Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Earlier this month, Sigma announced its new 16-28mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens. One of the features is that it features internal zoom and focus mechanisms, so it doesn’t change length when zooming or focusing.
If you’ve been wondering how it works and what it looks like on the inside, Sigma has a video for you. It shows a cross-section of the lens, all of its elements, and its internal zoom mechanism.
Well, we can see now why the A6400’s back in production, huh? Sony has just announced three new APS-C E-Mount lenses to go with it. First up, there’s the Sony E PZ 10-20mm f/4 G which Sony claims is “the world’s smallest and lightest, ultra-wide angle, constant f/4 APS-C power zoom lens” – of course, such claims from Sony usually come with a caveat or two.
As well as the zoom there are also two new prime lenses, the Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G and the ultra-wide Sony E 11mm f/1.8. This brings Sony’s E-Mount lens lineup count to a total of 70 different lenses for stills, video and hybrid shooters.
Sigma has today announced the 16-28mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as it was rumoured a week ago that that was exactly what they would be announcing and the short Sigma Stage briefing shows that it was all they were planning to announce today. Well, now it’s official and it’s being released this month.
They say that the new 16-28mm f/2.8 DG DN lens is a “perfect companion” to its 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens. There’s no 70-200mm to complete the trio yet, but there are rumours that it’ll be coming towards the end of the year. For now, though, let’s look at the 16-28mm f/2.8 DG DN.
The lens shown off on the Laowa stand last July at a photography show in Shanghai, China is now official. Venus Optics has today announced the Laowa 24mm T14 2x Periprobe lens, which takes the original 24mm f/14 and T14 probe lenses and extends them with more versatility, thanks to a new 90° periscope like tip on the end that lets you shoot at right angles to the plane of the camera sensor.
The lens is also modular, allowing you to swap out the 90° module for a direct view module, allowing you to use it in the same way as the previous probe lens. But the newest iteration allows you to shoot shots and get angles with camera movements that have previously been impossible. The tip also features a 1/4-20″ threaded socket on the end for attaching accessories such as extra lighting.
Sigma has scheduled a live Sigma Stage event on their YouTube channel for June 1st. The video description says that there are “new products” (plural) on the way. According to the official announcement on the Sigma Global website, however, the event is scheduled to only last for 30 minutes. So, if it is going to be multiple products, they’re probably going to be rushing through them quite quickly and I doubt there’ll be anything groundbreaking.
I wouldn’t expect any new camera announcements for this one, although it has been rumoured that Sigma is getting ready to announce a new Sigma 16-28mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens for Leica L and Sony E mount camera systems. So, I think that one’s probably a safe bet. If there’s anything else, it’ll probably be something relatively minor.
Lomography’s Art Lens series has grown with the addition of the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 lens in both Onyx Black and Silver Graphite finishes. The lens was first launched by Lomography back in 2016 via Kickstarter and now it’s a regular fixture in the lineup for a price of just $299. It’s their take on the historic lens that came at the creation of practical photography in 1938 with the combination of the Chevalier Achromat Lens attached to a Daguerreotype camera.
The lens is said to have a “series of beautiful aberrations” that “bathed images in an alluring veil of light” creating glazy, soft images at wide apertures. Lomography’s original release of this lens helped to revive the lost aesthetic. At a focal length of 64mm, the lens goes from silky soft-focus images wide open at f/2.9 to razor-sharp from f/5.6 onwards.
Tokina has announced the new Tokina SZ 33mm f/1.2 lens for Fujifilm X and Sony E mount APS-C cameras. The manual focus offers a field of view similar to that of a 50mm lens on a full-frame body with a wide and bright f/1.2 aperture for shallow depth of field and low light shooting conditions. As well as manual focus, the lens also features a manual aperture ring to help keep it down to a budget-friendly price.
Tokina bills the lens as being ideal for landscapes, street photography, portraits and nighttime photography, and is a third of a stop faster than the Tokina ATX-M 33mm f/1.4 it replaces in the lineup. Despite trying to keep the price as low as possible, though, it’s a little bit more expensive than its predecessor.
Venus Optics has announced a new line of low budget lightweight 1.5x anamorphic prime lenses for EF and PL mount cameras as well as seven different mirrorless mounts. It’s called the Nanomorph series and consists of 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4 and 50mm T2.4 1.5x anamorphic lenses. Interestingly, they’re available with a choice of “flare options” – amber or blue – letting you choose your desired look.
They claim to be the “world’s tiniest anamorphic lenses” and in mirrorless form, they are. The Canon EF/PL mount versions are a little larger and heavier, but not by much. In total, they’re available for nine different camera mount systems and the mounts are user interchangeable (but there’s a caveat that we’ll get to down below).
TTArtisan has released their new 50mm f/0.95 lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras. Like most of TTArtisan’s lenses, this is a manual focus lens and when used on an APS-C body, it offers a field of view equivalent to that of a 75mm lens on a full-frame body. The fast f/0.95 aperture allows for shooting in very low light conditions. It also offers a very shallow depth of field that’s particularly well suited to portraits.
For APS-C mirrorless cameras, this low-budget $218 lens is available in Fuji X, Sony E and Nikon Z mounts. There’s also a Micro Four Thirds version, which gives the equivalent field of view to that of 100mm on full-frame due to the 2x crop factor of the MFT system. From looking at the product page on the TTArtisan website, it appears versions will also come for Canon EF-M and RF mounts as well as L mount.
Vazen has unveiled their new 135mm T2.8 1.8x anamorphic lens for full-frame cameras in EF and PL mount. This completes their 3-lens 1.8x full-frame anamorphic lineup adding to the Vazen 85mm T2.8 1.8x anamorphic full-frame lens announced in August 2020 and the Vazen 50mm T2.1 1.8x anamorphic full-frame lens announced last May.
As with Vazen’s previous full-frame 1.8x anamorphic lenses, this one’s not cheap, coming in at the same $8,000 price tag as the last two, although you can buy the complete set of three in a nice custom hard case for the bargain price of $19,999 (a $4,001 discount). If you’ve already bought some, though and end up getting the 135 to complete your set, the case is available separately for $300.
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