This week was another pleasantly busy one for our team. Spencer went to Yellowstone with a truck full of camera equipment to test for you. Jason returned from his birding grounds having photographed several new bird species for the first time. And I just came out of the woods after testing my biggest lens on Europe’s smallest bird. What about the rest of the photography world? Here’s a roundup of the news from this week.
Recent Announcements
- Viltrox AF 40mm f2.5: A relatively compact autofocus lens (with STM motor) for Nikon Z and Sony E-mount. The lens has 10 elements in 6 groups (including one ED, one ASPH and three HR elements). The filter thread has a tiny 52mm diameter. The lens includes a USB-C port for future firmware updates and is priced at just $158.
- Pergear 25mm F1.7: A featherweight (just 165 g / 0.36 pounds), fully manual (does not support EXIF transfer), retro-looking lens for APS-C or Micro Four Thirds cameras. It supports Fuji X, Sony E, Nikon Z, M3/4, and Canon RF mounts. The lens offers a field of view equivalent to 37.5mm on full frame (50mm on M3/4) and its optical design includes 7 elements in 5 groups. Available in black and silver. An interesting parameter is the minimum focusing distance of only 0.2m (7.87″). And maybe even more interesting is the price, which is $75.
- 7Artisans 27mm F2.8 STM APS-C: The third small and light lens introduced this week! This one weighs 172 g / 0.38 pounds and includes autofocus. It’s an APS-C only lens, currently available just for Sony E mount. The USB-C port on the lens barrel is ready for future firmware updates. The price is $129.
- Exascend Essential Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type A: The new PCIe Gen 4 memory card line for Sony users offers a maximum read speed of 1800 MB/s and write speed of 1650 MB/s (VPG400 certified). In addition to the high speeds, the new cards are said to be resistant to various disasters – according to the manufacturer, they are dust-resistant, weatherproof, shock-resistant, magnetic-resistant and X-ray-safe. They are available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities. The price is $699 for the 1TB version.
- Sony A1 and Sony A9III firmware updates: These firmware updates add custom gridline support (available for an extra fee) and fix a variety of bugs, while also adding some minor new features. For details and downloads of the latest firmware versions, see the links above.
The Rumor Mill
What lenses is Canon planning for 2024?
That’s what an article in Canon Rumors from April 24th tries to answer. First should be a trio of “hybrid” prime lenses in the L series. What will make them hybrid? Perhaps they will have the same form factor as cine lenses. We can expect a 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm lens, all with a maximum aperture of f/1.4. The 35mm is said to be the first to be released, sometime in late May.
Along with that, in the press section at the Olympics, we could catch a glimpse of the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z. And sometime later this year, other possible glass includes three more APS-C lenses and the much-discussed autofocus tilt-shift lens. But… what happened to the 200-500mm f/4?
Via Canon Rumors
What’s new from Sony?
According to Sony Addict, Sony’s lens portfolio is about to expand with two interesting lenses by June this year. The first one is expected to be the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II. Compared to the current generation, it should not only be optically better, but also smaller and lighter. The second is the FE 24-70mm f/2.0 GM. You might know a similar zoom lens from Canon, but it starts at 28mm, so 24mm would be a nice improvement.
Via Sony Addict
New fast wide-angle lenses for Nikon Z
If your heart is racing that the long-awaited Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 is still hiding behind the curtain, I’m probably going to disappoint you. The rumor today regards different fast wide-angle lenses – namely, the Thypoch Simera 35mm f/1.4 and Thypoch Simera 28mm f/1.4. These two manual-focus lenses should be announced soon for the Nikon Z-mount. These lenses have only been offered for the Leica M-mount so far.
Via Nikon Rumors
Good Deals and New Sales
I went through an assortment of mirrorless lenses from Canon, Nikon, Sony, OM System, Fuji, and Sigma. Lots of them are on sale this week – some ongoing sales, some new ones. My favorites among these deals are below:
Canon
- Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM (was $2,399, now $2,099)
- Canon RF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM (was $1,599, now $1,499)
- Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM (was $2,899, now $2,699)
Nikon
- Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 (was $1,197, now $997)
Sony
- Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS (was $2,498, now $2,398)
OM System
- OM SYSTEM M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO (was $1,500, now $1,300)
Fuji
- Fuji XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR (was $1,199, now $1,099)
- Fuji XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR (was $1,599, now $1,399)
Sigma
- Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art Lens for Sony E (was $1,599, now $1,299)
- Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art Lens for Sony E (was $899, now $749)
Other Pages of Interest
Since 1991, the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has been awarding the best photo and imaging products of the year. To find out which products have won this prestigious award for 2024, visit the TIPA World Awards website. (As a side note, thanks to the purchase of RED, you could say that Nikon not only owns the award for best professional full frame camera, but also for best professional video camera.)
The Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. About a month ago, I presented the finalists here, and now we know the overall winners. Let’s get inspired by looking at the best images from a total of 10 categories within the 2024 Professional competition.
From my point of view, the coolest Google product is Google Earth, with a close second being Google Maps. They give you a bird’s eye view of almost every corner of the planet, and I often use them when planning my expeditions to unknown places. It is from their aerial photos that Google created their annual Earth Day Doodle this year. You can watch a short video about how it was created on the Google Doodles page.
Photo Theme Challenge, Week #47
Last week’s theme was black and white, and you can see the results in this thread. Thank you to everyone for your submissions! This week’s theme is water, and you can submit your results in this thread by Saturday, May 4, 2024!
Week #46 Results
Let’s check out some of the shots we received for the “black and white” theme, starting with rjbfoto’s photo:
The strong shapes and textures in this photo make for a compelling black and white.
Next let’s look at Mark Fulton’s photo:
The lack of color here allows the eye to focus fully on the drops of water, showcasing a very nice pattern.
Finally, we’ve got florin’s photo:
I thought this photo was very interesting due to its converging lines towards the center in a crossing pattern. And it’s a very interesting use of a more panoramic ratio!
Thanks everyone for submitting their photos in the challenge, and we hope to see more next week in the water theme!