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Cosina has officially announced the Voigtlander NOKTON 60mm f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds

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This one’s been anticipated for a while now, with lots of hushed talk and whispers whenever its name was mentioned. But it’s finally official. Cosina has now announced the new super-bright aperture Voigtlander NOKTON 60mm f/0.95mm lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras.

On the Micro Four Thirds cameras for which it is intended, it offers a field of view equivalent to that of 120mm focal length on a full-frame body. As such, it’s designed primarily for portraits, and should offer a look with depth of field similar to something like the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art, but with a slightly tighter field of view. Of course, it has an extra stop and a bit of brightness over f/1.4 for shooting in lower light conditions or at lower ISO to reduce noise.

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Samyang has announced two low budget 14mm f/2.8 and 85mm f/1.4 RF lenses for Canon EOS R mirrorless

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Samyang has announced two new manual focus lenses for use on the Canon EOS R. EOS RP and future RF mount cameras. Taking two wild extremes, one is an ultrawide Samyang RF 14mm f/2.8 full frame lens offering a 116° field of view. The other is the Samyang RF 85mm f/1.4 lens, aimed squarely at portrait shooters.

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How manual-focus and vintage lenses made me a better photographer

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I have been a commercial and wedding photographer for over 13 years. And from the beginning, I have been using Canon DSLR cameras and a variety of auto-focus lenses for the Canon EF system.

Switching to another camera system/brand did cross my mind because I made a substantial investment into lenses for the Canon system. Meanwhile I have gathered over 15 EF and EF-S lenses.

But in 2016 I decided to try a mirrorless camera and bought a SONY A7 r-II.

Because lens adapters exist that allow me to use my existing Canon glass on a Sony mirrorless camera I did neither plan nor anticipate that I will buy lenses especially for the SONY system. At least that was the plan.

But little did I know…

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Samyang announces 50mm f/1.2 adding to “XPert” lens series for Canon

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Samyang has now officially announced their new XP 50mm f/1.2 lens. It’s the third in the “XPert” series designed specifically for full frame Canon EF users. It adds to the XP 24mm f/2.4 and XP 85mm f/1.2 announced last September. Unlike the 24mm f/2.8 EF lens announced last month, this is a manual focus lens, to match rest of the XP series.

Designed to take advantage of 50MP+ and 8K resolutions, the XP line is built for premium quality. It houses 11 elements in 8 groups, with ultra multi-coatings to minimise distortion, aberration, flare and ghosting. 9 aperture blades help to create pleasing out of focus “bokeh” with that bright, wide, f/1.2 maximum aperture.

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How zone focusing will help you to get better street photography

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Zone focusing is a term that often seems to confuse people. But if you don’t know what it is, then it’s quite easy to understand why. It’s a common technique for a lot of subjects, and particularly for street photography. I often use it myself because it means I can just raise my camera, take the shot and know it’s in focus where it needs to be.

This video from photographer David Coleman explains exactly what zone focusing is, with several ways to implement it in your shoot workflow. Once mastered, it can be a fantastic way to let you shoot with confidence on the street, just knowing that your subject is in focus.

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4 ways to keep your subject sharp and in focus when shooting video

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When you’re a one man video shooting band, keeping your subject sharp and in focus can be a huge pain. If you don’t have a focus puller following you around, or fancy remote control focus systems, it’s a constant struggle. That’s why we often see cameras locked off on tripods and sliders with static subjects that rarely move.

But there are some techniques you can use to keep your subject sharp and in focus when filming solo. Filmmaker Parker Walbeck demonstrates some of these techniques in this recently video. None of these techniques are always perfect, though, and Parker talks about the advantages and disadvantages of each.

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3 tools to help you get super sharp manual focus shots

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Last week we covered three of the main tips to bear in mind when trying to get sharper manual focus images. Ambient lighting, contrasting elements to focus on and actual focusing technique. Although all of these tips are essential in giving us the best possible chance to get more of our manual focus shots pin-sharp, there are still going to be times when we need a little helping hand to consistently nail those manual focus images.

So even though manual focusing is a pain you’ll be pleased to hear that there are a few additional tools available out there that are designed to help us nail that focus even in the worst possible circumstances.

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Tips on Getting Sharper Images with Manual Focus Lenses

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Ever since Leica presented a camera at the 1976 Photokina with working automated focusing, autofocus technology has taken leaps and bounds in its advancement. Today’s autofocus cameras are nothing short of miraculous to the point at which it’s hard to imagine where the advancement can go from here. But photographers didn’t always have focusing this easy.

This article aims to provide you with three key areas that if followed correctly should practically guarantee nailing pin-sharp manual focus shots in no time.

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