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Venus Optics’ new $549 7.5mm F2 MFT lens now has electronic aperture control

11 Jun

Venus Optics has announced an updated version of its Laowa 7.5mm F2 Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lens that has electronic aperture control and an onboard chip for transferring metadata from the lens to the camera.

The new lens features the same optical construction as its fully-manual predecessor (13 elements in nine groups), but adds an electronically-controlled aperture at the cost of reducing the number of aperture blades to five (there are seven in the manual version).

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As for dimensions, the lens comes in at 3mm (.12”) larger in diameter and 7mm shorter (.28”) than the manual version. Also, despite adding the electronic aperture control and onboard CPU chip, Venus Optics managed to reduce the lens’ weight to 150g (5.3oz), down from the 170g (6oz) weight of the manual version.

Below is a video review of the lens from YouTube channel RED35:

The Laowa 7.5mm F2 lens with electronic aperture control is available to order on Venus Optics’ website for $ 549. You can view a gallery of full-sized sample images on Venus Optics’ Flickr album.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Rare Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens designed for NASA could fetch $150,000 at auction

08 Jun

If you think Nikon’s Nikkor Z 58mm F0.95 S Noct lens is impressive, set your sights on a rare Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens from 1966. The lens was designed for NASA to photograph the moon’s far side during Apollo missions. There were only 10 copies of the lens ever made, six of which went to NASA. One of these lenses is currently up for auction by Leitz Photographica Auction.

Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens. Image courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction.

Granted, if you want the super-fast prime, you’ll have to pay a steep cost. At the time of writing, the highest bid is €55,000 (about $ 67,000 USD), which is €5,000 higher than the starting bid, although the auction doesn’t officially kick off until June 12. Organizers estimate that the hammer price could reach up to €120,000 (roughly $ 146,000).

Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens. Image courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction.

The copy up for auction has serial number 2594563 and is listed as being in beautiful condition with clean optics. Leitz Photographica Auction rates the lens as A/B condition. The lens is mounted to a modified Nikon F body (serial number 6477895), and the lens includes a removable tripod mount. According to an interview with Insider, Andreas Schwieger of Leitz Photographica Auction believes the lens for sale is one of the half-dozen lenses that were supplied to NASA.

Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens. Image courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction.

It’s a fascinating lens. Of the four copies that weren’t sent to NASA for use in space, three were sent to filmmaker Stanley Kubrick for the film ‘Barry Lyndon.’ Some of the film’s scenes were lit only by candlelight, necessitating the use of an F0.7 lens, which was mounted on a modified Michell camera. The film went on to win the 1976 Oscar for its cinematography. Zeiss kept the final lens for its Carl Zeiss factory museum.

Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens. Image courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction.

The Zeiss 50mm F0.7 lens up for auction is part of the 38th Leitz Photographica Auction and is lot 329 of 469 total lots. There are many interesting pieces of photographic history in the auction catalog, including some beautiful Leica cameras and lenses.

Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm F0.7 lens. Image courtesy of Leitz Photographica Auction.

Some other unique items up for sale include a ‘Luxus’ model gold-plated Leica wrapped in lizard skin, a Leica MP2 with Electric Motor and a Leica from 1924 that was owned by Ernst Leitz II, the man who manufactured the first Leica cameras. There are some other items owned by important figures in photography, including three Rolleiflex cameras owned by Walker Evans and a couple of Leica cameras used by Italian paparazzo, Felice Quinto.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Hands-on with the new Panasonic Lumix S 50mm F1.8

05 Jun

Hands-on with the new Panasonic Lumix S 50mm F1.8

Panasonic’s new Lumix S 50mm F1.8 is a dust and splash-resistant lens for L-mount shooters, sporting a reasonably fast F1.8 maximum aperture. It’s the second of four budget-oriented, compact F1.8 primes (announced by Panasonic last September) to come to market, joining the Lumix S 85mm F1.8. All four of these primes are intended to share a similar design, weight, and footprint, while also appealing to both stills and video shooters alike.

Priced at $ 449 and available in July, the Lumix S 50mm F1.8 offers a lot of versatility at a reasonable price, whether you looking for a walk-around lens, something to shoot portraits with, or a combination of the two; you truly can’t go wrong with the 50mm focal length. Let’s take a closer look at this one.

View our Panasonic Lumix S 50mm F1.8 sample gallery

Size and weight

Weighing 300 g (10.6 oz) and 82 mm (3.2?) in length, the Lumix S 50mm F1.8 is considerably lighter and smaller than Panasonic’s Lumix S Pro 50mm F1.4, which weighs 955 g (2.1 lbs) and is 130mm (5.12″) in length.

It also weighs less than the Sigma 35mm F2 DG DN (325 g / 0.72 lbs), another recently-launched sub-$ 1000 prime for L-mount (and Sony E-mount). The Panasonic is however 17mm longer than the Sigma, but also 1/3rd-stop faster.

Paired with the hefty Panasonic S1R, you hardly notice the Lumix S 50mm is there. But it feels perfectly at home attached to the more modestly sized/weighted Panasonic S5.

Build quality

Panasonic says the Lumix S 50mm is both dust and weather resistant and the rubber ring around the lens mount is proof of that. There’s also a handful of internal gaskets around the sizable focus ring and front element. We’re also told it has been tested to perform in conditions down to -10°C (14°F).

While the body of the lens appears to be some sort of polycarbonate, the mount itself is constructed of metal. The focus ring is finished in a grippy rubber material and is well-damped. It takes about a half-turn of the ring to throw focus from the minimum distance of 0.45 m (17.7?) to infinity. Speaking of minimum focus, the maximum magnification for this lens is 0.14x.

For video shooters, focus breathing is impressively well-controlled. You can see a demonstration in our Lumix S 50mm F1.8 sample gallery, right here.

Optical construction and autofocus

The lens features a 9-bladed circular aperture, which, combined with highly polished internal elements, results in smooth, rounded bokeh, even when shooting at F1.8 And stopping the lens down a bit should also result in some decent-looking sunstars. The maximum aperture of this lens is F22.

Optical construction consists of nine elements in eight groups, including three aspherical elements, an ED (Extra Low Dispersion) element, and a UHR (Ultra High Refractive Index) element. All that fancy glass should translate to high-resolution output and well-suppressed chromatic aberration.

Focus is internal, meaning there’s no increase in length during an AF rack. And the focus is driven by a linear motor, which results in snappy, silent AF acquisition. This should be a boon for stills and video shooters alike.

Initial image quality impressions

Looking at our pre-production sample gallery, we’re definitely seeing good resolving power and center sharpness from this lens, even wide open. That said, there’s some cross-frame weirdness apparent in our shots taken at infinity (which we’re hoping is just a pre-production lens issue). You’ll notice longitudinal CA in a handful of the samples, but lateral CA appears well controlled. There’s also noticeable vignetting wide open, but it’s gone by F2.8 (and easy enough to correct).

Control points and accessories

Aside from the focus ring (there’s no aperture ring), the only other control point is an AF/MF switch located on the side of the lens barrel, which has a nice click response and shouldn’t be easily bumped by accident.

Like the Lumix S 85mm F1.8, (and presumably the forthcoming Lumix S 24mm and 35mm F1.8s) the Lumix S 50mm offers a 67mm front filter thread. A plastic lens hood ships with the unit and attaches bayonet style.

The wrap

And that wraps up our tour of the new Lumix S 50mm F1.8. In all, it looks to be an affordable and capable option for L-mount shooters and a welcome addition to Panasonic’s full-frame lens family. We shot with a pre-production model, but very much look forward to getting in a final production unit and putting it through its paces, soon.

Until then, be sure to take a look through our full sample gallery, brush up on the details of the Lumix S 85mm F1.8, and keep your eyes peeled for the final two Lumix S F1.8 primes to launch in the near future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Video: A BTS look at what went into Hasselblad’s X System’s ergonomics, materials and user interface

26 May

Hasselblad is back with another video in its ongoing behind-the-scenes series, ‘Hasselblad’s Home.’ In the inaugural video, titled ‘The Design Philosophy Behind Creating the X System,’ Hasselblad shared an inside look at what went into developing the company’s mirrorless medium format camera. Now, in episode two, Hasselblad shares what’s gone into developing the ergonomics, materials and user interface of the Hasselblad X System.

Hasselblad’s factory in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The five-minute video, titled ‘The X System’s Ergonomics, Materials and Hasselblad User Interface’ shares an inside perspective of the decision-making process that went into making some of the most important components of Hasselblad’s X System. In Hasselblad’s own words:

‘This episode takes a deeper look into what went into creating the X System’s deep grip and the different materials tested for it before choosing the final one, the materials used for the camera itself, button choice and placement, as well as the thoughts behind building the Hasselblad User Interface (HUI).’

Regardless of whether or not you’ve ever used a Hasselblad camera, it’s a fascinating video that explains the rationale for the design decisions that are typically confined to within the walls of Hasselblad’s Gothenburg, Sweden operation.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Scoring explained: Why we think the Fujifilm GFX 100S’ peers are cameras half its price (NOT the Sony a1)

23 May

I’m, at best, a keen enthusiast photographer but the GFX 100S’ strengths are all in areas that benefit the kinds of photos I like to take (everyday scenes, landscape, portraiture), whereas the a1’s aren’t: its speed would be utterly wasted on me.

The GFX 100S is one of the highest-end cameras we’ve ever reviewed, which has the effect of making it a difficult camera to review. I wanted to write a little bit about that challenge, why we compared it with full-frame cameras, and yet didn’t compare it to others.

The main difficulty of reviewing a medium-format camera is that there’s a class of wildly expensive, essentially pro-only camera bodies beyond it, that we don’t cover. And, while Phase One has been kind enough to lend us some cameras and digital backs in the past, I wouldn’t claim to have used them enough to form an opinion worth publishing. It could be argued that without testing it in a series of studio shoots, it’s not really practical to form an opinion worth publishing.

The GFX 100S seems pricey when compared to most full-frame cameras but is comparatively affordable for something offering beyond full-frame image quality.

It’s a similar challenge with the more ambitious video gear we’re starting to encounter. Obviously the world of ALL CAPS cinema cameras from ARRI and RED exists beyond the more accessible likes of the Sony FX3 and Panasonic S1H, so how can we put the more affordable models in context? How can you review them properly?

The clue both for ‘affordable’ medium-format and video-focused hybrids, is that they’re at the upper extreme what we test. In other words, they’re the option you might reach for, if you go beyond the level of gear we usually cover. And, in turn, that explains why we tend to compare them to the level of gear below: because that’s the alternative you might otherwise settle for.

The comparative accessibility of the GFX 100S means it’s likely that some photographers who’d otherwise buy something like a Canon EOS R5, Sony a7R IV or Nikon Z7 II might consider stretching their budget to get one. At which point, it’s important that our review makes sense of the difference.

So why didn’t we compare it with the Sony a1 if we’re comparing it to full-frame cameras?

It’s understandable why some people draw parallels between the Fujifilm GFX 100S and the Sony a1. For a start, they were released at a similar time, so the earlier camera will have still been very fresh in the mind when the second was launched. Also, both cameras cost a similar amount of money. Finally, they’re both cameras that try to offer something beyond the latest fast-ish high resolution full-frame models. So why, if it makes sense to compare both with the likes of the Canon EOS R5, aren’t we comparing them to each other?

The Canon EOS R5 is high res, fast, and a pretty capable video camera. You have to spend a fair amount more money to get something significantly more capable. The Fujifilm and Sony offer very different types of ‘more.’

Quite simply because, while all the above is true, the comparison falls apart as soon as you look at precisely what they offer over high-res full-frame. The a1 offers speed (of both shooting and autofocus), along with 8K video and photojournalist-friendly communication options. The GFX 100S offers resolution and image quality in a way that is likely to delight landscape shooters and studio-based pros. There’s no real overlap in the things they offer over the more affordable cameras.

There’s no real overlap in the things they offer over the more affordable cameras.

The context for each camera is also rather different. Whereas $ 6500 is fairly typical for a flagship sports camera, it’s comparatively inexpensive for a medium-format camera offering a step up in image quality.

It’s easy to argue that the a1 is the more impressive technological achievement: its cutting-edge sensor raises the level of what mirrorless cameras can do (at least until we’ve seen what Nikon and Canon’s Stacked CMOS cameras are capable of). And it’s a project with no obvious corner cutting: none of the stripped-down video capabilities of the a9 series, for instance. By contrast, the GFX 100S has been reworked by the engineering and marketing departments to make the original GFX 100’s capabilities accessible to a wider audience.

In addition to speed of shooting, speed of AF and impressive video, the a1 offers a range of pro-friendly features, including an Ethernet connection.

Which is why, as hard as we’ve tried to make our scoring system coherent across categories, you can’t just look at the numbers and say ‘the Sony scored 3% more, and hence is better, without qualification, than the Fujifilm’. It’s a level of nuance that is never going to be conveyed by a single number (or a single number and an award).

Instead our reviews spell out the basis on which the conclusion was drawn. The ‘How it compares…’ section of our reviews lists what we believe a camera’s peers to be, and why. We then explicitly detail the pertinent real-world differences after the conclusion.

Reviewing always gets more difficult when it comes to extremes of price and performance, which is why we try to contextualize how these exotic outliers compare to the more affordable options. Because ultimately, our job is to provide a basis from which people can make informed decisions (whichever way they decide), not to award bragging rights.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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DPReview TV: Requiem For Sony A-Mount

22 May

Recently, we learned that Sony’s ‘SLT’ digital SLRs were no longer available for purchase in some territories, probably marking the end of the A-mount originally developed by Minolta. In this episode of DPReview TV, Chris and Jordan fondly look back at the A-mount.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

Intro
Film era
Early digital
The a100
Favorite lenses
SLT era
E-mount vs A-mount
Adapters
The wrap

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Slideshow: The best entries so far for the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards

21 May

The best entries so far for the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards

Now in its 7th year, the annual Comedy Wildlife Awards showcases some of the funniest wildlife moments caught on camera. Here are some of the best entries, out of thousands submitted from around the world, so far, that the judges and organizers felt the urge to share with the public.

‘A lot of wildlife shown in these images are facing threats to their populations and habitats that are heart-breaking. With this competition, we wanted to capture people’s attention and energy by giving them a giggle. In order to protect animals, we need people to fall in love with them. We think these wondrous shots show a side of wildlife that we don’t often get to see. They remind us of the beauty, and comedy, in our natural world that needs protecting,’ says Tom Sullam, the competition’s co-founder.

You still have six more weeks to enter the 2021 Comedy Wildlife Awards. Photographers are allowed to submit up to 10 images. The grand prize includes a safari to Maasai Mara in Kenya. 10% of the competition’s total net revenue will be donated to the Save Wild Orangutans charity.

Entry: ‘Bald Eagle Gets a Surprise’ by Arthur Trevino

Location: Hygiene, CO

Animal Description: Bald Eagle & Prairie Dog

Artist Description: When this Bald Eagle missed on its attempt to grab this prairie dog, the prairie dog jumped towards the eagle and startled it long enough to escape to a nearby burrow. A real David vs Goliath story!

Entry: ‘Monday Morning Mood’ by Andrew Mayes

Location: Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa

Animal Description: Pied Starling

Arist Description: I took this shot while photographing a group of Pied starlings perched in a tree at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve in South Africa. It perfectly sums up my mood on most Monday mornings 🙂

Entry: ‘ROFL’ by Giovanni Querzani

Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Animal Description: Young Lion

Artist Description: A young lion in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, who apparently is laughing at my photography skills.

Entry: ‘Quarantine Life’ by Kevin Biskaborn

Location: South Western Ontario, Canada

Animal Description: Raccoon

Artist Description: Isolated inside with your family eager to get out and explore the world? These eastern raccoon kits are too. Just when you think there’s no more room in the tree hollow, mother raccoon appears and displays just how compact the space is. The babies clambered all over their mom and each another, struggling to take a look at the exact same time.

This photo was taken in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. After exploring a particular area with numerous tree hallows, I identified it as a hot spot for raccoon families. Since raccoons will move from den to den, often not spending more than one night at a time in a particular den, locating an area with numerous options is key to locating the animals.

I stumbled across this family and immediately worked on leveling the camera with the hole to prevent an upward angle. When the camera and tripod were ready, the baby raccoons were extremely curious (and cooperative), sticking their heads out for a closer look!

Entry: ‘Yoga Bittern’ by KT Wong

Location: Satay By The Bay, Singapore

Animal Description: Yellow Bittern

Artist Description: A Yellow Bittern was trying very hard to get into a comfortable hunting position. I got this shot when it was between 2 stalks of lotus flower.

Entry: ‘Missed!’ by Lea Scaddan

Location: Perth, Australia

Animal Description: Western Grey Kangaroo

Artist Description: Two Western Grey Kangaroos were fighting and one missed kicking him in the stomach.

Entry: ‘Yay – It’s Friday!’ by Lucy Beveridge

Location: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Animal Description: Springbok

Artist Description: A young springbok, all ears and spindly legs, caught in midair while pronking as the sun started to rise over the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There’s not much information on why the Springbok pronk but some theories suggest it is a way of showing fitness and strength to ward off predators and attract mates. It has also been said that this small, dainty and largely unappreciated antelope also pronks out of excitement, jumping for joy!

Entry: ‘Sweet Lips Are For Kissing’ by Philipp Stahr

Location: Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean

Animal Description: Boxfish

Artist Description: This picture was taken at Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean. Usually box fishes are difficult to take pictures of, since they do not have a problem of a diver coming close, but if you show interest, they always turn the back and not the face to you. That’s why I tried to swim 0.5m above the fish and showing no interest at all to him.

The same time I had my camera not in front of me, but below at my chest pointing to the bottom. When the right moment had come, I turned the camera 90 degrees to the front and just point and shoot, hoping to have the fish in focus. Never expected to have its beautiful lips that close!

Entry: ‘Cranky Hippo’ by Rohin Bakshi

Location: Vwaza Game Reserve, Malawi

Animal Description: Hippo

Artist Description: The baby hippo wanted his mother’s attention, but it seems he wasn’t getting any.

Entry: ‘Happy’ by Tom Svensson

Location: Falklands

Animal Description: Penguin

Artist Description: These penguins was surfing on the waves on to land and looked so happy each time.

Entry: ‘Houston – We’ve Got a Problem!’ by Txema Garcia Laseca

Location: Pantanal (Brazil)

Animal: Amazon Kingfisher

Artist Description: This fish is astonished when has been trapped for a fisher bird.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Sony releases stunning wide-angle footage shot on its upcoming Airpeak drone

19 May

Sony first announced its official entry into the drone sector early this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Though there still aren’t solid details on a release date or pricing for its Airpeak drone, the company recently unveiled some stunning wide-angle footage captured over Okinawa, Japan’s, remote island called Irimote. Besides the scenery, the video also showcases the Airpeak drone in action carrying both Sony’s a7S III and FX3 cameras.

What’s revealed, as well, is how the drone is able to carry a payload that includes their new 14mm F1.8 GM lens. Although rather large in size for a drone, Sony claims that the Airpeak is the smallest model available that is able to carry its Alpha line of cameras. For comparison’s sake, Freefly Systems has been working on its Astro drone, which is compatible with Sony’s a7R IV camera, but hasn’t been released yet.

One issue pointed out about the Airpeak is that it is a quadcopter. For comparison’s sake, DJI’s Matrice 600 is a hexacopter. If one rotor fails on the Matrice 600, the drone will still remain airborne. That’s not the case with a quadcopter, and Sony camera’s aren’t exactly cheap. We can also see from the latest video that two batteries are needed to power the drone. This is a typical failsafe, also found in DJI’s Inspire 2, should one battery fail during flight.

Much like a drone of its class, the Airpeak also has an additional front-facing pilot’s camera as well as obstacle avoidance sensors on the front and back of the aircraft. There aren’t any sideways sensors but unlike a DJI Phantom or Mavic series drone, which is constrained by a 3-axis gimbal that only tilts up and down, the AirPeak doesn’t need those additional sensors since it only needs to fly forwards or backwards since the camera can also rotate from side to side.

It also looks as though Sony hasn’t created a gimbal for the Airpeak yet. Instead, the Gremsy T3V3 3-axis camera stabilizer is attached. It is unclear whether or not Sony will develop their own gimbal. The remote is clearly made by Sony, since the branding is there, and a tablet is attached – suggesting, for now, that a built-in screen won’t be available.

The software being used to power the drone is built on Mapbox, which also powers self-driving cars. What this means is that Airpeak users will be able to pre-plan flights.

This isn’t the first teaser video Sony has released for its Airpeak drone. Sony also introduced a VISION-S concept car at CES. The Airpeak was featured in the video, above, where you can see its landing gear extensions retract upward, after takeoff, to give a fuller field of view for the camera. Wind resistance is another pain point for drone users. Sony recently created a wind tunnel to illustrate how well the Airpeak handles gusts up to 45 mph.

As mentioned above, a definitive release date and price point has yet to be announced. Sony is still looking for professional drone videographers and photographers, its target audience, to test out the Airpeak. You must be located in the United States or Japan to participate at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Halide camera app comes to iPad with revamped interface, ‘Pro Mode’ and more

18 May

Lux, the team behind the popular iOS camera apps Halide and Spectre, has announced a major update to Halide that adds support for Apple’s iPad tablets.

The Halide experience on the iPad will be familiar to those who have used the iPhone version thanks to a similar design language, but the interface has been redesigned from the ground up to make to a more streamlined shooting experience on the larger display.

As a whole, the interface is more spread out across the edges of the display and Lux’s custom typeface is now bolder for easier viewing. Lux even took into account the radius of the iPad screen’s corners so they could match the radius of the buttons to neatly nest into the interface for minimal distraction. To minimize the need to reach across the screen when changing settings, Lux has included what it calls an ‘expandable honeycomb’ next to the shutter button that brings up the most commonly needed settings and tools

Since iPads tend to be more two-handed devices, Lux has also added a feature that will ‘flip’ the interface so it’s left-hand oriented for the southpaws out there.

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Lux has also addressed the issue of the iPad’s unusual aspect ratio that can sometimes make for a confusing experience when shooting. It’s called ‘Pro View,’ and what it does is shrink the liveview display into the center of the screen so it’s easier to see the entire scene and compose a shot. Doing this also adds extra space on the display to more prominently display the histogram, waveform, manual focus and other pro features, ensuring nothing overlaps with the liveview. Pro View can be toggled on and off in the bottom left-hand corner of the interface (bottom right-hand if you’ve flipped the interface).

The iPhone version of Halide has also been updated with bug fixes and other improvements, including a few UI changes inspired by the iPad update.

You can download Halide for free in the iOS App Store. An in-app purchase will unlock additional features for $ 1.99 per month or $ 9.99 per year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Video: Starry time-lapse at the ESA’s Ariane 6 rocket launch site

13 May

The European Space Agency (ESA) recently published a stunning time-lapse of the star-filled night sky at the ESA’s Ariane 6 launch site in French Guiana, South America. Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is preparing for the arrival of Ariane 6, ‘Europe’s next-generation launch vehicle.’

The Ariana 6 rocket will come in two versions depending on mission requirements. The A62 has two strap-on boosters, while the A64 has four. The Ariane 6 is 207′ (63m) tall with a diameter of 18′ (5.4m). The mass of the rocket ranges from 1,170,000-1,900,000 lbs (530,000-860,000kg). Replacing the Ariane 6 launch vehicle, the Ariane 6’s maiden test flight is scheduled for 2022 following several delays.

You can see what a typical Ariane 6 mission might look like in the ESA’s video below. Ariane 62 can launch payloads of approximately 9,920 lbs (4,500kg) into a geostationary orbit and 22,700 lbs (10,300kg) into low Earth orbit. By strapping on an additional two boosters, Ariane 64 can launch payloads of around 25,350 lbs (11,500kg) into geostationary orbit and 45,400 lbs (20,600kg) into low Earth orbit. With a full payload, Ariane 6 weighs about the same as one and a half Airbus A380 passenger airplanes.

The development of Ariane 6 has comprised an industrial network of more than 600 companies in 13 European countries, including 350 small- and medium-sized companies. The development is led by prime contractor ArianeGroup. The Ariane 6 launch facilities in French Guiana, seen in the time-lapse video above, are being prepared by France’s space agency, CNES.

Artist’s rendition of the two configurations of Ariane 6, the two-booster A62 and the four-booster A64. Image credit: ESA

The modular design of Ariane 6 means that it will be suitable for a wide range of missions, including Earth observation, telecommunications, meteorology, science and navigation. Adapters have been developed to allow Ariane 6 to carry multiple small satellites at once, allowing small companies more cost-effective access to the space industry. For more information on Ariane 6, click here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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