Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Pentax just announced the HD PENTAX-D FA 70–210mm F4 ED SDM WR Pentax K-mount lens. For Pentax APS-C cameras that is equivalent to 107–322mm. The lens will start shipping mid-March with a price tag of $1100.
Pentax informs us that this is a compact, lightweight and weather-resistant telephoto zoom lens for use with 35mm-format full-frame digital SLR providing great portability.
It was recently rumoured that Laowa was getting ready to announce their 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens on three new mounts. Specifically, the APS-C formats for Sony E, Canon EF-M and Fuji X. There was no news about when, just that they’d been spotted on Weibo.
The Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens has been out for Micro Four Thirds since August last year, and at a hair under $200, it’s an absolute bargain. The new mounts for Sony, Canon and Fuji retain the same price, and shipping now.
I see a lot of jibs, sliders, cranes and other doohickies appear across my screen as new gear is announced. Other than the ridiculous ones they use in Hollywood, not many of them grab my attention. But Edelkrone’s new JibONE certainly has. On first glance, it looks much like any other mini-jib for your camera, except that it has Edelkrone written on it. But this one also has built-in motors and can be controlled via your phone.
Zero Zero Robotics, creators of Hover2 – “The Drone that Flies Itself” (and the original Hover), has just announced their new V-Coptr Falcon. It’s a bi-copter drone (2 arms, 2 propellers) which offers up to an amazing 50 minutes of flight time on a single battery charge. It’s a very unique design, inspired by the Boeing V-22 Osprey military aircraft. It’s compact, foldable, and they’re claiming it as the “world’s first” v-shaped drone with only 2 propellers.
Sony has announced the GP-VPT2BT Wireless Shooting Grip. Don’t get too excited, this isn’t a “grip” in the traditional sense that allows you to more easily shoot portrait orientation without contorting your arms. This is sort of like an advanced mini tripod. It’s not a new concept, and Sony has had the GP-VPT1 out for a while now, but the GP-VPT2BT takes this to the next level with built-in Bluetooth for controlling your camera remotely.
It’s been a while since Paul C Buff has really released anything new. Sure, they announced the “DigiBee” back in 2016, but that was more of a refresh of the old AlienBees than an entirely new product, swapping out the modelling light for an LED, and it was still pretty limited in capability. You still needed power from the wall (or a portable mains inverter), you still couldn’t do HSS, and it still required a separate radio transceiver.
Now, though, Paul C Buff has announced its new LINK strobe, an 800Ws strobe which features TTL, High Speed Sync, and a built-in wireless transceiver. It looks like PCB is finally moving into the 21st century.
Way back in 2016 at Photokina we saw one of the craziest looking drones we’ve ever seen. It looked like a giant egg – hence the name PowerEgg. Created by PowerVision, it offered a very unique design, but it didn’t seem to really take off (pun unintended). It looked like a great performer, but it was beaten out on convenience by the then-tiny Mavic Pro.
Now, PowerVision is back, with the PowerEggX. It’s a follow-up to the original, and comes in two different models. There’s the Explorer and the Wizard, with the latter designed to film in the rain, thanks to a waterproof housing, and with the included floats, you can even take off from or land the drone on water. Both shoot 4K 60fps video with a 3-axis gimbal, with a heavy emphasis on AI tracking.
Well, this one’s come just in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, huh? While Canon seems to be dumping EF, Nikon isn’t abandoning the F mount.
Nikon has now announced their new AF-S 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR lens, costing a whopping $9,496.95. It looks like an absolute monster of a lens, but ideally suited to shooting the kinds of sports they’re going to be having in Tokyo this year, as well as all the usual sporting events.
Well, this is one all the Z mount shooters have been waiting for. Nikon has now finally announced the Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S for Nikon Z mount mirrorless cameras. And, surprisingly, it’s $200 cheaper than the F mount version for Nikon DSLRs.
Techart seems to be driven by letting photographers put as many different types of lenses on their cameras as possible, and right now they’re focusing on Z mount. After releasing the Sony E lens to Nikon Z mount adapter a few months ago, they’ve taken aim towards the Canon EF lenses, and have just announced their new TZC-01 adapter, which allows you to mount those Canon EF lenses onto the Nikon Z cameras.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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