With Photokina rushing up on us in only four days, photographers are being flooded with announcements of new equipment, some of them official and some of them “leaks”. These are the ones that we’ve found the most interesting, so far.
From FujiFilm
Fuji kicked off the expo season with the expected announcement of two new lenses and an update to the popular rangefinder-style camera, the X100s.
Fujifilm’s newest camera, the X100T, has been refreshed with a new hybrid viewfinder, a Kodachome simulation preset, and a top shutterspeed (electronic) of 1/32,000th of a second… a full two stops faster than most DSLRs. They’ve also released a graphite silver edition of the Fuji X-T1 which sports the top shutter speed of 1/32,000th of a second.
Fuji has been kind enough to offer its user base a roadmap of upcoming lenses, so even though their lens announcements are not exactly surprises, they’re certainly appreciated. Their new offerings include the XF50-140mm f/2.8 (equivalent to a 75-210mm on a traditional 35mm camera) and a fast 56mm f/1.2 APD lens. The 50-140mm has a fast focusing motor, weather sealing, and image stabilization to ago along with a promise of very sharp optics. The 56mm f/1.2 lens contains an extra element in the optical design (the APD filter) that throws the background even further out of focus than you’d expect from a traditional design, creating smoother bokeh and stronger separation of subject and background.
The X100T is expected to cost $1299 and will start shipping in mid November. The XF50-140mm f/2.8 can be had for $1599 and the 56mm f/1.2 APD for $1499, but you’ll have to wait until December. The XT-1 Graphite Silver edition will also cost you $1499 in late November.
Sandisk
Need a gigantic SD card? Sandisk has announced the world’s largest capacity SDXC card, at 512GB! That’s right… nearly a half terabyte in one little card, with a fast U3 read speed of 95MB/s. It’s not cheap, though. You can pre-order it now for about $730 from Adorama. They also have smaller cards with similar speeds: 256GB, and 128GB, among others.
ZEISS
If you like your lenses crisp and expensive, the Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 was announced last week. At $4490, this lens may not fit everyone’s budget, but it is already being touted as the highest resolution lens available for a 35mm sized sensor. It will be available this month in Canon or Nikon mount.
Samyang
Samyang, who also produces lenses under the “Bower” and “Rokinon” brands, has released a new 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens… manual focus, as usual. Perfect for those who shoot video and timelapse. No price or availability has been mentioned, but their current 7.5 and 8mm fisheyes cost between $250 and $300.
Tamron
An interesting new lens from Tamron appeared in a press release late last night: the Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 DI VC USD . This ultra-wide angle zoom lens for full-frame cameras not only has a large, constant f/2.8 aperture available, but also has image stabilization and a fast ultrasonic motor.
The bulbous front element (that precludes the use of scew-on filters) reminds me of the Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8, but with a slightly expanded zoom range and the addition of stabilization, Tamron may have a new winner.
Sigma
Has announced three new lenses and two new teleconverters, along with a new foveon sensor camera.
Two of the lenses are supertelephoto zooms: the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM “Sport” series, and the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM “Contemporary” series lenses. These are not simply renamed versions of the same lens; they contain different optical designs and will probably have differing price tags. The “Sport” version is heavier and contains 4 additional optical elements.
The third lens is an all-in-one zoom: the 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM “Contemporary”. For people who care more about convenience than optical quality.
So far, only the price for the Sport version of the 150-600mm lens is available, and it will cost $1999. It can currently be pre-ordered from Adorama.
Nikon
This morning, Nikon announced the D750, a new, compact full-frame camera body. Furthermore, a new flash/LED VIDEO light, the SB-500, and a full-frame AF-S 20mm f/1.8, were announced at the same time.
The D750 is a 24 megapixel camera aimed at landscape and portrait photographers, but also heavily geared toward shooting video.
Canon
Canon has not made any official announcements yet, but so far, information has leaked about one new DSLR body, the Canon 7D Mark II, and three lenses: a 24mm f/2.8 pancake lens, a 400mm f/4 DO lens, and full-frame 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 STM.
