Everything comes to an end. After 17 days in the tropical Ecuadorian Andes, going from 300 meters to 4200 meters above sea level (660 to 13,800 feet), I am sitting in a gazebo in the middle of the Czech forest and writing these lines. Thousands of photos of birds and breathtaking landscapes of the páramo and cloud forest are safely on my computer. I’m going to share many of them with you in various articles, but for now I’ll just start at the back, with the last photo I took before leaving for the airport. With this picture of the Shining Sunbeam, I offer another overview of last week’s news in the photography world.
Recent Announcements
- Pentax 17: Pentax has announced its long-awaited new compact film camera with manual film rewind. As expected from an earlier teaser, the film size is 17mm x 24mm – half a traditional 35mm frame. This means that the default orientation of the image is vertical, and the camera must be rotated to take horizontal photos! But as a result, a typical roll of film can hold 72 frames instead of 36. The built-in lens has an angle of view of 61° (37mm equivalent) and contains 3 elements in 3 groups. Focusing is manual in six zones. The shutter operates with shutter speeds from 1/350 to 4 seconds. Exposure modes are only automatic. Those expecting a modern successor to iconic SLRs like the Pentax LX, K or Super A will probably be disappointed. But if the camera is successful, we may see more modern attempts at film cameras. The price is $500.
- Sirui Sniper Series new lenses: Last year, Sirui introduced a trio of fast f/1.2 prime lenses – 23mm, 33mm, and 56mm – designed for APS-C cameras with Sony E, Fuji X, and Nikon Z mounts. The Sniper series has now been widened and lengthened to include 16mm wide angle and 75mm short telephoto lenses, both still f/1.2. The lenses feature an STM motor and support subject detection on compatible cameras. The lenses are available in three colors: black, silver and white. They are priced the same at $319 each.
- Lexar Professional Silver (Plus) UHS-I SDXC: Not every genre of photography requires super-fast (and expensive) memory cards. If you’re not shooting sports or wildlife, and your camera has an SD card slot, the new Lexar Silver Plus cards may be for you. They support capacities from 64GB to 1TB and (theoretical) write speeds up to 150MB/s, and most importantly, they start at just $15.
- Nikon Z6 III: We’ve already informed you about this camera extensively, but I still wish to mention it in my weekly review! If you missed all of our coverage, you can read about the announcement, some hidden features, and our comparisons against other cameras. I intend to get my hands on this camera soon so I can bring you my first impressions from the field.
The Rumor Mill
What’s next from Nikon?
Looking at the Nikon lens roadmap, we see one remaining silhouette. It belongs to the long-awaited Nikon Z 35mm prime lens. From the beginning, it was assumed that the maximum aperture of this reportage classic would be f/1.2. But now rumors suggest that Nikon will choose an f/1.4 aperture instead – making it the first Z lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4. Rumors suggest that it could be released as early as next week. If the rumors turn out to be true, what prompted Nikon to decide on f/1.4 instead of f/1.2? Price, or demand for smaller size and weight? A 35mm f/1.2, like the one Sigma makes for L-mount and E-mount, would certainly be heavy.
Via Nikon Rumors
Would you like a pancake?
Pancake lenses usually impress neither with their speed nor optical quality. Nevertheless, they are popular thanks to their small size and low prices. According to information on Weibo, Chinese company Viltrox is about to bake a 28mm f/2.8 pancake. If that happens, it will likely be available for a wide range of cameras of all common mounts.
New high-capacity Sony battery?
So far, I have only seen one camera that can withstand the wildlife shooting frenzy in Ecuador with a single battery per day. You can probably guess that I’m talking about the Nikon Z9. That battery is so large, you could probably hook it up to your electric car and drive the remaining ten miles to the nearest charging station if necessary! Now it seems that Sony is also looking to boost the performance of its batteries. Apparently, however, it would only increase the capacity while maintaining the shape of the battery. This should make them backwards-compatible with current cameras and give them a longer “range” on a single charge.
Good Deals and New Sales
Do you know what the Nikon Z 600mm f/6.3 (for $4,297) and Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 (for $5,997) have in common? Besides having the same maximum aperture, both telephoto lenses are now discounted by $500. If you don’t know which one to choose, you can read our reviews here and here. My pick is the shorter of the two. It’s not only incredibly compact and lightweight (for a 600mm lens), but also very sharp and fast focusing.
Looking for an inexpensive and reliable wireless flash trigger for your camera? For flash work, I rely on the Godox XProN TTL, which is currently discounted to $49 (was $69). If you don’t have a compatible Godox flash, you’ll also need a Godox receiver, like the X1R.
What should you use for making backups when traveling? Definitely an SSD! The SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 is on sale right now. It’s designed to survive every conceivable disaster (well, except for theft). It’s also Thunderbolt 3 compatible, so copying data is very fast. Available options include:
- 1TB for $175 (was $300)
- 2TB for $251 (was $441)
- 4TB for $400 (was $800)
DxO’s 20th birthday is a good time to buy its products if you haven’t yet. Until July 7, all DxO products have a 20% discount. My personal favorite is DxO PureRAW 4, which Massimo recently reviewed for you. But I also use the DxO Nik Collection from time to time.
Other Pages of Interest
The winners of the 2024 Audubon Photography Awards have been announced. See the winning photos and videos on the contest website. Across the many categories, the unifying theme is the birds of North America.
It’s been a few days since I tried to photograph the world’s largest hummingbird, the Giant Hummingbird, at around 3500 meters on the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. I just learned that I was photographing a new species to science. It turns out that there are actually two species of Giant Hummingbirds, as recently revealed by field research and genetic analysis. Nature is full of surprises, and they’re often right under our noses. You can read more about this in the article Scientists Discover World’s Largest Hummingbird Hiding in Plain Sight.
And finally, a page that allows you to combine something pleasant with something useful. On the pleasant side, you can purchase any of 100 beautiful wildlife photographs by renowned photographers and have a beautiful print for your home. The useful part is that the proceeds from the sale will go to ocean conservation. You can find out more about this, and get a print for yourself, on the 100 For the Ocean website.
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #54
Last week’s theme was something small, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is music, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, June 29, 2024!
Week #54 Results
Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “something small” theme, starting with Tom Pazol’s photo:
Here we have small in its literal sense: a small little world constructed from a broken egg shell. Nicely executed and clean shot!
With PRG Lagarde’s photo, we have a different take on small:
In this photo, the unusually large bench makes the person small. PRG gives a link to this Ponti’s Bench in case you want to visit it yourself in Nantes, France.
Finally, we have florin’s photo:
It’s a third take on the concept of small: using perspective and distance to make the people look tiny.
Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the music theme.
rumors?
Who cares?
I stopped because of that wonderful picture.
Libor; you let him shine that Shining Sunbeam.
This is perfect Bil (Bird in Landscape)!
Wow.
Next challange: Your favorite 35 mm+Z9; same location,
same, or any bird. Can´t wait.
That photo of the shining sunbeam is honestly one of the greatest photos I’ve ever seen in my life. Amazing work, Libor!
Nikon has priced their f1.2 lenses at 3.25-3.33 the MSRP of their f1.8 versions. That would make a 35 f1.2 roughly $2800 (US). I have to wonder how many people would spend that on a 35mm prime. And nikon doesn’t seem to have embraced the smaller/lighter approach in these kinds of lenses, so I’d have to think the size/weight would further dissuade some people.
What about an f1.4 that…improves the corners / evenness across the frame, and significantly improves coma and longitudinal CA of the f1.8? Say, 2x the price, (so $1700), but also keeps the size and weight more reasonable.
Not sure that f/1.4 is well enough differentiated from the f/1.8 they already have. Though until you get out beyond a couple of meters there is barely in difference in depth of focus between f/1.2 and f/1.4. But f/1.2 probably markets better. I don’t know. I’m not in the market for either.
If weight and size are that big of a deal, get the f/1.8. The 1.8 is a fine lens and I enjoy shooting it for landscapes.
How about a 14mm prime or tell Sigma to bring theirs?
It could be interesting if it has a reasonable price. 1.2 primes tend to have fairly high prices. And f/1.4 is still 0.73 stops faster, meaning ISO ~1000 over ISO 1600 if you don’t mind shooting wide open. Personally, I’d just get the f/1.8 like you, though!
Personally, I’ve been thinking about buying a 35mm f/1.8 for a while now. On the other hand, I’m waiting to see what Nikon comes up with. As soon as I have the chance to test both lenses side by side, I will do so and one of them will probably end up in my bag. Of course, I won’t keep my findings to myself.
Yesss….gimme a 14mm f/1.8 or something
I want wider than 20mm for those sweet astrophotography shots.
I can tell you that I’ve had a manual focus 50 mm f/1.2 lens for many years, ever since film days. I find that the f/1.2 stop is not terribly useful. You get such a small depth of field that it is like using a macro lens in closeup mode. You end up with a lot of discards. I used to use it on my flowers or on bugs but eventually stopped up to f/1.4 or 1.8 anyway. You get much more in focus at those f/stops, and pretty much the same bokeh benefits. For distance shots, well, all those f/stops come out about the same anyway. It might not be worth spending the extra money on f1.2 when your results are pretty much the same as the 1.4 and 1.8. If that helps.
Your experience is woth the older film era 1.2 lenses. Grest in that own right but modern 1.2 AF lenses are different beasts entirely. Better optics at 1.2 than the MF 1.2 lenses were at f/8.
Mike B wrote: “… Better optics at 1.2 than the MF 1.2 lenses were at f/8.”
Perhaps better optics, but (for example) the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S at f/1.2 is less sharp in the centre and corners than the Noct-NIKKOR 58mm f/1.2 at f/8 — according to their reviews on Photography Life.
[https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-z-85mm-f-1-2-s]
[https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-noct-nikkor-58mm-f1-2]
I wonder if it still makes sense today to launch a half frame analogue camera for such a price (EUR 550!). The halfsized format is difficult to scan and prints are limited by the small size of the frames. Better look for a used Olympus Pen camera? [Links removed.]
It looks like a jazzed up disposable camera to me. Three element plastic lens and extremely limited shutter speeds. Not a “real” camera, looks more like a toy. And for that much money you can buy vintage gear is excellent working condition.
Honestly, I expected more. Pentax cameras were at my first photographic steps. I was expecting something a bit like the Nikon FM3a. Personally, I’d also prefer a used Pentax LX or Super A. There are still plenty of great K-mount lenses for a few bucks.
Beautiful environmental bird shot indeed !!!
Thanks for the feature, Libor :D
Thank you very much, Pierre. There was too much sun for my taste. I also wanted the hummingbird to turn his back on me and show me the beautiful rainbow on his back that earned him his name. But I’m still glad I pressed the shutter. Better photos will hopefully follow.
That is one awesome picture of the shining sunbeam. Not easy to get landscapes in the background of bird photos. Nice.
Thanks a lot, Jason! Birdscapes are one of my long-term projects. This year’s Ecuador brought a couple of them, I guess about 3 or 4. I’m most excited about Giant Antpitta, it just blew me away. What a bird!
Wow! What an amazing environmental shot of a Shining Sunbeam.
Thank you very much! At some points I thought that one day I would make a decision and not take a lens longer than 120mm on an expedition. That day will come, but I don’t have the courage yet.
Would love to hear admins’ thoughts on Nikon’s move making the 35mm 1.4 instead of 1.2
While we’re waiting “to hear admins’ thoughts on Nikon’s move making the 35mm 1.4 instead of 1.2″…
As I’ve written previously:
Precise values to 3 decimal places followed by common name:
AV 𝑁=2^(0.5×AV)
0 1 f/1
⅓ 1.122 f/1.1
½ 1.189 f/1.2
⅔ 1.260 f/1.3 or f/1.2 ❗️
1 1.414 f/1.4
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/…mber_scale
Technically, an f/1.2 lens should be exactly a ½ stop larger than an f/1.4 lens, but it depends on the honesty of the marketing department: it might only be a ⅓ stop larger than an f/1.4.
Both the Nikon 50/1.2 and the Nikon 85/1.2 are great lenses. I believe that if the new 35mm lens turns out to be an f/1.2, it will be another fantastic lens. But there are two sides to every coin. I need a certain amount of discretion from a 35mm lens. I’m afraid that discretion and an f/1.2 aperture don’t go well together. Neither do weight, size and, of course, price. If the maximum aperture of the new 35mm is “only” f/1.4, it will be a compromise from my point of view, taking into account my aforementioned requirements for this focal length.
Nikon Z 50/1.2 and 85/1.2 are indeed great lenses. However, to get this greatness into perspective:
QUOTE
Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S Review, by Spencer Cox
Lens Comparisons
… I’m also struck by the fact that from f/2.8 and narrower, there really is no reason to pick the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S over a lot of the less expensive lenses here. The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S comes away from this comparison looking especially strong, with a very comparable performance to the f/1.2 version in the range from f/2.8 and narrower (a little weaker in the corners, but even sharper in the center). It goes to show that you really are paying – both in price and bulk – for the f/1.2 maximum aperture more than anything else.
photographylife.com/revie…-f-1-2-s/3
I think the reason to get a 1.2 lens is to use it at 1.2 a lot. Up to 2.8 but mostly in the 1.2-2 range. Beyond that, less costly lenses are excellent still.
“I think the reason to get a 1.2 lens is to use it at 1.2 a lot.”
Exactly. Those who know that they want an f/1.2 lens, and what they will be using it for, aren’t faffing around with comparisons to f/1.8 and f/2.8 lenses, FFS !