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Specs released for Aputure’s new 100D/X and 200D/X LED lights – shipping starts next week

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Yup, the pre-order’s over. Aputure’s new Amaran 100D, 100X, 200D and 200X LED lights are now available to just go and buy. And they’ve released the complete and final specs for all four of the units now, too. Also, the first reviews of the new lights are out, and we’ve included one below.

There are essentially two different powers (100W and 200W) available in two different colour varieties. The “D” flavour lights, available in both powers, are daylight balanced, whereas the “X” versions (also available in both powers) is a bicolour, allowing you to switch between tungsten and daylight at will.

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Sony has officially announced its new 35mm f/1.4 G Master lens

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Sony has officially announced its new wide-angle full-frame 35mm f/1.4 G Master lens for the Sony EF mirrorless mount – what Sony describes as a “small, bright 35 for breathtaking images” which incorporates “Sony’s most advanced technology”.

It will be a welcome addition to Sony’s lineup for those whose f/1.4 options thus far have been only the Sony Zeiss Distagon T FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA, with a price towards which the new sony leans, or the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art series lens which is a DSLR lens retrofitted to fit on Sony mirrorless cameras.

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The first review of the Godox AD100Pro shows a versatile flash, but it’s not for everybody

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The Godox flash lineup is ever-expanding. It’s just something we’ve come to expect now. But when they recently announced the new Godox AD100Pro, it made a lot of people go “huh?” [insert John C. Riley gif here]. What was the point? Can’t we already do this with the Godox V1? Or the AD200 with the H200R round head? What’s the benefit?

Well, yeah, kinda. But also no. In this video, Rob Hall goes through just about every feature and detail you could possibly want to know about the Godox AD100Pro and… well, when you watch it, the existence of this light and why you might want one or several in your bag actually starts to make sense – at least for some shooters.

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Vivo teams up with Zeiss for upcoming X60 Pro+ smartphone cameras

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Well, it looks like Huawei’s not the only one with high photographic sights as smartphone manufacturer Vivo has also announced a partnership with Zeiss for camera development in their new X60 series. There will be three models in the X60 series – the regular X60, the X60 Pro and the X60 Pro+.

The first two smartphones have already made their public debut, but the third has not. Allegedly leaked renders found online, however, suggest that the X60 Pro+ may feature a quad-camera unit, bearing that famous Zeiss logo.

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The price of Capture One for Sony, Fuji and Nikon has indeed gone up from $129 to $199

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A few days ago, an apparently leaked press release from Capture One indicated that the price of their software would be going up. And now, it’s official. The prices of Capture One for Sony, Fuji and Nikon have all increased from their previous price of $129 up to a $199 – a whopping 54% increase.

While the price has indeed gone up, it apparently comes with the benefit of “2 seats” (meaning you can install it on two machines), but from looking at the Capture One website a few days ago, they’d already implemented that at the lower price. I’m not sure it’s even worth them pursuing four separate versions at this point.

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Laowa 25mm, 33mm, 35mm, 45mm f/0.95 Argus lenses announced… maybe. Or leaked? Something

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I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with these new Laowa Argus lenses from Venus Optics, but they’ve either now officially announced their first lenses in the Laowa Argus f/0.95 lens lineup, or the information’s just leaked (as it does). Or a mix of both. I’ve yet to see an actual press release, although different websites seem to variously report their existence as either an official announcement or a leak.

Anyway, these are reportedly the images of Laowa’s upcoming Argus 25mm f/0.95 MFT lens, 33mm f/0.95 APS-C mirrorless lens and their 35mm f/0.95 and 45mm f/0.95 full-frame mirrorless lenses, along with some specs. Here’s what we know so far…

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Sony unveils first look at its new “Airpeak” drone designed to carry Alpha mirrorless cameras

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Sony’s new Airpeak drone system, first announced in November 2020, sees some new developments coming out of CES 2021 as Sony unveils a first look at the new drone, teasing some of its features and benefits. Sony says that the goal of the Airpeak brand is to further develop today’s drone technology while kicking things up a notch for professional creators.

The initial offering, which Sony describes as “the first phase of this project”, will see Sony launch a new business targeted for professional photography and video production during spring of 2021 to go along with the first new drone. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the drone is designed to carry Sony’s Alpha mirrorless cameras.

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Olympus OM-D Webcam Beta software stopped working on January 1st – Fix coming soon

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This is a strange one. Apparently, the Olympus OM-D Webcam Beta software that Olympus released to allow you to use your Olympus OM-D mirrorless camera as a USB webcam has ceased to function. As of January 1st, 2021, it just quit working without warning. And, sure, you can change your computer’s clock to trick it, but then that can potentially cause other issues if you want to actually use it.

Olympus has acknowledged the issue and says that their R&D team have identified the problem, with a new and fixed version of the software on the way “as soon as possible”. With the transition of “OM-D” from Olympus to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), though, who knows how long this may take. And who even owns the rights to the software anymore?

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Is 645 medium format film really better than 35mm? Well, yeah. It is.

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I still shoot quite a bit of film when the opportunity allows, and when I do, I still primarily tend to reach for a 35mm. It’s not that it’s the best, or even just the best suited to what I want to shoot, but it’s convenient. The 35mm film SLRs I use the most are all Nikon F mount bodies, letting me use most of the lenses I also own for my DSLRs. But medium format definitely has it’s benefits.

In this video, photographer Kyle McDougall looks at the overall thought process behind using 645 medium format instead of your standard 3:2 ratio 35mm film, as well as some of the objective benefits and drawbacks to the larger format.

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Smartphones with a new 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL sensor reported to be coming soon

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According to a report on GizChina, Samsung is gearing up to launch “many innovative sensors” during the course of 2021, including a new 200(ish)-megapixel sensor intended for smartphone use. The information was posted originally by Twitter use Ice universe, who has been known for posting reliable information in the past when it comes to smartphone tech and smartphone camera sensors.

It’s been suggested that the 200-megapixel sensor will actually be 216-megapixels, given that the current model 108-megapixel sensor is often referred to as simply 100-megapixels. And then there’s that 600-megapixel smartphone sensor Samsung has already confirmed they’re working on.

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