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Posts Tagged ‘F1.8’

Meike’s first autofocus lens is a new 85mm F1.8 prime that costs just $190

12 Aug

Budget optics manufacturer Meike has announced the release of an ultra-affordable 85mm F1.8 autofocus lens for Canon EF- and Nikon F-mount cameras that costs just $ 190.

The lens, which is the first autofocus lens Meike has produced, is constructed of nine elements in six groups, features an aperture range of F1.8-F22, has a minimum focusing distance of 85cm (33.5”) and uses a nine-blade aperture diaphragm. It also has a built-in microUSB port for updating firmware.

The lens measures in at 79mm long, 75mm diameter and weighs 420g (14.8oz). The 85mm F1.8 lens is currently listed as available on Meike’s online shop for just $ 190 (Canon EF, Nikon F). It comes with the lens, a lens hood, front/rear caps, and a microfiber pouch for transporting it in.

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A mysterious firmware update turns the Viltrox 85mm F1.8 lens into an even faster F1.6 prime

07 Aug

The $ 400 Viltrox 85mm F1.8 lens is a popular choice for Sony E and Fujifilm X users due to its compelling blend of performance and value. Owners have remarked that the lens delivers sharp image quality even when shot wide open. It now appears that wide open can be made even wider with a firmware update allowing the lens to become an F1.6 prime.

Photographer Stefan Malloch has published a video tutorial, seen below, which shows how to use the USB port on the lens to update the lens. This update allows the lens to open its aperture wider, changing the maximum aperture from F1.8 to F1.6. With a simple firmware update, you can get an extra one-third of a stop of light gathering capability.

As PetaPixel notes, there are conflicting reports as to the origin of the firmware. Sony Addict reported that the firmware was released officially in China. FujiRumors, on the other hand, reached out to Viltrox and was told that firmware to turn the F1.8 lens into an F1.6 lens had not been released. All this is to say that installing (possibly unofficial) firmware into your lens is a risk with unknown consequences.

Supposing you still want to update your lens using Malloch’s video above, what can you expect from the Viltrox 85mm F1.6 lens? Malloch also published an overview video of the lens, including sample images.

As mentioned earlier, the Viltrox 85mm F1.8 (or F1.6) lens is available as a full-frame lens for Sony E mount or for the APS-C Fujifilm X system. The fast, autofocus-capable prime lens can focus as closely as 2.62′ (0.8m). The lens includes 10 elements across 7 groups, including 1 ED lens element and 4 ‘short-wavelength and high-transparency’ lens elements. The lens has a 72mm filter thread and weighs 636g (1.4 lbs.). You can learn more about the lens on Viltrox’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samyang’s new compact AF 75mm F1.8 FE lens has a neat little trick up its sleeve

22 Apr

Samyang (also branded as Rokinon and Bower in other markets), has released its new AF 75mm F1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony camera systems.

Aside from the rather unusual focal length (I think we can all appreciate the decision not to add yet another 85mm FE lens to the market), the lens has another interesting feature. On the barrel of the lens, Samyang has included a ‘Custom’ switch that will turn the ring on the barrel from a focus ring (Mode 1) to an aperture ring (Mode 2). It’s not a dedicated aperture ring, but the ability to switch on-the-fly is a nice addition, especially for a lens from a budget manufacturer.

Onto the more standard specifications, the lens is constructed of ten elements in nine groups, including two high-refractive (HR) elements and three extra-low dispersion (ED) elements. It offers an aperture range between F1.8 and F22, has a minimum focusing distance of 69cm (27″), features a nine-blade aperture diaphragm and uses a 58mm front filter thread. The lens weighs just 230g (8oz) and measures in at 65mm in diameter (2.56in) and 69mm (2.72″) long, making it an incredibly compact and lightweight lens for its focal length.

Below are a few sample photos, provided by Samyang:

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Samyang hasn’t shared pricing or availability information yet, but we have contacted the manufacturer and will update the article accordingly when we receive a response.

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Yongnuo announces new 50mm F1.8 ‘nifty fifty’ autofocus lens for APS-C E-mount cameras

15 Apr

Yongnuo has announced the YN50mm F1.8S DA DSM, it’s newest autofocus ‘nifty/thrifty fifty’ lens for Sony E-mount APS-C camera systems.

Yongnuo currently offers 50mm F1.8 lenses for both Canon EF-mount and Nikon F-mount, but this new ‘nifty fifty’ is designed specifically for use with Sony’s a6000 series mirrorless cameras.

The lens is constructed of eight elements in seven groups, including one low-dispersion element to minimize aberrations. Yongnuo says the lens also features a seven-blade aperture diaphragm, gold-plated contacts with a metal bayonet mount and a ‘nanometer multi-layer coating’ to minimize ghosting and flares. The internal autofocus is driven by a digital stepping motor (DSM) and the lens offers an onboard Micro USB port for upgrading the firmware.

The lens doesn’t currently have a price or release date, but considering Yongnuo’s previous lenses sought to undercut the already-affordable ‘nifty fifty’ lenses on the market, you can count on this one coming in very cheap when it hits retailers’ shelves. The lens measures in at 58mm (2.3in) long, 64mm (2.5in) diameter and weighs roughly 146g (5.15oz).

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Affordable anamorphic: hands-on with the Sirui 50mm F1.8 1.33x

12 Apr

Affordable anamorphic: hands-on with the Sirui 50mm F1.8 1.33x

The Sirui 50mm F1.8 1.33x Anamorphic is interesting for more than a couple of reasons, but the thing that makes it immediately attractive is that at $ 700/£660 it’s a lot more affordable than almost all other proper anamorphic lenses for filmmakers using interchangeable lens camera systems.

The lens is designed for APS-C and Super 35mm sensor sizes and comes in mounts for Sony E cameras, Fujifilm X and for Micro Four Thirds models. When used with a Super 35-sized sensor we get the equivalent of a 56mm horizontal field of view, while on a Micro Four Thirds camera this converts to an approximate 75mm horizontal field of view.

On E mount

The a7R IV may not be the ideal Sony camera for shooting all types of video, but it does include an APS-C/Super 35 crop mode, which is where it produces its best quality 4K video. This cropping might be a bug bear for some videographers, but it makes the camera a good match for this lens. It’s possible to use crop mode with FHD resolution as well, but since the camera produces better FHD footage in full sensor mode, we’d recommend sticking with 4K.

However, to see the footage de-squeezed live it’s necessary to use an external monitor with that capability since the feature isn’t built into the camera.

On X mount

Offering this lens in X mount makes a lot more sense now than it would have just a year ago – Fujifilm has upped its video game considerably with the X-H1, X-T4 and new firmware for the X-T3. The Eterna mode makes nice video straight out of the camera, but we also have F-Log and decent data rates too.

The Fujifilm X-T3 doesn’t technically need the grip to shoot video, as the body had both mic and headphone ports, but the grip makes the system easier to hold with the weight of the lens on the front. As with the Sony, you’ll need an external display with an anamorphic preview feature to see the de-squeezed image in real time.

On Micro Four Thirds

Users of the Panasonic GH5 have a couple of choices over the way they use this lens. It has an Anamorphic Mode that uses the 4:3 sensor area to capture video for de-squeezing in software afterwards. As this mode uses almost the whole sensor, the final image contains 18+MP of data to work with.

When you use this mode with the Sirui 1.33x anamorphic lens the wide aspect gets de-squeezed to a 16:9 format with a higher resolution than you’d get shooting in the normal 16:9 video mode, while the in-camera de-squeeze preview feature allows us to see what we are shooting via the rear screen.

To get the wide, cinematic anamorphic look that most will be expecting you need to shoot in the normal 16:9 mode, with Anamorphic Mode switched off. Even with Anamorphic Mode off you can still use the de-squeeze preview on the rear screen and inform the IS system that you have a 1.33x anamorphic lens attached.

The GH5S can also capture anamorphic footage using its 4:3 region, however, due to the nature of its multi-aspect sensor, the resolution isn’t quite as a high as the GH5 in this mode. Like the GH5, it can also show a de-sqeezed preview of the anamorphic image in-camera.

Fit and finish

The lens is constructed from 11 elements arranged in 8 groups, and features a 10-bladed iris. It certainly isn’t big but is long and thin, and weighs more than you might expect. It feels very solidly made and is nicely finished in a semi-matte black paint.

The focus and aperture markings are shown only on the top of the lens, and distances are indicated in both feet and meters with paint sunk into engraved characters.

Front element

The front element of the lens has that characteristic square baffle opening that we often see on anamorphic lenses. As with many single focal length anamorphic lenses the squeezing element is mounted onto the front of the basic optical design of the lens.

Front element

When viewed from the front, the circular iris of the lens appears elongated into an upright oval shape. This is because we are viewing it through the anamorphic element mounted on the front of the construction. When viewed through the rear the iris is shown to be round – well, a nearly round decagon at least.

The size of the front element, and its flat design, makes it a magnet to the flare so many film makers love. The flare appears in oval rings accompanied by thin blue lines that shoot horizontally across the frame. The blue tint seen in the front element appears to be designed to enhance the blue-ness of that line.

It is easy to overdo this effect so that the flare becomes the subject rather than whatever you are shooting, so caution is advised.

Aperture and focus rings

The aperture range on offer spans F1.8-16, while the closest focus is 0.85m / 33″ which is just close enough to get a decent tight head shot. Of course the aperture ring is clickless so exposures can be adjusted during recording without disturbing the audio track. The aperture ring turns smoothly with plenty of resistance to prevent accidental rotation, and you can get from one extreme to the other via a twist of about 90°.

The focusing ring takes a twist of 143.6° and must be turned to the left to reach infinity. The ring is quite stiff and the fine ribbing on the barrel may not always be enough to get a firm grip.

Image format on APS-C

When used with a camera recording in 16:9 mode the de-squeed image works out to a ratio of about 2.35:1, similar to the classic CinemaScope look. The black letterboxes above and below help illustrate the difference between this aspect ratio and the standard 16:9 video format.

Image format on Micro Four Thirds

This is a grab from footage recorded in Anamorphic Mode on the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5. In this mode the camera records from the whole 4:3 sensor, so the 1.33x anamorphic effect only de-squeezes to 16:9, but it is a higher resolution 16:9 format image than you’d get recording in 16:9 with a normal lens.

Shooting in 16:9 with this lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera will also result in a 2.35:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio, albeit with a longer apparent focal length than on an APS-C/Super 35 sensor.

Trademark blue flare

Here’s an example of the blue-line flare that is a characteristic of this lens when aimed close to a light source. Some people will love it, and others will find it a distraction. As with most things, moderation might be the best policy.

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Sirui announces 50mm F1.8 anamorphic lens for mirrorless cameras set for April release

26 Feb

Budget-conscious filmmakers looking for an anamorphic lens will finally be able to stop cropping the top and bottom of their movie frames next month when the Sirui 50mm F1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens will begin shipping through distributors outside of the initial Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns. The company has already shipped to many of its backers, but the Coronavirus has created delays that have set the general release back to April.

The lens, which enables 2.4:1 aspect ratio shooting, is available in mounts for Sony-E, Fujifilm X and Micro Four Thirds, and will retail for around $ 700 / £660. Designed to cover APS-C sized sensors the lens offers a field of view that equates to a 37.5mm lens, according to Sirui, as the optics increase the horizontal angle of coverage by 33%.

The compact lens is only 106.6mm (4.2in) long and has a maximum diameter of 69.2mm (2.72in), while weighing 560g (1.23lbs). It has a 10-bladed iris with openings covering F1.8-16 and the closest focus distance is 0.85m (33.5in).

For more information see the Sirui website

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Sony releases minor firmware updates for a9 II and 24mm F1.4 GM, 135mm F1.8 GM lenses

17 Jan

Sony has released minor firmware updates for its a9 II camera system, as well as its 24mm F1.4 GM and 135 F1.8 GM lenses.

For the a9 II, firmware version 1.01 improves the FTP transfer functionality to speed up how soon after shooting photos the images can be transferred. Additionally, the firmware update corrects a condition where the camera can sometimes turn off at random times when looking back through Raw images and improves JPEG image quality when shooting under certain, unspecified conditions.

Both the 24mm F1.4 GM and 135mm F1.8 GM receive, via firmware ’02,’ improved aperture response when the lenses are attached to Sony’s a9, a9 II and a7R IV camera systems, as well as the ability to select ‘Focus Priority’ from the ‘Aperture Drive in AF” menu when attached to Sony’s a9 camera system.

You can download firmware version 1.01 for Sony a9 II camera systems, as well as firmware version ’02’ for Sony’s 24mm F1.4 GM and 135mm F1.8 GM lenses for mac OS and Windows computers on Sony’s website. Details and instructions on how to install the firmware can be found on the respective download pages.

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Tokina launches 85mm F1.8 FE prime for full-frame Sony cameras

17 Jan

Tokina has announced the release of its new atx-m 85mm F1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless camera systems. This lens marks the debut of Tokina’s new ‘atx-m’ mirrorless lens series, which will offer various lens designs for different mounts and sensor formats.

The 85mm F1.8 FE lens is constructed of ten elements in seven groups and features one low-dispersion (SD) element. Tokina has also used its Super Low Reflection Multi-coating throughout the lens, which Tokina claims ‘provides natural color and excellent contrast along with superior water, oil and dust repellant properties.’

Autofocus is driven by Tokina’s ST-M motor technology and the lens was designed in accordance with Sony’s licensed specifications, meaning it’ll work with in-body image stabilization, as well as all of Sony’s AF modes.

Below is a gallery of sample images, provided by Tokina:

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The Tokina atx-m 85mm F1.8 FE lens will hit shelves around the world on February 7, 2020 for an estimated street price of $ 500.

Kenko Tokina announces release of the NEW atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE

New Series, New optics, New look – The atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras.

Huntington Beach, CA, January 17, 2020: Kenko Tokina, Japan’s leading manufacturer of premium camera accessories, is releasing the Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras. It is the debut lens for Tokina’s atx-m series of mirrorless lenses that will include lenses for multiple mounts and sensor formats.

The atx-m 85mm f1.8 FE lens features a clean design with high quality optics housed in a beautifully anodized, semi-satin black metal lens barrel. The fast f/1.8 aperture is perfect for portraits, low light shooting and produces beautiful bokeh.

The optical design has 10 glass elements in 7 groups including 1 SD (Low Dispersion) lens that offers excellent resolution, sharp edge-to-edge results, and well controlled chromatic aberrations. Tokina’s exclusive Super Low Reflection Multi-coating provides natural color and excellent contrast along with superior water, oil, and dust repellant properties.

The new ST-M auto-focus motor is quiet, fast, and accurate in still and video modes and thanks to an all-metal focus unit and high-quality lubricants; manual focus is tactile, smooth and precise.

The atx-m 85mm FE is developed and manufactured in accordance with Sony-licensed specifications and communicates all required data to the camera to take full advantage of the latest Sony features including 5-axis image stabilization, Face/Eye Priority AF, Real-time Eye AF, MF assist, and electronic distance scale.

“This is a very exciting new lens series for Tokina” says Yuji Matsumoto, President at Kenko Tokina USA. “The mirrorless camera market continues to expand and the atx-m series will address the needs of photographers using different camera mounts and sensor sizes.”

Worldwide sales of the Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens will begin on February 7, 2020 with authorized Tokina USA retailers taking pre-orders January 17, 2020. Estimated USA Street Price of $ 499.00

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Gear of the Year 2019 – Rishi’s choice: Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM

23 Dec
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

I love shooting wide. No, really: I made a whole video about how I even shoot portraits with wide-angle lenses. Wide-angles provide a sense of depth, dramatic perspectives, a glimpse into the subject’s surroundings and even provide an intimacy to portraits by giving the perspective of an observer standing very close to the subject. So you may be surprised by my choice of Gear of the Year: the Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM.

Perhaps it’s just that I needed something different. Spice up my life, venture beyond 35mm, you know, my favorite ‘telephoto’ lens. Or, maybe Sony just made an amazing lens in the 135mm GM. Perhaps it’s a bit of both.

135mm F1.8 allowed me to focus on my backlit subject, and nothing else. Look at that creamy background.

I took the Sony FE 135mm with me on a recent trip with family and friends, enjoying time together at a cabin and celebrating three years of keeping our daughter alive.

135mm really allows you to isolate your subject, and make it about nothing else, even if some of the environment is included. Rather than jumping around the frame from one point of interest to another, the viewer’s eye can just focus on one story which, below, is a simple one of one sibling looking up to another.

The ‘tunnel vision’ a long focal length paired with a fast aperture provides allows you to create simplistic images that tell just one story, like the love shared between these siblings.

That’s not to say that 135mm doesn’t allow you to portray your subject against its surroundings, it’s just that things are a bit different compared to a wide angle composition. Rather than include an expansive view of your subject’s surroundings with an enhanced sense of depth, the longer focal length allows you to compress your subject against only an isolated – and magnified – portion of its environment.

Take the image below: A wide-angle lens would have included the foliage, the sky, the ground, and other potentially distracting elements, all situated at different depths. This creates a more complex image with an enhanced sense of, well, depth. That can certainly be nice, but sometimes I like the simplicity of the subject and the background essentially appearing at just two different focal planes.

The 135mm focal length allowed me to ‘compress’ the scene, bringing the trees in the background closer to my subject(s), and allowing me to frame my subjects against the green foliage. The long focal length allowed me to magnify only a small portion of the background, allowing me to exclude distracting elements like the sky above or the ground below my subjects.

Technically, the FE 135mm GM lens is superb. Optically, the lens is literally the sharpest lens our friend Roger Cicala at LensRentals has ever tested. That’s at least in part due to the XA (extreme aspherical) element designed to minimize spherical aberration.

The Super ED and ED glass used in the elements in the front group replace traditional large and heavy negative elements commonly used to suppress longitudinal spherical aberration. The result is very little, if any, longitudinal chromatic aberration, commonly seen as purple and green fringing in front of, and behind, the focal plane, respectively.

The 135mm focal length allowed me to easily isolate my subject in this otherwise small and busy indoor space. And thanks to the excellent optics, there’s no distracting green fringing in the high contrast ‘Title’ text behind our subject, despite the fast aperture.

Sony’s 10 nanometer mold precision and other recent improvements ensure smooth aspherical surfaces, meaning that onion-ring bokeh is non-existent. An 11-blade aperture ensures circular out-of-focus highlights, and generally smoother bokeh, even when shooting stopped down. Sure, there’s some mechanical vignetting that leads to a ‘cat’s eye’ effect, but that’s to be expected of a lens of this type, and isn’t severe enough to result in swirly bokeh in the family portrait above.

Just as important as optical quality is the focus performance: especially for candid portraiture. And here the FE 135mm GM is industry leading: focus is lightning fast thanks in part to its four XD (‘extreme dynamic’) linear induction motors. These motors are far faster than the previous piezoelectric design of Sony’s ‘Direct Drive SSM’ system, and are capable of moving larger, heavier elements.

Paired with the excellent autofocus system of Sony’s recent cameras such as the a7R Mark IV, focus is fast enough that I could easily nail focus on the eyes of erratically running toddlers, even with the aperture wide open at F1.8:

This boy was running through a wading pool and momentarily smiled at the camera. Real-time tracking (with Eye AF) coupled with the extremely fast autofocus speeds of this lens allowed me to nail this moment effortlessly.

I’ll admit I’d rarely shot with 135mm primes in the past, typically sticking to a trio of primes (24, 35, and 85) for weddings, or 70-200mm F2.8 lenses for engagement and portrait shoots. I’ve found the 135mm F1.8 to be a different beast, requiring me to think and shoot differently, while often finding myself running further and further backward to get enough space in between my camera and my subject.

The results were, to me, very rewarding. The ‘tunnel vision’ effect of stepping back and using a longer focal length to isolate your subject and compress it against a small portion of its surroundings yields a unique look, particularly when paired with a fast enough aperture so that the background is pleasingly blurred and not distracting. Below, you’ll see my daughter surrounded by others in a park, but by herself in the wading pool happily marching to her own beat.

I couldn’t sum her up any better.

Marching to her own beat.

Note the exceedingly low magenta fringing (longitudinal chromatic aberration) around the water droplets splashing about in front of our subject, despite the magnifying glass the high resolution 60MP sensor of the a7R IV holds up to any lens’ optical aberrations.

Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM sample gallery

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* Of course I kid: my wedding kit always includes an 85mm, and I happily use 200mm for compression when I want to isolate my subject amidst its surroundings.

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Gear of the year 2019: Barney’s choice (part 2) Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 S

16 Dec
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

We’ve been writing these articles for a few years now, and when it comes time to think about what I would pick as my ‘Gear of the Year’, I tend to go by two main criteria: What (if any) gear in the past 12 months did I actually spend my own money on, and what did I most enjoy using? And if those two criteria happen to be met by a single product, then there’s my answer. No further consideration required.

This year, two products met both of those criteria. The Ricoh GR III (which I wrote about here) and the Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 S. Clearly they’re very different things. One is an APS-C compact camera and the other is a lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. But both have been in my camera bag almost every time I’ve gone out shooting in 2019.

Of the thousands of frames I’ve shot with the Z 50mm this year, the vast majority have been taken at F1.8

Why do I love the Nikon Z 50mm F1.8 S so much? The boring answer is that it’s just really really good. Historically I’ve not been not a big 50mm fan in general, and I will admit to being a bit of a snob about F1.8 lenses in the past. But the Z 50mm F1.8 S is so good – and so good at F1.8 – that it has changed my perspective on what a ‘nifty fifty’ can be.

I would estimate that of the thousands of frames I’ve shot with the Z 50mm this year, the vast majority have been taken at F1.8. With most of the standard lenses I’ve used during my career, that would not be a particularly smart move. Generally speaking, lenses of this type are at their best when stopped down slightly. But the Z 50mm F1.8 is almost as sharp wide open as it is stopped down, and at all apertures it’s largely free from common aberrations like longitudinal chromatic aberration.

Nikkor Z 50mm F1.8 S | ISO 100 | 1/800 sec | F1.8

There are plenty of 50mm lenses that give a more interesting rendering than the Z 50mm F1.8 S, but few which provide its biting cross-frame sharpness and virtually coma-free images at wide apertures. And it just so happens that those qualities ended up being crucial to me this year, when working on a long-term project down on Washington’s coast, during twilight clam digs. The combination of the Nikon Z7’s resolution and in-body stabilization and the Z 50mm’s sharpness and clean rendering at F1.8 proved invaluable, allowing me to get sharp, hand-held images in near-darkness that I could never have captured with a DSLR.

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The fact that the weather-sealed Z7 and Z 50mm F1.8 S continued to work reliably and accurately for hours in heavy rain and strong winds is another major point in both their favor.

I’ve also come to really appreciate the Z 50mm F1.8 S for portraiture, despite its relatively short focal length, which discourages very tight framing. Bokeh isn’t the smoothest at wide apertures, but it’s smooth enough, and virtually free from colored fringing.

Nikkor Z 50mm F1.8 S | ISO 64 | 1/80 sec | F1.8

Of course, I’m lucky. Like almost all professional photography reviewers I get to try all kinds of different equipment, at no cost. When I do spend my own money on something, it’s because I’ve used it, probably quite extensively, and I’m very confident in my investment.

That means that I have to be careful to stay grounded when talking to our readers, especially when it comes to making value judgements about the cost of new gear. Personally, having used a lot of lenses, I think that the Z 50mm F1.8 S’s price of around $ 600 is exceptionally good value, but I understand the complaints from some of you that $ 600 is a lot to pay for a 50mm F1.8. And a large-ish one, at that, by traditional (if not current) standards.

The point I would make (and which I hope I made in this article) is that $ 600 spent now, on a modern lens designed for mirrorless, buys you greater performance than $ 600 ever has before. We are very lucky, as photographers, to be on the cusp of a new era in optics, where some of the old paradigms are being overturned. In the case of this particular lens, it’s probably the only 50mm I’ll ever need for my Z7. Not bad for $ 600.

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