An interesting software program (a review of which you will soon be able to read) prompted me this week to dive into the greatest depths of my archives. Our fascination with modern technology sometimes makes us forget that how often great photos were taken with – by today’s standards – prehistoric equipment. The image that I share in this Photography News is special for another reason: the lens that I used. If you can guess what it is, I invite you for a glass of wine in Prague! But now, onto this week’s news.
Recent Announcements
- Cosina Voigtländer NOKTON 50mm F1 Aspherical: This super-fast, manual-focus, full-frame lens was first introduced by its manufacturer Cosina in 2022 for Leica M. A year later, it arrived for the Nikon Z mount. Its Sony E-mount equivalent will be available from March 2024. The optical design of all three lenses is the same. However, the filter size is 62mm for the Z and M-mount versions and 67mm for the Sony E-mount. This is related to the lens hood, which is reversible on the Nikon and Leica versions, while it is screw-in on the Sony. The estimated price is around $1,600.
- Lexar Professional SL600 Portable SSD: Announced in January at CES 2024, the line of portable SSDs is just now available in 1TB and 2TB capacities (with a 4TB version to come later). Write and read speeds are said to be up to 2000MB/s, but only if your computer has a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface. If you have any other interface, expect about half that speed. The durable aluminum enclosure protects the drive against shock (up to 50G) and vibration. Water resistance, however, is not noted by the manufacturer. The prices are $130 (1TB) and $175 (2TB).
The Rumor Mill
The widest full-frame AF rectilinear lens from Laowa
In a few days, Venus Optics will officially announce the Laowa 10mm f/2.8 ultra-wide angle rectilinear lens. And since Venus Optics will be celebrating its tenth birthday with this lens, it will be a very special one in several ways. First, it will be their debut in making autofocus lenses, and second, it will be the widest f/2.8 full-frame rectilinear lens on the market with autofocus. Happy 10th birthday and 10mm lens, Venus Optics! I can’t wait to see what you come up with when you blow out the 600th candle on your cake.
Via Nikon Rumors
What do the Nikon Z90 and the unicorn have in common?
No one has seen one in the wild, yet people are talking about them! There is no doubt that a high-end APS-C body, a worthy successor to the legendary D500, is sorely missing from Nikon’s mirrorless lineup. All the more so as competitors Canon and Fujifilm have such cameras already. This is where the rumors of a Nikon Z90 come in. It’s rumored that the Z90 will have a 33MP APS-C (stacked?) sensor, 4K 60p (oversampled) / FullHD 120p or 180p video, 15 FPS burst shooting, 6-stops in-body image stabilization, a 3.2-inch tilting touchscreen, and a dual CFexpress type B and SD card slot. I’d buy a camera like this, would you?
What to expect from Viltrox in 2024?
Viltrox is a Chinese manufacturer that has found its niche in producing relatively cheap but reasonably good lenses, many of which have autofocus. We’ve reviewed a couple of them already, namely the Viltrox AF 24mm f/1.8 and the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8. Last week, Viltrox announced their roadmap for 2024, so you can see if any of the lenses catch your eye. There is a 40mm f/2.5, 56mm f/1.7 and 16mm f/1.8 – plus Viltrox’s version of a 135mm f/1.8 to compete with the Nikon Z Plena. I look forward to a head-to-head comparison of the two.
Via Photo Rumors
Good Deals and New Sales
B&H Photo Video is currently running some interesting discounts on Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic cameras that can save you up to $700. I’ll take it in order.
Canon
Cameras
- Canon EOS R3 (was $4,999, now $4,499)
- Canon EOS R5 (was $3,399, now $2,999)
- Canon EOS R6 (was $2,299, now $1,799)
Lenses
- Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM (was $2,399, now $2,099)
- Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM (was $2,399, now $2,099)
- Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM (was $3,099, now $2,799)
- Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM (was $2,799, now $2,499)
- Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM (was $2,899, now $2,599)
Nikon
Three Nikon cameras are on sale body-only, with up to $400 off. There are additional savings if you add a lens as a camera + lens bundle. (To see the supported lenses, click “build bundle” and then “mirrorless lenses” at any of the B&H links below).
- Nikon Z8 (was $3,997, now $3,797)
- Nikon Z7II (was $2,997, now $2,597)
- Nikon Z6II (was $1,997, now $1,597)
Panasonic
If you’re interested in the Micro Four Thirds concept and have been considering buying the Panasonic Lumix G9 II, now is probably the best time to do so. Until March 2, Panasonic is running a trade-in event where you’ll get money for your old working camera, plus a $500 trade-in bonus for the purchase of a new Lumix G9 II (body-only, or set with 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens).
Other Pages of Interest
What do a newly discovered species of lizard from the Peruvian jungle and the frontman of British heavy metal band Iron Maiden have in common? Apart from their bright coloring, it is their name – Enyalioides dickinsoni. An international team of scientists recently discovered two species of reptile east and north of the Marañón and Utcubamba rivers, one of which was named after Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson. If there are any physical similarities between the two (very) distantly related organisms, you can judge from the photo in the Latin American Post article.
My friend Igor Mikula, an avid herpetological photographer and overall winner of the Czech Nature Photo, fell for the charm of the beautiful but secretive tree frogs of the genus Hyloscirtus. So much so that he decided to make a movie about them. This might not be so special if it didn’t involve hard work in the remote and inaccessible mountain jungles of Ecuador and Colombia. You can watch the trailer for his film on his YouTube channel.
Breathtaking photographs appear in a selection of the best works of the 2023 International Landscape Photographer of the Year. On the contest website you can view or even download (pdf) a flip book of the top 101 entries with captions for each photo.
As one of my favorite songs goes, “there’s no song so long that it doesn’t have an end.” And, indeed, as you can read in the article in The Guardian, the career of one of the most influential photographers of the last decades, Sebastião Salgado, is slowly approaching its final notes.
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #37
Last week’s theme was vast, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is vehicle, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, February 24!
Week #36 Results
Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “vast” theme, starting with JohnK’s photo:
The two people on the beach do indeed give a sense of vastness!
Next is Tom Pazol’s shot:
The colors and composition are looking really nice here, and that second tower in the distance adds the pinch of “vast”!
Finally, let’s take a look at bourdett’s shot:
There’s a very interesting contrast here, with the smooth grass leading away to the fragmented forests. The use of negative space accentuates the vastness of this landscape.
Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the “vehicle” theme!
Really like the colours in bourdett’s image. The blue and the green with just the right amount of yellow works really well. The location itself didn’t make much sense to me; but it seems this was a fanciful idea built at the request of a late 18th century English aristocrat. That adds up! Good to see it maintained.
The Nikon Z7II and Z6II on sale again! It really seems like they’re clearing inventory for new ones. Still, as nice as it is, it’s not really worth the hassle of replacing bodies and lenses for me. And yes, you can use F-mount lenses with the FTZ, but that kinda defeats the point of having that much larger opening on the Z bodies.
I haven’t seen any substantial rumors about a Z90. Those are just dreams. The next cameras most likely to be released are Z6 III and Z50 II. One well known Nikon blogger with some contacts claimed to have heard nothing about a Z90 and even speculates Nikon in the future will stop developing DX-cameras entirely and concentrate their efforts on the FX-system.
Anyone can already today use a high resolution FF camera with the APSC-crop. Or just crop in post from the FF image. With the 45.7 MP sensors Nikon use is just a bit more than 19 MP. That may seem little compared to the most common 24-26 MP sensors used for APSC-cameras. But remember the D500 only had 21 MP. It is also possible the Z7 III will come with a 60+ MP sensor like in Sony A7R IV and V having a 26 MP crop.
Also note that the D850 was released 18 months after D500. Had D850 already existed there might never have been a D500. Because when D850 came many did no longer see a need for a semi-pro crop camera. Sony also so far didn’t develop their APS-C beyond the rangefinder type of design despite people asking for a modest A7000 camera with similar design to the A7 series FF cameras. Canons R7 camera on the other hand pretends to be the 7D II successor while having worse build than the 90D. Fujifilm doesn’t really count as their mount only cover APSC.
What people really want is a premium camera sold for two thirds or even half price because of the smaller sensor. But Nikon’s savings using a smaller sensor are not as big as the price difference between the full frame camera and what customers are willing to pay for a similar DX camera Nikon will rather sell the more expensive FF camera even if they sell half as many of them to the “DX-crowd”. The market now is also much smaller now than eight years ago (January 5, 2016, Yeah, time is flying by even though it seems like yesterday!) when the D500 was released.
Given that only a niche of customers, those using the longer teles, mostly for birds and wildlife, will buy such still quite expensive camera it will not sell in enough numbers to make economical sense for Nikon to develop. I suspect the D500 despite being a great camera actually didn’t sell as many copies as expected, especially compared to D300.
Consider also that a Z90 should be a baby Z8 using a stacked sensor like the Fujifilm XH2s. But who knows, maybe Nikon surprise us with a Z70 based on the Z6/Z7 type of body. Though I doubt it. There are no lenses that will sell such a camera to others than the long lens crowd.
Well, the smaller-sensor APS-C premium camera worked for Canon and the R7. The Z90 doesn’t have to be as powerful as the Z9 for it to have a niche.
There are other potential advantages to a Z90 (‘mini-Z8’). Potential cost savings for Nikon come from a lower amount of pixels to capture, move and store compared to a Z8/Z9: smaller and cheaper sensor, less memory, less bandwidth/processing/card slot performance required. Accept a bit lower framerate and video performance (allow some spec advantage for Z8/9) and cost can decrease a bit more.
For the average nature/wildlife photographer there are other cost savings that might count even more because a significantly higher pixel density like 30-35MP would allow using shorter/lighter/cheaper lenses for the same result compared to a FF body. Yes, with such a sensor low light performance and DR will suffer a bit compared to FF sensor but that’s a compromise most of use are familiar with and accept for APS-C cameras.
Personally I would buy a Z90 even if the price is relatively close to the Z8, but only if it has similar stacked sensor, electronic shutter, AF performance, IBIS, significantly higher pixel density and most importantly a lighter, more compact body. With spec, size and price somewhere in between Canon R7 and Nikon Z8. IMHO there could be sufficient difference with Z8/9 to make both product lines viable for Nikon and apart from a better APS-C standard zoom I don’t think any more new lenses would be needed for Z90.
“…because a significantly higher pixel density…”
Linear sensel densities (sensel/mm):
230 Nikon Z8/9
237 Nikon D500
299 OM SYSTEM OM‑1
313 Canon R7
329 FUJIFILM X-Trans CMOS 5 HR
A pixel density like in R7 or recent Fuji sensors would allow using e.g. a 300mm instead of 400mm lens on Z8/9 (4/300PF instead of Z400/4.5), big difference in price/size/weight.
With 24 MP sensor the reach advantage over Z8/9 would be minor and such a camera would be attractive to me only at much lower price. I guess for Nikon it would be more profitable to give a Z90 some unique selling proposition compared to Z8 without making it a direct competitor, and keep price relatively high because of this USP.
How about a 800mm f/5.6 with the lens-specific 1.25x TC?
Oh wait – didn’t Kowa (and maybe other manufacturers) offer DSLR-adapters for their spotting scopes back in the days? I guess that should get you into 1000mm f/13 territory!
You’re absolutely right, Nightjar! Applause for you. Although it wasn’t a Kowa, it was the now sadly discontinued Nikon EDG spotting scope. By the way, I was surprised how little interest there is in digiscoping these days. Not every birder wants or can carry a big telephoto lens, and digiscoping could be an elegant solution. Nikon has basically cut off the whole digiscoping branch, what a shame.
Well, I know many birders who use their smartphones for digiscoping – with surprisingly good results, if the scope/phone combo works fine.
However, an adapter for a “real” camera would in fact be more interesting today than a few years back, since mirrorless cameras might even be able to use AF at an aperture of 13…
I would also much prefer a good digiscoping adapter for the Z-mount, but Nikon doesn’t make anything like that anymore. It wouldn’t help autofocus though, because the spotting scope needs to be focused manually. It might work with focus peaking though, which would also be a great thing.
I was thinking about something like the Techart TZM adapter for AF – not sure though if that principle would work for scopes, too.
Anyway, with today’s camera technology and noise reduction software, that would be great for record shots.
I am impressed you were able to figure that one out so accurately. Good job! ;)
In your comments about the Viltrox offerings for Nikon Z cameras, you failed to mention the new 20mm f2.8, which I recently picked up. For $158 and roughly the size of the Nikon 40mm f2, it’s compact, light and a surprisingly good performer with AF.
Don’t know what the lens is…maybe 500mm f/4D with TC? But for sure I would get the Z90. It will be hard to decide between the Z8 and Z90. The Z90 + 600PF sounds very tempting.
So Marcin was the first who guessed right. Instead of the lens I had a Nikon EDG spotting scope.
I would have liked the Z90 with a combination of 100-400 (“wide angle” and “macro” lens) and 600/6.3 (telephoto). A portable and lightweight combo.
Well, my guess would be it is not a lens, but you used some kind of scope. Thus, we have a nice example of digiscoping :)
One point for you, Marcin! You have scored. When you get to Prague, I’ll buy you a drink. You don’t live so far away.
Yaaay! Thanks! I will definitely contact you once I get there. I was already in Bohumin and Ostrava this year, so it is just a matter of time :)
To fulfill our curiosity – what was exactly that you used?
Bohumin? Then you weren’t too far away. Barely 300km. To answer your question, besides the Nikon D3 I had a Nikon EDG spotting scope mounted via a DSLR adapter. Absolutely brilliant piece of optics. One could also buy EDG binoculars back then. They were the absolute top of the line, but unfortunately their name wasn’t as shiny as Swarovski or Zeiss, so they didn’t sell as well.
Yes, for business reason I visit Bohumin quite frequently.
You are right, Nikon makes some strange decisions when it comes to its optical products lineup. They finish off the good products, cheapen on some others that people like and trust. I guess that’s Excel spreadsheet coming into picture.
I would buy a Z90 with these specs, no question. And the 400mm f.4.5 to go with it …
This combo would be totally awesome. Add a TC 1.4x and we would have a very light wildlife set (not only) for wildlife trips.
Price would come into it.
The D500 cost less than the D810.
If the Z7II is the mirrorless D810, then the Z90 should roll in at no more than £2,000.
Or less than that, given that the R7 is £1,375.
What about a 16-85 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens?
That’s a wild guess, Elaine, but reality isn’t far behind.
Congrats to owners of those beautiful pictures.
For the lens I’d say Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 DG with a TC doubler (any).
Thank you, PRG Lagarde. Although the slower zoom plus 2x TC clearly leads to such a conclusion, in this case it is different.
My second choice would be Nikon 500mm F/4 with TC 2 then…
Although this lens is currently in my backpack, I used something else. At the time, I was testing Nikon’s high-end EDG spotting scope, which could be attached to a DSLR via an adapter. Today, Nikon only allows digiscoping with smartphones. What a shame.
I’d guess it was taken with a mirror lens. Sigma maybe?
Thank you for your tip, Filip, but it wasn’t a mirror lens either.