Rob Hart was amongst the 28 members of the Chicago Sun-Times photography staff laid off last week. He’s been pointedly documenting his experience via Tumblr ever since, deliberately opting to use his iPhone over his Nikon D3 because, as he says of himself in his blog, he was “replaced with a reporter with an iPhone, so he is documenting his new life with an iPhone, but with the eye of a photojournalist trained in storytelling.” We spoke to him about it for connect.dpreview.com.
We’ve been lucky enough to get our hands on an early pre-production sample of one of the most anticipated lenses of the year, the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM, and bring you a gallery of full-resolution sample images shot with it. This lens is the fastest zoom ever made for SLRs and, in principle, should provide the depth-of-field control and low-light image quality on an APS-C DSLR that you’d get using an F2.8 zoom on 35mm full-frame. We’ve shot a samples gallery including a variety of subjects, using a range of apertures, focal lengths and subject distances, to try to give an initial flavor of how the lens performs.
We just posted a review of the Pentax K-5 II, which also covers its near-twin the K-5 IIS, a version of the camera that lacks an AA filter for higher resolution (in theory). Offering 16MP CMOS sensors, a unique shake reduction system, and a rugged weatherproof body, the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIS are compelling little cameras and in this review we’ll explore their various standout features, as well as look at the difference in image quality between the two models. Click through for a link to the full review.
Pentax has announced a white version of its WG-3 rugged waterproof camera and an entry-level point-and-shoot compact. The white version of the WG-3 shares all the features with the existing model but comes in a different color scheme (we’ll let you guess what that is). We’ll be testing the GPS version of the WG-3 as one of our forthcoming waterproof camera tests. Meanwhile, the ‘Efina’ is an inexpensive 14MP CCD-based camera that’s exactly the sort we thought Pentax had stopped making. Still, it comes with decorative patterns on it, which seems to be this season’s thing – so that’s something. The Efina, announce in Japan in January, will cost around £80, while the white WG-3 will retail for $ 299/£289.
If you own a digital camera without Wi-Fi and want to quickly transfer photos to your smartphone or tablet, then the new Eye-Fi Mobi SDHC card might be for you. Setup is simple: just download the app for iOS or Android, enter a 10 digit code, and you’re ready to roll. After that, photos you take on your camera will automatically be sent to your mobile device. For more on the Eye-Fi Mobi, read the full story on Connect.
Roger Cicala of Lensrentals has published a blog post in which he gives his first impressions of the new Carl Zeiss 32mm F1.8 ‘Touit’ lens, in Sony E-mount. Unlike Roger’s normal approach, where he exhaustively tests multiple samples of the same lens, he was only able to look at a single example of the 32mm F1.8 on the Sony NEX-7. Click through for some details of his findings, and a link to the full article at the lensrentals blog.
Hot on the heels of its cashback offer for its 1 System cameras, Nikon UK has announced similar promotions on its D600 and D5200 SLRs. Buyers will be able to claim back £50 / €60 on the D5200, and £150 / €180 on the D800, when purchased either body only or with a new Nikkor lens. Meanwhile buyers of various Coolpix compacts will have the chance to win one of over 1200 ‘exhilarating prizes’, including an indoor sky diving experience.
Zeiss has announced that its first two Touit lenses for mirrorless cameras are now available for sale. The 12mm F2.8 wideangle has been designed according to the ‘Distagon optical concept’, and has an RRP of €920 / US$ 1,250 excluding VAT. Meanwhile the Planar-type 32mm F1.8 normal lens will cost €670 / US$ 900 excluding VAT. The lenses will be available to fit Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-system cameras, and the X-mount models feature aperture rings with 1/3 stop detents. The next model in the line, a 50mm F2.8 Macro, is expected to appear at the end of the year.
We’ve been fans of Aaron Johnson’s comic strip ‘What the Duck’ for years. ‘WTD’ is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it’s published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. Click through for this week’s strip.
The Tamrac 5592 Big Wheels SpeedRoller 2X is a serious camera bag, featuring an industrial strength telescoping handle, oversized wheels fortified with ball bearings, and of course loads of space for camera equipment plus a 17-inch laptop. Despite an impressive capacity the SpeedRoller 2X is small enough to carry on to airplanes. It’s not cheap though, at a street price of around $ 400. Do you get what you pay for? Read our review to find out.