Hong Kong lens maker SLR Magic has announced the HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 lens for the Leica M mount. The lens, which can be easily adapted for Micro Four Thirds or Sony NEX cameras, is designed for low light and shallow depth-of-field videography and available-light photography. The lens features 12 elements in 7 groups and, the company says, is optimized to be shot with the aperture wide open. The lens won’t be available until September 2012. In the meantime, the company has also announced a spotting scope that mounts directly to Micro Four Thirds cameras.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Plenoptic camera maker Lytro has unveiled its first product – the Lytro Light Field Camera. Available in early 2012, the camera will come in 8Gb and 16Gb versions, costing $ 399 and $ 499, and capable of storing 350 and 750 images respectively in their internal memory. The cameras feature a 35-280mm equivalent, constant F2 lens with what the company is calling an 11 megaray sensor, that captures photos that can be refocused after shooting. Company Founder and CEO Ren Ng showed us the camera and talked us through the shooting experience.
Fujifilm has announced its X10 enthusiast compact will start shipping from November 2011 at a recommended retail price of $ 599.95. Announced last month, the retro-styled camera features a bright F2.0-2.8, 28-112mm-equivalent lens and is built around the company’s 12MP 2/3" (6.6 x 8.8mm) EXR CMOS sensor.
Apple has announced its latest iPhone model, featuring an 8MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor. The iPhone 4S features faster image capture (down to 0.5s shot-to-shot time and 1.1 second ‘time to first photo’), and captures more light as a result of the new sensor. It also gains 1080p video, is said to have better auto white balance performance and adds face detection for the first time. The 4S will first be available in the US, UK and five other countries on October 14th, with 22 more countries following two weeks later.