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Posts Tagged ‘first’

DJI announces the Ronin 4D, the world’s first 4-axis cinema camera with 8K/75p recording, Raw capture, LiDAR AF and more

20 Oct

DJI has kicked off its string of announcements with the Ronin 4D, a new—and arguably revolutionary—cinema camera system that combines a cinema camera with four-axis image stabilization, LiDAR focusing and wireless transmission to create the ultimate all-in-one shooting experience.

The DJI Ronin 4D attempts to create an ‘integrated cinematography solution,’ in DJI’s own words. At the heart of the Ronin 4D is CineCore 3.0, a proprietary chipset DJI is calling ‘its most powerful cinematic imaging platform to date.’ According to DJI, this system can capture internal 8K Raw video ‘with precise color reproduction, advanced assistive functions with a high-performance AI engine, and multi-link monitoring and control with low-latency image processing.’

To pair with the new chipset is a pair of new full-frame (36mm × 24mm) Zenmuse X9 gimbal camera systems, available in 8K and 6K versions. Both the X9–8K and X9–6K will be able to record Apple ProRes 422 HQ and ProRes RAW, as well as your standard H.264 codec. The Zenmuse X9–8K tops out at 8K/75fps while the X9–6K tops out at 6K/60fps with the option to get 120 fps footage at 4K resolution.

Zenmuse X9 cameras feature interchangeable lens mounts, but will be available at launch with options for its proprietary DL mount and Leica M mount lens systems. DJI says it should also work, at least in theory, with ‘other mounts with short-flange focal distances,’ but doesn’t elaborate on whether or not it will be offering any other interchangeable mounts at this time.

The sensor inside the X9–8K and X9–6K offers dual-native gain and can capture ‘over 14 stops of dynamic range.’ There are also nine built-in physical ND filters that can be adjusted from ND2 to ND512 for times when you need to reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor. Footage captured with the new Zenmuse X9 camera systems will be processed by DJI’s Cinema Color System, which it says ‘delivers natural skin tones and enables effortless tonal consistency across a project when using different cinema cameras.’

A comprehensive list of recording specs for the Zenmuse X9-8K camera system.

Moving onto the four-axis gimbal, DJI says the Ronin 4D ‘has been designed with an innovative industry-first active Z-axis to eliminate vertical camera shake effectively.’ DJI has also taken inspiration from its drone lineup to add a set of downward-facing ToF sensors, as well as forward and downward dual-visual sensors, a built-in IMU and a barometer to achieve the best stabilization possible.

The Ronin 4D will feature three different autofocus modes: manual focus, autofocus and a new Automated Manual Focus (AMF) mode. The latter two modes use the onboard LiDAR Range Finder, which casts over 43,200 points as far as 10M (33ft) to locate and track subjects in situations where traditional AF might not work due to the lack of light. The unique AMF mode will track subjects and turn the focus wheel during recording, with the option for the camera operator to jump in and manually pull focus when needed. To help in manual focus and AMF modes, there will be LiDAR Waveform available on the monitor to help cinematographers ‘locate focus points and pull focus with extreme precision.’

Once again taking inspiration from its line of drones, DJI has developed an all-new O3 Pro transmission technology that can output 1080p/60fpsd video to remote monitors via the 4D Video Transmitter. DJI says the transmission range is roughly 20,000 feet and notes the video feed is AES 256-bit encrypted for end-to-end privacy. The system uses 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands, as well as the DFS frequency band, which DJI says ‘significantly improv[es] stability and anti-interference performance, even in crowded signal environments and locations that feature complex architectural structures.’

While third-party monitors can be used, DJI is also offering a new 7” wireless monitor with 1,500 nits of brightness and a built-in gyro that effectively turns the monitor into a motion controller for the Ronin 4D camera system. The High-Bright Remote Monitor includes an integrated microSD card slot for 1080p/60fps proxy recording and connects with a slew of accessories, including the Ronin 4D Hand Grips, DJI Master Wheels, DJI Force Pro and the new DJI Three-Channel Follow Focus. Multiple monitors can be used at once and customized independently to fit the production’s needs.

Video can be recorded to media three different ways: to SSD over USB-C, to CFexpress Type-B cards via the internal card slot and directly to DJI’s proprietary PROSSD 1TB SSD, which DJI claims ‘delivers the best performance and highest stability for internal recording at maximum resolution and frame rate.’ The Ronin 4D has built-in microphones capable of recording two-channel 24-bit audio, but also has two 3.5mm ports on the body as well as the option to add two XLR ports via the Expansion Plate for further input options.

The Ronin 4D uses the same TB50 Intelligent Battery used by DJI’s Ronin 2 and Inspire 2, which offers up to 2.5 hours of shooting time. Below is the full launch event video:

The 6K version of the DJI Ronin 4D will be available for $ 7,199 in December 2021. It will includes the main body, a Zenmuse X9–6K gimbal camera, a LiDAR Range Finder, a High-Bright Main Monitor, Hand Grips, a Top Handle, TB50 Intelligent Battery and a carrying case. The 8K version of the DJI Ronin 4D will be available for $ 11,499 ‘at a later date’ and will include the Zenmuse X9–8K Gimbal Camera as well as a PROSSD 1TB. The 4D Video Transmitter, High-Bright Remote Monitor and DJI PROSSD 1TB will also be available to purchase separately.

You can find out more about the DJI Ronin 4D on DJI’s website and download sample footage on DJi’s dedicated download page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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City First Bitcoin Erfarenheter

04 Oct

Att välja City First Bitcoin de bästa kryptosystem som finns på marknaden är en mycket viktig aspekt av handeln. Om du inte är medveten om detta kan det sluta med att du förlorar mycket pengar i det långa loppet. Om du vill göra mest vinst på kortast möjliga tid måste du göra din hemläxa väl. Här är några av de grunder som du bör känna till innan du väljer de bästa mynten att handla på marknaden med.

City First Bitcoin

En av de första sakerna du måste titta efter i de bästa valutorna som finns på marknaden är deras inflationsgrad. För att förstå detta måste du först förstå vad inflation är. Inflation är helt enkelt en ökning av priserna utan att varor och tjänster minskar. Till exempel är en enårig dollar värd mycket mer om några månader, eller hur? Så om du väljer att investera i de bästa råvarorna för det här århundradet vore det klokt att hålla utkik efter de valutor som enligt prognoserna kommer att uppleva den högsta inflationen under de kommande tio åren.

Ett annat grundläggande övervägande när det gäller att investera i de bästa valutorna är deras historik när det gäller handel och gruvdrift. Man kan inte bara välja vilket gammalt system som helst att investera i idag. Det finns hundratusentals valutor som handlas på marknaden och endast ett fåtal utvalda är lönsamma. Därför är det nödvändigt att du forskar väl om de olika systemen som finns tillgängliga för att veta vilket av de tillgängliga kryptosystemen som är det bästa att investera i.

Ett av de enklaste sätten att avgöra vilken av de bästa valutorna att investera i är genom att titta på den underliggande tillgångens egenskaper. Detta kallas tillgångens egenskaper och de är kända som Ripples. Låt oss ta en titt på två exempel på de bästa valutorna att investera i under det kommande decenniet. Den första typen av tillgång är aktier. Ett index som följer värdet av olika typer av företag kallas aktier. Så om vi tittar på de tio främsta valutorna som kommer att styra aktiemarknadens värde i framtiden är det troligt att dollarn kommer att fortsätta sin uppgång eftersom värdet på aktier i USA och Europa förväntas stiga.

Den andra typen av tillgångar är guld. Det finns en stor sannolikhet för att guldpriset kommer att stiga under det kommande decenniet. Om du håller på med handel och inte har teknisk kunskap om vilken av de bästa valutorna du ska investera i bör du prova de bästa kryptovalutorna som sannolikt kommer att öka i värde under detta årtionde. Bland de möjliga valutorna att investera i City First Bitcoin finns euron, den japanska yenen, den australiska dollarn, schweiziska francen, den kanadensiska dollarn och det brittiska pundet. Var och en av dessa valutor har sina egna för- och nackdelar och du bör noggrant studera dem innan du investerar i dem.

Även om det är lätt att bli lockad av de dåliga nyheterna om att investera i kryptovalutor finns det ingen dålig investering när det gäller mynt. Anledningen till detta är att de flesta investerare som är nya i den här branschen slutar med att förlora sina pengar eftersom de inte har rätt kunskap om vilka av de bästa valutorna de ska investera i. Så när du letar efter de bästa valutorna att investera i är det viktigt att du blir bekant med alla dessa. Detta beror på att endast genom att bli en registrerad användare av en onlinehandelsplats kan du få tillgång till alla de bästa kryptovalutorna som finns tillgängliga i världen idag.

Det finns många fördelar som är förknippade med att investera i de bästa kryptokurvorna, bland annat det faktum att de handlas på den globala marknaden. Därför är det lätt att handla med de bästa valutorna och du kan också förvänta dig god avkastning. Att investera i de bästa valutorna kräver dock att du lär dig hur systemet fungerar, grunderna i ekonomi och företagsledning. Om du till exempel är en investerare som är ny på att investera på altcoin-marknaden, är det bättre om du får hjälp av professionella personer som experter och handlare.

Det finns många fördelar som du kan njuta av när du investerar i de bästa valutorna i världen. En av dessa är att när du väljer de bästa kryptosurferna kan du vara säker på att värdet på din investering alltid kommer att vara stabilt. Eftersom värdet på varje mynt varierar beroende på utbud och efterfrågan är det viktigt att du investerar i de bästa valutorna och sedan handlar med dem enligt dina behov. När värdet på en valuta fluktuerar kan du alltså enkelt sälja dina tillgångar och investera i de nya.

Det bästa sättet att investera i de bästa kryptosurfarna är att se till att du är välinformerad om de olika faktorer som påverkar värdet på ett visst mynt och du har också en expert som kan lära dig hur du väljer de bästa valutorna att investera i. När du vill göra vinster från handeln med den bästa kryptosurf bör du alltså se till att du utbildar dig om marknadens ekonomi och affärsmodeller. Här är nästa intressanta blogginlägg: Hur mycket kostar Bitpanda.

The post City First Bitcoin Erfarenheter first appeared on Hur man använder kryptovalutor på rätt sätt.


Hur man använder kryptovalutor på rätt sätt

 
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TTartisan teases its first AF lens, a 32mm F2.8 for multiple full-frame, APS-C camera systems

30 Sep

TTartisan has announced it will soon release a 32mm F2.8, its first autofocus lens. Very little information about the lens is revealed, aside from the mount options, which will include Canon RF, Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z and Sony E mount camera systems.

As it stands, this particular focal length is going up against quite a bit of competition in nearly every lens mount it’ll be offered in. The F2.8 aperture isn’t exactly inspiring, so its selling point across all lens mounts will likely be its price point, which hasn’t yet been announced.

We’ll share another article when the lens and its more detailed specifications are released.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The ZV-E10, Sony’s First Interchangeable-Lens Vlog Camera, Will Ship on the 24th

20 Aug

The post The ZV-E10, Sony’s First Interchangeable-Lens Vlog Camera, Will Ship on the 24th appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

The Sony ZV-E10 will ship on August 24th

Next week, Sony will release its distinctive new vlogging camera, the ZV-E10, which features a compact build, APS-C image quality, and interchangeable lenses.

Sony’s new camera is “designed from the ground up for vlogging and vloggers,” and aims to provide content creators with a blend of beginner-friendliness, top-notch video, and compactness for a uniquely effective shooting experience. 

While Sony already offers a vlogging camera, the ZV-1, the ZV-E10 aims to keep the best of the former model while improving upon it in a number of ways. Most notably, the ZV-1 is a fixed-lens camera, while the ZV-E10 is compatible with Sony’s range of E-mount glass. The ZV-E10 also outperforms the ZV-1 in terms of image quality, thanks to its powerful APS-C, 24 MP sensor.

And when it comes to video, the ZV-E10 brings the goods. You get 4K/24p shooting with no crop and no pixel binning (4K/30p with a crop factor), not to mention 1080p up to 120 fps, mic and headphone jacks, an excellent inbuilt mic, S-Log recording, and top-notch autofocus. Plus, the high-resolution LCD swivels to the side, so you can preview your video while vlogging:

The Sony ZV-E10 vlogging camera

Sony has even packed in several video-focused features designed for vloggers and other video beginners, such as a “Background Defocus” option, which instantly widens the lens aperture for a beautiful background blur effect. You also get a “Product Showcase Setting,” which tells the camera to focus on products rather than faces.

In other words, if you’re a beginner vlogger, you can get started with pro-looking videos from the get-go. 

The ZV-E10 will also perform well as a beginner stills (or hybrid) camera. The 24 MP sensor comes straight from the highly regarded a6100 and works alongside Sony’s class-leading Real-Time Eye AF and Real-Time Tracking. You can expect an impressive 11 frames-per-second continuous shooting, plus touchscreen autofocusing – making the ZV-E10 an excellent option for action photography, fast-paced walkaround shooting, and more.

The ZV-E10 will begin shipping on August 24th, though it is currently available for preorder. Prices start at $ 698 USD (body only), though you can also grab the ZV-E10 as part of a camera-lens kit.

If you’re a vlogger or a content-creation beginner and you’re looking for a standout option, the ZV-E10 is not only a powerful camera, but also very reasonably priced. Sony’s first interchangeable-lens vlogging model is bound to be a hit – so grab it next week!

Now over to you:

What do you think of the ZV-E10? Are you impressed? Would you buy it? Or is it missing features you’d like to see in a vlogging camera? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Credit: All images courtesy of Sony.

The post The ZV-E10, Sony’s First Interchangeable-Lens Vlog Camera, Will Ship on the 24th appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Update: Images appear to confirm Nikon’s Z9 is being tested at the Olympics, gives us the first look at its back side

30 Jul

Update (July 30th, 2021 at 1:30pm EDT): We have added a new tweet from the Photolari Twitter account that shows new images of what appears to be the same Nikon camera shown off in the two images from yesterday.


Today, Twitter account Photolari shared a tweet with a pair of photos showing what appears to be Nikon Z9 mirrorless cameras in the wild at the Olympics.

The original tweet has been deleted, but digicame-info managed to save the above images before their removal. Nikon has confirmed some details of its forthcoming flagship mirrorless camera, but only shown renderings of the front of the camera. These new images reveal the back side of the pro-style camera body, which appears to feature Nikon’s signature circular eyepiece, dual joysticks, a directional pad and a generous array of buttons. Below is a breakdown of the buttons (many of which are surely going to be customizable):

There appears to be black gaffer tape around the screen of the camera, obscuring what may or may not be an articulating display.

DPReview confirmed with Nikon earlier this week that it had its Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless cameras and Z mount lenses on-hand at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but there was no mention of its unreleased Z9 mirrorless camera. It’s been confirmed Canon has photographers testing out its forthcoming EOS R3 mirrorless camera at the Olympics as well, so it’s no surprise Nikon is using the Olympic Games as a testing ground as well for its professional camera system.

Below is a new tweet from the Photolari Twitter account showing off two new images of what appears to be the same camera shown off in the above images:


Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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What you need to know before buying your first lens

27 Jun

Updated June 2021

A camera is nothing without a lens, and while the bundled ‘kit’ lenses sold with many interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs) are good enough to get started, they’re quite limiting. If you want to explore the full potential of your camera – and your own creativity – you should consider adding another lens or two to your collection. But with a bewildering variety of lenses out there, how do you know which ones are right for you?

In this guide we’ll lead you step-by-step through the process of understanding the different kinds of lenses available, and choosing the right one for your needs.

Lenses and sensors

Lenses themselves know nothing of the sensor mounted behind them, but different sized sensors change the visual impact of the lens (specifically the focal length and aperture) on the final image.

Among interchangeable lens cameras today there are three commonly-used sensor sizes: Four Thirds, APS-C and full-frame. The examples given in the rest of this article are lenses designed for full-frame bodies but we’ll also discuss what impact sensor size will have.

How are lenses named?

Looking at the lens pages on manufacturers’ websites can be a little intimidating for a budding photographer. Lens names often include long lists of letters and numbers, which certainly sound impressive but can also be thoroughly confusing. Luckily you can safely ignore most of them to start off with, and concentrate mainly on just a few factors:

  • Focal length – this defines how wide or zoomed-in a view the lens provides
  • Aperture – expressed as ‘F’ or ‘f/’ this describes how much light the lens can gather and its ability to blur the image background
  • Image Stabilization – some lenses include optical stabilization units to counteract the blurring effects of hand shake
  • Format – describes the sensor size the lens is designed to work with
  • Lens mount – determines whether the lens will physically fit your camera

We’ll look into each of these in more detail below.

Focal length

The first number used to describe a lens is its focal length; in combination with the camera’s sensor size, this defines the angle of view covered by the lens, with smaller ‘mm’ numbers indicating a wider angle or more ‘zoomed out’ view. Zoom lenses are named using two numbers which indicate the extremes of the range, for example 24-70mm for a typical kit zoom lens. Fixed focal length lenses which don’t zoom (also known as ‘prime’ lenses) just have a single number (e.g. 50mm).

Here, we can see this lens’ key specifications expressed in terms of its focal length span (‘zoom range’) which is 18-35mm, and its minimum aperture range, which is F3.5 at 18mm, and F4.5 at 35mm.

The image below shows how the angle of view varies with focal length. In this instance it shows the effect of these lenses mounted on a full-frame camera. The same focal length lenses, mounted on a smaller, APS-C sensor would give a narrower, more cropped-in angle of view, and an even narrower coverage if mounted on a Micro Four Thirds format camera.

The effect is as is as though you’ve ‘zoomed’ the lens, but instead you’ve only magnified a smaller portion of its projected image. As a result, the focal lengths that are useful on one sensor format will differ from those that you’d use for the same purpose on another sensor.

Illustration showing the coverage given by a series of popular focal lengths. These are shown for a full-frame sensor; each would cover a smaller area if used with an APS-C or Four Thirds sensor.
Lens type
35mm ‘full-frame’
APS-C / DX Four Thirds
Ultra wide angle 24mm and wider 16mm and wider 12mm and wider
Wide angle 28mm 18mm 14mm
Standard (Normal) 50mm 30mm 25mm
Telephoto 80mm and longer 55mm and longer 42mm and longer

For the sake of convenient comparison, lenses are often referred to by their ’35mm equivalent’ focal length; for example a 18-55mm kit lens for APS-C may be described as a 28-90mm equivalent. This means simply that an 18-55mm lens on an APS-C format camera covers the same angle of view as a 28-90mm lens does on a full-frame camera.

Aperture

The aperture specification of a lens describes how much light it is capable of gathering. Aperture simply means ‘hole’; in this context, the hole that lets light pass through the lens and onto your camera’s sensor.

Lens apertures can be expressed in several different ways, with F4, f/4, 1:4 all meaning the same thing. Confusingly, a smaller number means the lens has a larger maximum aperture – a bigger hole – and therefore can gather more light; an F2.8 lens collects twice as much light as an F4, for example.

‘Whole stop’ Aperture values
F1.4 F2.0 F2.8 F4.0 F5.6 F8.0 F11 F16

This table lists the common aperture values that are one ‘stop’ apart: each value lets in twice as much light as the one to its right.

A lens with a larger maximum aperture allows you to shoot in lower light, and (for example) take pictures indoors without using flash. Wide apertures also give decreased depth of field (i.e. how much of the picture in front of and behind the focus point appears sharp), which is an important aspect of creative photography.

Longer lenses give less depth of field for the same aperture, when focused at the same distance. And, because you need a shorter focal length to get the same image framing on an APS-C or Micro Four Thirds camera, you’d need a larger aperture if you want to achieve the shallow depth of field you’d get on a full-frame camera.

A large aperture such as F1.4 gives a shallow depth of field, blurring backgrounds and foregrounds to isolate a subject in a picture. The 24mm F1.4 used to take this picture also allows you to shoot indoors in low light without having to resort to flash.

It’s worth noting that lenses are usually described by their maximum aperture value. When you see an aperture range written on the side of a lens (e.g. F3.5-5.6), those are the maximum aperture values at the wide and long ends of its zoom range, respectively. You can usually reduce the size of the aperture if you need more of your image to be in focus.

Image stabilization

Image stabilization increases the amount of sharp images you get by correcting vibration caused (usually) by natural hand-shake when shooting without a tripod.

In-body stabilization (where the camera’s sensor moves to counteract accidental movement) is increasingly common, but many lenses offer their own stabilization mechanisms to compensate for shake. In-lens stabilization is especially effective when using long telephoto lenses, where in-body stabilization is generally not as effective. Many cameras can use in-lens stabilization in conjunction with their in-body systems, to provide a greater degree of correction.

Image stabilization systems reduce the blur caused by camera shake, allowing sharp pictures to be taken even in low light, at long focal lengths or at high magnifications.

If you own a camera that doesn’t have stabilization built into the body, you’ll probably want to consider buying stabilized lenses, especially when it comes to telephotos.

The various lens manufacturers all call lens-based optical image stabilization by different names, with corresponding initials in the lens names, so here’s what you need to look out for when buying:

  • Canon – Image Stabilization (IS)
  • Fujifilm and PanasonicOptical Image Stabilization (OIS)
  • Nikon – Vibration Reduction (VR)
  • Sony – Optical Steady Shot (OSS)
  • Sigma – Optical Stabilization (OS)
  • Tamron – Vibration Control (VC)

Format coverage

Having said that sensor format has a significant impact on the way lenses behave, it’s also worth considering that some lenses only work on certain sensor formats. In several instances, camera makers use the same mount for their APS-C and full-frame cameras. In most of these situations, full-frame lenses will work on the smaller APS-C models, but APS-C lenses end up restricting full-frame cameras to a cropped APS-C mode.

Some photographers start with an APS-C camera and then buy full-frame compatible lenses for it, to lower the amount of money they have to spend if they later buy a full-frame camera that uses the same mount. In general, we’d advise buying lenses that suit your needs now, rather than ones that may better suit a camera you don’t yet own.

Lens mounts

Each camera maker uses its own proprietary lens mount, meaning that lenses can’t be swapped across brands; a Canon lens won’t fit on a Nikon body, for example, and you’ll cause damage to both lens and camera if you try. The two exceptions are Micro Four Thirds, which was developed jointly by Panasonic and Olympus, and L-mount, a full-frame collaboration between Leica, Panasonic and Sigma.

Most companies are now focusing their efforts on their Mirrorless camera mounts, so this is where the newest and most advanced lenses are emerging. Many DSLR-mount lenses can be adapted to work on the mirrorless cameras made by the same brand (older designs are less likely to offer a full range of functions) but lenses for mirrorless cameras cannot be used on DSLRs.

Mount Mount type Sensor formats Notes
Canon EF DSLR

• Full-frame

EF-S DSLR

• APS-C

Canon EF-S lenses cannot be mounted on full-frame DSLRs but other brands’ EF-mount APS-C lenses can.
EF-M Mirrorless

• APS-C

EF and EF-S lenses can be adapted to work on EF-M cameras
RF Mirrorless

• Full-frame

Most EF-mount lenses work well on RF mount via an EF/RF adapter.
Four Thirds
• Olympus
• Panasonic
Micro Four Thirds Mirrorless • Four Thirds
Fujifilm X Mirrorless • APS-C
L-Mount Alliance
• Leica
• Panasonic
• Sigma
L Mirrorless

• Full-frame
• APS-C (TL)

Only Leica has made TL-mount (APS-C) cameras and lenses.
Nikon F DSLR

• Full-frame
• APS-C (DX)

F-mount was modernized over many decades but only relatively modern ‘AF-S’ designs offer AF when adapted onto Z-mount cameras
Z Mirrorless

• Full-frame
• APS-C (DX)

Pentax K DSLR

• Full-frame (FA)
• APS-C (DA)

As with Nikon, there are variants of the K mount, but most lenses work with the latest DSLRs
Sony E Mirrorless

• Full-frame (FE)
• APS-C (E)

Other lens makers use ‘E’ for both APS-C and full-frame lenses, so it’s worth checking which format they cover

A number of third party manufacturers, including Tamron, Tokina and Sigma make lenses for other makers’ lens mounts, with the older DSLR mounts benefiting from the widest support. Sony allows some third-parties to make lenses for its mirrorless E-mount system but Nikon and Canon have, so far, been protective of their new Z and RF mounts, meaning there are fewer third-party options available.

Zoom vs. Prime

Zoom lenses have become almost ubiquitous over the past few years, and at first sight buying a lens which is restricted to a single angle of view might seem pointless. But prime lenses still have some very real advantages; compared to zooms they tend to be smaller and lighter, have faster maximum apertures, and give sharper, cleaner images. These factors make them extremely useful for specific purposes, for example low light shooting or blurred-background portraiture where a large maximum aperture is advantageous.

Almost counterintuitively, the restrictive nature of using a single focal length can encourage creativity by forcing you to visualize your composition before you shoot. Shooting with primes forces you to think more about what you want to include and exclude from your photo and also makes you consider where you’re standing, and the impact this has on perspective in your image. For instance, a long focal length, shot from a distance can compress your subject and the background, whereas a wide-angle lens placed near your subject will exaggerate the distance between it and the surroundings.

Fixed focal length ‘prime’ lenses are often much smaller and lighter than zooms covering the same angle of view. This is Nikon’s Z-mount 35mm F1.8 lens alongside its standard 24-70mm F2.8 zoom – the size advantage is obvious.

Some popular lens types

Standard zoom

A standard zoom is a general-purpose lens that covers a range of focal lengths from wide-angle to moderate telephoto. The most obvious example is the kit lens that came with your camera (generally something like an 18-50mm for APS-C or a 24-70mm for full-frame). It offers versatility but can become limiting when you find yourself wanting to get more creative. The kit lens can be upgraded to an optic with more range or a faster F2.8 maximum aperture, with better optical performance, like the Canon RF 24-70mm shown F2.8 below.

Most manufacturers offer general-purpose upgrades to their kit lenses with expanded zoom ranges suitable for a wide range of subjects, such as this Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8.

Telephoto zoom

Often the second lens that photographers buy, a telephoto zoom effectively allows you to ‘get closer’ to your subject by enlarging it within the frame. It’s therefore useful for photographing such things as sports, wildlife, distant nature scenes, or children running around playing. By narrowing your field of view, a long lens can have the effect of compressing your subject and background, often making it appear as though the background is magnified and closer to your subject.

Telephoto zooms such as this Nikon Z 70-200mm F2.8 S allow you to zoom in on your subjects and compress them against the background.

Superzoom

Superzooms are all-in-one lenses which cover a full range of focal lengths from a moderate wide-angle to long telephoto. In one package they combine the range of the kit zoom that came with the camera, plus that of a telephoto zoom, and therefore make perfect general purpose travel lenses. The technical image quality is often not quite as good as two separate lenses, and the maximum aperture tends to be small (a higher F-number), meaning worse low light performance and less ability to achieve shallow depth of field. However, for many users this is more than made up for by their convenience.

Superzoom lenses such as the Tamron 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 Di III RXD encompass a wide range focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto, in a relatively compact single lens.

Wide-angle zoom

A wide-angle zoom extends the angle of view out beyond that captured with the standard zoom, allowing you to capture broad sweeping vistas or architectural wonders. It’s therefore a popular choice for landscapes, cityscapes, architecture, interior shots, and night- and astro-photography.

Wide zooms such as the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 pictured here let you fit more in the frame.

Macro lens

‘Macro’ is used to describe a lens with extreme close-focusing ability, which allows you to take photographs of small objects such as insects or flowers. Some zoom lenses use ‘macro’ in their name to indicate closer-than-usual focusing ability, but true macro lenses tend to have fixed focal lengths. In general, the longer the focal length, the further away you can be from your subject. (Nikon calls these lenses ‘Micro’ or ‘MC’ lenses instead, which is technically more accurate.)

Macro lenses like the Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG DN Macro allow you to shoot closeups in fine detail.

Fast prime lens

Fast prime lenses come in all focal lengths, from wide angle to ultra-telephoto, but what they share in common is the ability to capture a lot of light, blur backgrounds and offer high optical quality.

We’ve traditionally found 35mm (or the equivalent 23mm or 17mm on APS-C or Four Third sensors) to be a pretty good do-everything focal length, in terms of not being too wide or too zoomed-in. An F1.8 maximum aperture can give shallow depth of field and lets you work in low light without the need for flash, while remaining compact and lightweight. Wider-angle and longer focal length primes are also available, as are lenses with even faster maximum apertures (F1.4 and brighter) that typically offer higher quality optics, let you work in lower light and give even shallower depth-of-field to help isolate your subject.

A ‘fast’ prime, such as this Canon 35mm F1.8, can let you shoot in low light without flash, while isolating your subject against a blurred background. They are also typically smaller than zoom lenses.

Other lens features

There are a few other aspects of build and operation which you may wish to consider when buying a lens:

Autofocus

Autofocus performance can vary significantly between lenses, and autofocus performance can make a huge difference between capturing the perfect moment at a sports event or social occasion and having a frustrating photographic experience.

Mirrorless camera systems are still relatively new, and there’s a subtle interplay of optical design and focus motor that effects performance. For instance the ring-type ultrasonic motors that were great for focusing on DSLRs aren’t as well suited to focusing on mirrorless cameras, particularly for the smooth, subtle movements required for video autofocus. As such, it’s difficult to make generalizations, so it’s worth checking reviews of the lens you’re planning to buy.

Electronic manual focus (‘focus by wire’)

Many modern lenses have no physical connection between the focus ring and the focusing lens elements, as was the case in older SLR and DSLR lenses. Many cameras use this to provide speed-sensitive manual focus, where a quick turn of the focus ring results in a bigger focus jump than a slow movement. This lets you jump quickly to the part of the focus range you want, but can be awkward if you’re trying to manual focus while shooting video.

To get round this, some cameras offer a ‘linear’ focus response mode, where the focus always moves by the same amount in response to how much you turn the focus ring: letting you practice and anticipate the amount by which you need to turn the ring.

Manual focus lenses

Although modern autofocus is excellent, there is still a huge number of manual focus lenses on the market. These include designs optimized for shooting video and traditional, high-quality designs, through to unusual, specialist lenses that would be near-impossible to make autofocus along with the creations of small companies without the experience (or access to lens mount protocols) to manufacture AF lenses.

Ultra-wide angle lenses, tilt-shift lenses and some very expensive lenses designed to be mechanically simple but optically excellent are out there, and are worth considering.

Build quality and weather sealing

Premium lenses often include weather sealing. This can extend from an o-ring around the mount through to a series of seals at every joint, as with this Panasonic lens.

As a general rule, the more expensive a lens is, the better built it is likely to be. The kit lenses that come with cameras tend to rather lightweight and plastic in construction. If you spend a bit more, you can get something more durable. Some lenses incorporate environmental seals against dust and water; in general this tends to be towards the top end of the price spectrum, but Pentax and Olympus in particular offer a decent range of mid-priced sealed lenses.

System addict…

One last word. When choosing a camera system to invest in, it’s important to appreciate that the lens has just as great an impact on the image quality as the camera. Lenses tend to last longer than cameras too, becoming obsolete less quickly than bodies, so it can be worth spending a little bit extra to get the quality or flexibility you really want. But, while DSLR systems are much more extensive, most new lens development is focused on Mirrorless cameras, so these may prove more future-proof.

Bear in mind that most mirrorless lens systems are still only a few years old, so they may be missing the type of lens you want, for now. That said, the system with most options isn’t inherently any better than a smaller system that includes all the lenses you need.

Even if you don’t have a very specific application that needs specialized lenses (or other accessories) in mind, it’s worth doing some research before committing to one system or another. Oh, and once bitten by the lens buying bug, many enthusiasts find it hard to stop; you have been warned…

Glossary

Angle of view – Describe the view offered by a lens, measured as the angle between the furthest extremes of the lens’s coverage. If this is confusing, imagine the view in front of you as a semicircle of 180 degrees: a ‘wide-angle’ lens can see a bigger segment of the semicircle than a ‘long’ (telephoto) one.

Depth of field – This describes how much of the scene in front and behind the point of focus appears acceptably sharp. An image with shallow depth of field leaves the background (and foreground) appearing blurry and out-of-focus. An image with deep depth of field contains a greater amount (depth) of sharp detail.

Fast / slow lens – An informal way of describing a lens’ aperture in terms of its relation to exposure time. ‘Fast’ lenses have large maximum apertures (low F-numbers), which allow the use of shorter, ‘faster’ shutter speeds. ‘Slow’ lenses have smaller maximum apertures, and typically require longer, ‘slower’ shutter speeds.

Focal length – Expressed in millimeters, focal length describes the angle of view of a lens. Telephoto lenses have a long focal length, and wide-angle lenses have a short focal length. The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the more zoomed-in it appears.

Long / wide lens – A way of describing the field of view offered by a lens. Long lenses are more zoomed-in, while wide lenses are zoomed-out and capture a wider angle of view.

Micro Four Thirds – A mirrorless system founded by Panasonic and Olympus, based around a 17.3 x 13mm sensor (224 sqmm) format known as Four Thirds. The system allows some very compact camera/lens packages, particularly for very long telephoto lenses. This system includes some high-end video cameras.

APS-C – A common sensor format used by interchangeable lens camera manufacturers. APS-C format sensors measure around 24 x 15mm (~360 sqmm), and this format offers a balance of image quality, size and price in between Four Thirds and ‘full-frame.’

Full-frame – A sensor format the same size as a frame of 35mm film – the dominant film format of the 20th and early 21st Centuries. Measures 36 x 24mm (864 sqmm), giving a significant image quality benefit compared to smaller formats, but resulting in larger, more expensive camera/lens combinations. Despite the name, sensor larger formats do exist, in sizes known collectively as ‘medium format’.

Prime lens – A lens with a fixed focal length, which cannot zoom in or out. A technical term not to be confused with Amazon Prime.

Zoom lens – A lens whose field of view (described in terms of focal length) can be adjusted, allowing you to zoom-in or out on a subject, to achieve a different composition without changing your position.

35mm / full-frame equivalent – A way of understanding the characteristics of a lens when used on a non-full-frame camera by relating it to the 35mm film format that’s familiar to many photographers. Most commonly used in reference to focal length: e.g a 28mm lens on an APS-C camera is equivalent to a 42mm lens on a full-frame camera.

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Video: A ‘Retro Review’ of the 20-year-old Canon Pro90 IS, Canon’s first digital camera with optical image stabilization

12 Jun

Gordon Laing, Editor of Camera Labs, is back again with another episode of ‘Retro Review.’ In this video, he puts the Canon Pro90 to the test to see how well it holds up two decades after it was released.

At the time of its release, the Canon Pro90 IS was Canon’s flagship PowerShot camera. It retailed for $ 1,300, used a 3.3MP sensor and had a design similar to its Pro70 predecessor, but featured a 10x zoom lens compared to the 2.5x zoom lens on the Pro70. It was also Canon’s first camera with optical image stabilization.

As impressive as the optics were though, the camera had an interesting design quirk—the image circle of the lens didn’t fully cover the 1/1.8″ sensor, so the resulting images were digitally cropped down to just 2.6MP. Incredibly, the camera featured a Raw capture mode though, in addition to JPEG support (with various compression ratios) as well as QVGA (329 x 240 pixel) video recording.

To find out more, set some time aside to watch the entire 12 minute video. To see more Retro Review content and other interesting insights on vintage tech, head over and subscribe to Laing’s Dino Bytes YouTube Channel.

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Incredible video showcases world’s first 8K VR drone footage of Iceland’s Mt. Fagradalsfjall volcano

02 May

Incredible new footage, captured with an 8K Insta360 Pro 2 mounted to the bottom of a DJI drone, shows the Mt. Fagradalsfjall volcano in Geldingadalur, Iceland as it continues to erupt. The immersive visuals were captured by Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson, founder of Arctic Images, and drone pilot Arnar Þór Þórsson in collaboration with Perlan Museum, ‘which hosts a state-of-the-art 8K planetarium and other exhibitions on Iceland’s geographic wonders.’

The Mt. Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted for the first time in roughly 800 years back on March 19, 2021. Since then, it’s been spewing lava from its fissures, making for incredible visuals that have brought photographers from around the world to see the geological phenomenon. We’ve already seen a number of incredible videos captured with drones flying over the active volcano, but none of which allow you to control what you’re seeing. Until now, that is.

While YouTube limits playback to 4K, the footage was recorded in 8K using an Insta360 Pro 2 attached to the bottom of a DJI Matrice 600 drone. According to Insta360’s blog post detailing the creation of this video, the drone and camera flew over lava that reached reached temperatures as high as 1240°C degrees (2264°F). Despite the intense heat, which we’ve already seen is capable of melting drones, both the Insta360 Pro 2 and DJI Matrice 600 survived the flight.

For the best viewing experience, make sure you’re using a browser that supports YouTube’s VR content and have plenty of bandwidth to stream the video at full resolution. Another option, if you have one on hand, is to use a VR headset to really immerse yourself in the footage.


Image credit: Photos provided by Insta360

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NASA Ingenuity helicopter prepares for the first powered, controlled flight on another planet

25 Mar

NASA has announced that it is preparing to launch its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter no earlier than April 8. Ingenuity’s maiden flight will mark the first attempt at a powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Before Ingenuity can lift off, the team must meet numerous challenging milestones.

The Mars Perseverance Rover landed on Mars on February 18. Since then, the rover has been sending important images and data back to Earth while the team goes through different instrument checks and testing procedures. Since then, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has remained attached to the belly of Perseverance.

However, the operation has experienced progress. On March 21, Perseverance deployed the ‘guitar-case shaped graphite composite debris shield’ that protected Ingenuity when Perseverance landed last month. Perseverance is now in transit to the ‘airfield’ where Ingenuity will attempt to fly. After Ingenuity is deployed, the helicopter will have 30 Martian days, known as sols, to perform its test flight campaign. This is equal to 31 Earth days.

‘When NASA’s Sojourner rover landed on Mars in 1997, it proved that roving the Red Planet was possible and completely redefined our approach to how we explore Mars. Similarly, we want to learn about the potential Ingenuity has for the future of science research,’ said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. ‘Aptly named, Ingenuity is a technology demonstration that aims to be the first powered flight on another world and, if successful, could further expand our horizons and broaden the scope of what is possible with Mars exploration.’

‘When NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter attempts its first test flight on the Red Planet, the agency’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will be close by, as seen in this artist’s concept.’ Caption and image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It’s difficult enough to get a helicopter to Mars, and that accomplishment is the result of years of work by many talented people and considerable financial resources. When designing Ingenuity, the team had to ensure it was small and light enough to be an acceptable payload for Perseverance. The helicopter is solar-powered, and it must be efficient enough to have the required energy to operate on Mars and survive cold Martian nights.

There are significant challenges to flying on Mars. The Red Planet has about one-third of Earth’s gravity, for starters, and the atmosphere is also only 1% as dense as Earth’s at the surface. The weather poses unique challenges, with nighttime temperatures dropping to -130° F (-90° C), which can wreak havoc on electrical components.

‘Members of the NASA Mars Helicopter team inspect the flight model (the actual vehicle going to the Red Planet), inside the Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on February 1, 2019.’ Caption and image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

‘Every step we have taken since this journey began six years ago has been uncharted territory in the history of aircraft,’ said Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter chief engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. ‘And while getting deployed to the surface will be a big challenge, surviving that first night on Mars alone, without the rover protecting it and keeping it powered, will be an even bigger one.’

Once Ingenuity is in place, squarely in the center of its 33′ x 33′ (10m x 10m) airfield, the complicated deployment process can begin. ‘As with everything with the helicopter, this type of deployment has never been done before,’ said Farah Alibay, Mars Helicopter integration lead for the Perseverance rover. ‘Once we start the deployment there is no turning back. All activities are closely coordinated, irreversible, and dependent on each other…’

‘NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover’s descent stage was recently stacked atop the rover at Kennedy Space Center, and the two were placed in the back shell that will help protect them on their journey to Mars. In this image, taken on April 29, 2020, the underside of the rover is visible, along with the Ingenuity helicopter attached (lower center of the image). The outer ring is the base of the back shell, while the bell-shaped objects covered in red material are covers for engine nozzles on the descent stage. The wheels are covered in a protective material that will be removed before launch.’ Image and caption credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

If all goes according to plan, the deployment process will take six sols. On the sixth scheduled sol of the deployment phase, NASA states that ‘the team will need to confirm three things: that Ingenuity’s four legs are firmly on the surface of Jezero Crater, that the rover did, indeed, drive about 16 feet (about 5 meters) away, and that both helicopter and rover are communicating via their onboard radios. This milestone also initiates the 30-sol clock during which time all preflight checks and flight tests must take place.’

Artist’s rendition of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Ingenuity is not carrying special instruments, and unlike the rest of the mission, its goals are not scientific. Ingenuity is solely an experimental engineering test flight. The team wants to see if it can fly on Mars. When Ingenuity is ready to fly, JPL mission controllers will send and receive flight instructions through Perseverance. Hopefully, early next month, Ingenuity will successfully launch from Mars’ surface. When it does, it will mark a monumental achievement for NASA, JPL and countless others.

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First impressions of the Sony 50mm F1.2 GM

17 Mar

First impressions of the Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM

It seems that every camera company is flexing its optical muscles these days to churn out F1.2 lenses. Sony, not one to be left behind, just released its first F1.2 prime, the FE 50mm F1.2 GM. One can’t help but ponder if Sony made this lens, at least in part, to dispel the myth that the smaller lens mount diameter – compared to its mirrorless peers – makes such fast lenses impossible (Sony claims F0.63 E-mount lenses can be made, but don’t make business sense).

Either way, while the Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA optic was impressive in its own right, offering a very flat field of focus and minimal aberrations, the 50mm F1.2 appears to exceed it in nearly every respect.

Click through for a closer look.

Size and weight

The FE 50mm F1.2 GM is surprisingly compact and lightweight for what it offers. Next to the Planar T* 50mm F1.4 ZA, it’s nearly the same size and at 778g weighs exactly the same, despite offering half a stop more light gathering and shallow depth-of-field capability. Both lenses are exactly the same length: 108mm. The F1.2 GM has a slightly larger diameter, with the largest section of its barrel measuring 87mm compared to 83.5mm for the F1.4 ZA. This can be explained by the approximately 36% increase in surface area required for an F1.2 aperture compared to F1.4. Still, the filter diameter is a modest 72mm.

Mount each lens on a camera body, close your eyes, and you won’t be able to tell which lens is attached. Well, save for the nicer rubberized manual focus ring on the F1.2 GM.

The Sony optic is the smallest and lightest of its competitors, weighing 18% less than Canon’s RF 50mm F1.2 and 30% less (and 30% shorter) than Nikon’s 50mm F1.2 S.

Build quality and sealing

Despite its compact size, the 50mm F1.2 GM feels very well-built. Similar to other lenses in the GM-series, it’s rated as ‘dust and moisture resistant’, with seals around all buttons and rings. A rubber gasket around the mount should help protect against moisture and other elements entering the camera body. Sony says that hybrid metal and engineering plastic has been used for durability and to reduce the weight of the lens. Finally, a fluorine coating on the front element should make water, oils, fingerprints and dirt easy to clean off.

External controls

The FE 50mm F1.2 GM lens offers a number of external controls. A focus mode switch allows you to quickly switch between auto and manual focus. Two focus hold buttons can be customized to any function available to all other custom buttons on the camera body. The manual focus ring has a nice rubberized texture that makes it easy to grasp and that also differentiates it from the aperture ring. The focus ring offers a linear focus response for intuitive focus pulls in video and stills…

External controls (continued)

The aperture ring has a texture similar to the lens barrel but with ‘teeth’ to make it easy to grasp and turn. F-stops are marked in 1/3 EV steps. The aperture ring can be ‘clicked’ or ‘de-clicked’, with the latter setting making it easier to smoothly change the aperture if you wish to vary the depth-of-field while shooting video.

Optical design

The optical construction comprises 14 elements in 10 groups. Three extreme aspherical (XA) elements – shown here in orange – help minimize aberrations and reduce the overall size of the optics. These XA elements also play a role in maintaining high resolution across the frame at wide apertures.

Bokeh

Enhanced surface precision of the molds used to create those XA elements in the last slide helps ensure smooth bokeh. Pictured at the top left in this image (courtesy of Sony) is a conventional aspherical lens surface, leading to an undesirable circle of confusion (top right). At the bottom left is a surface trace of one of Sony’s XA lens surfaces with 0.01µm surface precision, creating a clean circle of confusion (bottom right) and generally pleasing bokeh.

Sony claims that spherical aberration has been carefully controlled at the design and manufacturing stages for smooth foreground and background bokeh, and the comparative images Sony showed us against competitors were convincing, though we’ll reserve final judgement for after our own testing.

Bokeh

An 11-bladed aperture ensures circular out-of-focus highlights even as you stop down. In the image above you can see perfectly circular discs even after stopping the lens down 1.7 stops, which would be difficult for a lens with 9 or 10 aperture blades to do. Though there are many other factors that contribute to pleasing bokeh, this should help the F1.2 GM pleasantly render out of focus lights and produce smoother, more Gaussian bokeh.

There’s some mechanical vignetting that leads to cat’s eye effect wide open as you can see on the left, but it mostly disappears as you stop down to F1.8 and is completely gone by F2, as you see on the right.

Sharpness

MTF traces provided by Sony suggest impressive performance wide open (leftmost MTF graph), with over 90% contrast retained for higher resolution 30 lp/mm detail (green) at the center of the frame continuing out at least 6mm from the center of the imaging circle. Meanwhile, this 30 lp/mm trace, indicative of lens’ sharpness, never dips below 60% anywhere in the frame, typically hovering nearer to 70% at image peripheries.

The fact that the sagittal and tangential traces generally closely follow each other indicate that astigmatism is well-controlled, which suggests that bokeh should have a pleasing rendering, which bears out in our initial impressions.

A quick note on reading these graphs: sagittal or radial traces are solid while tangential traces are dotted. Orange traces are for 10 lp/mm detail, often indicative of lens’ contrast performance. The higher the traces, the better.

Sharpness

What does sharpness at F1.2 look like in real-world shooting? Have a look at this image at 100%. Depth of field is razor thin at F1.2, but Sony’s Eye AF is generally accurate enough, and AF speeds with this lens are responsive enough, that hit rates are high. Which brings us to…

Autofocus

Two independent floating focus groups allow for close focusing distances, and are driven by four ‘extreme dynamic’ linear motors (two per focus group). We’re told by Sony that these linear motors are very efficient at generating linear motion, as they don’t require any translation of rotational motion to linear motion, as ring-type and stepper motors do. The results speak for themselves, both in this demonstration video from Sony and in our own independent tests that confirm the 50mm F1.2 GM is the fastest-to-focus lens of its type. We measure only a mere 0.65s for the lens to rack from minimum focus distance (0.4m) to infinity, and 0.5s to rack from 0.7m – still a very close working distance for the 50mm focal length – to infinity.

In comparison, the tiny FE 35mm F1.8 optic takes a similar 0.5s to rack from its minimum focus distance to infinity, while the Nikkor 35mm F1.8 S takes a bit over 1s to do so. And those lenses are more than a stop slower.

The minimum focus distance of 0.4m (15.8″) yields a maximum magnification of 0.17x. Unfortunately, focus breathing, or a change in magnification with focus distance, is pretty significant and might be an issue for video shooters.

Longitudinal chromatic aberration

When it comes to fast lenses of this type, longitudinal chromatic aberration, abbreviated simply as LoCA, is one of the major aberrations we tend to worry about, especially as it tends to be hard to remove in post-processing and can be distracting. It shows up typically as magenta and green fringing in front of and behind the focus plane, respectively, around high contrast objects in the image.

There is almost no such fringing to speak of with the FE 50mm F1.2 GM, not even after drastic contrast adjustments that would exaggerate any LoCA present in the image, as we have done above (+45 in Adobe Camera Raw).

Sony tells us the lack of this aberration is due in part to the XA elements, as well as the use of the latest advanced simulation technology.

Flare, ghosting and sunstars

Sony’s ‘Nano AR (anti-reflective) II’ coating helps reduce flare as well as the appearance of distracting ‘ghosts’, both caused by reflections off of the internal elements. Nano AR II was developed specifically for application to large optical elements with highly curved surfaces, such as the XA elements increasingly found in Sony’s lenses.

The image above was shot by pointing the camera at the sun and angling it in such a way as to introduce as much flare and ghosting as possible. Results are impressive: there is very little loss of contrast, and the 2 or 3 visible ghosts (the purple and blue circles at upper right) aren’t too distracting or unsightly, instead appearing rather diffuse.

The 11-blade aperture produces 22-point sunstars with point light sources in the frame, if you stop the aperture down (pictured here is F11).

Lateral chromatic aberration

As is the case with many modern, well corrected lenses, lateral chromatic aberration, which shows up as magenta and cyan or green fringing at image peripheries that does not improve significantly upon stopping down, isn’t much of an issue, particularly because it’s taken care of digitally. Above, the left half of the image is identical to the right half, except that it’s had any lateral CA removed using the included profile embedded in Sony Raw files (processed here in Capture One). Noticeable mostly at high contrast edges, lateral CA simply isn’t an issue after it’s been removed, either in your favorite Raw converter, or in-camera by selecting ‘Auto’ for ‘Chromatic Aberration Comp’ under the ‘Lens Comp’ option in the camera menu.

This particular example is a crop from an extreme corner of the frame, so even if you leave lateral CA uncorrected – which you shouldn’t – this level of aberration is nothing to concern yourself over.

Distortion

We don’t tend to worry about distortion on 50mm prime lenses, but we do find it interesting that there is a noticeable amount of pincushion distortion if you go looking for it by comparing uncorrected vs. corrected images. The left half of this image is corrected while the right half is not; note the slight inward bend of the right edge of the stone wall on the right compared to the straight edge on the left. And the magnification of the rectangular tiles on the left relative to those on right, particularly obvious if you look at the center of the image.

These artifacts are all due to distortion correction having been applied to the left half of the above image only. For whatever reason, Sony has chosen to leave some optical distortion behind in the optical formula for, albeit very easy, digital correction afterwards. It’s worth noting that, for now, Adobe Camera Raw allows for no such provision for distortion correction – not until Adobe has profiled this particular lens – while Capture One honors the built-in manufacturer distortion correction profile included in Raws shot with the 50mm F1.2 GM. This is one of the reasons we have chosen to include some Capture One conversions in our gallery of this lens.

Price and availability

The FE 50mm F1.2 GM is Sony’s 60th E-mount lens, its 40th full-frame E-mount lens, introduced right around the 5th anniversary of the introduction of Sony’s first GM lenses. From our initial testing we’d venture to say the FE 50mm F1.2 GM is probably one of Sony’s sharpest, fastest to focus, and most aberration free primes

Expect to see it in the wild mid-May 2021, at an MSRP price of $ 1999 USD.

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