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Posts Tagged ‘Magic’

SLC-2L-11: The “Magic” of Medium Format

07 May

There's something about shooting medium format — especially in black and white. The look is unmistakeable: creamy highlights supported by lush, detailed shadows.

So it's perfectly understandable why many photographers shell out big bucks for pricey medium format gear. In fact, it's possible that some of you are at this very moment casually thinking about how cool it would be to shoot with a MF camera system.

And why not? I mean, don't you deserve it?

Except for, a) the photo above was shot with a small-chip Fuji, and b) those shadow gradients were made with a second, $ 69 speedlight.
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Strobist

 
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Apple reveals new iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard with trackpad, hinge

19 Mar

Apple has unveiled its latest iPad Pro model. The tablet, as recent leaks first revealed, is joined by a new backlit Magic Keyboard with a built-in trackpad. Unlike the Smart Folio keyboard, the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro has a floating hinge design, offering users a more familiar laptop-like experience.

The iPad gained support for trackpads in iPadOS 13.4, according to Apple, finally giving users the experience they’ve been requesting for years. With the trackpad and hinge on the Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro owners can rapidly toggle from touch and gesture control to more traditional keyboard and trackpad control. The new option enables the iPad Pro to better function as a laptop replacement for owners who are tired of carrying both, but who grow weary of repeatedly lifting their arm to tap and swipe on the display.

Apple has repeatedly presented the iPad Pro as a highly capable device that could, for many consumers, serve as a laptop replacement. The lack of mouse support was the device’s biggest stumbling block in this regard, however — even a top Apple executive had acknowledged that having to use a touch screen in place of a trackpad was ‘a pretty fatiguing thing to do.’

Apple says that it ‘completely reimagined’ trackpad use for the iPad rather than copying it straight from macOS. ‘As users move their fingers across the trackpad, the pointer elegantly transforms to highlight user interface elements,’ the company explained in its announcement today. The trackpad includes support for Multi-Touch gestures, as well, eliminating the need for users to lift their hands to touch the display.

The new keyboard is joined by an updated iPad Pro model that features a more powerful A12Z Bionic chip with an eight-core GPU. Apple says its new hardware features ‘enhanced’ thermal architecture alongside tuned performance controllers and the company’s Neural Engine. Despite the performance boost, the new iPad Pro features up to 10 hours of battery life.

Other iPad Pro features include gigabit-class LTE connectivity, faster WiFi, an edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display with 120Hz refresh rate and 11in / 12.9in size options. The screen boasts P3 color support, the True Tone color management system and an anti-reflective coating. Apple has also packed a dual rear camera system into the new iPad Pro with 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide cameras; they’re joined by ‘studio-quality’ microphones and a LiDAR Scanner for what Apple says will be ‘a whole new class of AR experiences.’

In addition to the new iPad Pro and keyboard, Apple has also revealed an updated MacBook Air with double the storage and faster performance, as well as a new Magic Keyboard — the same one introduced on the 16in MacBook Pro. The new keyboard has a classic inverted ‘T’ arrow key design, plus there’s a new scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel.

Rounding out the hardware announcements is an updated Mac mini with double the storage, putting the standard configuration at 256GB rather than 128GB. The 11in iPad Pro starts at $ 799, the 12.9in iPad Pro at $ 999, the new MacBook Air at $ 999 and the updated Mac mini at $ 799.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Magic Plate quick-release plate makes it easy to toggle from landscape to portrait

31 Jan

A new Kickstarter campaign from Silence Corner is seeking funds for ‘Magic Plate,’ a new quick-release plate that enables photographers to quickly switch between landscape and portrait shooting. Magic Plate is CNC machined from aerospace-grade aluminum, is compatible with most Arca gear and includes a 14″-20 UNC screw in addition to a quick-release button and strap slots.

This quick release plate doesn’t need to be removed from the ball head, according to the team behind the product. Instead, users can toggle the camera from landscape to portrait mode by pressing the plate’s quick-release button, rotating the camera and then locking the plate into its new position. The device is more compact than L-brackets and lighter at only 40g (1.4oz).

Silence Corner’s Kickstarter campaign is offering the Magic Plate in Silence Black and Corner Gray color options for pledges of at least $ 55, a 32% discount off the anticipated retail price, assuming the product makes it to market. Magic Plate is expected to start shipping to backers in April 2020.


Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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SLR Magic launches four APO-MicroPrime Series lenses for Canon EF mount

19 Nov

SLR Magic has launched four EF-mount lenses as part of its APO-MicroPrime line:

  • APO-MicroPrime CINE 25mm T2.1
  • APO-MicroPrime CINE 32mm T2.1
  • APO-MicroPrime CINE 50mm T2.1
  • APO-MicroPrime CINE 85mm T2.1

The APO-MicroPrime lenses feature optical elements paired with a ‘unique optical design’ to correct longitudinal chromatic aberrations, according to SLR Magic. As a result, the company says bright and dark transitions in images are rendered without colorful artifacts, particularly when it comes to highlights.

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Each lens has a 150-degree focus throw, T22 – T2.1 aperture and an 82mm intenal filter size alongside an 85mm outer front. As well, all four new CINE lenses weigh around 900g (1.9lbs) and feature nearly identical designs. All four lenses will retail for $ 1,499 USD with planned availability starting in December 2019.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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SLR Magic announces 21mm T1.6, 50mm T1.4 ‘MicroPrime’ cine lenses for MFT camera systems

17 Sep

Budget lens manufacturer SLR Magic has added a pair of Micro Four Thirds (MFT) ‘MicroPrime’ lenses to its cinema lineup: the MicroPrime CINE 21mm T1.6 and the MicroPrime CINE 50mm T1.4.

The lenses, designed specifically with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and Z Cam E2 in mind, feature full manual control, an 82mm front filter thread, an 85mm front filter diameter for matte boxes and are both geared with 0.8 Mod gears.

The MicroPrime CINE 21mm T1.6 is constructed of 13 elements in 11 groups and weighs 700g (1.57lbs), while the MicroPrime CINE 50mm T1.4 is constructed of 6 elements in 5 groups with a weight of 630g (1.39lbs). The lenses, which will retail for $ 599 a piece at authorized retailers, round out SLR’s MFT lineup alongside the 12mm T2.8 and 18mm T2.8.

SLR MAGIC expands their portfolio at IBC 2019 with additional focal lengths in MFT mount for MicroPrimes – 21mm T1.6 & 50mm T1.4

Hong Kong (13 September 2019) — Following the success of SLR Magic’s venture into affordable yet robust and high-quality cinema and photo lenses, we are pleased to announce new editions to our product range. Based on popular demand and responding to our users, we are now offering a selection of new lenses in the MFT-mount

Given the extreme popularity of our cine lenses in the E-mount range, our engineers and design team logically progressed into the development of extending mounting options.

Taking from our successful formula along with our previous offerings, SLR Magic have now produced 2 additional lengths given the popularity of Blackmagic’s Pocket 4k camera and the Z Cam E2.

Both lenses all feature full manual control, have an 82mm thread front, an 85mm front diameter for clamp-on matte box, are all 0.8 Mod geared and are almost identical in form factor and weight.

A 21mm and 50mm are now added to the MicroPrime range. With a new design, these 2 new focal lengths will now round out the existing range and provide more choice and versatility to all Micro Prime shooters. The range for MFT will now include 12mm T2.8, 18mm T2.8, 21mm T1.6, 25mm T1.5, 50mm T1.4.

SLR Magic has been synonymous with sharp images wide open with smooth roll-off, beautiful bokeh edge to edge and is fast becoming the lens of choice rather than an alternative for the Cine and Photo industry.

MicroPrime CINE 21mm T1.6
Mount: Micro Four Thirds
MSRP: US $ 599
Optical Structure: 13 elements in 11 groups
Image Circle: ?32
Weight: 700g

MicroPrime CINE 50mm T1.4
Mount: Micro Four Thirds
MSRP: US $ 599
Optical Structure: 6 elements in 5 groups
Image Circle: ?32
Weight: 630g

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 comes with 8K video recording and cooling fan

30 Apr

Just like their computer-counterparts, gaming smartphones are more powerful than your average device in order to smoothly run the latest hardware-hungry games and applications.

With the new Nubia Red Magic 3 Chinese manufacturer ZTE is taking things to a new extreme, however, by building a cooling fan into the handset, in addition to a copper heatsink. The company says the fan can spin up to 14,000 rpm but still runs quietly. Overall the phone’s heat transfer performance is a claimed five times better than conventional passive cooling. So, if you’ve ever found your phone to run hot, or even crash, while playing the latest mobile blockbuster, this might be just the device for you.

The Red Magic 3 comes with some other features that are typically limited to gaming devices, such as customizable capacitive shoulder triggers and an RGB LED strip on the back, but otherwise offers pretty conventional flagship smartphone specifications. This includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and a very beefy 5,000mAh battery. Gameplay (or photos) are viewed on a 6.65-inch FHD+ AMOLED HDR display.

Despite clearly being targeted at gamers, the Nubia has something quite unique to offer in the camera department as well; it is the first smartphone to come with 8K video recording. Additionally, the camera can record slow-motion video at a whopping 1,920 frames per second although no resolution has been specified yet for this ultra-slow-motion mode. In terms of camera hardware the Nubia comes with a single-camera that uses a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and an F1.7 aperture, but lacks optical image stabilization.

So, while other camera specs aren’t anything out of the extraordinary the 8K option should make the Nubia interesting to anyone who is creating high-resolution video. It will launch in China on May 3rd and start from approximately $ 430 for the version with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The top-of-the-line model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage will set you back $ 640. A launch in other regions, including the US, Canada and Europe is scheduled for the end of May but no pricing information is available yet.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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SLR Magic brings six MicroPrime lenses to Fujifilm X mount, adds a 12mm as well

15 Mar

Cinema lens manufacturer SLR Magic has announced it will offer all of its existing MicroPrime range in the Fujifilm X mount. Designed for full frame sensors, the lenses will attract a 1.5x angle of view shift when fitted on the APS-C Fujifilm X cameras, but the addition of a new 12mm T2.8 aims to provide a good wide angle so Fujifilm users don’t miss out.

While the other six lenses in the MicroPrime range have been available for some time in the Sony E mount, the 12mm is a completely new lens and is designed only for APS-C sensors. All the lenses in the range have the same external design and mostly weigh the same, so switching from one to another is relatively easy when a rig is in use. They have an 82mm filter thread and use the same 0.8 MOD gears.

The inclusion of the Fujifilm X mount is almost certainly a result of the recent attempts by Fujifilm to attract videographers with the advanced movie features of its X-H1 and X-T3 cameras.

The lens line up will consist of:

  • 12mm T2.8
  • 15mm T3.5
  • 18mm T2.8
  • 25mm T1.5
  • 35mm T1.3
  • 50mm T1.2
  • 75mm T1.5

The six previously-existing models will cost $ 599, while the 12mm will cost $ 499. For more information visit the SLR Magic website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Three is the magic number: LG V40 ThinQ sample gallery

16 Dec

When the V40 ThinQ was launched back in October it wasn’t the first triple-camera phone (that honor goes to the Huawei P20 Pro which combines a main camera with a tele and monochrome sensor), but it was the first to offer three different focal lengths.

Since then more triple-focal-length phones have arrived on the scene, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Huawei’s 2018 flagship, the Mate 20 Pro, but you’re still looking at a pretty exclusive list if you’re after focal length flexibility.

LG V40 ThinQ sample gallery

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The V40 ThinQ’s camera combines a primary 27mm equiv. module, a super-wide-angle with 16mm equivalent focal length and a ‘tele’ lens that offers a 52mm equivalent focal length.

So does the triple-cam really offer a noticeable advantage over a phone with one or two lenses? In my experience using the phone on a week-long hiking trip and a few other occasions, I indeed found the added flexibility in terms of focal length to be a real benefit.

Key specifications:

  • Triple camera
  • 16MP Super Wide (1/3.1″-type, F1.9 / 16mm equiv, no AF)
  • 12MP Standard (1/2.6″-type F1.5 / 27mm equiv, OIS, dual-pixal PDAF)
  • 12MP Telephoto (1/3.4″-type F2.4 / 52mm equiv, OIS, PDAF)
  • Dual front-camera with 8MP Standard (1/4″-type F1.9 / 26mm equiv) and
    5MP Wide (1/5″-type F2.2 / 22mm equiv)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset
  • 6.4-inch QHD+ OLED display (3120 x 1440 pixels)
  • 6GB RAM / 64GB or 128GB internal memory / microSD slot
  • 3300mAh battery

Using the V40 ThinQ is not to dissimilar to shooting with a DSLR and three prime lenses, but without the bulk. It is possible to zoom to intermediate positions between the native focal lengths but image quality suffers as digital zoom is applied and it’s simply more convenient to tap on the zoom icon of your choice than worry about pinch-zooming or using the zoom slider.

But even if you stick with the native equivalent focal lengths – 16, 27 and 52mm – they offer a higher level of creative freedom than we’ve ever seen on smartphones. At the press of a button you now have the ability to completely modify the way a scene is captured.

The three images below were captured from the same location, but the change in angle of view makes for very different image results between the three available focal lengths.

Landscape shot, 16mm equivalent
Landscape shot, 27mm equivalent
Landscape shot, 52mm equivalent

The ability to choose between focal lengths is also very useful when shooting portraits. In the past mobile photographers had to get used to being limited to wide-angle portraits when shooting people pictures.

With devices like the V40 ThinQ you now have the option to go super-wide and capture even more of the background and the subject-surrounding scenery, or use the phone’s tele-lens and produce something more similar to a ‘traditional’ portrait.

Unfortunately even at the LG’s longest focal length and relatively short subject distances there isn’t much bokeh to speak of, though, and the background is still almost entirely in focus.

The background-blurring Portrait Mode can produce nice results with very good background-segmentation but it uses the main camera’s 27mm equivalent focal length, so you can’t combine the DSLR-like background blur with the camera’s longest focal length. That’s a shame, since it would arguably be the lens most suited to portrait photography.

Portrait, 16mm equivalent
Portrait, 52mm equivalent
Portrait, 27mm equivalent, Portrait Mode

In low light the usefulness of the triple-cam is unfortunately a little more limited than in bright conditions. In low light both the super-wide-angle and wide-angle show noise increases and the levels of detail are reduced. That’s only really noticeable when zooming in to a 100% view, however. Color and exposure remain solid down to very low light levels. The 27mm equiv camera, with its bigger sensor and brighter aperture is the stronger option as the light levels drop.

The tele-lens on the other hand is completely deactivated in dim conditions. Instead, the camera uses the main sensor to capture the image and applies digital zoom to keep the exposure bright enough and control noise to some degree. The resulting images show very low levels of detail.

The LG is not the only device doing this – we’ve seen the same behavior on the first iPhones with tele-lens and some other Android devices. It means however that low-light tele shots are best avoided if you are planning to view or display them at larger sizes.

Night Shot, 16mm equivalent
Night shot, 27mm equivalent
Night shot, tele setting (shot with 27mm equivalent camera and with digital zoom)

The different image output sizes (16MP for the super-wide-angle, 12MP for the other two cameras) are slightly unusual but not really a problem. The same can be said for the fixed focus of the super-wide-angle camera. With virtually unlimited depth-of-field there isn’t really a need for an autofocus system.

On all three cameras image detail capture is only average and many images show pretty strong chromatic aberration but again, these flaws are only visible at larger magnifications and most smartphone images are never viewed at full size. Other than that there isn’t much to criticize about the V40 ThinQ’s triple-cam general image quality. Color and exposure tend to be very good in most shooting conditions.

Conclusion

Did I like shooting with the LG V40 ThinQ triple-cam then? The answer is a resounding yes! The iPhone 7 Plus was my first tele-cam-equipped smartphone and I remember how incredibly useful I found that longer lens while shooting on a tourist trip to New York, despite its shortcomings in low light.

The LG V40 ThinQ takes things one step further by adding a super-wide-angle to the mix. Gone are the days of difficult decisions between longer reach or a wider angle of view when buying a new smartphone. Now you can have it all in one device that easily fits into your pocket, and also gives you the ability to instantly edit and share.

Triple-cam-smartphones really are the final nail in the compact camera’s coffin

Is there still room for improvement? Of course there is. The tele-lens could perform better in low light and an even longer focal length would be nice (the Huawei Mate 20 Pro already offers a 3x optical zoom) but the additional creative freedom offered by the V40 ThinQ and similar devices is already a huge leap forward when compared to conventional single-lens smartphones.

If we still needed one, triple-cam-smartphones really are the final nail in the compact camera’s coffin, and we can be pretty certain device manufacturers won’t stop here. New hardware developments in combination with computational imaging techniques are likely to lead to even longer focal lengths and wider zoom ranges on smartphones in the very near future.

Gallery

There are 52 images in our LG V40 ThinQ sample gallery. Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter / magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review), we do so in good faith, please don’t abuse it.

Unless otherwise noted images taken with no particular settings at full resolution.

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Magic Lantern starts work on way to ‘enhance’ Canon EOS R feature-set

20 Oct
An example of the Magic Lantern software running on an EOS DSLR

The group that provides Canon users with programs to expand the feature set of their cameras has begun cracking the new EOS R mirrorless firmware.

Beta firmware from Magic Lantern is said to be in the test stages, and if it follows already existing Magic Lantern software, it will add new display overlays, uncompressed raw video, focus stacking and even the chance to load games on to the camera. Magic Lantern doesn’t replace the firmware already loaded onto the camera by Canon, but is extra software that runs alongside it to add additional features.

Many users will perhaps hope that full-sensor 4K video will be added, though the consequences of the camera using the whole sensor area for extended recording is yet to be discovered.

Andrew Reid from EOSHD shows a video of an experimental firmware probe successfully taking control of the camera system – even if to just show a green screen. This, he says, is good news, as it means the Magic Lantern code ‘was able to execute on the EOS R as normal’ and ‘which demonstrates the possibility to change camera registers and execute code on the main processor.’

Obviously more work is needed, but the first steps of cracking the file format and encryption seems to be underway.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photokina 2018: Sigma interview – ‘There’s no magic to it, we just try to be unique’

14 Oct
Katuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, pictured at this year’s Photokina trade show in Cologne Germany, last month.

We spoke to several senior executives last month in Germany at the Photokina trade show. Among them was Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki, who shared his thoughts on the photography marketplace in general, and the just-announced L-mount alliance. The following interview has been edited for clarity and flow.


How did the L-mount alliance come about?

I don’t remember exactly when but I think it was two or three years ago. At that time we’d already decided to make a full frame mirrorless camera featuring Foveon technology. We were planning to develop our own short flange back mirrorless system. Actually we already had a design. I don’t remember the exact spec but I think the flange back was about the same [as the L mount], about 20mm, and a similar mount diameter.

And around that time, Panasonic approached us and proposed that we work on it jointly. At around that same time, Panasonic approached Leica, and finally the three companies came together – I think it was about two years ago. And then we agreed to join the L mount system and we discontinued the development of our own original mount system.

Panasonic’s forthcoming Lumix S1R will be a professional-grade full-frame mirrorless camera built around the L-mount. One of the biggest announcements at this year’s Photokina was the alliance between Leica, Sigma and Panasonic – the first fruits of which are expected in spring of next year.

Was there anything about the L mount from a technical point of view that made it particularly attractive?

I would say it’s a well-balanced mount. The flange back is short enough without being too short, and the diameter isn’t too big. It’s a good balance. If the diameter is too big, sometimes it’s difficult to make the camera bodies compact. And if we make a slow lens, like an F2.8 prime or an F3.4-5.6 zoom lens, with a wide diameter mount the shape of the lens will be like this [indicates a funnel shape, tapering from a wide mount to a narrow front element] where the front is slimmer than the back. That doesn’t look great, in my opinion. So the L mount is a well-balanced mount size. 20mm is not too short.

Do you have a timeframe for your own L mount lenses?

I need to check with our engineers, but probably we’ll start shipping our first L mount lenses sometime in the middle of next year.

Will they be L mount versions of your existing designs, or will they be entirely new designs?

Both. We already have the 14 lenses for Sony E-mount, so we’ll make L mount versions of those lenses, and they’ll start shipping next year. We’ll also start shipping brand new L mount lenses.

Canon’s new EOS R debuts the RF mount, which will eventually replace EF as Canon’s main interchangeable lens mount. Alongside the camera, Canon launched a brace of excellent new RF mount L-series lenses, optimized for mirrorless.

Are you in communication with Canon and Nikon around their new mounts?

Around the new systems? No, not at all. We have a great interest in the two new systems but right now I have no plans.

In the past, there could be problems when Canon and Nikon might release new cameras, with slightly changed software, and third-party lenses would stop working properly. Is that a worrying possibility for you?

I can’t deny the potential risks of a similar problem in the future. However, I think such possibilities are significantly lower than before. To be honest, our firmware in the past was not so robust, therefore, we experienced some issues in the compatibility. However, the situation today is quite different.

We’ve worked hard to make the current firmware very robust, and we will continuously enhance the strength of our firmware. Even if we see some minor issues, we’ll upgrade our firmware to make our lenses work perfectly using our USB Dock.

Did Sigma have any influence into the design of the new Panasonic S1/R?

No. Actually, I personally had no idea about the new camera. So at the press conference [at Photokina] I saw the camera for the first time. We do not exchange information [between Sigma, Panasonic and Leica] about our roadmap for products for the new system. It’s a matter of compliance [with antitrust legislation]. We simply cannot do that.

With the announcement of the L-mount alliance, Sigma has confirmed that it will discontinue development of its own SD-series APS-C format cameras, in favor of a new full-frame system built around the L mount.

Now that you’re working on a new full-frame L-mount camera, does this mean that you’ll cease production of your SA mount mirrorless cameras?

We will continue to manufacture and sell our existing SA mount cameras, but we won’t develop any new SA mount cameras in the future.

Will you continue to make lenses in the SA mount?

Yes, as long as we manufacturer lenses for DSLRs, we’ll continue to make lenses in the SA mount. There are still SA mount camera users out there in the world.

Do you expect that the market for M43 lenses will be reduced, following Panasonic’s entry into the full-frame market?

I don’t know, and I might not be the best person to comment, but I’ve seen many journalists using M4/3 system cameras here in Photokina. In my opinion, M4/3 is a great system if you need compactness.

Today we have some second-generation employees and even some third-generation employees.

How will Sigma continue to differentiate its products in the future, from other third-party lens manufacturers?

I don’t believe there’s any magic to it, but we try to be unique and different to other companies. We just invest in the technology, and in the factory, and we improve communication with our customers. We will do everything that we can do, to differentiate from other manufacturers. Also, we have very loyal employees. They’ve worked for us a long time. Today we have some second-generation employees and even some third-generation employees.

It’s different for example from the semiconductor business. When it comes to lenses, the experience and the know-how of the employees makes a big difference. With lenses it’s analog-based technology, where experienced workers are key. And that’s why we [don’t want to] move our factory. If our factory moved, we’d lose our experienced workers.

Sigma’s new 40mm F1.4 Art has been designed as a ‘reference’ prime lens for the Global Vision series, and offers excellent performance, albeit in a relatively large, heavy form factor.

Check out our full gallery of samples here

Why did you decide to create a 40mm Art-series lens?

40mm is a very popular focal length for videographers, so there was a demand from the cine market. Also there were some requests from our own users. Our first DP2 camera was a 40mm equivalent focal length.

Do you have any predictions for the proportion of your lenses that you expect to sell in mirrorless mounts versus DSLR mounts, in the future?

Within three or four years I expect our mirrorless mount lens sales to be much bigger than for DSLR. Maybe 70% to 30%.

What is your opinion of Canon and Nikon’s new lenses for the RF and Z mounts?

I’ve been very impressed by Canon’s new lenses for RF. The 50mm F1.2 and 28-70mm F2. Very impressed – and a little jealous! They’re possible due to the wide diameter and short flange back. Otherwise such lenses would be very difficult or impossible. Having the larger elements at the rear of the optical system makes it easier to achieve good performance at large apertures.

Software can’t create detail, only good optics can do that.

One thing that is an option in mirrorless cameras and not DSLRs is in-camera lens corrections. When you’re designing new lenses for mirrorless do you include software correction into your planning?

Until just a few years ago I was quite negative about software corrections. Software can’t create detail, only good optics can do that. But today, sensors have more resolution, and the correction algorithms are much better than in the past. So I think software correction is a good tool, when it comes to achieving good image quality. That’s why we started to support Canon EOS DSLRs’ lens correction. Software lens correction is a useful tool, but it’s not a good idea to rely on it too much.

How do you prioritize development of which system you’ll develop lenses for?

It’s basically done based on demand. But for example even if demand for our SA mount lenses is very small, we’ll still prioritize it because that’s our own system. Moving forward, now that we have the L mount, we’ll give that priority.

The new ‘S’ class Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 features ten low-dispersion glass elements including nine FLD elements which have very similar properties to fluorite. The FLD elements are indicated in yellow, in this schematic.

The new 70-200mm F2.8 is classified as ‘Sport’. How would an ‘Art’ version of this lens be different?

It’s a sort of a mid-point between Sport and Art. But it’s Art-class glass. This lens uses nine FLD glass elements. FLD glass has almost the exact same optical characteristics as fluorite. To be honest, Canon and Nikon’s 70-200mm F2.8 lenses already represent the highest optical quality for this type of lens. We believe that we can [still] improve on that but the difference is not huge. It’s hard to differentiate just by optical performance.

Are there future technologies that would allow you to take the next step, and move performance forward?

I think so, for example FLD. We didn’t have that before. This is Hoya glass, and we worked together to develop this new glass material, which helps achieve better performance. If a careful photographer checks the amount of longitudinal chromatic aberration and bilateral chromatic aberration, we believe they’ll see this lens is better. But if they just check resolution, they may not see a difference [compared to Canon and Nikon’s current 70-200mm F2.8].

Sigma now supports several mounts, plus the L mount, plus potentially Canon RF and Nikon Z in the future. How will you grow the company to accommodate this scaling-up without losing Sigma’s identity?

I will admit that is quite challenging. But obviously the volume of lenses produced per mount will be reduced, because I don’t think the market will grow like it has in the past. That means we have to produce more kinds of products per month. Which could cause us to lose efficiency, and ultimately drive up production cost. This is very challenging for us. We need to create a new production system to keep our efficiency up, even if we manufacture more products per month.

Kazuto Yamaki, pictured at Sigma’s main assembly plant in Aizu, Japan, during our visit to the site in 2014.

Read our complete factory tour

If we used external suppliers it would be easy – we’d just reduce our purchases from those suppliers, but we do almost everything by ourselves. We’re continuously increasing the size of our factory, and even right now we’re planning to build another facility [at our main site in Aizu] and we’ll continuously invest in new manufacturing over the next few years.

After I took over my father’s business, over the past six years we’ve built new three buildings at Aizu. This will continue.

Will you run out of space?

Yes, this is a problem! Usually manufacturers choose flat ground for their factories, but my father liked to build in the middle of the mountains. His dream was to become a company like Carl Zeiss, and they have a factory in the hills. He thought that flat ground was boring! It’s very challenging.


Editors’ note: Barnaby Britton

In 2018, Sigma is a company in flux. Since the launch of the Global Vision lineup in 2012, Sigma has gone from focusing primarily on just two DSLR lens mounts (plus lower-volume production of Some Sony A, Pentax PK and Sigma SA-compatible lenses) to soon supporting eight, excluding PK but including the L-mount, which will effectively replace the older SA mount in Sigma’s own forthcoming full-frame camera lineup.

That’s a of a lot of work for any company, let alone a relatively small manufacturer but if CEO Kazuto Yamaki is daunted by the prospect, he doesn’t show it. His main concern, expressed in this interview and in previous conversations, seems to be making sure that as it evolves and grows, Sigma doesn’t lose its identity along the way.

In order to maintain efficiency and keep costs manageable, Sigma will need to develop new manufacturing processes

Sigma’s Global Vision lenses are popular for two main reasons: they’re very good, and they’re excellent value for money. Doubling the number of lens mounts that it supports is not an automatic win for Sigma, or even necessarily for its customers. As Mr. Yamaki points out, increasing the number of products in the company’s lineup does not mean that total sales will increase by the same proportion.

In order to maintain efficiency and keep costs manageable, Sigma will need to develop new manufacturing processes – something that Mr. Yamaki freely admits. Add to that the challenge of creating a brand new lineup of full-frame cameras, and the next few years at Aizu promise to be very busy.

Yamaki is confident in his products, proud of his engineers, and trusts their ability to tool up for the new mirrorless mounts

As usual, Mr. Yamaki’s responses to our questions at Photokina were candid and thoughtful. He’s confident in his products, proud of his engineers, and trusts their ability to tool up for the new mirrorless mounts. Despite the challenges ahead he’s genuinely excited by the possibilities presented by Canon and Nikon’s entry into the full-frame mirrorless market, not only for Sigma but for the industry as a whole. We’ve noted before that while many senior executives seem to prefer pretending that competitors don’t exist, Mr. Yamaki’s respect – and praise – of his competitor’s products is unusual.

In return, Sigma’s CEO is widely liked by his peers in the industry. The recently announced L-mount alliance with Panasonic and Leica would quite possibly never have happened if it weren’t for the close relationship between Mr. Yamaki and Panasonic’s Yosuke Yamane. Leica’s majority shareholder Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, in turn, has praised Mr. Yamaki’s leadership of Sigma, which remains a family-owned company.

In Mr. Yamaki’s own words: ‘There’s no magic to it – we just try to be unique’.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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