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Rokinon AF 50mm F1.4 FE: sample gallery and impressions

18 Dec

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The Rokinon/Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE ($ 500) and AF 35mm F1.4 FE ($ 800) represent the South Korean manufacturer’s first foray into the autofocus lens market. The 50mm F1.4 is a steal compared to Sony’s own Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA ($ 1400). So what do you sacrifice, and is it worth the savings? In short, it’s enough to say this lens is no gem in a bargain’s disguise. But it’s not a bad piece of glass either.

The housing is made of metal like the Planar T* and the build quality is reassuringly dense – nothing rattles around when you shake it (a very scientific test indeed). It’s a little bit smaller than the Planar T* (the filter ring is 67mm vs 72mm), as well as lighter (645g / 1.4lb vs 778g / 1.7lb). But the Planar T* is by all accounts a large, heavy prime, meaning the Rokinon too feels hefty to lug around. It left this reviewer yearning for the comparably tiny/light-weight Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA instead.

The Rokinon/Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE, shot wide open. ISO 100 | F1.4 | 1/5000 sec

Photographers considering the Rokinon AF 50mm are likely doing so because of its F1.4 maximum aperture. Wide open, it’s not terribly sharp, but photos shot at F1.4 are certainly usable, especially if you add more sharpening in ACR or Photoshop. As you’d expect, sharpness improves as you stop down (until you hit diffraction territory). For a full stop aperture progression, head to the end of our gallery.

There’s a considerable amount of longitudinal chromatic aberration (purple and green fringing), and it can be really distracting around high contrast edges – see the second image in the gallery. While this can often be removed – to an extent anyway – in ACR or Lightroom, it’s often difficult or very time consuming, and comes with the risk of desaturation of other areas of your photo. Lateral CA corrections were left off for images in this gallery, and while you can turn it on in-camera or in Raw processing software, lateral CA seems to be well-controlled in this lens.

The AF motor is very noisy, not unlike a distant submarine distress call

The other significant reason photographers are likely to consider this lens over the cheaper manual focus Rokinon 50/1.4 is its autofocus. Unfortunately, we don’t have a whole lot of good news in this department. In use, the AF motor is very noisy, not unlike a distant submarine distress call. That, or a very near dental tool. Trying to use it paired with the Sony a7R III in AF-C is a nightmare. Focus speeds are slow, loud, and AF is easily confused, sending the lens into a painfully long hunt. Performance and focus accuracy are far more reliable in AF-S. Eye AF, one of our favorite Sony features thanks to its uncanny ability to grab a subject’s eye and lock focus is sadly inaccurate and unreliable when used with this lens.

This would not be my first choice for a normal Sony FE lens with AF, but it’s still capable of lovely results. ISO 100 | F2.5 | 1/1000 sec

The lens also has some issues with bokeh. Take a look at the onion rings in the out-of-focus highlights here, and if you search around the image above at 1:1, you’ll see slightly out-of-focus highlights having distracting holes in their center.

The takeaway: If you’re on a budget and want an FE 50mm F1.4 lens with autofocus, well, you don’t have a lot of options. Seeing as you can get some nice, usable images wide open, I wouldn’t steer you away from pulling the trigger on the Rokinon. But I would probably try to convince you to settle for F1.8 and save up for the Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA ($ 900) instead (quality-wise it is far superior to the Sony FE 50mm F1.8 – $ 200).

That said, optically this lens actually performed better than I expected a first-generation AF lens to. And I’m pretty excited to see Rokinon stepping into new territory.

See our Rokinon AF 50mm F1.4 FE gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Apple’s new iMac Pro arrives December 14th, and first impressions are good

14 Dec

Listen up power-hungry Apple fanboys! Yesterday, Apple finally announced a release date for its beast of a desktop all-in-one, revealing that the new iMac Pro will be available to purchase starting on December 14th.

The model’s arrival will mark the first instance of a new pro-tier Apple desktop release in years, and it’ll come in four variants sporting 8-, 10-, 14-, and 18-core configurations. Once available, these iMac Pro models will be the most powerful desktop options ever offered by Apple, ones targeted specifically at creative professionals working with massive image and video files.

Many details on the new iMac Pro are still absent; however, certain information has been revealed ahead of time. Buyers will be able to choose up to 4TB of storage, up to 128GB of ECC DDR4 2666MHz RAM, and a 16GB Vega 64 GPU, according to 9to5Mac. The 8- and 10-core iMac Pro variants will be available first, on December 14th, while the other two won’t be available until next year.

But don’t expect any of this to come cheap. The base model of the bunch, the 8-core iMac Pro variant, will have a starting price of $ 5,000 USD, and no other prices have been revealed at this time, although additional information should be available starting on Thursday. Apple states on its iMac Pro website that the new model retains the same slim size as the previous version.

Apple has allowed a couple of journalists to have early access to the new iMac Pro, including Marques Brownlee, who shared his Week #1 impressions of the desktop—and many shots of it—in the video below:

And if you want a photographer’s first impressions, Vincent Laforet got his hand on a 10 Core 3GHZ Intel Xeon W, 2TB SSD, 128 GB RAM, Vega 64 Radeon version that did NOT disappoint him.

To learn more, check out the video above, read Vincent’s review, or head over to Apple’s iMac Pro website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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OnePlus 5T first impressions review

28 Nov

The brand new OnePlus 5T is the Chinese manufacturer’s latest flagship model. Like its predecessors, offers high-end specifications, materials and design at a price point that is noticeably lower than the more established competition.

The 5T is in most respects pretty much identical to its predecessor, the OnePlus 5. However, there are two important changes: the AMOLED display now comes with an 18:9 aspect ratio, covering the entire front of the device, and the dual-camera has done away with the tele-module and replaced it with a secondary sensor that has been optimized for low light performance.

The camera switches to this sensor when light levels drop below 10 Lux and merges four pixels into one for improved image quality. Despite the lack of a tele lens, OnePlus says the new dual-camera setup offers a similar zoom performance to the OnePlus.

We’ve had the OnePlus 5T in our hands for a few days now and used its camera in a wide range of light conditions. Here are our first impressions.

Key specifications:

Dual-camera
Main camera: Sony IMX 398 1/2.8″ 16MP sensor, F1.7,
Secondary camera: Sony IMX 376K 1/2.78″ 20MP sensor, F1.7
27.22mm equivalent focal length
Dual-LED flash
4K video at 30 fps
720p slow-motion at 120 fps
Manual mode and Raw capture
16MP / F2.0 front camera
6″ 1080p AMOLED display, 18:9 aspect ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset
64/128GB storage, 6/8GB RAM
3,300 mAh battery

Image quality

In bright light the 5T captures images with pleasant colors. Auto HDR kicks in for high-contrast scenes, ensuring decent dynamic range and good highlight detail. Lens sharpness is good across the frame but if you zoom in to a 100% view, low-contrast detail, such as distant foliage or other fine textures, can look a little mushy. There’s also more luminance noise in the sky than we would like at base ISO.

ISO 125, 1/490 sec

When shooting against the light the 5T occasionally captures slightly too dark exposures to protect the highlights, but despite some shadow noise the shot below looks quite pleasant. Occasionally low-contrast detail in the shadows can be very mushy, though.

ISO 250, 1/1525 sec

The 5T camera deals much better with higher-contrast scenes, even when overall light levels are lower. The shot below was captured at ISO 640 indoors and shows very good edge definition. There is some luminance noise but it is very finely grained and not too intrusive. Overall detail is still good, despite shooting in low light.

ISO 640, 1/50 sec

Noise reduction and smearing of fine detail are more noticeable in this ISO 1000 shot but overall detail is still good considering the light conditions. However, skin tones on the subject are a little warm and just a touch underexposed. It appears the camera was aiming to protect highlights in the brighter background. Overall, the 5T does pretty well in this scene, though.

ISO 1000, 1/33 sec

Detail becomes noticeably softer in night shots, as the one below, but exposure is very good and noise well controlled. The OnePlus 5T tends to do a good job in static night scenes.

ISO 3200, 1/17 sec

The camera app doesn’t tell you when it switches to the more low-light efficient secondary sensor with its ‘Intelligent Pixel Technology’. But a look at the EXIF data reveals that images taken in very low light have a 20MP resolution, as opposed to the 16MP of the main camera. This also indicates that, if there is some pixel-binning going on, the images are then upscaled to full sensor resolution again.

Looking at the two samples below, the mode is capable of achieving good exposure and color in low light situations. However, level of detail is very low and images have an almost pixelated appearance when viewed at a 100% magnification.

We have also noticed that two images taken in quick succession can look quite different in terms of both exposure and detail rendition. If you click through to the full-size versions of the samples below you’ll see that the image on the left is pretty grainy, while the one on the right has an almost water-color like smeared look. The levels of detail are equally low on both images, though.


ISO 2000, 1/20 sec	ISO 5000, 1/17 sec

Zoom

OnePlus says that, despite the omission of a dedicated tele camera, the 5T’s 2x zoom produces similar image quality to the OnePlus 5. Looking at the sample scene below, this is true. Viewed at a 100% magnification the 2x zoom image shows noticeably lower levels of detail than the standard image, but the tele-lens on the OnePlus 5 did not produce much better results. Zoom images are not ideal for display at larger sizes but look nice at typical social media or web use resolution.

ISO 250, 1/553 sec

ISO 160, 1/504 sec

The same is true for zoom images captured in low light. The 2x zoom image below was taken in a dimly lit club. Fine detail is not great but the shot is perfectly usable at web size and the zoom function allowed me to get the framing I wanted, even when shooting from the back of the crowd.

ISO 1600, 1/20 sec

Bokeh

OnePlus says the 5T’s bokeh mode has been improved over the version used by its predecessor and our initial tests confirm that. There are still some minor artifacts around foreground subjects but overall subject separation from the background is pretty good, even in lower light and with human subjects.

In addition, the amount blur applied to the background is not too strong, resulting in a fairly natural bokeh rendition.

ISO 320, 1/464 sec, Depth mode

Video

We also shot a few videos with the OnePlus 5T and the results are pretty good, with decent detail, nice color and good exposure. Stabilization is pretty good when hand-holding the camera, but things get a little shaky while panning, as you can see in the clip below.

The video mode delivers decent image quality in this artificially lit indoor shot. Video stabilization keeps things nice and steady during handheld recording.

You can also record video using the 2x zoom settings. The results in the low light clip below aren’t quite broadcast quality but definitely usable, with good stabilization.

Conclusion

With its new 18:9 display and powerful processing components the OnePlus 5T is a great smartphone in general use. However, there’s a lot to like about its camera as well. Images show good exposure and color across all light levels, the bokeh mode captures images that look more natural than on many competitors and the zoom function produces usable results, even in very low light.

Like on the 5T’s predecessor, pixel level image quality is a bit of a weakness, though. The Auto HDR function produces some ghosting artifacts and mushy textures, and we also found more luminance noise in base ISO images than we’d like to see.

Low light image quality is decent but not up with the very best, and with the current software version OnePlus’ ‘Intelligent Pixel Technology’ doesn’t really offer any noticeable low light benefits over a fine-tuned conventional camera.

That said, OnePlus is known as a manufacturer that is frequently pushing software updates and improving the performance of its products. If the engineers are able to fine-tune image processing and video stabilization a touch more, the OnePlus could easily jump up a few spots in the smartphone image quality rankings.

Sample Gallery

There are 10 images in our OnePlus 5T samples 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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You can also still have a look at our OnePlus 5 review gallery from June.

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 first impressions

09 Nov

Introduction

The Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 is the company’s newest mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC), and in many ways, the first Lumix camera ever to be aimed squarely at professional and advanced amateur stills photographers – and it shows.

But that doesn’t mean the G9 is light on video specs; Panasonic has long been a leader in ‘hybrid’ stills and video cameras with the impressive GH-series, but just as the GH-series leans slightly more to the video side of things, the G9 leans the other way.

Even though we’ve had only a few days with our G9, we’ve already seen improvements to the JPEG engine (color in particular), and been able to play around with some of its new features like the 80MP high-resolution mode, and been blown away by its incredibly large electronic viewfinder. Some of its capabilities – like impressive-looking 20 fps burst shooting with continuous autofocus – will need more in-depth testing.

But for now, we’ve put together some of our first impressions and takeaways – let’s get started.

Key specifications

Design sketch of the Panasonic Lumix DC-G9.

The Lumix G9 is overflowing with refinements and improvements both inside and out. There’s a lot to digest in this camera, but here are what we believe to be the G9’s most important qualities:

20.3MP Live MOS sensor with no AA filter (same as GH5)
6.5-stop 5-axis Dual I.S. 2
0.83x (35mm equivalent) high-res, 120 fps electronic viewfinder
80MP high-resolution mode
20 fps bursts with continuous autofocus (60fps with focus locked)
Dual UHS-II SD card slots supporting new high-speed V-rated cards
Assortment of 4K and 6K Photo modes, in-camera focus stacking
Refined ergonomics and controls
USB charge and USB power capability, 400 shots per charge battery life (CIPA)

But for established photographers, particularly those Panasonic is targeting, equally important in addition to this list of objective specifications are the intangibles; how does the G9 feel in the hand, and how does it respond to your inputs?

Let’s get started with that first consideration, and look at the G9’s body and design.

Body, design and handling

The G9 isn’t a small camera, but with a suitably compact lens, it isn’t too intimidating. Out-of-camera JPEG, processed in-camera with increased exposure compensation. Panasonic Leica DG 25mm F1.4.
ISO 3200 | 1/500 sec | F1.4

The G9 comes with splash, freeze and dust proof construction, and feels in the hand as though you’re holding a chunk of solid magnesium alloy, as opposed to a hollow one filled with Panasonic’s most advanced photographic technology to date.

Battery life from the G9 is good if not downright impressive, at a CIPA rated 400 shots; it’s compatible with the same battery as the GH5, and will easily last you many hours of serious shooting. As always, exploring menus and rocketing through images in playback will shorten the battery’s stamina.

Speaking of playback, the rear jog dial does a good job of moving through your images quickly, handy for when you start firing off those 20 fps bursts. The new top-plate LCD allows you to check your settings at a glance, even if the rear screen is folded away, and the combined Mode + Drive dials on the left shoulder work surprisingly well; some competitors that have attempted this end up feeling kind of ‘fiddly.’

The top plate on the G9 is one of its key physical differentiators versus the GH5.

The AF joystick has been tweaked, with a new textured finish and a click-in option to toggle between your chosen AF point and the center. Unfortunately, we think it could still be faster to move your AF area when you tap it to the side, and if you’re holding it to the side, your moving AF area won’t respond to a change in your desired direction unless you release the joystick, and push in that new direction. Compounding this is that you can’t move the point diagonally; only horizontally and vertically.

As always, having an AF joystick is always better than not having one, and we’re hopeful to see these issues addressed in a future firmware update.

Body, design and handling

An abundance of controls and overall responsive performance helped me get this grab image of a low-flying plane in South Seattle. Out-of-camera JPEG, cropped to taste. Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm F2.8-4.
ISO 200 | 1/640 sec | F4.5

The G9 has tons of controls, and tons of customization options. It can take a while for you to find your way around the camera, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary for a flagship. One thing we’ve noticed is that, likely on purpose, the shutter button on the G9 is very sensitive, so that could be something users may need to adjust to.

What shouldn’t require much adjustment to is the all-new 0.83x (equivalent) optical viewfinder. It’s among the largest electronic viewfinders ever built into a digital camera, providing an immersive shooting experience that’s enhanced by the use of an OLED display, which gives great contrast.

As someone who’s just officially griped about the necessity of USB charging, it’s nice to see it make an appearance on the G9 in addition to the ability to run off of USB power. The batteries by now are commonplace, but it’ll be great to power the camera with a USB power pack for longer shoots like timelapses, or when you need to top-up a battery off the grid.

The G9 has among the largest electronic viewfinders ever built into a digital camera.

And finally, let’s address the issue of size. There’s also no doubt that the G9 is fairly ‘chunky,’ especially given the Four Thirds sensor inside. Despite this, we think it’s likely to be a good fit for its intended audience.

After all, a comfortable grip, extensive external controls, decent battery life, robust weather sealing and a crazy stabilization system all come with size and weight penalties; but even so, the G9 is lighter than the GH5. Indeed, couple the G9 with the appreciably small size of many Micro Four Thirds lenses, and you have the potential to make for a lightweight yet comprehensive kit that doesn’t skimp on ergonomic comfort.

New and notable features

In this image, you can see how possible motion in your scene might impact your ability to use this mode – but you can also see just how much detail is there in the static portions of the scene. Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm F2.8-4.
ISO 200 | 1/500 sec | F4

The new 80MP high resolution mode on the G9 works similarly to competitors’ offerings, and takes eight shots in quick succession, moving the sensor by a half-pixel for each image. In practice, it’s one of the faster implementations of a pixel-shift high res mode that we’ve seen, and predictably comes with a serious increase in image quality. Usually.

What you gain in detail and noise characteristics, you lose out depending on how much motion is in your scene. The above image is a good example of both the detail benefit you can get from this mode, as well as how it copes with moving subjects – and for the record, this is not necessarily the setting Panasonic would recommend for this feature, but we figured you, dear reader, might be curious about it.

Image stabilization on the G9 is a claimed 6.5 stops, which is basically magic.

As an added bonus, if you did attempt an 80MP image and were bothered by unintended motion artifacts, the G9 has an option to capture an additional ‘normal’ 20MP Raw and JPEG image simultaneously.

Image stabilization on the G9 is a claimed 6.5 stops – which is basically magic. With shorter lens, you’ll have an almost glidecam experience (even if you’re only using the in-body stabilization), and even with the new Panasonic Leica 200mm F2.8 lens and 2.0x teleconverter, you can easily frame your subjects shake-free through the viewfinder, even hand-held.

Image and video quality impressions

Panasonic told us that, for their latest JPEG engine, they’ve been working hard on the G9’s rendition of yellows and blues, particularly for blue skies. We think they look pretty darn good.

While we don’t yet have Raw support for the G9, the early JPEGs coming out of our camera look good. We’ve been critical of Panasonic’s JPEG color and noise reduction in the past, and our early sample shots seem to show noticeable improvements.

First, the automatic white balance seems to handle a variety of settings with much greater reliability – warm evening light is represented as such, without going over-the-top orange, colors are nicely saturated and exhibit far less ‘green-shifted yellows’ than before. We’ll wait until we can perform our studio testing to make a definitive call on noise reduction, but it looks to this reviewer that there’s less smearing of areas of fine detail, which was historically a problem even at lower ISO values.

Panasonic is claiming more sophisticated sharpening and noise reduction on the G9, but we’re waiting for our studio scene analysis before we can claim anything definitive in this regard.

In terms of video, the G9 offers 4K UHD capture at up to 60 fps, as well as an array of slow-motion modes in both 4K and Full HD. While you lose out on some more advanced features of the GH5, such as ultra-high bitrate recording, higher color depth capture and unlimited clip length (the G9 tops out at 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 4K/60p and 4K/30p respectively), video capture is still taken from the full width of the sensor and downscaled, and so should provide great detail. Lastly, our initial impressions show DFD autofocus to be more decisive and less prone to ‘wobble’ when shooting video, making run-and-gun capture more feasible.

Overall impressions and sample gallery

Out of camera JPEG. Panasonic Leica DG 12-60mm F2.8-4.
ISO 200 | 1/4000 sec | F4

Credit where credit is due, Panasonic has a long history of bringing cameras to market that bear impressive technical capabilities; from the lineage that gave us the first-ever mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, to the first mirrorless camera that could capture 4K video comes the stills-focused G9. With this new model, Panasonic has taken advantage of that greater emphasis on stills to pack some advanced and innovative features into a camera that is meant to be rugged and reliable for professional use.

Starting with ruggedness, we have to admit the G9 feels great in the hand. It’s all-metal, with a redesigned (and really comfy) grip. It’s far from compact, but it doesn’t feel heavy for a professional-level camera; its overall size allows room for an enormous viewfinder, good-sized battery and abundant external controls.

We’ve only had the G9 for a few days, and so we’ve not had time to fully evaluate all of the G9’s new features in-depth. For now, we remain impressed with overall JPEG image quality, video autofocus performance looks to be improved and the image stabilizer is really something you have to see to believe.

The G9 continues to use the same Four Thirds 20.3MP sensor as the GH5.

With the same mechanical shutter as the GH5, it offers 9 fps burst shooting with what should be similar (read: very good) autofocus performance at 9 fps, but we’re really looking forward to doing some sports testing at the full 20 fps with electronic shutter. We have to admit we’re also curious how the new V-rated SD cards holds up to the CFast and XQD slots in high-end sports DSLRs.

There will always be folks that will have a hard time seeing past the Four Thirds sensor in the G9, relative to APS-C and full-frame offerings. But the G9 nonetheless comes with incredible image stabilization, high shooting speed, high quality 4K video and compact-yet-high-quality lens offerings (all of which are made possible, or at least easier, with the smaller Four Thirds sensor). For this, we think the G9 represents a compelling option for professional photographers needing all of the capability, customizability and resilience they can get in a smaller package than many competitors are able to offer.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Not your typical superzoom: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV gallery and impressions

14 Sep

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Immediately after its announcement in New York, we got a chance to shoot with the latest addition to Sony’s RX series, the long zoom, fast shooting, 4K-capable RX10 IV.

The first thing that becomes apparent is that the addition of phase detection immediately sets right the biggest limitation we experienced with its predecessor. Even across a range of shooting subjects, the autofocus was fast and exhibited vey little in the way of hunting.

Shooting at 24 frames per second you get used to going a little easy on the shutter button

Shooting at 24 frames per second you get used to going a little easy on the shutter button: hold it down for too long and, especially if you’re shooting Raw, you can expect to be locked out of the menu for a considerable period of time. Like recent Sony models, you can now enter playback mode while waiting for the buffer to clear, and the camera will show you the images it’s had time to process.

Intelligently, the camera groups all the shots from a burst together, meaning your card doesn’t become impossible to navigate, even if it’s full of groups of >30 image bursts. As you scroll through, you can hit the center button to expand the group and see the individual images.

Shooting sports

Overall, the camera is extremely responsive. The viewfinder doesn’t give you updates quite as immediately as looking through an optical viewfinder but it’s fast enough that, with a bit of practice, I was able to follow the relatively unpredictable action of a football (soccer) game, even when fairly zoomed-in.

The touchscreen isn’t the most responsive we’ve encountered but felt quicker than the one on the a6500. Tap quickly around the screen and you’ll notice the AF point will sometimes noticeably lag behind your current location, but this lag is much less apparent in touchpad mode. Touching the active region of the rear screen causes the AF point to light up and it follows your finger’s movement around the scene quickly enough.

We totally forgot we weren’t shooting with a high-end sports camera

Focus tracking also seemed pretty effective and, between the ability to easily register a default AF point (with a different one selected for each camera orientation) and use the touchpad to move it, it proved to be pretty quick and easy to get the AF point where it was needed before hammering on a button assigned to be AF-On.

There wasn’t time to completely familiarize ourselves with the full capability of the autofocus system but we’ll be testing it more thoroughly as soon as we get a camera into the office. We’ll also try to post some video samples in the coming days.

First impressions

Our first impressions, though, were that anyone getting outraged by the camera’s not inconsiderable price should try shooting with the camera for a while. Even in an initial phase of getting to know the camera, we’d find we totally forgot we weren’t shooting with a high-end sports camera, only to occasionally be surprised when we took it away from our eye and realized it doesn’t have pro-DSLR levels of direct settings control. This isn’t something that tends to happen with a typical superzoom.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Fujifilm X-E3 First Impressions Review

07 Sep

The Fujifilm X-E3 is a 24MP mid-level APS-C mirrorless camera, designed as a smaller, more touchscreen-driven sister model to the SLR-like X-T20.

In terms of their internal hardware and specifications, the two cameras are very similar, but the X-E3 relies more heavily on its touch panel for moment-to-moment operation, as well as retaining a more rangefinder-like form factor.

It’s slightly smaller than the previous X-E models, with the removal of the four-way controller and built-in flash allowing the body to be made a little lighter and more compact. A clip-on flash is included in the box, but it’s a simple affair with no tilt or swivel capability to compensate for the decision to make it a separate component.

Key Features

24MP APS-C sensor with X-Trans color filter
Improved AF tracking
Wi-Fi with Bluetooth for constant connection to a smartphone
Shutter speed and exposure comp dials
Twin clickable command dials
AF Joystick
4K (UHD) video at 30, 25, 24 and 23.97p
USB Charging

The more advanced use of the touchscreen, with directional swipes of the finger replacing the role of the four-way controller, pinch to zoom in playback and the option to use the screen as an AF touchpad when the camera’s to your eye doesn’t come at the expense of physical controls for all the main exposure settings.

The X-E3 also becomes the first Fujifilm model to gain Bluetooth, which establishes a full-time connection between the camera and a smartphone, allowing instant transfer of images as you shoot them. [or faster re-connection of Wi-Fi if you’re just choosing to send selected images]

The company also says it has improved its AF Tracking algorithm so that it can track smaller and faster subjects. Fujifilm say this improved algorithm will also come to the X-T2, X-T20, X100F and X-Pro2 in fimrware updates in November and December 2017.

	Fujifilm X-E3	Fujifilm X-T20	Fujifilm X-T2	Fujifilm X-E2S
Pixel Count	24MP	24MP	24MP	16MP
Auto mode switch	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
AF Joystick	Yes	No	Yes	No
Touchscreen	Yes	Yes	No	No
AF Touchpad	Yes	No	No	No
AF points	91 or 325	91 or 325	91 or 325	49
Rear screen	Fixed	Tilt up/down	2-axis hinge	Fixed
Exposure comp. range	± 5EV	± 5EV	± 5EV	± 3EV
Viewfinder Magnification	0.62x	0.62x	0.77x	0.62x
Max frame rate (mech/e-shutter)	8/14 fps	8/14 fps	8/14 fps (11/14 with grip)	7 fps
Built-in flash	No	Yes	No	Yes
Video	Full width 4K (by Pixel Binning)	Full width 4K (by Pixel Binning)	1.17x crop 4K (by oversampling)	1080p
Log Video	No	No	Yes (over HDMI)	No
Weather sealing	No	No	Yes	No
Card slots	1 (UHS-I)	1 (UHS-I)	2 (UHS-II)	1 (UHS-I)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi with Bluetooth	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi

Kit options:

Fujifilm will offer the X-E3 in two kits, one with the excellent 18-55mm F2.8-4.0 OIS, the other with the 35mm-equivalent 23mm F2 lens. We’re particularly interested to see this second kit, as it’s a combination we particularly like. It’s also a useful option for anyone who already has an earlier generation X series camera and already owns the 18-55mm.

The camera will be available, body only, for around $ 899, with the 18-55mm kit costing $ 1299 and the 23mm kit weighing in around $ 1149, both of which represent a considerable cost saving over the cost of buying the lenses separately.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Venus Optics Laowa 15mm F2 FE Zero-D gallery and user impressions

04 Sep

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Venus Optics, a Chinese lens manufacturer established in 2013, has released several interesting manual focus lenses, but perhaps none as intriguing as the Laowa 15mm F2 FE Zero-D. This lens, for Sony Full Frame E-mount cameras, strikes a unique balance with its small size, wide field of view (110 degrees) and fast aperture. Even more impressive is its promise of almost zero distortion. Venus Optics claims that it is ‘the world’s fastest 15mm rectilinear lens for full-frame.’

See our Laowa 15mm F2 FE Zero-D gallery

At $ 850 MSRP, it’s also priced competitively. So how does it hold up in the field? Read on.

Handling

The build quality of this lens is very good. At 500 g (17.6 oz) it’s not too heavy but has some heft to balance out the weight of the camera (I shot mostly with a Sony a7R II). The body and lens mount are all made of metal, as is the accessory lens hood. In hand, it has a reassuringly dense and sturdy feel to it.

‘It has a reassuringly dense and sturdy feel to it.’

The focus ring is slightly stiffer than I’d expected, but still rotates smoothly. Perhaps with a little use, it will loosen up. A focus scale is helpful for hyperfocal focusing, but for absolute accuracy you’ll want to use the camera’s focus magnifier. I programed a button on our a7R II to this function. The focus rings turns slightly past infinity but on our copy, infinity lined up pretty closely with the center of the infinity symbol on the lens.

The Venus 15mm F2 is a nice complimentary size and weight to the a7r II.

The Venus 15mm F2 has a 72mm filter thread, which is a nice feature, especially for videographers who might want to attach a neutral density filter. Speaking of video, the lens has a toggle switch to turn on/off the click stops on the aperture ring.

Only full stop apertures are marked on the ring and there are no click stops for third stops. However, you can still set the aperture in between the full stops. One major drawback of this lens is the lack of electronic contacts, meaning no EXIF data is communicated to the camera. Whereas some manual focus lenses will automatically bring up focus assist when the ring is turned, this 15mm will not.

Image quality

Distortion is very well-controlled.

As the name would suggest, distortion on this lens is VERY well controlled, though not quite ‘zero’ as there is a tiny bit of barrel distortion. Still, this is an excellent choice for architectural or interior photography. It also focuses quite close: 15cm (6 in).

Even when shooting wide open, this lens is impressively sharp dead center. And by F4-5.6 it’s sharp throughout the whole field of view. In general, I found it to offer the best results between F4-8 ; as we’d expect, diffraction becomes an issue at F11 and beyond.

The 7-blade aperture results in sun stars like the one above.

Flare is well controlled and while lateral chromatic aberration is present in some of the sample photos, it’s easily correctable. The Venus 15mm uses a 7-blade aperture resulting in sun stars that look pretty good – see the example above.

If you’re planning to use this lens predominantly for landscape work, it’s worth noting there is moderate vignetting throughout the aperture range. You can see an example of this in our aperture progression at the end of the sample gallery.

As well as stills work, this is an excellent lens for videographers, thanks again to its almost non-existent barrel distortion and the versatility of its fast maximum aperture of F2.

Takeaway

The Venus Laowa 15mm F2 FE Zero-D is a great lens for a variety of applications, if you don’t mind manual focus and the lack of electronic communication with your camera. Sharp, fast, light and wide, it is capable of outstanding results, especially once stopped down a little.

What I like:

Distortion is very well controlled
Fast, wide and reasonably small
Good build quality
Sharp, even wide open
15cm (6 in) minimum focus distance
72mm filter thread

What I don’t:

No electronic communication so no EXIF info
Vignettes moderately throughout aperture range

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon D850 First Impressions Review

25 Aug

Nikon D850 preview

The Nikon D850 is Nikon’s latest high resolution full-frame DSLR, boasting a 46MP backside-illuminated CMOS sensor. But, in a fairly radical departure for the series, it is also one of the company’s fastest-shooting DSLRs. This combination of properties should significantly widen the camera’s appeal to high-end enthusiasts as well as a broad range of professional photographers.

Key Specifications:

45.7MP BSI CMOS sensor
7 fps continuous shooting with AE/AF (9 with battery grip and EN-EL18b battery)
153-point AF system linked to 180,000-pixel metering system
UHD 4K video capture at up to 30p from full sensor width
1080 video at up to 120p, recorded as roughly 1/4 or 1/5th speed slow-mo
4:2:2 8-bit UHD uncompressed output while recording to card
1 XQD slot and 1 UHS II-compliant SD slot
Battery life rated at 1840 shots
3.2″ tilting touchscreen with 2.36M-dot (1024×768 pixel) LCD
Illuminated controls
19.4MP DX crop (or 8.6MP at 30fps for up to 3 sec)
SnapBridge full-time Bluetooth LE connection system with Wi-Fi
Advanced time-lapse options (including in-camera 4K video creation)

High resolution

The use of a backside illuminated (BSI) sensor means that the light collecting elements of the sensor are closer to the surface of the chip. This should not only increase the efficiency of the sensor (improving low light performance) but should also be expected to make the pixels near the edges of the sensor better able to accept light approaching with high angles of incidence, improving peripheral image quality.

Like the D810 before it, the D850 continues to offer an ISO 64 mode, that allows it to tolerate more light in bright conditions. We will be testing whether this gives the D850 the same dynamic range advantage as the D810, as soon as a production version arrives but our initial quick looks suggests it does, meaning it should be able to compete with the medium format sensors used in the likes of the Fujifilm GFX 50S and Pentax 645Z.

A BSI sensor with ISO 64 setting should be able to match the D810’s low ISO DR while also offering improved performance in at high ISOs.

And, while the D850 still hasn’t got an electronic first curtain option to ensure stable shooting when using the viewfinder (you need to use live view or Mirror-up mode). However, presumably thanks to a redesigned shutter and mirror mechanism, our quick check with a pre-production model suggests shutter shock may not be an issue, even without it.

The D850 has no anti-aliasing filter, which should allow for slightly finer detail capture but with added risk of moiré, if any of your lenses are sharp enough to out-resolve a 45.7MP full-frame sensor. There’s still no sign of the clever design Nikon patented so, unlike the Pentax K-1 or Sony RX1R II, you can’t engage an anti-aliasing effect if you do find false color appearing in densely patterned areas.

High Speed

In addition to the increased speed, the D850 also gains the full AF capabilities of the company’s flagship sports camera: the D5. This includes all the hardware: AF module, metering sensor and dedicated AF processor, as well as the full range of AF modes and configuration options, which should translate to comparable focus performance combined with high resolution.

Given the D5 possessed one of the best AF systems we’ve ever seen and could continue to offer that performance in a wide range of conditions and shooting scenarios with minimal need for configuration, this is an exciting prospect.

As part of this system, the D850 gains the automated system for setting an AF Fine Tune value. It only calibrates the lens based on the central AF point and for a single distance, but it’s a simple way to ensure you’re getting closer to your lenses’ full capabilities, which is handy given you’ll now be able to scrutinize their performance with 46MP of detail.


Add the optional MB-D18 battery grip and an EN-EL18b battery, and the D850 will shoot at 9 frames per second.

Impressively, the D850 can shoot at nine frames per second if you add the optional MB-D18 battery grip and buy an EN-EL18b battery, as used in the D5. As well as increasing the camera’s burst rate, this combination also ups the battery life to a staggering 5140 shots per charge. You don’t get this same boost in speed or endurance if you use a second EN-EL15a in the grip, though.

An MB-D18 plus an EN-EL18b is likely to set you back over $ 580 over and above the cost of the camera body ($ 399 for the grip, around $ 149 for the battery, $ 30 for the BL-6 battery chamber cover plus the cost of a charger).

The D850 also includes a sufficiently deep buffer to allow fifty-one 14-bit losslessly compressed Raw files, meaning the majority of photographers are unlikely to hit its limits.

Video capabilities

In terms of video the D850 becomes the first Nikon DSLR to capture 4K video from the full width of its sensor. The camera can shoot at 30, 25 or 24p, at a bitrate of around 144 Mbps. It can simultaneously output uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit UHD to an external recorder while recording to the card. Our initial impression is that the video is pixel-binned, rather than being resolved then downsampled (oversampling), but we’ll be checking on this as part of the review process. This risks lowering the level of detail capture and increases the risk of moiré, though it’s a better solution than line-skipping. There also seemed to be a fair amount of rolling shutter, but again these are only first impressions from a camera running non-final firmware.

At 1080 resolution, the camera can shoot at up to 60p, with a slow-mo mode that can capture at 120 frames per second before outputting at either 25 or 24p. The 1080 mode also offers focus peaking and digital stabilization, neither of which are available for 4K shooting.

The D850’s tilting rear screen will make video shooting easier, though we doubt many will use its contrast-detection tap-to-focus system when they do.

The D850 doesn’t have any Log gamma options for high-end videographers, but it does have the ‘Flat’ Picture Profile to squeeze a little extra dynamic range into its footage, without adding too much to the complexity of grading. It also offers full Auto ISO with exposure compensation when shooting in manual exposure mode, meaning you can set your aperture value and shutter speed, and let the camera try to maintain that brightness by varying the sensitivity.

As you’d expect from a camera at this level, the D850 also includes the Power Aperture feature that allows the camera to open and close the lens iris smoothly when in live view mode. There’s also an ‘Attenuator’ mode for the camera’s audio capture, that rolls-off any loud noises to avoid unpleasant clipping sounds.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Olympus Tough TG-5 Waterproof Paddling Camera – First Impressions

23 Aug

A few weeks ago I upgraded my paddling camera to waterproof and rugged Olympus Stylus TG-5 . It’s the follow-up to the Olympus STYLUS Tough TG-4 and features a new sensor and processor (but reduced resolution), advanced tracking capabilities, 4K […]
paddling with a camera

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New gear and impressions: Peak Design’s ‘Leash’ shoulder and ‘Cuff’ wrist strap

10 Aug

The new Peak Design Cuff in the ‘ash’ color (top) and new Peak Design Leash in the ‘black on black’ color (bottom). The addition of metal hardware to both these products is a major part of the update, though I personal prefer plastic hardware because it won’t scratch my camera.

I’ve long admired Peak Design products because they offer an elegant and simple solution to the chore that is removing and replacing one’s camera strap, something I do a lot of working at DPReview.

The ‘secret sauce’ of the Peak Design system is what the company calls ‘Anchor Links,’ which are small loops of incredibly strong cord connected to a circular plastic anchor. The cord threads through a camera’s eyelet and the anchor attaches to a Peak Design shoulder or wrist strap.

The company’s Leash (camera strap) and Cuff (wrist strap) have been available for a while, but this update should offer some nice improvements to two already well-thought-out products.

What’s new

Both products have been re-worked for a more low profile design, and feature machine anodized aluminum hardware. The strap portion is still made out of ultra strong seatbelt-style nylon.
The Anchor Links have also been redesigned: The cord portion has been reduced to half the thickness for easier threading through narrow eyelets, but still holds up to 200 lbs like the older anchors. The plastic portion of the anchor is now angled for easier connecting.
A new aluminum anchor mount (included with leash) can be connected to a tripod socket allowing you to wear your camera more comfortably as a sling.
The updated Leash gains a second length adjuster. The hardware for the adjuster is now made of aluminum instead of plastic, and the adjuster has a leather strip for easy access.
The Cuff gains a new aluminum adjustment mechanism. There’s also a built in magnet in the leather portion of the strap for storing as a bracelet when a camera is not attached.
New color options: In addition to ‘black on black’, there is now an ‘ash’ color option which features tan leather accents and silver aluminum.

Impressions: the Leash

The new and improved Leash, in use. To remove the strap, simply press on the circular portion of the anchor and slide it up.

In my seven or so years writing about cameras, it brings a small tear to my eye to think about the cumulative hours spent fumbling to remove and replace camera straps. If only I’d started using Peak Design accessories sooner.

I’ve been using the updated version of the Leash for about a month now as my primary camera-reviewing strap and it’s largely been a good experience. Peak Design sent several of their new Anchor Links along with the review samples and I’ve been able to keep them on the different cameras I’ve been juggling. The Leash ships with four of these little connectors, and an additional 4 will set you back $ 20.

The old Anchor Links (left) and the newly-designed ones. Both have the same weight limit.

As mentioned above, the Anchor Links have been redesigned to play nice with narrow eyelets. Still, I ran into several occasions in which I struggled to affix them to certain cameras. Ultimately with the help of a push pin, I found success.

Back to the strap itself: I’m quite fond of the width of the Leash. Thick straps tend to get in my way and irritate my neck. And the nylon material of the Leash seems reassuringly strong.

That said, in general I found the strap too slippery. Sometimes I like to bike with a camera slung around my back. I could not do this with the Leash because my camera kept sliding forward. Simply put, the Leash could definitely benefit from some sort of grip or padding.

It’s nice to have two points of adjustment though (the previous version had one). However I can’t help but feel like the leather strip connected to the buckle – meant for easy adjustments – is over-engineered. Grabbing the buckle alone seems like an adequate method of adjusting. Furthermore, the leather strip makes loosening the strap easy, but tightening the strap is another story.

After a fair trial, I do not think I would purchase a Leash to use on my personal camera. More likely: I will consider Frankenstein-ing my current leather strap to use Peak Design’s Anchor Links and Strap Connectors for easy removable.

Impressions: the Cuff

I had less opportunity to try out the Cuff (I’ve been testing cameras too large to warrant a wrist strap), but I did spend a little time with it on a Ricoh GR as well as a Leica M6. And my impressions of it are almost entirely positive.

The leather portion of the Cuff hides a small magnet that can be moved up around. Why? So that when you are not using the Cuff, you can easily store it out of the way as a bracelet. The Cuff also features a new aluminum adjuster. It simply slides up and down, but works as intended.

When not using the Cuff, it can be folded up and worn like a bracelet. This keeps it out of the way, but at hand, until it is needed again.

One issue I did encounter while testing the Cuff is the nylon loop on the Anchor Links can feel too short, forcing you to grip the Anchor Connector along with the camera (see image below). Peak Design, if you are reading this, pretty please offer an Anchor Link with a longer cord.

I wish the cord on the Anchor Links were longer to avoid getting in the way of gripping the camera.

The Cuff may be a tad overkill for a camera as small and light as the Ricoh GR (shown above) but proved appropriate for shooting with a Leica M6 + 40mm Rokkor combo. It also looked darn nice attached to the latter.

Conclusion

Overall, as far as quick attaching strap systems go, I’ve yet to find one I like better. Both of these products are well-made and seem both reliable and durable. Though there are aspects of the Leash I still feel could be improved upon, the Cuff is one of the best-engineered and nicest-looking wrist straps I’ve used.

Overall, as far as quick attaching strap systems go, I’ve yet to find one I prefer more. Both these products are well-made and seem both reliable and durable.

The original Leash and Cuff retailed for $ 20 and $ 35 respectably. The new versions are $ 30 and $ 40. For a decent camera strap, $ 40 does not strike me as outrageous, but $ 30 for a wrist strap is certainly on the pricey side. Ultimately, I think I could justify the latter purchase, because there really isn’t any wrist strap quite like the updated Leash (especially the magnet bit). And the ‘ash’ color option sure looks fly. I’ll probably skip the Leash though.

What I like about the system:

Peak Design’s Anchor Links make it simple to remove and replace a strap
The cord portion of the Anchor Links is now narrower than before for cameras with small eyelets
New ‘Ash’ colorway is quite sharp-looking

What I didn’t like about the system:

Metal hardware on a shoulder/wrist strap can scratch your camera
The loop on Anchors Link is too short, gets in the way of gripping some cameras

I am not a fan of the new easy-grip strap adjusters on the Leash. They make it easy to loosen to the strap but difficult to tighten it.

What I like about the Leash:

Narrow strap with mostly low-profile design stays out of the way when shooting
Two strap adjustments points

What I didn’t like about the Leash:

Leash has has no grip to stop it from sliding or padding for shoulder
Leash quick adjusters feel over-engineered and have difficult time tightening the strap

The Cuff in ‘ash’ has a classy look.

What I like about the Cuff:

Movable magnet in Cuff is a nice touch, makes it easy to store wrist strap as bracelet when not in use
New strap adjuster is simple but effective way to tighten or loosen the Cuff