The persistent rain outside the windows made me search my archives for photos this week instead of going outside. But it wasn’t a nostalgic trip back in time – it was a focused search for sample images from a particular lens, a review of which you’ll soon be able to read on Photography Life. Can you tell which lens the photo below was taken with? But that’s just a taste of what’s to come. As for what already happened this week, here’s my roundup of recent news in the photography world.
Recent Announcements
- Nikon Z8 firmware version 2.00: The long-awaited firmware that brings the Z8 up to date. The Z8 was launched as a “mini Z9,” and now it has actually leapfrogged it with some new added features. Among the most important new additions are a dedicated [Birds] mode for subject detection AF, Pixel Shift, and Auto Capture. For more information, read Spencer’s article or the press release.
- ZEISS Nano Prime Cinema Lens Line: Zeiss has introduced a new line of six relatively affordable full-frame Cinema lenses with focal lengths of 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm. As part of a line, many of their key physical parameters are identical. They share the same 86mm filter thread, 95mm barrel diameter, fast T1.5 aperture, and 12-blade iris. The lenses come with a Sony E-mount, but have a user-interchangeable mount design (more mount options should come in the future). Prices for individual lenses start at $4,490, and the entire 6-lens set can be pre-ordered for $25,950.
- FlexShooter FlexFoot: An Arca-Swiss-style replacement for the original tripod feet for Canon, Nikon and Sony telephoto lenses. It offers a low center of gravity, which makes it easier to balance on a gimbal or FlexShooter ball head (tested here) and takes up less space in your backpack. On FlexShooter’s original version, the low profile would not allow you to put your fingers between the foot and the lens being carried. For this reason, the FlexFoot was designed, which has an integrated flip-up handle. The price on the manufacturer’s website is €198.
The Rumor Mill
New 500mm f/5.6 telephoto lens
It looks like 2024 could be the year of 500mm lenses. Several brands are expected to announce a telephoto lens with this focal length. Whether it’s Fujifilm, whose is missing such a long prime, or Canon, from whom we expect a 200-500mm f/4 zoom in the coming months. In the end, however, it looks like both brands will be overtaken by Sigma. According to Sony Alpha Rumors, a Sigma 500mm f/5.6 lens is expected to be announced in a few weeks (February 21). The weight of the lens should be about the same as the Nikon 500mm f/5.6E PF, i.e., under 1500g. In addition to Sony bodies, you will also be able to mount the lens on L-mount cameras. The expected price will be around $4,000.
See you in Tokyo
This is the caption under the latest post on Fujifilm X India’s YouTube channel. It shows a mysterious silhouette of the camera whose name you can probably guess. Yes, that’s right, the X100VI. After the Fujifilm X Summit, which will take place on February 20th, we should know everything for sure. Before then, you can check out the rumored specs on Fuji Addict.
Good Deals and New Sales
Sony CFexpress TOUGH Type A memory cards have write speeds of up to 700MB/s and can withstand harsh handling such as falls of up to 25 feet (7.5 meters), 150 Newtons of force, extreme temperatures, dust/humidity (IP57), harsh electrostatic environments, and intense UV light or X-rays. These cards are on sale for up to $160 until February 12 and are compatible with Sony’s CFE Type A cameras.
- Sony 160GB (was $398, now $268)
- Sony 320GB (was $648, now $528)
- Sony 640GB (was $998, now $838)
Right now, my camera is sitting on my good old Manfrotto tripod with Auto Capture on, patiently waiting for the Eurasian Bullfinch to arrive (you’ll see more in my article on Auto Capture tomorrow). If you, too, tend to spend time waiting in front of your tripod, you may be interested in the sales that Manfrotto is having this week. There are a few lightweight carbon fiber ones to choose from. Between the smaller 190 and the larger 055, there is a 10cm difference in max height, 5kg in max load, and 0.5kg in weight.
- Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 (was $690, now $500)
- Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4 (was $725, now $600)
- Manfrotto MT190CXPRO3 (was $475, now $300)
- Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 (was $620, now $450)
Other Pages of Interest
The Nikon Z9 goes into space to help NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station capture “iconic and breathtaking images of Earth and space in stellar quality and clarity”. It will be the first mirrorless camera used by the space station crew. Physically, the Z9 will remain unchanged, but will receive some firmware modifications for the specific conditions of space. You can find out what these will be, along with other information, on the Nikon News website.
The Compact Flash Association (CFA) has published a list of all CFexpress Type A cards that have passed its testing and guarantee a certain minimum sustained write speed. The CFA has established two Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) classes, VPG200 and VPG400. The numbers indicate the minimum number of megabytes per second (MB/s) that the card can write continuously. To verify which cards meet the requirements for high-resolution video recording, visit the Compact Flash Association website.
And now, a traditional source of inspiration from the world of photography contests. The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has announced the winner of the People’s Choice Award category. First place went to a photo of a polar bear sleeping on an ice floe surrounded by the sea. And from remote wilderness back to civilization takes you The Art of Building photo contest, whose theme is “Celebrating the creativity of construction and the built world.”
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #35
Last week’s theme was purple, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is vast, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, February 17!
Week #35 Results
Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the purple theme, starting with Tom Pazol’s shot:
One source of purple is certainly sunrises and sunsets. It’s amazing how many different shades of color can be found then! I enjoyed the gradient of color in this shot from purple to blue to yellow.
Next, we’ve got one from cmb_focus, a new forum member!
It looks like a very peaceful location and quite pretty also.
Finally, let’s take a look at Robert’s submissions:
It is the moon rising over purple flowers. The colors and composition here are very creative!
Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the transparent theme.
Looks like 50mm F1.2 Nikkor
And you’re absolutely right.
Bring on the 500mm lenses!
One landed at my house yesterday. Guess which one? :-)
4000$ for a Sigma 500mm f/5.6! I did not expect this much – That’d be about the same price as Nikon’s PF!
I would also consider this price to be a rather conservative estimate. If we take the difference (about 65%) between the Nikon 500mm f/4 FL and 500mm f/5.6 PF as an example for pricing, then the Sigma 500mm f/5.6 could cost about $2100 (the Sigma 500mm f/4 is currently priced at $6000). This would certainly be a tempting price, but I’m not overly optimistic about it. Prices have been trending rather upward lately.
Could be [censored by myself ;) ]…. you should remove the exifs from this so beautiful photograph ;) (I known, it’s cheating).
News are great this week anyway… a very light 500mm from Sigma should be very interesting !
This bear resting on an ice floe is wonderful but very sad at the same time.
To your credit, you admit to cheating :-) So shhh, don’t tell anyone what lens I used to take the picture, so you don’t spoil the surprise.
The 500mm Sigma could be very interesting. Too bad the Nikon Z-mount version is probably not in the plan again.
As for the polar bears, unfortunately they are just the tip of the iceberg (literally) of a whole package of problems. Barack Obama put it well when he said, “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” And sadly, it’s not just climate change.
Well Libor, since most of the planet’s air pollution is generated by China, India, and Indonesia, the top producers of coal generated electricity, I’m not sure who Obama’s comments were addressed to. If he is really concerned about global warming, why does he live in the Hamptons, less than 5 ft above sea level?
I think that pollution and habitat destruction are more addressable than climate change. Not sure what can be done, poorer countries are unlikely to give up electricity, and are just as unlikely to be willing to pay more for electricity. Of course, most of the renewable sources are not very wildlife friendly or aesthetically pleasing to landscape viewers.
There are more of these branches that we are sitting on and cutting under our own butts. Loss of biodiversity, warming seas and climate, environmental destruction, pollution… One could easily panic when looking at this. And maybe one should. It is hard to ask poor countries to behave ecologically and at the same time ask them to make products for us at ridiculously low prices. I wish there was a (simple) solution.