Photography News: Fuji X100VI and a Lot of Lens Announcements

In last week’s Photography News, I mischievously let you guess which lens I used for my opening photo. The mysterious and somewhat unusual lens was successfully identified as a spotting scope for bird sighting. Today, I have a similar challenge for you, only the answer this time is a little easier. If your detective work is successful, you will find out the identity of a lens that we’ll be reviewing soon. But now, onto the latest announcements from this week, which brought a lot of exciting news to the photography world.

Recent Announcements

• Fujifilm X100VI: The successor of the chronically unavailable X100V is here! The first good news is that Fuji has reportedly solved some problems with the supply of parts, so the camera should actually be available for purchase more regularly. There are other improvements, too: the camera now has image stabilization (up to 6 stops) and a higher-resolution 40 megapixel sensor. Autofocus and video performance have been improved. The high-quality 35mm (equivalent) f/2 lens is the same. The bottom line is that this $1,599 camera probably won’t stay on store shelves for long. Pre-order it soon if you want any chance of getting it before the TikTokers beat you to the punch.
• Sony FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G: Mid-range f/2.8 zooms have traditionally been in the 24-70mm range. But this is no longer the case. Recently, Canon broke this rule with its 24-105mm f/2.8, and now Sony has gone the other way. The main selling point of their new lens is an easy-to-carry form factor (440g, 67mm filter size) and the less expensive price of $1,098. However, the limited zoom range makes me wonder if most photographers would be better with a basic 35mm f/1.8 instead.
• Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm f/4-7.1 MACRO O.I.S.: This could be the all-in-one lens that all Lumix (or L-mount) photographers have been waiting for. The dust- and splash-proof design together with the fluorine coating will come in handy in tough conditions. The 6.5-stop image stabilization and the light weight (413g) will inspire a lot of travel photographers. Finally, the price of the lens is $898.
• Viltrox 27mm f/1.2 Pro: An ultra-fast, 40.5mm-equivalent autofocus lens for Fuji, Nikon, and Sony APS-C cameras. After the 75mm f/1.2, this is the second APS-C lens from Viltrox with the “PRO” designation and a maximum aperture of f/1.2. The optical design consists of 15 elements in 11 groups (including one HOYA aspherical lens, two low-dispersion and five high-refractive elements). The weather-sealed lens allows a minimum focusing distance of 0.28m and the use of 67mm filters. The price is $545.
• Sigma 500mm f/5.6 and Sigma 15mm f/1.4: Two very interesting E- and L-mount lenses, each for a completely different photographic genre. Earlier this week, Jason published an announcement article about them, discussing their main features. The lenses can be pre-ordered for $2,999 (500mm) and $1,999 (15mm).
• Wise CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards: CFexpress Type B cards of the new 4.0 standard are beginning to appear. Among the latest are these from Wise. You won’t be able to take full advantage of their speed in existing cameras, but you’ll enjoy twice the speed compared to 2.0 when downloading photos to your computer, for example. That is, if you have a compatible card reader. The 512GB and 1TB cards cost $200 and $400, respectively.

The Rumor Mill

OM System announces a fall firmware update for OM-1

After the recent introduction of the OM System OM-1 Mark II, there was a slight disappointment among the brand’s fans. The general opinion was that most of the new features, with the exception of the deeper buffer, could have been solved with a firmware update. OM System has announced that in fall, OM-1 owners could see some of their hopes answered. No, the firmware will not bridge the generation gap between the Mark I and Mark II. However, at least partial improvements in AF performance and operability can be expected.

Via 4/3 rumors

Good Deals and New Sales

Reliable, durable (IP65 rating), and fast enough (write speeds up to 1000 MB/s). This is how the Samsung T7 Shield drives can be described in a nutshell. The largest of them, the 4TB Portable SSD, now sells for $250 (was $390).

Last week, you may have read my article about wildlife photography with Fuji cameras and lenses. Coincidentally, both lenses that I mentioned in the article are now on sale at a substantial discount of $400. The shorter and faster of the two, the XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is currently $1,499 (was $1,899). The longer, newer, but slightly slower XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR now retails for $1,599 (was $1,999 ).

Other Pages of Interest

The CP+ trade show hasn’t brought any big surprises so far, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing interesting to see. At the Sony booth, for example, you can see the longitudinal cut of the lightest 300mm f/2.8 telephoto lens, as well as a display showing the aperture unit and focusing mechanism of the lens. If you can’t make the trip to Japan, don’t worry. You can at least see photos of these three things on the DC watch website.

In the deluge of bad news coming out of the media, I also have two stories in the opposite direction. A bird species unseen for nearly two decades has been rediscovered by a team from the University of Texas at El Paso. A six-week expedition to the Itombwe Massif, a mountain range in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has confirmed that the Yellow-crested Helmetshrike (Prionops alberti) still exists. But that’s not all, even South America has recently revealed another of its secrets. This time a pretty gigantic one, in the form of the world’s largest anaconda ever found – a newly discovered species known as the Northern Green Anaconda (Eunectes akayima).

The underwater environment is not my turf, but I have a great admiration for photographers who can take good photos underwater. In addition to our team member Nicholas Hess, I also refer to the winners of the 2024 Underwater Photographer of the Year, like Alex Dawson and Lisa Stengel. You can see their photos on the contest website.

Photo Theme Challenge, Week #38

Last week’s theme was vehicle, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is flare, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, March 2, 2024!

Week #37 Results

Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “vehicle” theme, starting with Robert’s photo:

Not sure it drives, but it’s definitely a vehicle! What a creative submission.

Next, we’ve got vidmarko’s photo:

Doesn’t he seem a little young to be driving this? Vidmarko says, “The vehicle is an eight wheel tow tractor for strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. This photo was taken in a former Soviet launch base for strategic nuclear ballistic missiles (not ICBM) aimed at western Europe (London, Paris, etc.) which is now one of a kind museum (at least it was back in 2009).” Cool.

Finally, we’ve got user AndrewGusew’s photo:

I love the lighting here and how it bleeds into the post a little, which complements the shininess of the Volkswagen. Very nice.

Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the “flare” theme!