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Nikon Nikkor Z 135mm F1.8 S Plena lens announced
Nikon has announced the Nikkor Z 135mm F1.8 S Plena lens, which is said to be optimised for out-of-focus highlights, after teasing the new model on YouTube. The Plena lens adopts 16 elements in 14 groups and includes one element using a relatively new type of glass from Nikon called an SR (Short-wavelength Refractive) element: “Nikon’s original SR (Short-wavelength Refractive) lens is a high- and specialized-dispersion glass lens featuring characteristics to greatly refract light with wavelengths shorter than that of blue. By controlling short-wavelength light that is difficult to compensate, light of various specific wavelengths can be more effectively collected achieving highly precise chromatic aberration compensation. Because this lens can…
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Nikon Plena lens to appeal to cinematographers
Some features are leaking on the internet about the previously mentioned Nikon Plena and the lens apparently is now said not to include Nikon’s defocus image control. Even if the lens doesn’t feature ‘DC’, the Plena’s optical design mitigates polishing rings (aka ‘onion rings’). There’s also a lack of vignetting that typically results in truncated blur disks or “cat’s eyes.” Some effort has also gone into mitigating slight overcorrection of SA usually seen as bright rings at the edges of the blur disks, which is usually achieved via an apodization element, however, the bright rings remain in some of the darker disks. All of the above indicates to me that…
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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…
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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…
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First images of the new Nikkors to be launched with the Nikon Z 9
Via Nokishita Nikon leap-frogs ahead of the Canon EOS R3 and possibly the Sony A1 with the release of the 45 MP Nikon Z 9. What’s even more intriguing is the price, just £5,299 in the UK including VAT. Pre-orders are already open: Park Cameras WEX UK
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Images leak of two Nikon Nikkor Z MC lenses: 105mm F2.8 VR S and 50mm F2.8
Images have leaked of two, as yet un-announced, Nikkor “MC” lenses; the full-frame Nikkor MC 105mm F2.8 VR S, and what’s now confirmed as another full-frame model, the Nikkor MC 50mm F2.8. The “MC” designation has not been used by Nikon previously, but speculatively, it’s most likely a true macro (1:1) and without any de-focus image control DC function, like the Canon version or as per the older AF-Nikkor DC 105mm F2.0 D and 135mm F2.0 D models. Neither of those were macro lenses but it’s common for the 100mm macro lenses to double for portraiture due to their close focus capabilities. At least, that’s the current view based on…
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Nikon Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S announced
Nikon has announced the Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S, a short fixed focal length prime lens for its full-frame mirrorless Z system. Nikon claims that the new fast portrait lens stands out for its “edge-to-edge sharpness” and “natural-looking bokeh”. Focus breathing “is all but eliminated,” Nikon add. Compared to the existing AF-S Nikkor 85mm F1.8G the new lens has the same minimum focus, and filter thread size, and weighs 70g more. The new lens is also 19mm longer, though it’s smaller in diameter by 2mm. Nikon currently advertises the AF-S lens with a list of £499. The new lens will go on sale in September 2019 at a list price…
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Capture One 20 update adds support for Sony ZV-1 and Nikon Z5
Capture One has announced a service release for Capture One 20 adding RAW file support for the following new cameras: Sony ZV-1 Nikon Z5 In addition to the RAW file support for the above cameras, there’s also lens profile support for the following lenses: Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + Sony 1.4X Teleconverter (SEL14TC) The new 13.1.3 update also features several bug fixes. Service updates are free if you’re a subscriber (as are full updates) or when you’ve purchased a current perpetual license. Capture One has also announced a new promotion with 25% off pre-paid annual subscriptions. Please follow the link here [affiliate link], and enter the promo code…
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Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct: Initial Impressions
The Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct is one of Nikon’s showcase lenses – a sort of throwback to the early days of Nikon’s interest in optical research. It’s certainly a lens that splits opinions – I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about it – though there’s no denying it’s a beautifully made lens that’s capable of extremely high image quality in all its nuances. You can read additional opinion on this lens here. Build Like other Nikon exotics, it’s delivered in a massively oversized cardboard box, but inside it contains a large Pelican-type case, instead of the more usual soft-padded type. I didn’t weigh the case but…
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Nikon to launch new Noct-Nikkor end of October
Update: Nikon UK kindly sent me one to review for a leading UK photo magazine – you can see my first impressions here. Nikon’s previously announced Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct is set to ship at the end of the month (31st October) for a shade under $8,000 in the US, and around £8,299 (in VAT) in UK. The ultra-high speed Z-mount lens takes the Noct moniker from the AI/AIS 58mm F1.2 from the 70’s and early 80’s (first production was 1977) respectively. That lens was originally designed for low-light reportage and featured a single large diameter, hand-ground aspherical element in its optical design, where the brighter…
