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Year in Review: Lens

all right, so we're going to buy lenses as well. We don't know. Just get too sidetracked with cameras because a lot of stuff going on in the lens spirit. Some of it way started seeing the results this year of things that were announced last year. Sigma is the best example of that, I think. Sygma Photo Kenya Last year signal sort of offer, like a reinvention really affect consumer lens. Line up with the new range of lenses, which they classes in art class, which we've seen really impressed by this year. Yeah, on that includes the 3 18 to 35 F 1.8 zoom, which is a unfortunate We haven't got one here, but it's a lens that is designed for a PSC DSLR and is the fastest consumer grade zoom on the market with the constant F 1.8 aperture on. That just basically means it throws its throwing as much light onto the sensor as in F 2.8 lens would on a full frame sensor, um, which means you get the same control over depth of field and you get same capacity for working in light of the full frame came...

ra would offer you. It's a slightly restrictive 28 to 50 yard mill equivalent range, but just in terms of what it lets you do with Navy SC DSLR, that's that's my personal products in the year. And it's affordable, too, is not yet enormously expensive. It's I mean, it's around $900 which isn't cheap, but it's about the same price as cannon or Nickens, to 55 of two years on its stopping, stopping fast. Optically it superbly. We were very, very, very excited by that. We first heard about it, and you are testing. It's tricky to focus its 1.8 or can be, but optically when you get it right, the results are stunning. I mean, right to the corners of pretty much any aperture in any any point of Zoom. It's were actually surprised at just how consistent performance Waas way were also surprised that it wouldn't focus very well in Canon SLR with regular face a tech system. But the 70 could focus it on by imagined contrast. Detect that's the large would be able to handle it this way. But it was It's a unique lens because I don't think they've made us anyone. That's fast work. Scenic? Yeah. So signature. Being very aggressive here by offering equivalents to common kid zooms or equivalence to common step up zooms from the big names, offering them a slightly lower price. Really, really high quality. And they just announced recently that 24 to 105 left for S. O. S, which is optically stabilized. We have no reason to think that anything it'll be anything other than very impressive based on form, which is a really strong competitive to Nicholas, 24 to 1 24 and two cannons. 20. Let Quentin long in the tooth, now to Given that we're starting to see a full frame, bodies appear it's around the sort of $2000 mark three ability to get a decent lens. A useful lens range at a comparatively affordable price becomes all the more pressing. So, yeah, I think we've been impressed with the with the thing sick. Yeah, very. It seems like there's a real energy they're behind on all of their around their optical designs, which is really good to see on this. I mean that 35 minutes 1.4 we talked about earlier on. This is a lot of lessons from last year, but you know, it's stunning, and I think a lot of this year they've had they've had issues with fulfilling demand from people who yeah, it's really It's a very popular again, relatively affordable, very high quality mil prime. So whole pounds of running. It's really mean. They've been really interesting lenses in a to the top end of the market. Oh, Nickens, 58 millimeter 1.4. Yeah, this is This is interesting. So this is a 15 mil 1.4, which I forget, how much it costs and has written down some of $600. More than that, It's No, it's up there. It's a four figure like that. You know something Now, Nicola, talking about this in the same terms as the semi mythical, not it was called the Knocks the nick on the 58,000,001 0.2, which was this manual lens and was famed and is enormously expensive, and it was designed for a very low light, wide open imaging. Huge cost. England nick on on very rare. They were talking about this is sort of being in the same mould. Is that lens? It's not quite as fast. It's 1.41 point two, but it's designed to be shot at 1.4 is designed to give really, really good results, attractive as well as you know, sharp but crucially, to control the coma effects, you get the edges of the frame wide open, so point light sources should stay point like sources, it's no given is the best sharpness, empty F results we've ever seen, but it's giving. It's really, really interesting result. Wide open, beautifully pictorially, attractive pictures. So we want to do a lot more testing on that. And if that's what you're looking for, yeah, I mean, this is you know, though, I'm not sure whether this is a great use of your money. But if you put this on a full frame camera, it becomes an 85 mil ish 1.4, which is a great portrait length. But you're probably paying a lot for that, cause you lose the 30%. Just what you really see the benefit of this on full frame. What are some of the other lens innovations Well, we've seen Zeiss, uh, introducing some really interesting lenses. The noticed 55 1 point fall. It's manual focus on it costs essentially along the money all of the way. Technology for such Andi Essentially everyone has tested. It has basically found it to be a new benchmark. For what? It's ridiculous. It looks like an error when you look at the figures we have. We published the figures reasoning test from the XO partner that we do loans testing with and at one point, Ford shop of them. I have almost everything else in our database. I think that's right. It's not all about Sharp in the Southern Sea. That's where the nick on you know, comes in the results that are attractive and do different things. But yeah, the Otis Sharman's results are astonishing. But the nice thing is, we've also seen size starting to make lenses, albeit expensive ones for muralist systems. So we're there to it range, which is available for both Fuji Film's ex mate on and Sony's um E. Might they make a 12 mil in a 52 mil problem? It's really nice to see the really high end third party manufacturers introducing lenses for for these mirror systems. It is a good sign of both of how seriously Marylise is being taken, but also how seriously people will be able to use mirrors with these very high and lenders available. It makes an awful difference and difference. Really. Even if you go from the Sony in the X camera with an 18 55 kit, zoom to something like a Zeiss to it lands in. The difference in resolution is extraordinary. Fujifilm actually talking your lenses shouldn't forget Beautiful because they released the 24 minutes F 1. this year we don't have here, but that's a 35 mil equivalent to 1.44 x serious cameras like the exit to export when we mentioned any on which is great. And that's actually showing really, really promising results. And for those people here who have been trying to decide whether they want to next 100 or 100 s or one of the interchangeable lens bodies, up until now, there being no 35 men equivalent lens for for the X Series, so you had no choice but to buy the X Now with this 25 23 million, 1.4. Suddenly you can have that focal length on exchangeable engines on and stop faster. It's a stop faster, which means it's also an awful lot bigger. So you don't ever get the compactness of the X 100 s. But for me, I really like shooting. It's 85 men equivalent. So it makes it much, much mover star package, but also much more difficult decisions to which, at that point, it comes down to size and cost Because, yeah, just just get a little way. Let's talk quickly about Sony again. Just backtrack because Sony released the A 77 of this year, which is a new It's not a new enzman as such. Can you explain that to us? Essentially it za variant on their email it on Sony's calling an F E on the differences. NFI lens will cover the entire full frame center. Where is the conventionally Mount Senses? Won't you can still use them on these cameras that they'll crop down just use in the middle of sensor, and so far they've introduced their names. Five lenses on introduced three one is a 28 to 5 96 kids soon. But beyond that, there is a 50 millimeter F 1.8 prime on the 35 mil. F 2.8. Um, neither of those is terribly fast for the focal length, but they're both by the sensible you will build. We actually move on to questions and answers. Fantastic. Well, everybody out there again. If you have not been with us for a while, please note that there is a chat room where we have several folks are answering questions in there, but also passing some questions along for us to ask our lovely through here. So, Susan Roderick Great of Lab. Let us know what What's your first question for? All right. Well, first have a comment from the chat rooms. JP says So awesome. Loving all the different gear that is being reviewed. Can't wait to see what else is in store. I'm assuming JP is American with the awesome thing. It's the Brits. Don't really You say awesome every now and again when we award Good one. Okay, so the first question we have is we often complain that DSLR heavy, especially good ones. Do you see a trend or possibility of lighter professional DSL. Ours mawr emphasis on weight reduction. I think so, Yeah. Five was a perfect example of it really wants. And I'm sorry, the M one. I was calling the Fire Olympus being used actually by a lot of prose. But even Dear Saddam's, we've seen how small you could make one. DSL. Yeah, you know, a lot of it comes down to batteries. Actually, honestly, I think that I think that there are a lot of pros who will still want to have, Ah, rugged, well built body that's that they can use to defend themselves in time of war. And also have that have that half that John Cornyn cello mentioned. So I think there's a there's a little bit of both, but I do know working pros who are using the E. M five and the absolute. The reasons for the traditional pro DSLR shape, like the one d C we had only one of them is that they have vertical grip as well as the horizontal group. You know, said the whole thing becomes what a video isn't bigger because traditionally that would have been full of about 16 Double A batteries, right? There is a film, and even now it's full of battery, really high capacity for 5000 shot batteries. And that's not matched in cameras of this form factor, because battery technology isn't quite there yet. But I have a big, fat battery pack to get those kind of frame rates in that kind of life. That's not said at the higher level. Three. The DF nikola clearly put some effort into making us as light as possible. It uses fairly thin grades of magnesium alloy, which is not not a cheap material to be using, but it still has quite a substantial glass Penta prison inside the body. Um on this has a relatively small battery. So even though they have done their best to try and keep weight down on full frame, dear Solares, I'm not sure there's much scope for them getting much lighter. This is still a fairly fairly heavy and substantial camp, and that Smalling it doesn't really car really talents and optical illusion, but that's actually smaller than the Nikon D 6 10 Does it look like it causes more angular? 6 10 is is bigger and fatter, so Yeah, there probably is a limit that somewhere there's also thermal element is one of the smaller the camera around, a big sense of the hotter it's likely to get. Another move to mirror list may actually be the answer to that question, because you're still getting. Although this has plenty of half, it's still smaller, and the lenses air slightly smaller swimmers, and it's got the depth, and it doesn't have the glass panel prison or the great. Well, let's take one more question before we keep going. ID like the panel to discuss the issue of why manufacturers make so many cameras without viewfinders. I can't understand how serious photographers could be expected to use the arm length live view screens. What do you guys think about that? Well, plenty of mirror those cameras. Uh, Marylise Cameras tend not to have optical viewfinders because they don't have the mirror mechanism that diverts like through them. But plenty of models do have electronic viewfinders, which get better and better all the time on difference. It's on the M one. Olympus has done something quite clever. The viewfinder gets brighter and darker, depending on ambient light conditions, and you don't really notice it doing it, But you do find you like the view finder that bit better. It's quite a subtle thing that you it does have an effect, even though you don't consciously realize you're benefiting from it. Um, I think one of the things that people got used to from shooting with compact cameras is shooting with a rear screen on the flip side of screen, which in many respects is more is more flexible. If I'm shooting like this thing isn't a this isn't on arms. A position are not shaking away at the extent of my reach. So I think there will be models with electronic viewfinders on models without, and I think it's also important. Remember that not everybody is a serious photographer, and camera manufacturers aren't making cameras for one person. They're making cameras for a variety of people. So I think there's room in the market for all of these designs, obviously, and when they trying to specific demographic, you know very often aiming at a price point. At that point, you consider things like an optical you find there are actually if you find a built in as something that's gonna cost more money. If you're trying position a product very precisely to any given demographic, maybe you think. OK, well, we'll leave it out. But we'll charge less for the camera quite often, sending towards the upper level of enthusiast interchangeable lens cameras. There are electronic viewfinders available that you can attach. Just pay more for them. You want them there, there if you don't the cameras small, you know, quite compact, and you got the skin on the back. But I think your point about that. Designing cameras for different types of people we don't have any more. Any more questions? I would love toe round out this segment by going down the lines. Favorite product of the year, Just a product of the year. The SL one is my favorite This year. It is it is compact. I am a family man. I have four Children, so we have to pack everything and I have to be quick with this camera. So it's it's small in life. I could bring it anywhere. I can shoot it as if it could shoot it arms, language and shoot it down here low. I can shoot it up high because of the live view mode, and it's gonna focus more reliably. I also have a t three I that I use all the time. But this camera is just is great for family photography. That's why I lean toward It's pretty much what I do. I'm not reviewing your camera. Great. I mean, I'm sort of torn between the Olympus M one on the Fujifilm X two there. I'd like to have direct control over things that both both produce cracking image quality. Really nice, solid bodies. How much you're gonna have to go with the signal 18 to 35 18 just because of what it allows so many people to do. Um, it's really capable and phenomenally sharp and sensibly priced, which is not something we see very often. Um, this will be a shocker, but probably the GM one for me, and it's just combines the things I I liked and other cameras I review this year. Actually Rx 102 in the M one, which are fabulous cameras, but for me finding something I want to take out and walk around with and wanted to be with me all the time. It just it meets those requirements. So I mean, not again. Not probably surprised it's gonna be the Fujifilm X 100. Isis. The camera I've had with me was the entire year. I was reviewing this for longer than the lifespan of some animals on. So I carried three months, four months. I think I had it with me. I was taking pictures for the review, which just took so long to complete. But it's the kind of had with me all the time. It's fantastic. The image quality is great. Quick. Fujifilm fixed all the things that were wrong with the X 100 camera Will spend a lot of time with I really, really enjoy it. I think it's a great carry everywhere. Camera that defined is fantastic in the lens. Really sharp to I'm very interested in the nick on DF. Okay, We just do a lot more work on that before and your physical start calling it. Give the camera something to look forward to. Yes, your next game, Maybe