 August 2019 (see our coverage here), the Leica APO Summicron-SL 50mm F2 ASPH is a relatively compact high-end lens for Leica SL cameras. Inside, the lens design is complex for a 50mm. However, it’s designed for a digital sensor, so some prerequisites must be met. It has no less than 12 elements in total, with several AD (anomalous dispersion) elements to mitigate CA and fringing, plus three with aspherical surfaces to reduce SA and distortion. The lens also adopts what some call a “digital element,” or a lens profile, to correct vignetting, distortion and CA, more as an afterthought in this case, as the lens is so…
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Sony Introduce High-Resolution Alpha 7R IV Camera with World’s First 61.0 MP Back-illuminated Full-frame Image Sensor
Sony today announced the latest addition to its acclaimed Alpha™ 7R series full-frame mirrorless camera line-up; the extremely versatile, powerful Alpha 7R IV (model ILCE-7RM4).
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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 announces AF-S NIKKOR 500mm F5.6E PF ED VR
After the expected announcement of the new Nikon Z 6 and Z 7 mirrorless cameras, Nikon has also announced a new super-telephoto lens for the existing Nikon F mount based DSLRs. The new lens is also compatible with the new Z series cameras using the new FTZ mount. The new super-telephoto adopts Phase Fresnel (PF) tech’ seen in the earlier 300mm F4 PF to reduce both the size and weight. It measures just 237mm in length. With one PF element and three ED glass elements – there are no fluorite elements – it weighs just 1460g, almost half the weight of the existing AF-S 500mm F4E ED VR. A lighter…
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Leica announces Leica M10-P: The quietest M
Leica Camera AG, the company behind the Leica M series rangefinder cameras, has announced an P-version of the current Leica M10. The “P” moniker was first used on the Leica MP in 1956. It resurfaced commercially with the introduction of the Leica M4-P in 1980, as the successor to the M4-2, to denote the new model was intended for “Professional” use. At least that was the inference. As then, updates to the current M10 are relatively minor, mainly cosmetic. However, Leica claim the M10-P has the quietest shutter of all M-series models to date. This is no mean feat, considering the film models used a horizontal-running, rubberized-cloth type shutter. Today’s…
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Leica APO Summicron-SL 90mm F2 ASPH lens review: The best money can buy
All modern lenses perform well, especially short-tele primes like the Leica APO Summicron-SL 90mm F2 ASPH, but the sizes over the last couple of years have become enormous. Admittedly, this is due to the makers’ preoccupation with ultra-high-speed lenses but independents like Sigma and Zeiss aren’t holding back. It seems that size is no longer a barrier, but that’s strangely at odds with the trend in smaller mirrorless cameras. Even Leica, the maker of the original compact primes for the M-series, succumbed to that mindset with the first lenses for the Leica SL models Both the Summilux-SL 50mm F1.4 ASPH and the Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm F2.8-3.5 ASPH are optically outstanding. If you need lenses…
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What To Do With A Million Years with Juno Calypso
Saturday 19 May 4pm talk at Offprint Exhibition at TJ Boulting until June 23rd Juno Calypso has produced her first publication to coincide with her solo show at TJ Boulting. She will present it at Offprint at the Trolley Books artist table and hear her talk about her new project at 4pm in the free public talks programme curated by Photoworks. In addition, TJ Boulting are proud to present the first solo show at the gallery by Juno Calypso. Known for her iconic photographic series of self-portraits in ‘The Honeymoon Suite’, for this new body of work Calypso discovered a surreal and unique location – an underground house in Nevada,…
