Zeiss Introduces a New Normal!

Something interesting has happened to lenses and cameras. It turns out that high-pixel-count digital sensors are a lot more demanding of their lenses than the needs of film ever were, and for most camera companies, their latest camera sensor's resolutions have blown past the ability of their lenses to resolve fine details. In other words, new lenses need to have much higher resolution to match the needs of the digital sensors in the current cameras, not to mention the sensors of the future. For instance, when Nikon introduced the D800 and D800E, they also published a short list of their lenses that would best work with these two cameras. Not all Nikon lenses have the resolving power to take advantage of this new 36 MP sensor.

So this means that lens manufacturers are going back to their drawing boards, or CAD programs, and inventing entirely new lens designs that are able to resolve image details like never before. And Zeiss is one of those companies. Zeiss has created a new lens called the Otus 55mm f/1.4. It's fairly big for a "normal" lens, weighing more than 2 pounds, but it does have 12 elements in 10 groups, so there is a lot of glass in there. Resolution has been optimized across the field of view, even at the open apertures and at any distance. The mechanical construction has been brought to its highest possible standards. Zeiss' goal with this lens was to create the highest quality lens in the world. Only time will tell if they succeeded.

The Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 lens will be available in Nikon and Canon mounts and will sell for just under $4000, which makes it one of the world's most expensive normal lenses. By the way, Otus is the Latin name for a type of owl that has excellent night vision.

A World at War

U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Carlos "OJ" Orjuela by Louie Palu

The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is hosting a photography exhibit that looks at 165 years of war called WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath. If you're in the area, be sure to check out the comprehensive exhibit; it features more than 300 images. You can see the website for the exhibit here. The exhibit is up until September 29, 2013.

This morning, National Public Radio's Morning Edition did an excellent story on the exhibit that is worth listening to and you can do that here. They include segments of an interview with Louie Palu, a photojournalist who works in conflict zones. Both the exhibit and the story are vital reminders of the power and relevance of the still image.

CamRanger now includes Android devices!

CamRanger has been successful with their device which allows you to remotely control your DSLR through your iPhone or iPad. Now they've extended that to include Android phones and tablets, and will soon add Windows 7/8 PCs to their compatibility list. There are about 30 Canon and Nikon cameras that will work with this system. The CamRanger is a device that plugs into your camera and then allows for WiFi connection to your phone or whatever, up to a 150 feet distance. You also need to download the app to your phone or device to make it work. The CamRanger device sells for $299.00. Sounds like a cool idea.

Shocker! Sigma Announces f/1.8 Zoom!

Sigma surprised pretty much everyone by announcing a new zoom lens for APS-C digital cameras, the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens. This represents a new milestone in zoom lenses, as no one has ever made a constant aperture f/1.8 zoom lens for this format before now. Professional-class zoom lenses have topped out at f/2.8 for most manufacturers until this introduction, although Olympus made some high quality zoom lenses for the standard 4/3s format with an aperture of f/2. With the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, the range is somewhat limited (in 35mm equivalent terms, this is a 27-52.5mm lens), but this lens will reach new heights in limited depth of field for a zoom lens and could conceivably replace several lens in a photographer's bag. This is also part of Sigma's "A" series lenses, which stands for "Art," so we can expect smooth bokeh and high resolution. The lens features 17 elements in 12 groups, a fairly complicated design, with 4 glass-molded aspherical elements and 5 Special Low Dispersion (SLD) elements. Lately, Sigma has been on a roll and this is a lens to look forward to. Kudos to Sigma! Makes you wonder what else they have up their sleeves.

New Photo Backpack

There is a new camera backpack for outdoor photography that actually looks new and is even exciting. It's being made by the new company, MindShift Gear, and will be called the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack. This backpack and company is a collaboration between Mike Sturm and Doug Murdoch, who were designers for Think Tank camera bags, and conservation photographer, Daniel Beltra. I wrote a profile of Daniel for PhotoMedia Magazine in 2010.

The Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack is actually more of a system than just a backpack, with several well thought out innovations. The main feature is a separate belt pack that can be rotated out of the backpack and around to the front while wearing the backpack! Backpacks are really handy for carrying heavy loads for extended periods of time, but they are not really convenient to use. This product solves that problem rather neatly. This new backpack will be of interest to anyone who carries their equipment for hours at a time, whether you are a nature photographer or a photojournalist. There will also be a number of worthwhile accessories that will make it even more versatile, including rain covers and tripod slings.

This company and product is actually a Kickstarter project for the moment and will go into production very soon. They've already met their goal for Kickstarter, but they have some rewards packages left, if you want to get in on the action. As of today, they have 20 days left to go.

You can see their Kickstarter project here and you can read more about the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack here.

Battle of the Full-Frame Titans

Well, it's Photokina time again, as I mentioned the other day, and the titans of DSLRs, Nikon and Canon, are duking it out one more time. This time it's for an "entry" level full-frame DSLR. For Nikon, they have introduced the D600, and for Canon, they are introducing the D6. As said, both have full-frame sensors with the D600 at 24 MP and the 6D at 20 MP. Both have top shutter speeds of 1/4000 of a second. And both will sell around $2100 without a lens. Both cameras are fairly comparable to one another and will provide a needed alternative to higher priced models from Nikon and Canon.

As for how they differ, there are a few differences. The Nikon D600 has a built-in flash, 100% viewing, AF Assist Light, dual axis electronic levels, 39 AF points with 9 cross-type sensors, and an ISO range of 50 to 25,600. The Canon 6D will have no flash, 97% viewing, and 11 AF sensors with only 1 Cross type sensor. However the 6D will have an ISO range of 50 to 102.400, built-in WiFi and GPS, and will meter down to -3EV (the D600 will only measure down to -1EV). And the Canon 6D is about 100 grams lighter than the Nikon D600.

It's good to have options, so both cameras are very welcome.

A New Paradigm for Photography?

So Nikon has announced a new point-and-shoot digicam, the Coolpix S800c. What sets it apart and why it possibly signals a significant change in photography is the fact that is the first, at least as far as I know, Android-powered camera. Android, as in the mobile phone operating system. So the S800c will have Wi-Fi, GPS, full HD-video, a 16 MP sensor, and a 10X optical zoom (25-250mm equivalent) and you will be able to upload instantly all your stills and videos to the social media platform of your choice. I  would assume, though I could be wrong, that you can also run Instagram and other similar apps on this camera, too. It will be priced around $350.00.

Through most of the history of still photography, the end product has always been physical prints on paper. With the rise of social media, more people are interested in posting their images online and never seeing prints of their photos. This camera addresses this change and I expect more cameras will follow suit. For myself, most of my casual, everyday photos are done with my Droid phone through Instagram and posted on Instagram (Hermonator), Facebook, and Twitter (Hermonator56). Sharing photos through social media is where the medium is going and Nikon is smart to give us a camera that will handle it. Good job, Nikon.

UPDATE: Samsung is rumored to be working on a Galaxy-based camera, which uses the Android OS. Since Photokina is this year, there's a chance it might debut at the show. I'm sure we'll see more of these cameras.

What Do We Call Micro 4/3 Cameras?

Yesterday, a friend of mine, Kim, pointed out an infuriating and bone-headed mistake he caught in a recent B&H catalog. I think this mistake is a good illustration of why the problem of creating a new class and format of camera, and then not having a good name for it, is a real challenge. Lots of mistakes and misinformation can result. In a short essay explaining the differences between DSLRs, like the Nikon D800, and the newer Micro 4/3s cameras like the Olympus E-P3 or the Panasonic GX1, they labelled the new cameras as "Mirrorless DSLRs." It's almost like they don't know what "SLR" stands for, which is a profound bit of nonsense that can only confuse people. It is about the same as calling digital cameras, "filmless film cameras." It just really doesn't make sense.

In the 20th Century, several camera formats came into being. View cameras meant that you view straight through the camera, seeing the direct image projected by the camera lens. TLR, or Twin Lens Reflex, meant that there were 2 lenses on the camera, one for taking pictures and one for viewing. The "Reflex" part of the name referred to the mirror that reflected the image from the viewing lens upwards into a ground glass screen so that the photographer looked straight down into the camera as they used it. Rangefinder cameras referred to the rangefinder mechanism linked to the lens focusing which superimposed two images, so that when an object's two images lined up, that meant the focus for that object and distance was achieved. And finally, there were SLRs, which stood for Single Lens Reflex. These cameras were the mainstay of most photographers and combined the aspects of the other focusing methods into one usable and flexible style. In an SLR, the photographer looked through the taking lens, the image from that lens was reflected by a mirror into a ground glass screen and then channeled through a glass pentaprism and other glass elements to the photographer's eye. The term "Reflex" referred to the mirror used to reflect the image into a ground glass screen. In cameras, "Reflex" always refers to a mirror, and that is why calling a camera a Mirrorless DSLR is so ridiculous.

Since the advent of digital cameras, the "D" was added in front of SLR to mean a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera and that is fine. But we don't have an easy and simple designation for the new format of cameras, even though many companies are making them. Sometimes they are called "mirrorless cameras," which is okay but kind of vague. None of the digital point-and-shoots have mirrors, either, but they aren't really the same kind or level of camera, so that could be confusing. Some people have even suggested calling this new format, EVIL, which stands for Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. While clever, it seems like a marketing nightmare guaranteed to alienate certain folks. Who wants an EVIL camera? I guess I'd suggest a variation of SLR, which would be SLM, or Single Lens Mirrorless. It's simple and fits the nature of the cameras in question. From now on, that's what I'll be calling them. And B&H? Come on, you can do better than that!

New Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 OS Lens

Sigma has announced the availability of a new lens for APS-C  DSLRs, the Sigma APO 50-150mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM. In regular full-frame 35mm terms, this lens is approximately the equivalent of a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for the APS-C cameras. Since the camera manufacturers don't make a zoom lens in this focal length range with a constant f/2.8 aperture, Sigma provides only option out there. If you aren't doing long range sports like football or soccer or wildlife photography, a lens like this is probably all the telephoto you'll likely to need.

Sigma has included optical stabilization (OS) in this lens, which means you can handhold it at lower than normal shutter speeds. How low depends on the individual user, but you could expect to get decent results down to 1/60 of a second; that is, if your subject isn't moving around too much. It also has close focus down to 31.5 inches, which could make this a very nice portrait lens. Sigma has made some good lenses over the years, especially their macro lenses, so this one should be one to consider. The Sigma APO 50-150mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM will be available in Canon EF mount next week and in Nikon and Sigma mounts by the end of April. Street price for the lens will be around $1099, according to Sigma.